Deaf UM student earns PhD
Recently, the 39-year-old made waves on social media after he shared news about his latest academic milestone – he was conferred a doctoral degree (PhD) in anthropology and sociology from Universiti Malaya (UM). Chong is the varsity’s first deaf doctorate recipient who communicates using Malaysian Sign Language (BIM) instead of speech. He also shared that pursuing his PhD studies, while holding a full-time job as an administrative officer and being actively involved in the deaf community, could be overwhelming for him sometimes. “This is to raise awareness and eliminate misconceptions that sign language is universal,” he said, adding that British Sign Language and American Sign Language have been introduced to the education system, further widening the communication gap between the old and the younger generation of deaf people. “It is time to reform deaf community policies and shift misconceptions, especially those revolving around BIM,” he said.
Source:The Star
August 01, 2021 01:41 UTC
Social etiquette: A must even online
Am I the only one who feels this way, or has the frequency and the pressing need to call for online meetings suddenly accelerated over the past few months? It seems like every other person I am speaking to has just moved from one virtual meeting only to enter another one. Or when you just have to step away from that online meeting for a little perk-me-up like a snack or cup of coffee to endure the next three hours. Virtual meeting etiquette is also a hot discussion topic these days. Another annoying breach of virtual meeting etiquette is when private conversations between a few participants take place during the meeting.
Source:The Star
August 01, 2021 01:30 UTC
‘This is like a nightmare’
Heavy monsoon rains triggered landslides and flash floods in refugees camps displacing thousands of Rohingya Muslims in southeastern Bangladesh, UN and other officials said. The refugees mostly live in shacks made of bamboo and plastic sheets that cling to steep, bare hills. “This is like a nightmare. Now I am staying with another family,” said Rohingya refugee Rokeya Begum. It said more than 13,000 were forced to relocate in the camps, while thousands of facilities were damaged, including health clinics and toilets.
Source:The Star
August 01, 2021 00:56 UTC
A timely stimulus
Since the Covid-19 pandemic was declared in March last year, the government has launched eight stimulus packages worth RM530bil to address the crisis. Ndiame Diop, World Bank country director for Brunei, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand, acknowledges the comprehensiveness of Malaysia’s stimulus measures. For example, as at April 2021, the government announced only 4% of the RM1.7bil allocated for the digital sector through four economic stimulus packages have been utilised.”In the long termA concern Assoc Prof Saidatu-lakmal has is the sustainability of Malaysia’s stimulus packages. But then we face the challenges of coverage and adequacy.”Similarly, countries with stimulus packages also recover better than countries without or limited stimulus packages, she says. “It is timely to consider the introduction of a ‘social protection floor’ for income security throughout a person’s lifecycle.
Source:The Star
August 01, 2021 00:22 UTC
Flashback #Star50: Golden year for film industry
THE year 2018 was a golden year for Malaysian film industry. This was followed by horror-comedy Hantu Kak Limah (RM36.2mil) and action film Paskal: The Movie (RM28.9mil). Never before had the Malaysian film industry seen this kind of number. Mumtaj said that the earlier Munafik movie, released in 2016, was the first of its kind in Malaysia that mixed Islamic elements with possession. Making headlines: An entertainment piece on Malaysian films in ‘Sunday Star’ on Dec 30, 2018.
Source:The Star
August 01, 2021 00:11 UTC
‘Make hiring process transparent’
PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) is calling for greater transparency in the hiring of permanent doctors. Making the selection process of contract medical officers for permanent posts transparent and clear, he said, would allow house officers to carve their career path and strive to achieve excellence. He said the issue of contract doctors had been an ongoing problem for the last five years. “As we continue to fight for better working conditions and a better future for contract officers, we might suffer and be hurt in our journey. In the interim, contract officers can still continue their postgraduate education.
Source:The Star
July 31, 2021 23:48 UTC
Badminton: Bronze for bravery
But it was the manner Aaron-Wooi Yik pulled off the stunner that deserved a standing ovation. The duo made a spectacular comeback after dropping the first game to beat world champions Mohammad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia 17-21, 21-17, 21-14 in the bronzemedal playoff. I felt so much pressure in the second game,” said a relieved Wooi Yik. I want to fight for more glory.”Aaron said it was his family who had given him strength to come back strongly in the second game. “When they were leading the second game by four points, I told myself we’ve got to sustain and handle the pressure.
Source:The Star
July 31, 2021 23:27 UTC
Khairul admits Wooi-jin’s too hot to handle
5 Kim Woo-jin of South Korea too hot to handle in the last 16 at Yumenoshima Park yesterday. Woo-jin, a two-time world champion, gave Khairul absolutely no chance by landing all his nine arrows on target to win 6-0 (30-27, 30-27, 30-29). Khairul said he performed better than the earlier two rounds on Thursday but acknowledged that Woo-jin was in a class of his own. 15 Khairul, whose best achievement was reaching the quarter-finals in London 2012. “I’m continuing with my archery career and will continue to hunt for more glory in the future competitions,” added Khairul
Source:The Star
July 31, 2021 22:41 UTC
100m favourite Bromell sneaks through as fast loser
TOKYO: Trayvon Bromell, the favourite to succeed Usain Bolt as men’s 100m Olympic champion, just scraped into the second round as one of the fastest losers. The 26-year-old American was caught napping in his heat and finished fourth in the race won by Nigeria’s Enoch Adegoke. The 26-year-old Canadian, who has five minor individual medals to his name at world and olympic games combined, posted the fastest time in the heats of 9.91sec. “It is my second Olympic Games and I am enjoying the moment.”Bolt’s retirement pretty much brought down the curtain on a golden age for male Jamaican sprinters. I don’t feel too bad at all and I know I am in great shape so I am not worried.
Source:The Star
July 31, 2021 20:37 UTC
More exciting prizes up for grabs
PETALING JAYA: The 50 Days of Giveaways Contest to mark Star Media Group’s (SMG) 50th anniversary is in full swing. Launched just 10 days ago, prizes totalling RM22,334 have been given out. More tantalising prizes are being lined up, so do not miss the opportunity! To get a shot at winning daily prizes that include home and kitchen appliances, laptops, cameras and watches, just answer a few simple questions on the microsite bit.ly/star50days. These prizes, he said, were also meant at bringing a smile to them.
Source:The Star
July 31, 2021 20:37 UTC
Olympics-Athletics-Thompson-Herah's run was "almost perfect", says coach
"Almost perfect, but we'll work on it," Francis said when he greeted Thompson-Herah in the halls of the Tokyo Olympic Stadium. Thompson-Herah led a Jamaican clean sweep of the medals, with Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce finishing second in 10.74, while Shericka Jackson claimed bronze in a career-best 10.76. When asked why the performance was not perfect, Francis told the Jamaica Gleaner: "Not the time, but the execution. Thompson-Herah's Olympic record time has been beaten only by Florence Griffith-Joyner's 1988 world record of 10.49 - though the American also ran a 10.61. Francis previously coached Fraser-Pryce to back-to-back Olympic 100m titles in 2008 and 2012 as well as a number of titles at the world championships.
Source:The Star
July 31, 2021 17:26 UTC
Thousands protest against COVID-19 health pass in France
PARIS (Reuters) - Thousands of people protested in Paris and other French cities on Saturday against a mandatory coronavirus health pass for entry to a wide array of public venues, introduced by the government as it battles a fourth wave of infections. Visitors going to museums, cinemas or swimming pools are already denied entry if they cannot produce the health pass showing they have been vaccinated against COVID-19 or have had a recent negative test. Parliament approved a new law this week that will make vaccinations mandatory for health workers and extend the health pass requirement to bars, restaurants, trade shows, trains and hospitals. About 3,000 police officers were deployed in the capital, with anti-riot officers striving to keep demonstrators on authorised routes. and "No to the health pass!".
Source:The Star
July 31, 2021 16:46 UTC
Tingmao storms into final, Ware suffers surprise exit
TOKYO: China’s Shi Tingmao advanced to the women’s 3m springboard diving finals in first place at the Tokyo Games, while two-time Olympian Pamela Ware of Canada suffered a surprise exit after she missed her last attempt. Then I felt a little strained, but I realised that, in fact, the competition is about seeing who can give it a go,” Tingmao, the defending Olympic champion, told reporters. I’m kind of emotionless, which is really weird for me because I usually act on my emotions really quickly,” the 28-year-old said. “But I think that if I would have done the dive, I could have possibly hurt myself,” she added on the failed dive. The women’s 3m springboard finals will take place today, as China look to extend their winning streak to nine golds in the event.
Source:The Star
July 31, 2021 16:41 UTC
Olympics-Tennis-No medal for injured Djokovic for third straight Games
TOKYO (Reuters) -World number one and 20-times Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic will leave the Olympics without a medal for the third Games in succession after pulling out of Saturday's mixed doubles bronze medal match with a shoulder injury. His withdrawal from the mixed doubles means Ash Barty and John Peers bag a bronze medal for Australia. "I do have a regret for not winning a medal for my country and opportunities missed both in mixed doubles and singles and, yeah, I just didn't deliver yesterday and today," Djokovic told reporters. Djokovic, 34, pledged to give it one more shot at the Olympics in three years' time in Paris. So that's something that I'm not sure about right now, but I'm not regretting for giving it my all because at the end of the day when you play for a country that's necessary."
Source:The Star
July 31, 2021 09:49 UTC
PKR: Anwar isn't having an audience with the King on Saturday (July 31)
PKR communications director Fahmi Fadzil also denied that Anwar is having an audience with the Agong on Saturday afternoon. However, sources at Istana Negara denied that an audience was granted to Anwar on Saturday. Pictures of Istana Negara denying news reports of such audiences were also disseminated to members of the media. Astro Awani later quoted a source from Istana Negara in a separate report, denying that an audience was granted to Anwar on Saturday afternoon. Article type: metered User Type: anonymous web User Status: Campaign ID: 46 Cxense type: free User access status: 3Join our Telegram channel to get our Evening Alerts and breaking news highlights
Source:The Star
July 31, 2021 06:41 UTC