Matters ....

Volume 1 | Issue 1
June 2009

Chief Editor’s Piece ...

MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE
2008/2010
Advisors
Prof Dr Bala Shanmugam
Prof Dr Vidyadaran Menon
The Editorial team takes great pleasure in should propagate the notion of self-help before
bringing to you the inaugural issue of TheMIND’s seeking help. President
newsletter, which coincides with the 3rd
Dr Siva K Balasundram
anniversary of TheMIND association. Our TheMIND’s activities such as the Underachievers’s
newsletter is named TheMIND Matters. Yes, Project, Micro entrepreneurship Development
Vice President
TheMIND does matter. TheMIND’s focus is on the Clinic and Stepping Out: An Undergraduates’s
development of education to lead the community Guide to the Employment Market are targeted to
Dr Ganesan Vadamalai
to success. Success should not be defined create a society that can be more independent.
Secretary
narrowly; success should be called such when a We want to shirk off the ‘backward community’
person has a broad education, with as many tools tag that has been stuck on our community. Dr Rajesh Ramasamy
as possible at one’s disposal, which he or she can Our youth of today and tomorrow should be
draw upon to acquire the greatest number of well prepared to meet the challenges of life Assistant Secretary
opportunities for oneself as well as others. With and reverse the negative perception about our Ms Chubashini Suntharalingam
this focus, TheMIND remains relevant and will community that exists among other Malaysians.
continue to play a key role to trigger the young TheMIND committee would like to see all the Treasurer
minds of our community to achieve this class of members set the trail towards an independent Dr Kanagi Kanapathy
success. TheMIND cares about the society and community that stands tall.
will go to length to assist the community, with Committee Members
only one condition – the individual or group Dr Siva Balasundram, TheMIND President Miss Mageswary Karroppiah
seeking assistance should have exhausted all mentioned that his motto is, “The more you Miss Juliana Jescintha Malar
avenues of self-help first. give, the more you get. So share and spread the Mr Ravindran Subramaniam
goodness around”. He sure lives up to it! I just Mr Kaviyarasu Yellappan
Recently, TheMIND committee developed its want to add to that ‘Give from your heart and Mr Steven Savarimuthu (co-opted)
‘Wish List’ and on top of the list is:- see the difference it makes to another soul’. Let’s
Dr Sharmili Vidyadaran (co-opted)
shine together.

K. Kanagi
That our Community becomes more independent
Auditors
and does not wait for handouts. Each individual
Assoc Prof Dr Uma Rani Sinniah
Dr Sarjit Singh Gill

Micro Entrepreneurship Development Stepping Out:

Clinic An Undergraduate’s Guide to the
Employment Market
TheMIND Association will conduct a Micro Entrepreneurship
This event will consist of a series of talks and workshops
Development Clinic for those who need guidance on business
designed to groom the undergraduate student for the
development. The main focus of this clinic is to provide the
working world. The seminar has a particular focus on
TheMind’s Activities

following services:
communication and interpersonal skills for garnering a
- writing an effective business proposal
job and charting a career for oneself. Participants will
- counseling on business feasibility and loan application
also receive appraisals of their curriculum vitae and be
- tips on business linkages
groomed on interview skills.
For a start, we are offering this opportunity to five (5) Malaysians
Date: 8th August 2009 (Saturday)
who are planning to venture into business and those existing
Time: 9am to 5pm
business owners who cannot afford professional advice and
Venue: Mahsa University College
guidance. The participants should:
Target group: Final year undergraduate students
i)Possess business acumen
Registration fee: RM10 per person
ii)Be well equipped with a simple draft about their business flow
iii)Not be blacklisted by any credit rating agencies (CTOS, FIS &
Registration opened on June 1, 2009, please visit:
CCRIS)
www.themindassociation.org/steppingout.html
If you’re interested to become a participant, please email your Editorial Team :
details to Mr. Ravindran Subramaniam at sravin10@yahoo.com or
call 012 2165646. Chief Editor : Dr Kanagi Kanapathy
Editors : Ms Chubashini Suntharalingam | Dr Sharmili Vidyadaran
Graphic Designer : Ms Juliana Jescintha Malar Lourdesamy
For circulation to TheMIND Association (PPM 1209/05) members only
 Matters ....
11 April 2009: TheMIND organised a skills training
programme in collaboration with a group of school
teachers from Bagan Serai, led by Mr Kunacegeram. It has
always been TheMIND mantra that pursuing excellence
Report: Bagan Serai Underachievers Programme
through education is the most practical approach to uplift
our Indian society. To translate this into reality, we have,
in the past, organised several programmes that cater to
different educational levels. In this attempt, we designed a
skills training programme to motivate Indian students with
poor academic achievements to enrol into Government-
funded industrial training institutes, i.e. Institut Latihan
Perindustrian (ILP). Our first skill training programme was
conducted in Kulim with 6 target participants and we
managed to get admission for 5 of them. In our recent
Bagai Serai project, 21 target participants were carefully
briefed on the general prospects of ILP programmes
and were specifically guided on course selection, with
assistance from local ILP lecturers. At the end of the
Participants: Pre- and post-SPM
students
Briefing Session in Progress
Dr Siva K Balasundram
President of TheMIND Association
2008-2010
Hometown: Kulim, Kedah
TheMIND SPOTLIGHT
 How did you get involved in TheMIND?
In 2004, I received an e-mail invite to be part of the interim
group to formulate and chart out what is now known as
TheMind Association. We have since evolved into a ‘self-help’
provider and an enabler of educational excellence.
TheMIND must comprise a pool of
volunteers who are committed and
strongly-motivated…
 How does TheMIND differ from other NGOs that
function for the Indian community?
Our focus is on education, both formal and informal. To us,
education is the key to a better future. TheMIND engages with
subject matter experts via our strategic links with academicians
and industry players. We target our educational programs at all
levels from early education to adult education.
2
For circulation to TheMIND Association (PPM 1209/05) members only
briefing and guidance session, participants submitted
e-applications for selected courses. The success stories
from our previous underachiever’s project students
certainly added novelty to this programme. Most
remarkably, our student from ILP Kepala Batas, Tamilvanan
Devadasan was interviewed by TV2 (Illaiyor Medai,
15-04-09) for his good academic achievement. Unlike
students with good academic results, our target group
(underachievers) is a complicated and less approachable
group. However, the volunteers who are mainly secondary
school teachers had played a significant role in promoting
and recruiting target participants. Their passionate
approach and very personal home-to-home visit to pull
the students into our programme is highly appreciated and
TheMIND salutes their compassion and contribution. This
kind of programme requires more volunteers to act as key
facilitators. TheMIND Project Team with The
Volunteers
Reported by:
Dr. Rajesh | Dr. Ganesan
Professional Background
a. BS (Agricultural Science) / UPM / 1994
b. MS (Soil Chemistry) / UPM / 1997
c. PhD (Precision Agriculture) / Univ. of Minnesota / 2003
d. Current position: Senior Lecturer, UPM
e. Area of expertise:
Site-specific crop and soil management
Geo-spatial statistics
Remote sensing
 Your aspirations for TheMIND?
I’d like to see TheMIND progress into a strong and resilient
service-oriented entity. TheMIND must strive to build capacity
and facilitate the mindset change within the community.
To make this happen, TheMIND must comprise a pool of
volunteers who are committed and strongly-motivated. There
must be a capable management team to drive the Association
in tandem with community needs.
(TheMIND) engage with subject matter
experts via our strategic links with
academicians and industry players….
 Favourite motto?
The more you give, the more you get. So share and spread the
goodness around!
 How do you relax/hobbies/interests?
Chilling out with friends, reading, travelling.
June 2009
Volume 1 | Issue 1

Any people anywhere, being inclined and having the
power, have the right to rise up, and shake off the
existing government, and form a new one that suits
them better. This is a most valuable - a most sacred
right - a right, which we hope and believe, is to liberate
the world.
Abraham Lincoln
The government is like a baby’s
alimentary canal, with a happy
appetite at one end and no
Quotable Quotes
responsibility at the other.
Ronald Reagan
A good compromise, a good piece of
legislation, is like a good sentence; or
a good piece of music. Everybody can
recognize it. They say, ‘Huh. It works. It
makes sense.’
Barack Obama
I just want you to know that, when we
talk about war, we’re really talking
about peace.
George W. Bush
 http://www.malaysia-scholarship.com/
Calls itself the One-Stop Center for Malaysian
Scholarships. Presents a comprehensive list of
government and private scholarships, loans and
student financial aids. Layout is simple and easy-
to-use. Has an extensive list of scholarships with a
brief write-up on each and a link to the respective
websites. Excellent for an initial scouting of financial
Useful websites
aid options.
 http://www.everyclick.com/
A charity search engine. Basically performs similarly
to Google or Yahoo search engines except Everyclick
allocates 50% of its gross revenue to charity each
month. Users can select a specific charity to benefit or
alternatively Each active charity receives a proportion
of that sum equivalent to the proportion in which its
supporters use the website relative to the supporters
of other active charities.
3 June 2009
For circulation to TheMIND Association (PPM 1209/05) members only
Matters ....
The secret of making something work in
your lives is, first of all, the deep desire
to make it work; then the faith and belief
that it can work; then to hold that clear
definite vision in your consciousness and
see it working out step by step, without
one doubt or disbelief.
—Eileen Caddy
Let your light shine. Shine
within you so that it can shine
on someone else. Let your light
shine.
- Oprah Winfrey
When written in Chinese, the word
‘crisis’ is composed of two characters
– one represents danger, and the other
represents opportunity.
John F. Kennedy
 http://www.protocol-online.org/
[excerpt from website] “A database of research
protocols in a variety of life science fields. It contains
protocols contributed by worldwide researchers as
well as links to web protocols hosted by worldwide
research labs, biotech companies, personal web sites.”
TheMIND says: Very useful for postgraduate students
and researchers alike. Requires a quick registration
that allows you to access various protocols and join
bio-forums where you can post specific questions.
Feedback is usually quick and pertinent!
 http://www.hati.org.my/
Thinking of contributing to a charity but not sure
of which one? This website provides a list of
charities, NGOs and communities in Malaysia under
categories such as animal welfare, children, disabled,
environment, orang asli welfare, etc. You can access
pertinent information of each charity that links to
their personal webpage. A suggestion from TheMIND:
donate to a charity close to your loved one as a
birthday present!
Volume 1 | Issue 1
 Matters ....

TheMIND President: Yes, safeguard the doors! We want

Best Photo Shots ....

Now, what is the formula of the chemical that I used

these future millionaires to stay till the end of the
in the process to recycle the rubber?
programme

We take pleasure in assembling on the steps of Prof. said “Ellah Pugalum Eraivan Oruvanukkeh,” long
success before A.R. Rahman did!

TheMIND Membership stands at 50. The Rookies in 2009

1. Saravanan Krishnan
Breakdown of number of members who joined,
2. Daniel Alexander
by year:
3. Vijayaletchimi Thayan
Membership Status

4. Yogarajah Kurusamy
2004 : 3 25
5. Suranthran Periasamy
2007 :12
6. Puspha Gandi Sangaran
2008 :22 20
7. Sumangala Pillai
15 8. Busphavinothini
9. Gousalya Siva
10
10. Sivanesan Shanmugam
5 11. Benedict Anand
12. Kunacegeram T. Tanimala
0 13. Jasyindar Singh Sihdu
2004 2007 2008

June 2009
4
For circulation to TheMIND Association (PPM 1209/05) members only Volume 1 | Issue 1