Thursday, November 29, 2007

Can u spot the missing info?

Although im in a far-far-away land, i still folow the current affairs of our bolehland. Spotted an interesting article from the star about a malaysian born new ausie minister; Interestingly the article had i think intentionally deleted somethg about her. Erm, i do understand why. its like we all malaysian can be proud about her being a minister but it wont go well if the deleted info is undeleted. can u spot the missing info?

From The Star

Sabah dad proud of new Aussie minister
By Muguntan Vanar
KOTA KINABALU: Pride and joy was all over the face of the father of Malaysian-born Penny Wong Ying Yen who has been appointed as a cabinet minister in Australia.
“I am very happy. I hope her appointment will be a blessing for Australia,” said Penny’s father Francis Wong Yit Shing, 66, an architect here.
The 39-year-old Penny, who was born in Sabah but grew up in Australia from the age of eight with her mother, was named Climate Change and Water Minister Thursday by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd whose Labour party won the recent elections.
Francis, who described his daughter as a go-getter, said that the portfolio given to his daughter was very “current and important” not only for Australians but for the people around the world who are concerned about global warming and climate change.
“I know she is a very responsible person and she will work hard to achieve her objectives,” said the father, who keeps in touch with his daughter through SMS.
Describing his daughter as a person with strong personality, he said that he never expected Penny to become a politician.
“I wanted her to be a doctor and she enrolled for it but a year later she switched to law after she went on a student exchange programme to Brazil where she saw the need to help people,” said Francis.
On completing her studies, she got involved in unions and industrial court cases in Australia and “I believe that the Labour Party spotted her capability and urged her join them.”
Penny became the first Asian-born woman Senator when she won a seat in South Australia in 2002 and last week’s Australian elections saw her winning a second term with her party toppling John Howard’s government.
Asked if he had ever given his daughter any political advice, Francis said that the politics that he knew about was only that of South East Asia and that “Australian politics (is) totally different.”
“ We mostly talk family matters ... not much on politics though I always follow developments of her career,” he said, adding that Penny is an outdoor person who has among others, scaled Mount Kinabalu several times and dived in Sipadan.
Francis said Penny and her mother left Sabah for Australia in 1977 for Penny’s education while he remained in the state. Over time, he and his wife separated with Penny taking up her mother’s Australian citizenship.
source http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/11/29/nation/20071129153509&sec=nation


From Wikipedia

Penny Wong
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Penelope Ying-yen "Penny" Wong (Chinese; pinyin: Huáng Yīngxián, born November 5, 1968), Australian politician, has been an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian Senate since 2002, representing South Australia. On 29 November 2007 she was appointed to be the first Australian Minister for Climate Change. She is the first openly gay [1] and the first Asian member of the Australian Cabinet.
PersonalWong was born in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia to a Chinese Malaysian father and an Australian mother.[2][3] She moved to Australia at the age of eight with her mother and brother, after her parents separated. After spending a year on exchange in Brazil, Wong studied Arts/Law at the University of Adelaide. While at university, she worked part time for the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union.
CareerShe also became involved in political activism at university, winning a position on the National Executive of the National Union of Students. In 1988, Wong joined the Australian Labor Party, winning a position as a delegate to the party's state convention the following year. She has been a delegate each year since, with the exception of 1995.
Wong graduated from university in 1992, and continued on with the CFMEU, working as an industrial officer, gaining admission to the bar in 1993. During 1995 and 1996, she acted as an advisor to the New South Wales state government, specialising in the area of forest policy. On returning to Adelaide, she began practising law, won a position on the ALP's state executive, and also took on work as a legal officer with the Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union.
Wong ran for pre-selection for the Senate in 2001, and was selected for the top spot on the party's South Australian ticket, as a result of affirmative action policies and factional changes. Wong is a member of EMILY's List Australia, the support network for Labor women, and currently sits on a number of Senate committees, primarily those related to economics.
She has been a vocal critic of Prime Minister John Howard's ban on same-sex marriages, despite the ban also having the support of her own party.
In June 2005 Wong was appointed Shadow Minister for Employment and Workforce Participation and Shadow Minister for Corporate Governance and Responsibility. Following the reshuffle in December 2006, she became responsible for the portfolios of Public Administration & Accountability, Corporate Governance & Responsibility, and Workforce Participation.
In November 2007, in the wake of the Labor Party victory in the 2007 election, Wong was appointed Minister for Climate Change and Water. Her appointment as the first Australian from an Asian background to hold a cabinet position was quickly greeted by ethnic groups. She will accompany Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to Bali for the international climate change talks.source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penny_Wong

Friday, November 16, 2007

One Month Anniversary

It is exactly one month im here, yesterday. Alhamdulillah. I cant believe I got through it.

Last week I thought I am getting used to the weather, as it doesnt seems that cold for me although it is single digit.
But this morning it was 0 degree centigrade, an d the night before was negative. I was freezing!

And I did went to central London last week ;) Here are some low quality pics from my phone.

Few burgers and a day travel card, ready for some adventure


London Bridge (Correction: its actually the Tower Bridge, thx Becky for correctg)


I forgot what they call this place, the tower somethg i guess


The tower from the side


Natural History Museum if im not mistaken


Inside the very cool Science Museum


As a big fan of this guy, tebalkan muka naik simulator. it was really cool


found this famous place, on my way to London Central Mosque.


then went to Leicester Square, to meet my housmate and return to Sutton. My, that place is so happening.

On the Wednesday Evening I went to this Orchestra thing, well, it sounded absurd, but the event commemorate Malaysia 50th Independence. Actually its not that bad, and I do kind a like this seems to be dorky thing, especially the serenade, quite interesting.


We thought they will play all these traditional instruments, but it turned out to be 100% modern classic , but still sounded Malaysian. Before the event started, everyone in the hall had to stand up for Negaraku. hehe

Well it might sounded like im in some kind of vacation, but its not really the case.
Life at the institute requires really hard work. Only after a month, I finally doesnt sound that stupid in my weekly meeting with my supers. Alhamdulillah. Thanks for the strength.

p.s. dear frens, anyone want a postcard from here, just leave yr address below or mail me, will try to send it :-)

Friday, November 9, 2007

Autumn Sutton

Below are some pics to help you comprehend the awfully described Sutton in the last post



typical english houses




pathway to the institute


my workdesk, before i move to another room


makcik yang hampir diseludup ke ldn melalui hand luggage ;) miss her huhu

going to LDN tomorrow, dah beli pun 1 day travelcard supaya rancangan menjadi

Sunday, November 4, 2007

3 weeks in Sutton

Id thought of not posting anymore, but it doesnt feel right, i need to reflect and recap, and writing is a good channel for fragmenting my thoughts and experiences. For my family and friends as well, to inform them that i am still the same hafiz three weeks before ;)

Where to start? Aha the place, Sutton aka London Borough of Sutton, although its in Surrey, it is still considered part of London, its a subUrb of London I guess. In Zone 6, the furthest zone from the central. Its nice here, basically filled with lots of houses, typical English houses, and tress, and wildlife hehe, seriously u can easily spot squirrels, pigeons, other birds that i never saw before, and foxes too! And their size is bigger than their family in Malaysia. The cats too are rather bigger. Probably bcos of the thicker fur. With that in mind, i hope i dont grow too much hair during my stay here hehe. Its cold here, and the weather is unpredictable. but anyway i somehow do like it, bcos its hard to become sweaty here, which is quite a problem for me before.

What else, the ICR. It is a nice place. I got two cards, one to access the hospital (the NHS) and the other for the institute, which is somehow cool! The peoples are nice, and extremely bright! and sometimes i do feel like, am i the only one stupid here? haha. Most of the students in my group have a very strong background in either physics and maths which is seriously intimidating. Thus, I guess i need to work twice as hard.

My supers, they are nice as well, extremely patience with my stupidity hehe. I think they are the most patient academics i ever met. seriously, even after three weeks im performing below par, on the weekly meeting, They are still calm and collected tackling on my weakness, and recommending more reading materials, so that i have a strong related science foundation to pursue on my research.

aha, my housmate, is a very nice guy, hail from switzerland and is very nice (did i repeat? hehe).So nice that, you might think that he is gay if he dont have a gf. He is an atheist, but anyway quite tolerant in dealing with all my 'no'. We do the veges, if we eat together, so there is no problem in the eating department. And his gf is an Indian livin in London, she stop by at our house like every weekend, and she is very nice as well, so i have the chance to feel like 'home', after weekdays spending time with the whites. Bcos of this east and west mix, my house does have curry, rice and not only bread. So its not that bad. Just that Ive to eat sandwiches for lunch at the institute, which left me feeling not so full. Cant imagine how they do that everyday. I bought my own food for lunch, bcos the only sandwich i can eat at the cafes is the cold cheese and tomate sandwich, which taste like yuks.

I havent been to the central London, Id planned to go there today, but I just realised this morning that I havent got my student oyster (a saving transport card for student), so I have to cancel the plan. And went to the town center instead, which have everything u need. Probably next week Ill visit it.

I think thats the major highlight for now. Thanks all for your care and concerns about my life here, Really terharu. And sorry for being idle and my apology for the delay on responding to yr msgs and emails and friendster's comments.

Have a great life everyone!