Archive: Flashback 1990 - 2012
Posted on March 22, 2012
Filed Under Top stories | Leave a Comment
This is an archive of stories by Anita Devasahayam and Julian Matthews from 1990 - 2009 in various publications including Asia Computer Weekly, AsiaBizTech, The Star, The Edge, CNet, ZDNet, Newsbytes, New Zealand Herald, Nikkei Electronics Asia, The New Paper and The Reader’s Digest.
Some selected popular stories:
- AirAsia: Have net will travel
- Everyday Heroes: Tech Teacher
- Women in IT: Coming into their own
- When teenagers rule the world
- Toddlers on the net: When should you get your child a PC?
- Golden surfers: Older netizens on the info highway
- When old media meets new
- Jaron Lanier: Of dreams and Imagination
- Vinton Cerf: Interplanetary googler
- Kalpana Chawla: Destined for the stars
- The world according to Negroponte
- Nicholas Negroponte: Why bits matter
- Weblogs blur corporate lines
- Levi’s caught with pants down
- Will the real Nissandotcom please stand up
- Malaysian ISP admits ‘human error’ in security fiasco
- ‘Alien’ substance caused Dell notebook battery to ignite
- Toffler to boycott MSC meeting
- Cisco CEO denies he is part of MSC panel
- Malaysia yanks flawed list of advisors
- Malaysia’s MDC admits “slip up”, orders revamp
- Malaysian websites still not error-free
- Malaysian chatters the “most abusive” in the world
- Malaysian elections 1999: On the cyber campaign trail
- Kampung Kirkby first to hear of Merdeka date
Book review: Amazing Minds
Posted on April 12, 2012
Filed Under Anita, Book Review, The Star | Comments Off
By Anita Matthews
Published as Academic writing makes book tedious in ParenThots, The Star, Feb 20, 2012
Amazing Minds: The Science of Nurturing Your Child’s Developing Mind With Games, Activities and more
By Jan Faull, MEd with Jennifer McLean Oliver, PhD
Publisher: Berkley Books New York
This book held much promise and its foreword opened to an exciting read ahead. Unfortunately, after the 30th page, a slight irritation set in and by the time I hit the 50th page, I realised it would not get any better. So, I threw it aside and went on to re-read some fiction from my bookshelf.
A week later, I went back to Amazing Minds. Surely there must be something worthwhile to new parents who harbour a million dreams for their darling children. Is it possible for parents to shape their infants into perfect children? I found it in chapter four where Faull discussed imitation and memory of babies and how our actions shape their early journey from contentment and distress in babyhood to differentiating anger from joy in their interactions or within different environments. The author argued that babies who are disturbed by patterns in adult behaviour would avoid provoking similar behaviour even though they are curious to explore. This is useful as we, parents, often forget how observant babies are.
Read more
Book review: You - The Owner’s Manual for Teens
Posted on September 19, 2011
Filed Under Anita, Book Review, The Star | Comments Off
By Anita Matthews
Published in ParenThots, The Star, Sept 19, 2011
YOU – THE OWNER’S MANUAL FOR TEENS
A Guide to a Healthy Body and Happy Life
By Michael F Roizen, MD; Mehmet C Oz, MD; and Ellen Rome, MD
Publisher: Free Press
I had reservations when the editor emailed a snapshot of the book cover to check out. What do two men who found fame largely through talk show host Oprah Winfrey’s largesse know about teenagers? Furthermore, the third author’s name – a woman’s – was half the font size compared to the men. All the more reason to pick up the book and find out what the two men had to say about happy and healthy teenagers.
Nice bits
The book is large with decent-sized fonts and double spaced lines. It was easy on the eyes. The chapters are divided into sections that matter most to teenagers: Skin, sex, sleep, stress and more. The book discusses the biological changes in teenagers and how that affects the way they think when armpit hair, breasts, pimples and erections physically manifest on their young frames. That the information is presented simply without the typical jargon found in textbooks earned You a big plus on my list of good reads.
Read more
Book review: Dear Tua Ee
Posted on August 8, 2011
Filed Under Anita, Book Review, The Star | Comments Off
By Anita Matthews
Published in ParenThots, The Star, Aug 8, 2011
DEAR TUA EE
By Eng Seng
Publisher: Chiang Siew Lee
This book brought back memories – warm fuzzy ones, painfully sad bits and mostly, how ignorant first parents are, yours truly included. There is absolutely nothing wrong with being ignorant or being parents for the first time. No matter how much parents arm themselves with books, doctors and advice from well-meaning friends and family members; nothing beats the firsthand experience of an infant in a couple’s life.
Dear Tua Ee underscores the turbulent journey parents embark on when their first-born arrives. Authored from an infant’s perspective, the book charts Eng Seng’s parents experiences in attending to his needs from diaper changes, bottle feeds, baby food, toys, teeth, hair, fever, rash, lullabies that work, and more.
Read more
Book review: Philosophy from real mothers
Posted on April 3, 2011
Filed Under Anita, Book Review, The Star | Comments Off
By Anita Matthews, published in ParenThots, The Star, April 3, 2011
BOOK REVIEW: MOTHERHOOD - PHILOSOPHY FOR EVERYONE
The birth of wisdom
Edited by Sheila Lintott
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
The word “philosophy” drew me to Sheila Lintott’s compilation of essays written by academics (women mainly) on motherhood. Marrying motherhood and philosophy is akin to mixing oil with water. You can moralise the joys and pains of motherhood to the ends of the Earth and still end up at the crossroads where the journey first started.
But this book was an awesome read. I loved it! Even though I had cast a wary eye on first sight, these philosophical ponderings were engaging, honest and warm. The writers challenged their belief systems both hypothetically and theoretically. They unpicked, scrutinised and discussed their deepest convictions and fears openly. They squared the ideas of famed philosophers such as Aristotle, Kant, Descartes and even Job of the Old Testament against their personal experiences to deconstruct what makes a mother. And, that is refreshing.
Many a time, philosophical discussions tend to be indulgent and are self-fulfilling prophesies of what is sought or challenged in the hypothesis. This set of essays did more.
Clearly within the pages of Motherhood - Philosophy for Everyone, the presence of a child in the mix had had a humbling effect on a majority of the writers. I think all mothers – upon hindsight – do realise that they have lost some control over their lives (and offspring) during the early years following childbirth. I don’t see that to be a setback but simply a reality of choices made.
Book review: How your child learns best by Judy Willis
Posted on March 8, 2010
Filed Under Anita, Book Review, The Star | Comments Off
By Anita Matthews
Published in ParenThots, The Star, March 8, 2010
HOW YOUR CHILD LEARNS BEST
By Judy Willis, MD, MEd
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Parents and teachers who struggle to motivate and inspire their children to learn will certainly benefit from Dr Judy Willis’ book that offers “brain-friendly strategies to ignite the learning process”.
Her combined qualifications as a neurologist and school teacher, who had the opportunity to experiment brain-friendly techniques on her own children, further underscores the value of the strategies shared in this book.
Having read brain scientist Jill Bolte Taylor’s book My Stroke of Insight that documented her full recovery after suffering a massive stroke, Willis’ book had a ready reviewer at hand. Taylor had written extensively of the plasticity and capacity of a brain to relearn the old or learn new things. Imagine what a parent can do with a regular kid by adopting Willis’ methods.
Read more
Book review: We need to talk by Richard Heyman
Posted on February 8, 2010
Filed Under Anita, Book Review, The Star | Comments Off
By Anita Matthews
Published in ParenThots, The Star, Feb 8, 2010
WE NEED TO TALK - TOUGH CONVERSATIONS WITH YOUR KIDS
By Richard Heyman
Publisher: Adams Media
Communications professor Richard Heyman’s book is a refreshing change from the standard staple available on store shelves. Instead of focusing on why parents need to communicate with their offspring, Heyman details the “hows”.
That nailed it for me. As a parent I have often found it difficult to say the right thing to my children and more often than not, I come off sounding as if I am taking sides. Needless to say, most times, the right words come to me only in retrospect. Perhaps I should write down past experiences for future reference. That is exactly what Heyman delivers in the 200-odd pages of this very useful book.
He starts off by sharing his and his wife’s experience of teaching their son the value of responsibility. The latter was 18 and of legal age but was jobless and not interested in college. According to Heyman, his son had always rejected parental authority and they knew they were unable to manage him. The best solution was for him to move out and take charge of his own life.
Guy Kawasaki’s 11-point guide
Posted on June 9, 2008
Filed Under Anita, The Edge | Comments Off
By Anita Matthews
Two weeks ago, former Apple Computer software evangelist-turned-venture capitalist Guy Kawasaki made a quick trip to Kuala Lumpur, courtesy of MDeC, to share his perspective of venture capitalists and fund-seekers in conjunction with WCIT 2008.
Kawasaki, who founded Garage Technology Ventures, regaled the audience at NetBASH for two hours with his experience as a venture capitalist and shared insights on pitches that work.
Make meaning
Innovation is driven by the desire to make meaning. Kawasaki firmly believes we should take it upon ourselves to change the world and make it a better place.
Make mantra
According to Kawasaki, there’s a high correlation between mission statements and golfing — it is too long, meaningless and forgettable. Therefore, create mantra for your innovation. Examples of simple and straightforward mantras — Nike’s Authentic Athletic Performance, Wendy’s Healthy Fast Food or Fedex’s Peace of Mind. Unless you run out of options, the Dilbert’s (satirist cartoonist) mission statement generator is not your first stop.
Jump to the next curve
Don’t copy other people’s ideas. Innovators should focus their efforts on creating the next curve instead of remaining on the same track as most companies tend to do, says Kawasaki. He shared an example of ice-making. Ice harvesters stuck to traditional methods and did not move to the next curve by building a factory. Nor did the guy who ran the ice factory invent the factory.
Adam Haywood: Making culinary waves
Posted on November 27, 2005
Filed Under Julian, The Star | Comments Off
By Julian Matthews
Published in StarMag, The Star, Nov 27, 2005
THERE is something fishy going on at the Still Waters restaurant in Hotel Maya. Swimming nonchalantly at the bottom of your appetiser’s bowl is a live Siamese fighting fish.
“Guests love it,” said chef Adam Haywood. “It’s great way to get the meal off to a good start with some animated conversation. We recently held a winemaker’s dinner and some of the guests were so captivated by the concept they’d even forgotten all about the wine.”
He confirms, with a smile, that the fish is not meant to be eaten, that it’s just a garnish of sorts for the restaurant’s amuse-bouche, a bite-sized treat before every meal (the phrase is French for, literally, ‘‘mouth amusement’’).
Haywood was barely a week into his new appointment as the executive chef of Hotel Maya Kuala Lumpur when he came up with the idea with chef de cuisine Michael Koh.
“We try to surprise the guests with the amuse-bouche; sometimes it’s a prawn salad with warm mayonnaise or mixed seafood with mango, or chicken fillet in a crispy basket,” he said.
Kampung Kirkby First To Hear Of Merdeka Date
Posted on August 31, 2005
Filed Under Features, Julian, The Star | Comments Off
By Julian Matthews
Published in The Star Merdeka Supplement, August 31, 2005
On a chilly winter’s day on February 7, 1956, about 300 students of Malayan Teachers’ Training College in Kirkby, Liverpool were told to assemble in the hall to receive a Malayan delegation from London.
The students, aged between 17 and 21, had no inkling at that time they were about to become a part of history.
“Every time a dignitary came, it was customary for us to dress up in our traditional finest,” recalls Chiam Tah Wen, a Kirkby student then.
“That day the ladies were in their sarong kebayas, cheongsams, sarees and Punjabi costumes and we were smartly dressed in our college blazers or baju melayu and songkok. The hall was decorated with various state and Federation of Malaya flags,” said Chiam.
 |
|
PRECIOUS MEMORIES: The significance of the Kirkby announcement in February 1956 only struck Chiam much later at a rally on Aug 31, 1957 in Kuala Lumpur.
|
According to The Panduan, the college magazine at the time, the students and staff had “taken great pains” to decorate the compound. “Palm trees and potted flower plants lined the entrance. Flags and buntings adorned the hall. And all the students had put on their best multi-coloured national dresses…”
Moments later, beflagged black Humber Super Snipe limousines drew up at the hall. Alighting from them were the then Chief Minister of Malaya Tunku Abdul Rahman and the then Education Minister Dato’ Abdul Razak.
Tunku had taken the 340-km journey up from London fresh from meetings with the British government.
“When Tunku’s turn came on stage, he said the talks had went well,” said Chiam. “He then made the announcement that we would be getting our independence and the date was August 31st, 1957.
“There was a roar in the hall and we all clapped and cheered. Tunku then cried ‘Merdeka!’ and we all stood up and shouted very loudly in return ‘Merdeka!’ at least three times. Even the ‘orang puteh‘ lecturers stood up and cheered along. It was a very exciting moment,” he said.
It was perhaps the first time the cries of Merdeka! had ever been heard on British soil.
 |
|
Zainal: ‘I think we were too young to know the implications of that day’
|
“I think we were too young to know the implications of that day,” said Zainal Arshad, 70, who was in Kirkby from 1954-56 and remembers the hall erupting and the euphoria of the moment when the announcement was made.
“We didn’t understand what independence meant. I was only 20-years-old back then. We only knew it was a happy occasion and we had reason to be proud,” said Zainal.
Chiam said it was only after he graduated, returned to Malaya, and later took part in the rally on Aug 31st, 1957 in Kuala Lumpur, that the significance of the event dawned on him.
“When I heard Tunku repeat the Merdeka cry in front of thousands in Kuala Lumpur, then it struck me emotionally. Especially recalling the incident in Kirkby, over a year and a half earlier. Then I knew what independence meant,” he said.