SMS Text Messages

Making a thousand friends a year is not a miracle. The MIRACLE is to have you like a friend who stands by me for a THOUSAND reasons.

A woman has strengths that amaze men. She can handle trouble and carry heavy burdens. She holds happiness, love and opinions. She smiles when she feels like screaming. She sings when she feels like crying, cries when she’s happy and laughs when she’s afraid. Her love is unconditional! There’s only one thing wrong with her, she sometimes forgets what she’s worth.


You may have received similar text messages on your cell phone. You know they are not original but they still have the power to touch the heart, coming from the right person.

Is this new technology taking over from the traditional way of expressing appreciation and best wishes? It looks like the new technology is here to stay. With the coming Chinese New Year, I wonder how many text messages will go out. The China Daily reported as astonishing 60,000 million text messages last Chinese New Year. What kind of messages would the Year of the Rat convey? I'm sure we're all keen to find out.

Bogus universities

Recently, the BBC uncovered a bogus university. It has already been in existence for six years and is still operating despite being "caught in the act." I've seen frequent advertisements of the university in local papers. It is based in the UK and has no lack of students from Third World countries. Sad to say, the scam university is run by a Malaysian.

Bogus universities are not uncommon, less detectable in cases of online and distance learning programs. A friend of mine who worked her butt out on her master's program was shocked to find out that her university is not recognized by the government.
My advice for those seeking higher education is to check out the background of the university before making a financial commitment.

The Public Service Department (Scholarship Section) has a list of foreign universities recognized by the government. MACEE has a similar list, I believe, of American institutions.

Ban the Use of Plastic Bags!!!

Plastic bags are made from petroleum and take like forever to break down. For this reason, they are bad for the environment because discarded plastic bags are used to to fill landfills.

It seems some giant foodstore chains in the US have begun to ban the use of plastic bags. Now I wonder how long it would take our big supermarkets -Tesco, Carefour, Giant, Parksons to take the cue.

Sunlight may be good, afterall...

We often hear that exposure to the sun causes skin cancer. We are advised to use UV (ultra violet) protection make up or sun tan lotion whenever we go out. Part of the rationale is that the puncture in the ozone layer has removed protection from the sun's direct rays. All the scare about sun and cancer has caused some people to totally shy away from the sun which is not necessary good according to certain scientific sources. Apparently, a bit of sun goes a long way to provide Vitamin D which helps in bone formation.

Though it has proven that the sun and skin cancer has a direct connection, we need to learn to not to go overboard with each scientic claim.

It's been quite a while!!!

The new year began with a severe throat and chest nfection. Instead of seeing a doctor, I decided to just have lots of rest and liquid. It took a longer time to bounce back, a sure indication that age is catching up.

At the same time, my computer came down with Exploit -a virus, according to AVG, my free anti virus program. I didn't have a clue of how to remove it and my laptop was crawling slow as a caterpillar. It still is and that sucks because it takes like forever to upload anything

A Life Coach - what's that?

We’ve all heard of a sports coach, speech coach, animal coach but a life coach? That’s something new to many people. Today's Breakfast Show on NTV 7, Aishah Sinclair interviewed a life coach.

Basically a life coach helps the clients to formulate goals and objectives and motivates them in the right direction to achieve those goals.

If you are thinking of starting a career as a life coach, you need to have some basic qualities. You need to like people, to like helping them and you need to be a good listener.

A course in life coaching will teaching you how to ask leading questions and how to give the right counselling.

In today's affluent society, there are people willing to pay for the services of a life coach.

What Next? (Post SPM Blues)

Sook Fun is temping as a kindergarten clerk while waiting for her S.P.M. results. What is primarily on her mind right now is "what's the next step?" She has two options : Whether to follow a pre-university course OR a diploma course.

Naturally, her parents are anxious too. They want their darling girl to make the right choice. Where would they go for counseling?

Today, it's easier to seek career guidance than it was in the sixties. In the sixties, career counselors were a rare breed. These days, however, there are just too many.

I advised the girl's mother to let the daughter choose a course that is of interest to her. Of course, other factors to take into account would be the cost, the marketability of the degree and whether the degree is recognized internationally, in case Sook Fun wishes to go abroad.