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Significant Comeback at a Significant Age : Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad

by Anida binti Mohd. Tahrim

Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad is a figure who was born on July 10, 1925. Happily married to Tun Dr. Siti Hasmah binti Haji Mohamad Ali, Tun Dr. Mahathir was a Prime Minister of Malaysia for a period of 22 years from 1981 to 2003, administrating Malaysia as the longest serving Prime Minister before the recent comeback. Tun Dr. Mahathir who was born and raised in Alor Setar, Kedah became a medical doctor and started his political career in 1946. In 1976, Tun Dr. Mahathir rose as the Deputy Prime Minister, and in 1981 Tun sworn as the Prime Minister of Malaysia. Tun Dr. Mahathir however plunged a bombshell in the midst of the three days national conference of United Malays National Organization (UMNO) by announcing his resignation on June 22, 2002. This article will discuss various perspectives and angles on how the international media approached and evaluated this significant prolific individual, not to mention the success that he has brought to the opposition parties for winning the recent GE-14, but the opportunity to get to know also who is Tun Dr. Mahathir from their eyes of international media.

In 2015, Post Magazine, a British magazine which first published in 1840 posted a write up with a headline of “Why Mahathir Mohamad Can’t Keep Out of Malaysian Politics”. The article highlighted on how Tun Dr. Mahathir adapted to the life of an ordinary person the moment he stepped down on October 30, 2003. Tun Dr. Mahathir spoke to the writer, Chris Wright on June 20, 2015, 12 years after he has resigned as a Prime Minister that it was very unsettling for him to move away from a position of power to being just an ordinary person. Tun Dr. Mahathir even thought it was a good timing for him to relax and write his memoirs. Jokingly shared that he should retire and not to interfere in any political matters, knowing that policy is not implemented correctly triggered him to have his say. The discussion also led to a query on Tun Dr. Mahathir’s view on the freedom of the press. Chris Wright quoted Tun Dr. Mahathir explaining that there is no such thing as an absolute freedom of the press, not even in the most advanced countries in the world. Tun Dr. Mahathir emphasized that ‘there are things you just don’t say’ as it may destabilize the environment of a nation that has three races and 29 different tribes.

Due to the long tenure as a politician, his observation continues on any matter involving Malaysia political scene. The significance of his age has always been a part of news and media headline. Based on the article published by Mail Online on the 8^th January 2018, with a headline of ‘Malaysia’s Mahathir, 92, Eyes Comeback in Opposition He Once Crushed’, Tun Dr. Mahathir was stated as a leader who is helming the opposition party that he used to opposed to when he was in power. Mail Online or also known as dailymail.co.uk is the website of the Daily Mail, a newspaper in the United Kingdom also wrote that Tun Dr. Mahathir is seen as the oldest leader who will be back to his post as a Prime Minister if his coalition party wins in the general election. In related to the success of the opposition party winning GE-14 headed together by Tun Dr. Mahathir, Bloomberg, a private media company headquartered in New York wrote an article with a headline of ‘Mahathir Wins in Historic Malaysia Power Shift’ highlighted that his objective is not to seek revenge but to reinstate the rule of law. Bloomberg also quoted a statement by Bridget Welsh, a political scientist at John Cabot University in Rome who specializes in Southeast Asia stating that the situation occurred is considered as Malaysian tsunami across the board and the country with Tun Dr. Mahathir as the game changer. BBC News through a news article on 7^th May 2018 with the headline ‘Malaysia Elections: Could Mahathir Mohamad Make a Comeback?’ started the article with a description of a video where Tun Dr. Mahathir was looking in the eyes of a young Malay girl explaining that he is already old and has little time left to rebuild Malaysia, perhaps because of the mistakes that he has made in the past.

Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, a figura who is going strong at 92

With the victory of the historic GE-14, news of Tun Dr. Mahathir sworn as the latest Malaysia Prime Minister was published by many international media, highlighting his shocking comeback at his remarkable age, sworn based on a stunning result and the impact that he will implement as the latest Prime Minister. Financial Times on May 10, 2018 published an article with the headline of ‘Mahathir Sworn in as Malaysian Premier After Stunning Poll Win’, while Al Jazeera came out with a straight forward headline which was ‘Mohamad Mahathir Sworn in as New Leader of Malaysia’. The Telegraph concluded the ceremony by emphasizing Tun Dr. Mahathir’s age as the highlight of their headline, ‘Mahathir Mohamad, 92, sworn in as World’s Oldest Elected Leader After Shock Win in Malaysia’, while The Wall Street of Journal instilled an impact of foreign investment in Malaysia by sharing a headline ‘Malaysia’s Mahathir Sworn In, Signals Tougher Line on China’.

Tun Mahathir sworn in as Malaysia’s 7^th Prime Minister

What’s on the mind of a bully?

Written by Nadiah Zainal

Lately we have been shocked by the news of students being bullied at school, especially in boarding school. These past months, three bullying incident has occurred in three different MRSM schools. The boarding school bullying patterns are still the same, the exact pattern when I was in boarding school donkey years ago. The senior students will bully the junior student by instructing them to do their daily chores like washing the seniors’ clothes and shoes, ironing their school uniform, and evening buying them food with the victim’s money. No amount of teaching will lessen the bullying cases and it will continue until something drastic is being done. The case of the UPNM student who was bullied by beating and even putting hot iron on the victim’s body shows that something is not right somewhere.

What is the root to all these bullying? Did it start from home? Are these bullies having psychological problems? Do they need psychiatric treatment? Who should we blame? The parents? The school management, the school system, who? We truly need to get to the bottom of these bullying issues because it has led to two deaths just recently. One was of the boy from the religious school, the other was the student from UPNM. Punishing them alone is not the answer. Sending them back home for two or three weeks only gratifies them and the get to sit at home and do nothing. Are they sent for psychiatric evaluation? The councillors at school and at the universities need to prepare a standard operating procedures on what would be the best way to treat this issue which is beginning to spread.

According to Stump (2015), one of the reasons that bullies continues to bullying other people is they have lower levels of depression. It has become a trend and if this is not treated it will lead to a society that has no sense of compassion, sympathy and empathy. What happened to the moral values that have been talked about and also in the Malaysian Education Blueprint (2013-2025)? Have they not been inculcated in the curriculum by the teachers? Has it been ignored by educators? So many questions but there is no one single answer that could see the light to the solution. Students look upon elders as their role model. The adults among our society have shown so much of bullying that it doesn’t come as a surprise that school children at whatever age will emulated these acts of bullying by the adult and more mature society. We need help, and we need to act fast. Stop the bullying before it worsened and becomes a cycle. We need to adhere to proverbs like “do onto others as others do onto you”. The national philosophy of education stated that education is supposed to inculcate values that include being tolerant, compassionate so that we are able to live harmoniously in a society that has several races and religion. What has happened to that? Someone definitely need to be responsible and do something to fix it. A bullying society is a sick society and this has to STOP!!

resources_banner — Source: http://www.pbs.org

Reference:

Stump, S. (2015 August 4). Study: bullies have higher self-esteem, social status and lower

levels of depressions. Today. Retrieved from http://www.today.com/parents/study-bullies-have-higher-self-esteem-social-status-lower-levels-t36271

Learn Coding Even at Early Age: A 12 Years Old Impressed The Parliament and Teaches Coding To The Politicians

Written by Halimatul Nabilah

Feature image_bella — *Image: Amelia Lockley with Dr Michelle Dickinson*

Amelia Lockley is a 12 years old who learnt to code three years ago, and she impressed the world with her skills when even the Parliament is acquiring her to teach coding to the politicians. This little girl believes that everyone needs to learn to code at a young age and it a very helpful skill. She was invited by the parliament and flew to Wellington on May 8 to teach the politicians about coding. She was accompanied by an expert team including Nanogirl herself: Dr Michelle Dickinson who is the recipient of the Women of Influence Award and a role-model for young women that encourages more women to move into STEM (a curriculum based on the idea of educating students in four specific disciplines — science, technology, engineering and mathematics). They facilitated the special Code Club Aotearoa event. Code Club Aotearoa is a nation-wide network of volunteer-led coding clubs, with the goal of teaching coding to all young New Zealanders. At this event, the politicians will learn to code together with primary student around the Wellington region.

Amelia is part of the almost 300 Code Clubs around the country that are teaching up to 10,000 children on the skill that is a staple to the information technology industry. Currently, Amelia is working with the immigrants to develop an application that helps the immigrants to find essential services including schools and banks when they first arrive in New Zealand, but she’s hoping to forge a career as a mechatronic engineer. United Future Leader, Peter Dunne hosted that workshop to show his colleagues about the remarkable talents possessed by this young people. In fact, National MP, Brett Hudson who spent 20 years working in information technology before joining the Parliament was also impressed and amazed by the skills that those children have because even an experienced person like him are not aware of some of the knowledge and skill shared by the children. Hence, we need to acknowledge the importance of learning to code since the benefit can be to the individual and even to the country and it is clear that there are no boundaries regarding age to learn how to code. Everyone can become a coder!

Branded Handbag as Relationship’s Shield?

Written by Hani Zarina

What type of culture are we dealing with? Some people are ranked and being judged just by their appearances or what designer brands they are using. Does all the branded stuff define what’s within and our personality? Branded goods do not define the inner quality of anyone, but it is rather superficial. In the modern world today, there are a lot of external factors such as peers, type of lifestyle, etc that causes people nowadays to prompt looking on the outer layers such as Louis Vuitton handbags, Jimmy Choo’s shoes, Diane von Fürstenberg clothes or Christian Dior sunglasses.

There is study proof that women may buy designer bags to protect their relationships. A study done by Vladas Griskevicius, Americans spend over $250 billion on women’s luxury products in 2014, with an average woman possessing three new handbags in a year. Enough said we need to dive in into a woman’s feeling to understand and respect them better. The study quoted, “When a woman is flaunting designer products, it says to other women ‘back off my man.'” “The feeling that a relationship is being threatened by another woman automatically triggers women to want to flash Gucci, Chanel, and Fendi to other women,” research co-author Yajin Wang, a PhD student at the Carlson School of Management.

Personally, I think is, it is, of course, a big no for us to judge a woman based on their branded goods or handbags but nevertheless women who own designer handbag for sure have exquisite taste and knows how to lead their life with style and fabulously. Rather women who do not own designer handbags should think again and maybe consider buying them as self-reward as a woman can never have too many handbags in their life. Back to basics, to own an expensive branded stuff or to just own an ordinary brand, it is always your personal choice and not a decision influenced by others. So, women! Let us rock the world with our cool and expensive handbags and not forgetting our smart and intelligent brains.

Reference

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/women-may-buy-designer-bags-to-protect-theirrelationships-study-suggests/

Sultan Muhammad V at The Heart of Malaysian

Written by Salmie Shokordey

Today marks the day for the coronation of the country’s new sovereign, His Majesty Sultan Kelantan Sultan Muhammad as the 15th Yang Di-Pertuan Agong (YDPA) of Malaysia for five years term. Sultan Muhammad V previously took the oath on 13^th December 2016 after being elected as the YDPA during a special meeting of the Conference of Rulers to replace the succession of 14^th YDPA Sultan Kedah, Sultan Abdul Halim Mu’adzam Shah. His Majesty is the youngest YDPA in history coroneted as YDPA at the age of 47.

sultan-muhammad-v-e1481614470153 — *Credit image: Quartz Media*

Sultan Muhammad V was born on 6^th October 1969 and was the first son of four children of Sultan Ismail Petra Ibni Almarhum Sultan Yahya Petra and Tengku Anis Tengku Abdul Hamid. His three siblings are Tengku Mahkota Kelantan Tengku Dr Muhammad Faiz Petra, Tengku Muhammad Fakhry Petra and Tengku Amalin A’ishah Putri. His Majesty was addressed as Tuanku Muhammad Faris Petra before he officially took the appellation, ‘Sultan Muhammad the fifth’ reigned from his royal ancestors. His official cars also took the tittle Muhammad 5 in Arabic form as the plate number.

Sultan Muhammad V was crowned as the Tengku Mahkota (Crown Prince) of Kelantan on 6th October, 1985 at the age of 16 years old. He was 42 years old when he ascended the throne as the 29^th Sultan of Kelantan in 12 December 2010 and is the second Sultan of Kelantan who ascend to the YDPA throne after his grandfather, Sultan Yahya Petra Ibni Almarhum Sultan Ibrahim Petra who was the sixth YDPA in 1975 to 1979. He also served as the Deputy Yang Di-Pertuan Agong since 12 December 2011 before he was proclaimed as the YDPA.

Sultan Muhammad V received his primary education from Sekolah Sultan Ismail 1 in Kota Bharu, secondary education at Alice Smith International School in Kuala Lumpur. He then went to the Oakham School in Rutland England in 1989. After that, he took Diplomatic Studies at St. Cross College, Oxford and Islamic Studies at Oxford Centre from 1989 until 1991. He then continued with Diplomatic Studies and Business Administration at Huron University College, London. He also went to Deutsche Stiftung Internationale Entwicklung Berlin to study further on diplomatic relations and later took up European Business Administration at European Business School London.

Sultan Muhammad V was well known for his down to earth and humble personality by addressing himself as ‘ambo’ (Kelantan pronunciation for Me) when he went to ground to meet and greets the rakyat (people). He was also known for his concern for the welfare of rakyat that he put aside his title as a Sultan to be with Rakyat. On the Internet, shared photo of His Majesty, went down to the grave hole to assist for a funeral is a usual thing. He even drove his four-wheels by himself to meet people during Kelantan massive flood in 2014 especially in the remote area of Kelantan in Gua Musang and Jeli. He was known for his sincere concern for his people’s welfare without the media attention, and sometimes his appearance were not escorted by the police of security.

His Majesty is also significant to the ‘cool and simple’ personality for he was always seen to wear a plain jubbah (robe) with kopiah (skullcap) and Baju Melayu (Traditional Malay attire) or sometimes even wear a plain ‘pelikat’ or sarong. He was also popular on the Internet for being the Sultan who simply wore a crocs sandals while walking down the yellow carpet.

His people-centric monarch approach also were being praised by the people when he envisioned the Program Walkathon D’Raja Kelantan, walking with the monarch members that set a record of 21,111 participants in the Malaysia Book of Record in 2011. To bring rakyat closer to the royal institution, he also initiated the program ‘Qiam with me’ held during Ramadhan (the Holy month for Muslim). The program made it to the Malaysian Book of Record for 6,000 people participating at Kubang Kerian Palace in August 2012. Both programmes are included in the Kelantan tourism calendar and serve as tourism event in the Kelantan.

He took the matter of religion seriously that he changed the call of ‘Daulat Tuanku’ (Long Live the King) to Allahuakbar (Allah the Almighty) so God will bless those who pronounce it. He even requested for the sound system in Masjid Sultan Muhammad II, Telipot to be connected to his palace next to the mosque so that Adzan can echo inside the palace. The distance were only 100 metre away sometimes he even walk to the mosque and spends time at the mosque for any religious event. He always made a surprise appearance at the mosque during prayer time by only wearing plain T-shirt and pant which makes him a king without very much protocol.

Apart from that, he is also the patron of Yayasan Sultan Kelantan that helps the unfortunate, Colonel In Chief of the Royal Artillery Regiment and was once the Brigadier General Commander of the 506 Territorial Army. He was appointed as the fifth Chancellor of UiTM of Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) during the university’s 86th convocation ceremony on 16^th April 2017. His installation as the YDPA was very much awaited and appreciated by the people across the nation. As postgraduates of UiTM, we from the In Press team are proud for having Sultan Muhammad V as our Chancellor and YDPA.

Our highest congratulations and best wishes from In Press Global to His Majesty KDYMM Seri Paduka Baginda Yang-DiPertuan Agong XV Sultan Muhammad V on the coronation as the 15th Yang Dipertuan Agong. Daulat Tuanku.

Source and credit: News @ Asia One, The Star, Bernama & Astro Awani

‘Gamification’– Engaging The New Age Consumer

Written by Syed Shahfuddin bin Syed Zainal Abidin

Gamification is the process of adding game-like elements to something as to encourage partaking. In other words, gamification is about transforming something, which is hypothetically boring and uninteresting into a game for people to engage in.

Various professions use gamification to improve productivity or simply to increase active participation. Significant progress can be tracked and learning new stuff that has a steep learning curve can be made more fun when it is ‘gamified’. The engagement through apps and websites will help drive people’s participation, which develops long-lasting relationships for brands, encouraging people to meet personal challenges or even learn new tools or software.

In the context of advertising, gamification is a concept that has been adopted very effectively by well-known global brands such as Nike, Starbucks, McDonalds, Coke, Magnum, Samsung as well as countless others to build lasting relationships with their customers as well as serve as a means for continued communication. It also creates a somewhat addictive experience from the trill of achievement as well as the social gratification and a sense of accomplishment on the online/social media space.

Companies of all shapes and sizes have begun to use games to revolutionise the way they interact with customers and employees, becoming more competitive and more profitable as a result (Edery & Mollick, 2009). This means the future of personal communication for brands with their customers is now becoming a more participatory means of communication, going beyond the traditional, one way communication model.

Gamification can also be viewed as a means of self-expression and in today’s day and age where Generation Z is spending incredible amounts of time of social media platforms. Creating an environment whereby gamification becomes part of the metrics can add value to a brand’s image, especially since every brand wants to be on top of the mind of their intended target audience. Case and point would be the very recent explosion of Pokémon Go onto digital space, which very quickly became a global sensation, reiterating the fact that socially, gamification is changing the way we interact with people and the world around us.

In a nutshell, gamification is probably the start of a new beginning of possibilities in the way in which marketers and advertisers reach their intended audience. While the need for instant gratification is ever so evident in today’s fast paced digital world where a multiscreen presence has diluted our focus and attention span, gamification done creatively could serve as a means to help hold the attention span of target audiences of brands for perhaps a tad longer.

References

Chou, Y.-k. (2017, January 12). Yu-kai-Chou: Gamification & Behavioral Design. Retrieved from http://yukaichou.com/gamification-examples/top-10-marketing-gamification-cases-remember/

Edery, D., & Mollick, E. (2009). Changing The Game : How Video Games Are Transforming the Future of Business. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.

Fullerton, L. (2017, April 13). The Drum. Retrieved from http://www.thedrum.com/news/2017/04/13/study-teens-college-students-favor-snapchat-while-gen-z-spends-up-11-hours-day

Hall, M. (2014, May 13). The Innovative Instructor Blog. Retrieved from http://ii.library.jhu.edu/2014/05/13/what-is-gamification-and-why-use-it-in-teaching/

LIVE VIDEO: THE NEW EVOLUTION IN SOCIAL MEDIA

Written by Halimatul Nabilah

Social media has evolved into such a powerful tool in the world. The biggest evolution is the live video function that Instagram and Facebook have applied to their application. This live streaming video started in 2016, but evolved in 2017 and is making a huge impact to everyone including digital advertisers and marketers. Prerecorded videos are still something vital in reaching consumers, but a business that uses real time videos has a much larger impact on the business.

Live video will become extremely famous in 2017 because it allows the brands to instantly engage with its users with any scripts, editing and the contents are authentic. Facebook is the reason for live video to become so famous because previously businesses are afraid to use that approach in fear of lack of control towards the content. But when Facebook decided to use it, everyone started to follow the trend. The founder and CEO of LOUD RUMOR, Mike Arce said that “Video is going to become the face of business in 2017,” because it provides marketing for fitness studios and gyms which definitely needs a visual representation to display the workouts. This also means that decision makers have to start making videos about their company with real people to catch up with this trend.

According to Heidi Besik, the group product marketing manager for Adobe Social, social media platforms like Facebook are challenging the traditional media in adding revenues to the business. In fact, bigger events will be more viewed using videos on social media. Hence, due to the preferences of the consumers on these types of media, brands will need to find a team dedicated to creating videos that shall assist in maintaining consumers’ interest towards their business, or else they might be left behind in this vast evolving technological world.

USA v North Korea: Are They Ready for a Real Battle?

Written by: Nasihah Hamid

The United States aggression of air strike in Syria on April 7, 2017 seems to be crossing the red lines that could lead into a war with Russia. It does not end there, another complicated scenario has emerged as the US sent the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier and several warships towards Korean peninsula in a show off force by Trump administration a few days after North Korea fired a ballistic missile off its coast. But will there be a war? Is there any possibility that the US could attack North Korea?

According to Foster (2017), the US is highly improbable to attack North Korea because it could escalate tensions and possibly lead to nuclear war. On Tuesday, North Korea media clearly stated a warning for a nuclear strike on the US and will defend itself against any sign of American provocation or aggression with “a powerful force of arms”. State news agency KCNA quoting North Korea’s foreign ministry saying that the measures taken by the US naval deployment showed a reckless action of invading that has reached to a serious level. A report by BBC stating that the deployment has shown that North Korea is not wrong in developing nuclear weapons capability as it is use as self-defense and to break the initial attack of the enemy.

video_image-465188 — Donald J.Trump Tweet – (Source: vladtv.com)

Previously, US President Donald Trump said on Twitter that he would “solve the problem” of nuclear threats alone if China – North Korea’s closest ally did not give greater support in employing pressure on its neighbours. The tweet came in after a meeting with Xi Jinping, the Chinese president in Florida last week.

The meeting was likely to be one of US moves to persuade China to enforce existing restrictions on North Korea more meticulously. South Korea and China, a powerful ally of Pyongyang has warned that tougher sanction will be imposed on North Korea if it is continuously launching more missile tests in the future.

US and North Korea relationship is in a crucial state since a decade ago especially with several critical issues of nuclear weapons, development of long-range missiles and North Korea threats to strike the US. However, the battle seems a never ending story with each nation trying to provoke each other. In the end, will the war really happen? or is it just some sort of sheer intimidation?

References

BBC News. (2017, April 11). North Korea lashes out at US Navy strike group move. Retrieved April 12, 2017, from BBC News: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-39561410

Foster, A. (2017, April 11). USA v North Korea? Will the US attack North Korea? Retrieved April 12, 2017, from Express.co.uk: http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/790229/USA-v-North-Korea-will-US-attack-Pyongyang-missile-tests-nuclear-threat

Utusan Online. (2017, April 12). Korea Utara sedia berperang. Retrieved April 12, 2017, from Utusan Online: http://www.utusan.com.my/berita/luar-negara/korea-utara-8232-sedia-berperang-1.468299#nav-allsections