A talk by a friend

During the Education and Further Studies Fair 2010 at Mid Valley the other day, I had the pleasure of attending a talk by my friend Ramesh. He is a full time web designer among other things, and I first met him during the KLickr - the KL Flickr group outing. I have only been keeping up with him through his blog and it has been a while since I seen him in the flesh.

As part of career education, Ramesh had an hour to convince the audience that there is fulfilling career to be had in the field of web design and it should not be looked at as a fall-back option if other more glamorous options were closed - Medicine for instance!

The talk started at a slow pace but soon picked up traction with audience trickling in with time. The first parts were the formalities of what should be considered for a place for training, what the training entails and what are the options on offer upon completion of training. Then came the fun part - what the job he was doing now entails. He showcased his previous projects and the inside stories of his dealing with clients. The bit about what the employers expect was very good. Some gem there.

What was refreshing was the fact he admitted that he is still trying to learn while continuing to have fun. There are a lot of people out there who felt that education stops with graduation of their first degree. Education is a life-long process. If only some of the doctors realise that, than my job at training them would be that much easier …..

All in all, well done Ramesh. His entry on the event can be found here.

Education and Further Studies Fair

The above fair was held over the weekend at the Mid Valley Exhibition Center and I had the pleasure of attending it. It was certainly an eye opening affair and just confirmed the nation obsession of their children graduating with a Medical Degree. The reason I attended it was because my friend Ramesh was invited to be a guest speaker for the segment on career in digital media. The exhibition occupied a couple of halls at the huge venue and I must say 70% of the exhibit were all things healthcare - both Medical and Nursing, with a smaller segment on hospitality and engineering courses. I remember attending a similar fair around 20 years back, and 70% of the exhibit was on computer courses. Things had certainly came full circle.

I was in T-shirts and unshaven, and a few of the exhibitors asked me if I was interested in signing up for courses as they were doing “discounts” for those attending the fair.

Let me start with the obvious one. It was a private exhibition, and the booths were mainly by private colleges and universities. Some actually offer their own degree while others via a twinning initiatives. Certainly, the machinery was on hyperdrive in justifying the cost of doing the degree locally rather than going abroad. None of the public colleges were featured. All together, there were at least 50 participants. The usual suspects were there - IMU, Monash, Masterskills, Segi and Mahsa. I knew these centers, so I did not spend much time there. Instead, I spent a good hour chatting around with the ‘agencies’. These are local company, specialising in facilitating students finding places at Medical School abroad, mainly in the cheap. Cheap as in, in Indonesia, Russia and Ukraine. There were a few in India as well, but according to them, the Indian colleges have prefer to send their own representatives to Malaysia, and handle the enrollment and acceptance process in house. The pricing were certainly an eye opener. The Royal Perak College of Medicine (under Universiti Kuala Lumpur, which was in turn under MARA), offer the full Medical Degree - previously as MBBS(Mal) for over RM200K. These colleges in Russia would only set you back RM150K.

Check out the prices on offerThis certainly created a lot of excitement, not to mention the looser admission criteria. During my conversation with one of the agent, I spent 60% of the conversation about justifying that the degree will be ‘legal’. I was more interested in the admission criteria, ratio of staff to students, the medium - not all of these were in English, whether the clinical years include interaction with human beings.He then got suspicious and I had to come clean that I was an academician. He then asked for a more senior agent to deal with me. Off the record, the textbook will be in Russian, so you can guess what the medium will be in. The students will be required to do a ‘foundation’ year - in Russia, in order to familiarise themselves with the language. As far as the agent can tell, a credit in the Science subjects at SPM was enough for consideration! I think I shall keep the rest of the conversation off the record as clearly the agent was not comfortable discussing these matters with me.

An example of such 'agency'. This was not the one I talked to.On the subject of what will happen once they graduate, he was a bit more certain. He claimed that currently the degrees were accepted locally by the Malaysian Medical Council. He however conceded that the Ministry has the habit of moving the goalposts, and there will always be a small possibility that the students upon return might need further scrutiny. At the moment, these student were required to sit for the final year exams at a local university - we had a group of about 30 who took the final year exams with us on the last seating at UM. Of these, there were a few very good students, while some, especially from China was not as good. They were allowed to spend a six months period at the university for clinical attachment - at a cost. Some of the student were these degrees were exempted - we have currently a few of these at UMMC.

My advice to those interested in considering these colleges, please check the credentials with the MMC. I tried looking up at their website but I could not find such list. Maybe a quick phone call should do the trick. There were a few good Medical Schools in Russia, but I prefer not to mention them for fear of endorsement. The clue would be in the admission requirements. The easier it was to get in, the more suspect you should be. Good Luck! 

chinoz @ The Gardens

Tucking inSince I was grounded for the weekend, I went through some old pics and came across a series of photos during lunch at Chinoz, The Gardens. We were more familiar with the outlet at KLCC, with its cozy seating overlooking KLCC park. The boys love the pizza and tea over there. When we were shopping at The Gardens the other day, we decided to try this out. As usual, the boys asked for pizza and tea. I had my rocket salad, while Puan Anita wanted to sample the meatballs. Why meatballs? Previously when we went to the cinema at the Gardens - GSC if I’m not mistaken on the fourth floor - she ordered some meatballs and it was really good. We noticed that there was no kitchen at the cinema and the waiter did make an order through the phone. We wondered if it was from here.

Idlan looked really happy to have his teaTaking turnsMy salad - rocket, avocado and mozzarellaThe ambiance was unique since the outlet sits right I the middle of one of the main atrium, where the light coming from the top lit up the place pretty nicely. The downside is, everybody from the upper floors just need to look down to see you eat ….. We didn’t mind though and the seating was arrange spaciously with comfortable sofa. We made our order, and it came pretty quickly. The restaurant was half-full at the time.

The tea came first, followed by my salad. The salad was nice, similar to the one at KLCC. However, Puan Anita was disappointed that the meatballs was not what she had hoped for. The last one to come was the pizza. The pizza was fresh, and the ingredient I can imagine was top notch. But compared to the KLCC outlet, the cheese was not as tangy and the tomato was a bit on the sour side. Otherwise, there was not much to say. I think I made the mistake of ordering the Chinoz mocktail. It tasted of syrup.

Here comes the pizzaMeatballs!

Will we come again? I wouldn’t mind dropping by during a spot of shopping for a quick drink. For lunch, I would have still preferred Alexis on the first floor. The pizza and pasta there was nicer and we love the cushion seatings by the entrance there. Access to the carparks from both restaurant was simple. The only thing was the toilet. There was no space to wash hands at the restaurant and one had to go out and use the Gardens facilities. Unfortunately on the ground floor where Chinoz was located, the nearby toilet was of the premium variety. It would set you back RM5 to enter, but free if you have show them an RM100 receipt, Isetan or Robinsons store card, or any platinum credit card, which is rather silly. Suffice to say, we got all four of those listed above on the day ;).

chinoz @ THE GARDENS - G212, Ground Floor, THE GARDENS Mid Valley, Lingkaran Syed Putra, 59200 Kuala Lumpur.

Tel: +603-2287 8277

Update on Tuesday, November 29, 2011 at 9:27PM by Haris Abdul Rahman

The outlet has unfortunately ceased operation. The joint at KLCC is still open.

The decors were up at MidValley

Malaysia and its unique melting pot of cultures and races mean many things. But in my head, 2 things spring to mind - many festivities and many holidays! We have a long weekend coming up since I am working in Wilayah Persekutuan. Unfortunately I will be on call on Sunday. That means, I can't go out to Port Dickson as what we would normally do. My excuse to go - the apartment needed cleaning. Well, it will have to stay dirty and dusty for another week I guess.

The main stage

As for the festivities, as usual all the main shopping malls were competing to outdo each other. I have taken some pictures from The Curve and Pavilion. Today, I was walking around MidValley in the late afternoon. Unfortunately I didn't have my LX3 with me. So, I guess my phone should do. Compared to both Pavilion and The Curve, the decor there seemed rather subdued. There was a stage built in the middle of the main foyer, which I am sure will be accommodating the lion dance troupe. There were blossoms and lotus. Here there was a mock pagoda as well. There were no activities today but I am sure there will be plenty in the weekends to come. I am sure I will check the place out again soon.

I would have preferred PC Fair, but ....

Although the plan was to have a quiet afternoon in after my lunch, it turned out that Puan Anita (for which my wife will be referred to from now on) has other plans. She had earlier took the boys out for lunch at Sri Ayuthaya in Wangsa Maju with the in-laws. After the boys were full, she planned to leave them at home and ask me to drive her to MidValley. There is an exhibition there that she wanted to visit. Typical of her. It was called 'Modern Home and Lifestyle Fair'. I was wishing it was PC Fair instead!

Yes! The crowd was driving me crazy!Puan Anita likes this kind of things, especially when the children were not on tow. She will plan these visits ahead of time, often either here at MidValley or KLCC. This time around, a few items caught her eyes. Wallpapers and floor coverings. I did not pay much attention as I was looking at some beds and automatic gate system on the other side.

Where the big cars getting sorted by the valet when the parking is fullLooking down on the main galleryMidValley on Sunday afternoons were typically packed. We reached there as people were easing home, at around 3 pm. As today was the last day of the exhibition, they were giving away freebies and good offers. There was a Pioneer Blue-Ray player going at RM799. I was excited initially but unfortunately the salesperson put me off. It was something he said that changed my mind. A great way to lose business I thought. Mind you, the PS3 were going at RM1299 and they do come with Blue-Ray player as well. That may be a better deal all around if you are into games. I am happy with my PSP at the moment.

The main foyer at the GardensAs far as exhibitions go, this one was pretty average. Most of the exhibitions around KL always have this problem when it comes to expectations. As the name suggested, I was expecting many home gadgets to be shown, televisions, modern beds, state-of-the-art freezers and washing machines. Unfortunately it was nothing more than just a trip to Harvey Norman, although some of the offers were quite decent.

Another thing I was excited about was the Xmas decorations were in full swing both at the Megamall and the Gardens. There were many stalls and activities. Carol snugging, Santa and his grotto to mention a few. The decor here was definitely better than the one put up currently at KLCC and on par with Pavilion. I was also looking forward to see the decor at the Curve, IKANO and Sunway. These were the places to visit if you want to go festive.