Ugly Ogling Ogre

Once upon a time, there lived an ugly ogling ogre who had a kind heart. He was a vegetarian. He was in love with Ohoho. Huh? Did I get your attention?

The power of storytelling is something that we fully understood and enjoyed as children, but somehow forgot as we grew older. Our brain waves would change during a presentation when the presenter says the magic words, "Let me tell you a story..." Those about to doze off would be jolted. Unconsciously, bodies lean forward, ears prick up and attention levels jump.

This year, I have the chance to reacquaint with this power as I was roped in to teach. I become a ‘Jataka Penglipur Lara’ to a bunch of 7 and 8 years old kids. Theoretically, it should be a stroll in the park especially since the stories are all compiled in the text book. Lo and behold! It is easier said than done as these millennium kids will have no patience to sit still for an hour to listen to this Generation X babbling away without any visual aid. Traditional way of bulldozing my way does not work anymore! Either I arouse them or I lose them!

I need to crack my head to utilize various props and tools. I need to combine the hardware and software! I can build up the expectation and suspense by parading these gadgets but the last thing I want is to disappoint them with boring contents and delivery.

I downloaded some Jataka tales from YouTube and shared them in the class, using laptop and LCD projector. The kids did not seem excited. Perhaps they were expecting more action packed scenes. I mixed these tales with other short animations. As expected, a few who had this notion ‘computer means games’, tried their luck, “ Teacher, can we play computer games?”. The answer was a no brainer!

The first time when I wheeled in the overhead projector, they were curious and wondered if I were showing them a Transformer! They were totally clueless with this piece of junk.

It was totally different reaction from seeing a computer. They must have been disappointed when the projector was switched on! Nothing transformed and nothing moved. Being smart kids, a few quickly found ways to amuse themselves by shadow playing with their hands!

Personally, the best tool to tell these stories was to get them to role play or act them out! This method would allow them to burn all their excess energy and voila, some hidden talents were unearthed. Initially, they would be coy and preferred to take the role of extras but after a few takes; many would love to be the hero and heroine! Perhaps they could do a better job than Keanu Reeves in portraying our great teacher.

The power of storytelling is too powerful to ignore. It is an effective and fun way to acquire knowledge.

We seldom remember key points stated as stark, bare facts. But we do remember stories and the powerful principles and messages that are subtly embedded inside them. This awesome power of storytelling is something that we can harness and arm these kids with.

Who knows, 20 years from now during the 100 year celebrations, a few will become prominent public speakers and will look back and say, ”..apa nama, I have my first break in BISDS..” The rest is history.

Private Pension Funds

Malaysia is set to have private pension funds by the middle of 2010. This is part of the whole pension fund reform in the country and crucial for building the new high income-based economic model.

Several fund managers have shown keen interest in establishing private pension funds. Therefore, there could be a few, rather than just one.

At present, a relatively large proportion of the economically active population in the formal sector has pension coverage through the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), the public sector pension scheme and Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera (LTAT).

As at the end of 2008, there were over two million self-employed Malaysians remaining outside any formal pension system.

The important issue is sustainability of financial security during retirement.

A survey by the EPF indicated that about 90 per cent of contributors have less than RM100,000 in their accounts. Over 70 per cent would have exhausted their total contributions within three years of withdrawing a lump sum on retirement at the age of 55. This means by 58, an average retiree would have depleted all his retirement savings with EPF.

This underlying trend reflects the sole dependence of retirees on their EPF savings as a safety net, and as such, the inadequacy of sustainable levels of income after retirement.

More Educated, More Greed?

A staggering RM20mil - that is how much Malaysians have been conned by African tricksters in the past few years in at least 11 internationally known scams ranging from Black Money to inheritances which promise non-existent wealth.

The statistics, provided by Bukit Aman, also showed that most victims are, ironically, educated people such as lawyers, accountants, academicians and even politicians who somehow were convinced that they could become instant millionaires by investing with these people despite all the publicity about such scams.

These con men, who preyed successfully on gullible Malaysians, are from Nigeria, Liberia, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Senegal and Sierra Leone.

Conclusion - educated people are proven to bloody greedy!

How the Black Money scam works

The Black Money scam was reported by Interpol to have surfaced in Malaysia in 1998.
Most of these con artists enter the country on a social visit pass which allows them to stay up to 30 days. They tend to enrol in local colleges, just to obtain student visas so that they could extend their stay here.

They would then send out random emails and SMS, promising huge piles of money. Usually a “processing fee” is required in advance from their targets. In some cases, the victim lost big amounts of money without realising it until the fraudster goes missing. They are such smooth operators that a number of victims took loans from Ah Longs to pay them.

Victims are told about a stash of bank notes which had been dyed black to avoid Customs detection. The money was supposedly kept in a safe somewhere and the victim should purchase a type of chemical to wash off the dye which would then unveil “genuine” US dollars. The victim would be promised a share of the money.

The supposed origin of the riches varied with each new victim. The most popular version is that the money is the lost fortunes of former Nigerian dictator General Abacha which need to be transported out of Nigeria without the Customs knowing it.

Commercial Crime Investigation Department director said the con men, upon meeting their target, would produce a small vial of washing liquid called “Universal Automatic Washer” and ask the victim to select any black bank note at random.
The black banknote would be washed but with a sleight of hand, the con man would substitute it with a real note. Victims are given the “washed” bank notes and are encouraged to verify their authenticity at a money changer.

They would ask the victim to buy the chemical in order to process more money and that the costs of the chemicals are very high. These con artists modus operandi of “layering,” where a different person is sent to each meeting with the victim.
They are also known to use local women to carry out their deception, targeting single mothers or college students and using their bank accounts to conduct their shady business.

Most of these con artists are deported to their home countries as authorities usually lack evidence to charge them. However, a number of them would return to Malaysia under different passports.

As long as there are Malaysians who are fuelled by greed, there will be someone to take advantage of them!

10 Types of Scam

1) Animal vaccine:
These vaccines are ostensibly for farmers to use on their animals to help them breed faster. The demonstrations conducted by the con men are so convincing that the victims do not hesitate to buy the “magic vaccine” despite its high price.

2) Currency exchange:
Customers are offered extraordinary rates when they want to convert their money.

3) Inheritance:
Syndicates would use seemingly authentic documents to assure their victims that a great grandfather or close relative had died, leaving tons of money without an heir.
The victims are told that they would be charged a service fee and that they would then have a share of the riches. Once the money is paid out to the fraudster, he would disappear.

4) Parcel delivery:
Professionals such as lecturers and executives who surf the Internet frequently are often the victims. After befriending the victims through online chats, the conman would send them a parcel purportedly containing a “gift” such as a laptop, a watch or even jewelery.

Victims are told that the parcel had been held up by Customs, so they must pay a processing fee to retrieve the parcel. Once the fee is banked into a local bank account, there would still be no sign of the parcel.

5) Job offers:
Foreigners are dangled job positions in Malaysian hotels, multinational companies and telecommunication firms with promises of good salaries. All the dealings are done via Internet. They would be asked to pay for “visas” and “work permit fees”.

6) Lotteries:
Victims are told that through their email addresses, they have been selected as lottery winners where the prizes come in US dollars or pound sterling. To get the money, the victim has to be a member of a club and would be asked to pay very high membership fees.

7) Jewellery:
A syndicate would offer to sell gold in a form known as “granules”. The dealings often take place in hotel rooms where victims would be shown the genuine stuff initially but they would later discover that all they got is just a packet of metal powder.

8) “Bomoh”:
This usually involves celebrities and the wealthy who are eager to double their riches. The syndicate would use a piece of yellow cloth, a candle and the Quran, besides chantings. Victims are persuaded to leave a certain amount of money inside a bag. The are not allowed to open it until a specific time. Later, they would discover that all the money inside the bag had been quietly taken out and replaced with paper.

9) Credit card:
The suspects would use forged credit cards to settle their purchases at shopping malls, then reselling the items at a higher price later.

10) Drug-dealing:
Local women are made use of to smuggle drugs out of the country in exchange for jobs overseas.