Sanya Business Trip (by Saharudin)

Self-portrait photo

A business trip oversea is nothing much leisure and excitement than flying abroad on a family vacation. However, if one does not used to travel abroad and have never stepped into the country to be visited, feelings of pleasure cannot be denied to exist, albeit slightly. Perhaps this opportunity only happens once in a long time parameter, taking into account that overseas business trips are often handled by a higher level of senior management.

My recent visit to Sanya, Hainan, is my first trip to the asian country outside South East Asia. I have been to several countries, but that are all merely within the province. Therefore China has carved one more experience on my trip abroad.

Before the event occurs, the urge of curiosity has raised many questions about the nature of places to be visited. With the prevalent access of the internet at my fingertips, I managed to figure out information such as, there locates The Guanyin Statue of Hainan, also known as Guan Yin of the South Sea of Sanya, a 108 metre tall statue that is currently gazzetted as the fourth tallest statue in the world.

It took us 13 accumulate hours, commence from my home in Shah Alam early in the morning (7.15am) to arrive the hotel at Sanya early in the night (8.15pm). Public communication is an obvious failure because most people there are illiterate in english. They are mono-lingual society and speak only their own language, even if they communicate with tourists or foreigners. Only few spoke a little english and they are the people who are employed by hotels. Even worst, they have different terms for some of the most basic tittle. For example, Hotel Crowne Plaza is called "Hua Yu Huang Quan" in Chinese.

In conclusion, it was a fruitful business trip because we have met up with our international business partners and share many information ahead our business endavours.

Heavenly Kundasang (by Monlia Nair)

Self-portrait photo

I must thank my family for deciding to spend our holiday in Sabah, particularly in Kundasang, at the foothills of Mount Kinabalu. The two-hour flight to Kota Kinabalu and the equally long, winding drive from the capital is nothing compared to what Kundasang has to offer, not only in terms of money but also the soul.

The excitement started the moment we saw the majestic mountain with a pool of clouds above it, looking like a crown. Ranau welcomed us with the friendly smiles of the locals, mountain plains, windy roads, tall trees, blooming wild flowers and fresh vegetables and fruit. Our rooms at the Kinabalu Resort & Spa is at the top of the hill, with a view of Mt. Kinabalu. She seemed near yet far away, with clouds caressing and blanketing her, even in mid-day. Thanks to the cold wind, we did not need a fan or air-conditioner. Mt. Kinabalu Park was very exciting. It welcomed us with the fragrance of wild lemongrass. Mountaineers and adventure lovers were enjoying the scenery, terrain and the breeze. The waterfall at the foot of the mountain was an awesome sight. The breathtaking view and kaleidoscopic colours made me wonder why we hadn’t been doing more to make this place a landmark tourism spot. Throughout my three-night stay, I did not see many tourists, except for a handful of Japanese and Koreans. I think Kundasang is a gold mine that can be used as the brand identity for Malaysia.

The people, landscape, weather, wonderful seafood, and the mountain make for a wonderful holiday experience. But the place needs a face lift, although I see some work going on at Ranau. It needs more hotels, public amenities and more organised displays of its fresh produce. To avoid littering, bring along small plastic bags for rubbish. More litter bins also need to be placed at tourist spots.

The author for 'Heavenly Kundasang' is Monlia Nair, the winner for NST short essay weekly contest, published in NST on 20 July 2011.

Government Corruption

Photo courtesy swallowandregurgitate.com

In many countries, few politicians have enough integrity to resist corruption and bribery. Because such practices are so prevalent, officials often evade any personal sense of guilt by pretending that everyone is just as corrupt as they are. Even in cases of really grotesque corruption, the kind that right cause a scandal in a less-corrupt government, the general population may not be shocked. Instead, they may cynically conclude that government corruption is natural and unavoidable. In this environment, the efforts of an honest politician to unmask corruption may be eroded by the public’s lack of interest, causing any efforts at reform to fail.

Yilmaz, L. S., & Zwier, L. J., (2005). In, Government Corruption, (pp142-145). 400 must-have words for the TOEFL. New York, NY: The McGraw-Hill Companies.

Ancient Life

Photo courtesy yunphoto.net

Organic products from ancient life are an integral part of the Earth’s resources, offering scientists a more accurate picture of ancient life-forms. One key to ancient life comes in the form of petrified matter. Petrifaction is a process that slowly turns the remains of a living object into stone. In this process, minerals seep into a mass of organic matter. After the organic matter has been replaced, a mineral version of the living object is left. Petrifaction often occurs in trees that are found adjacent to rivers, floodable areas, and volcanoes, which provide the mud or ash that initially covers the organic matter. Some pieces of petrified wood retain the original cellular structure of the wood and the grain can be easily seen.

Today, it is feasible to petrify wood in a simple laboratory process. Fossils are another way that ancient life is preserved. Most fossils include an animal’s hard parts, such as teeth and bones. One type of fossil, called a trace fossil, may also include eggs, tooth marks, contents of the guts, and fossil excrement. Some products from ancient life offer us more than scientific knowledge. One such product is coal, a solid fuel of plant origin. It develops over millions of years, during which swamp vegetation is submerged in water, depleted of oxygen, and covered by layers and layers of sand and mud. These overlapping layers settle with the Earth’s movements and are compressed over time.

Yilmaz, L. S., & Zwier, L. J., (2005). In, Ancient Life, (pp27-30). 400 must-have words for the TOEFL. New York, NY: The McGraw-Hill Companies.

Memory

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Like other functions of the human mind, perception and memory are imperfect. When we tell a story about something that we witnessed, we may intuitively believe that our recollection is accurate. However, several factors bias our memories of events. To study this anomaly, let us look at the three steps of memory creation: acquisition of memory, storing of memory, and retrieval. At every stage of memory formation, distortion can occur.

At the first stage, acquisition of memory, events are perceived and bits of information are prepared for storage in the brain. However, it is impossible for us to remember every single thing we observe. Through processes that are both conscious and unconscious, people determine which details they will focus on.

In its second stage, storage, memories can become further distorted. Over time, our memories degrade, as we forget portions of events. To compensate, we may even creatively fill in the gap created by the recession of long-term memory. Additionally, an individual’s memory can be altered during the storage stage by intervening occurrences,which can be subconsciously combined with previously stored memories.

Last but not least,we search our memory to locate information. During recall, emotion also seems to play a part in memory distortion. In sum, our memories may not be the indisputable source of information that we would like them to be.

Yilmaz, L. S., & Zwier, L. J., (2005). In, Memory, (pp43-46). 400 must-have words for the TOEFL. New York, NY: The McGraw-Hill Companies.

Passion

Photo courtesy cravens.co.uk

Perhaps no emotion is more complex than passion. Passion can show itself in a negative way as a burst of anger, or in a more pleasant way, as love. Passion can engender blind devotion for a lover or plunge a person into despondent misery if he or she feels a lack of reciprocity in the relationship. Passion and love cause innumerable dilemmas, and people constantly seek out ways to understand these emotions, as evidenced by the proliferation of articles, books, talk shows, and Web pages devoted to relationships.

Many of these forums have loyal followings and have become cultural fixtures. The endless flow of information and opinions about the complex situations aroused by passion will probably not vanish anytime soon.

Yilmaz, L. S., & Zwier, L. J., (2005). In, Passion, (pp166-169). 400 must-have words for the TOEFL. New York, NY: The McGraw-Hill Companies.

Social Rebels

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Many adolescents and young adults go through a period when they rebel against what they perceive as an insincere world. Teens may take up causes such as radical environmentalism, protesting against the status quo. They may choose clothes that annoy their parents and associate with people from the fringes of society. This is a delicate period in a person’s life, full of chances to make bad decisions that could lead to juvenile delinquency and even jail. Conversely, it can be a time of personal discovery that strengthens teens in a moral rejection of hedonistic lifestyles. At this age they may fearlessly speak up against hypocritically self-righteous authorities and against manipulation by the news media. These adolescent protests can lead to conflicts within families and communities, but stirring things up can also lead to serious reflection and positive change.

Yilmaz, L. S., & Zwier, L. J., (2005). In, Social Rebels, (pp175-180). 400 must-have words for the TOEFL. New York, NY: The McGraw-Hill Companies.