RECENTLY, a newspaper reported that more women had caught the smoking bug. It suggested that these women smoked as the habit was considered “trendy and fashionable”. I had a long chat on smoking with a nurse at a local hospital. She said more young people today were risking their health picking up the smoking habit.…
THE 10th session of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) will be taking place in Putrajaya between Oct 11 and 18. Again, after the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit earlier this year, international eyes will focus on Malaysia. Malaysia’s active participation in NAM and the OIC is based on the country’s inclination towards the policies of…
IN the last century, we have witnessed tremendous advancements in the area of biological sciences. The exploration and studies in the area of molecular biology have uncovered much of the secrets of genetics. The first scientific study on here-dity was by Mendel in 1865. The discovery of the structure of the gene (deoxyribonucleic acid, DNA)…
TOMORROW, the nation will cele-brate its 46th anniversary as an independent nation. Within a period of just under half a century, Malaysia has gone through a lot of things — all of which contributed towards the maturity of the nation. Within this short period the country has successfully transformed itself from a sleepy backwater British…
MANY would agree that space is the final frontier. When Jules Verne forecast in 1866 that man would set foot on the moon in his From the Earth to the Moon, he was denounced as a heretic. It was not until July 20, 1969, that Neil Armstrong proved that man could indeed set foot on…
WE have often heard the famous phrase: ‘For also knowledge itself is power’, attributed to the 16th century philosopher Francis Bacon. The fact that knowledge is a powerful “tool” and “weapon” is universally acknowledged, especially now when we are in an era where “knowledge society” and “knowledge economy” are the in-thing. Islam highlighted that knowledge…
IT is no secret that the Islamic civilisation which peaked in the 13th century left a deep impact on the progress of modern science and technology. The advent of Islam in the sixth century created faith and confidence among its followers in that Islam had succeeded in liberating their orthodox and paganistic minds. Subsequently, this…
MOST public institutions of higher learning in the country began their new semester with new students enrolling at the beginning of June. These students would take courses according to their respective faculties. These faculties mostly follow an age-old classification based on certain specialised “fields of knowledge”. We have faculties (or “schools” in certain universities) in…
RESEARCH and development (R&D) is an important facet of new technologies. R&D activities can be costly, especially when unchartered territories are involved. In overcoming this problem, several parties must share the responsibility of spurring technological development. One important entity is the government. Without government support, encouragement and vision, it would be difficult for R&D activities…
IN gearing towards a fully developed nation in 2020, Malaysia must focus its attention on technological development. Home-grown technology is an important element in guaranteeing sustainable economic growth of the nation in the years to come. It is imperative that Malaysia finds a way to intensify the “creation” of new technologies to become more competitive.…
