சலம் டேன் செலாமட் பகி செமுபட்ட

சேகர் கிட்ட டெல் புண் பேராட தளம் புஅச ய் கே செப்பு. அல்தம்டுளிள்ள் ச்யுகுர் கேபட அல்லா ய் மகா எச. டென்கன் லிம்ப் டேன் குர்நியான்யா கிட்ட டெல் புண் பெர்ஜைய மேநேம்பு கபரன் டேன் துகான்-நய. செமோக கிட்ட அகன் டேருஸ் பெர்ஜைய துனியா டேன் அக்திரட். இன்ச்யாள்ள்.

முட்-முத்தன் கிட்ட டேருஸ் டிபெர்கடி.

செமோக எப்ர்டேமு கேம்பலி பட பெர்டேமுஅன் ய் அகன் டாட்....

Doctors confused by many ministry guidelines

By LESTER KONG

PETALING JAYA: Some private medical practitioners are confused by the Health Ministry’s guidelines on how to treat patients with influenza-like illnesses (ILI).

Federation of Private Medical Practitioners Associations Malaysia president Dr Steven Chow said the many guidelines that were issued were often conflicting.

For example, Dr Chow said general physicians (GPs) had been asked at one point to send all cases to the nearest hospital for testing; and when the hospitals could not cope, they were asked to send only selected cases.

Taking precautions: Several people including children wearing face masks at KL Sentral Saturday.

He added when deaths were first reported, private doctors were blamed for late diagnosis and referrals to government hospitals.

“When dengue was not controlled, they were blamed and then the A(H1N1) came.

“This does not help the doctors on the ground. It is a nightmare for our GPs,” he said in an e-mail interview.

He added that private sector GPs also faced a shortage of anti-viral drugs to treat the virus.

“The main stockpile is with the Government and we are not aware of the type prescribed by the Minis-try.”

However, Dr Chow reminded that the A(H1N1) strain was resistant to existing antiviral drugs.

“Antiviral drugs are not the magic bullet for stopping or controlling this pandemic. There has been too much hype on the usefulness of these medications,” he said.

Dr Chow also pointed that rapid test kits, which increased the cost of care were not specific or sensitive enough for diagnostic use.

On Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai’s directive to private healthcare providers to raise the level of suspicion on the virus, Dr Chow said the Federation had advised members to treat all ILI as A(H1N1).

He said the federation was ready to work with the Ministry to fight the virus and take pre-emptive measures to decrease future fatalities.

Meanwhile, in Bukit Mertajam, IAN MCINTYRE reported patients refused treatment for flu symptoms at hospitals or clinics should inform the Penang state government.

The public can e-mail their complaints and views to state health, environment and caring society committee chairman Phee Boon Poh at pheeboonpoh@penang.gov.my.

On face masks, there should be amply supply in the market following the Federal Government’s move to make it a controlled item, said Phee before accompanying Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng on a house-to-house campaign at the Permatang Pasir by-election here yesterday.

He said a large consignment of masks were expected to arrive in Penang soon from Taiwan.

Many still complacent about anti-H1N1 measures

By R.K. SHYAMALA, JOSHUA FOONG and CHEW WAN YING

KUALA LUMPUR: Although the influenza A(H1N1) is sending chills down many spines, a large number of Malaysians do not seem to care much for precautionary measures.

In KL Sentral, where large numbers of people gather, more than half of them were not wearing masks.

Salesgirl Nik Nur Ain Hamid, 20, said she did not wear the mask because it made breathing difficult.

“Customers also find it hard to understand what I am saying with the mask on,” said Nik Nur Ain who sells costume jewellery at a kiosk in KL Sentral.

Lackadaisical: The public visiting a Ramadan bazaar at Taman Cempaka in Malacca yesterday. Many did not don face masks despite the high number of H1N1 cases.

Asked if she was aware that the flu could kill, she nodded.

Nik Nur Ain said, however, she did wash her hands frequently and always sneezed into tissue paper.

Secretary Ong Chia Chia, 26, said she did not use a mask because there were no reported A(H1N1) cases near her residential area in Shah Alam. Ong claimed the situation was not that serious in Malaysia.

“I usually travel by car and that is why I do not wear a mask,” she said, adding she was at the terminal to meet a friend.

However, she carries a hand sanitiser and uses it frequently.

A paramedic, Ahmad Zainy Razali, 40, said he was not taking any chances and had insisted that his wife and three children wear masks when they go out.

“Many are not wearing masks although the level of awareness is high,” he added.

S. Shamala, a Masters student from Universiti Putra Malaysia, said she had been using the mask daily for a month. She did not think spending RM1 a day was too much as it protected her life.

At the Taman Tun Dr Ismail ramadan bazaar, a survey found very few customers donning face masks.

None of the stall operators and assistants were seen with masks.

Stall owner Dafrun Rasyan, 40, said wearing a mask was not practical for business as customers could not hear him clearly in the noisy environment.

Housewife Salmah Md Dubi, 55, had started to wear the mask in public places after recovering from a fever a few days ago – just to be on the safe side.

In contrast, at the Kampung Baru ramadan bazaar in Kuala Lumpur, many of the stall owners and their assistants wore masks, and some were seen wearing gloves as well.

At the entrance of the bazaar, Azizul Mu’min and his friend made brisk business selling two-ply masks at 80 sen per piece.

They managed to sell 200 pieces within an hour.

Mu’min, whose day job is as a marketing executive, even wore a “Prevent Influenza A (H1N1)” black T-shirt to attract customers.

A trader, who only wanted to be known as AP, said he wore a mask and gloves because it’s “better to be safe than sick, or worse, die.”

Consumer Mohd Norazrin Ariffin, 24, a designer, said he would wear masks at crowded places such as the commuter trains.

“I also wash my hands more frequently. When I sneeze, I also cover my mouth and turn my head away,” he said.

Yuslina Mohd Yusof, 24, meanwhile, said she had self-quarantined herself for three days when she caught a fever.

“We must all play a part to prevent the virus from spreading. What we do can affect the whole nation,” said the supervisor.

569 new A(H1N1) infections

KUALA LUMPUR: The highest number of Influenza A(H1N1) cases in a day has been recorded with 569 infections.

One more death was also reported yesterday bringing the total number of fatalities to 68.

The latest victim was a 33-year-old woman who was 34 weeks pregnant. Her unborn baby also did not survive.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said the woman was admitted to a private hospital in Johor Baru on Aug 8 after developing fever and cough for a day.

Five days later she was referred to the Sultanah Aminah Hospital when she experienced breathing difficulties and was given Tamiflu, he said, adding that she died on Aug 13 from severe pneumonia and respiratory failure.

After opening the Influenza Care Clinic Campaign on prevention and treating the A(H1N1), Liow said 1,533 patients with influenza-like illness (ILI) were admitted to 104 hospitals from which 195 tested positive for the virus and 35 patients are in the intensive care units.

He said 20 of those in intensive care had risk factors such as diabetes, chronic diseases, asthma, pregnancy and obesity. A total of 188 people have been discharged from hospitals, he said, adding that up to yesterday, there were 5,496 confirmed cases in the country.

Liow said that the number of cases did not reflect the true situation as it only showed cases that were confirmed by laboratory tests and those that were admitted to hospitals.

The World Health Organisation has stated that for every confirmed case, there are 20 other undetected cases in the community.

Liow added that 80% of deaths due to the virus were among the high-risk groups.

During the Care Campaign, 85 private clinics in the country will sell a box of 10 FluHalt (Oseltamivir Phosphate) capsules manufactured by Ranbaxy Malaysia at RM80, instead of the usual price of RM180.

Participating clinics can be identified with the sign ‘Klinik Cegah dan Rawat Influenza A(H1N1)’ on the door.

From LOL to lulz to lolxxx

FROM my desk – at which sits someone who has been on the Internet since 1992 and was a patron of dial-up computer bulletin board systems for years before that – language change on the Internet is a beautiful thing.

You probably know LOL (“laugh or laughing out loud”), which is now included in several mainstream dictionaries. It is used as a bit of interjected paralinguistic restitution, a way of saying “this strikes me as humorous” in text where, if you were speaking, you might chuckle, giggle, or laugh.

Not included in any mainstream dictionary, however, is the five-year-old word (a word that is five years old, not a word used by five-year-olds) lulz, which derives from LOL (also written in lowercase: lol).

LOL, when spoken aloud – and it is spoken aloud outside of cellular (mobile) telephone commercials, usually sarcastically or ironically – is usually rendered something like “lall” or “loll” or “lull”.

As a result, the online variant lulz (invariably plural) has appeared, undergoing not only an orthographic shift (the spelling has changed) but a semantic shift (the meaning has changed). It means, more or less, “cheap laughs” or, better, laffs.

Laffs (also usually plural) itself is a shift away from “laughs” in spelling and meaning. It is almost the same as yuks.

Both words, despite the dictionary definition of yuks as “loud, hearty laughs”, in show business usually mean “false or forced laughter” or “cheap laughter”. These are the kind of laughs you get when everyone has heard a joke before, when the humour is broad and obvious, and when the audience can see the punchlines coming from a mile a way (when they knew what the funny part of the joke would be).

“Laffs” also seems to be unaccounted for in mainstream dictionaries, even though it is at least 50 years old. Neither laffs nor yuks are from the online lexicon, but I thought the tangent worth making. Back to online language.

LOL has gone another way, too: lollerskates. It’s used in place of LOL, usually satirically or ironically. That is, the person will write something, and then where others might earnestly and unthinkingly put LOL to indicate that the preceding text is supposed to be funny, the writer will put lollerskates instead. It’s a mix of LOL plus the word rollerskates and it means, more or less, “laughing out loud a lot”.

In Singapore and other nearby English-speaking parts of Asia, one might write lolx to indicate lots of laughs. The ‘x’ serves as a multiplier: lolxxxx means more laughs than lolx.

Another part of the older Internet lexicon, OMG, too, has undergone a transformation. It originally meant “Oh, my God!” and was used as an exclamation of surprise or delight.

Now its ironic and sarcastic uses far outweigh the earnest and unironic ones. It’s also given rise to ZOMG.

ZOMG is probably spelled that way because users reaching for the shift key on the left side of the keyboard miss and type Z, though one wonders if it wouldn’t be more appropriately rendered as zomg – if you miss the shift key, then nothing would be capitalised, right?

In any case, ZOMG is now a word in its own right. It expresses emphasis and excitement, in a knowing, intentionally overboard fashion.

Another word that has been transformed is “the”. It’s been mistyped so often as “teh” that teh has taken on a life of its own. It’s used for emphasis and it’s used in an intentionally different way than “the”.

For example, if something is very cool (meaning great, good), you might write, “It’s teh cool!” Teh suck, as another example, is a way of saying, “That’s really bad.”

“Teh” serves as an emphatic, a word which, like very, increases the strength of whatever other words it modifies. Teh can be pronounced as “tay”, but among the few people I know who pronounce it, it’s always said as “tuh”.

Note my comments about “knowing”, “irony,” and “sarcasm” above. Those who use such language are aware of how it might look to others. Of course they are.

They know that their writing might seem childish, or that they might seem to be clueless (out of touch with common rules of good conduct or with what is really happening), or that they may appear pretentious or as if they are trying too hard to be cool.

As a result, they tend to be very careful with such language, and a lot of times, they’ll use it in such a way as to indicate to the reader that they know very well that such language is loaded (meaning, it has the potential to cause problems). They want to be understood. They also don’t want to be seen as trying to artificially force a new word to become popular, which is, contradictorily, almost surely a perfect way to make it unpopular.

At the same time, they know that these words have uses. Paralinguistic restitution is one part of it. They restore to the written language a flavour that is easier to indicate in the spoken language. They also allow for meta-commentary, in which you can not only literally mean “that is funny” but you can also kind of poke fun at yourself for it, all in a single word: lulz.

When you see such slang online, just assume that the writer knows everything you know about the word and assume they intended the funniest, kindest meanings possible. You’ll find it all the more enjoyable.

A (H1N1): 2 more deaths taking total to 67

KUALA LUMPUR: There have been three more deaths due to the influenza A (H1N1) virus taking the toll to 67 deaths, said Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Mohd Ismail Merican.

He said all the three deaths involved those in the high-risk group including a 33-years-old woman who died due to severe bronchopneumonia and who was tested positive for influenza A (H1N1) on Aug 12 after being admitted to the intensive care unit on Aug 7.

The second victim a girl aged 10 years admitted on July 17 was confirmed dead due to "Systematic Lupus Erythematous with severe pneumonia with renal impairement" on Aug 13, Dr Mohd Ismail said in a statement.

He said the third victim was an elderly person aged 71 who was admitted to hospital after having fever, cough and breathing difficulties for two days and who died on Aug 14 due to "Ischaemic Dilated Cardiomyopathy precipitated by pnuemonia."

"The Health Ministry finds there are many patients who have the influenza A(H1N1) infection who are not cooperating in controlling the epidemic," he said, adding that they needed to cooperate.

On the situation in the country, Dr Mohd Ismail said till this morning the number of H1N1 patients treated in wards was 276 while 36 confirmed for H1N1 were being treated in the ICU throughout the country.

Of the 36 cases in the ICU, 21 had risk factors, he said.

He also reminded people that antiviral treatment was only given to three high risk groups and those having influenza without undergoing confirmation tests for influenza A(H1N1).

People were asked to follow latest developments and take preventive steps by referring to the special HiN1 website http://h1n1.moh.gov.my or calling the hotlines 0388810200 and 0388810300.

Meanwhile, 85 National Service (Ns) camps in the country will not be closed as the spread of the influenza A(H1N1) virus is still under control, said NS Training Council chairman Datuk Dr Tiki Lafe.

"Closing of camps is the last resort as we can still quarantine those positive in camps," he said.

Tiki said closing camps and sending trainees home who were positive could cause the spread of the virus as they would be exposed to open society.

"For those free of the virus, if we send them home they may be exposed to the virus outside," he told reporters after chairing the council meeting here Tuesday.

He said the NS council would however close camps if directed to do so by the Health Ministry.

He said 42 camps had been closed temporarily for a week earlier and of those 35 had been reopened.

He said 25 trainees and a trainer were confirmed positive for the virus and that their situation was stable and controlled.

"For now the camps are open, none closed again. Additionally we have and will have additional buildings for quarantine purpose," he said.

Tiki called on parents not to panic as the department had taken proper steps to handle the epidemic.

"For the NS group in Jan 2 next year, we want parents and trainees to be aware of the situation.

"If you have the symptoms, undergo an examination in clinics or hospitals and let us know. We hope parents will not be afraid to send their children to the NS," he said. - Bernama

Four keys to better learning

KUALA LUMPUR: The English language is one of four key aspects of the education system needing special attention to meet the demands of a knowledge and innovation-based economy, said Raja Muda of Perak Raja Dr Nazrin Shah.

The other three are the curriculum; assessment system and the teaching methods.

English, said Raja Nazrin, was of paramount importance in the 21st century workplace.

It was also the lingua franca of the knowledge and innovation economy, and those proficient in the language would enjoy many advantages in the global workplace, he added.

On the assessment system, Raja Nazrin said perhaps Malaysia could do with less national examinations and reduce the anxiety of teachers, school administrators and parents.

Teaching tool: Raja Nazrin asking questions about one of the gadgets on display during the International Conference on Education For All in Kuala Lumpur Monday. — Bernama

He said the examination-oriented system had also led to schools focusing on high achievers to the exclusion of underachievers, who unfortunately were usually from poorer backgrounds.

As for the curriculum, Raja Nazrin said it was too bogged down with teachers and university instructors dispensing chunks of information to passive students.

“Perhaps it is time to reduce the amount of content disseminated and spend the extra time on developing skills and competencies needed in the 21st century,” he said at the opening of the ‘International Conference on Education For All’ here yesterday.

Raja Nazrin said school teachers and lecturers often lamented they did not have enough time to complete the syllabus and feared reducing the content would deprive learners – without realising that, in fact, less might be more.

“The ‘more’ comes from students learning to inquire and discover the facts and concepts of a discipline by themselves.

“With the billions of web pages available at the click of a mouse, the earlier notions of the ‘sage on the stage’ may have to give way to the ‘guide on the side’,” he said.

On teaching learning methods and strategies, he said the focus should be on students engaging in projects, analysing case studies, solving real-world problems, making decisions in different situations, making presentations and arguing their case and constructing their own knowledge. — Bernama