21st Century Malaysia: Public Leadership, Education and Entrepreneurship @SUNWAY UNIV.

Amongst the few weekends where's there's no chess competition that I know of in the Klang Valley...and even if I did know about one, I won't have registered the kids. December was a predominantly chess month, so a few weeks break from competiton would be a welcomed respite. After all, the MSSM events would be coming up soon.

Hence, the Islamic Estate Planner aka Debate/Public Speaking Manager decided to enrol eldest in a programme organised by The Asia Leadership Trek from Harvard University, Tufts Fletcher and Massachusetts Institute of Technology titled:-
" 21st Century Malaysia: 
Public Leadership, Education and Entrepreneurship".

Good to know that a VIP Guest for my TTP programme forSEason 2 last year was there as well.

(Now having Nescafe Tarik at Dengkil R&R to keep me awake after sending eldest and her friend back to college).

Majlis Perjumpaan IbuBapa & Guru Tahun 6

Attending the Parents Teachers Meeting for Year 6 UPSR students.
The theme "Permuafakatan Membina Kecemerlangan Sekolah".

....Don't recall my parents attending PT meeting during my primary school days or perhaps they did attend but I wasn't bothered.....too busy playing around even during Standard 5 Assessment year, WaQAQA! In yesteryears, exams were never really a priority.....the only person who'll,be stressed out will be my Mum. Nowadays, even the parents seemed to be taking the exams - How Things have changed!

I suppose kids were more "mature" during yesteryears coz we sit for our exams in standard 5 rather than standard 6. In addition, we also sat for Standard 3 Assessment  though the results were never revealed to us. I wonder why the exam year was changed from standard 5 to standard 6? ....do the kids actually need the additional year to prep???

Looks like its going to be a busy year for hAnA. Based on  preliminary plans, don't think hAnA can be active in chess as per 2013 or 2012.

The school is outlining their Prep plans for UPSR.
Among activities identified:-
(1) Extra Class for Core subjects on Mondays,Tuesdays & Thursdays.

(2)"Clinic" for Core subjects on Wednesdays, Fridays & Saturdays

(3) Reading Programmes - Tuesdays(BM) & Wednesdays(English)

(4) Counselling Slots (when Necessary)

UPSR prep have been divided into the following phases:-
(1) Phase 1: Persediaan (January - June)

(2) Phase 2: Pemantapan (July - August)

(3) UPSR - September 2014

(4) Phase 4: Post UPSR..........chess time


......yadaa......yadaaa......etc......etc......yadaaa....yadaaa.....etc....etc......dozing off due to sound system echoes......
We require an estimated RM540 per student to carry out the activities. There goes my clothes budget for the year. Guess will have to "recycle" more clothes then and keep the Islamic Estate
Planner busy sewing stuffs or,......never mind!


Am just wondering  what the school does with the RM500k or more allocated for being a SBT!??


One of the teacher who's retiring in February just gave a parting shot - "Kalau Boleh Kita Nak Kembalikan ke Zaman Kegemilangan Sekolah in 2004 where we were the top school in Malaysia with 100% Results". WaQAQA. Good Job mentioning it in public - don't just benchmark against "so-so" results for the past 2 or 3 years. I suppose she has nothing to lose and her pension is secured. Guru Besar/Pengetua - Please take note of the 2004 results, Ahaks!

Finally RM50 Received.

Today, hAnA finally received her RM50. Alhamdullilah.
Read earlier Blog POST.

Come to think of it - a few thousands RM spent for the trip to Sri Lanka for the 9th ASCC 2013 and RM50 received. How I wish the "powers that be" is a wee bit more supportive like some of the schools in KL, Selangor and Penang that I know of.......emmmmm....looking for the wisdom of things!!!

Just Wondering - When Will the MCF 2014 Calendar Be Out?

UPDATE 2 @22/01:
Finally, Today I'd Received(TQVM) via email the Official MCF 2014 Events Calendar.
Refer 22 Jan.2014 BlogPOST

UPDATE 1 @11/01:

Received(TQVM) via email the following Calendar of Events for 2014 (Tentative):-

( Note: PLEASE amend and/or add where necessary )

JANUARY. 22-31: Asian Amateur & Senior Championships, Amman

MARCH. 9-16: HDBank Open
## Mar 22-30: SCHOOL HOLIDAYS
## Mar 24-28: MSSM Championships, Sarawak

APRIL 11-22: World Schools Championships, Lima
?Apr 4-6: Brunei Campomanes
## Apr 4-11: KL Open
## Apr 12-14: National Age Groups
Apr 12-19: Bangkok Open
Apr 17-25: Asian Clubs, Al Ain
Apr 25-May 5: World Amateur, Singapore
Apr 30-May 4: Selangor Open

## MAY. 28-Jun 15: SCHOOL HOLIDAYS

## JUNE. 3-12: ASEAN+ Age Group Championships, Macau
Jun 4-12: Mind Sports Games, Ufa, Russia
Jun 20-29: Asian Cadets, Tashkent

## JULY. 7-14: Asian Schools Championship, Taichung
Jul 14-21: China vs ASEAN Summit, Indonesia

AUGUST. 1-14: World Chess Olympiad, Tromso
Aug 18-24: World University, Katowice, Poland
Aug 22-29: Asian Junior Championships, Yemen

SEPTEMBER. 6-16: World Youth U-16 Olympiad, Kazakhstan
## Sep 13-21: SCHOOL HOLIDAYS
## Sep 13-21: Malaysian Open
Sep 18-30: World Youth Championships, Durban
Sep 19-Oct 4: Asian Games, Incheon

OCTOBER. 5-20: World Junior Championships, Mumbai
?Oct 11-18: Indonesia Open

NOVEMBER 19-27: Asian Amateur & Senior Championships, Kuwait
## Nov 22-Jan 4: SCHOOL HOLIDAYS

DECEMBER: Penang Open

Hope the above will be helpful to stakeholders.




>>>>>>>
Last year MCF issued the tentative 2013 events calendar very early in the year i.e. 4th January if not earlier (Reference HERE). Kudos to them for the early issuance in 2013 as it allows stakeholders to plan ahead for the short-term...AT LEAST.

Having said that no further announcements were made when an event in the original list is either cancelled or the dates - changed. For example, I'd blocked the dates for the National Rapid & Blitz to be held on 16-17 November 2013 at UTP-Tronoh but an announcement were never made as to whether the event will go ahead or not. Other discrepancies apart from date changes were claiming the event to be FIDE-rated but not (6th NJCC Blitz is an example).

Just wondering - When will the 2014 events calendar be out?
Comparing to 2013, they are already "overdue" by 6days to 1week.
After all, FIDE had already published its confirmed & tentative calendar for 2014 (FIDE website HERE). Locally, Penang had also published their tentative 2014 calendar ( Penang Chess Association website, HERE ) as well as a few other clubs.

The only event I'm aware of thus far for 2014 apart from the  MSS competitions is in Penang(USM Open), Perak, Kedah, Pahang and hometown Melaka ....All out of the Klang Valley.......and of course the KL International Open on 4-11 April (Event INFO ). No news on NAG and the likes, its no wonder.......never mind, I shall refrain myself!

cHEss pIRATE - "Captured" in Chess DB!

The cHEss pIRATE have been "captured" in the ChessDB website/database.

  ( Picture featured in ChessDB websote is from his WYCC 2013 game 

against FM Modi Yashil,who hails from South Africa.)

Apart from his WYCC 2013 games, there's also another game included from his 1st Round encounter during the 5th Penang Heritage City Open 2013 (Challengers Section).
Read ChessDB website/link.

I wonder why do they bother to upload his games and ranked him as well!??
After all his performance at WYCC 2013 is nothing to shout about. Perhaps the person taking the picture and uploading his games is paid according to the number of players "registered"...who knows!?

I find the information published by Chess DB website to be rather interesting especially wrt the types of Openings used. As far as I'm concerned the Openings identified either appear "serious to the uninitiated" or rather "European Centric" and/or "Regally Sounding" or both.
Other interesting info are like Quality of Play ratings. There's even notes on Blunders, Exchange Tendencies etc. which is not activated yet.

However, there are multiple errors identified. Amongst them:-
(1) IMHO, The rankings are NOT accurate.
(2) Some of the moves recorded are NOT correct.
For example in the his final game against T.Sandzhar from Kyrgyzstan, the ChessDB stated 44 moves made whereas in his actual game he had more than 80 moves and had to ask for another Notation Sheet ( Read BlogPOST ).

Discussion on Way Forward for CP in 2014

Had a good Nasi Lemak session today for breakfast at Village Park-Damansara Utama.....my FIRST Real Nasi Lemak since a couple of weeks back. My GP Doctor warned me to lay off seafood BUT "Sorry la Doc!"

Good food whilst discussing the Way Forward for The CP in 2014 and possibly beyond.
hAnA is sitting for the UPSR so her "Last Hurrah" will most probably be the MSSKL or, NAG events. ASEAN Age Group seemed to be a possibility since it'll be during the school hols but only IF her interest can be sustained vis-a-vis academic workload and equally as important is the finance.

Finances is the major concern as a repeat of 2013 outlay of approximately 20k and above (main portion was the trip to Sri Lanka for 9th ASCC & December's Road Journey to JB, Penang & UAE....Ooh! and not forgetting the NAG & 1st Kedah trip early in 2013) is highly unlikely in view of the challenging year ahead despite the rosy economic predictions which almost nobody believes. There's a real need to control outlay lest one becomes indebted to the banksters. Hopefully, by end of this week the Letter to Potential Sponsors can be issued and hopefully some sponsors can come on board with whatever amount they can contribute. Otherwise, CP and hAnA will just stick to the MSSKL and NAG events coupled with the various Rapid events locally + Year End 6th Penang Open....and that to if the dates do not clash with hAnA's F1 applications/interviews. If the dates clashes then CP will be sent to the Doctor for a "minor procedure"...WaQAQA!

Having said the above, assuming finances can be raised - a more challenging question for me and I 
assume all parents is to prepare a semblance of a training plan/exposure or, a Junior Development Programme which is "severely lacking" or, even non-existent(depending on who you talk to)  in Malaysia. 
As a comparison, we need not go far - just look at Singapore (Read SCF POST). Coupled 
with the various "untested" or, "unsubstantiated programmes" results wise offered by various parties and the challenge can be a Herculean task in itself. Am glad though that CP & I stayed on the same floor with the French Team during WYCC 2013. Que Sera Sera!

2014 Things To Do / Wishlist

Whilst sorting out the kids schooling & related academic matters, managed to write a 7point chess plan in between sorties as a 2014 REMINDER to Myself:-

(1) Update Existing Sponsors & Write to Possible Sponsors.
(2) Invest in a Software (Need to do Some Research).
(3) Instill a More Disciplined Approach for the kids in Event Participation. (Challenging!)
(4) Qualify for Team (District , State & National).
(5) ...of course, Ratings Improvements & Perhaps getting a FIDE rating + Improved Performance in "Regular" events participated ( MSSKL&NS, NAG, NJCC & Penang Open)
(6) Article Compilation.
(7) Learn & Improve my Game so that I can help the kids! (MOST Difficult!)