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Saturday, June 28, 2008

Writing Contest Winners

Posted by Chong

About three weeks ago, we held a writing contest on this blog to reward loyal readers. A few readers wrote and sent in posts (articles/essays) to take part in this writing contest. The winners are selected based on the quality of writing and usefulness of the content. In other words, will our readers benefit from the post after reading it?

I had a difficult time choosing the winners as most of entries are very well written yet the prizes are limited. All entries will be published on this blog on the coming Wednesdays. For those who do not win this contest, please do not give up and I hope you learn something during the process. Thanks for your participation. Perhaps having more than 2600 subscribers and more than a thousand readers reading your post can be considered as the consolation prizes?

Now it is the time for me to announce the winners. The winners are Afiqah Syamimi binti Masrani, Oh Coyin, 23 and AWhite. Winners will be contacted shortly for prize redemption.

Prizes: Student Web Hosting Package X 4


Each of them has just won a one-year Xtudent Hosting Plan worth RM99. Exabytes' Xtudent hosting plan is a web hosting package specially designed to meet students' web hosting needs and affordably priced at RM99 per year (just RM8.25 per month!). It offers 5GB monthly bandwidth transfer, 1GB web space and one free top level domain worth RM55.

One of the many interesting features offered by this student hosting plan is the pre-installed scripts, which enables you to create a full-fledged blog, forum or photo gallery within a few clicks without any hassle. Besides credit card and PayPal, payment can also be made via cash deposit to Exabytes' Public Bank account.

The 4 winning posts (in no particular order):


Policy vs Practice: The Multicultural and Anti-Racism Education in Malaysia's National School by AWhite
Malaysian Students by 23
My Ups and Downs as a YES Scholar by Oh Coyin
Marks Aren't Everything! by Afiqah Syamimi binti Masrani

Exabytes Xtudent hosting plan

Other entries:


Art is Fun! by Tany
Are students entitled for the substance commonly known as Health? by 3POINT8
Why do public school students discriminate private school students? by Richmond
Should form 6 examination be replaced with a better pre-u examination? by Ang Meow Ning
Why The Monthly Tests Should Not Be Abolished? by Ong Ru Shan
Is Examination a Reliable Assessment? by AWhite
Filling Up Your Resume by Faisal
Scoring Band 6 in MUET on your first try by Manager
SPM Mathematics Tips by Bobby Ng


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Friday, June 20, 2008

What Is It Like Studying Mass Comm?

Written by Josette

What got me attracted to Mass Communications was the word ‘journalism’. Journalism. Take a moment and say it out loud. Then stop. Does it feel grand? Powerful? Influential? Nothing? Okay, okay, you’ll probably tell me to stop the crap but that’s the impact the word has on me. And no, I did not take up the course just because I love the way the word sounds.

Being a Mass Communications student, you need to speak up and voice your opinions. Well, as long as your opinions do not belittle or insult other people. But, just voice out whatever’s appropriate in your head. It makes you an interesting person and that will make other interesting people give their opinions too. Ah, that’s when the fun begins. If the opinions contradict one another, prepare to stand by your ideas and start debating. Heck, you can also challenge your lecturers! But remember to show them the respect that they deserve. They are, after all, older and wiser than you.

Anyway, there are 3 major courses in the Mass Communications program which I’m in. JournalismThey are Journalism, Public Relations, and Broadcasting. If you enjoy reading and writing, it’s journalism for you. If you like to be busy and manage big, important events, then go for Public Relations. And if you aspire to be like Bernard Chauly (director of Gol & Gincu, 2005) or wish to be seen more often on TV, sign up for broadcasting. However, if you take up Journalism, you can also swerve your way into the fields of Public Relations or Broadcasting.

But, the reason I’m writing this article is to relate my experience of studying in Mass Communications for a year. I’ve only one year experience so I can’t tell everything there is to know. I’ll only tell what I know!

Beware! You really need to read A LOT, A LOT! In my first semester, we had to take 2 Mass Comm papers: Introduction to Mass Communication and Introduction to Human Communication. Well, one textbook was required for each paper, so it was quite okay.

In my second semester, I had 3 Mass Comm papers: Communication and Society, Communication Theory and Research and Communication For Social Development. The second semester was a killer. For Communication and Society, we had to read 3 insanely thick books full of articles. For the Theory paper, there were 38 articles and lastly for Communication for Social Development, we had to read 25 articles and the professor even recommended more readings!

That’s a lot to read right? And it’s only for 3 papers. I haven’t included readings from my other non-Mass Comm courses.

SpeakerAnyway, once you are in university, you need to put aside your shyness because you will go in front of your classmates for presentations. Yup, dress your best and spray the scent of confidence all over yourself! It’s boring if you read your speech directly from a piece of paper. Your audience will lose interest and the professor might start yawning. So, it’s better if you learn to speak in public without actually ‘reading’.

Like what I mentioned earlier, it is advisable for you to speak up in class and ask questions. It is sad to see nobody raising their hands to bombard the lecturer with questions although they’ve kindly ask loads of times. Unfortunately, some or most students are just shy or timid or afraid that their English would not be so good and that they’d make a fool of themselves. Truth is, some professors love it when their students ask questions in class. At least they wouldn’t be the only one talking all the time!

Lastly, your grades. Usually it’s 30% for assignments and 70% would be your exams. You’ll be given around 7-8 weeks to complete your assignments and that’s a long time. If you know how to use your time wisely, you wouldn’t be rushing to write 8 - 10 pages the night before the due date. Unfortunately, many of us still do that now. It is totally NOT advisable!

All right, this has been a really long post. I’m off to my second year of Mass Communications soon! Perhaps I’ll report to you guys about my second year next year. Hope this post helps. =)


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Monday, June 16, 2008

Popular Surveying Courses

Posted by Erlina

I bet that no one is interested in this topic but these courses are getting on the track starting from few years back. Surveying is the science of determining the relative positions of points above, on or beneath the surface of the earth (both land and sea) through the collection and analysis of data. You will need prior study in mathematics and not forgetting evidence of good numerical skills.

Land Surveying


Land surveying concerns the science and art of determining natural and man-made features on the Earth’s surface for different purposes. These include specifying boundaries and ownership of land, determining exact boundaries within which construction should take place, establishing the positions and shapes of a certain area to produce topographical maps and surveying sea areas for port constructions or harbor maintenance.

US Land Survey Officer
Surveyor at work with a leveling instrument. Image by Wikipedia.

You will learn to use equipment, techniques, and hardware of profession necessary to measure horizontal and vertical angles and distances including theodolites, compasses, remote sensing equipment, global positioning receivers and so on.

The archaeologist is surveying
An archaeologist is surveying. Photo by Wessex Archaeology.

Building surveying


If you like the thought of working on projects that range from multi-million ringgit developments to small renovation and conservation schemes, consider building surveying.

This course will train you to scrutinize and assess building plans to see if it is fit for occupancy, estimate damages of a building which has been ravaged by fire, flood or structural failure, and provide survey results to local authorities about any refurbishment work that needs to be done in a building. It contains elements of law related to building and safety, estimation value of property and construction of knowledge.

The degree balances the elements of practical and professional skills necessary for employment, and the academic theory which is required as a foundation of the field. Through the course, you will achieve the intellectual and personal skills necessary to follow a successful career in the areas of building surveying, building control, facilities management, maintenance management and building conservation.

Quantity Surveying


Majority of students choose this course in Malaysia. Quantity surveying involves the technical study of analyzing and measuring the quantities of raw materials required for construction projects. Before a construction project can take off, it needs a quantity surveyor to calculate the quantity and cost of the materials and labor required for the building work.

You will gain balanced instruction between the development of practical skills necessary for employment and academic theory required to support professional practice. Key themes in the programme include principles of quantity surveying and constructions economics. Essential to the course are fieldwork in quantity surveying practice, land surveying and interdisciplinary project work. Information technology (IT) is a tool you won’t be able to do without and is utilized in the most modules.

As a graduate, you may choose to specialize in the building, civil engineering, refurbishment or maintenance sectors of the construction industry.

Property Consultancy and Valuation Surveying


This course prepares you to work as valuers. As a valuer, you will be involved in the valuation of property, property consultancy, estate agency as well as market and feasibility studies, investment advisory and project management. In short, you put a price tag on property.

This course will equip you with knowledge which can be applied to activities such as estimating how much a property(house, shopping mall, hotel, golf course, etc) is worth. You will also learn property law, economics, property investment and ways to enhance the value of property.

The programme will provide you with and education in the financial, legal, planning and construction aspects of property in the context of the general investment market and give you a thorough understanding of the economic functioning of built environment.

As a graduate, you may be employed as a valuer, estate agent, property of consultant or investment advisor, developer and planner. You can gain further professional qualifications to become a Chartered Surveyor.

Related Posts
Popular Engineering Courses
Popular Degree Courses


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Monday, June 09, 2008

Join Our Writing Contest to Win One-Year Web Hostings with Domain Names

Posted by Chong

Update: Winners have been announced. Read all submission.

It is time to reward you, our loyal readers, for subscribing to Malaysia Students blog and reading this blog regularly. This is our first ever writing contest so we are really excited and will like to make it big. Feel free to promote this contest to your friends by emailing this post to them or blogging about this contest on your blogs.

RM396 Worth of Prizes to be Given Away!

The sole sponsor for this writing contest is none other than Malaysia Students blog’s premium ad banner sponsor, Exabytes. Malaysia Students Blog is very grateful to have Exabytes – the top web hosting company in Malaysia according to WebHosting.info – sponsoring 4 one-year Xtudent hosting packages worth RM99 each for this writing contest.


Exabytes’ Xtudent hosting plan is a web hosting package specially designed to suit students’ web hosting needs and affordably priced at RM99 per year. Besides the generous 1GB disk space and 5GB monthly bandwidth, it comes with a domain name worth RM55. With Xtudent hosting plan, you can create your own blog, photo gallery or forum easily within clicks as the scripts have been pre-installed. This is going to save you a lot of time and hassle during the installation of these websites.

Who can participate?

This contest is open to all Malaysia Students blog readers. If you are reading this post, you’re considered as a Malaysia Students blog reader. Do subscribe now to become Malaysia Students blog regular readers.

How to Win?

1. Write an Article / Post
- Your post can be on any topics that are relevant to education in Malaysia and Malaysian students. Browse our blog post archives to get some ideas of topics that you might want to write on. Examples of topics are how to become well-rounded students, how to score A in STPM Pengajian Am, ways to make your student life more interesting, tips to write excellent SPM BM karangan, student exchange experience, life as an undergraduate, why the public examinations should/should not be abolished, etc. Do not limit yourselves to the topics mentioned, be creative!

- Your post should be informative, helpful, insightful and/or thought-provoking. They are your tips, experiences or opinions that make a post informative, useful or thought-provoking.

- You post should be original and never-before-published.

2. Email Your Post to Us
Send your post via email with the subject “Submission for Writing Contest” to student [at] malaysia-students [dot] com (replace [at] with @ and [dot] with .) with the following details:
i) Your name or nickname
ii) A short paragraph to introduce yourselves like your age, your location, your education, your job and your interest.
iii) Your blog url (optional)

Closing date: June 22, 2008.

Agreement: By sending your post via email to the above email address, you agree that you have given Malaysia Students blog the right to publish your post on this blog.

Exabytes Xtudent hosting plan3. Prizes and Winners
Malaysia Students blog will choose the best four posts, in terms of quality of writing and usefulness of content, as the winning posts. The result of this writing contest will be announced in a week after the closing date. All four winners will each win a Xtudent hosting plan. Winners will be contacted via email for prize redemption. Good luck!


► Read more on Join Our Writing Contest to Win One-Year Web Hostings with Domain Names

Friday, June 06, 2008

Toyota Eco Youth Programme Part 2

Toyota Eco Youth ProgrammeRemember the Toyota Eco Youth (TEY) programme that I wrote on this blog back in April this year? Malaysia Students blog reader, Melzie Garwin who was also one of the participants of TEY 2007, commented that "it was truly a wonderful and totally new experience for me". Another reader, however, was frustrated for not being able to participate in TEY 2008 competition as his or her school is not one of the 16 shortlisted players (participating schools). I guess everyone hopes to take part in this educational and exciting competition if chances were given. Don’t you?

I’ve been following the players’ progress in the TEY programme by reading their blogs. The TEY 2008 competition, which lasts for eight months, kicked off in mid of February this year with a training and workshop session in a hotel in Shah Alam, Selangor, which participants from all around Malaysia attended. After the training and workshop session, they went back to their respective schools and the competition began.

Each participating schools was given RM1000 grant to kick off the projects and campaigns carried out under the TEY programme. First, students identified the existing environmental issues within their respective schools. The problems include improper disposal of paper waste, green house effect, etc.

In the next stage, students submitted their proposal papers of project to combat these environmental issues within their respective schools. Some of them did powerpoint presentation as well. Their findings were verified by a visit from the Toyota representatives, who will also give them pointers on how best to proceed.

Most of the schools launched the TEY programme by announcing it during assembly so that the whole school was aware of the programme and involved in this programme to support their school team. The students then combat with the identified environmental issues using the 8-steps Problem-Solving Approach that they have learned during the training and workshop session.

The 8 Steps of the Problem-Solving Methodology are:
Step 1: Identify and select a problem
Step 2: Understand the situation
Step 3: Set a target
Step 4: Analyse cause
Step 5: Draft countermeasures
Step 6: Implement countermeasures
Step 7: Check results
Step 8: Standardize


What the participants have been doing so far? It is exciting to follow their progress. Participants from SMK Seri Kenangan visited Wah Cens Plastic Industry in Buloh Kasap, Johor and learned how plastics waste is transformed into synthetic silk.
how plastics waste is transformed into synthetic silk
They also held a school-level poster competition to create environmental awareness among the students.

Besides nature poster competition, SMK Abdul Rahman Talib held logo design competition, graffiti board competition and IQ quiz competition to raise environmental awareness among students.

SMK Raja Puan Muda Tengku Fauziah launched a recycling programme.

Participants from SMK Kota Bharu paid a visit to landfill and recycling centre. They concluded that it was an eye-opening experience and were amazed by the amount of waste produced by residents daily.
visit to landfill and recycling centre
Who will be the winner of TEY 2008? Visit Toyota Eco Youth website for more updates.


► Read more on Toyota Eco Youth Programme Part 2

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