INTUITION

 

Intuition - the idea that individuals can make successful decisions without deliberate analytical thought - has intrigued philosophers and scientists since at least the times of the ancient Greeks. But scientists have had trouble finding quantifiable evidence that intuition actually exists.

Many people use the phrase ‘intuition’ to describe a sensation or feeling they have when making decisions, but these are only descriptions, they do not provide strong evidence that we can use unconscious information in our brain or body to guide our behaviour. 

To measure intuition, the researchers designed an experiment in which participants were exposed to emotional images outside conscious awareness as they attempted to make accurate decisions. The results of the study demonstrate that even when people were unaware of the images, they were still able to use information from the images to make more confident and accurate decisions.

The data suggest that we can use unconscious information in our body or brain to help guide us through life, to enable better decisions, faster decisions, and be more confident in the decisions we make.

In an experiment, groups of college students were shown stimuli composed of a cloud of many moving dots, which looked like the noisy “snow” you might see on an old television. Participants had to report which general direction the cloud of dots was moving in, left or right.

While our subjects were making these decisions, they were presented in one of their eyes with emotional photographs, then they utilized another technique called continuous flash suppression to render these emotional photographs invisible or unconscious. “So, while the subjects were making these sensory decisions, they never knew they were being presented with these emotional photographs.

Participants were fitted with a mirror stereoscope during the experiment, which allowed the continuous flash suppression to mask emotional images in the other eye.

The emotion-provoking photographs included both positive images, like adorable puppies, as well as disturbing negative images, such as a snake about to strike. The type of image, positive or negative, indicated which direction the cloud of dots was moving.

Across four different experiments, the researchers found that people were able to make faster and more accurate decisions when they unconsciously viewed the emotional images. Essentially, people’s brains were able to process and utilize information from the images to improve their decisions.

Another interesting finding in this study is that intuition improved over time, suggesting that the mechanisms of intuition can be improved with practice.

Additional evidence for intuition came from participants’ physiological data. In one experiment, the researchers measured participants’ skin conductance - an indicator of physiological arousal - as they made decisions about the swarm of dots. In an exciting finding, the researchers observed that skin conductance predicted behavioural intuition; that is, even when people were not aware of the images, their bodies showed a physiological reaction to the emotional content of the stimuli.

The ability to quantitatively measure intuition could be a boon to many different fields, especially when it comes to workplace hiring. This could be applied in the workplace, taking the place of existing questionnaires which really only test people’s opinions about their own feelings of intuition.

As usual, we remind you to take your Memo Plus Gold daily. It will help to keep you alert and mentally sharp. For more information or to order for Memo Plus Gold, please visit : https://oze.my. 

Petrol stations – first place to control spread of Covid-19

 

From Baharuddin Mohd Isa

Human resources minister S Saravanan’s assertion that foreign workers are not allowed to enter the country until Dec 31 is a timely reminder that we are not out of the woods where the Covid-19 pandemic is concerned.

Despite Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob revealing that 80% of the adult population has been vaccinated, the variants of the virus have been evolving. It is feared that these new variants could be spread by foreigners who may have been exposed and infected in their own countries.

This is why the government should be looking more holistically with regards to allowing foreign workers to come back into the country.

Various news reports have put job losses at between 150,000 to 400,000 since the pandemic spread. These are Malaysian jobs that have been lost and the rehabilitation of the economy and opening up of more employment opportunities should prioritise Malaysians.

While the human resources minister in the Sept 20 Bernama report had referred to domestic maids among those yet to be allowed to return or come into the country, there is one industry where the government can review the need for foreign workers.

In 1997, the government had introduced self-service petrol stations to address the over-dependence on foreign workers.

Despite this policy being implemented for 24 years, how often have we motorists pulled into a petrol station to be greeted by a foreign worker asking what type of petrol we want; how much we want; and if we are using cash or credit card? And then proceeds to fill up for you?

This goes against the common sense understanding of “self-service”.

Traditional jobs

With a pandemic that is still far from being under control, we need to minimise our physical interaction with others – be they foreign or local.

In the meantime, with regards to the economy which has been severely battered by the pandemic, one would not be out of place to query if jobs traditionally reserved for foreigners could be opened up to locals?

Even the counters at petrol stations are mostly manned by foreign workers.

While one cannot ignore the fact that this country in the last 25 years or so was built on the backbones of migrant workers, perhaps the time is ripe now, to give preference to locals.

With reports suggesting that the pandemic has raised our B40 group to B60 or even a B80, Malaysians who perhaps at one time were too choosy in picking jobs may be ready to reconsider their options.

With jobs getting scarce, perhaps economic sectors that at one time gravitated towards hiring foreigners may now need to look at a workforce comprising locals.

Obviously, companies would prefer to hire foreign workers as the wages are lower and there are no regulatory payments.

But with a pandemic that is also seeing clusters and variants in foreign workers’ living quarters, perhaps the government can introduce a policy that kills two birds with one stone – controlling the spread of the virus while providing more employment opportunities to locals.

Perhaps it can start with petrol stations and implement what it decided almost a quarter-century ago. - FMT

Baharuddin Mohd Isa is an FMT reader.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.

Zahid’s immunity claim a ploy to strike out charges, says prosecution

 

Ahmad Zahid Hamidi arriving at the Kuala Lumpur High Court today. He is facing 47 charges of money laundering and criminal breach of trust.

KUALA LUMPUR: The defence in Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s corruption case is raising an immunity-from-prosecution claim as a disguise to strike out the charges against the former deputy prime minister, the High Court heard today.

Deputy public prosecutor Raja Rozela Raja Toran said the court could not do so without hearing all the evidence from witnesses.

“The defence is raising the immunity issue to challenge the decision of the prosecution to file charges against the accused,” Raja Rozela said in her submission at the close of the prosecution’s case.

She said the court also cannot question the public prosecutor’s discretion under the Federal Constitution to charge the accused.

Raja Rozela said the defence could have filed a judicial review before a civil court to state the accused enjoyed immunity but did not do so.

“Instead, they waited until the prosecution had closed its case to raise this immunity issue,” she said, adding that the defence did not raise any objection when Zahid was first charged in the sessions court in early 2019.

The defence is now taking the stand that Zahid ought to be immune from prosecution on the grounds that he had truthfully disclosed all the transactions related to his family-run Yayasan Akalbudi.

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) recorded Zahid’s statement where he gave details on the setting up of the foundation and its source of funds as well as provided his personal particulars and that of his family members.

Zahid is standing trial on 47 charges of money laundering and criminal breach of trust (CBT) involving funds from Yayasan Akalbudi and accepting bribes for various projects during his tenure as the home minister.

His lead counsel Hisyam Teh told the court on Sept 6 that Section 30(7) of MACC Act was applicable in Zahid’s case when the authorities took his statements in July 2018.

The provision, which was repealed on Oct 1, 2018, had stated that anyone who disclosed information or produced any document to the authorities would not be incriminated.

Raja Rozela said the defence was giving a literal reading of the provision and, if accepted, this would lead to an absurdity and run contrary to the intentions of Parliament in passing laws.

She said Section 30(7) compelled any person to answer questions by a MACC investigating officer or else be liable for an offence even if the person told a lie.

Raja Rozela said this provision only applied, for example, to a civil servant who had information of a fraud practice contained in confidential documents.

“This civil servant will be granted immunity from prosecution under the Official Secrets Act (OSA) as he may not be authorised to view the classified document,” she said.

Raja Rozela said the MACC investigating officer had taken into account all information and statements provided by witnesses before proposing charges against the accused.

“The accused here cannot be exempted from prosecution just because he gave information. Others have given statements that incriminated him (Zahid),” she said.

Raja Rozela added that if the provision were to be used merely to collect information, then the MAcC would be made impotent in its role to fight corruption.

“The anti-graft agency will be rendered useless and incompetent, and limited to collecting informaton about corrupt practices but do nothing beyond that,” she said.

Raja Rozela added that the MACC and the prosecution did not mislead the accused to believe that he would not be charged.

Hearing before trial judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah has been adjourned to Oct 4. - FMT

Cara Menyelesaikan Masalah Di Sudan - Khatib Wahhabi Di Halau Keluar Dari Masjid

 Video berikut menunjukkan jemaah di sebuah masjid di Sudan menghalau keluar seorang khatib daripada puak Wahhabi  yang mengungkit perkara yang tidak disenangi oleh ahli jemaah. Sila lihat video dulu:

Catitan yang saya terima (bersama video ini) mengatakan : "Masyarakat Sudan sudah mula bangkit,  membantah dan menolak "kemungkaran" Wahhabi, seterusnya dihalau daripada masjid".

Tuan-tuan kita tidak gaduh cara-cara menanam padi. Kita tidak gaduh pasal cara tanam kelapa sawit. Kita tidak gaduh cara kerja di kilang. Kita tak gaduh cara membina rumah, apartmen, hospital dan sekolah. Kita tidak gaduh cara mencari keperluan hidup kita.

Kita bersyukurlah kepada Allah swt bahawa kita tidak perlu gaduh apabila mencari keperluan hidup kita.  

Cuba imagine kalau mee mamak dan mee hailam bertumbuk. Atau minyak Shell dan minyak Caltex bergaduh. Kita bersyukurlah kepada Allah swt.

Artikel ini adalah pandangan penulis dan tidak semestinya mewakili MMKtT.

Penambahan 2.3 - 3.5 Juta Penduduk Dalam Kategori Miskin B40, Percayalah Majoriti Besar-Nya Melayu

 Tuan-tuan PM kita kata sejak pandemik Covid ini, 580,000 keluarga (household) M40 sudah masuk kategori miskin B40. Kalau se-isi keluarga itu terdiri daripada seorang ayah dan ibu serta dua hingga empat anak, jumlahnya antara 2.3 Juta - 3.48 Juta orang jadi susah.

Ini berita nya:

https://www.msn.com/en-my/news/national/covid-19-580-000-m40-households-fall-into-b40-category-absolute-poverty-rises-to-8-4pc-says-pm/ar-AAOF5dx

• KL Sept 21 — 580,000 households in M40 slipped into B40 PM said
• this translates to 20% of M40 households
• absolute poverty also risen to 8.4% from 5.6% 
• 20% (580,000) from M40 (incomes RM4,850 - RM10,959) shifted to B40 
• absolute poverty rate :
• 5.6% (405,441 households) in 2019
• 7.6%  (525,743 households) in 2016.
• absolute poverty increased to 8.4% from 5.6% 

My comments : Tuan-Tuan saya amat kurang yakin lah semua angka-angka ini. Saya rasa keadaan sebenarnya lebih kronik dan mengancam.

Tetapi jumlah orang yang menjadi absolute poverty memang meningkat. That is for sure.

Seperti saya sebut tadi, lets say setiap keluarga mempunyai 4 - 6 orang ahli, maksudnya 2.3 juta - 3.5 juta sudah masuk kategori miskin ketara.

Yang lagi mengancam ialah dari segi peningkatan pula, absolute poverty atau miskin ketara dari 5.6% ke 8.4% itu adalah (8.4 - 5.6)/5.6 x 100% = 50% INCREASE !!

Tuan-Tuan dengar baik-baik ok. 

SEJAK BERTAHUN LALU SAYA SUDAH MEMEKIK, MENJERIT DAN MELOLONG BAHAWA GST AKAN MENGHANCURKAN EKONOMI KITA.

SAYA  JUGA TELAH ULANG, MENGULANG DAN ULANG LAGI BAHAWA GAJI MINIMA AKAN MENINGKATKAN PENGANGGURAN DALAM NEGARA KITA. PENGANGGURAN MAKSUDNYA MISKIN LAH. 

LIHATLAH ANGKA-ANGKA YANG DI SEBUT OLEH PM KITA. 

Please read what the PM has said above.

Pada tahun 2016 jauh sebelum Covid 19, angka absolute poverty sudah mencapai 7.6%. 

• Masa itu tidak ada Covid.
• Masa itu kesan GST sedang memuncak. 
• Juga kesan Gaji Minima.

Pada 2019 pula (apabila GST sudah dibatalkan pada 2018) absolute poverty menurun ke 5.6% - penurunan mendadak sebanyak 26%.

Jadi memang benar GST telah mengakibatkan kadar miskin meningkat dan pembatalan GST (2018) mengakibatkan kemiskinan menurun (2019). 

So sila awasi GST dan Gaji Minima.  

Jangan saja buat dasar sembrono tanpa memahami akibat buruknya.

Dan tolonglah jangan menebang 15,000 batang pokok durian. Orang kita semuanya akan menjadi lebih miskin.

Balik kepada keadaan hari ini. 

Pandemic Covid ini hanya mempercepatkan atau accelerate keruntuhan ekonomi kita terutama-nya ekonomi Melayu dan bumiputera.

Sedihnya majoriti besar pimpinan Melayu (pimpinan Melayu maksudnya Kerajaan, Menteri, Menteri Besar, Wakil Rakyat, Pegawai Kerajaan, Ahli Korporat, Akademik Melayu, NGO Melayu, NGO Islam, Ketua Kampong, Guru Besar, Imam Surau dan Masjid, keseluruhan puak lebai) semuanya tidak faham bagaimana caranya untuk bangunkan ekonomi. 

Sesudah menebang 15,000 batang pokok durian saya melihat video NGO Melayu Islam membuang minuman Coca Cola daripada sebuah kedai - kononnya untuk memboikot produk "Yahudi" yang menyokong Israel !!

Ini adalah satu pendekatan yang kurang peka dan tidak faham apa pun berkenaan apa pun. 

Kenapa pula untuk mereka mencari publisiti, orang lain pula kena tanggung rugi? 

Saya ada sedikit cadangan kepada NGO-NGO Islam yang sewaktu dengan mereka - kalau nak boikot barang buatan "Yahudi" dan Israel, sila buang semua komputer, smartphone awak dulu dan jangan gunakan Waze atau Google Maps. Sebab percayalah - kesemua produk ini mesti ada komponen dan software yang mempunyai kaitan dengan pengeluar "Yahudi" dan Israel.   

Jadi biarlah awak tanggung rugi dulu. Jangan suruh orang lain tanggung rugi dulu.

Balik kepada ancaman besar dalam negara kita, pimpinan orang Melayu masih tidak faham dan tidak tahu apakah cara untuk memulihkan dan membangkitkan ekonomi.

Sedih atas sedih, dalam usaha untuk memulihkan ekonomi, orang Melayu telan juga Poison Pill atau pil beracun yang mereka telan sebelum ini. Mereka jemput balik tikus-tikus yang telah merosakkan ekonomi negara untuk menjadi penasihat ekonomi, menteri, pengurus dsbnya.  

Maksud saya bukan saja cadangan melantik banduan (sudah didapati salah oleh mahkamah atas tuduhan mencuri dan tidak bayar cukai) menjadi penasihat ekonomi tetapi melantik semula dan kekalkan puak-puak dinosaur krepot menduduki jawatan tinggi dan berpengaruh dalam mengurus ekonomi negara kita. 

Puak-puak dinosaur krepot inilah yang bertanggung jawab menghancurkan ekonomi negars sejak berpuluh tahun yang sudah.   

Keadaan akan bertambah susah bagi semua orang dalam negara kita, terutama sekali orang Melayu dan bumiputera.

Kedegilan arrogance atau bodoh sombong yang tebal sudah pun membawa kehancuran ekonomi dan kesedihan.  

Bodoh sombong ini akan membawa kepada gejala kronik yang lain. Pecayalah. 

Artikel ini adalah pandangan penulis dan tidak semestinya mewakili MMKtT.

'Kerajaan Gagal': Ku Li resigns from Umno advisory council

Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah has resigned from his post as the Umno advisory council chairperson on Monday out of protest against "kerajaan gagal" (failed government).

In his resignation letter addressed to Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, the Gua Musang MP mentioned the disappointment among the public and party grassroots on the composition of the new government.

"Of course, the appointed leaders and members of the government who replaced the 'kerajaan gagal' have received the blessing from Umno leadership, despite the public and party grassroots having aired their disappointment to see most of the positions filled by those who came from the (previous) government that has failed.

"Can these people help our party reclaim what we lost for the upcoming 15th general election and end this hung Parliament situation? Can we depend on them to bring us to victory in GE15?

"With this letter, I hereby resign from my post as the chairperson of Umno advisory council effective from the date of this letter," he wrote in the letter, which was sighted by Malaysiakini.

Tengku Razaleigh, or better known as Ku Li, had been very vocal against the previous Perikatan Nasional government led by then prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

He had in July requested that his seat in the Dewan Rakyat be moved to the independent bloc, despite Umno being part of the coalition that supported the federal government then, saying that he did not want to be seen as a supporter of the government.

The veteran politician was also the only Umno MP who did not support party vice-president Ismail Sabri Yaakob during the process of choosing a new prime minister.  - Mkini

NEWS

'Kerajaan Gagal': Ku Li resigns from Umno advisory council

Hariz Mohd

Published:  Sep 22, 2021 12:33 PM

⋅

Updated: 1:24 PM

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We’ve made it in journey to 80% vaccinated population

 

Health authorities administered more than 500,000 vaccine doses during the peak of the immunisation programme in the middle of the year.

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia, you did it.

As of yesterday, 80% of the country’s adult population have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19. While the health ministry has since dropped the use of the term “herd immunity” in favour of recognising the virus as endemic, the figure has long been touted as a milestone for the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme.

In light of the achievement, FMT looks back at some of the key moments in the programme.

On Nov 27 last year, then prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin announced the procurement of 12.8 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine, making Malaysia the first country in Southeast Asia to secure a deal with the US drug maker.

It was a landmark in the battle against Covid-19. Finally, a counterpunch was delivered against a virus that had pinned the country to the ropes for the better part of eight months.

Less than a month later, Malaysia put pen to paper on a deal with UK-based AstraZeneca to get 6.4 million doses of its vaccine, which like Pfizer’s had shown promising early results in clinical trials.

These were just the first of a host of deals, which eventually saw the country secure enough doses for the entire population and then some.

On Feb 24, Muhyiddin became the first person in the country to get vaccinated against Covid-19. He took his first jab live on TV in a bid to boost the public’s confidence in the safety of vaccines.

Thus began Phase One of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme, which saw frontliners like healthcare workers, policemen, army personnel and politicians vaccinated first.

By early March, more than 80,000 Malaysians had received their first dose and more than a million others had registered for vaccination through the MySejahtera mobile application.

The early months of the rollout were slow going, however. By mid-May, just 3% of the population had received a shot although nearly a third of the population had signed up.

Vaccine minister Khairy Jamaluddin attributed these early troubles to supply issues, saying at the time that pharmaceutical companies had prioritised rich countries at the expense of others.

“It’s like a scene from the Titanic, where the guys from the lower class are waiting for the lifeboats and the guys from the upper cabin have already gone onto them,” he said.

So desperate were people to get their jabs that when AstraZeneca shots were offered on a first-come-first basis after some fears emerged in Europe over blood clots as a potential side effect, all 268,000 doses were claimed within three hours in the Klang Valley alone.

Vax, lies and videotape

Aside from the initial slowness, the vaccine rollout was also plagued by misinformation and distrust, which had Khairy putting out fires across the country.

First, there were fake vaccines that popped up on e-commerce sites, which prompted the government to warn the public against them as it would provide vaccines for free and could guarantee their authenticity.

In May, with vaccinations in Penang going slow, chief minister Chow Kon Yeow and DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng held a press conference to accuse the federal government of blocking a donation of two million Sinovac doses to the state by a certain Yong Chee Kong, who claimed to represent Hong Kong based Xintai Development Enterprise.

Days later, Khairy came out and called the offer a “scam” and “bogus,” saying the government could not verify the identity of Yong or find evidence that the company he claimed to represent was real. He said he would be happy to expedite the process if the donation was authentic.

In July, fears around phantom jabs began to spread after a video went viral of a nurse in Kedah administering an empty injection to a patient. Khairy then encouraged recipients to videotape their vaccination if they were worried the same could happen to them. But he also called the taped incident a one-off affair.

From June onwards, however, with supply issues mostly out of the way and deliveries of vaccines flowing, Malaysia’s vaccination rate had begun its gradual climb to becoming amongst the world’s best.

By July, Malaysia was vaccinating people at the fourth highest rate in the world, with 7.3% of the population immunised in the second week of the month alone.

This peaked on July 28, when 579,774 doses were administered nationwide, with the country holding steady at more than 400,000 jabs a day for most of August.

This rate has lately fallen off slightly, but with the vast majority of the country vaccinated, there are still well over 200,000 doses given out on a daily basis.

No child left behind

Now, with 80% of the population fully vaccinated, the government has moved on to the next steps in the process: boosters and teens.

Khairy announced on Monday that he was aiming for 80% of teenagers to be vaccinated by March next year.

As for third shots, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced on Sunday that they would be offered once the country had reached the 80% mark, beginning with high-risk groups like medical frontliners and elderly people living with comorbidities. - FMT