B CUBE December 2015 B CUBE December 2015

Seloka Ramadhan(Nukilan: Syahrul HIsyam Marwan)

Bagaikan pungguk rindukan purnamaHembusan angin dingin terasaSyaaban berlalu Ramadhan menjelmaSelamat menyambut ibadah puasa

Bulan Ramadhan bulan yang dinantiCahaya Ramadhan amatlah berhargaIbadah puasa wajib dan mestiMerupakan Rukun Islam ketiga

Saujana senja tersergam indahBunyian Kicauan burung riuh rendahMarilah kita melakukan IbadahMengharap redha maghrifah Allah

Bulan Ramadhan bulan berpuasaBulan mulia menggamit kesumaRamadhan mulia meruntuh dosaBaraqah menitip ibadah maksima

Menahan diri dari lapar dahagaRamadhan itu amat berhargaMenutup rapat pintu nerakaMenguak luas pintu syurga

Ramadhan diisi dengan amal ibadahUntuk mendapat ketenangan hatiSolat dan amal bersulam indahQuran suci pengubat hati

Ibadah dilakukan tanpa hentiMoga mendapat keredhaan dari-NyaPerginya Ramadhan tiada penggantiSambutlah ia dengan hati gembira

B Cube December 2015 Edition

112

SUATU PERMULAAN

M A K A20

15

Tarikh 5 Disember 2015 telah menjadi salah satu tarikh yang bersejarah di dalam dunia akademik UiTM

(Terengganu) Kampus Bukit Besi. Tarikh ini adalah tarikh di mana buat pertama kalinya, Kampus Bukit Besi telah menganjurkan MAKA (Majlis Kecemerlangan Akademik) sendiri. Alhamdulillah, berkat kerjasama yang kuat di antara ahli jawatankuasa yang begitu komited di dalam menjalankan tugas masing-masing, kami berjaya mengatasi segala ranjau dan duri dengan begitu tabah dan sabar. MAKA 2015 mungkin dipandang remeh oleh sesetengah golongan tanpa mereka sedari bahawa program yang kecil ini sebenarnya membawa erti yang besar di dalam setiap insan yang terlibat secara langsung dan juga tidak langsung. Kampus Bukit Besi sangat bertuah kerana ramai di kalangan para pensyarah yang sanggup menjadi ahli jawatankuasa bagi meraikan pelajar-pelajar yang telah berjaya dengan cemerlangnya di dalam

Ahli Jawatankuasa MAKA 2015

peperiksaan mereka. Sebagai wakil kepada semua AJK program ini, kami merasa bangga melihat rakan-rakan AJK yang sanggup mencurahkan masa, tenaga serta kepakaran mereka di dalam menjayakan program ini dan keluh kesah serta rungutan tidak langsung menjadi “budaya kerja”. Syabas kepada semua ahli jawatankuasa yang terlibat!!! Di dalam menjayakan program yang pertama kali dianjurkan oleh sebuah kampus yang baru, banyak kekangan yang terpaksa dilalui dan ditempuhi, namun setiap halangan

yang tiba dihadapi dengan muafakat serta disulami dengan komitmen, tolong menolong dan bertolak ansur. Inilah kebaikan yang dapat dikecapi oleh ahli jawatankuasa MAKA 2015 dan kejayaan menganjurkan program ini buat pertama kali telah mengukuhkan lagi ukhwah di kalangan ahli jawatankuasa serta meningkatkan kepakaran kami di dalam menguruskan sesuatu program. Pengalaman yang diperolehi tidak mungkin dapat ditimba dengan hanya sekadar mengajar sahaja. Namun, kami sedar, banyak lagi kekurangan yang perlu dibaiki dan kekurangan-kekurangan ini akan menjadikan kami, sebagai AJK yang pertama, menjadi lebih cekap dan produktif di dalam pengendalian program yang seterusnya. Bagi para pelajar yang diraikan, mereka merasa lebih bersemangat untuk meningkatkan usaha mereka di dalam semester yang mendatang kerana mereka merasa berbangga dan gembira serta terharu menyaksikan kejayaan mereka ini diraikan dan diberikan penghargaan. MAKA 2015 telah berjaya menaikkan semangat untuk para pelajar ini untuk terus berjuang mengekalkan prestasi kecemerlangan mereka sehingga ke semester terakhir di dalam pengajian mereka kerana mereka menyedari bahawa perjuangan mereka ini diiringi dengan doa serta sokongan dari seluruh warga kampus Bukit Besi. Bagi pelajar-pelajar yang lain, MAKA 2015 telah berjaya mencetuskan semangat baru di kalangan mereka apabila mereka melihat sahabat-sahabat mereka diraikan dan diberi peghargaan di atas segala usaha yang telah mereka curahkan. Mereka juga ingin berada di tempat sahabat-sahabat yang diraikan dan mereka juga ingin mengalami kegembiraan yang dirasai oleh mereka yang dijemput ke atas pentas bagi menerima anugerah. Semoga kejayaan sahabat-sahabat mereka ini dijadikan sebagai galakan untuk mereka mengikuti jejak rakan-rakan yang telah berjaya. Di dalam MAKA 2015, bukan sahaja pelajar-pelajar yang cemerlang telah mendapat anugerah tetapi juga pensyarah-pensyarah yang telah menunjukkan

prestasi yang membanggakan. Anugerah-anugerah ini perlu bagi menghargai mereka yang telah begitu aktif serta gigih di dalam kerjaya mereka sehingga menghasilkan pelajar-pelajar yang cemerlang. Diharap penerima-penerima anugerah khas ini akan lebih cemerlang dan lebih ramai lagi yang akan menjadikan mereka contoh di dalam membantu pelajar-pelajar di kampus Bukit Besi. MAKA 2015 adalah satu program yang julung kali diadakan di kampus Bukit Besi. Namun, kami percaya bahawa program ini mampu mendorong pelajar-pelajar untuk berusaha dengan lebih gigih lagi bagi mendapatkan keputusan yang lebih cemerlang dan kejayaan mereka nanti akan dikongsi bersama oleh semua warga UiTM (Terengganu) Kampus Bukit Besi. Adalah diharapkan lebih ramai lagi pelajar-pelajar Kampus Bukit Besi yang akan dijemput sebagai penerima anugerah cemerlang akademik di semester yang akan datang dan seterusnya menaikkan nama kampus yang disayangi.

Perasmian MAKA 2015

Penyampaian Cenderahati

Penulis: NORKAMRUZITA SAADON, NOR ASHIKIN MOHD YUSOF & HASMIDA MOHD NOOR

Seloka Pensyarah2 Bidang UiTM(T) Kampus Bukit Besi

Assalamualaikum dan salam sejahteraMenyusun madah ingin berceritaDi Bukit Besi al-kisah bermulaBahagian Bidang yang penuh ceria

Penolong Rektor menerajui kamiOrangnya tegas, namun baik hatiGigih menjaga kebajikan universitiDr Khalipah yang dihormati

Koordinator Bidang ketua jabatanSungguh berwibawa dan berkepimpinanMengetuai kami dengan penuh keihlasanCik Nor Ashikin menjadi kesayangan

Orang lama disanjung tinggiOrang baru sentiasa dihormatiHaji Ahmad ilmunya tinggiMenjadi tempat rujukan kami

Pensyarah ACIS ada dua di siniComel seorang dan lagi satu tinggiSuka mengusik, peramah sekaliUstaz Daud & Ustaz Bad nama diberi

Hitam manis, indah senyumanIkhlas mendidik dengan berkesanSuka mengusik dalam berkawanHafiz dan Amiruddin pensyarah idaman

Bijak bertutur pensyarah ELCDua wanita dan seorang lelakiAzrina dan Hanith lama sudah di siniPuan Ruzana, selamat menyertai kami

Tidak lupa pada Kak HasmidaPencinta kucing yang berkaca mataPuan Najdah senyumnya mesraDi sini baru minggu kedua

Bijak mengira dan lincah sekaliPensyarah Matematik tugas hakikiKedua-dua sudah bersuamiItulah Sarah dan juga Nursyazni

Waktu cuti tak nampak di mataMula semester baru bersuaSungguh tak lengkap tanpa merekaFatimah Mamat dan juga Ainaa

Berakhir sudah seloka saya,Terima kasih kerana membacaMaaf andai terkasar bahasaIkhlas dari saya, Nur Afriza.

B CUBE December 2015 B CUBE December 2015

Bulan Indah Bulan Mulia

Ramadhan….Saban tahun pasti ia kembaliRamadhan bulan indah yang dinantiSeluruh umat islam amat merinduimuBulan yang membawa seribu kebaikan

Ramadhan…Ayuh rakan-rakan seagamakuMarilah kita mengerjakan ibadahTingkatkan amal dan hindari maksiatMudah-mudahan kita

mendapat keredhaan-Nya

Ramadhan…Sedarlah kita datangnya bulan muliaBasahkan lidah dengan zikir dan tasbihHidupkan malam dengan tadarus QuranKerna itu pengubat ketenangan hati dan jiwaMoga peroleh pahala berlipat ganda

Ramadhan ….Marilah kita bersihkan hatiSucikan jiwa dari segala prasangkaTingkatkan keimanan tingkatkan kesabaranMoga peroleh keberkatan

hidup dunia akhirat

Ramadhan….Pergimu pasti ditangisi Sama ada yang hidup atau matiKerna keberkatan bulanmu tiada penggantiTiada tandingannya dengan bulan-bulan lain

Nukilan :Syahrul Hisyam Marwan

2 11

Words from the Chief Editors

Have we been prolific in 2015? We are so thankful to Allah, the most gracious and the most merciful, for giving us the opportunity to write in this column once again. 2015 has almost come to its end and it is time for us, the academicians, to evaluate ourselves on our productivity. Have we been productive throughout this year? Have we

achieved our targets or goals in our career? As academicians, preparation for teaching should be one of our priorities in life. An effective teaching material will produce ingenious learners, which most academicians are cognizant of it. Hence, in 2015, a few KRBB academicians took the challenge to be involved in preparing E-Content, an electronic teaching material evolution through certain applications. Despite their full plate at work, these KRBB academicians put their nose to the grindstone and this is an involvement which KRBB should be appreciative. In 2015, KRBB academicians have been unremittingly involved in research and innovations, and they have shared their findings through a few conferences and competitions, like EPIC 2015. EPIC (Educational Project and Innovation Competition) 2015, organized by UiTM Terengganu, was participated by many KRBB academicians and they won gold, silver and bronze medals. This is another attainment which all KRBB members are proud of. The involvement of KRBB academicians in student and social activities is another

attribute which makes KRBB to keep “soaring upwards”. Many academicians have been actively involved in student activities, like canoeing, food selling, and debating, and some have participated in social events, like cooking Bubur Asyura (a special sweet rice porridge cooked in the first month of the Islamic year), accompanying students to orphanages and also organizing activities at neighboring schools. Hence, we could surmise that our academicians are holistic academicians. They have not only involved themselves in academic events but also non-academic ones and if this perpetuates, KRBB would produce globally competitive graduates in the future.

Warmest regards,

Norkamruzita Saadon The Chief Editor (Bahasa Malaysia) Halimaton @ Nor Ashikin Mohd YusofThe Chief Editor (English)

Chief Editor (English) Editors (English) Halimaton @ Nor Ashikin Binti Mohd Yusof Hanith Bin Iskandar Editors (Bahasa Malaysia)Advisor Wan Azrina Binti Wan Azaman Nursyazni Binti Mohamad Sukri PM Dr. Hjh Khalipah Ibrahim Nurul ‘Uyun Binti Ahmad Chief Editor (Bahasa Malaysia) Helmisyah Bin Ahmad Jalaludin Norkamruzita Binti Saadon Layout/Graphic Hanith Bin Iskandar

Advisor’s ColumnAssalamu’alaikum wbr to all B Cube readers,

Alhamdulillah, 2015 has almost come to its end and our campus, Kampus Rekreasi Bukit Besi (KRBB) has been filled with lots and lots of its own constructive activities since January 2015 and I could say that the campus has

never slept. Its people, the staff and the students, have worked hard to make the campus alive. Thank you to all who have done their part in creating KRBB as a dynamic and efficacious campus.Conforming to UiTM Transformation (2014-2020), until now, KRBB has been putting a great deal of efforts to actualize it through the two key concepts of Academic and Research Assimilation (ARAS), which are to be holistic academicians and to lead by example. Quite a number of activities and programs, such as research and writing workshops, CDIO (conceive-design-implement-operate) syllabus workshop and student activities, computer application trainings and community activities, have been conducted to nurture the required concepts. Apart from the strenuous life of fellow academicians, they have given a great commitment in their participations and I am proud of that.The beginning of 2015 was filled with planning since KRBB is a new

campus and it needs profound plans to achieve its vision. One of the plans made is the KRBB Strategic Planning for 2016-2020, which allows both faculties at KRBB, i.e. Chemical and Mechanical Engineering faculties, and also other departments and units to have a main reference in developing their own strategic directions. The strategic planning is based on the 11th Malaysia Plan and UiTM five strategic thrusts, which are teaching and learning, research, innovation and commercialization, academic, industry and society, leadership and entrepreneurship.Another important plan which was made at the beginning of the year is the KRBB Master Plan for 2016-2025. This plan was prepared with the intention to provide recommendations on KRBB physical and academic developments, which are based on the current needs and the development plans until 2025. I pray and I hope that KRBB will be a renowned campus in the future. I believe this can be accomplished if, and only if, every member of KRBB, be it who you are, gives his or her infinite commitment and cooperation in every plan which has been endorsed. As Paul J. Meyer has once said, “Productivity is never an accident. It is always the result of a commitment to excellence, intelligent planning, and focused effort.” Last but not least, let 2016 be a prosperous year for every member of KRBB. Thank you.

B Cube Advisor,Associate Professor Dr. Khalipah Ibrahim,The Assistant Rector,UiTM (Terengganu) Kampus Bukit Besi

Alahai kamu,

Bila berjumpa asyik mengantukKepala tersengguk-senggukNanti ilmu tak mudah masukMerajuk dikata sikap buruk..

Teguran banyak buat kamu gerhanaBila tak ditegur kamu asyik lupaNiat hati melihat kamu berjayaMendidik kamu sehabis daya

Alahai kamu,

Tiada niat gila kuasaMengerah kamu setiap masa

Ketahuilah kamu satu yang nyataTak ke mana kita tanpa usaha

Sempurna solat dan mengajiPupuk hati displinkan diriMasa harus ditepatiRestu ayah ibu itu pasti

Alahai kamu

Setiap peluh jua keringatBukan kerana mengimpikan pingatDemi memberi kamu semangatWalaupun nanti kamu tak ingat

Nukilan : Nur Afriza Baki

Coretan Seloka

B CUBE December 2015 B CUBE December 201510 3

It has been almost a year since we spent our time doing some vigorous physical training to reduce a few kilos in order to have an ideal weight. However, after all of those workouts, we only

managed to lose three kilos in two months and regained a kilo back after a week. We discovered some explanations on the net that might lead to this. Here are some of the reasons for not losing weight even though we struggled ourselves doing the workouts:• Caloriesconsumptionisgreaterthancaloriesburned.Losing weight is always related to calories consumption. One session of workout between 30 minutes to one hour helps us to burn 100 – 200 calories. We usually do one session of workout before going to work or after work. However, the calories that we consumed per day were much greater than the calories we burned. This has made our workouts ineffectual. According to Kevin Zahri (2012), one of the famous health and fitness experts in Malaysia, one piece of banana fritters contains 170 calories, whereas an hour of workout only burns between 150 to 200 calories. Hence, it is crucial to maintain a healthy diet together with daily workout in order to lose weight efficiently.

• “Day-break”We usually do workouts four to five times per week and have “day-break” on weekends. In addition, sometimes we skip the workout especially during hectic months. During this period, we are still unable to lose even a kilo of our weight even with a proper diet plan. Inconsistency of our efforts has resulted negatively in our journey of getting an ideal weight. This is also supported by Nichols (2013) as moderation is also essential, not just the frequency and amount of workouts. Therefore, to overcome this problem, we have found another way on how we can burn calories even we are tied up with busy schedule. It is called as Non-exercise Activity Thermodynamics (NEAT). According to Levine (2007), NEAT is energy expenditure of all physical activities other than volitional sporting-like exercise such as walking to work, gardening, and cleaning the house. We have done an experiment on NEAT by walking from the parking lot to clock in and then to the office, where we managed to burn 24.8 calories. For the whole day without heavy workout, we were still able to burn as much as 385 calories from our daily activities. Cintron, Friendship, Guarino and Roy (2007) in their study listed the amount of the calories burned for a person weight 150 pound by doing some daily activities in 30 minutes as below:

Activities Calories burnedReading 34Typing 51

Cooking 68Driving 68

Grocery shopping 78Ironing 78

Cleaning the house 102Vacuuming 119

Sweeping or Gardening 136

• StressmanagementTorres and Nowson (2007) stated that chronic life stress seems to be associated with a greater preference for energy and nutrient dense foods; those that are high in sugar and fat. In other words, stress lead to hunger and fatigue. As lecturers, we experienced more stress during the lecture weeks and this has affected our appetite and sleeping order. Unable to deal with the stress, we always have the tendency to sleep during noon-break and eat heavily for dinner. Moreover, we skip workout and this has contributed a lot to weight increment. Therefore, it is important for us to manage stress effectively. There are a lot of studies including Federal Occupational Health (2004) and Salmon (2001) that suggest physical trainings are not the only contributors to stay fit and healthy, but also good emotional management.

References

Cintron, A., Friendship, D., Guarino, A. and Roy, H. (2007). Eat Vegetables, Move More: Alternative Ways to Burn Calories. Nutrition News, 6(7). Retrieved 19 May 2015 from URL: https://www.lsuagcenter.com/NR/rdonlyres/80EA131F-E94F-4275-8A1B-2549B6A29C98/38209/Vol6No7NutritionNews.pdf

Federal Occupational Health (2004). Let’s Talk. Retrieved 17 May 2015 from URL: https://www.foh.hhs.gov/Library/letstalk/summer2004.pdf

Kevin Zahri (2012). 10 Makanan paling menggemukkan Malaysia. Retrieved 15 May 2015 from URL: http://kevinzahri.com/health-fitness/10-makanan-paling-menggemukkan-malaysia

Levine, J. A. (2007). Nonexercise activity thermogenesis – liberating the life-force. Journal of Internal Medicine, 262, 273-287. Retrieved 18 May 2015 from URL: http://www.steelcase.com/content/uploads/2015/01/Research_JIM_Review_British_Journal_0108.pdf.

Nichols, N. (2013). 8 reasons why you’re not losing weight. Retrieved 10 May 2015 from URL:http://www.sparkpeople.com/blog/blog.asp?post=8_reasons_why_youre_not_losing_weight

Salmon, P. (2001). Effects of Physical Exercise on Anxiety, Depression and Sensitivity to Stress - A Unifying Theory. In Clinical Psychology Review, 21(1), 33-61. Retrieved 17 May 2015 from URL: http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Kirk_Cureton/publication/14040103_Increased_finger_arterial_blood_pressure_after_exercise_detraining_in_women_with_parental_hypertension_autonomic_tasks/links/0a85e530f0f59581f6000000.pdf

Torres, S. and Nowson, C. (2007). Relationship between stress, eating behavior and obesity. Nutrition, 23(11-12), 887-894. Retrieved 17 May 2015 from URL: http://dro.deakin.edu.au/eserv/DU:30007279/torres-relationshipbetweenstress-pp-2007.pdf

Working Out But Not Losing Weight?

By Nur Afriza Baki and Wan Azrina Wan AzamanHAZARDS IN OFFICE

By: Mohamad Ridzuan b. Mohamed RashidFaculty of Mechanical Engineering UiTM (T) Bukit Besi Campus

Working in an office environment is generally considered as low-risk workstations, but this doesn’t mean you should ignore your body health and job safety. Offices always contain health and safety hazards which need to be monitored and controlled. Just the same as any workplace, offices need

to have hazards identification and risk assessments practice in order to reduce the likelihood of a workplace incident occurring. So, do you know how to keep your office safe?

The following figure is a selection of some of the hazards most frequently found by the government office during the recent inspections. Avoiding these potential problems in the workplace helps ensure that you and other staff stay much safer.

It is possible to make office environment hazard free and comfortable for employees by following the steps discussed above. Some simple changes of bad habit in the workspace can be effective in eliminating hazards and reducing the number of injuries in an office as in any workplace.

Reference:United States Department of Labor. (2000). Hazard Communication Guidelines for Compliance [Data file]. Retrieved from https://www.osha.gov/Publications/osha3111.html.

B CUBE December 2015 B CUBE December 20154 9

Often when we imagine the kind of employees who get workplace injuries, we think of those who need to exert a lot of physical energy on the job or of those who work with heavy machinery. It is true that employees in these work environments may be at greater risk for injury, but office workers are also at risk. Many office injuries are caused by the repetitive tasks that put strain on our muscles and joints. Sitting at a computer for long periods often causes neck and shoulder stiffness, eyestrain and also lower back pain. Thus, here are a few points you may want to keep in mind to overcome the problem during working in office:

a) Use the Pomodoro technique @ 30 minutes. 25 minutes is used to focus on doing the work and 5 minutes for us to take a break. b) See the green landscapes or take a few seconds every hour, focus on something farther away (e.g. a clock 20 ft. away)for relaxing dry eye due to prolonged used of computer monitor screen. c) Perform simple exercises (see Figure 1) to stretch the muscles of the body in our work space.

Try these easy movements every hour or so during the day, or at any time you experienced inflexible or stiffness. Also, be sure to get up and move around the workplace when you think of it. You’ll get better! But if you are experiencing terrible pain and suspect a work-related injury, see your therapist or doctor to overcome the problem immediately.

REFERENCE

Workers’ Compensation Board-Alberta (2007). Office Ergonomics[Data file]. Retrieved from http://www.whscc.nl.ca/download. aspx?ID=39e58b27-c237-424d-bac7-42d28fb2e785.

Stretching Tips to Avoid Fatigue in Office By: Mohamad Ridzuan b. Mohamed Rashid

Semakin meningkat dewasa semakin banyak petua daripada orang yang lebih tua diperturunkan atau dikongsikan kepada kita seperti petua di dapur, petua

untuk kecantikan kulit wajah dan sebagainya. Petua-petua yang dikongsi ini kadangkala terus terselah kebenarannya dan kadangkala perlu dipikirkan maksud tersirat disebalik petua yang disampaikan. Bak kata orang bijak pandai, orang yang bijak adalah orang yang belajar daripada pengalamannya dan orang yang lebih bijak akan belajar daripada pengalaman orang lain. Petua-petua ini boleh kita guna pakai dalam kehidupan seharian selagi ianya tidak bertentangan dengan syariat agama Islam. Ini adalah di antara petua-petua yang telah diturunkan kepada kami oleh ibu, saudara-mara serta sahabat handai:

Beras tidak rosak.Beras akan cepat rosak dan berbubuk jika disimpan terlalu lama. Bagi mengelakkan beras cepat rosak atau diserang bubuk, gaul segengam cili kering bersama beras yang disimpan di dalam bekas tertutup. Petua ini sangat berguna kepada wanita yang bekerjaya yang jarang memasak di rumah.

Menghilangkan batuk.Hidup menjadi tidak selesa jika kita diserang batuk. Batuk juga boleh menyebabkan kita kurang selera makan dan kurangnya kualiti tidur. Bagi menghilangkan batuk, minum air suam yang dicampur madu dan beberapa hirisan limau nipis atau lemon. Batuk akan cepat hilang.

Menurunkan suhu badan bayi.Bayi yang demam memerlukan pemantauan yang rapi. Suhu badan yang tinggi bagi bayi adalah sangat berbahaya dan m e r i s a u k a n kerana akan menyebabkan sawan. Bagi menurunkan suhu dengan cepat, orang- orang tua ada b e r k o n g s i c a r a n y a . Kepala atau u b u n - u b u n bayi disapu dengan air ramasan asam jawa atau pucuk daun bunga raya untuk menurunkan suhu dengan cepat.

Kulit wajah bersih dan tidak berjerawat.Petua ini boleh diamalkan bagi mendapatkan kulit wajah bersih dan tidak berjerawat. Wapkan muka dengan mengadapkan muka pada bekas yang diisi air panas. Kemudian lumurkan kulit wajah dengan beberapa helai pucuk daun jambu batu yang ditumbuk sehingga lumat.

Namun, terdapat juga petua orang tua yang memerlukan kita memikirkan maksud yang tersirat kerana jika difahamkan secara tersurat, maka akan terserlah betapa salahnya petua ini. Begitu juga jika dilihat dari sudut akidah, ia boleh

merosakan akidah kita sebagai seorang yang beragama Islam kerana meyakini perkara-perkara seperti jodoh, rezeki, soal hidup atau mati dan sebagainya sedangkan perkara itu hanya Allah sahaja yang tahu. Antara petua yang dikongsi ialah:

Jangan duduk di atas bantal, nanti naik bisul.Petua ini selalu kita dengar semasa kita kecil. Ibu pasti akan pesan untuk tidak duduk di atas bantal apabila kita sedang bermain dengan adik beradik di dalam bilik tidur. Jika difikirkan logiknya, apa kaitan antara bisul dan bantal? Adakah penyakit bisul ini datangnya dari bantal yang kita duduk? Pastinya tidak. Terdapat maksud tersirat yang memerlukan kita berfikir mengenainya. Jika bantal kita duduk di atas bantal, bantal akan cepat rosak dan seterusnya akan terkeluar kekabu yang ada di dalamnya.

Makan beralih tempat nanti kahwin ramai.Makan dan kahwin. Apa kaitannya makan dengan kahwin? Jika dilihat dari maksud yang tersirat, petua ini sebenarnya mengelakkan banyak tempat yang akan bersepah dan menggalakkan setiap rumah mempunyai tempat makan yang tersendiri. Semua akan berkumpul di tempat makan dan seterusnya akan mengeratkan lagi hubungan kekeluargaan di kalangan ahli keluarga.

Tidak boleh potong kuku waktu malam, hantu akan datang.Larangan memotong kuku pada waktu malam secara tersiratnya bukan berkaitan dengan hantu tetapi larangan ini bertujuan untuk mengelakkan kita tercedera ketika memotong kuku. Pada zaman dahulu, tiada lagi cahaya lampu elektrik yang menerangi rumah. Mereka hanya menggunakan pelita minyak tanah. Oleh itu, memotong kuku dalam keadaan ini amat berbahaya dan risiko tercedera itu amat tinggi.

Jangan menyanyi sewaktu memasak, nanti kahwin dengan orang tua.Adakah bakal suami yang tua itu telah mendengar nyanyian si dara di dapur lalu terus jatuh hati? Jawapannya pastilah tidak. Larangan ini bertujuan untuk memastikan anak gadis yang memasak di dapur melakukan kerja dengan baik memandangkan anak-anak gadis selalunya masih belum mahir dan memerlukan tumpuan yang penuh supaya tidak berlaku sebarang kejadian yang tidak diingini seperti makanan hangus, tercedera akibat terkena pisau dan sebagainya.

Semua petua yang memerlukan kita berfikir secara tersirat lahir kerana kebanyakan orang tua menggunakan kefahaman mereka berdasarkan segala yang ada di sekeliling mereka. Mereka menggunakan petua-petua ini untuk mendidik anak-anak mereka. Hal ini memudahkan anak-anak terdidik kerana proses dan alat pendidikan adalah perkara yang di sekeliling mereka.

Orang Tua

oleh:Nursyazni Binti Mohamad Sukri dan Wan Azrina Binti Wan Azaman

B CUBE December 2015 B CUBE December 20158 5

TIME, TIME AND TIME!!!!!!!By Dr Sarifah Fauziah Syed Draman

Agree or not, time is one of the most valuable assets. However, it is always slipped away. All of us get the same 24 hours a day, but it seems that there is never enough time in the day. Some people achieve so

much more with their time but the others don’t. Why is it happening? The answer relates to good time management.

Good time management needs to focus on results instead of activities since being busy isn’t the same as being effective. Unluckily, the opposite situation occurs in our daily life. Spending a day in an annoyance of activity often achieves less. This is because attention is being divided between so many different tasks. Good time management leads to work smarter instead of work harder. As a result, more tasks can be done in less time.

Generally, good time management skills can help people to find freedom from deadline pressure and stress. Therefore, the worker is more productive, delay less and has more time to relax. Thus, this can help further decrease stress and anxiety.Time management skills are different for each person. Table 1 shows a few tips to improve time management tips.

Table 1 : Tips to Improve Time Management Skills

Tips Remarks 1. Make a list Prioritize the needs and plan accordingly. It is

suggested to make three lists — personal, home and work

2. Set deadlines Set a deadline and try the best to stick to it. Set the deadline a few days before the task absolutely has to

be done3. Stop multi-tasking Multitasking is not an efficient way of getting things

done. Focus and concentrate on one thing.4. Delegate responsibilities Delegation is a sign of intelligence in place of a sign

of weakness. Find competent, reliable people and share some of the responsibilities. Less stress and

become more productive.5. Start Early Get up early to be more calm, creative and clear-

headed. As the day progresses, the energy levels start going down, which affects the productivity and

performance 6. Reward yourself When accomplishes something, celebrate it. Make

sure it’s something that really enjoys.7. Take Some Breaks Take a break for 5-10 minutes after a 1 hour work.

Too much stress can take a toll on the body and affect productivity. Take a walk or do some quick

stretches.

Happy managing our own time more efficiently. It will save time in the future.

References : Mind Tools: Essential Skilla for Excellent Career from http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newHTE_00.htm, retrieved on 30 Mac 2015

Donna M. White, 6 Tips to Improve Your Time Management Skills from http://psychcentral.com/lib, retrieved on 30 Mac 2015

Students’ Evaluation of the Desired Teaching Qualities among Lecturers of Higher Learning Institutions in East Coast Malaysia Written by: Hasmida Mohd Noor, Siti Haryati Shaikh Ali and Noor Malinjasari Ali

Education can be considered as one category in “service marketing field” (Hennig-Thurau, Langer & Hansen, 2001). An analysis of

international trends in higher education shows that the globalization of the economy and the commodification of knowledge continued to have significant effects on higher education (Schugurensky, 1999). The Malaysian higher education sector has grown tremendously in the past decade and Malaysia is fast becoming an educational hub for excellence in the Asian region. The fast growth of Malaysian higher education in the past decade is proven by the increase numbers of international students to the country. With such development, the vision to make Malaysia as an important education hub in the world map will never be an unachievable dream. The vision is to create a higher education environment that fosters the development of academic and institutional excellence in the region and the whole world.

In order to work towards its position as a regional education hub, two new initiatives were proposed. The first is the development of Educity in Iskandar Malaysia, a new major multi-dimensional development next to Singapore, which is planned to have eight international universities that offer various study programs in selected fields. The second initiative is Kuala Lumpur Education City (KLEC), which is actually a strategic education initiative incorporated into a new commercial and residential project in the Klang Valley.

Another important aspect to look into is that the world economy is fast becoming a knowledge-based economy. As a result, higher education is increasingly being viewed as central to national strategies for securing shares of global markets. The role and value of higher educations are regarded as the important contributors towards the

development of social and economic arrangements which will give a competitive edge to the country. Most importantly, universities are seen as the repositories of much of the scarce and valuable human capital for the nation (Slaughter and Leslie, 1997).

Such growth has led to the various developments of various public and private universities together with formation of many colleges, with the aim to fulfill the new higher education landscape in the country. This new environment has led to new challenge to our university landscape, which is the challenging situation of competition. It has forced Malaysian universities to compete between one another. Being one of public universities in Malaysia, universities in the East Coast of Malaysia too will have to take up the challenge and compete.

East Coast was chosen due to its uniqueness in terms of the development and well-being of the society. Overall, people in the East Coast are known for their timid and very reserved attitude. The attitude is said to be translated into the students’ way of studying. Comparing performance and standard of living, East Coast of Malaysia is somehow a bit behind as compared to other rural parts of Malaysia. This study is very important as it tends to uncover that special needs and wants of public universities students in East Coast of Malaysia (To be continued in the next publication).

ReferenceHennig-Thurau, T., Langer, M.F. and Hansen, U. (2001), Modelling and managing student loyalty: an approach based on the concept of relationship quality, Journal of Service Research, vol 3 (4), pp 331 – 44.

Schugurensky, D. (1999), Higher education restructuring in the Era of Globalization: Toward a heteronomous model? In R.F. Arnove and C.A.Torres (Eds) Comparative Education: The Dialetic of the Global and the Local. Lanham: Rowan and Littlefield

Slaughter, S., and Leslie. L. (1997) Academic capitalism: Politics, policies, and the entrepreneurial university. The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2715 North Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218-4319.

B CUBE December 2015 B CUBE December 20156

THE BEHAVIOURISTS: HOW DO THEY LEARN By Wan Azrina Wan Azaman & Nursyazni Mohamad Sukri

“What theory implies, quite simply, is that language acquisition, first or second, occurs when comprehension of real messages occurs, and when the acquirer is not ‘on the defensive’... Language acquisition does not require extensive use of conscious grammatical rules, and does not require tedious drill. It does not occur overnight, however. Real language acquisition develops slowly, and speaking skills emerge significantly later than listening skills, even when conditions are perfect. The best methods are therefore those that supply ‘comprehensible input’ in low anxiety situations, containing messages that learners really want to hear. These methods do not force early production in the second language, but allow learners to produce when they are ‘ready’, recognizing that improvement comes from supplying communicative and comprehensible input, and not from forcing and correcting production.” (Krashen, 1981: 6-7)

Humans acquire their first language without having much trouble, as long as they are exposed highly to the language before the critical period. First-hand teachers, i.e. parents, grandparents and siblings, are the most influential people that affect us in developing our language since we were born. However, when people are getting older and are acquiring their second language, linguists have come out with their own perceptions in regards of the pattern observed in second language acquisition. Brown (2000) states that second language acquisition, which is a “subset of general human learning” that involves cognitive variations and closely related to one’s personality type, is intertwined with second culture learning, and involves interferences, the creation of new linguistic systems and the learning discourse and communicative functions of language. According to him, these are the foundation for structuring an integrated theory of second language acquisition.

One of the oldest theories in language learning was founded by B.F. Skinner, who put the focus on the changes pattern of a learner’s b e h a v i o u r . Skinner believed that language learning is a mechanical process where the input must be done by the process of habit f o r m a t i o n especially drilling and imitating. Back in 1950s and 60s, behaviourism was prominent and influential even though new theories had started to be significantly accepted by many. Since it is an approach that emphasizes observable measurable behaviour, o p e r a n t conditioning is implemented to show the result of repeated training. According to Sawani (n.d), habits are formed by receiving the linguistic data from the surrounding environment and by the reinforcement received for the good attempts made to repeat or imitate certain patterns. By having the process of stimulus-response-reinforcement-repetition, the behaviourists believed that learners will slowly develop the language skills. This can be seen through the diagram and explanation as follow:

A teacher showed his learners a picture of mosque (stimulus) and asked them to name it. The learners responded by saying, “/mɒskju/” (response). The teacher corrected them, “No, it is /mɒsk/. /mɒsk/. Say it again” (negative reinforcement). The learners repeated after him and said, “/mɒsk/”. The teacher praised them (positive reinforcement) and the learners kept on repeating the word to get familiar with the pronunciation. As the acquisition process of first and second language is viewed similarly by the behaviourists, they treat errors that have been made by second language learners as interference from first language habits. It seems that the habit formation in first language acquisition is interrupted by new habit. For any second language that shares quite similar structure and grammar as the first language, the learners are expected to successfully acquire the second language if they use their existing first language knowledge to learn the target language (Lightbown and Spada, 1993). From the writers’ teaching experience, children are the best target group to implement this theory. They are the only group who are open to any kind of reinforcements; be it positive or negative. They enjoy praises and rewards, and they are willing to be punished if they make mistakes. As a result, they know they have done wrong and that kind of mistake should not be allowed to happen again in the future. As compared to teenagers and adults, they are more rebellious especially when they are punished. Praises and rewards given are widely accepted by these groups, but only some who actually realise that they are supposed to reinforce them to do better or at least, maintain the good work. The writers have actually tried this in the classroom, and beyond their expectations, their teenage learners did not really like it. In the lessons, they drilled the learners to pronounce some words correctly. They turned out to protest silently and did not do the task full-heartedly. As a result, they did not get anything learnt from their mistake. On the other hand, to instil the positive reinforcement, their learners were praised when they did a good job in their assignments, but unfortunately, they did not like it to be in public. They were embarrassed and afraid that their friends would make fun of them by calling them teacher’s pet. If the writers were asked for their personal view whether this theory is appropriate to be applied to their young-adult learners, they certainly would say “no”. Skinner’s idea in shaping the behaviour has resulted negatively in their classes but somehow they found that this would work fine on children and toddlers. As long as the teachers can control the rewards and punishments which the environment gives in response to behaviours, then only the behaviour can be shaped. However, Sawani (n.d) has stated in his research paper that there are three major weaknesses observed in the imitation and reinforcement perspectives which are high tendency of children to create words that do not exist in the adult language and to make errors that are not heard in adult’s speech, and this theory also cannot guarantee that imitation and habit formation can be counted for the complex knowledge that the children acquire. Based on these too, other language acquisition researchers and psycholinguists have turned to more acceptable theories of language acquisition, as they claimed.

References: Brown, H. D. (2007). Principles of Language Learning and Teaching. (5th Ed.). Pearson Education.

Krashen, S. D. (1981). Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition. English Language Teaching series. London: Prentice-Hall International (UK) Ltd.

Lightbown, P. & Spada, N. (1993). Issues in Applied Linguistic. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Retrieved 30 November 2015 from URL: http://escholarship.org/uc/item/2t48927v

Sawani F. M., (n.d). Views on Language Acqusition: A Differentiated Analysis. PhD Report, University of Essex. Retrieved 26 March 2012 from URL: http://privatewww.essex.ac.uk/~fmsawa/views_on_language_acquisition.htm

Grilled Food…the hidden danger!By: Hanith Iskandar

Ever since people accidently confronted with fire for the first time, eureka… they started cooking their food on direct fire. This method of cooking had been going on for

ages without any dispute and considered as one of the healthiest cooking methods of all time. Who hasn’t enjoyed and embraced the moment where you are barbecuing in good company of friends and relatives with perfect weather and good food cooked on hot charcoal flame or a gas fire at home, in the park or even at a campsite. According to Li (2013) more than 80% of American owns a grill at least and half of the amount is found to grill at least 1 to 2 time during summer. Alas! Grilling is fun, easily executed, affordable for family and friends. Amidst this, people are actually forgotten about the probable cause of exposing themselves at the barbecue. Here are some of the grilling dangers hazardous to health-

#1 : The Char The char mark on meat and other food might look appealing and leave great temptation on people and without knowing, it consists of cancer-causing compounds. This mark is formed when meat met with high heat that caused blackened crust. The more the crust is created the more substance called carcinogens coating your grilled food. Epidemiological studies indicate that consuming charred meat might contribute to high risk of having colorectal, pancreatic and prostate cancer (Li, 2013)

#2 : The Smoke Grilling your food could cause a big amount of smoke containing polycyclic aromatic hyrocarbons famously known as PAHs to evaporate into thin air. This smoke will leave your attire and hair to have smoky smell. During grilling, fat will drip onto coals and create PAHs that waft into the air we inhaled. The more smoke your grill creates, the more smoke or PAHs is generated and would produce toxin your meat.

#2 : Harmful byproducts In barbecuing, meat especially is cooked on high temperatures on direct coal. This will cause a process called chemical chain reaction where there is an occurrence of inflammatory products namely “glycation enproducts (AGEs). Thess byproducts are harmful to humans that are associated with cellular stress and aging. This agent will accumulate in your organs and it is hard to get rid of them. At

the end, they will cause great damage to the body.

Tips on avoiding these dangers:• Inspiteof grillingyourmeatinbare,whynotcoatitwith tasty coating either wet or dry one. Marinating and rubbing your meat decrease the tendency of dripping fat and smoke to its minimum level and definitely will lower down the creation of the dreadful carcinogens in the food. The idea here is to boost flavour and lower the risk.• Beforegrilling,pre-cookthemeathalfwayusinglowheat to ideally reduce the fat that could cause dripping and smoke. Thus, this will shorten the time the meat being put on the grill and reduce the hazardous dripping fat that cause smoke fluttering around in the air. Simultaneously, this will also shorten the process of grilling and feeding hungry mouths could be expedited a lot more.• Inordertoreducedreadeddrippingfatthatcausesmoke,aluminium foil is advised to be used throughout the process. This foil will function as layer of barrier that helps prevent dripping that causes smoke and of course, will help reduce the creation of PAHs circulating into your food. Theoretically, aluminium foil will keep the food moist all the time.• Insteadof grillingmeat,whynotuseothermaterialshealthier than meat like vegetables. Vegetables are known to contain any carcinogens even when charred on a grill. Variety of vegetables is nutritious and can be turned into great food because they do not create harmful substance that proven to be detrimental to humans.

Reference:Li, W. W. (2013) The hidden dangers of grilling,retrieved on Nov 1st, 2015 from http://blog.doctoroz.com/oz-experts/the- hidden-dangers-of-grilling