The Mind Matters June2009

Matters ....

Volume 1 | Issue 1 June 2009

Chief Editor’s Piece ...

The Editorial team takes great pleasure in bringing to you the inaugural issue of TheMIND’s newsletter, which coincides with the 3rd anniversary of TheMIND association. Our newsletter is named TheMIND Matters. Yes, TheMIND does matter. TheMIND’s focus is on the development of education to lead the community to success. Success should not be defined narrowly; success should be called such when a person has a broad education, with as many tools as possible at one’s disposal, which he or she can draw upon to acquire the greatest number of opportunities for oneself as well as others. With this focus, TheMIND remains relevant and will continue to play a key role to trigger the young minds of our community to achieve this class of success. TheMIND cares about the society and will go to length to assist the community, with only one condition – the individual or group seeking assistance should have exhausted all avenues of self-help first. Recently, TheMIND committee developed its ‘Wish List’ and on top of the list is:That our Community becomes more independent and does not wait for handouts. Each individual

MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE 2008/2010 Advisors

should propagate the notion of self-help before seeking help. TheMIND’s activities such as the Underachievers’s Project, Micro entrepreneurship Development Clinic and Stepping Out: An Undergraduates’s Guide to the Employment Market are targeted to create a society that can be more independent. We want to shirk off the ‘backward community’ tag that has been stuck on our community. Our youth of today and tomorrow should be well prepared to meet the challenges of life and reverse the negative perception about our community that exists among other Malaysians. TheMIND committee would like to see all the members set the trail towards an independent community that stands tall. Dr Siva Balasundram, TheMIND President mentioned that his motto is, “The more you give, the more you get. So share and spread the goodness around”. He sure lives up to it! I just want to add to that ‘Give from your heart and see the difference it makes to another soul’. Let’s shine together.

K. Kanagi

TheMind’s Activities

Micro Entrepreneurship Development Clinic TheMIND Association will conduct a Micro Entrepreneurship Development Clinic for those who need guidance on business development. The main focus of this clinic is to provide the following services: - writing an effective business proposal - counseling on business feasibility and loan application - tips on business linkages For a start, we are offering this opportunity to five (5) Malaysians who are planning to venture into business and those existing business owners who cannot afford professional advice and guidance. The participants should: i)Possess business acumen ii)Be well equipped with a simple draft about their business flow iii)Not be blacklisted by any credit rating agencies (CTOS, FIS & CCRIS) If you’re interested to become a participant, please email your details to Mr. Ravindran Subramaniam at [email protected] or call 012 2165646.

For circulation to TheMIND Association (PPM 1209/05) members only

Prof Dr Bala Shanmugam Prof Dr Vidyadaran Menon President

Dr Siva K Balasundram Vice President

Dr Ganesan Vadamalai Secretary

Dr Rajesh Ramasamy Assistant Secretary

Ms Chubashini Suntharalingam

Treasurer

Dr Kanagi Kanapathy Committee Members

Miss Mageswary Karroppiah Miss Juliana Jescintha Malar Mr Ravindran Subramaniam Mr Kaviyarasu Yellappan Mr Steven Savarimuthu (co-opted) Dr Sharmili Vidyadaran (co-opted) Auditors

Assoc Prof Dr Uma Rani Sinniah Dr Sarjit Singh Gill

Stepping Out: An Undergraduate’s Guide to the Employment Market This event will consist of a series of talks and workshops designed to groom the undergraduate student for the working world. The seminar has a particular focus on communication and interpersonal skills for garnering a job and charting a career for oneself. Participants will also receive appraisals of their curriculum vitae and be groomed on interview skills. Date: 8th August 2009 (Saturday) Time: 9am to 5pm Venue: Mahsa University College Target group: Final year undergraduate students Registration fee: RM10 per person Registration opened on June 1, 2009, please visit: www.themindassociation.org/steppingout.html

Editorial Team : Chief Editor : Dr Kanagi Kanapathy Editors : Ms Chubashini Suntharalingam | Dr Sharmili Vidyadaran Graphic Designer : Ms Juliana Jescintha Malar Lourdesamy

Report: Bagan Serai Underachievers Programme

Matters .... 11 April 2009: TheMIND organised a skills training programme in collaboration with a group of school teachers from Bagan Serai, led by Mr Kunacegeram. It has always been TheMIND mantra that pursuing excellence through education is the most practical approach to uplift our Indian society. To translate this into reality, we have, in the past, organised several programmes that cater to different educational levels. In this attempt, we designed a skills training programme to motivate Indian students with poor academic achievements to enrol into Governmentfunded industrial training institutes, i.e. Institut Latihan Perindustrian (ILP). Our first skill training programme was conducted in Kulim with 6 target participants and we managed to get admission for 5 of them. In our recent Bagai Serai project, 21 target participants were carefully briefed on the general prospects of ILP programmes and were specifically guided on course selection, with assistance from local ILP lecturers. At the end of the

briefing and guidance session, participants submitted e-applications for selected courses. The success stories from our previous underachiever’s project students certainly added novelty to this programme. Most remarkably, our student from ILP Kepala Batas, Tamilvanan Devadasan was interviewed by TV2 (Illaiyor Medai, 15-04-09) for his good academic achievement. Unlike students with good academic results, our target group (underachievers) is a complicated and less approachable group. However, the volunteers who are mainly secondary school teachers had played a significant role in promoting and recruiting target participants. Their passionate approach and very personal home-to-home visit to pull the students into our programme is highly appreciated and TheMIND salutes their compassion and contribution. This kind of programme requires more volunteers to act as key facilitators. TheMIND Project Team with The Volunteers

Participants: Pre- and post-SPM students

Briefing Session in Progress

Professional Background a. BS (Agricultural Science) / UPM / 1994 b. MS (Soil Chemistry) / UPM / 1997 c. PhD (Precision Agriculture) / Univ. of Minnesota / 2003 d. Current position: Senior Lecturer, UPM e. Area of expertise: Site-specific crop and soil management Geo-spatial statistics Remote sensing

Dr Siva K Balasundram

President of TheMIND Association 2008-2010 Hometown: Kulim, Kedah

TheMIND SPOTLIGHT

Reported by: Dr. Rajesh | Dr. Ganesan

 How did you get involved in TheMIND?

In 2004, I received an e-mail invite to be part of the interim group to formulate and chart out what is now known as TheMind Association. We have since evolved into a ‘self-help’ provider and an enabler of educational excellence. TheMIND must comprise a pool of volunteers who are committed and strongly-motivated…

 How does TheMIND differ from other NGOs that function for the Indian community? Our focus is on education, both formal and informal. To us, education is the key to a better future. TheMIND engages with subject matter experts via our strategic links with academicians and industry players. We target our educational programs at all levels from early education to adult education.

 Your aspirations for TheMIND?

I’d like to see TheMIND progress into a strong and resilient service-oriented entity. TheMIND must strive to build capacity and facilitate the mindset change within the community. To make this happen, TheMIND must comprise a pool of volunteers who are committed and strongly-motivated. There must be a capable management team to drive the Association in tandem with community needs. (TheMIND) engage with subject matter experts via our strategic links with academicians and industry players….

 Favourite motto?

The more you give, the more you get. So share and spread the goodness around!

 How do you relax/hobbies/interests? Chilling out with friends, reading, travelling.

For circulation to TheMIND Association (PPM 1209/05) members only

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June 2009 Volume 1 | Issue 1

Matters .... Any people anywhere, being inclined and having the power, have the right to rise up, and shake off the existing government, and form a new one that suits them better. This is a most valuable - a most sacred right - a right, which we hope and believe, is to liberate the world.

The secret of making something work in your lives is, first of all, the deep desire to make it work; then the faith and belief that it can work; then to hold that clear definite vision in your consciousness and see it working out step by step, without one doubt or disbelief.

Quotable Quotes

Abraham Lincoln The government is like a baby’s alimentary canal, with a happy appetite at one end and no responsibility at the other.

—Eileen Caddy

Let your light shine. Shine within you so that it can shine on someone else. Let your light shine. - Oprah Winfrey

Ronald Reagan

A good compromise, a good piece of legislation, is like a good sentence; or a good piece of music. Everybody can recognize it. They say, ‘Huh. It works. It makes sense.’

Barack Obama

When written in Chinese, the word ‘crisis’ is composed of two characters – one represents danger, and the other represents opportunity.

I just want you to know that, when we talk about war, we’re really talking about peace.

John F. Kennedy

Useful websites

George W. Bush

 http://www.malaysia-scholarship.com/ Calls itself the One-Stop Center for Malaysian Scholarships. Presents a comprehensive list of government and private scholarships, loans and student financial aids. Layout is simple and easyto-use. Has an extensive list of scholarships with a brief write-up on each and a link to the respective websites. Excellent for an initial scouting of financial aid options.

 http://www.everyclick.com/ A charity search engine. Basically performs similarly to Google or Yahoo search engines except Everyclick allocates 50% of its gross revenue to charity each month. Users can select a specific charity to benefit or alternatively Each active charity receives a proportion of that sum equivalent to the proportion in which its supporters use the website relative to the supporters of other active charities. 3

For circulation to TheMIND Association (PPM 1209/05) members only

 http://www.protocol-online.org/ [excerpt from website] “A database of research protocols in a variety of life science fields. It contains protocols contributed by worldwide researchers as well as links to web protocols hosted by worldwide research labs, biotech companies, personal web sites.” TheMIND says: Very useful for postgraduate students and researchers alike. Requires a quick registration that allows you to access various protocols and join bio-forums where you can post specific questions. Feedback is usually quick and pertinent!  http://www.hati.org.my/ Thinking of contributing to a charity but not sure of which one? This website provides a list of charities, NGOs and communities in Malaysia under categories such as animal welfare, children, disabled, environment, orang asli welfare, etc. You can access pertinent information of each charity that links to their personal webpage. A suggestion from TheMIND: donate to a charity close to your loved one as a birthday present! June 2009 Volume 1 | Issue 1

Best Photo Shots ....

Matters ....

TheMIND President: Yes, safeguard the doors! We want these future millionaires to stay till the end of the programme

Now, what is the formula of the chemical that I used in the process to recycle the rubber?

We take pleasure in assembling on the steps of success

Prof. said “Ellah Pugalum Eraivan Oruvanukkeh,” long before A.R. Rahman did!

TheMIND Membership stands at 50.

The Rookies in 2009 1. Saravanan Krishnan 2. Daniel Alexander 3. Vijayaletchimi Thayan 4. Yogarajah Kurusamy 5. Suranthran Periasamy 6. Puspha Gandi Sangaran 7. Sumangala Pillai 8. Busphavinothini 9. Gousalya Siva 10. Sivanesan Shanmugam 11. Benedict Anand 12. Kunacegeram T. Tanimala 13. Jasyindar Singh Sihdu

Membership Status

Breakdown of number of members who joined, by year: 2004 : 3 2007 :12 2008 :22

25 20 15 10 5 0

2004

2007

For circulation to TheMIND Association (PPM 1209/05) members only

2008 4

June 2009 Volume 1 | Issue 1