The Frontiers journey has been an adventure for me, from its inception till the writing of this closing entry.

In thetwo years Frontiers has been in operation, we have churned out 21 editions. In that time, we have trained nearly 30 journalism students. Some had panache, while others were lukewarm with a touch of ‘safeness’ to their stories. But that was okay, as the idea for these ‘probies’ was always to go far enough to make an impact but not overboard to the extent of getting into trouble.

On assignment for Frontiers!

The main intention was to equip the students with the fundamentals for the world of journalism. The point of contention was that some quarters could only find fault without looking at the bigger picture of what Frontiers was all about.

Nevertheless, we’ve received good and interesting comments for some of our stories. From authors like Ellie Campbell, whose book When Good Friends Go Bad we featured, to people who thought our statements could jeopardize careers! We were also very pleased when the Star newspaper picked up on The Tamil Calendar Begins Again! and ran a centrespread on it.

Frontiers and the Corporate Communications Department have also shared stories and supported each other on coverage of university events.

When we started Frontiers many months ago, we only got 544 hits. The numbers have increased steadily to 1,359 visits as of March 2011. According to the Google analytics managing our account, the visits were from 71 countries/territories including Malaysia, the United States, Canada, our neighbor Singapore, Australia, Philippines, India and Indonesia, just to name the top 10 countries. It is amazing to know that Frontiers is also viewed in 33 languages!

So I guess it wasn’t a surprise when we received requests from writers as far away as Arizona to write about health, and another from Zen College Life to discuss matters pertaining to college life.

Rehman Rashid

I also invited the renowned author of ‘A Malaysian Journey’, Rehman Rashid, to share his thoughts with us but I guess that will not become a reality now.

The idea of creating a campus community that would encompass the Cheras neighborhood has expanded beyond Frontiers and further than our expectations. It truly has been a passage of intellectual discourse in writing, thinking and maturity with these kids. Sharing experiences and learning off each other has made us better, stronger and more diverse.
My heartfelt thanks to Hasrimy.com for sponsoring Frontiers during what we theme as ‘our glorious years’. We couldn’t have sailed this smoothly without Jimmy and his team of tech-savvy experts. As the technical ‘guru’, Jimmy has taught the students to manage, construct and expand the website to what we have today.

My deepest thanks also to Belinda Chee, who was my Assistant Editor for the duration of this project. Taking time from your busy schedule to help sub stories pertaining to the university made things easier for me.

To the students who have gone through the rigor of assessments or internship with Frontiers, I sincerely hope you will take away the essential experiences it was intended to give you. It was always exciting for me when the deadlines got closer and the students scrambled to piece their stories together. Some passed with flying colors, while a few were casualties of my strict ruling of “you miss your deadline, you die”.

"If facts and observations are fairly presented, the truth will take care of itself"

It was a cool journey for me as Editor-in-Chief. Subbing grammatical errors and sifting out incomplete facts and figures while trying to maintain each individual’s writing style was not easy. All this mostly happened during the weekend, throughout the night, just before the uploading of the new stories at the end of every month.

Nevertheless, it gave me satisfaction when an issue came together. It also gave me a chance to write about things that mattered and were important to me, even if I merely wrote out of necessity to ‘help out’ with the line-up when some stories didn’t quite make the cut.

By and large, Frontiers was always about the students, for the students, and working with the students. That, I will miss the most. But above all else, I still believe if facts and observations are fairly presented, the truth will take care of itself. And it has.

In the wake of the Sendai quake, a few topics have been making rounds in the social networks, or at least the ones where I have signed up for. Apart from the quake itself, was of course a nuclear accident at the Fukushima I nuclear power plant. Then there was the flurry of seismic activity that seemed to follow the Sendai quake.

Sendai quake

Many wondered if the end is near. A very badly misunderstood Mayan calendar certainly did not help calm matters. Is there anything unusual about these quakes in the first place? I dug through 38 years worth of data to find out.

The earthquake data came from the US Geological Survey’s (USGS) Preliminary Determination of Epicentres (PDE) catalogues. Then, they were matched by time and location with the National Geographic Data Centre (NGDC) Significant Earthquake Database, which provided information on whether a tsunami was generated because of a quake, and the total death toll.

Are earthquakes on the increase? At first glance, yes, especially from the early 1990′s. However, before you start going for wild orgies until that fateful day when the world ends, have a closer look. Much of the increase was due to improved detection, which recorded smaller earthquakes that previously would have gone unnoticed.

Go ahead, play with the sliders on the top right. If the data is limited to recent quakes, or stronger quakes, or only those that killed anyone, the apparent increase disappears.

Thailand-Myanmar border quake

What about that recent Magnitude 6.8 earthquake at the Thailand-Myanmar border, you might ask. Does that not say anything? Is this writer blind, deaf, or deluding himself? Does this journalism student even read the news?

Let us try this exercise: Narrow the data to just earthquakes between Magnitude 6.5 to 7.5. What do you see in the number of earthquakes?

Earthquakes are actually very common, but as the maps and death toll would show, whether it happens in a populated area are a fairly hit-or-miss affair. However, only these earthquakes are reported in the press, because the rest would make boring headlines. Even a tsunami cannot guarantee an earthquake some publicity; we get an average of seven or eight each year since 1973, but we rarely hear about it.

What is the moral of the story? Do not rely on how many press reports you see to estimate how often something happens. The press is great at highlighting the important, sensational and the unusual, but if you want to know frequencies and probabilities – go straight for the data.

Do you have a theory about earthquakes? Feel free to play around with the sliders, see if it fits the data; post a comment if you find anything interesting.

Since its inception many hundred years ago, the dragon boat race had traditionally drawn huge crowds in the thousands comprising rowers, supporters, foreign tourists, curious onlookers and locals alike.

This time around the festival has come early and was held at the Kepong Metropolitan Lake Garden, the first ever water activity held in the

An energetic race

capital of Kuala Lumpur.  Dragon Boat Racing continues to be an important event on the tourism calendar of countries involved in the dragon boat sport across the world. Most events have traditionally been held in globally prominent cities, recognizing the sports’ growing global appeal.

The International Dragon Boat Federation (IDBF) and the Asian Dragon Boat Federation (ADBF) are the official international governing bodies for the water sport of dragon boat racing. They are non-governmental and non-profit organizations.

It was interesting to see that apart from being a tourist draw and an economic booster, the yearly staging of the dragon boat festival contributes to the country’s national agenda, notably unity amidst diversity of the multiethnic, multicultural and multi-religion population like Malaysia.

Races underway

The main organizer, Harlie Venture stated that the dragon boat races were already common in Penang, thus the reason to bring it to Kuala Lumpur. 800 participants from 8 countries including Malaysia formed 32 groups participated in this year’s event.

Frontiers was there to witness race 11 and 12 between MMU Malacca and Navy Paddlers Club “A” who were in the lead for the International Junior Mixed and International Open Mixed respectively.

However, speaking to some of the participants, we found out that Philippine team wasn’t too happy, “We raced in Putrajaya last year, heard it was the same organizers but this time around it’s not as good” said team captain, Jeffrey Tan.

The MMU team from Cyberjaya, stated that the race was much lighter than the previous one that was held in Putrajaya last year where all the Commonwealth countries were involved. The German team, seasoned racers for the past 12 years simple answer ‘was just to have fun’. “We will be back in Putrajaya in June for the next race. We will be back for as long as the team needs us,” they added.

With international teams coming back for more and the races being set as a yearly event, this would be an interesting spectacle to watch. Not

Universal, healthy and competitive sport

only will it be promoted as a universal, healthy and competitive sport, it will also cultivate and develop the spirit of goodwill, friendship and cultural exchanges amongst participants true to its objectives.

Winner:                     Kalimantan Timur Indonesia                       1.52.50

1^st runner-up:            Caombodian Dragon Boat Team                 1.52.69

2^nd runner-up:           Polis DiRaja Malaysia – PDRM                     1.53.35

“Jazz music is all about having rhythm in your heart and mind” – Steve Thornton,

Thornton performing with students

With those words, he performed a masterclass for the music students at UCSI University. But before that he briefly described Jazz music history that was brought in by the African Americans. Jazz is all about the tone of the music. His ancestors from South Africa who moved to the States could play Jazz with a combination of west music.

Thornton has been based in Kuala Lumpur since 1997. Before that he lived and worked in New York and in the course of his formidable recording career he worked and recorded with saxophonist Sadao Watanbe, and continues this gig today.

Percussions in play

Thornton has also worked with and performed on albums by Herbie Hancock, Mongo Santamaria, jazz legend Miles Davis, and pianist McCoy Tyner, as well as Tracy Chapman, Mariah Carey and Michael Jackson. On home ground he works with Raihan, a traditional Islamic religious hymns (nasyid) group backed with percussions.

During the Masterclass, Thornton performed two songs – ‘Spain’ and ‘It needs to know’. He replayed the song ‘Spain’ with the faculty music band and the students were in awe that they were given the opportunity to learn and to play instruments like the triangle bell, drum and bass in Jazz with this famed percussionist.

“We appreciated the faculty initiative to invite professionals to perform for the Masterclass. It was very beneficial and a good opportunity for us to learn from experts,” echoed Yenni, a  student from music foundation.

16^th March saw the celebration of Nowruz Day, the first day of the Iranian New Year, for the first time on campus. This famous day is also celebrated by other Persians alike around the world. They believe that it is the day for re-birth as it coincides with Vernal Equinox which is known by various Persians as the first day of spring myths.

“We eat, eat and eat!”

The Iranian students had a booth in the Block A lobby to create awareness for this joyous day. They were also selling Iranian ingredients for various dishes and were very happy to entertain curious questions about their fare. It was obvious that they were quite excited to rejoice in their new year for the first time on campus.

Ali Faheem remarked that, “People think that Iranians are very traditional yet we barely follow our traditions. I am not saying that is a good thing and that is partly why we decided to bring our Persian community together by celebrating Nowruz today”.

Traditionally, the day before Nowruz, there is a festival of fire which is believed to be necessary for the welcoming of visiting spirits. The New Year festivies go on for thirteen days.

Dimensions from Persia

“We eat, eat and eat!” says Afsar-e Khalid when I ask her what most people do on Nowruz day. “We start cooking the day before and finish the morning of the New Year. We just spend time with family and friends on this day,” she added.

Quite a few of the students said they missed celebrating Nowruz with their families back home even if it includes some traditions they don’t like such as wearing traditional gowns but they still greet and serve their elders while kneeling as a show of respect. This was the main reason the students came together to remember and commemorate their roots.

“We hope that all Persian students will come forward and continue to celebration our new year when we leave” said Ali who is proud of his country and want people to be more aware of it.

Looking back, do you remember how underprivileged women were? They were only taught to cook and be perfect housewives, but look where we are today. Women have evolved from secluded to seductive, shy to daring, housewife to dominating career woman, from being ruled to being a ruler of a country.

Women enpowerment

The first International Women’s Day was observed across the United States on 28^th February 1909. During the second International Conference of Working Women held in Copenhagen in1910, Clara Zetkin, a German politician who fought for women’s rights presented the idea of celebrating Women’s Day on the same day every year in every country including Malaysia.

The Social Science and Liberal Arts Student Association (SSLA) in collaboration with MAKNA (Majlis Kanser Nasional) launched the International Women’s Week in celebrations of the 100^th Anniversary of International Women’sDay. The event kicked off on 7^thMarch at the South Wing Campus with an exhibition on women who have made their mark in the world.

These included exhibits on Mary McLeod Bethune who started the first African American School in Daytona Beach, Florida and Sarah Knowles Bolton, an American writer whose books were inspired by women empowerment.

The highlight of the event was a seminar and talks by Lydia Teh,t he author of DoYou Wear Suspenders? and Honk if You’re Malaysian, Tjasa Iris, a Slovenian painter who has collaborated with many Asian galleries such as Instinctin Singapore, Wina in Bali & 116 Art Gallery in Chiang Mai, Thailand and Datuk Dr. Rafiah Salim, Director of The NAM Institute for the Empowerment of Women.

The celebrations

These powerful women also shared their experiences from their humble beginnings to what they have achieved today. MAKNA also opened a booth to provide and inform students on breast cancer.

The official launch took place only on the second day by the Associate Dean, Miss Norul Hidayah. Her speech summarized the theme of the event which was “Women, Architects of the Century”. According to Celine Tan, SSLA’s President, the theme was used as architects meant builders or sculptors and the celebration was for women that have sculptured the world and also in tandem with the century’s celebrations.

The foyer was packed with students and lecturers and they were entertained by the UCSI’s dance club and cheerleaders. The Dance Evolution closed the event where everyone celebrated women empowerment throughout the ages. Dances, band performances and magic kept the audience entertained. Among those who provided the fun were D’band, Alvin Boyz and the UCSI’s cheerleaders.

This event has surely given students a clear idea of what International Women’s Day is all about, celebrating women empowerment, strength and intellectuality for decades to come as we continue to be the architects of tomorrow.

It was a night to express one’s culture as well as skill and talent in a vigorous manner true to the theme of the night. ‘Vibrant Night’ was organized by the Professional Development class under the tutelage of Mr. James Yeow, their lecturer.

Mr. James performing

The event that was co-organized by the Peer Counseling Club, presented 25 items to coincide with the 25^th anniversary celebration. True enough the night was a bunch of lively entertaining performances which left every ticket holder eagerly anticipating.

Mr. James and Dr Daisy Jane, Head of psychology department, rendered “You Raise Me Up” which got the crowd singing along. Another eye-catching performance was from a Botswana trio who danced vigorously on stage. Their strikingly attire, half torn in odd places proved to be a hit while the dance was incredibly amusing.

The night went on with a variety of performances from different races like the Maldivian traditional dance, an Indian folk song, a special Botswana poem and many more vibrant activities. The crowd was truly entertained by the vibrant performances.

There was also a “special” lucky draw. Anyone in the crowd who was 25 years old or had the number 25 in their identity cards or school I.D number cards were honored with petite gifts.

The vibrant night event ended with a special perfomance by the organizers who sang “We are the World” by the late Michael Jackson. The crowd joined in to a harmonized a glorious ending.

Finale

Nocturne is derived from the French word, Noctunal and from Latin, Nocturnus. People usually interpret it as a music piece which is inspired by night. A very famous classical music piece by Frederic Chopin was also named based on this word. Kazuo Ishiguro, a prominent author, who is also penned The Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go followed suit and produced Nocturne: Five Stories of Music and Nightfall.

Nocturne

The novel, as the title states, consists of 5 short stories. The setting of the stories flies from the piazzas of Italy to the beautiful Malvern Hill in the United Kingdom, to the “secret floor” of an exclusive Hollywood hotel. The characters are nicely depicted from a café guitarist to a young but lost musician to a talented young cellist. All of them share a common interest and ambition but all of them also have some moments which will reckon your past, present or perhaps future.

In the last story of the novel, “Cellists”, is set somewhere in an Italian city. A young promising cellist gets to know a famous female cellist. She agrees to tutor him, gives comments and critics but never plays in front of him. In actuality, she pretends to be a cellist but cannot play the cello at all. She just merely believes in her own potential to be a great cellist.

“You have to understand, I am a virtuoso,” she tells him. “But I’m one who’s yet to be unwrapped.” Thus, we can see that she is seeing her ideal self which has nothing to do with her reality. She is not a cellist after all. In the end, she marries someone she does not love and the young cellist ends up in a second class chamber group at a hotel restaurant.

A feeling of romantic and melancholy is presumptuous in the first story, “Crooner”. Jan, the narrator who plays guitar in Piazza San Marco, is hired to accompany an ageing American singer, Tony Gardner, to serenade his wife, Lindy, from a gondola beneath their hotel window.

The story is sad as Tony is not only singing a love song to Lindy but a song of goodbye. He is leaving her for his career. He is going to divorce her to make into the front page, to create news value for himself even though they are still in love.

Kazua Ishiguro

After the first story, Lindy makes her appearance again in the story, “Nocturne”. It is a thrill to see there is a connection of the same character from one story to another even though the setting and storyline is totally different from each other.

The above are the stories that I liked the most from the novel, and great stories are not meant to be spoiled so I will not summarize the whole novel. However, I would say each story is heartbreaking in its own way but with some moments of joy. In summary, “Nocturne”, is an exploration of love and loss. This happens to everyone, everywhere and every day, not exactly in the same track but by ironically by parallelism.

After over 15 million units of the popular iPad were sold worldwide in 2010, Apple CEO and IT mogul Steve Jobs once again made headlines after announcing his company’s newest creation, the iPad 2.

Talking to members of the public during an Apple conference earlier this month, the computer maestro promised a much thinner, faster and ultimately better tablet computer than its wildly successful predecessor.

While Jobs’s revelation of the iPad 2 has sparked wide interest among Apple fans and gadget enthusiasts alike, will his latest masterpiece exceed all expectations and take the number one spot currently held by the original iPad?

Frontiers has prepared a full comparative analysis between both iPad models, so decide for yourselves if the second generation iPad is even close to competing against existing rivals like the Samsung Galaxy, Motorola Xoom or BlackBerry Playbook.

ipad 2

Design and physical appearance

The most notable difference is the size: although the iPad 2’s screen size is the same (9.7 inches) as the previous one, it is now approximately 33% less thick.The weight of the iPad 2 is not much different; it is only 0.2 pounds lighter compared to the iPad which weighs 1.5 pounds.

The iPad 2 also comes installed with WiFi and 3G capabilities so users will have the option to stay connected to the Internet on-the-go without the hassle of carrying a modem everywhere. Plus, it has an aluminum unibody construction normally used in the MacBook which gives the iPad 2 a more natural and comfortable grip. Although only available in either black or white, owners can still change the color of their iPad 2 by purchasing Smart Covers from selected accessory stores.

Processor: How fast can it go?

The second generation iPad is expected to run twice as fast as its predecessor; it comes equipped with the all-new A5 processor, a dual-core chip that consumes less power but operates at incredible speeds.

This means users will not have to bother about large applications that will load slowly or worry about multi-tasking that can slow down the device’s horsepower.

A camera on the iPad, at last

Here are what most existing iPad owners want attached to their beloved tablet computer: a tool to take pictures with.

ipad 2 cameras

While iPad 1.0 was denied the ability to snap pictures, the upcoming successor comes with not one but two hi-definition cameras: one on the rear and one more on the front. The videos taken with the cameras are crisp and smooth. But the quality of its pictures is only average, especially when viewed in full screen or when pictures are taken in poor lighting conditions.

In fact, Apple intends to our effort into its video-calling application called FaceTime and does not wish to make advancements in still photography.

New exclusive applications

The brand new iPad 2 is preinstalled with the FaceTime and PhotoBooth application programs, where the latter features a nine-square grid panel which allows users to add special effects to pictures simultaneously.

Other fun applications include shoot ‘em up games like N.O.V.A 2 which allows players to spin 360 degrees in their chairs and shake and tilt their 9-inch screen to kill monsters.

ipad photobooth

HD output to TV

Here is one new feature that definitely benefits students: the Apple Digital TV Adapter allows users to mirror the display of their iPad 2’s on a TV or even a projection system. This is definitely an awesome plus for university students who want to present their assignment projects with style.

The verdict

Priced at RM1600 onwards, the iPad 2 has definitely made significant improvements over the original iPad. But for those who are accustomed to laptops and notebooks, this piece of marvel may not be the perfect replacement just yet.

However, with over 65,000 applications to choose from and tons of wireless accessories, the gap between traditional computers and tablet ones is definitely narrowed. An existing owner of the iPad might feel satisfied with his existing device even with the absence of a camera, speed and horsepower but for people who have yet to experience a tablet PC, the iPad 2 is a definite must-have.

Some may complain that the iPad 2 has yet to feature USB ports or even an SD card slot but these are but minor hiccups that can be easily solved with applications like the DropBox which allows file transfers. Although rival brands like the Xoom have better graphics and a superior camera, they still lack in design and trail far behind in terms of applications and user-friendliness.

For more information on the all-new iPad 2, just make your way down to UCSI University’s Apple Store located on the first floor in Block A for full price details and specifications.

In the month of March, we take a few days to commemorate all women from all walks of life, all over the world on International Women’s Day. In this month also we read a book that is specially design for women to find their voice.

The book cover

Do you have a voice that your audience will listen to and agree with? If your answer is ‘no’, then this might just be the book for you. If your answer is ‘yes’, this could be fun reading anyway.

“The Voice of Success – A Women’s Guide to a Powerful and Persuasive Voice” provides several tips and analyzes a few facts of what and why an audience would not be at ease listening to you. Some of us are usually not interested or afraid to speak in public for several reasons. Vocal coach and the author, Joni Wilson teaches women how to find their voice, so people will listen.

Wilson introduces a 3-Dimentional Voice Technique which is arranged in steps for you to study her book easily. The three steps are depth, width and length to be used all at once. There is also an advance chapter on how to learn to sing, if that is what you desire.

She further explains that voice personality is something we learn or “imitate” from our parents. “This is especially evident in second-generation business families where fathers and sons and mothers and daughters have strong voice and personality similarities,” she adds.

This book does not have a ‘must read’ tag on it but if you are a person who desperately wants to have a powerful voice, this is a book that could help you do just that.