Happenings Around Us - 29 October 2013

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Saravanan Kandasamy

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Oct 28, 2013, 2:12:36 PM10/28/13
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Hi All,

Welcome to TheMIND's Bulletin Board (TheMINDBB). If you are receiving this email, then your email ID is listed in our mailing list. If you are wondering on what this initiative is all about, please view the frequently asked questions section at http://www.themindassociation.org/themindbb_faq.html

Let's see what we have for you today,

From TheMINDBB's Table - TheMIND Association is on Facebook!
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We are networked via Google groups platform for the last 7 years through TheMIND's Bulletin Board (TheMINDBB). We are growing a step further to use another platform i.e Facebook to establish human touch for all our efforts. This would not replicate on what we are doing here but just expanding to add value.


There are more than 2000 members already connected with us. You would need to have a Facebook account prior joining the group. Registering for an account is free.

TheMIND Award: Outstanding Achievement in Undergraduate Studies (Final Dead Line)
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TheMIND Award is established by The Malaysian Indian Educational Development Association (TheMIND) to foster academic advancement and to promote academic excellence among Indian undergraduate students at institutions of higher learning. TheMIND Award is for students who have achieved exceptional academic goals with active involvement in extra co-curriculum activities and have demonstrated extraordinary leadership and participation in community-based support programs.

Requirements:
To be eligible for TheMIND Award, applicants must meet the requirements outlined below:
-Must be a Malaysian Indian pursuing undergraduate study at any public or private institutions of higher learning in Malaysia.
-Must be currently registered as final year students.
-Must have a minimum Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 3.30.
-Must have participated actively in societies/organizations/clubs/sports and/or community-based programs.

Award value:
RM1000, certificate and plaque

Evaluation of applications:
TheMIND Education Fund Panel will evaluate all applications based on the following criteria:-
-Academic qualification
-Co-curriculum activities at higher learning institutions
-Supporting activities (Contribution to society and/or Innovative/Communication Skills)
-Quality of essay on contribution towards achieving TheMIND Association’s objectives

Shortlisted applicants will be invited for an interview.

How to apply

Deadline
October 17, 2013

The final decision on eligibility and merit lies with the TheMIND Education Fund Panel.

TheStar - ePaper & eFlavour Sponsored Copy
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Star Publications (M) Bhd is currently giving away sponsored copy of The Star ePAPER & eFLAVOURS (magazine) that accessible via smartphones (iOS & Android), tablets and personal computers. The sponsored subscription is valid for 1 Year. If interested, please fill the Form below andemail to Mohana at moh...@thestar.com.my


Kolej Vokasional & Sekolah Menengah Teknik 2014 - Permohonan Dibuka
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Murid-murid yang telah menduduki Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR) Tahun 2013 adalah dipelawa untuk memohon ke Kolej Vokasional dan Sekolah Menengah Teknik seluruh Malaysia bagi sesi pengambilan tahun 2014. Asas permohonan adalah berdasarkan keputusan percubaan PMR 2013. Tarikh Tutup Permohonan 29 Disember 2013
Untuk keterangan lanjut sila layari laman web: http://apps.moe.gov.my/esptv/kvsptv_2013/
  
Fully Funded by MDeC – IT Networking (Weekends Training)
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Pre-requisite
-Fresh graduates who have started working in May 2013 onward
-Must be working in IT related job.
-Graduated in year 2012/2013 only
-Holds a Degree with CPA 2.5 and above
-Must be a Malaysian
 
Trainings with allowance - RM 500 each month
-First 3 months will be 20 days classroom training (Sat & Sun).
(IPv6 training and exam, ITIL, Project Management, CCNA, Soft skills=
-Second 5 months is on the-job-training
(Observing and Mentoring, Corporate Social Responsibility activities)

Register before 31th October 2013
Venue : KL
 
For more information contact Steven at ste...@alliedview.com.my

Charity -  Pavithran - Poor Child with Hearing Disability in Both Ears - Update
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We have published the below on 11 October 2013. There was an erratum in my posting, Pavithran is actually 9 year old boy and not 11 as stated. Thanks to Preshand for highlighting this after checking the IC number in the quotation. Since this posting, I managed to speak with Pavithran's father twice to get more details. Learnt, when Pavithran was small, they only realized Pavithran had hearing problem upon sensing he is not speaking nor responding well towards calls. They brought him to see doctors where he was confirmed of this fact. Both the doctor and Pavithran's dad can only speculate the cause of this problem, that is, he could have viral fever, nerve problems during toddler stage, or possibly due to after effect of the mother taking much medication during pregnancy. 

As stated in one of the quotations, the boy had a pair of hearing aid given to him when he was 4 years old by the welfare department. It was an analog machine (Widex Bravissimo Analog) with a weak spec. Unfortunately, both size of the hearing aid got spoilt after 4 years of usage, one after the other. Apparently every 5 years a poor can apply to change their hearing aid to a new one from the welfare department. Now as the boy needing a new pair of hearing aid, he had since trying for one from the welfare department for the last 1 year. The request was denied due insufficient funds. Both the quotations that were shared in TheMINDBB were actually taken to be given to the Welfare Department for consideration. The father also seeked various politicians assistance from both sides and nothing said to be forthcoming. This news came to us and only then we all got involved to help.
 
As the quotation was more than 1 year old, I have asked Dr.Sivakumaran,a medical doctor, to help to bring Pavithran to meet an audiometrist for another round of audiometry test. We learn the RM3,600 quotation given to us earlier is not accurate as it was given without even an audiometry test been done. Apparently, a hearing lab would not do an audiometry test for you unless you buy the product from them.  With Dr.Sivakumaran's help, a hearing lab agreed to do the audiometry test for free. The test took around one hour and Dr.Siva observed the procedure. Hearing disability is categorized from Mild, Moderate, Severe and Profound. Pavithran is said to be Profound and needing a pair of hearing aid in circa of RM7,500. He would not even able to hear if a plane goes behind him. Thus the hearing aid is critical for his safety too.
 
Checked with Ministry of Health's SOP and it is correct, for a Profound hearing child one pair are said to cost RM7000. This is the price in 2007.
Refer: Page 25 and Page 26
 
The lab recommended 3 models of hearing aid for Pavithran ranging from RM7,600 to RM14,600 (shelf price). Dr.Siva further checked the specs and recommended to us the RM7,600 model as not only the price is the cheapest but comes with 8 channels, longer warranty (5 years) and etc. After discussing with the hearing lab on Pavithran's economic condition, the lab agreed to play their role by reducing the price further by 10%, now the price is RM6,840. It seems the hearing aid need to be reprogrammed after certain period. The hearing aid company also providing free annual hearing check up and free reprogramming throughout the life time of the hearing aid. Pavithran had tested this model at the lab and shown positive response after wearing it.
 
We are glad to say, since the posting in TheMINDBB a week ago, we have more than 64 kind hearted donors came forward to offer assistance. The total pledge we received were no less than RM24,000. Thank you very much for being kind towards Pavithran. As we have sufficient pledge to cover the needed RM6840, we have come up with a maximum cap of donation by each person. It has been our way to have all to be involved, together enjoying assisting a less fortunate member of our society. Rather than only few shouldering this huge burden. Burden becomes much better when more people are involved.
 
As we are managing public fund, MySkill Foundation (www.myskills.org.my) has agreed to be our independent auditor for this program, a reputable NGO among our community. All the donors have duly given their contribution and we have already paid the hearing lab. On 25 October 2013, Dr.Sivakumaran assisted to bring Pavithran to design the ear rubber at the hearing lab. Sharing the pictures. Do note the sparkle on Pavithran's face.

 
We are rushing to have the hearing aid given as Pavithran's Deepavali present from the community. Hope he can enjoy the sounds of firework and various TV program for this Deepavali season.

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Charity -  Pavithran - Poor Child with Hearing Disability in Both Ears
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Pavithran is an 11 years old child who has lost his hearing ability in both ears. His father is the only one working with bring home pay of about RM1,000. Pavithran's mother has lost her job as she has to bring him for frequent follow ups at hospital. They have 3 kids. Recently Pavithran father take some loan from company to bring Pavithran to India for treatment but after went there the doctors told him they unable to help to recover Pavithran's hearing ability as it was too late. They suggested him to use the hearing aids.

Pavithran's father tried to contact several hearing aid company and found the cheapest he can get cost RM3600.


With his meager salary he is unable to buy the much needed hearing aid for his son. Though Pavithran was given an OKU card, Jabatan Kebajikan is unable to sponsor the hearing aids stating they have lack of budget. The father's EPF account 2 is also drained with insufficient fund to buy the hearing aid. The father already met up with few ADUNs and MPs from both sides. No help came from their side. It has since been more than a year since he got the quotation he yet unable to get assistance to but the hearing aid.

Report from Serdang Hospital
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The UK/EU Malaysian Indian Deepavali Celebration 2013 - Deadline 04 November 2013
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Balakrishnan, Purushothaman and several Malaysian Indians based in UK are organizing the 2nd UK/EU Malaysian Indian Deepavali Celebration. Almost a year ago Malaysian Indians based in UK and Europe gathered in Manchester for the most wonderful and first ever Deepavali Celebration.

Many came to UK/EU to study or work, as immigrants, they faced many challenges in order to be successful. Pursuant of this ambition, they plunged into a very busy lifestyle sparing little time to mix with other fellow Malaysians. In the quest of attainment, they and their family became the victims missing out family gatherings, unique Malaysian Indian culture, and it's celebrations. On top of that, there are many students who are unable to go back to Malaysia to celebrate Deepavali with their family due to lack of funds, exams and etc.

The primary objective of this event is unite all fellow Malaysian Indians in UK/EU while celebrating this special occasion and continuing the age old tradition of holding open houses. This platform is also paramount for the future of our children as they will be continually exposed on Indian culture and traditions which could sip away as a result of living in foreign land.

The details of the program is as below,

Date : 09th November 2013 (Saturday)
Time : 11.00 am to 9.00 pm
Venue: Aquarius Community Centre, 21 Eden Close Hulme, Manchester, M15 6AX, U.K
Fees : Adult - £15, Student/OAP - £10, Children (10-17 years) - £10, Children under 10 - Free
       [If a family has more than two children, please contact the organizer for a reduced price]

Kindly register and bank in the feest by 04 November 2013. This will facilitate to finalise the numbers with the caterer. This event is open for Malaysian Indians and their partners to come along with their children.

Lunch Menu (Veg/Non-Veg)
-Lamb Curry with rice
-Chicken Sambal
-Vegetable Korma
-Tofu Sambal
-Stir-fry Vegetables
-Cucumber/Pineapple Salad
-Pappodams
-Dessert: “Bubur Cha-Cha”

Tiffin Menu
-Idyappam
-Kway Teow Goreng

I have joined this excellent event last year and will be joining again this year.

Picture from the 1st Deepavali Celebration

Note:
1. This is a non-profit event and all entry fees will be used to cover the cost of event
2. Do assist to populate this information to as many Malaysian Indians living in UK and EU, as they need not celebrate Deepavali alone this year.

For further information please contact Purushothaman at purug...@yahoo.com or Balakrishnan at kris...@yahoo.co.uk

Community Driven Initiative - Right to Sight - Selangor - Update
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We have published the below regarding Right to Sight, an eye examination program for under enrolled Tamil School students. Tun Hussein Onn Eye Hospital (THONEH) and Apex Club of Kuala Lumpur are our partners for this project for Selangor. 49 students were found to be needing spectacles in the participating 13 schools in Selangor. Glad to say, last week we managed to deliver all the spectacles to the students personally. Sharing the pictures. Thanks to all the volunteers, kind hearted donors, THONEH and Apex Club of Kuala Lumpur for joining hands to organize this memorable program. All these 49 students will celebrate a brighter Deepavali.


Glad to say with this, all under enrolled schools with 100 students and below in Selangor has been screened for eye examination and delivered the spectacles to all the indentified students via Right to Sight and various initiative done by several NGOs in 2012 and 2013.

We have just concluded the screening phase today in Kedah, will provide a separate update on this in this bulletin. We will be going to Penang next and this will conclude this program. We are unable to go to more states due to lack of support from public optometrist. Somehow all of the government centers and training schools are localized in Selangor, making it logistically not attractive for them to assist.

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List of 13 Participating Schools - Selangor
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SJKT Ladang Hopeful -1/15
SJKT Ladang Sungai Rambai -1/28
SJKT Ladang Nigel Gardner -5/46
SJKT Ladang Mary -0/15
SJKT Ladang Sungai Tinggi -2/55
SJKT Ladang Ampar Tenang -7/85
SJKT Ladang Bute -5/31
SJKT Ladang Dominion -4/29
SJKT Ladang West Country Barat -15/69
SJKT Sungai Sedu -6/68
SJKT Ladang Limabelas -1/13
SJKT Ladang Kerling -2/50
SJKT Ladang Sungai Bernam -0/29
 
Total No.Spectacles/Total No.Students = 49/533 (9.2%)
 
There is several learning in this initiative
i) We found 49 students requiring spectacles from 533 students screened. Without the involvement of the community, Tun Hussein Onn Eye Hospital and APEX Club to organize this program these 49 students would probably continue their education without knowing they have vision problem. Kudos to everyone!
 
ii) As you know the screening was done by Tun Hussein Onn Eye Hospital, a government agency. 49 students screen needing spectacles out of 533 students comes about 9.2%. We had statistics from previous activities where the screening was done by private optometrist.
 
Activity 1 - 36% screened to need spectacles, sample size of 450
Activity 2 - 25% screened to need spectacles, sample size of 300
Activity 3 - 25% screened to need spectacles, sample size of 69
Activity 4 - 31% screened to need spectacles, sample size of 32
 
Interesting to note the methodology of execution using either private or goverment optomologist in a program somewhat seems to effect the percentage of students needing spectacles. All of this translates to the cost of event.
 
Pictures:
 
Tun Hussein Onn Eye Hospital will work to get the spectacles done. Then we will go to the schools to deliver the spectacles to the students and do fitting. All the cost for these spectacles was donated by many kind hearted donors.
 
Glad to say with this, all under enrolled schools with 100 students and below in Selangor has been screened for eye examination via Right to Sight and various initiative done by several NGOs in 2012 and 2013.
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Community Driven Initiative - Right to Sight - Kedah
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The initiative in Kedah was led by Dr.Vinayagamoorthy and his able team. We did not manage to partner with any public institution as were done in Selangor. Our team in Kedah was assisted by doctors from AIMST and 4 different private optometrists to cover the 22 participating under enrolled schools in Kedah. 

List of 22 Participating Schools 
=================================
SJKT Ladang Scarboro Bhg. 2 -4/24
SJKT Ladang Binjol -6/31
SJKT Ladang Bukit Sembilan -5/49
SJKT Ladang Kuala Ketil -2/24
SJKT Ladang Kim Seng -12/35
SJKT Ladang Malakoff -5/19
SJKT Ladang Patano Para -4/23
SJKT Ladang Sungai Puntar -4/23
SJKT Ladang Harvard Bhg.3 -9/23
SJKT Ladang Kupang -4/16
SJKT Ladang Pelam -9/16
SJKT Ladang Buntar -4/16
SJKT Ladang Sungai Dingin -5/15
SJKT Ganesar -15/96
SJKT Ladang Dublin Bhg.7 -0/7
SJKT Ladang Harvard Bhg.2 -1/18
SJKT Ladang Sungai Bongkok -3/27
SJKT Ladang Sungkap Para -4/30
SJKT Ladang Tupah -4/26
SJKT Ladang Bukit Jenun -4/28
SJKT Changlun -17/65
SJKT Thiruvalluvar -25/68

Total No.Spectacles/Total No.Students = 146/679 (21.5%)

There are several learnings in this initiative
1. As we did not have support from public optometrist, we have no choice to engage with private optometrist. As you note the rate of students needing spectacles vs students screened has increase quite a bit compared with Selangor i.e 9.2% to 21.5% 

2. Though the percentage above has increased, we did not detect any ill intention by the private optometrist. We had some of the screenings supervised by medical doctors either from our team or from AIMST.

Glad to say with this, all under enrolled schools with 100 students and below in Kedah has been screened for eye examination via Right to Sight and various initiative done by several NGOs in 2012 and 2013.

The Pictures:

Note: We are still looking out for donors for the spectacles for these poor student. If you like to join us as donor kindly email me at svan...@gmail.com .Each spectacles would cost RM89 the maximum.
 
Vacancy - Aetins Sdn. Bhd
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Petaling Jaya/Kuala Lumpur

Software Test Lead 
Requirements:
-5 years of software testing experience required (out of 5 years, 2 years in Cards domain preferably in ATOS platform)
-Experience managing test engineers
-Good communication in English

Software Test Engineer
Requirements:
-3 years of software testing experience required (out of 3 years, 1 year in Cards domain preferably in ATOS platform)
-Good communication in English.

Interested candidates do send your application with your updated resume to Thomas at tho...@aetins.com

Looking for Job
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Norman Jude is looking for a job as a Safety and Health executive around Klang. He has a degree in Industrial Management and currently doing his Master part time in Safety, Health and Risk Management at Open University. He does not have a NIOSH certificate. Norman could be reached at juden...@yahoo.com for his updated resume.

Vacancy – Medical Assistant
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Kencana HL(Sapurakencana Petroleum Group), Lumut, Perak
Requirements:
-Female Only
-Candidate must possess at least a Diploma in Medical Assistant,  Nursing or equivalent.
-At least 2 years of working experience in Operation/T and Emergency Ward
-Basic knowledge on medicine dispensing
-Required skill(s): MS Word, MS Excel
-Required language(s): Bahasa Malaysia, English
-Willing to work overtime with less supervision
-Position based at Lumut, Perak 
Interested candidates do send your application with your updated resume to balakumaran...@sapurakencana.com

Vacancy - Driver for MD
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World Executive Search Sdn Bhd, Damansara Perdana is currently looking for a driver for their MD. The candidate must come with experiences and references contact. Able to speak and understand English. Familiar with Klang Valley routes. Age between 35-45. Please contact Sheela at sheel...@worldexsearch.com for further communications.

Vacancy - Tutor - Part Time
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Pusat Tuisyen Sri Tiara, Taman Sri Manja,Petaling Jaya
Requirements
-Preferably graduates
-At least 2 years experience in related field
-Primary (BM/Science) & Secondary (BM/BI/Maths/History/Biology/Chemistry/Princip Akaun/Economy)

Interested candidates do send your applicationw ith your updated resume to sriti...@yahoo.com

Vacancy - Hummingsoft Sdn Bhd
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Off Jalan Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur

Account Assitant
Requirements:
-LCCI Intermediate /Diploma/ Degree/Professional Certificate
-1 to 3 years working experience. Fresh graduate encouraged to apply
-Knowlegde in Quickbooks would be an added advantage

Interested candidate do send your application with your updated resume to shan...@hummingsoft.com.my

Vacancy - Petaling Jaya
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Saisun Tours & Vacations Sdn Bhd.

Inbound Clerk 
Requirements 
-Good spoken English 
-Computer knowledge

Tour Drivers
Requirements 
-Good spoken English 
-Pleasant

Do contact Vivandra Raj at vivan...@saisuntoursvacations.com for further communication.

Ok that's all from me.

Let's Shine.

rgds
Saravanan Kandasamy
TheMINDBB
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