Lowyat.NET: Latest topics by thesoothsayer

Private clinic doctors threaten RM20 surcharge

thesoothsayer — Mon, 18 Nov 2024 19:14:58 +0800

https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/...e-display-rule/

QUOTE

Private clinic doctors threaten RM20 surcharge over new price display rule
FMT Reporters
-
18 Nov 2024, 05:38 PM
Federation says this ‘regulatory compliance charge’ is necessary to deal with higher costs caused by the ‘over-regulation’ of private healthcare.
PETALING JAYA: A private doctors’ group has advised its members to add a RM20 fee to patients’ bills to cover the cost of complying with new government rules requiring clinics to display service prices.

In a statement today, the Federation of Private Medical Practitioners’ Associations Malaysia (FPMPAM) said the “regulatory compliance charge” is necessary to deal with rising expenses caused by the “over-regulation” of private healthcare.

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Malaysia-Belanda kerjasama dalam projek rintis mitigasi banjir, kata Fadillah
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Private clinic doctors threaten RM20 surcharge over new price display rule
FMT Reporters
-
18 Nov 2024, 05:38 PM
Federation says this ‘regulatory compliance charge’ is necessary to deal with higher costs caused by the ‘over-regulation’ of private healthcare.

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Free Malaysia Today
FPMPAM president Dr G Shanmuganathan said private clinic doctors once managed 60% of outpatient visits but now their patient numbers are falling.
PETALING JAYA: A private doctors’ group has advised its members to add a RM20 fee to patients’ bills to cover the cost of complying with new government rules requiring clinics to display service prices.

In a statement today, the Federation of Private Medical Practitioners’ Associations Malaysia (FPMPAM) said the “regulatory compliance charge” is necessary to deal with rising expenses caused by the “over-regulation” of private healthcare.

FPMPAM said the proposed RM20 addition will help clinics cover compliance costs such as medical indemnity, waste disposal fees and compliance with data protection laws.

The charge can be adjusted from time to time when newer laws are imposed, it said.

This comes after health minister Dzulkelfly Ahmad recently said the government would require the prices of medication to be displayed in all private healthcare facilities from next year to boost transparency.

However, FPMPAM president Dr G Shanmuganathan said the price display rule is “unproductive and unnecessary”, warning it could hurt private healthcare.

“Such unwarranted regulations not only increase costs and decrease accessibility but will endanger the quality of care to patients.

“The public sector is already in a mess and now its policies are messing up the private sector as well,” he said in a statement.

Shanmuganathan said the new rule comes in the same vein as the government’s previous “quick-fix measures” such as sending medicines to patients by post and encouraging self-diagnosis and medication, which he claimed had led to the shutdown of many clinics.

He said general practitioners once managed 60% of outpatient visits but now their patient numbers are falling.

“The patient loads of general practitioners (GP) have dropped and many clinics are closing due to the cost of over-regulation, micromanagement and the boom in middlemen in healthcare,” he said.

The Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) has also spoken out against the new rule recently, calling it impractical and costly.

“GP clinics provide professional healthcare services, not retail transactions. Displaying a full list of medication prices at the counter would significantly increase operational costs,” said MMA president Dr Kalwinder Singh Khaira.

MMA said higher costs could force clinics to close, making it harder for people to get medical care.

Kalwinder also said many clinics have had to rely on the little profits they make from selling medications to cover their running costs, and are struggling with rising costs, stagnant fees and growing pressure from middlemen such as third-party administrators.

One-off cost to make signage for display requires 20 surcharge? Just like the hawkers who increase the price of their drinks when price of sugar goes up. Luckily there are still good and reasonable doctors around unlike the presidents quoted here.

Sandwich maker grill plate. Is it safe?

thesoothsayer — Mon, 31 Oct 2022 21:14:32 +0800

Just got a sandwich maker and I'm wondering if the material of the grilling plate is actually safe?

The coating seems to be just sprayed on.

[attachmentid=11295798]

[attachmentid=11295800]

Tycoon murders woman's husband to marry her

thesoothsayer — Mon, 15 Jul 2019 11:10:24 +0800

https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/sarav...onviction-99129

TLDR version:
Millionaire wanted to marry woman, who was his employee's daughter, as his third wife so that he could be richer based on advice from an astrologer. Murdered her husband to do so. Sentenced to life imprisonment.

QUOTE

Saravana Bhavan founder P Rajagopal sentenced to life for murder, SC upholds conviction
The Supreme Court's order comes 18 years after P Rajagopal plotted the murder of Santhakumar.

Eighteen years after the abduction and murder of a man in Tamil Nadu, the Supreme Court on Friday upheld the conviction and life imprisonment of P Rajagopal, the founder of the Saravana Bhavan chain of hotels. The apex court’s order comes 10 years after the Madras High Court’s sentence. Owing to medical grounds, the SC bench has given Rajagopal time until July 7 to surrender.

The case dates back to 2001 when P Rajagopal, also known as Annachi, hired eight henchmen to abduct and murder Prince Santhakumar. This as Santhakumar, a math teacher had married a woman named Jeevajyothi, who was the daughter of Rajagopal’s employee Ramaswamy. Jeevajyothi was a woman Rajagopal wanted to marry and make her his third wife.

Ramasamy and his family shifted to Chennai sometime before 1999 and he started working in Saravana Bhavan as an Assistant Manager. Meanwhile, he engaged Santhakumar to take math tuition for his son. Later, Ramasamy left for Malaysia and his daughter Jeevajyothi, fell in love with Santhakumar. Ramasamy did not agree to the marriage as Santhakumar was a Christian, but the couple registered their marriage in April 1999.

A few months later, the newly married couple approached Jeevajyothi's uncle and Rajagopal for a loan to start a travel agency. Rajagopal, who then became obsessed with her, started calling her on a daily basis and gifting her expensive things like jewellery.

According to reports, Rajagopal had pursued Jeevajyothi, who was then 20, to become his third wife. This was reportedly based on an astrologer’s advice. The man then tried to drive a wedge between the couple, first by making a doctor tell Jeevajyothi that her husband needed to undergo an HIV test. At one point, he gifted her a phone. In 2001, Jeevajyothi threatened to go to the police as Rajagopal started interfering in her life more. He then told her that he would 'manage police with money' and boasted that his second wife too had married him under duress, but she was living a 'queen's life after'.

Rajagopal also announced to Santhakumar that he intended to marry his wife. When the couple tried to move out of Chennai to an unknown location, Santhakumar was assaulted by Rajagopal and his henchmen. Though the couple went and lodged a police complaint, they were continuously harassed.

In October 2001, Santhakumar was abducted and his wife taken to a village in TN to remove 'witch craft' effects on her. Though Rajagopal's henchman and second accused Daniel claimed that he had killed Santhakumar by leaving him tied to a railway track, Santhakumar was spared. He contacted his wife and the couple confronted Rajagopal. On 26 October 2001, Jeevajyothi, Santhakumar and her family were taken to Tiruchendur. Somewhere along the way Santhakumar was separated from the rest of the family and murdered. His body was found in the hill station of Kodaikanal.

Three years later, in 2004, the hotelier was found guilty by a sessions court and sentenced to 10 years rigorous imprisonment.

While the Saravana Bhavan founder went on to challenge his conviction, the prosecution sought an enhancement of his punishment. The Madras High Court, in 2009, set aside the sessions court’s punishment, pointing out that a conviction under Section 302 (murder) of the IPC justified life imprisonment. The judgment by Justice Banumathi and Justice PK Misra on 19 March, 2009 had noted that the prosecution had proved that 'Rajagopal either because he was advised by an astrologer that his business and prosperity would increase if he takes Jeevajyothi as his third wife or maybe he was besotted with Jeevajyothi, notwithstanding that she had already married Santhakumar'.

For Jeevajyothi, it had been a huge battle to bring Rajagopal to justice. Santhakumar's own brother had turned hostile and refused to identify his dead body that had been recovered from a jungle. The Madras HC in its judgment had noted that the couple's final effort to convince Rajagopal to leave them alone made it 'obvious that the overwhelming love for each other persuaded them to take the risk'.

Car insurance increased this year?

thesoothsayer — Wed, 26 Jun 2019 11:08:25 +0800

Just got my renewal notice, and saw that the basic premium has gone up this year.

Is it the same for everyone? Didn't take note of the news on this. Is it due to the detariffication?

| Year | Sum Assured |Basic Premium|
| 2018 | 55000 |1568.79|
| 2019 | 49000 |~~1656.79~~1833.11|

1 year old doesn't eat much

thesoothsayer — Tue, 19 Mar 2019 12:16:54 +0800

I have a 1 year old who doesn't eat much.

She takes a little bit of this and that.

Eg. breakfast. I made banana and blueberry pancake. She takes a few small bites. Eats 1/4 banana. Some orange juice, some milk. Done.

This is the same throughout the day.

Can't think of what to cook for her meals anymore. Doesn't like porridge. Loves bread and likes noodles. She can eat plain bread or bread dipped with cream cheese or unsalted peanut butter every day!

If the food is new, she takes a lot, but if you repeat it again within 1-2 weeks, she won't eat much anymore. An example was she was happily devouring pear last week, bought more over the weekend and she refused to open her mouth to even taste it.

Was eating quite well at 8 months. Then started teething and it's been going downhill from there. Still drinks some formula milk, though.

Still very active, doesn't sleep much for a 1 year old. She sleeps about 11 hrs a day vs an average of 14 hours (from online stats).

On one hand, I'm worried about her nutrition, while on the other, she seems to be growing and putting on weight (median range for her age) and very active.

Anyone else experienced something like this with a picky eater?

Sarawak PKR info chief 'amused' Rafizi singled him

thesoothsayer — Sat, 17 Nov 2018 21:26:13 +0800

QUOTE

KUCHING: A state Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PRK) leader has questioned the motive of Rafizi Ramli’s recent statement against his rival Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali over the party’s deputy president post.

PKR Betong Division chief Vernon Kedit asked “What is he trying to get at?”, referring to Rafizi’s assertion that Azmin Ali would win the election by a slim majority of two per cent.

“Two per cent may seem very slight but Rafizi, being an auditor, would know that when we translate two per cent into factual numbers, we are looking at thousands of votes. Not just two votes.

“Alas, does he take the public for fools? How can he dispute and question the legitimate right of thousands of party members who chose Datuk Seri Azmin Ali over him?” he said in a statement to The Borneo Post’s sister paper Utusan Borneo yesterday.

He was prompted for comments on Rafizi’s lengthy statement dated Nov 16, 2018, touching on unofficial results of the deputy presidency election.

An excerpt reads: “I was informed that, unofficially, the vote difference between me and Azmin Ali was 2,500 votes, which is less than two per cent of the total voting (about 141,000 party members). I think Azmin Ali will be announced as the deputy president with a popular vote of not more than 51 per cent, compared to mine of about 49 per cent.”

Vernon said he could also question the legitimacy of 13,000 new members “dubiously registered after the closing date of registration deciding the leadership of my party”.

“I am very amused that someone of Rafizi’s stature and seniority in the party would single me out from the thousands of supporters of Azmin Ali and cast aspersions on my character just because I made two reports to the MACC (Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission).

“He further suggests that I would not desist but bring the party to the Registrar of Societies and the courts,” he said.

He wondered if Rafizi remained the same person who exposed the National Feedlot Corporation (NFC) scandal, or “the one who went to town on the 1MDB (1Malaysia Development Bhd) issue”.

“Is this not the same Rafizi who fought corruption and abuse of power all these years? Then why is Rafizi singling me out for doing exactly the same?

“Just because it allegedly happened within certain quarters of the party does not mean we are to turn a blind eye. As the idiom goes, ‘What’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander’,” pointed out Vernon.

He regretted that Rafizi chose to ignore the fact that people aligned to him had also made reports to the MACC.

And this, Vernon said, happened before he made his Statutory Declaration and first MACC report.

“It is equally regrettable that he chooses to ignore that a certain election coordinator of a certain state aligned to him was caught by the MACC for graft in this party election.

“Perhaps the famous idiom, ‘People who live in glass houses should not throw stones’, slipped Rafizi’s mind in his haste to concede defeat,” he added.

He said he chose not to engage in a public war of words and idioms with Rafizi “in the pursuit of gentlemanly, professional and mature politics”.

“This rejoinder seeks only to amplify certain facts which must not be distorted,” concluded Vernon.

http://www.theborneopost.com/2018/11/17/ve...zis-statements/

I think the ROS should investigate PKR regardless. Seems like there's something to hide that one of the contestants is afraid enough to concede defeat rather than let the party be investigated and face the courts.

Prey Inc. Refutes Election Malware Claims of PKR

thesoothsayer — Tue, 13 Nov 2018 09:00:28 +0800

TLDR: Prey says its software not so canggih. But you'd expect a hacker group to make denials like this, wouldn't you?

QUOTE

Prey Inc. Refutes Election Malware Claims of Malaysian PKR
Email Print Friendly Share
November 12, 2018 13:00 ET | Source: Prey, Inc.

Affirms Prey Anti-Theft is not capable of tampering with voting process

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 12, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Prey Inc., provider of the cross-platform, open-source anti-theft software that protects more than eight million mobile devices, addresses today recent accusations against Prey’ software by PKR deputy presidential candidate Rafizi Ramli and JPP chairman Datuk Rashid Din during the PKR elections in Malaysia, in which the results in the Julau district of Sarawak of said elections were suspended due to a supposed security breach in a set of tablets utilized as e-voting machines. Prey affirms that its Prey Anti-Theft software is not capable of carrying out the specific election tampering activities.

For more than seven years, the open-source Prey Anti-theft application has enjoyed worldwide acceptance for its ability to protect phones, tablets, and laptops against theft and their data against loss. As a company, Prey Inc. also provides Enterprise solutions for recognized companies, universities, and non-governmental organizations globally.

In this alleged breach, the Prey Anti-theft mobile app was found installed, allegedly without authorization. It is still being debated if the application was installed by party election workers looking to secure the devices, since installing applications required Administrator credentials, or if was installed by third-party individuals looking to tamper or disrupt the devices.

In these recent allegations, Prey’s software has been incorrectly accused of:

Eliminating voting applications installed on the tablets
Manipulating voting decisions remotely
Wiping out votes on the tablet, as a feature
Controlling the tablets remotely as a remote desktop
Being a malware and spyware application
Breaching password-protected systems to install the application

Prey Inc. confirms that its software is not capable of carrying out said activities, being that the application itself has no Remote Desktop feature, and no remote control capabilities that allow the deletion of specific applications or the ability to write or modify data in the device.

Prey’s free features include device tracking and security actions such as the remote screen lock, the alarm, and message alert. The Remote File Retrieval and Remote Wipe features are part of paid plans exclusively; furthermore, Remote Wipe is only capable of wiping the SD card or to format the Android device completely. It cannot target files specifically or modify them to alter their content.

Prey Inc. also discredits allegations that describe Prey as malware capable of bypassing in-device security that avoids unauthorized user modifications, such as tampering of data or installing applications. When said protections are active, the application can only be installed by the device’s Administrator.

The company was not, at any given moment, involved in the election process or in the configuration of the devices utilized; moreover, Prey Inc. isn’t responsible for the organization or disruption of the security measures that are to be taken to protect e-voting devices during events of such sensibility.

Prey is committed to the protection of our users privacy and security. We have complied with the GDPR regulation since it came into effect, so that users can be protected by the highest worldwide privacy standards. Even if the European regulation is bound specifically to all activities inside that continent, Prey Inc. applies these terms and standards globally to ensure all users around the globe are covered. We have also kept our software as an open-source, due to established trust between our solution and the community.

We believe the candidate’s words come in good faith and stem from a misunderstanding of how the software works. Given this position, we refrain for now to pursue further legal actions.

About Prey Inc.
Prey Inc. is is the only provider of anti-theft solutions for tracking and protecting mobile devices that can manage and secure all of an organization’s mobile devices from the same place. Installed on more than 8 million devices worldwide, Prey’s cross-platform, open-source security solution consolidates mobile device management on a single account, no matter how many different device manufacturers or operating system need to be tracked. Find out more at www.preyproject.com

Media Contact
Mike Schultz | Cavalier Communications
Phone: 978-496-1012
Mike@cavalier-communications.com

Separating EPF and life insurance for tax relief

thesoothsayer — Sun, 04 Nov 2018 10:56:02 +0800

What do you think of the new tax relief structure where EPF and life insurance are separated into different categories?

Used to be that EPF and life insurance had a total tax relief of 6k.

Now, EPF has only 4k tax relief and life insurance has a tax relief of 3k.

At first glance, seems good, but the old structure is better for most people.

Example, if you're earning 4545.45 per month, you used to be able to claim up to 6k tax relief. Now, you can only claim 4k tax relief. Another 3k is claimable only if you have 3k annual premium of life insurance. Not sure how many families have 3k life insurance on each wage earner to take advantage of this scheme?

At least EPF is a compulsory contribution, so everyone earning >=4545.45 monthly would have benefited from the 6k relief.

QUOTE

* Tax relief for EPF contribution, life insurance or takaful premium will be separated.

* Income tax relief up to RM4,000 on EPF contribution or approved pension fund; and tax relief of up to RM3,000 on takaful or life insurance premium payments.

Read more at https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2018...eOXEeHy5lzio.99

It's a trap!

thesoothsayer — Fri, 21 Sep 2018 21:36:55 +0800

Too much politics these days. Important news are being missed out on.

QUOTE

Man poses as woman, blindfolds 80 straight men, tricks them into gay sex and films them

A South Florida man who cross-dressed as a woman and taped himself having sex with at least 80 unsuspecting straight men to produce internet porn videos pleaded guilty Thursday (Sept 20) in Miami federal court.

Bryan Deneumostier, 33, , known by the screen name “susanleon33326,” admitted engaging in sex with 150 men – with just over half unaware of his production of the secret videos and just under half aware of it.

An indictment, filed by prosecutors Cary Aronovitz and Mona Sedky, lists three victims related to his operation of “StraightBoyz.”

The site promised gay men videos of real straight men being conned into accepting sex acts, all while blindfolded or wearing blacked-out goggles.

image: https://content.thestar.com.my/smg/settag/name=lotame/tags=

The conman, or "conwoman", has been held without bond after being charged this summer with luring the men to his Homestead home, south of Miami, making the sex tapes without their knowledge and then uploading them on a porn site that charged a fee.

He was arrested in July on charges of making unlawful recordings of commercial sex acts for an adult website.

Deneumostier pleaded guilty to two counts of illegal interception of oral communications before US District Judge Cecilia Altonaga and faces up to 10 years in prison at his sentencing on November 29.

As part of his plea agreement, three related charges will be dropped by federal prosecutors.

Investigators believe he helped operate the subscription-based adult site, which featured about 620 video hook ups, over the past four years. Although the website is no longer in operation, many of the videos can still be viewed on other porn sites.

“The site offered for streaming approximately 619 ‘hook up’ videos that depicted sexual activity between Deneumostier and other men,” according to the US Attorney’s Office.

“The defendant had surreptitiously made audio and video recordings of the sexual encounters, without the victims’ knowledge or consent. He later sold the ‘hook up’ videos to a third party located overseas and caused them to be posted onto the website.”

Agents with Homeland Security Investigations found that at least 80 of the men depicted on the site were victims, never knowing their sexual encounters were being recorded and uploaded to the web.

Agents believe Deneumostier posed as a “real, heterosexual female” and posted ads on Craigslist seeking flings at her house near the Homestead Reserve Air Base, south of Miami.

Deneumostier was represented by Assistant Federal Public Defender Raymond D’Arsey Houlihan III.

He has other legal troubles. Earlier this summer, Deneumostier was arrested and charged with having sex with an underage boy at the Floridian Hotel in Homestead, according to a police report. - AFP

Read more at https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2018/...MJYySH1Axzo7.99

[attachmentid=10034185]

Anwar to advise Dr Maszlee

thesoothsayer — Mon, 17 Sep 2018 15:40:26 +0800

I hope he manages to set Dr. Maszlee onto the right path. Our MoE hasn't been performing as expected.

Star Sos

QUOTE

Anwar to meet Dr Maszlee over IIUM appointment next week

KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim says he plans to meet with Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik over the latter's appointment as International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) president.

The PKR president-elect said he will meet with the academician turned minister next week to offer some advice regarding the controversy.

"He (Maszlee) is a good academician with abilities although a few of his decisions has given rise to some negative views.

"I think this can be rectified through dialogue.

"I will meet him next week so that this can be made right," he said when addressing a youth dialogue and book launch titled A People' s History of Malaysia authored by Dr Syed Husin Ali on Sunday (Sept 16).

Maszlee's appointment has drawn a storm of controversy with student activists holding protests to demand he relinquish his post.

Several civil society groups have also expressed their concern over the appointment, which they claim is at odds with Pakatan Harapan's pledge to avoid political appointments.

Maszlee had since defended his appointment, saying he had been tasked to return the university back to its past glory.

Rafizi says sorry, pays 20k in defamation suit

thesoothsayer — Mon, 03 Sep 2018 21:58:17 +0800

https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2018...efamation-suit/

QUOTE

Rafizi says sorry to Rahman Dahlan, ordered to pay RM20,000 in defamation suit
NATION
Monday, 3 Sep 2018

11:08 AM MYT
by maizatul

KUALA LUMPUR: A suit filed by former minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan against PKR vice president Rafizi Ramli over the Ekspo Negaraku 2017 exhibition has been settled after the latter apologised in court.

Abdul Rahman's lawyer Datuk M. Reza Hassan told High Court judge Justice Mohd Zaki Abdul Wahab that the suit has been settled and both parties have signed the draft of consent judgement.

Reza said one of the terms agreed by parties was to read out the statement of apology in court.

Abdul Rahman and Rafizi, however, were not present in court on Monday (Sept 3).

image: https://content.thestar.com.my/smg/settag/name=lotame/tags=

Justice Mohd Zaki then ordered Rafizi to pay RM20,000 in costs.

Abdul Rahman filed the suit against Rafizi for alleging that he had awarded a contract to his own “brother”.

In the lawsuit filed on Jan 30, Abdul Rahman claimed that Rafizi's statement, made at a press conference last year, was done in bad faith to tarnish his reputation.

Abdul Rahman also contended that Rafizi had later admitted his allegation was false, but had refused to apologise.

At a press conference on Dec 11, 2017, Rafizi claimed that the contract for the Economic Planning Unit's (EPU) Expo Negaraku 2017 exhibition was awarded to “Raslan”, whom he said was Abdul Rahman's brother.

Abdul Rahman was then the minister in charge of the EPU.

On the same day, Abdul Rahman held a press conference to refute Rafizi's allegation.

Present during Abdul Rahman's press conference was Nor Raslan Mohd Dahlan, who is the chief executive officer of Pico Integrated Exhibit (M) Sdn Bhd.

Tldr version: read the headlines enough.

Travel Playpen

thesoothsayer — Tue, 26 Jun 2018 09:40:02 +0800

Hi all,

Thinking of buying a travel playpen for my little one.

Looking at either "My Dear" or "MamaKids". Any other recommended brands or reviews of travel playpens from these two brands?

Thanks.

http://www.mydear.com.my/products/26003-Playpen/659

http://www.mamakiddies.com.my/product.php?...86#.WzGYAiQzZFQ

Tabulated 2018 GE results with votes

thesoothsayer — Fri, 11 May 2018 12:46:53 +0800

As per topic, anyone know if there's a spreadsheet somewhere with the GE14 results in terms of number of votes in tabulated form?

Example:
DATO HASBULLAH OSMAN, 13243, BARISAN NASIONAL

USTAZ DAHALAN, 7715, PARTI ISLAM SE MALAYSIA

IBRAHIM HANAFIAH, 6353, PARTI KEADILAN RAKYAT

Can Najib make a come back?

thesoothsayer — Thu, 10 May 2018 07:08:08 +0800

Let's make a prediction for the future.

Can Najib make a come back from this?

Or is he gone for good?

Within 6 years, mental problems increased 30%

thesoothsayer — Sun, 25 Mar 2018 21:20:44 +0800

Jibby kasi banyak stress ke?

2012

QUOTE

PUTRAJAYA - Hanya 0.5 hingga satu peratus daripada 1.4 juta penjawat awam di negara ini menghadapi masalah psikologi dan kesihatan mental, kata Pengarah Bahagian Pengurusan Psikologi Jabatan Perkhidmatan Awam (JPA) Dr Aris Kasan.

2018

QUOTE

Lebih kurang 30 peratus penjawat awam dalam negara yang menghadapi masalah psikiatri akibat bebanan kerja, kata Presiden Kongres Kesatuan Pekerja-Pekerja Dalam Perkhidmatan Awam (CUEPACS).

Woman caught having sex with boy, 14, after being

thesoothsayer — Wed, 21 Mar 2018 00:25:56 +0800

Topic yang /k suka ni.

http://metro.co.uk/2018/03/20/woman-caught...o=amp-trending2

QUOTE

A woman who had sex with a schoolboy during a camping trip was caught out when they had to be rescued by the emergency services, a court heard.

Rhiannon Elisabeth Scott was arrested after she called for help when river levels suddenly rose.

A rescue operation saw officers find that the 24-year-old had an under aged schoolboy in her tent, prosecuting barrister Anna Pope said.

The boy’s family believed that he had a girlfriend aged 16 or 17.

Scott, who met the child over the internet while playing role play games, was yesterday jailed for two years.

She was also ordered to register with the police as a sex offender for ten years.

Judge Rhys Rowlands made a ten-year sexual harm prevention order to curb her future activities, including the use of the internet.

The defendant, from Gwersyllt, Wales, admitted two charges of meeting a boy aged 14 and 15 intending a sexual offence following grooming.

She also admitted four charges of sexual activity with a child.

The court heard how boy had been a regular user of Facebook since the age of 12 and he got involved with role play games involving various themes and scenarios a short while later.

When they met, Scott adopted the role of a barmaid and other users, including the boy, adopted different roles.

Miss Pope said that as time went on the group became sexualised.

They spoke at length and communicated by Facebook messenger away from the role playing group.

She asked him to be her boyfriend although they had never met in person, and they sent sexual photographs of themselves to each other.

The incident that led to her arrest took place in early June last year when they went camping together.

The defendant initially said she thought he was in his 20s. She claimed to have found out his real age in May of last year and that they agreed not to meet until he was 16, but Miss Pope said that was not accepted by the prosecution.

Her barrister Andrew Green said that the defendant herself was a vulnerable young woman.

» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «

Lecturers today are like glorified high school

thesoothsayer — Thu, 16 Nov 2017 21:37:17 +0800

Source

QUOTE

Lecturers today are like glorified high school teachers, says academic

KUALA LUMPUR: A retired academician has claimed most university lecturers today act like glorified high school teachers.

Prof Omar Shawkataly, a chemistry lecturer who recently retired, said teachers teach from text books and are more concerned about living up to the expectations of their students’ parents.

“The job of high school teachers is to make a person learn. But this is not the case in a university.

“In a university, lecturers are there not to teach a student. Their role is to make students listen critically so that they can ask critical questions and evaluate,” he said.

Omar, who has been a lecturer at public universities and private institutions of higher education for more than 30 years, said this at the forum, The Fall of the Faculty: The Death of Professionalism, Integrity and Ethics.

It was organised by Gerakan Tenaga Akademik Malaysia (Gerak), a movement dedicated to discussing and debating issues on higher education in Malaysia.

Explaining that public universities at present observed the teaching method of outcome-based learning, Omar told participants, “Open screw and tighten nut. There are lesson plans every day.”

He also said that while there was a lot of pressure on lecturers to publish their work, the measurement used to evaluate the quality of the work published was questionable.

“People talk about the number of citations. But if you look at the quality, there is none.

“If you know the game, you know how to increase the number of citations,” Omar said.

He added that one of the ways was to inform present and former students to do citations on the work.

“You might say it is a coincidence because since universities started giving money for research work over the past few years, the number of citations have gone up.”

According to Omar, the allocation depended on which tier the project paper was on, with the higher the tier, the more money the lecturer would receive.

“Why should lecturers be given money to publish papers? That is our role,” he said, alluding to the issue of academic misconduct and ethics.

He claimed that due to this practice, universities ended up rewarding lecturers who did not deserve to be rewarded.

“We are giving a wrong signal to the younger generation.”

Furthermore, he said a lot of present chemistry students had not even grasped the fundamentals of the field of study.

“It is worrying because if they do not know the fundamentals, how are they going to teach the next generation,” he asked.

He said while universities wanted a 100% passing rate, students unfortunately did a lot of cut-and-paste work that if left unchecked, would only worsen.

Omar said he hoped to give more talks and find solutions to improve the quality of lecturers and education as a whole at public universities.

Do I need new tyres?

thesoothsayer — Wed, 01 Nov 2017 09:52:54 +0800

Hi guys,

Just wanted your opinions on this. Looks okay to me, still a lot of thread depth, but surface has some chipping on the edges. Tyres are about 3 years with 30k KM mileage.

Sent for balancing and alignment, but the mechanics at the service centre said that the tyres were in bad condition. Told me it was better to change them instead.

What do you think?

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Computers have better gaydars than gays

thesoothsayer — Sun, 17 Sep 2017 08:47:21 +0800

Source

QUOTE

A.I. can detect the sexual orientation of a person based on one photo, research shows

The Stanford University study found that machines had a far superior "gaydar" when compared to humans.

The machine intelligence tested in the research could correctly infer between gay and straight men 81 percent of the time, and 74 percent of the time for women.

QUOTE

Artificial Intelligence (AI) can now accurately identify a person's sexual orientation by analyzing photos of their face, according to new research.

The Stanford University study, which is set to be published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology and was first reported in The Economist, found that machines had a far superior "gaydar" when compared to humans.

The machine intelligence tested in the research could correctly infer between gay and straight men 81 percent of the time, and 74 percent of the time for women. In contrast, human judges performed much worse than the sophisticated computer software, identifying the orientation of men 61 percent of the time and guessing correctly 54 percent of the time for women.

QUOTE

The research has prompted critics to question the possible use of this type of machine intelligence, both in terms of the ethics of facial-detection technology and whether it could be used to violate a person's privacy.

Michal Kosinski and Yilun Wang, the lead researchers of the study, suggested the software was able to find subtle differences in facial structure between gay and straight people and therefore could accurately conclude their sexual orientation.

'Threat to safety and privacy'

The Stanford University researchers found that gay men and women typically had "gender-atypical" features and expressions. While a person's "grooming style" also factored in to the computer algorithm, essentially suggesting gay women appeared more masculine and vice versa.

When the AI reviewed five images of a person's face, rather than one, the results were even more convincing – 91 percent of the time with men and 83 percent of the time with women.

The paper indicated its findings showed "strong support" for the theory that a person's sexual orientation stems from the exposure to various hormones before birth. The AI's success rate in comparison to human judges also appeared to back the concept that female sexual orientation is more fluid.

The researchers behind the study argued that with the appropriate data sets, similar AI tests could spot other personal traits such as an individual's IQ or even their political views. However, Kosinski and Wang also warned of the potentially dangerous ramifications such AI machines could have on the LGBT community.

"Given that companies and governments are increasingly using computer vision algorithms to detect people's intimate traits, our findings expose a threat to the privacy and safety of gay men and women," Kosinski and Wang said in the report.

Internet Trolls' personality traits

thesoothsayer — Sat, 08 Jul 2017 11:11:49 +0800

Sauce

QUOTE

What is it with people’s behavior online? Why the readiness to attack, the snarky tone, the lack of courtesy inherent to so many comments? The internet can bring out the worst in people, which when taken to extremes turns into trolling—that bizarre impulsive habit of hurting others online, without consequence.
Researchers in Australia set out to discover what traits in “normal” people (social media users above age 18 who did not appear to be trolls) might make them susceptible to trolling behavior. Using an online questionnaire, the researchers at the School of Health Science and Psychology at Federation University in Mount Helen tested 415 men and women for a range of personality traits, as well as for online behavior that indicated a propensity to troll—such as agreeing with the statement, “Although some people think my posts/comments are offensive, I think they are funny.”
The researchers were looking for particular traits including social skills, psychopathy, sadism, and two types of empathy: affective and cognitive. Having high cognitive empathy simply means they can understand others’ emotions. Having high affective empathy means a person can experience, internalize, and respond to those emotions. The “trolls” in the study scored higher than average on two traits: psychopathy and cognitive empathy.
So even though “trolls” exhibit one kind of empathy, coupling it with psychopathy ultimately makes them nasty, the researchers suggested. Psychopathy, which includes a lack of care for others’ feelings, was measured using a scale where participants were asked to agree or disagree with a set of statements such as, “payback needs to be quick and nasty.”
High levels of cognitive empathy make these people adept at recognizing what will upset someone, and knowing when they’ve pushed the right buttons. The lack of affective empathy allows trolls not to experience or internalize the emotional experience of their victims.
“Results indicate that when high on trait psychopathy, trolls employ an empathic strategy of predicting and recognising the emotional suffering of their victims, while abstaining from the experience of these negative emotions,” the researchers wrote. They added that because psychopathy is associated with thrill-seeking and impulsivity, it’s possible that “creating mayhem online is a central motivator to troll.” They also found that trolls were likely to be high in sadism—the will to hurt others—and were more likely to be male.
The study is forthcoming in the journal Personality and Individual Differences. It doesn’t offer advice on how to stop trolling behavior, but adds a wrinkle to our knowledge of why people act out online. In previous research, people who display psychopathic traits have shown a similar empathy imbalance: a lack affective empathy but normal levels of cognitive empathy. This study linked those psychopathic traits and higher cognitive empathy levels to people who are likely to troll.
Exploring the link between psychopathy, high cognitive empathy, and trolling could help deepen our understanding of the personality types that gravitate towards that behavior, and potentially help to stop them.

TLDR:
- trolls have high cognitive empathy - they understand other ppl's feelings
- they also have high psychopathy - they don't care about other ppl's feelings
- high cognitive empathy + high psychopathy makes good trolls

/k trolls, you guys need help?