Second Week

Local News

A video of Sushi, a brown miniature poodle, being abused as a result of not standing on his hind legs perfectly has been circulating on Youtube and Facebook among Malaysians and the videos has also been reported on in the newspapers. The man in the video (recorded by Doreen Loo) is seen hitting and slapping the dog in the face and stomach area as well as throwing it against the wall for "not standing on its hind legs".

This case of abuse is considered one of the worst abuse cases ever to be known in this country. The video has angered and touched many people who plead for the right punishment to be upon Doreen and her boyfriend. Facebook users have even tracked down the profile belonging to Doreen Loo and are posting nasty comments to her. Photos of her dog Sushi are all about him on his hind legs. Fear and pain can be seen clearly in his eyes.

I think it was really unnecessary to "train" his animal that way, nor was it right what he did physically to Sushi. His acts were very inhumane and really heartless. And i'm sure it angered alot of people whether they are dog lovers or not. I hope they get the punishment they deserve because a year in jail and a fine of 200MYR really doesnt seem fair for Sushi.

International News

First Week

Local News
I think the news that dominated this week locally was that about new pilot graduates not being able to get a job related to their field of study as there are way too many applicants and no vacancy for the positions.

Up to 500 licensed junior pilots in Malaysia have not been able to take to the skies in the last two years. There are just not enough jobs for them. And making this worse is an amount of 300 to 400 pilots are produced annually.The Department of Civil Aviation’s (DCA) flight operations director Capt Datuk Yahaya Abdul Rahman says the number of pilots graduating from flying schools was growing faster than the recruitments. Graduates actually have to wait at least 2 years to get their application approved.And even after getting approval, they are required to work in the office/admin before they can actually start flying.

Well, I picked this news because it highlights the lack of job opportunities for young Malaysian graduates and I am certain that not only flight graduates are facing this problem. I think that institutes should raise the standards so that graduating will not be so easy and that Malaysian student CAN actually prove themselves worthy of the certificate they are striving for. In that way, I guess that the numbers of graduates will decrease and companies have a sense of trust in them when approving them of their application.

International News

Everyone has heard of the floods in Australia and it's pretty strange as Australia is one of the driest continents. But last year was Australia's third wettest year on record. The floods that are occurring in Australia are caused by the strongest ever recorded La Nina weather phenomenon in the Pacific, which also caused major flooding across a third of Sri Lanka.

Eastern australi has endured weeks of massive flooding that the government has yet to estimate the cost of the damage which will reach billions of dollars. It shut down much of Queensland's lucrative coal industry and has caused 30 deaths. Residents of Brisbane were sandbagging low-lying homes again as a high tide was expected on the main river that snakes through out the city.

Seeing Australia, a dry place, be ‘attacked’ by massive floods causing deaths and alot of destruction also gives us a sign that the world is changing. In my opinion, i think people better start paying attention to the things happening around ur and try to change them while we still have the chance. Or we might just lose it all before our eyes and bare the sufferings. Hopefully the world will come to aid at this drastic situation.

Yourself As A Consumer Of Information

Depending on age, the ways we are exposed to information differ. For instance, a 5 year old has no idea what he/she is allowed or disallowed to watch, hear or read. But a 20 year old on the other hand, may do so towards anything as he/she pleases. Therefore, as children, our parents control the media and information we are exposed to; with common sense like children are supposed to be watching Sesame Street, Toy Story and reading Peter And Jane and such rather than American Pie or the violent movie 300 and so on and so forth.

This was of course, me as a consumer of information; where as a child, the information I was exposed to was given to me by my parents: books, shows, songs etc. But as I grew older they became partially responsible of it and I felt like I was ‘old enough’ to be allowed to watch things like make-outs on TV, or violent killing scenes. I guess it was because I was rational enough to think that they were only TV shows, pointing out that a child watching these may imitate the shown violent gestures. But dad on the other hand, still disapproved of it and whenever these scenes would appear when he was around I would have to change the channel or pretend I wasn’t watching.

Friends, too, changed the way I was a consumer of information. For example, boys are exposed earlier to certain things because of their curiosity and them being boys; I guess they are given the permission to do so earlier than girls. So being friends with them, they tend to talk about and tell you things you never knew, regardless of what it was about – but of course, mostly sexual related topics.

In addition to that, I am a Roman Catholic by faith and going to Sunday School also changed the way I am as a consumer of information. As a Catholic, we learn ways on how to deal with the information we receive, what information is appropriate and how to act upon information received.

Of course, whatever you receive (input), you do something about it (output). Sometimes we do not realise we are doing so. It may be in actions, the way we speak, the slang we use, the clothes we wear and so on and so forth. My opinions on cultures, activities and such differ from other people because of the way I have been brought up. And of course, the way I have been brought up involves the ‘input’ that I’ve gotten all these years.

If I have not been attending Sunday school, the way I perceive things would be much different than how I do now. For example, sex before marriage, abortion, how we honor our parents etc. If I have been mixing with friends that have bad habits, of course the information I would be receiving would be more negative and “black” and therefore affecting how my life would have been shaped.