Thursday, June 20, 2013

haze it away 1

How to protect your body against the haze


  • Font bigger
  • Font smal
Wednesday, Jun 19, 2013
The Straits Times
By Shefali Srinivas
SINGAPORE - Even a little haze can harm the body over the long term.
A healthy immune system is probably the best antidote against haze-related health problems, according to naturopathic health principles.
Breathing problems stem from the minute particles of ash found in the haze here. Meteorologists call these particles PM10, although the PSI readings also take into account five other pollutants.
Breathing in too much PM10 increases the risk of heart attacks and heart failure, lung cancer and strokes. It can also make people more susceptible to viral and bacterial infections.
Most healthy people may experience mild eye irritation, sore throat or cough from the pollutants.
While it can seem impossible to keep healthy when the air one breathes is itself hazardous, a few simple measures can help beef up the body's innate protective systems, said Dr Sharita Rowbottom, a United Kingdom-qualified naturopath . Her first suggestion is to drink a little more water than usual, to help the kidneys flush out the toxins absorbed through the skin and lungs.
She also advises cutting down on coffee and alcohol, which promote fluid loss and leach nutrients from the body.
The body makes excess mucus in reaction to infections such as coughs, colds and the flu. But excess mucus is produced also when an allergic reaction causes the lining of the airways to become inflamed.
So in such times, it might be useful to restrict foods that promote mucus production. Dr Rowbottom names dairy products as foods to avoid.
Drinking plenty of water will also help thin the mucus so that it moves more easily.

14 health tips to beat the haze

Click on thumbnail to view. Story continues after photos.
(Photos: Various sources)





Wednesday, June 19, 2013


Modern Parenthood

Parenting a chess player may be harder than playing the game

Soccer moms get all the attention. But what about the chess moms and dads who can't shrug off their outside voice outbursts when inside at a silent chess tournament? With an event that demands self-discipline, parenting a chess player is no easy task. 

By Guest Blogger / April 4, 2013
Chess dad Grady Dunn of Norfolk, Va., attends sessions at the Norfolk Initiative for Chess Excellence (NICE) where he focuses on positive parent coaching tactics with his daughters Gianna, 8, facing the camera, and Pria,10.
Lisa Suhay
Enlarge
This weekend at Super Nationals in NashvilleTenn., the biggest event of the year for scholastic chess competitors, parents there will be offered something that’s never been discussed at the event before: how to be good sport parents and coaches. The free seminar will not only address the ins and outs of raising a good competitor, but also how to choose a coach that’s best for your child.

Lisa Suhay, who has four sons at home in Norfolk, Va., is a children’s book author and founder of the Norfolk (Va.) Initiative for Chess Excellence (NICE) , a nonprofit organization serving at-risk youth via mentoring and teaching the game of chess for critical thinking and life strategies.

Recent posts

Ads by Google
Enjoy Amazing Speeds At The Most
Affordable Price. Now Fr RM148/mth!

Super Nationals, a quadrennial event like the Olympics, will host more than 5,000 kids from 47 states plusWashington, DC and Puerto Rico, coming from a total of 1,541 schools, according to Robert McLellan, a spokesman for the US Chess Federation based in Nashville. Those children will attend with either an anxiety-ridden parent or professional chess coach by their side.
Even Alexandra Kosteniuk, the 12th Women’s World Chess Champion who herself began a chess career at age 5 admits that parenting her daughter Francesca, 6, through the process is very daunting.
“It’s a rollercoaster to see her play,” Ms. Kosteniuk said during a phone conversation from Nashville as she prepared her little girl to compete in what will be the child’s first Super Nationals. “It’s very hard for me to stop myself, not to intervene because at that age children don’t always play pieces correctly or remember all the rules.”
I now have this wonderful mental picture of the absolutely runway model-worthy Women’s World Champion pacing a few yards away from the tables, destroying her manicure, much in the way I do when one of my own sons compete at anything.
That makes me feel better as a sport parent because it tells me that becoming a parent levels the playing field between the famous and the average sport parent. Technically, chess is classified as a sport, covered byESPN, and subject to the same kind of governance as other sporting bodies because it’s played in teams. Chess has coaches both good and atrocious, too.
The Chess in the Olympics Campaign says that there are at least 605 to 700 million people worldwide who play chess — that's more than the entire population ofUSRussiaMexico, and Japan combined, or 8.6 percent of all humans inhabiting the Earth. There are 8 million registered chess players representing over 160 countries. On the Internet, there are as many as 200 million people playing chess.
The thing that’s really important with chess is not the trophy but the win-win educationally for a child. 
“I run a school in Russian and I can say without hesitation that you take a child, any child, and teach them chess and I promise you one year later this is a completely different child in many ways,” Kosteniuk says. “You see a child learn critical thinking, better overall life judgments, and confidence. It is that prize we should want as parents for our children most of all.”
Speaking of what sports parents want, Chess parents are just as notorious for outbursts as those in soccer, Pee Wee football, and any other sports where the worst in us emerges as the parental protective mechanism kicks in and merges with the thrill of battle haze.

ALLFATIHAH UNTUK RAIMAH





Dunia catur OKU telah kehilangan saorang pemin dedikasi RAIMAH , isteri kepada pemain paralimpik nrgara, Idris bin Mat Saman, ALFATIHAH 

 

THE GOLDEN TITANS

DATO TAN CHIN NAM INVITATION TOURNAMENT 2013

DTCN invited sifu, Andrew Tan, Bernad Ng, Chin CY, Choo MW, Hamid M, John Law, Sirajudeen, Subramaniam,Dr Wahid Karim and Dato Tan CN for a battle of titans

This have been a yearly battle with Nik Farouqi  the arbiter, and its on double round robin format with the playing venue at Wilayah Complex Chess Centre.

Sifu only hope for the best but mainly for the fun and ability to perform well hopefully




Monday, June 17, 2013

Atlet paralimpik terpinggir?

Oleh NOR HAIRULNIZAM WAHID
Kuala Lumpur: Selepas kejayaan Hasihin Sanawi dan Mohd Ziyad Zolkefli memenangi pingat perak dan gangsa di Sukan Paralimpik London tahun lalu, dunia sukan ini sekali lagi ‘hilang’ dari radar peminat sukan.
Realitinya, masih terpinggirkah kelompok atlet dari kalangan golongan orang kelainan upaya ini daripada kepesatan pembangunan sukan negara yang melahirkan ramai bintang? Inisiatif Majlis Sukan Negara (MSN) menubuhkan Cawangan Paralimpik dan kemudian menyerapkan atlet berpotensi dalam program mereka harus dipuji tapi ia bukan sesuatu yang boleh dicapai sekelip mata.

“Kita tidak boleh memandang ringan pembangunan sukan paralimpik,” kata Pengarah Cawangan Paralimpik Mohd Safrussahar Yusof.
“Sukan paralimpik kini sudah mencapai tahap tinggi dengan dominasi atlet China, Amerika Syarikat, Britain dan Australia.” Justeru sesuatu perlu dilakukan untuk memastikan negara tidak ketandusan bakat baru untuk diketengahkan dan beliau melihat pembangunan di peringkat negeri sebagai elemen yang perlu diberi perhatian buat masa ini.

Menurutnya, hingga 2012, belum ada atlet OKU berlatih secara konsisten dan untuk itu, cawangan terbabit memulakan program di peringkat negeri sejak Januari tahun ini menggunakan khidmat jurulatih yang melatih atlet sekurang-kurangnya dua kali seminggu.

Lima sukan terbabit dalam latihan peringkat negeri itu adalah olahraga, powerlifting, renang, memanah dan ping pong, membabitkan 271 atlet dan 23 penggerak di hampir semua negeri.
FotoZIYAD (kiri) dan Hasihin menunjukkan pingat dimenangi kepada Tun Abdullah Badawi (tengah).
“Mereka bukan saja menjalani latihan tapi prestasi mereka diukur menerusi kejohanan dianjurkan sebelum dipilih menyertai program elit.” Hingga kini, 74 atlet daripada 11 sukan berada dalam program elit yang dibantu 23 jurulatih menjalani latihan sepenuh masa di MSN.

Sebelas sukan terbabit membabitkan berbasikal, memanah, olahraga, pelayaran, ping pong, powerlifting, renang, lawan pedang, tenis berkerusi roda, bola keranjang dan triatlon.
Begitupun dalam usaha melahirkan atlet lebih mantap untuk berada dalam kelompok 16 atlet terbaik dunia layak ke Sukan Paralimpik, beberapa atlet terpaksa digugurkan.

“Mereka yang digugurkan disebabkan faktor usia dan tidak mampu mempamerkan peningkatan tapi kita masih beri peluang untuk kejohanan peringkat kebangsaan.” Menurutnya, 2013 masa sesuai mempersiapkan atlet untuk Sukan Paralimpik Rio 2016 dan sehubungan itu tidak banyak kejohanan disertai tahun ini.

“Program ‘conditioning’ diadakan supaya fizikal, teknikal dan taktikal atlet lebih mantap sebelum bertanding di peringkat antarabangsa. Malah atlet luar negara juga dilihat tidak banyak menyertai kejohanan ketika ini.

“Begitupun 2014 dan 2015 masa untuk atlet memberikan aksi terbaik, cuba mengumpul mata demi memastikan tiket ke Paralimpik.” Pada masa sama, beliau berharap pembinaan Kompleks Kecemerlangan Sukan Paralimpik di Kampung Pandan mampu menjadi pemangkin untuk terus cemerlang selepas ini.
Artikel ini disiarkan pada : 2013/06/16 

Dato Mah Hassan a new MPM VP

Yesterday, 16 Jun 2013 Dewan Kg Pandan, KBS, Majlis Paralimpik Malaysia had its AGM with Council election and Persatuan Catur OKU Malaysia, the 20th member, but OKU CATUR want to be an active and fighter for OKU, so we nominated Dato' Mah Hassan dn Hj Omar as a new VP.
We did it

1    DATO' ZAINAL ABIDIN BIN ABU ZARIN                PRESIDENT
2.   PROF MADYA DR. ANUAR BIN SUUN                    DEPUTY PRESIDENT
3.   NG KEAN CHUAN                                                      OKU VP
4.   HAFIDZAH BT ABD KHAFIDZ                                   LADIES VP
5    DR. ANG KEAN KOO                                                 VP
6.   DATO' ZAKARIA MUSA                                              VP
7.   DATO' MAH HASSAN HJ OMAR                                VP
8.   SITI ZAHARAH BT TS ABDUL KHALID                    SECRETARY GENERAL
9.   LEE YONG HENG                                                        TREASURER

Congrats to all. A major change with 5 new elected nembers, new Deputy, new ladies VP and 2 new VPs, new secretary and cnfirming Billy Lee as treasurer after being the acting.

A good new team for the president and for paralimpic.

For chess with the  OKU Chess President as a new VP, we hope  for the development and more golds for chess to add to the 10 golds so far.

DATO MAH HASSAN THE NEW VP
 

Saturday, June 15, 2013

Child Genius; Agnetha: Abba and After – TV review

'He's in the top five per cent of irritating children,' said Hugo's proud mum
Shrinidhi, child genius
Shrinidhi from Child Genius. Her ambition is to be a consultant etymologist. Photograph: Channel 4
I've got a small child. I'm pretty sure – was pretty sure – he isn't a Child Genius (Channel 4). Well, he's mine, and his mother's: I think it would be almost genetically impossible. And to begin with he showed no signs of even having a brain. Recently though I've become worried. All he wants to do is read books. Books! From the moment he wakes up to the moment he goes to sleep he's got his nose in one.
OK, so we're talking Noisy Train and Whose Bottom at the moment, but recently he's been eyeing up the ones on the shelves (decoration obviously); the other day he pulled Richard Dawkins down. I've tried to discourage him, put him in front of the telly, bought him toys with batteries to lower his attention span, I'm saving up for iPads and Wiis and everything. And he IS going to be a footballer. So come out and practise, kick a ball around? "Book," he says.
Where is this leading? Will he end up like Shrinidhi here? Ten years old, Shrinidhi is already a world Scrabble champion, and she's written four novels (three more than Emily Brontë did ... I think). She enjoys sniffing books – little pervert. Her ambition is to be an etymologist and a consultant for putting words into dictionaries. What kind of ambition is that? Now her mother has entered her into the Child Genius of the Year competition organised by Mensa as she'd like Shrinidhi to meet other gifted children …
Such as little engineering enthusiast Hugo, also 10, who likes trains. He has the entire rail network committed to memory and goes into spasms of joy on spotting a rare locomotive, or a favourite waterworks. Hugo's my favourite, he's really funny and self aware, and a little a bit ironic, as well as being a genius. When he says, "They are actually my favourite waterworks," he does so knowingly and provocatively.
They're all nice actually – Shrinidhi and Hugo, eight-year-old chess superstar Josh and 10-year-old all-rounder Longyin who lives in a house called Wits End in Devon. Of course their parents are at least as interesting as they are, and this is just as much about them. They have a range of approaches to parenting and dealing with unusually bright offspring.
Longyin's dad, Terence, a former Hong Kong policeman, has prepared a terrifying after-school programme for his son – half an hour of PE, one hour's homework, half an hour domestic chores, one hour Chinese, half an hour leisure ... Even the leisure has an educational feel: Terence tests Longyin on world capitals while they play table tennis: it's ping pong geography.
Terence has it all worked out. "You either have a little bit disciplinary life in your first 16 years and then enjoy the remaining 60. Or – choice B – you do whatever you want in the first 16 years and then you become really really depressed, or homeless, for the next 60 years, provided that you are not killed by a drug overdose, gang fighting. So the choice is yours." Yeah, but it's not really Longyin's choice is it Terence? It's yours. I don't imagine much will change when he turns 16 either.
And then there are Hugo's parents, Michelle and Mark, who seem to be ever so slightly embarrassed by the prodigy they've produced, and unsure of how much to encourage him. "Awesome, my favourite waterworks," says Mark, sarcastically, on the train. "He's in the top five percent of ... irritating children," says Michelle, practically rolling her eyes. Michelle hopes that by learning the trumpet, Hugo will join an orchestra and meet girls, "and possibly get a shag out of it". Whoah, not yet Michelle. She does add "when the time comes", to be fair to her. Hugo's got the best parents too.
The tone of the series (there are three parts to come) is about right. Not snarky or sneery, more celebratory but still able to see the funny side: similar to that lovely film Spellbound. I'd like to have seen a few more of the questions, once we got to the competition. For my child, just to see ... No! he's going to be a footballer, it's already decided. Plus he'll get a lot more shags out of that than through playing the bloody trumpet.
Agnetha: Abba and After (BBC1) was fascinating about Abba, less so about After. There's a new project, involving Gary Barlow. Here he is being obsequious. Have the Windsors got bored with him and booted him out, so now he's bothering Swedish pop royalty instead? You're not going to get any more letters after your name from her, Gary. Run along now.

Ten ways to improve in chess

Ten ways to improve in chess

May 20th, 2013
Clearly this blog is not brilliantly planned out and not intended to give a clear course in chess improvement. It is simply about topics I have considered along the way, which for some reason are in the forefront of my mind.
But this week I am trying to write a disciplined blog entry; one that I feel I should write. It is a bit like going for a swim in the ocean, rather than lying on the beach watching the girls walk by. It is good for you and you might even enjoy it once you get going, but it is not your preferred choice.
So here come ten possible ways for you to improve your chess. No matter who you are, if you are seeking my advice on anything, you will find at least a few strategies here that will help you along the way.
1. Analyse your own games deeply (and the games of others).

2. Solve puzzles regularly (my advice is six times a week x 20-30 minutes).

3. Understand what type of player you are and adjust your style accordingly.

4. Push your levels of concentration upwards and become a fighter.

5. Play real openings. Throw away the London, c3-Sicilian or whatever rubbish you are playing. If you want to develop as a player, playing main lines is important.

6. Learn by heart all the 222 obligatory positions from Dvoretsky’s Endgame Manual.

7. Play through game collections with good comments.
This might vary from player to play; for some the Move by Move stuff from Everyman might be reasonable. But for most readers of this blog, I recommend books written either by great players, or books with a great reputation. For example, Botvinnik, Smyslov, Kasparov, Nunn, Anand, Karpov (the old books), San Luis 2005 and so on.

8. Use your body to the best effect for the game (stop poisoning it, for example).

9. Analyse your openings deeply and find your own systems with your own ideas.

10. Understand the basic principles of dynamics, statics and strategic play. These can be studied indefinitely of course, but you can always improve your understanding.

There are always a lot of ways to do anything. Anyone who wants to sell “the only way” is either selling chess studies or tablebase printouts. In the same way, it is possible to reach the same conclusion by many different thinking processes.
The only real danger here is that you fall in love with one system and become fixed to it. You can be the openings guy, or the endings guy, or the expert in solving studies. My closest-sitting colleague in the office, GM Colin McNab, is the last two. I am not sure if it has given his over-the-board play any great advantage, compared to if he had spread out his studies. On the other hand, he just regained the British Championship in solving (yes, Nunn and two other World Champions were competing)…
If you have to pick only one strategy (could be ‘Number 11’ for all I care), I would recommend to either do the one that excites you or the one you know you have been delaying forever.

Friday, June 14, 2013

WASH YOUR HANDS

FEATURES   

Only 5pc of us wash our hands properly, says study

JUNE 14, 2013
The study found that 10 per cent opted out of hand washing altogether. — AFP/Relaxnews picLANSING, June 14 — Infectious diseases, a new study from Michigan State University finds that when it comes to hand washing in restrooms, most of us do a poor job.
Of the 3,749 people researchers observed in public restrooms in bars, restaurants and other public establishments, most people didn’t wash their hands long enough to kill germs. One third didn’t use soap and 10 per cent just opted out of hand washing altogether. To gather their data, student researchers tried to go undetected, standing off to the side and entering results on a smartphone.
Separated by gender, findings showed that 15 per cent of men didn’t wash their hands at all, compared with seven per cent of women. When men did wash their hands, only half of them used soap, compared to nearly 80 per cent of women. Men in particular were found to be more likely to wash their hands if a sign encouraging them to do so was present in the restroom. Another factor that encouraged hand washing: a clean sink.
“These findings were surprising to us because past research suggested that proper hand washing is occurring at a much higher rate,” said lead researcher Carl Borchgrevink. 
The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, whose guidelines the researchers followed, reports that it takes 15 to 20 seconds of vigorous hand washing with soap and water to effectively kill germs. Yet, findings from the study showed that most people wash their hands for about six seconds. 
The study, announced this week, was published in the Journal of Environmental Health. — AFP/Relaxnews