July | 2006 | dbctan's Xanga Site

At first I didn’t know what to make of it – a
Hasidic Jew
rapping in a reggae-flavoured album? Well, it appears Matisyahu (aka
Matthew
Miller) is not your regular one-trick novelty, he’s for real. I mean he
is a real Hasid and he actually appears on stage in traditional garb
and yarmulke. It’s not so odd when you know the rastafarians sing about
Zion (Ethiopia!) and Jah (Yahweh!) all de time except that’s all
twisted to orthodox Jews . His lyrics do come across as a little
juvenile; he doesn’t stay on pitch now and then, and he tries too hard
to put on a Bob Marley accent. But he’s all right and there is an
infectious beat all through, so you have to wish him well. I also thought the
lyrics to the title song Youth was neat. Pretty thoughtful too.

Some of them come
now
Some of the running
Some of them looking for fun
Some of them looking for away out of confusion
Some of them don’t know where to be
Some of them don’t know where to go
Some of them trust their instincts
That somethings missing from the show
Some don’t fit society
Their insides are crying low
Some of them teachers squashed the flame
‘fore it had a chance to grow
Some of them embers still glow
Them charcoal hushed and low
Some of them come with hunger supressed
Not fed them feel the death blow, yo

[CHORUS:]
Young man control in your hand
Slam your fist on the table
And make your demand
Take a stand
Fan a fire for the flame of the youth
Got the freedom to choose
You better make the right move
Young man, the power’s in your hand
Slam your fist on the table and make your demand
You better make the right move
“youth is the engine of the world”

Storm the halls of
vanity
Focus your energy
Into a laser beam
Streaming shattered light
Unites to pierce between the seams
And it seems
The world open peering
The children see
Rapid fire for your mind
Half a truth is just a lie
They rub me the wrong way
They say their way or fall behind
Seventeen disconnect left out
The concept as to why
There’s a spiritual emptiness
So the youth them get vexed
Skip class and get wrecked
Feel with beer and cigarettes
To fill the hole in their chest!
Oh no, not again! This time it’s Pangandaran off Java’s southern coast.What happened to the early-warning system that was hyped up after the last tragedy?

But despite a push after
that disaster to establish a tsunami early warning system, there was not one
working in Indonesia when
Monday’s quake struck, according to an official at the geophysics agency in Jakarta.

“We still don’t have a tsunami early warning system in place,” said
the official.

Both the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre in Hawaii
and the Japan Meteorological Agency issued tsunami alerts for parts of Indonesia and Australia after the quake hit.

Channelnewsasia.com

It seems so ridiculous to read that Japan and Hawaii read the signs and
sent out an alert, yet Indonesia found no way to do the same for her own people?!Something can’t be right here.

Latest report 530 dead.
Initial stories reported a handful dead and I thought at first it was one of those things.

54,000 displaced! Indonesian media voice frustration and Vice President Jusuf Kalla said the
government would build an early warning system in Java and
other areas in Indonesia in three years. In the meantime…?

God have mercy.
We’re helping out a friend by giving him temporary lodging. What’s
interesting is we’ve got a dissenting view in our home now. Here’s a
guy who says (a) why can’t Iran and North Korea have their own nuclear
warheads? and (b) the Jews deserve to be wiped out.
Howzat for friendly stimulating conversation?
Not that we only seek out people who agree entirely with us (the very
thought is ridiculous and myopic) – but it challenges anyone to account
for their position or point of view. You know what they say about
religion and politics….

PS: caught South Park’s take on the Muhammed cartoon hoohah, and another episode on Scientology. Funny!
North
Korean dictator offered to abandon his nuclear weapons program in exchange for
the role of the villain in the new James Bond film.

In a press conference in
Pyongyang, Mr. Kim said he was prepared to dismantle his entire nuclear program
for the chance to play a Bond villain, calling the part “the role of a
lifetime.”

“I have been preparing for this role every day of my life,” Mr. Kim said.

In Washington, Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice reacted to the news that Mr. Kim’s bizarre tenure as president of North Korea has
been nothing but a Method actor’s preparation for a coveted role.

“The strange pronouncements, the weird haircut, the crazy glasses – it all
starts to make sense,” she said.

In times like this, a bit of humour helps.
This isn’t exactly news – it’s something most of us know for years -
but now we get to see some figures. Plus, now you know what kind of
courses to keep away from………..

70% of grads from public institutions
jobless

B.Suresh Ram
The Sun

Some 70% of public universities and institutes of higher learning graduates in
the country are unemployed.

This is in contrast with 26% for private institutions of higher learning and
34% for foreign graduates.

Deputy Human Resources Minister Datuk Abdul Rahman Bakar revealed the figures
today (July 3, 2006) in reply to a question from Opposition Leader Lim Kit
Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timor).

He said the ministry had taken several steps, including the establishment of
the graduates’ retraining training scheme as well as providing feedback to the
Higher Education and the Education Ministries, to ensure courses are in line
with those required by the job market.

To the original question by Tan Sri Dr Ting Chew Peh (BN-Gopeng), Abdul Rahman
said 20,217 graduates registered with the ministry’s Job Clearing System were
still unemployed as at June 12.

The breakdown showed UiTM as having the highest number of unemployed graduates
with 3,278 (16.2%) followed by UUM 1,532 (7.6%), private institutions of higher
learning 1,217 (6%), UTM 1,147(5.7%), UKM 971 (4.8%), UPM 919 (4.5%), other
public institutions of higher learning 840 (4.2%), UM 531 (2.6%), USM 505
(2.5%), UMS 371 (1.8%), UIA 358 (1.8%), foreign graduates 342 (1.7%), Unimas
174 (0.9%), UPSI 39 (0.2%) and others 7,993 (39.5%).

Abdul Rahman said the breakdown according to job sector showed ICT with the
highest number of unemployed graduates with 3,942 (19.5%) yet to find jobs.

This is followed by Business Administration with 2,714 (13.4%), Accountancy
1,923 (9.5%), Electric/Electronic and Telecommunication engineers 1,229 (6.1%),
Human Resources Management 1,022 (5.1%), Civil Engineers 983 (4.9%),
Mechanical/Mechatronic Engineers 884 (4.4%), Literature Social Science 843
(4.2%), Pure Science 770 (3.8%),
Financial/banking/insurance/investment/property 613 (3%), Office technology
Management/Information management/Library Management 552 (2.7%),
Architecture/Building/Quantity Surveying/ land surveying 540 (2.7%), Applied
Science 533 (2.6%), Economy 440 (2.2%), Agriculture/Forestry,
Fisheries/Environment 401 (2%) and others 2,828 (13.9%).

Abdul Rahman said apart from the job clearing system, other measures had also
been taken by the government to reduce the number of unemployed graduates in
the country.
Two vicious cases of school bullying have got everyone
talking. Both cases -one involving boys (Kota Tinggi), and the other girls
(Miri) – were recorded on phone videos and widely circulated on the internet (on YouTube too, until it was removed!)The
Malaysian Psychological Association wants to propose the implementation of a
bullying intervention programme developed by Dr D. Olweus. “The programme attempts
to restructure the existing school environment to reduce opportunities for
bullying. We have submitted our proposal to the ministry (of education),” said Malaysian
Psychological Association council member Datin Dr Noran Fauziah Yaakub

The programme has met with success in schools where it is
used in Scandinavian countries as well as the US. Basically it’s all about
increased supervision, more parent-teacher interaction, a curriculum of
courtesy and respect, and sanctions for aggressive behaviour (which I imagine
are all a given in the first place). Schools are also expected to do the
following:
- Place
  primary responsibility for solving the problem with the adults at school
  rather than with parents or students.
- Project
  a clear moral stand against bullying.
- Include
  both systems-oriented and individual-oriented components.
- Set
  long-term and short-term goals.
- Target
  the entire school population, not just a few problem students.
- Make
  the program a permanent component of the school environment, not a
  temporary remedial program.
- Implement
  strategies that have a positive effect on students and on the school
  climate that go beyond the problem of bullying.
Anyway, I say go ahead and give it a shot. What piqued my
interest however was the first point – we’re to expect adult teachers at school
to deal with bullying. The programme assumes that if bullying occurs, very
likely the parents of victim and aggressor are not informed, or do not
recognize the signs. That’s when schools step in to talk to all parties
involved. There’s some merit in having an outside party to take charge, but it
won’t amount to anything if the student and his/her family do not also take as
firm a stand as schools.

I think it all boils down to character, which in the final
analysis, is best inculcated at home.
Why then are parents failing in their job to instruct their kids in
basic decency and respect? Why do we
keep hearing about the importance of ‘socialising’ when the only social skill kids are picking up
at home and school is to ‘look out for number 1’? When a cynical media in an
indifferent society displaces the basis for values and virtues, we should not
be surprised when our kids turn violent. We make the world what it is today.

I can almost hear
you ask: what if the parents are unable or will not do their job?