Artificial Intelligence

What if the next time you were hungry, you could tell your kitchen to cook a meal for you?

What if with a simple touch of a button, you could get your house to clean itself?

And what if I told you this could all be possible?

With the work of artificial intelligence or AI.

Dear readers, allow me to take you on a journey on the wonders of Artificial Intelligence.

AI is something that is becoming more advanced everyday and is disrupting our world.

To most people, the idea of artificial intelligence is fascinating, which it truly is

I mean, who wouldn't want a robot to do all our chores for us, who we can communicate with or maybe one which can even advice us like a little companion?

It truly seems like a dream come true

Some of us, including I myself, were surprised that intellectuals like Elon Musk, Stephen Hawkings and Bill Gates were genuinely concerned and against the idea of advanced AI.

Now, don't get me wrong, they are actually perfectly fine with AI at its current state right now, but are very against the idea of AI becoming better.

Because they fear the day artificial intelligence surpasses human intelligence

They fear what might happen when our creations become more advanced than we are

That fear has actually been around for ages

But what made that fear a near reality was in 1997

When a robot named Deep Blue, beat the World's Best Chess Player at his own game

That moment went down in history as the first time robots defeated us

That was the first and certainly wasn't the last

In the mid 2000's a robot named Watson beat the two best players at Jeopardy, a game which requires tons of memory, analytical thinking and speed

In 2016, just last year, Google's AI beat the world's best player at a game called go, a game which requires strategy, and is generally much harder than chess is

People were impressed, but they were fearful

Machines had defeated world champions

Machines had defeated some of the best of the human species

Naturally, people had been hoping humans would win in the fight against robots and were devastated to find the outcome

And they shouldn't have been

The machines were victorious, yes

But, was it superior?

No, no it wasn't

The machine wasn't victorious because it was just intelligent, the machine was victorious because of its human creators!

Always, a machine's triumph is a human's triumph

That's something we tend to forget when humans are surpassed by our own creations

People need to realise that it isn't all about 

Human Vs. Machine

and instead,

Human Plus Machine

What if we combined our strengths and worked side by side?

Machines have tactics, we have strategies

Machines have memory, we have experience

Machines have objectivity,

We have passion

Human plus machine isn't the future, it's the present

And we don't get to choose when and where technological progress stops

We can't slow down, in fact we have to speed up

Our technology excels at removing difficulties and uncertainties from our lives

And so we must seek out for ever more difficult and ever more uncertain challenges

We should not worry about what machines can do today

Instead, we should worry about what they still cannot do

Because we will need the help of these new intelligent machines to turn our grandest dreams into reality

And if we fail, if we fail

It's not because our machines have become too intelligent or not intelligent enough

It's because we have grown too proud of ourselves and limited our ambitions

Us humans are not defined by our skills

There is one thing only humans can do

And That's dreaming!
So let us dream big!

By: Shveenita Alyza

Published by: Ethan Richard

"83 years" read the clock

"That's longer than the average human" I thought as I pulled my sleeve over my watch and put my luggage in the compartment.
I was 18 years old and until now, I couldn't pick a side.
You see, the world was in controversy, and there were two parties involved, For PTP, were people who wanted the personal timepiece in their lives, those who supported the goverment's decisions to deem it compulsory to constantly have this piece with you. FPTP's argued that the watch could help save lives, that by counting down the time you have left on Earth, it could prevent you from being in a threatening situation.
The opposition however, claimed it was basic human rights to have the option to -

"Trays up, we're going to take off soon" I heard the flight attendant say as I handed her my empty glass of water, not realising I'd been zoning out.
When she continued down the aisle, I resumed my thoughts.

Anyways, the opposition argued they should have the right to choose for themselves whether they wanted to have that timepiece or not, that a clock counting down the moments you have left on Earth only ensures you don't live the life you were supposed to, don't make the decisions you were supposed to, don't have the story you were supposed to.
But on the other hand, the Earth is already underpopulated as it is and I'm not too against the idea of the government taking extreme measures to ensure our survival.

I took a break from my thoughts and allowed myself to rest my eyes, remembering I'd been deprived of sleep.
16 hours to go before we land. I looked out the tiny window next to me to see the South Pacific Ocean.
Even 40,000 ft in the air, the ocean was enthralling to look at. I made a mental note that in the 83 years my timepiece claimed I had left to live, I would pay a visit to one of the pristine beaches of South Africa.

While I searched for my headphones to distract myself from turbulence, I felt a buzzing on my wrist, followed by a beep.
A chorus of beeps. Then I realised the high pitched sound came from more than one timepiece.

Everyone had 12 minutes to live,
Above 40,000 ft in the air
The damn plane was going to crash.

By: Shveenita Alyza
Published by: Ethan Richard

Majlis Perlantikan Dan Perhargaan 2017

On the 15th of July 2017, the Librarians of SMK Bandar Utama Damansara (3) held an Appointment and Appreciation Dinner for the Form 5 Librarians who are retiring.

The theme was 'Movie Night', so we could basically dress up as any character from any movies we want. Everyone dressed up amazingly - so even dress up like Luke Skywalker and Harry Potter! We began the night with a photo shoot outside the hall. The newly-appointed Librarians of 2017/18 then had a group photo session before they walked into the hall. Everyone was amazed when they saw these new Librarians walked into the hall. Everyone - except for the Form 5, because they weren't in the hall!

When the retiring Form 5 Librarians entered the hall, it was a grand entrance - made epic with 'The Final Countdown' playing. The event was hosted by Ethan and Thivya, the two emcees of the night. The performances began with Chloe and The Gang. They were dancing to a K-Pop song called 'Signal'. We continued the performances with a duet by Thivya and Farah. After that, we had lucky draws and games. Finally, we listened to speeches made by our principal, Puan Zuraidah, our new Library Coordinator, Puann Azura, and also our outgoing Head Librarian Quek Zhy Hgu.

Then we proceeded with DINNER! There was lasagna, lamb chops, ice cream, cendol - and lets not forget about RICE (note: the writer of this article is Asian). We continued with even more performances by our talented Librarians. We ended the performances with the committee performance. We then ended with hugging the retiring Librarians, and listening to their farewells. It was a sad but touching moment. I would like to thank my fellow Form 5 Librarians for all they have done, and wish them the best of luck in their SPM and their future lives.

By: Ethan Richard

Perlantikan Pengawas Pusat Sumber Sekolah Sesi 2017/2018

On the 10th of July, our school held an Appointment Ceremony for the School Resource Centre Prefects for 2017/2018 - which coincided with the Prefects' Appointment Ceremony.

The probationary Librarians were excited, but everyone was nervous as they went up on stage to receive their name tag and ties - as a symbol of their appointment.

The new Prefect and Librarian leaders were announced and appointed - our new Head Librarian being Chloe Wong.

The vows were uttered by the newly-appointed Librarians, led by Chloe Wong. As a person who writes stuff that usually comes true - I will write that Chloe will be a great leader, in hopes of it coming true!

By: Ethan Richard

Gotong Royong 2017

On the 24th of June, the Librarians of SMK Bandar Utama Damansara (3) had a gotong-royong to spring clean the Library. Since there were replacement classes that Saturday, Puan Sabrina took advantage of that day to have a gotong-royong - as her last act as Library Coordinator. Everyone was excited to begin the gotong-royong, myself included☺.

We started off by dividing ourselves into groups. The Librarians in Form 5 were specifically in charge of painting the walls outside the Library, whilst the rest of us did other tasks - such as arranging the board games, sweeping and mopping, arranging books, cutting bar codes for new books, wiping windows and tables, and clearing out equipment from the AVA room.

In the end, Puan Sabrina felt accomplished because she managed to coordinate a clean-up of the Library before she left to transfer to another school. Everyone was very cooperative and we had a blast throughout the day. The secret to our success is our Librarian motto: TOWARDS SUCCESS WE WORK TOGETHER

By: Ethan Richard

Librarian Camp 2017

On the 7th and 8th of April, the Librarians of SMK Bandar Utama Damansara (3) had a fun time during the Librarian Camp 2017. After school on Friday, all the Librarians changed into their Librarian T-shirts and waited at the library. Then, the camp started with a ice breaking game run by the committee members, which involved playing dodge-ball.

Then, we stood with our groups that we were assigned to. Soon, it was time for station games. We were given a piece of paper with clues that helped us to find our station. The clues would form a number and we had to call the number. The first group to call the number would win.

There were a lot of games - like blowing a ping-pong through the maze without touching the line, passing a long message to our group members but our legs are tied together making it hard to move, and many more. There was even a short game that was held within a given time-frame and it involved two groups that arrived to a station first. This game would help us earn extra points.

Unfortunately, we realised that some of us were stuck downstairs at the canteen and the others were at the Library. We managed to call the security guard and unlocked the staircase grille.
Then, we all went to the canteen to cook our dinner. All groups including the committee started whipping up dishes. You could see the Librarians showing off their awesome culinary skills.

After one and a half hours, we were finally done. We ate the food we cooked and it was tasty. There was spaghetti, fried rice, jelly, fruits and much more. After filling our tummies with food, we headed to the showers to take our bath.

Later, we went to the basketball court. We played some awesome night games. Soon, we had a group dance and drama performances. We had come up with a plot for our dramas using our team name. The plots were so interesting and we were totally immersed in their performance. Many Librarians showed off their amazing dancing skills.

Then, we had a dance party. We danced to the tune of songs till wee hours of the night. Since everybody was exhausted, we cleaned up and went to sleep. The girls slept in the Library while the boys slept in classrooms. While we were sleeping, the committee members were on patrol.

The next morning, we took our bath and proceeded to the basketball court. We had a small exercising session with Chloe leading us. Then, we had a game called 'Mr. Marcus'. It is a game where you are given a bunch of sticks and you have to order a song from one of the seniors and you are required to choreograph to the song. You will be charged a certain amount and you will have to pay with the sticks you have. Before we practiced, we had our breakfast that was mainly jam and bread.

After eating, we came back to the basketball court and started rehearsing for our dance. We performed in front of three of our seniors who would later grade us.

 

We were allowed to perform as many times as we want. A lot of groups used their creativity to choreograph their steps. The seniors were impressed by our skills.

Then, we packed our stuff and changed into our camp T-shirts. We packed up and brought our stuff to the basketball court. After that, we were asked write a thank you note to our fellow Librarians. We wrote our heartfelt messages to them.

Then, the winners for our Librarian camp were announced. The marks were calculated based on the activities we had for the past two days - such as station games, cooking session, dance performance, drama performance and our points for the ‘Mr. Marcus’ game.

After the winners were announced, we took a group picture as a memento. This camp was so fun and I enjoyed it. I will never forget this camp and I hope we have this camp again next year.

A day spent with friends is always a day well-spent

By: Thivyashini Selvaseelan

Sports Day 2017

On the 2nd of April, the students of SMK Bandar Utama Damansara (3) participated in their annual Sports Day. Held at Stadium Sains, Universiti Malaya, this day was eagerly anticipated by supporters and athletes alike.

The day kicked off with a march, which had various uniform bodies represented by their respective contingents. Athletes the marched in after them, and presented a short performance. They were dressed inspired by their mascots. The Red House mascots were Mickey and Minnie meanwhile Yellow House mascots were from Beauty and the Beast. The Green House mascots were Tinkerbell and Peter Pan and Blue House mascots were the Genie and Jasmine.

After that, Erwin Helmi was called upon the recite prayers. Next, athletes pledged to honour the spirit of good sportsmanship after singing the national anthem and the school song. Then, Mr. Kalearasu, the leader of the Parent-Teacher Association (PIBG) gave a speech, followed by a speech from Puan Zuraidah, our principal. The opening concluded with an entertaining set from the school marching band.

Soon, the events began. All the athletes were prepped for the event. The students who were not competing were enthusiastically cheering their friends on. A lot of events took place (mostly track) such as 4 x 100m, 100m, 200m and many more.

The teachers were working counting the marks atheletes have earned for their houses. A lot of athletes were tired after competing fiercely in their events.

Soon enough, the medal-giving ceremony heralded the end of the events. The students were eager to find our the winning house for the year. The athletes were beaming with joy when they received their medals.

After much deliberation, the following were the results:

The sports house that won 1st place was the Blue House. 2nd place was Yellow House, 3rd place was Red House and 4th place went to Green House.

The best marching was won by Yellow House and Youth Cadet Corps. Overall, the winner was Blue House.

The Blue House athletes basked in glory, as Sports Day drew to a close. All the students went home with a smile on their faces, putting aside their sports house rivalries until the next year.

By: Thivyashini Selvaseelan

Field Events for Sports Day 2017

Shot put

On the 28th of March, field events were held in school, ahead of Sports Day proper.

Discus throwing

 

On the day, athletes participated in events such as shot put, discus throwing, long jump, high jump and tug-of-war.

Long jump

 

The participants from each of the four houses gathered early in the morning. Once the events started, they tried their very best to win as their fellow house members cheered them on

High jump

The events went on for the whole day and the participants were exhausted by the end of it. Luckily, everything went smoothly

Tug-of-war

In this year's field events - much to everyone's surprise - the results were as follows: Red House in first place, Yellow House in second, Blue House in third, and Green House in fourth. This only means one thing: it will really be a close competition for the coveted title of champion on Sports Day itself.

By: Lim Sheanni

Cik Yow's and Puan Gan’s Retirement

On the 17th of March, a farewell ceremony was held for two of our beloved teachers – Cik Yow and Puan Gan - as they retire from the profession.

The ceremony started with a song by the school’s brass band right after all the teachers have arrived at the basketball court. The fast and carefree notes of  'Treasure'  by Bruno Mars instantly imparted a joyous mood to the occasion.

After that, Puan Gan, Cik Yow, and our Senior Assistant for Student Affairs  Ms Wu each gave a speech.

There were also other performances by the SPBT club, the school cheer-leading team Stompers, as well as from other students who sang and beat-boxed.

The students and teachers were sad to see Cik Yow and Puan Gan go. However, we wish them all the best!

By: Lim Sheanni

Friendship Week Sales 2017: The Librarians' Perspective!

From the 13th to the 17th of February, the Librarians has a sale for Friendship Week - a step up from the Friendship Day sales from years past. Many people were exited because we sold interesting things, such as drawstring bags, lemonade, cookies, Oreo pops and nachos. They were sold at reasonable prices such as RM2 for a cup of lemonade, RM25-27 for a drawstring bag and RM3 for nachos.

Our nachos, lemonade, cookies and drawstring bags were a hit. They sold like hotcakes! For the drawstring bags there were many designs ranging from simple ombre to cute graphics of food and flowers and ombre. Everyday, our products sold out and we generated a great amount of revenue. In the end we made a huge profit and that money went towards our Annual Librarian Dinner.Personally, I am grateful to be a part of the Librarian sales team for Friendship Week because I got experience in sales management.

 

By: Ethan Richard

A Trip To The Selangor State Library

'A library is a hospital for the mind.'

Anonymous

Last Thursday, on the 16th of February, the Librarians of SMK Bandar Utama Damansara (3) went to the Selangor State Library. It took us more than 1 hour to go there by bus from our school

 When we reached the library, all of us were amazed by the large building. We were led into the auditorium by the administrator. We were given an introductory speech and watched a welcome video. Some of us even asked some funny questions like: 'where is the cafeteria?'

Then, we were divided into two groups. One group was brought to watch 6D movies which was priced at RM10.40 per admission and 3D movies which were priced at RM6.40 per admission. The other group was brought to visit the place where they had some old and priceless books about Selangor and books donated by the Sultan of Selangor. After a short briefing by the administrator, we took a picture under a portrait of the Sultan.

Later, the administrator led us to the rack sections. All the books were arranged according to the Dewey Decimal Classification System. We also saw the open area reading place.

Soon, we saw the Exhibit of the Month while heading to the children’s area. This month’s exhibit was about penguins living in Antartica. As we entered the children’s area, we saw a large fake tree. The place was clearly designed with children in mind.

The first group waited at entrance for the second group to come. We experienced the seats and the environment of the 6D and 3D theatres, whilst the other group went around the library.

Then, we all headed to the cafeteria for a small snack. We all bought ice cream Tutti Frutti and enjoyed it. After we had our fill, we gathered at the library again and took a group picture. We thanked all of the administrators in making our visit a thoroughly enjoyable one.

By: Thivyashini Selvaseelan

Merentas Desa 2017

On 11th of Febuary 2017, SMK Bandar Utama Damansara (3) held the annual Cross Country Run from 7.00 AM to 11.30AM. This event is open to students of SMK Bandar Utama Damansara (3). Students who participated in the run get to contribute to the scores of their respective sports houses, doing their bit to secure victory for their house come Sports Day.

Before the Cross Country Run started, we did 15 minutes of warm up to avoid any cramps and the run hit off almost immediately after warm-ups ended.

The event ended with Blue House emerging as the winner of the cross country event. Following them closely was Green House at second place. Yellow and Red House came in 3rd and 4th place respectively.

Though the run was short time-wise, but everyone was tired after the run as they poured out their heart and soul into it.

 

By: Ron Khoo

Mr Wong and Madam Kee’s Retirement

An awesome teacher is hard to find, difficult to part with, and impossible to forget

On the 16th of January 2017, SMK Bandar Utama Damansara (3) bade farewell to two of its precious pioneers who have played a pivotal role in shaping the school as a place of academic and co-curricular excellence. It was so as that was the day of Mr Wong's and Madam Kee’s retirement.

Even the sky couldn’t hide its sorrow as it started raining. The Prefects did a good job of receiving Mr Wong, Madam Kee and their respective families to the school on the day. Then, all of the teachers proceeded to the hall in Block A to attend the farewell reception. Videos and pictures of Mr Wong and Madam Kee were screened as they relived those memories whilst they dined. After the reception, everyone headed to the basketball court, with the wind band members leading the way.

The Prefects and Librarians stood along the side of the path, clapping and greeting the teachers as they walked past. As everyone took their places, all of the students started clapping and cheering loudly. The wind band gave a heart-wrenching performance, a clear reflection of the mood of the audience that day.

The event started with the Head Prefect giving a speech on behalf of all students to Mr Wong and Madam Kee. Then, Miss Rajeswari gave a speech about her experiences in making the school what is it today with the two pioneers. Our headmistress, Puan Zuraidah delivered an appreciation speech for Mr Wong and Madam Kee.

Then, a student came forward and shared Madam Kee’s biodata. before having Madam Kee herself give a speech about how she will miss our school.

The Head Librarian then read the biodata of Mr Wong, followed by a speech from Mr Wong himself which would linger in our hearts forever.

Later, a student played the electric guitar and the sisters Jynn and Jyllian sang as well. Even Mr Wong joined in the performance by singing along!

The Treble Clefs also gave a spectacular performance followed by a performance from the Prefect Board and a group of students. There was also a solo performance by Nicole and a demonstration of skills by the basketball team.

The representatives of each class and club gave presents to Mr Wong and Madam Kee. After the farewell, both of them were sent off while they stood on the open back of a car.

Even though they left this school, I am sure that they will always be in our hearts. We will always remember them for they have made the school what it is today, and we will continue their legacy as we strive to reach greater heights.

By: Thivyashini Selvaseelan

A Visit to the National Library of Malaysia

On the 12th of January 2017, the Librarians of SMK Bandar Utama Damansara (3) had a trip to the National Library of Malaysia,. We reached the place at around 11:00AM

We were amazed at how big the building was and how many floors it had. To kick-off the tour, we went to a small exhibition at the ground floor, there was information about the history of the National Library and historical books.

Next, we went to the e-library. We were amazed by the concept of it. Books could be searched and read through a tablet, which makes it very convenient!

After that, one of the staff members there there guided us to every floor of the library. Each floor was very spacious. There were many different sections of the library. There was a floor specifically for books written by Malaysians and another one for international books only. The books were arranged very neatly and there was almost every book you could ask for!

There was a floor for surfing the web as well. Many computers were there, along with earphones so that anyone could watch a video without bothering others. All of the devices were up-to-date and in prime condition!

After that, we were brought into a room to watch a video documentary about sea animals. It was very interesting and personally, I really enjoyed the documentary.

We left the National Library around 12:00PM and went back to class after once we got back to school. It was a good educational visit and the place definitely left everyone in awe.

By: Lim Sheanni