Proelt Reading For Khairi

Read the article below and complete the tasks.

Eyes on the child

Posted on 21 August 2014 - 07:32pm

The original article from The Sun Daily,  can be accessed via the link below.

http://www.thesundaily.my/node/268567

ANOTHER senseless death of a four-year-old left in a car for eight hours; a horrible way to die, from thermal injury. I am writing not so much to apportion blame but to ask all of us who have children and those that transport children to develop good habits. Twenty minutes in full sun in a closed vehicle is all that is needed to kill a young child. Prolonged exposure of over one to two hours will result in some organs even being liquefied.

We must appreciate the mechanism of this tragedy. It is usually a young child, almost always under six years of age, who has fallen asleep in the back of the car. The parent or carer experiences a "break in routine" resulting in a loss of habit, eg a different parent sending the child to kindergarten or got a call for a change in venue of a meeting. The key factor is a distracted parent, one who has too much on the mind and is rushing to complete many tasks in a busy day. We have all been there many times.

We need to develop firm and consistent habits to prevent this happening to our children. Do not assume it will not happen to your child.

The way forward in this busy world is reminders. Here are some suggestions:

First, keep an important item in the back seat with your child, an item that you cannot do without at a meeting, work or shopping (shopping basket, purse or briefcase). Some have even suggested leaving even your hand phone on the floorboard of the back seat but this will only work if you have your child in a car seat (where all children deserve to be for safety).

Second, keep an object in the front seat to remind you of your child, like a stuffed animal. Swap the child and the object when you place the child in the back seat and vice versa when you take your child out of the vehicle.

Third, remind your carer, babysitter or kindergarten teacher to call you if your child does not turn up at the correct time. This can serve as back-up safety net.

Fourth, it is our vital duty to stop whenever we see any child left alone in a car. Find out why and call the police if you cannot find the parents.

Finally, let's get our priorities right. We have become unwell with our fascination with social media, email, hand phones, extra work, deadlines and rushing around "to give your children a future". Cut back, do less, spend more time with your children. The future can wait.

Amar-Singh HSS

Ipoh

Question 1.

Write a summary based on the article given above.

Question 2.

State the factors that cause such tragedy ?

Question 3.

What  measures can be taken to avoid recurrence of the tragedy in the passage?

  

alvin visit to langkawi after upsr 2014

Langkawi Visit after UPSR 2014

Goh Kay Wing

Things to do:

1. Bring Note8 with internet connection connection, subscribe for a week.

2.

article marina mahathir anti israel

Musing
The Star
20140514

MARINA MAHATHIR

To be effective in calling for change, there needs to be an organised strategic campaign with an educational component. THESE are emotional times. My, these are emotional times. Nerves are frayed, amidst grief, tension and a general feeling of loss and depression. We’ve had a bad year undoubtedly and there’s still more time to go before 2014 is over and we feel trepidation while wondering, what other bad thing will befall us next? Still, despite all this, there is no reason for us all to lose our minds, to be irrational in the way we react to very important things. Let me make this clear: what Israel is doing to Gaza is unconscionable and rightly condemned by the whole world. I also think the Boycott, Divest and Sanctions (BDS) movement, a global campaign to increase the economic and political pressure on Israel to end its occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands, to give full equality to Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel and to respect the right of return of Palestinian refugees, is effective. However, I do think that most Malaysians do not understand what BDS is all about. The BDS website makes clear what is meant by boycott, divest and sanction. “Boycotts target products and companies (Israeli and international) that profit from the violation of Palestinian rights, as well as Israeli sporting, cultural and academic institutions. “Anyone can boycott Israeli goods, simply by making sure that they don’t buy produce made in Israel or by Israeli companies. Campaigners and groups call on consumers not to buy Israeli goods and on businesses not to buy or sell them.” The BDS movement is very clear that it is about boycotting Israeli goods. Now, how many Israeli goods are there in the Malaysian market? Given our stringent laws, probably none. A burger made in an industrial kitchen in Malaysia is still a Malaysian burger, as is the person making or selling it. BDS explains “individual consumers can show their opposition to Israel’s violations by participating in a consumer boycott of Israeli companies, goods and services or of international companies involved in Israeli policies violating Palestinian human rights and international law. “A consumer boycott works in two ways: firstly by generating public awareness about Israeli apartheid and occupation as well as international support for it and secondly by applying economic pressure for change.” Again it emphasises “Israeli companies, goods and services” and “international companies involved in Israeli policies violating Palestinian human rights and international law”. So what Israeli companies, goods and services are available in Malaysia? Where are our oranges and olives from? One major Israeli fruit juice exporter Priniv has reported that “a deal to export fresh fruit juices to Sweden has been called off after they refused to export the produce in a way that would make it easier to conceal the fact it was produced in Israel. “Customers in Belgium and France have also made similar requests. Priniv director Ido Yaniv attributed the drop in sales to Israel’s ongoing attack in Gaza”. There is one Israeli product available here in Malaysia that nobody has called for a boycott of – Waze. Too afraid of getting lost? Divestment means “targeting corporations complicit in the violation of Palestinian rights and ensuring that the likes of university investment portfolios and pension funds are not used to finance such companies. “These efforts raise awareness about the reality of Israel’s policies and encourage companies to use their economic influence to pressure Israel to end its systematic denial of Palestinian rights”. What does “complicit in the violation of Palestinian rights” mean? It means investing in the development of arms that are then used to kill Palestinians, for example. Have we checked whom we buy our military weapons and equipment from? Finally, sanctions “are an essential part of demonstrating disapproval for a country’s actions. Israel’s membership of various diplomatic and economic forums provides both an unmerited veneer of respectability and material support for its crimes. “By calling for sanctions against Israel, campaigners educate society about violations of international law and seek to end the complicity of other nations in these violations.” Remember the sanctions against Iraq when Saddam Hussein was in power? Who in Malaysia is calling for the same on Israel? The point is that to be effective in protesting against Israel and calling for change, some brainwork needs to be done. It is not about standing in front of burger restaurants and yelling at them, much less harassing, threatening and humiliating Malaysian workers. As the dismantling of apartheid in South Africa has shown, BDS works. But it needs to be an organised strategic campaign with an educational component. No point in the ignorant capitalising on people’s emotions for their own ends. Boycotts only work if the targets are clear and the actions have an impact. Does Israel really care if you spat on some poor cashier in KL? I’m afraid not. Marina Mahathir is a human rights activist who works on women, children and HIV/AIDS issues. Her column in this newspaper goes back 25 years and has likewise evolved because, in her own words, “she probably thinks too much for her own good”. Marina continues to speak out and crusade for causes that she passionately believes in. The views expressed here are entirely her own. TAGS / KEYWORDS: Marina Mahathir

Read and study English Let wisdom prevail

Let wisdom prevail
Posted on 10 August 2014 - 07:37pm
R. Nadeswaran
Print
IT was a crisis, many, many moons ago. Some chicken breeders had formed a cartel and increased the price citing the escalating cost of feed. The government had embarked and spent millions in a campaign infamously called "Inflasi Sifar" or Zero Inflation. It was a flop but not for the ad agency that conceived and developed the theme. It walked away with a few million ringgit.

The only success was that the Asian Strategy & Leadership Institute (ASLI) jumped on the bandwagon, organised a "Zero Inflation" seminar and charged participants over RM1,200 each. It was in 1993 that I wrote this and ASLI's Tan Sri Michael Yeoh will certainly remember this episode.

In one of my postings at that time, I suggested that there should be collective action and called government leaders to declare one day in a week as "No Chicken Day". This meant Malaysians would avoid chicken for one day a week, resorting to fish or other meat or go completely vegetarian.

This kind of action, I reasoned, would have brought the breeders to their knees and restored some semblance of "acceptable pricing and business practices". My plea (as usual) fell on deaf ears.

Last week, there was a plethora of calls to boycott American products following Israel's bombardment of Palestine. While every right-minded person deplores, condemns and criticises the Israeli action which has taken more than 2,000 lives, there must be some form of objectivity and purpose in doing so. It was reported that people demonstrated outside a McDonald's outlet in Terengganu while groups have called for boycott of products such as Coca-Cola and Starbucks. There were even reports that staff of the fast-food chain were threatened.

But for God's sake, what is the link between McDonald's and Israel or any other American company or product? What purpose did the so-called demonstration serve? What was running in the minds of the organisers? Were they suffering from multiple bouts of delusion? Did the protesters join because of a cause or because of their mob mentality?

I am a believer that every individual has a right to express himself and take part in protest marches. That is a given. Boycotting is an economic choice which you can exercise or campaign. But it does not give you a carte blanche to throw caution to the wind and threaten people or attempt to vandalise property.

The people behind this shameful act should get real – be practical. There are hundreds if not thousands of products that we are compelled to use in our daily lives.

We do not manufacture everything we need and we import many goods. They come from various parts of the world except Israel as there is a total ban on goods from that country.

On a practical point, we use Google and Facebook – both products of the US. The bulk of the movies in our theatres are from Hollywood which is home to Warner Brothers, MGM, Universal Studios and Columbia. Would you prevent your children from watching Disney movies? Would you stop watching football matches on television? Some of the matches are telecast live by Fox, an American company?

Would you burn your Levis jeans, the DNKY cosmetics or products from the Kelvin Klein range? What about credit cards? They are issued by either Visa or Mastercard – both American companies.

Lastly, I have this question: "If a loved one is seriously ill and dying, and only a drug manufactured by Pfizer can save his or her life, would you allow the doctor to administer the drug?" By the way, Pfizer is an American company. I rest my case.

Dear readers, we all share the agony and pain suffered by the Palestinians. Let us ease their suffering by using our talents and ability resourcefully. Let us collect clothes, food and medicine instead of spending time, effort and money on this kind of nonsensical activities.

R. Nadeswaran is all for freedom of expression but not the use of violence verbally or physically. Comments:
citizen-nades@thesundaily.com