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by Kazi Mahmood KUALA LUMPUR (Islam Online) - Cardiovascular disease is the number one killer in Malaysia. A report delivered by Deputy Health Minister Suleiman Mohamed indicates that 30% of medically related deaths reported in the country in 1998 were caused by cardiovascular disease. Statistics for the year indicated that 82,356 patients were warded in government hospitals for cardiovascular problems against 58,838 ten years earlier. There were also 4,248 deaths due to the disease in 1998 as compared to 4,059 (1988). Minister Keng Yaik plans to step down Gerakan president, Dr. Lim Keng Yaik, plans to resign as Minister to concentrate on his role as party president, a post he has held since 1980. He is the Primary Industries Minister and leader of the National Front (NF) component party. Gerakan is an ethnic Chinese based party. "It will not be too long in the future," he told a press conference at the outset of the party three-day national delegates conference. Asked whether he was looking for an auspicious date, Keng Yaik quipped: "Perhaps on my birthday next year ... April 8. It is auspicious enough. Give me time." Keng Yaik also said he was not resigning under any circumstances. "It will not be a dramatic resignation exercise. When the decision is made, you can bet your life that there will be no turning around." Keng Yaik joined Gerakan in 1973 and assumed the deputy presidency the following year. He was elected president in 1980 and made a full Minister in 1986. By stepping down, Keng Yaik said it would allow him to spend more time on party matters and meet members nationwide. "You don't need to be a Minister to work for the party ... I have no qualms about stepping down," he said. Another reason for stepping down was due in part to a decision he claimed was made long ago; the party's lack of funds. As such, he plans to get involved in business and help the party improve its finances. "As long as I am a Minister, I find it very difficult to solicit funds for the party because people will then say you're doing business in the party. "But if I am not in the Government, then I can do so, with all my networking and goodwill which I built up over the years." IT expansion too slow in rural areas Students in remote areas are intimidated by information technology software, said Telekom Smart School (TSS) chief executive officer Mustopha Ahmed. "I have seen cases where the students tremble as they are about to press a button on the keyboard." Mustopha likened this to the early 1960s when people trembled as they attempted to answer telephone calls. That was the period when telephones were being introduced in those areas. For the Smart School project to succeed, Mustopha said, students, teachers and parents must be open to change. He was speaking after a presentation on TSS at Balai Berita yesterday. TSS has the responsibility of producing a technologically literate and critical thinking workforce in line with Vision 2020. As one of the flagship applications of the Multimedia Super Corridor, smart schools will be the cornerstone of an educational system on which future schools will be modeled. To achieve this target, Mustopha said, students all over Malaysia should be IT-friendly and not be scared or intimidated by the thought of using computers. "The smart school system has been implemented in the United States, Canada and most parts of Europe," he said. "It has proven to be a success and that is what we are trying to accomplish here in Malaysia." He cited an example where a teacher in Ipswich, England had a website specially designed to reply to questions from parents. "With this method, parents are saved the hassle of going to their children's school as they can send their questions or queries by e-mail and get an answer within 24 hours." Mustopha said as TSS was the developer of the smart school project and the provider of hardware, software, learning materials and systems integration, it was also planning to come up with such a system soon. "We hope to launch a system where the parents will be able to interact more often with the teachers. "Using this method, parents need not go to the school to check on their children's performance." He said the parents could just click and keep track of their children's studies and co-curricular activities. TSS was commissioned by the government in July last year to implement the RM300 million Smart School pilot project in 90 schools nationwide. He said 81 schools already had the technology infrastructure in place, while another nine schools under this project are under construction. Mustopha said it cost about RM750,000 to outfit a school which lacked the infrastructure to support the Smart School concept. Mustopha stated schools needed to have basic amenities like electricity and telecommunications, a place to set up a computer lab, and most importantly, staff and students. He added that parents as well should be open to change. |
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