From the early ages of our lives our parents, teachers and relatives told us so many good things about education.
But sometimes we come across situations where we have to think twice about them!
Here's an example!!!!!!!
Paper: Sunday Oberver (4th May 2008) [Vol 92 - No 18]
Page : 94 
Paper: Sunday Oberver (4th May 2008) [Vol 92 - No 18]
Page : 99 
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Value of Education???
EDUCATION, GENERAL KNOWLEDGE
Resume Writing Skills
GENERAL KNOWLEDGERésumé Strategies – Executive & Entry-Level
By Louise Kursmark, Best Impression Career Services
A résumé isn't designed to get you a job. A résumé can't make you qualified for positions outside your area of expertise. A résumé won't, all by itself, open up doors or knock down obstacles in your path.
But there is a lot that a good résumé can do... and those job seekers with them have an edge in the job search.
To be competitive, your résumé needs to communicate more than just your work history, job duties, and even key results of your efforts. At the executive level, hiring authorities want to know more than just "what" you did; they want to know "how" and "why" so they can better assess your fit within the organization and its goals.
Compared to entry-level or mid-level résumés, executive résumés tend to be longer (two or even three pages is the norm), a bit more detailed, and emphasize strategic contributions. Everything in the résumé should support a specific career target, and the entire document should present a sharp, focused, cohesive picture of who you are and why you're valuable.
Proofreading is a must. Neglect doing it and you could send out a résumé with simple mistakes that could have been avoided. Before you send yours to an employer, follow this checklist to ensure it is the highest-quality representation of yourself.
Consider these strategies for a powerful executive presentation of your capabilities.
1. Don't Lie
The first rule of thumb when applying for a job is to never lie on your résumé. If you put information on a document and submit it for consideration for employment, it better be valid information. There is nothing worse than being offered a job only to have that offer rescinded when your background is thoroughly checked.
2. Start with a summary rather than an objective.
Objective statements on résumés are passé. Instead, begin with an overview of your strongest selling points -- those things about you that will make a reader sit up and take notice. Make sure this summary clearly indicates the type and level of position you're interested in, and be certain to include highlights of your career contributions.
3. Show your chronological work history.
If you're sending résumés to recruiters and responding to print or online ads, you'll do yourself a huge disservice if your résumé shows a confusing career history. Nearly all executives are best served by a traditional reverse-chronological format introduced by a powerful summary. Even if you're trying to downplay some less-than-stellar recent experience in your work history, be certain to show job titles, employers and dates of employment. Otherwise, you risk being quickly eliminated in a flash.
4. Don't write "job descriptions."
Your résumé should be more about what you did than the duties of the job itself. Briefly describe your scope of responsibility, then highlight your achievements and contributions -- things you did that improved revenue, profitability, productivity, customer satisfaction or contributed to other business objectives. As an executive, you should be more focused on strategic contributions than day-to-day administrative duties: Be sure you're communicating the "big picture" in your résumé. Keep in mind that résumé readers are pretty intelligent. They can make assumptions based on job titles and general descriptions; they don't need to have every task spelled out for them.
5. Be specific.
Avoid vague qualifiers such as "substantially" and "significantly." Instead, use hard numbers to lend credibility to your accomplishment statements.
6. Describe context and challenge.
Your accomplishments will have even more impact if you present them in context or in relation to a specific challenge. Instead of writing "increased revenue 23 percent," it might be even more meaningful to write "reversed a five-year declining-revenue trend by focusing business development efforts on niche markets; grew revenues 23 percent and achieved profitability for the first time since 2002."
7. Be concise.
Even though a two- or three-page résumé is acceptable for an executive job search, it's still important to use a tight writing style so that you can communicate important information without losing your reader in a sea of text. Edit ruthlessly to remove information that isn't essential to your message.
8. Use format to increase impact.
Make it easy for readers to skim through your résumé to pick up important information. Use type enhancements, bullets and indentations to create an organizational hierarchy that makes your information easy to absorb. Above all else, make sure you don't make spelling, punctuation or grammatical errors.
Your résumé is important. If it's powerful and focused, it can help advance your career. If it's vague and unconvincing, it can leave you languishing in a protracted job search. Time, energy, thought and care spent on résumé development is an excellent investment in yourself and your career.
9. Include lots of personal information.
It's fine if you enjoy fly fishing on Sunday afternoons, but unless your hobby relates to your career, it doesn't belong on your résumé. The same goes for your height, weight, religious affiliation, sexual orientation or any other facts that could potentially be used against you.
10. Assume spell-check is good enough.
Spell-checkers can pick up many typos -- but they won't catch everything (manger vs. manager, for example). Always proofread your résumé several times, and ask a friend to give it a final review.
11. Education section
By Louise Kursmark, Best Impression Career Services
A résumé isn't designed to get you a job. A résumé can't make you qualified for positions outside your area of expertise. A résumé won't, all by itself, open up doors or knock down obstacles in your path.But there is a lot that a good résumé can do... and those job seekers with them have an edge in the job search.
To be competitive, your résumé needs to communicate more than just your work history, job duties, and even key results of your efforts. At the executive level, hiring authorities want to know more than just "what" you did; they want to know "how" and "why" so they can better assess your fit within the organization and its goals.
Compared to entry-level or mid-level résumés, executive résumés tend to be longer (two or even three pages is the norm), a bit more detailed, and emphasize strategic contributions. Everything in the résumé should support a specific career target, and the entire document should present a sharp, focused, cohesive picture of who you are and why you're valuable.
Proofreading is a must. Neglect doing it and you could send out a résumé with simple mistakes that could have been avoided. Before you send yours to an employer, follow this checklist to ensure it is the highest-quality representation of yourself.
Consider these strategies for a powerful executive presentation of your capabilities.
1. Don't Lie
The first rule of thumb when applying for a job is to never lie on your résumé. If you put information on a document and submit it for consideration for employment, it better be valid information. There is nothing worse than being offered a job only to have that offer rescinded when your background is thoroughly checked.
2. Start with a summary rather than an objective.
Objective statements on résumés are passé. Instead, begin with an overview of your strongest selling points -- those things about you that will make a reader sit up and take notice. Make sure this summary clearly indicates the type and level of position you're interested in, and be certain to include highlights of your career contributions.
3. Show your chronological work history.
If you're sending résumés to recruiters and responding to print or online ads, you'll do yourself a huge disservice if your résumé shows a confusing career history. Nearly all executives are best served by a traditional reverse-chronological format introduced by a powerful summary. Even if you're trying to downplay some less-than-stellar recent experience in your work history, be certain to show job titles, employers and dates of employment. Otherwise, you risk being quickly eliminated in a flash.
4. Don't write "job descriptions."
Your résumé should be more about what you did than the duties of the job itself. Briefly describe your scope of responsibility, then highlight your achievements and contributions -- things you did that improved revenue, profitability, productivity, customer satisfaction or contributed to other business objectives. As an executive, you should be more focused on strategic contributions than day-to-day administrative duties: Be sure you're communicating the "big picture" in your résumé. Keep in mind that résumé readers are pretty intelligent. They can make assumptions based on job titles and general descriptions; they don't need to have every task spelled out for them.
5. Be specific.
Avoid vague qualifiers such as "substantially" and "significantly." Instead, use hard numbers to lend credibility to your accomplishment statements.
6. Describe context and challenge.
Your accomplishments will have even more impact if you present them in context or in relation to a specific challenge. Instead of writing "increased revenue 23 percent," it might be even more meaningful to write "reversed a five-year declining-revenue trend by focusing business development efforts on niche markets; grew revenues 23 percent and achieved profitability for the first time since 2002."
7. Be concise.
Even though a two- or three-page résumé is acceptable for an executive job search, it's still important to use a tight writing style so that you can communicate important information without losing your reader in a sea of text. Edit ruthlessly to remove information that isn't essential to your message.
8. Use format to increase impact.
Make it easy for readers to skim through your résumé to pick up important information. Use type enhancements, bullets and indentations to create an organizational hierarchy that makes your information easy to absorb. Above all else, make sure you don't make spelling, punctuation or grammatical errors.
Your résumé is important. If it's powerful and focused, it can help advance your career. If it's vague and unconvincing, it can leave you languishing in a protracted job search. Time, energy, thought and care spent on résumé development is an excellent investment in yourself and your career.
9. Include lots of personal information.
It's fine if you enjoy fly fishing on Sunday afternoons, but unless your hobby relates to your career, it doesn't belong on your résumé. The same goes for your height, weight, religious affiliation, sexual orientation or any other facts that could potentially be used against you.
10. Assume spell-check is good enough.
Spell-checkers can pick up many typos -- but they won't catch everything (manger vs. manager, for example). Always proofread your résumé several times, and ask a friend to give it a final review.
11. Education section
When you have a degree, list only the year that you obtained your degree. When you list your dates, (i.e.: 9/1998 to 1/2002) many résumé-scanning systems will not recognize that you obtained a degree, only that you attended college for a period of time.
12. Address gaps in your résumé.
Instead of fudging the dates of your past jobs to cover an employment gap, address the lapse in your résumé or cover letter to maintain chronological clarity. For instance, if you were out of work for a year during which time you took courses to enhance your education or professional credentials, list this academic stint on your résumé, rather than pretending the period of unemployment never happened.
12. Address gaps in your résumé.
Instead of fudging the dates of your past jobs to cover an employment gap, address the lapse in your résumé or cover letter to maintain chronological clarity. For instance, if you were out of work for a year during which time you took courses to enhance your education or professional credentials, list this academic stint on your résumé, rather than pretending the period of unemployment never happened.
Contact Names in Your Handphone
GENERAL KNOWLEDGEBe very careful how you list names on your handphone! Be safe!
Recent case:
One lady had her handbag stolen/robbed. The handbag contained her handphone, wallet (cash, credit cards), etc. She called her Hubby, from a pay phone telling him what had happened. Her husband said "I've just received your sms text asking about our PIN number, I replied a little while ago".
They rushed to the bank, only to be informed all the money in the bank account had been withdrawn. The criminal had actually used the stolen handphone to text the "Hubby" in the contact list and got hold of the PIN number. Within several minutes the criminal had withdrawn all the money from the bank account.
Lesson:
1. Do not disclose the relationship between you and the people in your contact list. Avoid using names like Home, Honey, Hubby, Sweetheart, Sayang, MyLove, Dad, Mum, etc... Instead, just use given names!
2. When sensitive info is requested through sms texts, please CONFIRM BY CALLING BACK.
3. If you're being texted by "friend" or "family members" to meet them somewhere, be sure to call back to confirm that the message came from them. If you cant reach them, something is not right and think twice about going to the places mentioned in the sms text.
One lady had her handbag stolen/robbed. The handbag contained her handphone, wallet (cash, credit cards), etc. She called her Hubby, from a pay phone telling him what had happened. Her husband said "I've just received your sms text asking about our PIN number, I replied a little while ago".
They rushed to the bank, only to be informed all the money in the bank account had been withdrawn. The criminal had actually used the stolen handphone to text the "Hubby" in the contact list and got hold of the PIN number. Within several minutes the criminal had withdrawn all the money from the bank account.
Lesson:
1. Do not disclose the relationship between you and the people in your contact list. Avoid using names like Home, Honey, Hubby, Sweetheart, Sayang, MyLove, Dad, Mum, etc... Instead, just use given names!
2. When sensitive info is requested through sms texts, please CONFIRM BY CALLING BACK.
3. If you're being texted by "friend" or "family members" to meet them somewhere, be sure to call back to confirm that the message came from them. If you cant reach them, something is not right and think twice about going to the places mentioned in the sms text.
Completion of 'Support Palestine Campaign'
GAZA, HELP, ISLAMA LETTER FROM MR.FARZAN RAZIK ('MUSLIM WATCH')
Dear All
AAWW
Alhamdulillah, the "Palestine Donation Campaign", initiated by the Sri Lanka Committee for Solidarity with Palestine and its partner organizations, has completed successfully. The Donation sub-committee headed by the Sri Lanka Jama'ath-e-Islami, carried out a historic donation collection in Sri Lanka in order to send another country. It succeeded to gather items for three 40 footer containers from all kind hearted individuals, organizations and companies through out the Island. Many brothers and sisters helped to accomplish this massive program. May Allah accept their intentions and deeds. We will thank them individually.
The consignment was dispatched on Friday, 06th June 2008 and Insha Allah, it will reach the UNRWA procurement office at Jerusalem by 30th June, 2008. The Muslim Aid - UK is facilitating the channeling of the goods through UNRWA which will ensure the proper distribution of items among the Gazans who are under the Israeli brutal siege.
A detail completion report with all information will be followed soon.
Wassalam
Donation Sub-Committee
Palestine Donation Campaign
Sri Lanka Committee for Solidarity with Palestine
Main Store (Sri Lanka Jama'ath-e-Islami) 
Packing
Loading to Container
7 Ways to Minimize Stress
GENERAL KNOWLEDGE, HEALTHDr. Mao's Secrets of Longevity
Our surroundings directly affect our health and wellness: consider that we spend 40 or more hours on the job weekly. Creating an inspiring environment for wellbeing in our working space is crucial to living a long and meaningful life.
Although it is not possible to eliminate stress completely, there are some things we can do to reduce it. Here are effective ways to reduce stress in your day.
1. Slow down and be in the present. It is natural to believe that the harder you work, the more you will get done. However, though it may seem paradoxical, if you work at a slow and steady pace with full awareness, you will most likely turn out better work with fewer mistakes - and feel better while doing it!
2. Set boundaries. Are you the go-to person for every favor and question that is needed in your workplace? Learn to respectfully set your boundaries and say no. Also, take a look at your calendar and make sure you are not over-scheduling yourself after work. Write in one night a week for yourself, and treat yourself to a tai chi or meditation class, a bath, or just an evening curled up with a good book.
3. Remember to breathe deeply all day. Most people who are under a lot of stress or tension breathe shallowly, up in the throat area. When you breathe deeply into your lungs, you are naturally bringing in more oxygen and activating energy in your body.
Try this to remember to breathe: set your intention to take 10 deep breaths once every hour. (If necessary, set a timer to help you remember.) It will only take a minute, but the rewards will be tenfold.
4. Bring nature inside. As much as possible, let natural light and fresh air permeate your workspace. Surround yourself with the inspiring colors of beautiful flowers, which have a powerful influence on a person's mind-set. A beautiful bouquet can lift a less-than-lovely mood and even eliminate stress. In fact, one study showed that people who sat next to an arrangement of colorful flowers were able to relax more during a five-minute typing assignment than those who sat near foliage-only plants.
5. Give yourself a time-out. Take the breaks that are given to you. In this high-paced world, people often work through their breaks, claiming they have too much work to do - this will lead to serious repercussions in the future.
Remember that you are a human, not a machine. Even a machine needs downtime for maintenance! Try taking a 15-minute powernap on your lunch break. If you only have five minutes to spare, just close your eyes. Even this brief rest can reduce stress and help you relax.
6. Meditation brings relaxation. Meditation gives your body a rest and produces slower brain waves that are similar to sleep, effectively combating tension. Regular practice of meditation, tai chi, or yoga can help you slow down and bring peace, not only in your job, but also in your life. To learn more about how to use meditation to decrease stress.
7. Perk up naturally!
Skip the second latte, which stimulates your central nervous system, makes your mind race, and adds to your stress. Instead, try these simple and natural pick-me-ups:
# Take a tea break. Instead of coffee, go for teas that gently boost your energy, such as ginseng, eucalyptus, or ginger.
• Find ways to keep moving all day. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Drink a glass of water from the water cooler every hour. Park your car a few blocks away from where you're going. Not only will this perk up your energy, it will also improve your mood.
# If it's a nice day outside, eat lunch outdoors or just take a walk around the block. The fresh air and the break from routine will be an invigorating addition to your workday.
# Get sustainable energy with snacks. Eat a snack at mid-morning and another one at mid-afternoon consisting of nuts, seeds, fruits, or protein-rich foods like humus made from beans will help you sustain your energy and prevent low blood sugar from setting in.
I hope you find the ways to minimize stress in your work environment! I invite you to visit often and share your own personal health and longevity tips with me.
May you live long, live strong, and live happy!
-Dr. Mao
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