PLACE: REDANG ISLAND

HELLO READERS!!!

Relax on undefiled and soft white sands, shaded by beautiful palms, overlooking the crystal blue waters of the shimmering Redang Island, is indeed a paradise for total relaxation.

Redang Island together with its 8 neighboring islands (Lima Island, Paku Besar Island, Paku Kecil Island, Kerengga Besar Island, Kerengga Kecil Island, Ekor Tebu Island, Ling Island, Pinang Island) are known as the Asia paradise in the South China Sea regions. Being the main island of the Archipelago, Redang Island offers nature lovers an adventure holiday to get away and relax in the solitude and serene beauty of our tropical isles. Nature is at its best here - fresh air, gleaming soft white sand and crystal clear water.

Redang Island, locally known as Pulau Redang or just "Redang" is one of the largest islands off the east coast of Malaysia. It is one of nine islands, which form a marine park, and which offer snorkeling and diving opportunities. Access is from Merang or Kuala Terengganu on boats operated by the resorts. Redang Airport is a small airport with services operated by Berjaya Air from Singapore (Changi Airport) and Kuala Lumpur (Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport).

The island is also an important conservation site for sea turtles. Previously, the indiscriminate economic exploitation of turtle eggs had caused fewer turtles returning to nest on the island. This has led the Terengganu state government to set up the Koperasi Setiajaya Pulau Redang in 1989, a cooperative aiming to develop and manage socio-economic programmes that could improve the livelihood of Pulau Redang locals without endangering its natural resources.

The Pulau Redang archipelago comprises Pulau Redang, Pulau Lima, Pulau Paku Besar, Pulau Paku Kecil, Pulau Kerengga Kecil, Pulau Kerengga Besar, Pulau Ekor Tebu, Pulau Ling and Pulau Pinang. Pulau Redang is the biggest of all the islands in the Marine Park, measuring about 7 km long and 6 km wide. Its highest peak is Bukit Besar at 359 metres above sea level. The boundary of the Pulau Redang Marine Park is established by a line linking all points 2 nautical miles (3.7 km) from the shores of Pulau Redang, Pulau Lima, Pulau Ekor Tebu and Pulau Pinang. The other nearby islands of Pulau Perhentian Besar, Pulau Perhentian Kecil, Pulau Lang Tengah, Pulau Kapas and Pulau Susu Dara are also gazetted and protected as Marine Parks. Today, only the bigger islands like Redang, Lang Tengah, Perhentian and Kapas have resort facilities for visitors. The management of Marine Parks primarily involves protection of the sensitive marine and terrestrial ecosystems by controlling the impact from human activities. These include waste & pollution management and conservation of coral reefs and terrestrial habitats.

Regards,

Surendran R

ARTICLE: HIGHER EDUCATION IN MALAYSIA

HELLO READERS!!!

The higher education sector is responsible for the operation of higher education institutions (HEIs) in Malaysia and is under the jurisdiction symbolises the commitment of the Malaysian government towards education. Malaysia's HEIs (i.e. public universities, private higher educational institutions, polytechnics and community colleges) housed more than a million students in 2011, of which about 93,000 were international students from more than 100 countries. In contrast, there were about 89,686 Malaysian students (27,003 receiving sponsorship and 62,683 self-funded) who were studying overseas in 2011.

of the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE). The education sector has always enjoyed the highest national development budget which

With a multi-ethnic population of about 28.3 million, Malaysia had 20 public universities, 53 private universities and six foreign university branch campuses; 403 active private colleges, 30 polytechnics and3 public community colleges in 2011. These HEIs offer a wide range of tertiary qualifications at affordable prices. There are also various HEIs from the UK, the US, Australia, Canada,

France, and New Zealand which offer twinning and '3+0' degree

programmes through partnerships with Malaysian private higher

as RMIT University, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

education institutions. At present, some world-class universities such

and the Royal College of Surgeons, Ireland have established their

Collaboration with the local PHEIs.

Five of the 20 public universities in Malaysia have been assigned research university status with additional funding for R&D and commercialisation of research. The remaining 15 public universities have been categorised as either comprehensive or focus universities. In the 2012 new year's speech, the Minister of Higher Education announced that five public universities have been given autonomy in administration, human resources, financial and academic management and student intake. They are Universiti Malaya, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Universiti Putra
Malaysia and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. This move is aimed at encouraging excellence among local institutions of higher learning. The quality of higher education is assured through the Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA) which undertakes the implementation of the Malaysian Qualifications Framework. MQA is also responsible for quality assurance and the accreditation of courses and other
related functions, covering both public and private higher educational institutions.

Regards,

Surendran R

ARTICLE: FEDERAL STUDENT LOAN CONSOLIDATION FAIL

HELLO READERS!!!

Today’s dwindling economy, lots of college graduates (and college drop puts, for that matter) have fallen or are currently falling behind their scholar mortgage bills. In 2011 alone, the Department of Education declared that the percentage of defaults on federal college student loans to be up to 6.9% (2012 was listed as having 5.2%).

It’s popular knowledge that defaulting on scholar lending options is a serious matter. A federal college student loan defaults in status if a college student fails to make every month payments for 270 days. For those who don’t frequently make payments, a federal university student mortgage becomes defaulted if payments weren’t produced for 330 days. Either way, the federal government reserves the perfect to take your tax refund check or to bring 15% from your spend to collect on the defaulted federal university student financial loans. Add the reality that having a defaulted federal university student loan creates such a negative impact on your credit score.

There are a couple of possibilities that you simply can do in order to obtain away from a defaulted federal scholar loan. Number one particular, you are able to pay off the loan or lending options absolutely; or quantity two; you are able to test to consolidate your federal scholar loans. Now because the initial one is hardly realistic (contemplating that you just aren’t in a position to make typical per month obligations, much more pay the financial loans in complete), you’ll likely have to go with alternative quantity two. And that is to consolidate your federal university student lending options.

But even just before you possibly can consolidate, you’ll must carry your mortgage or loans – out of its default status. How will you do this? You are able to do it by generating three consecutive per month bills on time and in the amount that you just and your creditors have agreed upon. You’ll be able to try to contact and get in touch with a person from the Federal Direct Consolidation Loan Information Center or you’ll be able to go to their web internet site and uncover out if you’d probably qualify for loan consolidation. Whenever you call their offices, there can be people who would give you details concerning your month-to-month payments during the first three months that would be needed to take your mortgage out of default status. The only point about consolidating your loans is that your credit standing remains tarnished and that it would bring some time to fully clear the record – seven years, the truth is. This is even though you have entirely paid off your financial loans and even if your loan can be listed as paid in complete for the credit report.

Regards,

Surendran R