Flattening the Curve

Malaysia has recently announced an extension of the Movement Control Order (MCO). The initial MCO was for a fortnight (18-31 March 2020) and has recently been extended to 14 April.

This headline screamed at me: https://www.technologyreview.com/s/615370/coronavirus-pandemic-social-distancing-18-months/ >> "We are not going back to normal"

Excerpt: As long as someone in the world has the virus, breakouts can and will keep recurring without stringent controls to contain them. In a report yesterday (pdf), researchers at Imperial College London proposed a way of doing this: impose more extreme social distancing measures every time admissions to intensive care units (ICUs) start to spike, and relax them each time admissions fall. 

Sounds like a plan. where we respond as a nation based on real-time health data. 

As an introvert, being able to stay at home for extended periods is actually quite nice. There is a lot for me to catch up on, and I have not even scratched the surface yet. I still am unable to clear my personal paperwork & currently am just managing household (and office- online teaching) matters on a day to day basis.

I do agree that life after this will not be 'normal' anymore. We are now more reliant on the Internet to get connected. There will be a lot more online classes & digital sharing. What will Hari Raya be like? Fasting month in isolation would be interesting, as we will all be staying with family. No Ramadan bazaars & hopefully we will all cook and prepare our meals at home, without blatant spending & wastage like the years before. Back to basics & the actual meaning of Ramadan. How nice!

Another plus effect of this covid19 pandemic is that the world is healing! The ozone layer is recovering and there is less pollution in major cities (especially Kuala Lumpur). With the reduced number of tourists, the seas hopefully will return to a reasonable state. My wish list is for the recovery of the corals & less plastic pollution overall.

We have seen how animals have become dependant on tourists when they should have been allowed to roam free & learn to look for their own food. Cases in point: the deers of Japan & closer to home, the monkeys of Tanjung Bungah.

There are also marginalised communities that need our attention. Those who are on day salary, especially. Self-isolation/ self-quarantine = no job = no salary = no food. Let's help them. As well as the health workers on the front line. Doing their best. Leaving their families to work for the nation, caring for patients in need. There is no end of my personal thanks to them.

Let us do our best in embracing this new normal. In bringing out the best in humanity. We cannot afford to slack this time. Not anymore.

somewhere else i'd rather be :~ something else i'd rather do :~

We are currently undergoing the unnecessary and redundant exercise of preparing module handbooks according to the OBE criteria. Initially there were 9 possible learning outcomes for university level study & sometime in Nov 2018 we had gone through an extensive exercise to update our module files, teaching notes, conduct an ISO-like audit and what-have-yous. Late last year the learning outcomes increased to 11 points with new attributes added. Woooohoooooooo!!!!

Our beloved Academic Leader prepared an oh-so-detailed checklist to amend the previous version that we did in December 2019. There were FORTY TWO items in the checklist. After the first draft was submitted in December, our AL reviewed the paperwork and had replied via return e-mail, listing the changes that need to be made. I did not understand the numerous instructions & had requested for a workshop. The workshop was legendary. We were given this checklist of 42 (maybe more) items to change/ update. WTF. Did it occur to anyone to do the workshop BEFORE we do the whole damn document?

So- I have been having this checklist staring at me for perhaps 2 weeks & I haven't been able to mentally process it. It was due yesterday, yet I cannot move. I will try to finish it today. I have found a quiet corner to work and damn it, it will be done (somehow, some way).

After this, I will seek psychiatric treatment.

P/S: Does it matter to anyone that the teaching content & even teaching methods essentially did not change much? How does this whole exercise making me a better lecturer? Or the organisation a better teaching provider? Or the students a better learner? [The answers will probably come to me once I have a breakthrough with the psychiatrist]

School Holidays

The upcoming school holidays will probably be a quiet one. I had applied for 5 days' leave and am planning to stay home, cook, take small excursions with the children, do some spring cleaning and probably lots of thinking.

I normally work through school holidays (or any holiday for that matter, except the Hari Rayas) but this unprecedented leave application is needed for my mental health.

Despite enjoying the e-learning initiative, being a 'digital champion' and doing overall module development (intellectually), the work environment has become a bit toxic. The documentation is killing us. Is it just me? The others seem to be feeling it too. However the difference is: we cannot engineer a coup or create a backdoor government in a private enterprise. Our bosses simply will not allow it.

So next week I will be with my children. Work will be put aside for a while. And work will be there when I come back. My children on the other hand will grow up & may not need me as much in future.

Here's to a meaningful, productive and an amazing week ahead!

New Cabinet

After the resignation of Tun Mahathir our 7th Prime Minister, the Cabinet of Pakatan Harapan was dissolved. After days of one-to-one ministerial consultation with our Monarch, the YDPA appointed Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin as the 8th PM.

Yesterday the 8th PM announced a new Cabinet line-up constituting Bersatu (who swayed to the other side) and other Opposition parties. https://www.therakyatpost.com/2020/03/09/meet-malaysias-new-cabinet-of-ministers/ [... so the Opposition becomes the ruling party and PH is left behind, wondering what is happening... will Anwar ever be PM? what happened to the PH promise?]

On whatsapp yesterday afternoon a pdf file was shared in a few groups, containing the PM's speech on the appointment of new ministers. https://www.pmo.gov.my/2020/03/pengumuman-pembentukan-kabinet-baharu-kerajaan/

Once I got over the farcical introduction, item 6 particularly got my attention. That the names in the line-up has passed the SPRM and PDRM screenings (verbatim statement reproduced below).

6. Untuk memastikan kabinet yang akan terbentuk adalah kabinet yang berintegriti, semua anggota kabinet yang akan saya umumkan sebentar lagi telah melepasi tapisan oleh pihak SPRM dan PDRM.

Well I do not know every Cabinet member in the list, but 1 or 2 whom I have read about appear to be 'clean'. A few left a bad taste in the mouth. Engineer a coup and be a Minister as a result? What a plan.

It remains to be seen how governance will in fact be carried out, as they may have to hit the ground running: what's with current issues and uncertainties nationally and internationally (Covid-19, weakening currency and stock market disruptions, to name a few).

Gone is the will of the rakyat. It really doesn't matter that we voted or did not vote. Our Constitution apparently obviously contain a method loophole that enabled "this" to happen.

However, Malaysians are generally a practical lot. We do not riot in the streets like Indonesians or Hong Kongers would. For one, we probably do not want to be exposed to Covid-19 transmission risk. Secondly, we might as well be at work and maintain peace- because riots are too much of a hassle & our economy is already suffering- recall the Reformasi movement in 1998.

We disagree vehemently though. As an undercurrent. The last time we had said "the Rakyat will be heard", And we did make ourselves heard through GE-14 in 2018. We elected a new government after 60 years of Barisan Nasional rule.

The resulting flash-in-the-pan (I say this with hindsight) Pakatan Harapan Cabinet had bickered and made various inconsistent public statements and (perhaps to some extent) had caused disillusionment amongst Malaysians. The ministers had thought they were being transparent, but all that transparency backfired. We just want you to settle your personality conflicts shit behind closed doors, portray a united front and FORGE ON. This is probably the third reason why Malaysians did not riot. We were probably also a bit fed-up with the drama of the previous Cabinet. The unfortunate thing was this: some actually VERY GOOD and honest Ministers became collateral damage.

So, will I vote in the next election? Probably not.
Does it matter (whether I vote or not)?
Based on the current developments, it does not.

Tinnitus

Tinnitus is the perception of noise or ringing in the ears. A common problem, tinnitus affects about 15 to 20 percent of people. Tinnitus isn't a condition itself — it's a symptom of an underlying condition, such as age-related hearing loss, ear injury or a circulatory system disorder.Mar 5, 2019

Tinnitus - Symptoms and causes - Mayo Clinic

www.mayoclinic.org › tinnitus › symptoms-causes › syc-20350156

At the office I am suffering from our own brand of tinnitus, a persistent nagging noise that micro manages our very work.

Works that have been verified was re-verified. In detail. And my academic leader (team leader) comes back to the verifier and says "I trust you ya" (that all requirements have been fulfilled). What the hell was that supposed to mean? That I just verified without even a thought on the question & learning outcomes? That we deliberately decided to be non-compliant?

Initially I had planned to speak to my 'beloved' academic leader. Now I think I cannot do that because I may just blow my top.