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Thursday, February 8, 2024
500 TVET students to be sent for training in China
National Association of Skilled Workers secretary-general Mohammad Rizan Hassan said the agreement was reached at a meeting with the institutions at the Rubber Industry Smallholder Development Authority (Risda) headquarters here on Tuesday.
The objective of the meeting was to reach a consensus in support of the government’s intention to establish the Malaysia-china Institute (MCI).
According to him, the selected young people had passed Levels 2 and 3 of the Malaysian Skills Certificate issued by the Skills Development Department, and will undergo training in eight main skill areas.
“The skill areas involved are electric vehicles, solar technology, ecommerce, digital, and information and communication technology, electricity and electronics, railway technology, manufacturing-related services, and machinery and equipment,” he said in a statement on Tuesday, reported Bernama.
On Jan 16, Deputy Prime Minister and National TVET Council chairman Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi announced that the Chinese government and industries were prepared to offer additional scholarships for 1,000 Malaysian students to undergo skills training for a duration ranging from three months to one year.
The scholarship offer was executed through a collaboration with MCI as part of the Belt and Road Initiative inspired by the Chinese government.
Monday, November 6, 2023
Restricted blood flow, Is your heart pumping well?
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The heart has to work very hard if you have aortic stenosis, a condition where the aortic valve narrows and blood cannot flow normally.
Our life literally hangs on how well blood is pumped through our four heart chambers with the help of four heart valves (aortic, mitral, pulmonary and tricuspid), which open and close with each heartbeat.
Imagine the precision and intricacies of a healthy heart – it beats 100,000 times a day during which the mitral and tricuspid valves control blood flow between the heart chambers.
The pulmonary valve controls blood flow to the lungs while the aortic valve controls blood as it flows out from the heart’s lower left chamber to the aorta, the main artery bringing blood to the rest of the body.
A life-threatening condition
Your heart will then need to work harder to pump blood to the rest of your body, affecting your health and limiting your daily activities.
This condition is called aortic stenosis and it’s a progressive disease that ranges from mild to severe.
Often, this condition may go unnoticed as patients go about their daily lives discounting the irregularities in their well-being.
Aortic stenosis is the most common valvular heart disease worldwide, with its prevalence increasing with age.
It is estimated that up to 12.4 % of people over age 75 have aortic stenosis, and about 80% of adults with symptomatic aortic stenosis are male.
Symptoms generally occur when narrowing of the aortic valve is severe.
However, some people with aortic stenosis may not even have symptoms for many years.
If you demonstrate symptoms such as chest pains or discomfort during physical activity, dizziness, fatigue, shortness of breath and an irregular heartbeat, don’t dismiss it.
Consult a physician.
Understanding the disease
If diagnosed with aortic stenosis, it means your aortic valve is not opening or closing properly.
This limits the amount of blood pumped out to your body and strains your heart.
Over time, the left ventricle of your heart can thicken and enlarge.
Heart muscles will weaken and this can lead to heart failure and complications such as stroke, blood clots, bleeding, irregular heart rhythms and infections of the heart.
Left untreated, it can be fatal. It is important to understand the difference between aortic stenosis, atrial fibrillation and myocardial infarction.
While all are cardiovascular related, they are different and require different treatment approaches.
Atrial fibrillation is a disorder that originates from the atrium (upper chambers of the heart).
When the atrium does not contract effectively, irregular and rapid heart rhythm occurs.
Blood can pool in the heart, running the risk of blood clots which may lead to stroke.
Myocardial infarction, commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when there is a rupture of an atherosclerotic plaque in a coronary artery.
This causes a blood clot that obstructs blood flow.
Very simply put, aortic stenosis is a valve disorder, atrial fibrillation is an irregular heart rhythm and myocardial infarction is a heart attack caused by a blocked coronary artery.
Root cause
Some individuals may be born with aortic valve disorders and are more prone to aortic stenosis later in life.
Other causes include infection of the heart, chronic kidney disease, heart disease risk factors such as diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure, or a result of radiation therapy.
Diagnosis and evaluation
If aortic stenosis is suspected, your cardiologist will recommend diagnostic tests, as outlined below, depending on the assessment of your condition.
> An ultrasound imaging test called an echocardiogram to visualise the aortic valve and assess its structure and condition.
This test identifies weakened muscles and determines the severity of the aortic stenosis.
> An electrocardiogram or ECG measures the electrical activity of the heart and detects any potential issues with the heart’s chambers.
> A chest x-ray determines the condition of the heart and lungs and detects if there is swelling in
the aorta and/or calcium build-up on the aortic valve.
> If needed, a cardiac computerised tomography (CT) scan or a cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may be done.
> Only when needed or when other non-invasive test are inconclusive, a cardiac catheterisation or a cardiac angiogram may be recommended.
Treatment modalities
Lifestyle modifications are necessary, regardless of the stage of your aortic stenosis.
Start consuming a hearthealthy diet.
Eat a variety of fruits and vegetables, low-fat or fat-free dairy products, poultry, fish and whole grains.
Avoid saturated and trans-fat and excessive salt and sugar.
If you are overweight, lose weight through regular exercise; brisk walks each day are recommended.
Manage your stress levels. Indulge in wholesome activities.
If you are a smoker, consider quitting.
In cases of mild aortic stenosis, your cardiologist will prescribe medications which are a non-invasive.
It can provide a temporary relief of symptoms and may reduce risk of complications.
However, medications alone do not address the underlying valve issues.
Patients may risk a decline in their condition over time.
Thus, it is essential to diligently keep your regular heart checkups to monitor the progression of your condition.
In more severe cases, aortic stenosis patients may have to undergo procedures to repair or replace their defective valves such as :
> Balloon valvuloplasty (BAV)
> Surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR)
This offers a longer lifespan for the replaced valve and is often the conventional treatment for aortic stenosis.
However, being an open-heart surgery, it carries inherent risks especially for elderly patients and those with underlying health conditions.
These surgical valve replacements may also wear out over time and can start to fail and causes stenosis and regurgitation (valve does not fully close and blood flows backward through the valve).
Patients are advised to stay in the hospital for seven days.
> Transcatheter Aortic Replacement (TAVR)
This is a minimally invasive procedure performed between one to two hours as compared to an invasive open-heart surgery.
A small cut is made in the groin, neck or between your ribs so that a thin, flexible tube with the TAVR can be guided and placed in your diseased valve.
The new valve will then work immediately, and the tube is removed.
TAVR is designed to work like your own heart valve as the materials used allow the frame to mold itself to your anatomy.
It’s worth noting that the artificial TAVR valve can be made of porcine or bovine materials.
This procedure is suitable for patients who are considered highrisk or unsuited for open-heart surgery.
Patients can consult their cardiologist for other suitability criteria.
This involves shorter hospital stays of about three days as patients recover faster.
Institut Jantung Negara (IJN) was the first hospital in Malaysia to do a TAVR procedure in 2009.
At that time, some in the medical fraternity shared their uncertainty about the durability or longevity of a TAVR and thought it may only last for five years or less.
They preferred conventional surgery which was known to last for about 10 years.
The TAVR has since grown in acceptance and has been proven to stand the test of time.
For 83-year-old aortic stenosis patient, Siti Rahmah, who was implanted with a TAVR in 2011, it has still been functioning effectively.
She recently shared, “I am very pleased with the progress I have made. It has been 12 years since I did the procedure. I am thankful that I can go about my daily activities quite comfortably. My condition has been well managed.”
Take action
Those at-risk patients and 65 years and above should never undermine the importance of regular heart check-ups to detect irregularities of the heart.
Aortic stenosis is a serious cardiovascular condition.
Left untreated, it can lead to significant health problem while early diagnosis and a personalised treatment can prolong life.
By Datuk Dr Shaiful Azmi Yahaya is a senior consultant cardiologist at Institut Jantung Negara. For further information, email starhealth@thestar.com.my. The information provided is for educational and communication purposes only, and it should not be construed as personal medical advice. Neither The Star nor the author gives any warranty on accuracy, completeness, functionality, usefulness or other assurances as to such information. The Star and the author disclaim all responsibility for any losses, damage to property or personal injury suffered directly or indirectly from reliance on such information.
Wednesday, October 19, 2022
How to win in the workplace
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Sunday, February 20, 2022
More opportunities for job seekers
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KUALA LUMPUR: The JaminKerja Keluarga Malaysia initiative will support the government’s goal of reducing the unemployment rate by providing 600,000 job opportunities this year, says the Prime Minister.
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Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said these would be provided via an allocation of RM4.8bil, which is a key thrust under Budget 2022 on job creation.
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“The JaminKerja Keluarga Malaysia initiative is the manifestation of the government’s commitment to providing more employment opportunities and more sustainable economic development to drive the country’s recovery efforts in a structured manner and to contribute towards strengthening the national labour market.
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“Malaysia is on the right track in its economic recovery efforts through the creation of more employment opportunities to fulfil the needs of the labour market,” he said at the launch of the JaminKerja Keluarga Malaysia initiative themed “Keluarga Malaysia, Makmur Sejahtera” and JaminKerja Keluarga Malaysia Career Carnival 2022 at the KL Convention Centre here yesterday.
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The JaminKerja Keluarga Malaysia (Malaysian Family Job Guarantee) initiative is a collaboration between the Finance Ministry, Economic Implementation and National Strategic Coordination Agency, Human Resources Ministry, Social Security Organisation (Socso) and Human Resource Development Corporation (HRD Corp).
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Also present at the launch were Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz and Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan.
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The initiative consists of three main programmes, the first of which is the JaminKerja Employment Initiative that will be implemented by Socso with a target of providing about 300,000 job opportunities.
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The second is the Malaysia Short-Term Employment Programme (MySTEP) that will offer 80,000 job opportunities in the public sector, government-linked companies and strategic partners.
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The third is the Upskill Malaysia programme implemented by HRD Corp to provide practical skills training for job seekers to improve their marketability and provide guaranteed job placements.
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About 220,000 trainees will be targeted.
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Ismail Sabri said the JaminKerja Employment Initiative will also focus on efforts to encourage employers to hire especially individuals who were not actively working such as the unemployed, and vulnerable groups consisting of the disabled, former prisoners, the elderly and women who were unemployed for a long time.
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“This is to ensure that no group is left out,” he added.
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Ismail Sabri said once employers are given the incentive to hire, job seekers could use the MyFutureJobs platform to get job matches and fill the vacancies that are offered, adding that incentives will be given to employers who employ locals to fill jobs that used to be filled by foreign workers or expatriates.
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The government, he said, is committed to helping the entrepreneurial community, which hires and creates job opportunities, so that they could continue to grow and rebuild their business through the Semarak Niaga initiative worth RM40bil.
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The Prime Minister added that the Human Resources Ministry, too, has planned 312 open interview programmes and employment carnivals throughout the year.
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“The JaminKerja Keluarga Malaysia Career Carnival is the curtain-raiser for 2022 and is the first to be organised in the country, offering more than 12,000 job opportunities from 50 employers from various industries,” he said.
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To reduce the skills mismatch gap, Ismail Sabri urged the industry to implement better recruitment strategies by taking into account social changes including a more flexible work environment.
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“As the National Employment Council (NEC) chairman, I am confident that the efforts of the NEC in enhancing the momentum of job creation as well as boosting the job market will be able to continue through the JaminKerja Keluarga Malaysia initiative, which in turn will also strengthen the Malaysian Family household income, especially underprivileged groups, and the B40 and M40,” he said.
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Monday, June 14, 2021
Learn to invest in stocks properly
Self-made millionaire Ng will teach you how to generate safe returns
PETALING JAYA: Money games, GameStop frenzy, the constant rise and fall of crypto, to the untrained eye, these seem like the way to “invest”.
Adrenaline-pumping with a false promise of insane returns by the very next day as well as the constant monitoring of charts and graphs, it’s not for the faint-hearted and certainly not for everyone.
Amid all these fleeting trends, investment scams and market noise, millennial investor, Alex Ng, goes about his daily life calmly, collecting passive income and watching his investment double or triple in value.
But he wasn’t always like this.
He started dabbling in the stock market at 19. He got sucked into trends, chased short-term profits and bought whatever stocks his broker recommended.
And by 21, he had lost two-thirds of his parents’ retirement fund from investing haphazardly.
“It was a huge wake up call for me. It made me realise that what I was doing wasn’t investing. I was gambling in the stock market. Higher stakes and worse damages than if I would have gambled in the casino,” he said.
However, his saving grace was his fortitude.
He knew the importance of investing, if done properly. Growing up in a middle-class household, that was his ticket to afford himself and his family a good life.
“With just RM3,000 of my own savings, I found some mentors and learned the proper way to invest,” said Ng, who was a self-made millionaire by the age of 29.
Having been through that harrowing experience and turning his life around, he wants to make sure that no one makes the same mistakes he did.
He’s now a master trainer and speaker at VI College, the region’s leading financial education provider, helping aspiring and uninformed investors to develop the proper skills, knowledge and strategy.
The safe and consistent way of investing gets easily drowned out and might seem boring in contrast to the stock bros’ mantra of “high risk, high return” or the excitement and overinflated egos in the likes of The Wolf of Wall Street.
“Investing safely and consistently doesn’t mean you can’t get handsome returns. It just means that even if you start small, with consistent effort, your returns will multiply and compound,” he said.
In VI College, Ng and his peers have designed the programmes with beginners in mind. After VI College’s five-day bootcamp, even those who come in with zero knowledge can venture into their investment journey with confidence.
“In fact, many of my students with prior investing experience also saw the programme as a total eye-opening experience,” said Ng.
Students are added into the VI Community after the programme with support and guidance from trainers, coaches and peers.
VI College has also developed its own stock analysis tool, VI App, to make investing smarter, faster and easier.
“With VI App, you can easily check the risk rating, the overall health and performance of the company in just a few seconds,” he explained.
8BIT, the FinTech entity behind VI App, is licensed and regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, Singapore’s central bank.
Check out VI App at www.vi.app.
“At the end of the day, we want to empower as many people as possible with financial literacy.
“That’s why our programme and tools like VI App are all designed to make it simple for everyone to start investing,” he said.
Join Ng to discover the right and safe way to invest in the “Discover Secret Stock Investing Techniques Webinar” on June 19.
Organised by Star Media Group together with VI College as the Education Partner, this free two-hour masterclass is designed to teach individuals across all age groups to generate safe and consistent returns from local and the US stock market.
To register, please click into http://bit.ly/stockinvestment2021
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Wednesday, June 3, 2020
Covid-19 CMCO: daycare centres SOP. One-off grant of RM5,000 for childcare centres
Childcare centre operators are advised to refer to the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry and Social Welfare Department’s websites for information on the updated SOPs. — Bernama pic |
PUTRAJAYA, June 2 — The government will update the standard operating procedures (SOP) for childcare centres, thereby enabling the vast majority to resume their activities.
Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry tabled the updated SOPs earlier today during the ministerial meeting on implementing the conditional movement control order (MCO)
“Before this, 304 out of 7,000 childcare centres nationwide were allowed to operate per the government’s SOPs. The update will enable the remaining 6,696 centres to operate immediately,” he said during his daily press briefing.
Childcare centre operators are advised to refer to the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry and Social Welfare Department’s websites for further information.
Ismail Sabri added the SOPs for pre-schools and kindergartens will be finalised by the Education Ministry before they are allowed to resume operations, as their management falls under the purview of several other ministries.
As of yesterday, the Housing and Local Government Ministry has conducted 7,426 public sanitation operations in 132 zones since efforts began on March 30.
Approximately 10,956 premises have been sanitised, including 2,642 business centres, 4,056 government buildings, 1,581 housing areas including public housing, 2,325 public areas, and 352 supermarkets.
Yesterday alone saw 47 sanitation operations conducted covering 31 zones in 10 states, including 14 in Sabah, and seven in Johor and Melaka.
As of 8am today, 185 Covid-19 quarantine centres are in operation compared to 186 the day before. Currently 14,365 individuals are undergoing mandatory quarantine.
Approximately 168 Malaysians were brought back yesterday from Thailand, Singapore, China, Australia and the Netherlands, and placed in quarantine.
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