I M A G E S of N A T U R E: MNS Photogroup Trip to Muar, Pt.. Jawa & Sg. Balan...

I M A G E S of N A T U R E: MNS Photogroup Trip to Muar, Pt.. Jawa & Sg. Balan...: "In the early hour of 6 am of Apr 30th a group of 21 enthusiastic photographers, all members of the Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) set out fo..."

down memory lane begins here........

Photograph courtesy of En.Muzamir & En.Samsudin Samah Class of 1977

Muar KL/PJ Chapter meeting Friday 10th June at 1600 at Tan Sri Francis's Residence.

Notice of SAS MUAR OBA Annual General Meeting

SAS MUAR OBA Annual General Meeting on Saturday 18th June 2011, 10.00am, Venue : Bangunan Brother Robert, SMK St. Andrew, Muar.

AGENDA

1. President's address

2. To read and pass the minutes of the 17th AGM

3. Matters arising

4. To receive and adopt the Annual Report

5. To receive and pass the Financial Account for the year ended 31st December, 2010

6. Dissolution of the year 2009-2011 Committee

7. Election of Returning Officer

8. Election of Office-Bearers for year 2011-2013

9. To transact any other matters of which at least 7 days written notice have been given to the Secretary of the Association prior to the 18th AGM

10. Elected President's speech

11. Adjournment of 18th AGM

I M A G E S of N A T U R E: The Chestnut-tailed Minla (Minla strigula) 16 - 18...

I M A G E S of N A T U R E: The Chestnut-tailed Minla (Minla strigula) 16 - 18...: "The appreciation of this colorful specie seem to be enhanced from encounter to encounter. This attractive looking bird never fails to fascin..."

World's most active volcanoes

A few hundred degrees separates this pool of fiery orange magma in Italy’s Mount Etna from its hardened, gray crust. At nearly 11,000 feet (3,353 meters)

A NASA image released on May 22, 2011 shows smoke billowing from Grimsvoetn, Iceland's most active volcano.

A plume of smoke rises from the crater of Mount Shinmoedake in the Kirishima mountain range of Kagoshima prefecture on Japan's southern island of Kyushu on February 4, 2011

A wisp of smoke escapes from Mount St. Helens’ dramatic eggshell-shaped crater after an eruption

A woman flee as Mount Merapi releases volcanic materials into the air in Cangkringan, Yogyakarta, Indonesia, Monday, Nov. 1, 2010.

An Indonesian man watches as Mount Merapi erupts in Hargobinangun, Yogyakarta, Indonesia, Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2010.



Cleveland Volcano releases a plume of ash that rises almost 20,000 feet (6,000 meters) above the North Pacific Ocean

In this photo taken March 6, 2011 and provided by the US Geological Survey, Lava spatters above the fissure just west of the base of Pu'u O'o crater near Volcano Hawaii.

In this photo taken Tuesday, March 8, 2011 and provided by the US Geological Survey, a view looking down onto the northeastern vent of the Kamoamoa eruption is seen in Hawaii Volcanoes

Lava flows into a valley in southern Iceland near the Eyjafjallajökull volcano.

Lava free-falls into the sea from Kilauea Volcano in Hawaii, July 26, 2002.

Mount Bromo spews volcanic materials as it erupts in this aerial shot taken from an Indonesian Air Force airplane that flies over Probolinggo, East Java, Indonesia on Monday, Nov. 29, 2010

Mount Semeru

Pahoehoe lava flows on Kilauea volcano in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

Residents of Irosin township, Sorsogon province, pause to watch at Mount Bulusan volcano as it spews ash two kilometers into the sky Monday Feb. 20, 2011

The Tungurahua Volcano spews ashes during an eruption as seen from Cotalo, Ecuador, Friday, April 29, 2011.

This picture made available Thursday, Jan. 13, 2011, shows lava overflowing from the eastern rim of the erupting pit crater of Mount Etna, Sicily, Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2011.

Volcanic smoke rises from the crater on Mount Shinmoedake in the Kirishimna range on Japan's southernmost main island of Kyushu Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2011.

White smoke rises from the crater on Mount Shinmoedake in the Kirishimna range on Japan's southernmost main island of Kyushu Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2011.

Millions 'at risk from earthquakes' - Press Associate

'Interior zone' earthquakes kill far more people than those in recognised danger …

Millions of people in Europe, the Middle East and Asia are at risk from deadly tremors which can strike out of the blue in unmapped earthquake zones, scientists have warned.

Attention should be focused on these regions, which lie within the interior of continents, instead of well known earthquake "hotspots", according to two leading experts.

They stress that "interior zone" earthquakes kill far more people than those in recognised danger areas on continental edges such as Japan and California.

Over the past century, earthquakes on large fault lines where shifting plates of the Earth's crust collide and slip have claimed around 800,000 lives, say the experts writing in the journal Nature Geoscience. Around half these deaths were due to tsunamis like the one which struck the north-east coast of Japan in March.

In contrast, sudden earthquakes in continental interiors within the plates killed around 1.4 million. Interior quakes also killed far more people directly by shaking the ground and toppling buildings.

Professor Philip England, from Oxford University, and Professor James Jackson, from Cambridge University, classified 130 earthquakes occurring in the last 120 years.

The experts argue that more scientific resources should be directed at identifying seismic risk in regions such as the 10 million square kilometre Alpine-Himalayan belt, which covers Italy, Greece, Turkey, Iran and central Asia, and China.

The scientists wrote: "On the plate boundaries, the location of the hazard is well known and earthquake timing constitutes the greatest uncertainty.

"In many parts of the continental interiors, however, we do not even know where the hazards lie. Slavish application of a model based on plate boundaries around the Pacific rim to earthquake hazard in continental interiors is not merely unhelpful, but can be positively dangerous.

"We argue that the knowledge that underpins earthquake resilience in Japan or California must be transferred to countries in which earthquakes regularly inflict huge death tolls, often far from the media spotlight."

THE LASALLIAN EAST ASIA DISTRICT (LEAD)

THE LAUNCHING OF THE LASALLIAN EAST ASIA DISTRICT (LEAD) IN THE KLANG VALLEY SATURDAY 21ST MAY 2011 at LA SALLE UNIVERSITY HALL, PETALING JAYA.

THE LASALLIAN EAST ASIA DISTRICT (LEAD)

THE LAUNCHING OF THE LASALLIAN EAST ASIA DISTRICT (LEAD) IN THE KLANG VALLEY SATURDAY 21ST MAY 2011 at LA SALLE UNIVERSITY HALL, PETALING JAYA.

Students to refrain from bringing or consuming food with beef and pork contents to/in school

Dear Parent/Guardian,

In our effort to instill, inculcate and nuture values of mutual respect and harmony among our multiracial students, the school is making a request that students refrain from bringing or consuming food with beef and pork contents to/in school.

The school canteen too does not serve food with beef or pork contents as directed by the Ministry of Education.

It is our hope that our students will learn to respect each other's religious, cultural and traditional practices and to be able to appreciate and be receptive of each other's differences and uniqueness.

With this measure in place, we believe a more conducive learning environment will materialise.

Thank you.

Yours sincerely,

on behalf of the Principal


A Letter from a Parent

Dear all,

Honestly I am not too sure about this.

If we want to be all inclusive, then school should be vegetarian as there are definitely vegetarian Buddhist amongst us.

I grew up in a mixed environment, a mission school where there are Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, Taoism, Hindu, Sikh students and nobody take any offense to anything. We have to sing " Sons of St Andrew's, a voice is resounding etc" in school and everyone sung it with gusto, including my senior here, Ishak. And Ishak is still Ishak, correct?

The point I am driving at is that we must not bring religion or politics to school. We must not let the politics of the day creep into school. On a worst case, if Malaysia heads in this direction, then we should have two sets of Ringgit, if you know what I mean.

Our children will have to face the real world out there, competing with every other country/race out there and there are 7 billion of us now. We must prepare them to be amongst the best in the world and compete and yes teach them to respect all the different cultures in the world and the do's and don't's.

By writing the above, I am not saying that my children will bring meat products to school (I would like to respect all religions), but I don't like this restriction by MOE as every human being has his or her own space.

MOE should not be focusing on such issues but on how to make our children the best in the world without studying until they drop. Our education quality is dropping by the day and we are talking about food!

I rest my case.

And as I think of it, I didn't hear such kind of issues when Datuk Ahamad Sipon was the DG of MOE!
He was my senior in St Andrew's and we are proud of his achievement.

Where is 1Malaysia in MOE? If the students bring their own food, container + utensils, what is wrong?

Can we imagine if I am a vegetarian by religion and I visit a festival of whatever religion and I insist that the host do not serve any meat nor eggs!

I am truly saddened by this whole episode!

THE LA SALLE BROTHERS MALAYSIA

THE LA SALLE BROTHERS, MALAYSIA
CORDIALLY INVITE YOU TO THE LAUNCH OF
THE LASALLIAN EAST ASIA DISTRICT (LEAD)
IN THE KLANG VALLEY
SATURDAY 21ST MAY 2011
2.30 pm
at
LA SALLE UNIVERSITY HALL,
LORONG CHANTEK 5/15B, OFF JALAN CHANTEK (5/13), PETALING JAYA

REFRESHMENTS AND SOFT DRINKS WILL BE SERVED.

All ARE WELCOME

Kindly contact your respective Alumni Presidents Mr.Edmund Ng 012 287 2220 & Hon. Secretaries Mr.H Lau 016 690 6288 for further details & reservations

PROGRAMME

• 2.00 pm - Arrival of Guest
• 2.30 pm - Guest seated in the Hall
• 2.40 pm - Words of Welcome by the Chairperson Joint Organizing Committee
• 2.45 pm - Video Presentation
• 2.55 pm - Self Introduction by the Members of the Lasallian Family present
• 3.00 pm - Address by Bro. Anthony Rogers, Director La Salle Brothers and Visitor of the Christian Brothers' Schools in Malaysia
• 3.15 pm - Launching Ceremony
• 3.20 pm - Group Photograph
• 3.30 pm - Refreshments and Fellowship Continues

Happy Easter

all you-can-eat durian outing

" Over 50 members of the SMI alumni which included SASOBA members joined a 1 Day 'all-you-can-eat' durian outing to Bentong and Raub on April 2 2011. There were stopovers at Chamang Waterfall and a groundnut factory near Bentong followed by a tea break at the famous Bentong Ice Kacang outlet. The finale was a visit to the Bkt Tinggi village market enroute back to KL."

Note: The Black-crested Bul Bul is the mascot of the group. Picture was the lovely bird taken near the Chamang Waterfall.

OBITUARY

School to recapture its former glory - By Hamdan Raja Abdullah

Friday January 21, 2011

newsdesk@thestar.com.my

MUAR: The prestigious SMK St Andrew which was one of Muar’s top secondary school in the 60s, 70s and 80s, is set to recapture its old glory.

The school located at Jalan Hashim, recently produced 16 students who scored straight As in their Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR) examination.

St Andrew’s senior assistant Tee Seng Chai said besides academic excellence the school also excelled in co-curriculum for the past three years.

Proud of their achievements: Tee (front, centre) receiving cash aid from the school’s PTA chairman Tay Khim Seng (front, third left) and holding the excellent achievement award with 16 excellent students who scored straight As in their PMR examination last year.

He said the district education department recently presented the school with an excellent achievement award for 2010 for being excellent in various fields.

“Our students have shown tremendous achievement both in the academy and curriculum fields and we are proud of them.

“The school used to be a top school in the early days and we now want to recapture the old glory by making it a top school again,” he said.

Tee added the school’s parent and teacher association committee leaders headed by lawyer Tay Khim Seng had also decided to present cash aid to the excellent student.

He said it was a proud year for the school this year as it managed to produce 16 excellent students as compared to 12 students in 2009 and only one in 2008.

The achievements, he added, had inspired the teachers, the board of directors and Parent-Teacher Assocation leaders to pool resources and ideas to make the school the pride of Muar.

Old boys who formed the Muar Andreans Association, added Tee, would also organise activities to promote SMK St Andrew among the residents.

“For many years parents gave preference for their children to go to other schools, especially the Muar High School.

“However, we now hope they would consider sending the children here.

“We also hope the Education Department will send quality students to study their secondary education here,” he added.

A Muslim perspective on Christmas

Abdul Malik Mujahid

December 25, 2010

DEC 25 — Christmas is an annual Christian religious holiday commemorating the birth of Prophet Jesus, peace be upon him. For many Muslims who even do not celebrate the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, it becomes an issue of what stand they should take.

There have been a number of legitimate criticisms of the holiday from Muslims and non-Muslims based on theological and cultural considerations. However, this cannot be used to disregard the holiday as merely an exercise in ancient pagan practices, for instance, or excessive consumerism. Muslims have to remember that for practicing Christians, Christmas really is about Jesus.

Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, was so accommodating of Christians that according to the two earliest Islamic historians, Ibn Saad and Ibn Hisham, the Prophet even allowed a delegation of 60 Byzantine Christians from Najran in Yemen to worship in his own mosque in Madinah.

Lead by their bishop (Usquf), they had come to discuss a number of issues with him. When time of their prayer came, they asked the Prophet’s permission to perform this in the mosque. He answered, “conduct your service here in the mosque. It is a place consecrated to God.”

God expects us to stay away from mocking the religious beliefs of others, no matter how much we disagree with them. He says in the Quran: “And insult not those whom they (disbelievers) worship besides God, lest they insult God wrongfully without knowledge. Thus We have made fair-seeming to each people its own doings; then to their Lord is their return and He shall then inform them of all that they used to do” (Quran, 6:108).

We also have to remember that even if for many nominal Christians, the celebration is not really about participating in religious traditions, Christmas is a time for families to get together. In a number of cases it is the only time of year families get together, either because family members are scattered in different parts of the country or the world, because of communication and relationship problems, or because in America today, the family unit is becoming weaker and weaker.

Christmas is a great time to relate to our neighbors. We should not forget though, that “relating” does not mean “preaching”. Da’wah cannot be made in a rude manner. Allah says in the Quran: “Invite (all) to the Way of your Lord with wisdom and beautiful advice, and reason with them by ways that are the best and most gracious: because your Lord knows best, (those) who have strayed from His Path, and those who receive guidance “ (Quran, 16:125).

In particular, when dealing with Jews and Christians, Allah says: “Do not argue with the People of the Book unless it is in the politest manner, except for those of them who do wrong. Say: ‘We believe in what has been sent down to us and what has been sent down to you. Our God and your God is [the same] One, and we are Muslims before Him’“ (Quran, 29:46).

This may not be an occasion to emphasis the differences as much as the commonality of our beliefs, unless someone is really asking you about them.

A starting point for a discussion about Christmas could be the Islamic belief in all Books revealed by Allah and all Prophets sent by Him. In this discussion, special emphasis could be made on Prophet Jesus. Non-Muslims are often surprised to discover that Muslims also believe in this noble Prophet and his great mother Mary (peace be upon her).

Remember that respect does not mean compromise. This article is not asking you to compromise anything. You have freedom of religion given by God to believe in what you believe in. But in a world where conflict is increasing, a Muslim should be a bridge- builder and a peacemaker. It was due to the Muslim practice of Islamic ideals of respect and tolerance that the key of the holiest Christian Shrine in Jerusalem, the church of the Holy Sepulcher, remains entrusted with a Muslim family, as it has been for over 1400 years.

These are the lessons which need to be learned by those extremists who attack Christians during their worship in Nigeria and those extremists who burn Masjids in the USA. — harakahdaily.net/en

* This is the personal opinion of the writer.

My Blackberry Is Not Working! - The One Ronnie, Preview - BBC One

Get Together Dinner

The Muar Andrean Associations is organizing a get together dinner on this coming October 15, 2010 from 6.30pm at Carousel Restaurant, Palace of The Golden Horses. Jalan Kuda Emas, The Mines Resort City, Seri Kembangan. Selangor.
Kindly confirm your attendance so that the organizer can make the relevant
booking for the dinner asap. Thank You
Please reply to the undersigned gbh@rightsolutions.com.my

Lau Se Hian sehian_2002@hotmail.com ;

Adrian Goh
or Mr Lim Thiam Soon at lts2000@gmail.com ,

James Lee Say See sslee1018@hotmail.com

Bird enthusiasts team up to produce book in Malay

Wednesday June 30, 2010

By SIMON KHOO

simonkhoo@thestar.com.my

FRASER’S HILL: A team of 20 bird enthusiasts teamed up to produce a book on the various species of birds found in the popular hill resort here.

After six months of hard work, the book entitled Khazanah Burung Bukit Fraser was completed and on sale in all major book stores now.

The book is said to be the first written in Malay as most books on birds in the market are in English.

Author Mike Chong said he co-wrote the book, containing over 300 pictures of birds, with Sutari Supari.

Chong said the idea of writing the book in Malay came about two years ago and they finally decided to work on it late last year.

Bird book lovers: Chong (third from right) and contributors of photos used in the book and publisher Rizanudin (second from right) Henry Goh is the fella at far left of the photo. Cheers SAS Muar Old Boys !.

“We managed to convince a publisher, Rizanudin Nordin of Tinta Publishers to print the book.

“Other friends and birders then came forward to supply us with good and rare pictures of birds spotted here,” he said in an interview.

He said that among others, the book contained descriptions of at least 93 main bird species found in Fraser’s Hill, an introduction and guide to birdwatching as well as index of bird species along with their Malay, English and scientific names.

He believes that there is a market for such a book in Malay as there are many animal and bird lovers in the country.

“We want to promote birdwatching activities in Malaysia and we think it is important to produce a book and put on record the species of birds found in Fraser’s Hill, for the benefit of future generations,” he said.

Rizanudin said that for a start, he would print 2,000 copies of the book and it would be sold at RM73 each.

“If the response is good, we will consider a reprint and update the book accordingly.

“We will also approach libraries and schools for them to place orders so that it can be used to educate the public and students,” he said.

Rizanudin, who is also a bird lover, said efforts must be made by all parties to preserve and conserve the abundance of flora and fauna in Malaysia.