My Rigorous Efforts in Improving English Listening, Writing, Reading and Speaking Skills

Today, I am studying Preparatory Program for Overseas Universities (PPOU) in Institute of Liberal Studies, Universiti Tenaga Nasional (UNITEN). PPOU is an intensive, post-secondary, pre-university, preparatory program that prepares me to study abroad. In order for me to study abroad, I must pass my International English Language Testing System (IELTS) exam with good band. Thus, I have started to put rigorous efforts in improving my English language. There are four components in IELTS: listening, writing, reading and speaking skills. Do you want to know how I improve these four important skills?

One of the ways to improve my listening skill is by visiting the website, given to me by my English lecturer, like Randall’s ESL Cyber Listening Lab. While doing these listening exercises, I listen carefully and concentrate on many different conversations like phone conversations, hotel reservation, enquiries, lectures, speeches and others. I often visit these websites to do listening practice as practice makes perfect. Another way to improve my listening skill is by watching television programmes. Watching news like Nightline not only enables me to know the current issues in our country, but also helps me to listen and understand the content and thus to improve my listening skill. Besides that, I also watch documentary programmes like National Geography and Discovery to improve my listening skill besides increasing my knowledge.

What about my writing skill? My English lecturer said that the best way to improve writing skill is by reading a lot of good sample essays. Therefore, I read at least one sample essay per day and it has become part of my daily routine. Reading sample essays certainly has brought me enormous good. I not only can learn how to organize the points in an essay, but also can learn how to use various sentence structures to make an essay more interesting. I can also learn many new words and thus improving my vocabulary. I often visit website like IELTS blog given by my English lecturer to read many band 8 IELTS essays. Apart from that, I train myself by writing an essay every weekend to publish on my blog. This helps me to reduce grammatical errors and spelling mistakes when writing essays.

In order to improve my reading skill, I read novels and storybooks like Harry Porter and The Pearl. While reading novels and storybooks, I try to understand the message and the content of the stories. Besides that, I also read newspaper everyday not only to know the latest issue in our world today, but also to improve my reading skill. I believe that reading a lot of reading materials makes me want to read more and enables me to read thoroughly and thus increasing my reading speed and reading skill. Reading materials nowadays somehow have become part of my life as I see them everyday.

How do I improve my speaking skill? It is simple. I watch English movies and I able to learn how people from different place of origin use fluent English to communicate with one another. I can also learn many new words used by native speakers. Apart from that, I speak English with my family at home since I was little and it helps me a lot in improving my speaking skill. I also use English language to communicate with my friends and lecturers at university. Speaking English with others has become my usual habit and it is essential that I am about to study abroad in a foreign country where English is the medium of instruction.

In the nutshell, these are the steps I take today to improve my English language. I will continue to work hard and improve my four important skills to pass my IELTS exam with flying colours and thus placing me in one of the top ranking universities in Oceania.

My Eid Experience

A multiracial country like Malaysia with a myriad of races, religions and cultures celebrates a wide array of festivals. The Malays, the most dominant race in Malaysia, celebrate Hari Raya Puasa (Eid), a festival honoured by the Muslims worldwide marking the end of Ramadan, the fasting month. This year, the celebration is expected to be more spectacular and exciting. Although I am a Chinese and not celebrating Hari Raya, I somehow experience the celebration. Do you want to know how my eid experience was like?

On the first day of Hari Raya, I went back to Beaufort, Sabah to visit my family. I took a plane from Low Cost Career Terminal (LCCT) in Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) to Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) Terminal 2. When the plane finally landed in the airport, it was at night and it was raining cats and dogs. After claiming my luggage, I went to the terminal building to meet my family as they were waiting there for me. I was as happy as a lark. It had been a long time since I last met them. Then, we went back to Beaufort by my father’s car. On the way home, I saw many Malays’ houses beautifully decorated with colourful light bulbs. The houses were transformed into a sea of colour as the colourful light bulbs were twinkling repeatedly. Ignited oil lamps were also placed around the houses. The Malays think that oil lamps can make their Hari Raya celebration more hilarious. I also saw Malay children running and playing firecracker along the road. After about 2 hours, we finally reached our home. I really missed a lot of things at home. As saying goes, “no place feels like home”.

It was the second day of Hari Raya. After getting a good night’s sleep, I got a call from my Malay ex-classmate and he invited me to his house. At his house, I not only met my Malay friends, but also all my Chinese and Kadazan friends. All my Malay friends were dressed neatly with Malay traditional attire. My female friends wore baju kurung while my male friends wore baju melayu with a songkok or cap on their head. Various kinds of food were served on the table. They were Malay traditional food like lemang, pulut, ketupat, and kari ayam. My favourite food was the mouth-watering rendang. After having heavy meals, I had cookies and desserts with juice. Kuih lapis, the colourful layer cake was my favourite dessert. While we were eating cookies and desserts, we were also chit-chatting about where we study after our separation in secondary school. Some of my friends are currently studying in prestigious Malaysian colleges and universities while others further their study in government matriculation and Form 6. Finally, I got myself a green packet or known as duit raya from the old folks. Then, I bid farewell to all my friends and hoped that we will meet again some other time.

On the following day of Hari Raya, I still went to many other opening houses. With this, the Hari Raya celebration came to an end. It was indeed an exciting moment for me to be able to experience such a dazzling celebration. I will certainly never forget this wonderful experience.

Appearance, Genes and Photography

Every living thing has genes that heavily determine its appearance. Humans look like humans because they have human genes. This set of genes makes up an individual person with specific appearance. Do you know how our appearance is controlled by our genes?

Variation refers to the differences which exist between living organism as a result of their genotypes and the environment. Variation in the physical appearance of humans is believed by anthropologist to be an important factor in the development of personality and social relations. Some differences in human appearance are genetic while others are the result of age, disease, and make-up. In humans there are hundreds of features which illustrate variation. Height, body weight, blood group, skin tone, hair colour, eye colour, nose shape, and ear shape are the physiological differences in human physical appearance.

People who are genetically identical share the same facial appearance with their twin brothers and sisters. Hence, identical twins tend to look alike. Apart from that, parents and their children share 50% of their genes. Thus, a son has similar facial appearance either with his mother or father. Down’s syndrome is a relatively common birth defect caused by the presence of an extra chromosome number 21. People with Down’s syndrome usually have a short and stocky body, slanting eyes, broad face and stubby nose. They are usually mentally retarded and are likely to have heart defects. People with a wide array of races also differ widely in physical appearance. A Negro, for example, has darker complexion like the westerners living in the temperate climate. Malays have brown complexion while the Chinese are commonly referred as “yellow” people.

How the things can be recorded on films? Photography is the process of recording pictures by means of capturing light on a light-sensitive medium such as a film or electronic sensor. Photography provides an important photographic documentation of different facial appearance. Pictures can be used for comparison and documenting different facial features and similarities among people with different ethnic, country of origin, and genetic combination.

In the nutshell, variation enables each individual to be different from others. In Malaysia, there is a need for peaceful coexistence among the various ethnic groups. Treating people with respect, regardless of their cultures, languages, races and backgrounds, makes this country a better place to live in. Therefore, as civic-minded people, we should treat other people the way we would like them to treat us.

Transport and Tourism

What is tourism? Tourism is travelling for predominantly recreational and leisure purposes or the provision of services to support this leisure travel. Nowadays, tourism has become a popular global leisure activity. In Year 2004, there were over 763 million international tourist arrivals. Tourists have always travelled to distant parts of the world to see great buildings or other works of art, to learn new languages, to experience new cultures and to taste new cuisine.

There are various types of tourism. Health tourism is associated with spas, places with natural mineral water, treating diseases from gout to liver disorders and bronchitis. Winter tourism involves winter sports like snowboarding and skiing in the mountainous areas while mass tourism is travelling to great seaside resort, beaches and islands. Pilgrimage is a tourism that involves travelling to sacred places for religious reasons.

Tourism is vital for our country due to the income generated by the consumption of goods and services by tourists, the taxes from businesses in tourism industry, and the opportunity of employment in service industries related with tourism. These service industries include transportation services such as cruise ships and taxis, accommodation services like hotels, restaurants, bars and entertainment venues, and other hospitality industry such as spas and resorts. Malaysia was the most popular tourist destination in the Asia-Pacific region during the Visit Malaysia Years in 1990 and 1994. It was the top foreign exchange earner, ranking in billions of ringgit. This year, it is the Visit Malaysia Year 2007 and it is expected to be more spectacular. Malaysia has everything under the sun that attract tourists – beautiful sandy beaches, exotic island resorts, luxurious hotels, natural tropic forests, and a wide array of festivals celebrated by people with a myriad of races, religions and cultures.

What are the ways to enhance our tourism industry? Travel agents must be creative and come up with new and interesting packages for tourists. Advertising by word of mouth or through brochures alone is not enough. They have to promote a variety of interesting tourist destinations in Malaysia and provide updates of the latest development in the tourism industry in order to woo foreigners to visit Malaysia. Services industries also play an important role in developing the tourism industry. Transportation services, accommodation services and hospitality industry must improve the quality of their services such as public transports, hotels, restaurants, spas, resorts and others. Besides that, the Malaysian public should also play its part in keeping the country clean while showing a good image to tourists. The media should come up with programs and articles to place Malaysia on the world tourist map.

The bottom line is that with everyone working hand in hand, it is not impossible for Malaysia to once again emerge as the top tourist destination in the Asia-Pacific region.

Space, Developments That Will Affect Our Future and Research Papers

At each night, when you look up the night sky, don’t you ever wonder what’s out there? Many questions appear in our mind when we look up the night sky. Is there any other living thing in outer space? Do aliens really exist? How big is the universe? The night sky or commonly known as outer space is indeed full of mysteries. Nowadays, many nations have enhanced space development to explore the unknown. I believe that space development will affect our future and research papers.

Do you know how space development can affect our future? Space exploration is the physical exploration of outer space by human spaceflights and robotic spacecraft. Modern space technologies have allowed space exploration to become a reality. Since the 1990s, private companies began to promote space tourism. This can be a valuable experience for us as we get the chance to travel and explore outer space. It is the dream of every mankind in Earth. Besides that, with sophisticated space technologies, maybe we can even live in outer space someday. Astronomers nowadays are still doing extensive scientific research on space settlement in locations outside Earth, especially in natural satellites and planet such as the Moon and Mars. Space settlement maybe can solve the world population problem as the number of human beings in our world today is sky-rocketing. Space vehicles may also be invented someday and allow us to travel through space or to another planet.

Apart from that, I think that space development can also bring changes to our research papers. Nowadays, modern space technologies have improved by leaps and bounds. The dream of stepping into the outer reaches of the Earth’s atmosphere was driven by space technologies. Rockets are used as launch vehicles for artificial satellites and for human spaceflight and exploration of other planets. Rovers are the space exploration vehicles designed to move across the surface of a planet or asteroid. Astronomical satellites are satellites used for observation of distant planets, galaxies and other outer space objects while spacecrafts and space shuttles are used for human space flight missions. Other space inventions are biosatellites, space probe and aerobot. These modern space inventions have allowed scientists to explore the mysterious outer space and to discover new living things, planets and galaxies easily and thus they can conduct research and create new facts or theories.

However, there are many obstacles of space exploration. First of all, space exploration costs us a fortune. A spacecraft containing temperature controlled cabin, breathable air, food and drink storage, waste disposal, communication systems, safety features and medical facilities, alone is very expensive. What more if space travels do not achieve any major scientific breakthrough? Secondly, space travel can be dangerous. A spacecraft alone does not guarantee safety to humans as space travel is a long journey and humans may encounter problems along the journey such as lack of oxygen gas and get hit by an asteroid. Another obstacle of space exploration is that the outer space is so wide that it took very long time for spacecrafts and space shuttles to travel from Earth to another planets or natural satellites. The distance in outer space is so far that it is measured in light year .Human space travel will never be able to do more than visiting our closest neighbours in the solar system.

In the nutshell, scientists in our world will continue to work hard towards more advanced and sophisticated spacecraft and to solve the obstacles of space exploration in order to achieve our dream of stepping into the outer space and discovering the unknown.

Communications, the Business World and the Media

Today, we live in a world full of technological wonders. Colour televisions, supersonic jets, personal computers and mobile phones are common things. We enjoy a high level of living that our ancestors have never even dreamed of. Nowadays, communication technologies have improved by leaps and bounds. It makes our life easier and has brought many benefits to the business world, the news media and mankind.

Do you know how communication technologies have changed the business world? Business communication is the communication used to promote a product and service, to relay information within the business and to deal with legal and similar issues. Nowadays, Internet, radios and televisions have always become the important advertising medium in the business world. They are used to convey messages and to promote new products and services. Advertisements inform the public about the wide array of products and services that are available in the market and how much they cost. Some business companies attract the customers with colourful and interesting advertisement on the television and Internet while some prefer to publish their new products or services on the newspapers and magazines. Business companies spend a fortune just to advertise their products or services. They build a reputation for their products or services through advertisements. Apart from that, telephones, telegraphs and e-mails enable businessmen to communicate with other businessmen from far and wide and to discuss business matter and trading between two countries. Modern inventions certainly have expanded small business and enhanced international trading among countries.

Besides the business world, communication technologies have also brought a host of benefits to the news media. The news media is the section of the mass media that focuses on presenting news to the public. These include print media like newspapers and magazines and broadcast media like radio stations and television stations. Both print media and broadcast media present the latest news to the public. Thus, it provides us both national issues and world issues like road accidents, terrible flood, water crisis, earthquake, volcanic eruption and weather report. It also provides us political news, economic news, social news and sporting events in a nation.

What are the advantages of communication technologies to us? In this modern hectic world of ours, Internet is now widely used by everyone. Some people use the Internet to find various information and thus to increase their knowledge while some use the Internet to communicate with others via online chatting. Nowadays, everyone has at least a television set at home. Watching television seems to be everyone’s favourite pastime. Television programmes like National Geography and Discovery Science provide us an abundant of knowledge. Some of us prefer to watch entertainment programmes like cartoons and movies just to entertain ourselves. Other modern invention like mobile phones uses microwaves to transmit messages and audio signal to other phones. It enables us to communicate with other people from far and wide.

The bottom line is that the communication technologies certainly have brought enormous good for the business world, the news media and mankind. However, communication technologies can be both a bane or a boon and therefore it is up to the discerning public to benefit the use of communication technologies.

Education and Learning (In and Out of the Workplace)

What is education? Education is a process of teaching, training, and learning, especially in schools or colleges, to improve knowledge, to develop skills and to expand experiences. The education of an individual human begins at birth and continues throughout life. Learning is the goal of education. The process of learning can happen either in or out of the workplace. Formal learning occurs in the workplace while informal learning occurs out of the workplace.

Formal learning is the process of learning that takes place within a teacher-student relationship, such as in a school system. A classroom is the second home to the students and the teachers act as their second parents. Textbooks, workbooks and exercise books are the things often used in formal learning. During the process of teaching and learning, the students pay full attention to listen to the teachers’ explanations and try to understand them. Some students prefer to take notes while listening to the explanations. Asking questions is what they do if they do not understand the teaching. Homework is often assigned to the students after class. At the end of each semester, they are required to sit an examination to test their understanding. Therefore, students need to be hardworking and highly disciplined. Besides the students, teachers need to be efficient in their work and understand a subject well to teach to a new generation of students. Good teachers are able to translate information and experience into knowledge of a subject that is understood and retained by the students.

On the other hand, informal learning is the process of learning that takes place outside of the formal learning system. It occurs through the experience of daily life. For example, a driver would learn to be careful while driving because of the danger of not paying attention to the road. Besides daily life, parents are the important element in a child’s educational development. Parents are the one who spend the most time with their children. Therefore, children are indirectly exposed to parents’ teaching. Parents often educate their children about communication skills, positive attitude and healthy lifestyle. Another example of informal learning is going to the libraries. Libraries provide access to a variety of books and other self-instructional materials. As modern technologies have improved by leaps and bounds, the rise in computer ownership and internet access has given the students greater access to education. Computers are now widely used in developed countries to develop new ways of learning such as online education. This gives students the opportunity to choose what they are interested in learning. Other modern inventions like radios and televisions also provide self-directed learning as they are the source of knowledge.

The bottom line is that education is one of the most important things in the world. If we are not well educated, we will be looked down upon by others and considered as people in the lowly station. As civic-minded people, we must ensure that we are well educated in order to be the role model to the new generation of young children and to contribute to our own country.

Water Resources and Environmental Problems

What is water? Water is a form of molecule that is consisted of two hydrogen atoms and an oxygen atom. Seen from outer space, the world we live in looks almost like a globe of water. Every living organism needs water for its survival. Without water, plants, animals, humans, microbes and everything will perish. Do you know why water is very important to us?

Our body is composed of about 75% of water. Thus, we are literally walking with bags of water. Water allows our blood to flow through the blood vessels and thus supplying our body with various nutrients. It also allows waste matter to be eliminated from our body via the excretory system as waste matter is toxic to our body. Besides that, water also plays a critical role in controlling our body temperature and ensures that the temperature neither drop nor increase or we will be under weather. Everyday we drink glasses of this precious transparent liquid just to relieve thirst. Water is certainly vital to our life.

Water is not only important for the needs of our body. About two thirds of the total surface of the earth is covered with water. Our main source of water is the bountiful skyjuice. Rivers, lakes, seas and oceans have always been our major means of travel. People often use boats and ships to cross the waterways easily to another destination. Before the advent of roads and railways, rivers and other waterways were highways linking people and places. From the cradle of civilization, man has depended on water.

Another importance of water is that we use water to do almost all daily activities such as cooking, bathing, washing and others. Green plants also need water for photosynthesis process which is important to maintain the equilibrium of an ecosystem. Apart from that, water has become an important resource in industries like textile dipping industry, canning industry and food processing industry. Nowadays, hydropower uses water to generate electricity. Hydroelectric power comes from water driving a water turbine connected to a generator. It is a low cost, non-polluting and renewable energy source.

Earth’s water is filled with life. Rivers, lakes, seas and oceans have become the habitat of various kinds of fishes. Nearly all fishes live exclusively in water, and there are many types of marine mammals such as dolphins and whales that also live in water. Plants like plankton and algae grow in the water and are the basis for some underwater ecosystems. Nowadays, fishes have become our major source of food. They provide us an abundant of protein.

However, water pollution has become a serious problem in the world we live in today. It is a hard nut to crack. Our crystal-clear water nowadays has become more and more polluted. Most of our rivers and lakes today are extremely polluted. Piles of rubbish and toxic waste from factories and industrial plants can be found in these dirty rivers and lakes. It is done by irresponsible people who think that rivers and lakes are the suitable dumping ground. As a result, many fishes die from diseases. Polluted water can be a perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes and flies. What more if we use the rivers and lakes as our main source of water. Besides that, oil spilling on the seas and oceans is another serious environmental problem. Thick layer of oil formed on the water surface blocks the sunlight and oxygen from reaching underwater. As a result, many aquatic life die from suffocation.

In the nut shell, as long as there is life on this planet, water will be here. Without water, life as we know it is impossible. Thus, it is important for us to know how precious water is. We ought not to waste it or pollute it by any means. Wasteful habits must cease and reckless development has to be controlled in the nick of time. As saying goes, “prevention is better than cure”. As civic-minded and responsible people, we should always keep our water as clean as a new pin and put an end to the undesirable environmental problems as we know that water is just too precious.

Different Aspects of Culture

Malaysia is a special country as it is a multicultural and multilingual country. The population as on February Year 2007 is 26.6 million citizens consisting of 62% Malays, 24% Chinese, 8% Indians, and other minorities and indigenous peoples. Different races have different culture and tradition.

A multiracial country like Malaysia with a myriad of races, religions and cultures celebrates an array of festivals. The Malays celebrate Hari Raya Puasa, a festival honoured by the Muslims worldwide marking the end of Ramadan, the fasting month. In addition to Hari Raya Puasa, they also celebrate Hari Raya Haji. For the Chinese, Chinese New Year is the most celebrated among the Chinese festivals which lasts for fifteen days and ends with Chap Goh Mei. Other festivals celebrated by Chinese are the Mooncake Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival and Lantern Festival. The majority of Indians in Malaysia are Hindus and they celebrate Deepavali, the festival of light, while Thaipusam is a celebration which pilgrims from all over the country flock to Batu Caves, Selangor. Other festivals like Good Friday, Christmas, Hari Gawai of the Ibans and Pesta Kaamatan of the Kadazan-Dusuns are also celebrated in Malaysia.

From the attire aspect, the Malay women wear baju kurung, kebaya and baju kebarung while the Malay men wear baju melayu with a songkok or cap on their head. Most of the clothing is made up of bright and bold colours. For the Chinese, the women wear the cheongsam. The cheongsam is especially popular around the time of the Chinese New Year and other formal gatherings. On the other hand, the Chinese men wear silk blouses, silk jackets and samfu that are made from one piece of fabric. Colourful saris are often worn by Indian women during ritual prayer in the temple and for everyday living while Indian men wear the same attire as the Malay men.

Malaysian traditional music is heavily influenced by Chinese and Islamic forms. The music is based largely around the gendang (drum) and includes other percussion instruments such as the rebab, a bowed string instrument; the serunai, a double-reed oboe-like instrument, flutes and trumpets. Besides that, the country has a strong tradition of dance and dance drama influenced by Thai, Indian and Portuguese culture. Other artistic forms include wayang kulit (shadow puppet theatre) and silat (a stylised martial art). Crafts like batik, weaving, and silver and brass work are also popular in Malaysia.

The bottom line is that Malaysia is consist of people with different races, religions and cultures, living together in a peaceful and harmonious country where modern technologies have improved by leaps and bounds. It makes Malaysia globally recognized and has attracted many tourists from far and wide. Malaysia is truly a special country.

I Have A Dream

Everybody has a dream. There are some people who dream to have a huge mansion guarded by huge Dobermans and sophisticated burglar alarm. Some people dream to take a vacation at the most beautiful resort far away from the crowded city. There are even some people who dream to travel far away from earth to outer space. I have a dream too. My dream is to graduate with a first class honours degree in Physics from the top ranking university in Oceania. I want to become an excellent educator and physicist to contribute to my country.

Speaking of my country, the 50th National Day is coming soon. We have enjoyed in an independent country where technologies have improved by leaps and bounds, for 50 years. Thus, we as civic-minded Malaysian citizens, should be thankful to our national heroes who have made this world a better place for others and bring hope and light to our country when there seems to be none. They somehow give us, the young generation, to achieve the dream of experiencing the life in a peaceful, harmonious and prosperous country.

As something in return, I promise that I will try my very best to achieve my dream and become an excellent educator and physicist to contribute to my own country.

Work, Attitudes and Beliefs, and Social Changes

Today, we live in a world full of technological wonders. Colour televisions, supersonic jets, personal computers and mobile phones are common things. We enjoy a high level of living that our ancestors have never even dreamed of. Nowadays, there is no doubt that almost everybody works just to earn money to make a living. Doctors, lawyers, engineers, teachers, scientists and policemen are common jobs.

In this modern hectic world of ours, the number of wealthy people has increased while the number of poor people has decreased. It is because most people nowadays work to make a living for themselves and their families. Some of them are wealthy and have many wealthy materials like expensive cars, furniture, jewelleries, paintings and a huge mansion guarded by huge Dobermans and sophisticated burglar alarm. They are also materialistic and have their hands full with jobs. Making money is the only thing they care about as they place money as their top priority in their lives. Besides that, the number of working women nowadays has increased tremendously.

How working affects the social changes? We know that money can bring us luxuries and pleasures. Many people nowadays only care about making money to buy almost everything they want. However, most of them do not care about their eating habit. They are materialistic and become so busy with their jobs that they do not have any time to prepare nutritious meals. As a result, they take fast food as their meals. They think that eating fast food can save their time. It is important for us to know that eating fast food can damage our health. Besides making us fat and prone to all sorts of illnesses, fast food can cause various diseases like anaemia and skin diseases. Apart from that, they are too busy with their jobs that they also do not have time to do exercise which is the key of good health. What more if the number of working women nowadays is sky-rocketing. They certainly do not have any time to spend with their children and prepare nutritious meals for their families. Therefore, hiring a maid is the best solution to their problems.

For some people, the lure of money becomes overwhelming. Greed blinds them and they spend their whole lives pursuing money. As long as they make profit, they will do it even though they might hurt themselves in the process. There are some people who work extra hours in the offices and factories and there are even some people who work as an engineer and tuition tutor at the same time just to earn extra salaries. These are the examples of people who have allowed money to be the most important thing in their lives. As a result of overworking, they become tired and face pressure and tension all the time. They also go to bed late at night after working. It is really not worth it to damage our health just to earn extra money as health is wealth. They started out trying to make a living and they ended up forgetting to live. Thus, the life of wealth without health is not what we want to follow.

The bottom line is moderation is the key to life. It is the way to live our lives as it is meant to be lived. Therefore, we should put an end to this bad working habit in the nick of time by working in moderation.

Money (Financial Matters) And Natural Resources

Today, we live in a world full of technological wonders. Colour televisions, supersonic jets, personal computers and mobile phones are common things. We enjoy a high level of living that our ancestors have never even dreamed of. Nowadays, natural resources have become important and vital for our life. Natural resources are naturally occurring substances that are considered valuable in their relatively unmodified natural form. Mining, petroleum extraction, fishing, hunting and forestry are generally considered as natural-resource industries.

Natural resources are often classified into renewable and non-renewable resource. Renewable resources are the resources that can restock themselves and be used indefinitely if they are used sustainably. Natural resources that qualify as renewable resources include oxygen, fresh water, timber, biomass, soil and forests. Flow renewable resources like solar power, wind power and hydropower are used to generate electricity. On the other hand, non-renewable resources are natural resources that cannot be re-made, re-grown or regenerated on a scale comparative to their consumption. They exist in a fixed amount that are being renewed or are used up faster than they can be made by nature. Fossil fuels such as coal, petroleum, and natural gas are considered as non-renewable resources, as they do not naturally re-form at a rate that makes the way we use them sustainable.

Nowadays, natural resources have become more and more important in international trading. Countries export and import natural resources with one another to gain profits. Forest is one of the most important natural resources. Underdeveloped country like Papua New Guinea has huge area of reserved forest. As people in Papua New Guinea do not have the technology to process the wood from the forest, they depend on logging companies from Malaysia that use heavy machines with high technology. After processing the wood, they send the wood to other countries like Malaysia, China and European countries to be made into furniture. However, people in Papua New Guinea benefit only from manual jobs provided by logging companies with low pays. It does not contribute much to the country economically.

Petroleum is another important natural resource. Countries which are rich in petroleum like Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Brunei depend on companies like Shell and Exon from developed and rich countries like America and England for oil drilling and processing the petroleum into petrol, diesel, kerosene, cooking gas, and tar. Countries with rich natural resources usually make other developed countries wealthier and politically more powerful. We have heard from news that America once invaded Iraq and exploited the oil in Iraq for personal gain and left the country poor and undeveloped.

Surprisingly, Japan with limited natural resources, emerges as the world’s second economically developed country after America because of its strong financial resources. Its car production industry, Toyota is the best car producer in the world. Japan imports its natural resources like iron, coal and petroleum from poor country like Africa. Besides Japan, Singapore which is a small country with practically no natural resources, emerges as one of the fastest economy growing country in Asia. It depends heavily on developed countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia for natural resources like water, coal, natural gas and petroleum.

In the nut shell, our world is running out of natural resources. New technologies have been invented, enabling resources that are now of little importance to replace those that people are using up. Alternative resources and new technologies alone are not enough. We as human being should also take some actions to conserve the natural resources to prevent them from vanish. As saying goes, “prevention is better than cure”.

The Way People Live Together and Share of the World’s Resources

Today, we as human beings with different races and religions live together in a world full of technological wonders. Colour televisions, supersonic jets, personal computers and mobile phones are common things. We enjoy a high level of living that our ancestors have never even dreamed of. As we live together in the same planet, we often share the world’s resources. Without world’s resources, plants, animals, humans, microbes and everything will perish.

Water is an important world’s resource. Our main source of water is the bountiful skyjuice. About two thirds of the total surface of the earth is covered with water. Rivers, lakes, seas and oceans have always been our major sources of food and means of travel. We often share and use the water for our daily activities such as cooking, bathing, washing and others. We also drink glasses of this precious transparent liquid everyday when we are thirsty. Water is certainly vital for our life. However, there are some of us who share the same water, do not care about the cleanliness of our water. Nowadays, our crystal-clear rivers have become more and more polluted. Most of our rivers today are filled with rubbish and toxic waste from factories done by irresponsible people who think that rivers are the perfect dumping ground. What more if we use the rivers as our source of water.

Another important world’s resource is the air. We share and breathe in the same air everyday for our survival. The air, however, must be clean and fresh. Nowadays, there are some people who do not really appreciate the clean air given to them. Air pollution has become more and more serious. It is certainly a hard nut to crack. The causes of air pollution are factories, vehicles and open burning. Sulfur dioxide gas, carbon monoxide gas and smoke from factories, vehicles and open burning have polluted the air in some part of our world today.

Food is also an important essential that human beings need to survive. We eat food everyday just to prevent ourselves from being hungry. Besides developing or maintaining physical fitness and overall health, balanced and nutritious food is an important component in the prevention of some of the dreaded diseases. There are plenty of foods in the world we live today. Different food comes from different sources. We often share our food together as we live in the same world. However, starvation has become a serious problem. It happens in the poor country like Africa. We often hear from the news that many African have suffered and died from starvation. Where is our value of sharing and humanity? Why are we being so selfish and individualistic as we are now living in a modern world where everyone is treated equally?

In the nut shell, we should know that world’s resources are the precious things that God has created for us. Thus, we have been given the responsibility to take care and protect them. We ought not to waste them or pollute them by any means. Without world’s resources, life as we know it is impossible. Besides taking care of the world’s resources, we should also share them equally as we are now living together in a world where modern technologies have improved by leaps and bounds. Sharing and integrity certainly can unite us.

My Opinion About The Movie Entitled "The King And I"

I have watched the movie entitled “The King and I” during my IELTS class. In my opinion, the movie was interesting and entertaining although the setting of the movie was in the 19th century. The story was filled with lots of laughter, horror and romance. The movie has certainly taught me many lessons. Bravery and determination is one of the moral values that I have learnt from the main character, Anna. Her bravery and determination to travel from America to Siam to work as a royal English teacher, has impressed me. The romantic relationship between Tap Kim and Luntha has proven that nothing is stronger than the power of love. However, my favourite character is the King because he was the funniest character in the movie. I enjoyed laughing about his funny language and behavior. Besides being funny, he was a responsible and highly respected leader who only wanted to change the era of his country to a scientific era. Sadly, the story ended with the death of the King. In the nut shell, the movie was indeed interesting and I really enjoyed watching it.

Exercise, Nutrition and Health

Today, we live in a world full of technological wonders. Colour televisions, supersonic jets, personal computers and mobile phones are common things. We enjoy a high level of living that our ancestors have never even dreamed of. However, although modern technologies have improved by leaps and bounds, most people nowadays do not care much about their health. Lacking of exercises and eating disorder have become their bad habits. It is certainly a hard nut to crack. Do you know the ways to keep our body healthy?

One of the ways to keep our body healthy is by doing regular exercises such as running, jogging, swimming and others. Regular exercise is the performance of some activity to develop or maintain physical fitness and overall health. It is an important component in the prevention of some of the diseases of affluence such as heart disease, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and obesity. Excellent exercises can not only calm our mind as we have faced enough pressure and tension, but can also help to keep our body as fit as a fiddle. The exercise, however, must be vigorous. Vigorous exercise keeps our muscles strong and supple and allows our bones and other organs run in apple pie order. Playing sport games like basketball and badminton can also keep our body healthy besides entertaining ourselves. However, we have to be careful not to over-exercise until we collapse from fatigue.

Exercising alone is not enough. We must also eat balanced and nutritious meals to keep our body healthy. Carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals, fiber and water are the 7 main classes of nutrients that our body needs. Besides that, we should reduce the intake of food that highly contains sugar as it can cause diabetes. Fatty food can make us fat and prone to all sorts of illnesses. We should also know that carbonated drinks and fast food can damage our health and cause many diseases such as heart attack and high blood pressure. I am sure that all of you do not want to be under weather.

Getting a good night’s sleep is another way to keep our body healthy. We must sleep at least 8 hours a day to relax and calm our mind. A sufficient rest and sleep is vital for fitness. All of us know how cranky we can get if we do not have enough sleep. Therefore, it is a good idea to go to bed early each night to have a good night’s sleep. Waking up fresh in the next morning is one thing we are delight in, aren’t we? Like they say, “early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise”. Besides that, we must also avoid sleeping after having a heavy meal as it can make us fat.

Avoiding drugs, alcohol and smoking is also important to keep our body healthy. We have to be careful not to abuse our body. Smoking and taking drugs and alcohol are definitely out. Besides being addictive, such activities take a terrible toll on our body. Therefore, we should not take drugs just to keep active as a drug-addict’s body can be degenerated as the addiction worsens. If a drug-addict does not kick his habit, his fate is almost certainly to be a horrible death. Apart from that, we also should not smoke and drink alcohol to relieve stress or for a quick fix as smoking can cause perpetual cough that may lead to lung diseases or cancer while drinking alcohol can cause us clumsy.

In the nut shell, if we have sufficient exercises, eat and drink sensibly, have enough rest and sleep, and keep away from harmful things like drugs, alcohol and smoking, we should be able to keep ourselves fit and feel like a million bucks. Nobody likes to be weak and ill, for life is much more pleasurable when one is fit. As saying goes, “health is wealth”.

Courses That I Take In PPOU

Today, I am studying Preparatory Program for Overseas Universities (PPOU) in Institute of Liberal Studies, Universiti Tenaga Nasional (UNITEN).PPOU is an intensive, post-secondary, pre-university, preparatory program that prepares me to study abroad.

In this program, I study various subjects including Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry. These are my favourite subjects. I realize that the syllabus in these subjects is almost the same with what I have learned in secondary school. The difference is that the lecturers teach in English Language. When I was in my secondary school, my teachers taught me in Malay Language. It is a big change for me and I am now still trying to adapt with the new teaching method in the university. Besides that, there are other new subjects like Foundation English, Academic Study Skills and International English Language Testing System (IELTS).

Lectures begin at 9 o’clock in the morning and end at 5 o’clock in the afternoon everyday. After coming back from lectures, I do my homework and study for a few hours. Since the day I came here, I never spend my time on watching television as I do not have television set in my apartment. I sleep about 6 hours a day. From Monday to Friday, my daily routines repeat over and over again. During weekend, I spend my time staying at my brother’s house in Shah Alam. Watching television, playing computer games, listening to music, travelling and playing sport games are what I do during weekend as I hardly have time to do leisure activities during weekdays. However, I still spend some of my time to do revision.

In the nut shell, I will try my best to adapt myself in this new hectic world of mine. As I am sponsored by Ministry Of Education, I will also study hard to pass all semester exams with flying colours and thus placing me to top ranking universities in Australia and New Zealand. Hardworking is certainly the key of success.

My First Experience Studying In UNITEN

It was 30th June 2007, the day that I had been waiting for. It was the registration day in Universiti Tenaga Nasional (UNITEN). I remembered when I first arrived at the university, I was totally shocked to see that the campus was extremely huge and beautiful. I was as happy as a lark as it was my first time to study in a campus.

Then, I went to the administration building to register myself as a student. It was that moment when I started to meet a lot of friends with different races, religions and places of origin. They were all scholars just like me. At first, I was very shy and felt isolated as I came from rural area in Sabah. Later, we suddenly became close friends.

After registering as a student, I went to my apartment. I met my roommate and housemates who live together with me. The apartment was clean and comfortable. However, I still missed my family, my mother’s cooking and my home. As the saying goes, “no place feels like home”. Besides that, I have to do my own laundry everyday. I even have to walk on feet to the nearest food court to take my breakfast, lunch and dinner everyday. It takes about 5 minutes to reach the food court.

The first week was the orientation week. I had to queue up everyday just to take my breakfast, lunch and dinner. I had also listened talks and speeches about the rules in the university, self – motivation and others. Besides that, there were also entertainment programmes like group games, regular exercise and running around the campus. The orientation week was certainly fun but tiring. I felt sick due to insufficient sleeping hour.

It was then felt glad when the orientation week was finally over. Lectures started on the second week. I was so excited as it was my first day to attend classes or more well known as lectures. Shuttle bus was prepared to transport students from apartment to Institute of Liberal Studies. The classroom was small but comfortable and air – conditioned. On that day, I met friendly classmates and lecturers. They were experienced and good in teaching. However, I realized that their teaching method is completely different compared with my secondary school teachers. Therefore, it is going to take tine for me to adapt with the new environment. Apart from that, basically my daily routines are self-repeated.

Campus life is certainly exciting but challenging. Therefore, surviving in this new hectic definitely requires some effort. Just remember, “When you are in Rome, do what the Romans do”.