Thursday, 13 December 2012

A lesson from the past

History is a mirrow that always reflects the mistakes that we have done in our past. It is always the best reference for people to learn from and avoid making the same mistakes. Here I would like to share with you guys a tragedy that happened around 30 years ago. The awful incident took place in Bukit Merah, Perak which is situated just 30 minutes car journey from UTP.

Mitsubishi Quietly Cleans Up Its Former Refinery

Lai Kwan prepares to bathe her son, Cheah Kok Leong, who was born with severe mental disabilities. She believes that his condition is related to the radioactive exposure she received while working at the Mitsubishi Chemical’s refinery in Bukit Merah.

BUKIT MERAH, Malaysia — Hidden here in the jungles of north-central Malaysia, in a broad valley fringed with cave-pocked limestone cliffs topped with acacia and durian trees, lies the site of the largest radiation cleanup yet in the rare earth industry.

Residents blamed a rare earth refinery for birth defectsand eight leukemia cases within five years in a community of 11,000 — after many years with no leukemia cases. Seven of the leukemia victims have since died.

The Bukit Merah case is little known even elsewhere in Malaysia, and virtually unknown in the West, because Mitsubishi Chemical quietly agreed to fix the problem even without a legal order to do so. Local protesters had contacted Japanese environmentalists and politicians, who in turn helped persuade the image-conscious company to close the refinery in 1992 and subsequently spend an estimated $100 million to clean up the site.

Image-burnishing was important because the company is part of the Mitsubishi Group of Companies, which has long made Malaysia the cornerstone of its southeast Asian operations. The group has dominant positions in manufacturing a range of products, including air-conditioners and cars.

Mitsubishi Chemical also reached an out-of-court settlement with residents here by agreeing to donate $164,000 to the community’s schools, while denying any responsibility for illnesses.

Osamu Shimizu, the director of Asian Rare Earth, the Mitsubishi Chemical subsidiary that owns the mine, declined to discuss details of the factory’s operation before it closed in 1992. But he said that the company was committed to a safe and complete cleanup.

Workers in protective gear have already removed 11,000 truckloads of radioactively contaminated material, hauling away every trace of the old refinery and even tainted soil from beneath it, down to the bedrock as much as 25 feet below, said Anthony Goh, the consultant overseeing the project for one of Mitsubishi’s contractors, GeoSyntec, an Atlanta-based firm.

To dispose of the radioactive material, engineers have cut the top off a hill three miles away in a forest reserve, buried the material inside the hill’s core and then entombed it under more than 20 feet of clay and granite.

The toughest part of the Bukit Merah cleanup will come this summer, when robots and workers in protective gear are to start trying to move more than 80,000 steel barrels of radioactive waste from a concrete bunker. They will mix it with cement and gypsum, and then permanently store it in the hilltop repository.

The refinery processed slag from old tin mines — material rich in rare earth ore. The company and Malaysian regulators said that it was statistically possible that the leukemia cases were a coincidence because tin mining towns tend to have above-average levels of background radiation. But an academic study of another tin mining town suggested that communities of Bukit Merah’s size should only have one leukemia case every 30 years.

Lai Kwan, aged 69, still recalls how she cheerfully moved in the 1980s from a sawmill job to a better-paying position in the refinery that involved proximity to radioactive materials. She remembers that while pregnant, she was told to take an unpaid day off only on days when the factory bosses said that a particularly dangerous consignment of ore had arrived.

She has spent the last 29 years washing, dressing, feeding and otherwise taking care of her son from that pregnancy, who was born with severe mental and physical disabilities. She and other local residents blame the refinery for the problems, although birth defects can have many causes.

“We saw it as a chance to get better pay,” Ms. Lai recalled. “We didn’t know what they were producing.”

Kindly click on the links below to get more information about the incident. ( Chronology + Images)
http://mybaru1.blogspot.com/2012/03/bukit-merah-catastrophe-revisited.html

http://www.consumer.org.my/index.php/health/454-chronology-of-events-in-the-bukit-merah-asian-rare-earth-developments

http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2012/11/rare-earth-elements-iphone-malaysia

Tuesday, 11 December 2012

Lesson of Jar

A philosophy professor stood before his class with some items on the table in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with rocks, about 2 inches in diameter.He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles, of course, rolled into the open areas between the rocks.

He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else.
He then asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous “Yes.”

“Now,” said the professor, “I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The rocks are the important things – your family, your partner, your health, your children – things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.The pebbles are the other things that matter – like your job, your house, your car.The sand is everything else. The small stuff.”

“If you put the sand into the jar first,” he continued “there is no room for the pebbles or the rocks. The same goes for your life.If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take your partner out dancing. There will always be time to go to work, clean the house, give a dinner party and fix the disposal.Take care of the rocks first – the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.”

TAN AL VIN

18180

Mechanical Engineering

Subconscious

Never go to sleep without a request to your subconscious.” – Thomas Edison

Your subconscious loves to do work while your body performs other tasks that are easy. I can prove this very easily by asking you how many good ideas you have had while driving or in the shower. When you are relaxed yet slightly distracted, your mind is often at its best.

Using subconscious requests will…

· Improve your motivation.

· Help you become happier.

· Increase your emotional intelligence.

You’ll see improvement in less than a month.

Mind set

The mindset is changing by setting subconscious on a certain issue. He start to see new angles that he has never seen before . This subconscious request works for personal issues as well as related concerns .

3 steps request only takes five minutes :

Step1:Before you turn off the light , close your eyes and take one minute to make a request to your subconscious . It can be anything . Strongly suggested get started with small and make it open ended .

Step2:Take two minutes to visualize yourself actually able to do this thing . Whether it is getting the motivation to jog before work or eating a healthy snack, you must visualize yourself doing the request that you asked your subconscious. Lets say you want to jog before work : imagine yourself getting up a few minutes earlier than usual,putting on your exercise clothes and jogging shoes , and heading out into the crip air . Then you start jogging , watching the sun rise over the buildings, the birds chirping , and you are feeling good.

Step3:Take two minutes to imagine the feeling that will occur when you are able to accomplish this new thing . How do you feel when u walk back in your front door after a morning jog?Energized? Whatever feeling you want to achieves imagine that you have already created this emotion inside yourself . Let it sink in, then go to sleep and let your subconscious do the rest of the work . Your subconscious mind want to help you improve your life ; you just have to trust its vast resources and allow it to do its thing .

You may not want to go jogging after the first subconscious request , but try to visualize yourself going through the motions the first couple of weeks. Then just start putting on your exercise gear and go for a five minute walk . Taking these baby steps will set you up for your jogging routine . Then after a few weeks just go for it . Now that you have your emotions geared toward jogging it should spur you into action .

By allowing the emotional momentum to build , you can create motivation that will help you accomplish things that make you happier .

LIM ZI BING
18043
PETROLEUM ENGINEERING

Love or Be Loved

Do you prefer to Love or be Loved?

It sounds like a relatively simple question. It isn’t. Think about it . Dig deep. Initial reaction is to respond with “a bit of each,” but that doesn’t count. It’s cheating. As humans, we have an inherent nature to do both, but I can guarantee that if you spend enough time in introspection you will discover that your preference does indeed lean in one direction or the other. To Love? To be Loved?

In order to answer the question honestly and with reflection you may find it necessary to do a little research or, at the very least, define Love as you know it. We are bombarded by sources of information daily, hourly, minute-by-minute in our society that claim what Love is and what it can be for you and how to find it. Do me a favor. Pay close attention. Don’t allow yourself to be led astray. Even my favorite location for word knowledge, the dictionary, is not going to help you with this one. Trust me. Look up ‘Love’ in that esteemed tome and you will likely be disappointed. Here is a taste:

Love
-Noun
1. a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person
2. a feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection, as for a parent, child or friend
3. sexual passion or desire

No wonder we’re all screwed up. There are a myriad of definitions for ‘Love’ in the dictionary but not one of them comes close to how I perceive it. First of all, ‘Love’ is a verb (not a noun) and the only definition given as such within the dictionary (without an object) is, “to have Love or affection for another person; be in Love.” Oh yeah! That’s a big help. Love is a choice. It can be created. To be able to create something is a powerful action. It is not simply about affection, feelings, passion and desire. In true Christian fashion (because some things are just ingrained) I flipped from the page that defined ‘Love’ to the word ‘Agape’ just to see what it said. I skipped past the “Love of God for humankind” part and to the relevant definition: unselfish Love of one person for another without sexual implications. Well, it is closer. I know. I know. Right about now you are referencing I Corinthians 13 in your head, aren’t you? Yeah. Me too.

Back to the initial question: Do you prefer to Love or to be Loved?

Me? I’m a Lover. Why? It’s simple. I’m a coward. It’s easier to Love. It’s far simpler for me to give Love. What? It’s true. As long as I’m giving of my Love than the focus is on the individual who is receiving the Love … not me. Mother Teresa once said, “The success of Love is in the Loving – it is not in the result of Loving. Of course it is natural in Love to want the best for the other person, but whether it turns out that way or not does not determine the value of what we have done.” To me, the relationship my ultimately fail, but if I give of myself … if I Love as I know I can Love … then my Love has had value. It has meant something to someone.

Those individuals who can answer with 100% honesty that they prefer to be Loved are much braver than I. Robert Frost wrote, “Love is an irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired.”There is some truth in that. We all want to be Loved. However, to truly allow someone to Love you all barriers have to be dropped. Walls must be broken down. You must allow yourself to be vulnerable. I detest my vulnerability. Again, I am a coward. I don’t like to let people in. I am worn out. I am tired. I am jaded. I have been hurt one too many times. I have misjudged what Love really is one too many times. Ultimately, my inability to let those who would Love me into the deepest core of my being will result in my loss. Who knows what I will miss because I allowed myself to be caught in the ‘Illusion of Love’ too often.

To create a fantasy and fall in Love with it is folly, to become trapped in an illusion, in Love with your own projection. It also makes one vulnerable to those that would fuel it. Soon reality impedes upon the illusion, crumbling it, and one becomes distraught and who you thought they were, was only in your mind, or what one thought was, is not. I guess the desire to be in Love can blind one to reality. Better to not create a fantasy and live in the present being aware of those that would feed the fictions in your mind. Most relationships are really just an illusion."

Do you prefer to Love?
“Because when we Love, we always strive to become better than we are.”
~Paulo Coelho

Do you prefer to be Loved?
“You never lose by loving. You always lose by holding back.”
~Barbara DeAngelis

You decide.

LIM ZI BING
18043
PETROLEUM ENGINEERING

Everybody, Somebody, Nobody, Anybody

There was an important job to be done and

Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it.

Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it.

Somebody got angry about that, because it was

Everybody's job. Everybody thought Anybody

could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody

wouldn't do it. It ended up that Everybody

blamed Somebody when Nobody did what

Anybody could have done.

GAN ZHE JUN

18576

PETROLEUM ENGINEERING

About Nick Vujicic: A Touching Story

"It matters how you're gonna finish. Are you gonna finish strong?"

Nick's biography

First-born child into his devout Serbian Christian family, Nick Vujicic was born in Melbourne, limbless, missing both arms at shoulder level, and having one small foot with two toes protruding from his left thigh. Initially, his parents were devastated. However, Nick turned out to be otherwise perfectly healthy.

Nick graduated from college at the age of 21 with a double major in Accounting and Financial Planning. He began his travels as a motivational speaker, focusing on the topics that today's teenagers face. He also speaks in the corporate sector, although his aim is to become an international inspirational speaker, in both Christian and non-Christian venues. He regularly travels internationally to speak to Christian congregations, schools, and corporate meetings. He has spoken on four continents (Africa, Asia, Australia, and North America), in over twelve countries, and to over two million people face-to-face.

By the age of 25, Nick hopes to become financially independent. He wishes to promote his words through shows like The Oprah Winfrey Show, as well as by writing books. His first book, planned for completion by the end of 2009, is to be called No Arms, No Legs, No Worries!

A DVD, Life's Greater Purpose, is available on the Life Without Limbs website. Most of the DVD was filmed in 2005, featuring a brief documentary about his home life, and how he does regular things without limbs. The second part of the DVD was filmed at his local church in Brisbane, and was one of his first professional motivational speeches.

His secular DVD "No Arms, No Legs, No Worries" is available online through his corporate motivational speaking company "Attitude Is Altitude."

Nick's first worldwide television interview, featured on 20/20 (ABC) with Bob Cummings was aired on March 28, 2008.

(Source from wikipedia.com)

One of his speeches

"There is time in life when you fall down, you feel you don't have the strength to get back up. Do you think you have hope? I'm telling you that I am down here, facing down, and I have no arms and no legs. It should be impossible for me to get back up. But it's not. You see I'll try one hundred time to get up. If I fail 100 times, and I give up. Do you think that I am ever going to get up? No. But if I fail and I try to get up again, again and again.

I just want you to know that it's not the end. It matters how you're gonna finish. Are you gonna finish strong? You'll find that strength to get back up, like this."

LYE KEL VIN
18007
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

How is life?

To live a meaningful life is to fulfill every dream one person can desire. But to live a meaningful life one must go through trials and tribulations in order to achieve such a high and meaningful goal. One can reveal these trials and tribulations just by living an everyday life wither it be encountering the same moment over again in your mind until one got it right, or if someone took a leap of faith to save another persons life, or if the ultimate trial was presented and a person had to stare death in the face just to achieve a meaningful life.

In some case one wish's to relive a moment in time just to try and obtain a dream they might have missed before. This example of away to achieve a meaningful life is portrayed well in the movie "Groundhog Day" (a modern day adaptation of Everyman). In the movie the main character Phil relives the same day over and over again. In the beginning Phil finds this to be amusing and uses it to his advantage. But later on Phil realizes that this is not the life he wants. So Phil goes on a stint to try and help people in hopes that it can alter his decisions in the past and help him live his life. But in the end Phil realizes that its not the people around him that he needs to save it's the people close to him. With this realization Phil had finally reached his level of happiness and was able to achieve the meaningful life he always needed. But is relieve a moment in time to alter it to help one reach a meaningful enough or can an act of courage and kindness help reach this level.

With the many things a man can do to reach a level of satisfaction or meaning in his life there is nothing like an act of courage that can help raises a man to such a pristine level. But can such a man truly be real, that answer is yes these men are police officers and firefighters, but even the average person can be man of such great praise. In the news article "The Man in the Water" (a true life tale of a man battling nature to save the lives of others) such a man does live. In the article there is mention of other rescuers that helped out. Such as the police rescue men that came in a helicopter or the man that was walking by and jumped in. When asked why they did it the rescue personnel claimed that it was all in the line of duty. And the man that jumped in said that it "it's something I never thought I would do". But the was the thinking and mind set of another man that takes this story to a new height. Though this man died it was his actions that lifted him to such a level to a meaningful life. This man did what most probably wouldn't. As the rescue helicopter came back and forth the man would pass the life vest on to the next person with total disregard of his own life this man sacrificed himself to save the lives of others. With his death he had passed the trials life sets before each one of us in obtaining a meaningful life. As true to this story does death have to face us before we realize wither or not we have lived a meaningful life.

Most people take life for granted and are only worried about worldly possessions. But does it take death itself to have us stop and think and wonder if our life has been meaningful. There is such a story that shows us what a man might due in the face of death. In the storyEveryman (which is a medieval morality play depicting how a man can find true bliss in a single emotion) Everyman finds himself facing death face to face. He ask death to give one day to find someone to go with him. Like everyman Everyman first goes to friendship. But like real life friendship it only goes so far. The second is possession. But he realizes that his possession will do nothing for him after death. But finally he finds what will truly stay with him even after death. Everyman goes after his good deeds though his good deeds are small it is something that will stay by him through thick and thin. Its is only after this realization that Everyman finally sees how meaningful his life is and not even death can take such a glorious thing away from him.

But can a man reach such a level of bliss through death, courage, or good deeds alone. Or is there some way that we can live a meaningful life just by living or must we subject our selves to these trials that life sets before us.

LYE KEL VIN
18007
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Value of Time

To realize the value of One Year,

ask the Student who has failed his exam.

To realize the value of One Month,

ask the Mother who has given birth to

a premature baby.

To realize the value of One Week,

ask the Editor of a Weekly.

To realize the value of One Day,

ask a Daily Wage-Earner.

To realize the value of One Hour,

ask the Lovers who are waiting to meet.

To realize the value of One Minute,

ask the Traveler who has missed the train.

To realize the value of One Second,

ask the Person who has survived an accident.

To realize the value of One Millisecond,

ask the athlete who has won the silver medal

in an Olympic race.

GAN ZHE JUN
18576
Petroleum Engineering

Give Time to Our Family

Another interesting moral story from me to share with you all =D

_______________________________________________________________________

After 21 years of marriage, my wife wanted me to take another woman out to dinner and a movie. She said, “I love you, but I know this other woman loves you and would love to spend some time with you.”

The other woman that my wife wanted me to visit was my MOTHER, who has been a widow for 19 years, but the demands of my work and my three children had made it possible to visit her only occasionally. That night I called to invite her to go out for dinner and a movie. “What’s wrong, are you well?” she asked.

My mother is the type of woman who suspects that a late night call or a surprise invitation is a sign of bad news. “I thought that it would be pleasant to spend some time with you,” I responded. “Just the two of us.” She thought about it for a moment, and then said, “I would like that very much.”

That Friday after work, as I drove over to pick her up I was a bit nervous. When I arrived at her house, I noticed that she, too, seemed to be nervous about our date. She waited in the door with her coat on. She had curled her hair and was wearing the dress that she had worn to celebrate her last wedding anniversary. She smiled from a face that was as radiant as an angel’s. “I told my friends that I was going to go out with my son, and they were impressed, “she said, as she got into the car. “They can’t wait to hear about our meeting.”

We went to a restaurant that, although not elegant, was very nice and cozy. My mother took my arm as if she were the First Lady. After we sat down, I had to read the menu. Her eyes could only read large print. Half way through the entries, I lifted my eyes and saw Mom sitting there staring at me. A nostalgic smile was on her lips. “It was I who used to have to read the menu when you were small,” she said. “Then it’s time that you relax and let me return the favor,” I responded. During the dinner, we had an agreeable conversation – nothing extraordinary but catching up on recent events of each other’s life. We talked so much that we missed the movie. As we arrived at her house later, she said, “I’ll go out with you again, but only if you let me invite you.” I agreed.

“How was your dinner date?” asked my wife when I got home. “Very nice. Much more so than I could have imagined,” I answered.

A few days later, my mother died of a massive heart attack. It happened so suddenly that I didn’t have a chance to do anything for her. Some time later, I received an envelope with a copy of a restaurant receipt from the same place mother and I had dined. An attached note said: “I paid this bill in advance. I wasn’t sure that I could be there; but nevertheless, I paid for two plates – one for you and the other for your wife. You will never know what that night meant for me. I love you, son.”

At that moment, I understood the importance of saying in time: “I LOVE YOU” and to give our loved ones the time that they deserve. Nothing in life is more important than your family. Give them the time they deserve, because these things cannot be put off till “some other time.”

YEE JIAN CHANG

17944

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Determination and Persistence

This is a real life story of engineer John Roebling building the Brooklyn Bridge in New York, USA back in 1870. The bridge was completed in 1883, after 13 years.

In 1883, a creative engineer named John Roebling was inspired by an idea to build a spectacular bridge connecting New York with the Long Island. However bridge building experts throughout the world thought that this was an impossible feat and told Roebling to forget the idea. It just could not be done. It was not practical. It had never been done before.

Roebling could not ignore the vision he had in his mind of this bridge. He thought about it all the time and he knew deep in his heart that it could be done. He just had to share the dream with someone else. After much discussion and persuasion he managed to convince his son Washington, an up and coming engineer, that the bridge in fact could be built.

Working together for the first time, the father and son developed concepts of how it could be accomplished and how the obstacles could be overcome. With great excitement and inspiration, and the headiness of a wild challenge before them, they hired their crew and began to build their dream bridge.

The project started well, but when it was only a few months underway a tragic accident on the site took the life of John Roebling. Washington was also injured and left with a certain amount of brain damage, which resulted in him not being able to talk or walk.

“We told them so.” “Crazy men and their crazy dreams.” “It’s foolish to chase wild visions.”

Everyone had a negative comment to make and felt that the project should be scrapped since the Roeblings were the only ones who knew how the bridge could be built.

In spite of his handicap Washington was never discouraged and still had a burning desire to complete the bridge and his mind was still as sharp as ever. He tried to inspire and pass on his enthusiasm to some of his friends, but they were too daunted by the task.

As he lay on his bed in his hospital room, with the sunlight streaming through the windows, a gentle breeze blew the flimsy white curtains apart and he was able to see the sky and the tops of the trees outside for just a moment.

It seemed that there was a message for him not to give up. Suddenly an idea hit him. All he could do was move one finger and he decided to make the best use of it. By moving this, he slowly developed a code of communication with his wife.

He touched his wife’s arm with that finger, indicating to her that he wanted her to call the engineers again. Then he used the same method of tapping her arm to tell the engineers what to do. It seemed foolish but the project was under way again.

For 13 years Washington tapped out his instructions with his finger on his wife’s arm, until the bridge was finally completed. Today the spectacular Brooklyn Bridge stands in all its glory as a tribute to the triumph of one man’s indomitable spirit and his determination not to be defeated by circumstances. It is also a tribute to the engineers and their team work, and to their faith in a man who was considered mad by half the world. It stands too as a tangible monument to the love and devotion of his wife who for 13 long years patiently decoded the messages of her husband and told the engineers what to do.

Perhaps this is one of the best examples of a never-say-die attitude that overcomes a terrible physical handicap and achieves an impossible goal.

Often when we face obstacles in our day-to-day life, our hurdles seem very small in comparison to what many others have to face. The Brooklyn Bridge shows us that dreams that seem impossible can be realised with determination and persistence, no matter what the odds are.

YEE JIAN CHANG

17944

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Wondering what to write in this blog, what happened today had gave me an idea of what i am going to write. Today is my worst day of my life in UTP. I planned to do my call-lab exercises today so I woke up early in the morning. Unfortunately, I was informed that all the printers in block 1 had ran out of ink. I was not able to finish my work but had to wait until the technician change the ink cartilage. I uttered in my heart that it was a bad starting for today.

Things seem to go worse than that. I received my first summon in UTP. I parked my motorcycle in front of my hostel block under a tree. I was not awared that the place was illegal for parking. I was going down the stair to get my motorbike to go out to take my lunch when suddenly a 'wild' security personnel appeared in my sight. He got near to my bike and took out a pad as if he is going to write something. At that particular instant, I knew that the 'something' was not going to be a good thing, 'summon' came across my mind. I quickly dashed to my bike and asked him to give me a chance. However, instead of showing his 'mercy', he raised up his voice up. I knew there was no point arguing with him, so I received the summon and treated it as my fate or 'bad luck'.

My 'bad luck' did not end here. While i was on my way coming back to UTP after my lunch, rain started to pour down. Enduring the pain of rain droplets hitting on me, I drove carefully all the way.

I tried to avoid flooded water on the road and focused on the road condition. Just by then, a lorry passed by and caused the flooded water to splash all over my body, not just once but twice. My body was soaked in wet and I was shievering in cold by the time I got back to UTP.

This was probably my worst day in UTP. However, let us not look at it in a negative way. When all the bad things had gone, good things should follow behind, just like the rainbow after a rainstorm.

^.^

My 'bad luck' did not end here. While i was on my way coming back to UTP after my lunch, rain started to pour down. Enduring the pain of rain droplets hitting on me, I drove carefully all the way.

This was probably my worst day in UTP. However, let us not look at it in a negative way. When all the bad things had gone, good things should follow behind, just like the rainbow after a rainstorm.

^.^

Loving Parents

I always have faith that God will create wonders for every individual on earth. My belief is well answered by HIM as HE has given me the most wonderful things of all: parents that love me so much.

It’s been an interesting couple of months for me, being away from my family, my parents, stepping my foot in this so unfamiliar piece of land. Now I know that it’s time for me to pay them back. I used to be a small little boy, who will hold his mother‘s hand when walking in the aisle of mart, siting on his father’s lap in the living room and have strong liking to hug both his father and mother at the same time with his short little arms. Like any other children in the world, I love my parents.

Father and mother, being the guardian angels of all of us, always try to give the best things on earth to us, sheltering us with perpetual showers of love and care and shielding us from every danger approaching us. As parents, they will always try to protect us no matter what it takes, taking us into their folds and wings and try their very best to do anything for us including defying the gravity.

But as time goes by, a small little boy grows up to become a teenager. Growing up is fun and it is what every child would wish to happen in a flash, to have a taste of being a grown up. However, growing up are making our love and warmth for our parents to fade away as time goes by. Growing up is a process where we are exposed more to the world. By then, we tend to walk away from our parents. As I grow up in a small pineapple town, rebellious juices started to flow into my vessel, getting mixed with my blood and flow all over my body. Not a single words coming out from my mother’s mouth penetrated me back then. I was aware that my mischiefs would bring tears to their eyes, but somehow, my rebellious alter-ego seems to have the best of me. Back then, doing a lot of so called “cool stuff” just to look cool, hanging out with friends and becoming a popular guy have become a priority.

In our life, there’s always something that will happen to turn our whole life upside down, like a wakeup call, to wake us up and making us to realise the most important things in life. That something may strike you like two tight slaps, a couple of punches and three flying kicks and it’s going to hurt you a lot. Then, it’s too late to know that you are wrong, too late for any amendments to be made. And your parents will always be the one at your side, giving full support to you and once again, taking you into their folds and wings.

When the time for you to leave your nest to explore the world and pursue your ambition, your parents will be the happiest person in the world. Although they are putting a happy and cheerful front, there is always a worried silhouette behind. A father and mother’s love for their children is unfathomable. Their unconditional love for their children is everlasting, never seems to fade away, irreplaceable and will always stay the way it is. Father and mother’s love for us as their children is going to be from the womb to the tomb. So, love your parents before it’s too late to do so. Love them the way they love you.

CHOO TZE CHYUAN
18270
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

What Matters Most

“Life is not a bed of roses”. It is a very old adage but true to a great extent. As we go through life, definitely, there will be some hiccups along the way. We will encounter with all sort of problems in our journey to become an adult. Those problems will help us to become more mature and expose us more to the world. Many times, life doesn't work out the way we desired it to. Pressure and stress sometimes overwhelm us.

Leaping into a new phase of our life as a university student, our life is turned upside down as life becomes more hectic and busy than it was when we are in the secondary school. Due to this hectic lifestyle, we tend to ignore other important things in life.

Life is like driving a car. It doesn't matter what the car that you are driving, whether it’s a Proton or a Ferrari. As we go along the way, we tend to drive fast, hitting the speed limits and encountering a few speed bumps, only realising it when coming close to it. However, we will never know when we will encounter a speed bump in our life. By the time we realise it, it’s too late for us to slow down. Instead of driving fast, why not slow down to take a good view of the breath-taking view along the way. Only then, you will realise that the simple beauty in life is far more precious than any other things.

Likewise, in our life, we need to pause for a moment. Reflect. Meditate. Where have we come from? Where are we going? But we need to constantly remind ourselves: In life, there are many things that are far more important than wealth and fame such as our family and friends. No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. Remember that every test in our life makes us bitter or sweet; every problems comes to make us or break us; choice is ours whether we become victim or victorious.

“Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living, and your belief will help to create the fact”
William Jones

CHOO TZE CHYUAN
18270
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

Disadvantages of Nuclear Technology

Nuclear technology is the technology that involves the reactions of atomic nuclei. There are more cons than pros using nuclear technology because it is very dangerous, will generate radioactive waste, and causes health problems.

Nuclear Energy

Nuclear Power Plant

Firstly, nuclear technology involves nuclear reactions that are very risky. There are probabilities of radiation leakage to the surrounding. If this happens, nothing can stop it from exposing. For example, the exposed radiation from the Fukushima’s nuclear power plant caused the whole city being abandoned. The nuclear reaction is uncontrolled if mistake occur during the reaction. An uncontrollable nuclear reaction can cause explosion such as a bomb.

Fukushima Nuclear Disaster

The uses of nuclear technology produce waste products which are still radioactive. Different kind of radioactive wastes have different complicated ways to handle it. For example, high level radioactive waste must kept in water pool for several years and sealed in a steel canister to be buried. Radioactive wastes take long time to decay for decreasing the emissions of radiation. Some of them may take up to centuries.

Nuclear technology will produce radioactive emissions that harm human body. Overexposure to radioactive emissions may cause malfunction of living cell and genetic mutation. For instance cancer, cataract, infertility and even death are the delayed effects. It will causes genetic effects on living things that overexposed to radioactive emissions. These genetic effects like birth defects, Down syndrome and premature death. There is no medical solution on all these health effects.

In conclusion, nuclear technology has many side effects like produces radioactive waste, risky and causes health problems.

DING DECK YIK
18272
Chemical Engineering

Freedom

What is freedom? Is it an absolute right? We are born to become free. Freedom is defined from different aspect ,and according to different cultures, freedom varies from culture to another. Some define freedom as a natural right, the human being is born with. Everyone wants to be free and independent from others .Freedom is the right to do what one wants, live where he wants, eat what he wants, learns what he wants, and chooses the religion in which he believes, without ignoring or harming other rights.

How can we live free? From my point of view, we can live free by respecting other’s rights to live free too. We cannot ignore the rights of people with whom we live in the society. We cannot simply do what we want and ignore others. We must take other people rights into consideration.

The idea behind freedom is to be respectful and useful to our society. Freedom is important to everyone. If someone is deprived from this innate right, he will definitely feel as if he is not a respectful human being. When freedom is guaranteed, I can think freely, go where i want, say my opinion without fear from people who would not like my opinion. Freedom of opinion is among the most important branches of freedom .In some societies where freedom of opinion is not guaranteed by the authority, the creativity of mind is killed. Society is the largest and biggest loser from this lack of creativity. Someone once said, Freedom of opinion will never result in animosity among people if they respect each other. As I mentioned earlier, freedom is not an absolute right, and there are too many constraints on it. Firstly, the society rights including national security which is very important. Security is as important as freedom. Our practising of freedom should never lead to threatening our national security. Secondly, freedom of belief, to believe in what you want and chooses your righteous religion. We also should have the right to establish our own places ,where we perform our religious actions.

Historically, there has been an evident proof that freedom is innate to human and that he will fights as long as he lives to restore his innate right to be a free man .The western civilization guaranteed freedom for its own people, and occupied poor nations and deprived their people from their rights, including freedom. So ,these poor nations fought without rest to restore freedom and autonomy from occupation. Abduction of rights , is not a respectful human action. Since God gave us freedom for free, we must do our best to maintain and keep this right.

In summary, freedom is an innate right, humans are born with. Nothing should threaten our freedom, deprive us from our right. Also our right of freedom must never harm any other human being , directly or indirectly. We must respect freedom of everyone in the society. This way we can enjoy our freedom through our life.

EYU KAH WAI
18067
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
FOUNDATION SEMESTER 2

Comparing Semesters...

Although I have been in University Technology PETRONAS (UTP) for approximately 2 semesters already, I'm still constantly impressed with the Chancellor Complex of UTP!

UTP Chanselor Complex

Two semesters may not be a long time in a university but I'm already filled with lots of great new experience of university life. I have to sacrifice my city life in Kuala Lumpur to come to this deserted area to study. Besides having to adapt to taking cold showers, I also have to bear with the change in the food that I regularly eat. When I first came in to UTP I was shy as I was surrounded by many new faces and strangers. But then this changes slowly as I get to make more friends. I have joined some clubs and societies such as the Chinese Orchestra and International Culture Club. As for the subjects, I had English 2, Thinking Skills, Fundamentals of Programming 1 and Moral Studies. These subjects require lots of memory work. The new thing that I learned was programming this subject opened up a new world to me. This semester ended quite well and I achieved a decent score for my results.

For the second semester, I started to know more people of my batch. While being adapted to campus life, I was less home-sick but I occasionally longed to go home. I participated in more events for this semester. I knew more people and gained more knowledge through the events I participated. The subjects I’m taking for this semester are English 1, Physics 1, Chemistry 1 and Pre-calculus. These subjects, unlike the previous ones, were tougher. Calculation and more analytical thinking are required for subjects like Physics, Chemistry and Pre-calculus.

I hope I will do well in this semester as the finals are coming up in 2 weeks’ time. I think what I am experiencing now is just the tip to an iceberg. I am looking forward to experience more of university life.

Live. Love. Life.

Chong Hoong Liang

17968

Foundation 2^nd Chemical Engineering

Green Tea Cheescake Recipe

Ingredient:

     100g Graham cracker or digestive biscuit
     60g Butter
     200g Cream Cheese (room temperature)
     100ml Plain Yogurt
     100ml Heavy Cream
     90g Sugar
     2 Eggs (room temperature)
     2 tablespoons Corn starch
     2 tablespoons+1 teaspoon MATCHA Green Tea powder
     Lemon juice (only if you desire)

Steps:

Step 1
Put Cheese cloth or Coffee filter in a colander. Put 100ml of yogurt into it. Let the yogurt drain for about 6 hours.
Step 2

Preheat oven to 170C (340F). Place parchment paper in a 7 inch × 8 inch square pan. Crush cracker in a plastic bag. Put crushed cracker and melted butter in a bowl, and mix it. Put it into square pan. Then press with your paw.
Step 3

Put softened cream cheese in a blender or food processor. Then switch on! Add drained yogurt, sugar and heavy cream. Then mix and add 1 egg at a time.
Step 4

Add corn starch and green tea and blend it.
Step 5

Strain the mixture through a strainer. Pour it filling into a pan. Bake in a water bath for 35 minutes to 40 minutes. Cool to room temperature. Refrigerate at least 3 hours.
Step 6
Ready to be served. ENJOY!

LOH JIE QIAN
18507
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

Important Qualities of A Good Lecturer

Lecturer is a person that delivers knowledge and lectures professionally in tertiary education. Therefore, a good lecturer should have certain important qualities: passionate, confident and presentation skill.

One of the quality of a good lecturer should have is passionate. A good lecturer must have passion on the subject they teach. The person that enthusiastic about what they do will understand clearly on the ins and outs of the subject. Precisely, they will have a high level of proficiency on the subject. They will also able to extract important material appropriately and further explain during lectures.

In order to be a good lecturer, they must be confident about their knowledge and teaching method. If the lecturer is not confident on their teaching or their answer towards the question of a student, it will lead the feeling of students that the lecturer does not know about the subject. Therefore, a good lecturer should be well prepare for any question and plan the teaching appropriately every time before the lecture begins.

Meanwhile, good presentation skill is essential as a lecturer. Lecturer must able to communicate well with their students because students love to hear lecturer that can speak well enough. In addition, they also must make the lecture interactive, by calling on students and making them participate during lecture. An interesting and enjoyable lecture will boost student morale and maintain focus. Adding a bit of humor into the lecture will always tends to lighten the tone, and a joke would be a memory trigger, which enhance the learning and absorption of students during lecture.

In conclusion, the combination of passionate, confident and presentation skill makes the best possible lecturer.

DING DECK YIK
18272
Chemical Engineering