Month End July '08

I am back at my office again on a monday.

Honey Dearest, though her sprained ankle is improving, is practically immobile and is still on Medical Leave. We did went and see and orthopedic specialist last week but due to the pregnancy, x-ray can't be performed, thus its basically a guessing game on her condition. As the good doctor said, it is not likely to be a fracture but at this rate, it will take much longer than usual to be up and about.

I felt so pressured coming to work today, knowing that August would be a challenging month (cash-flow wise at least) and to some extent, I may have exhausted almost all my avenues.

We'll see...

Malaysia for all Malaysians (Penang Island macam mana?)

I read a very interesting comment someone sent via SMS to The Star today. I can't remember it verbatim but roughly it goes something along this line:

"Very easy explaination why road signs in Penang should also be in Chinese. Majority of population here Chinese and tourist from China are here all year around, not like the seasonal Middle East tourist, hence no need Arabic signage"

I can understand the argument (though not agreeing at all about it) on having the signage for Chinese tourist but too have it because of majority chinese living in Penang Island ? Excuse me, what is our national language again ? Whats this cry about "Oh, everyone is Malaysian.. should not be divided along racial/religious/sexual preferences/bank account lines.." while its ok to have signages in ones language because of majority of a certain race inhibits and island? I don't recall seeing any chinese signage in Singapore, for that matter.

If we must have another language, have it in English.

Dah tinggal 50 tahun pun takkan tak boleh faham bahasa kebangsaan kita ?

Honey Dearest Day In

Honey Dearest has been confined to the room for the last three days due to her sprained ankle. It wasn't so bad when it happened on thursday nite. In fact, she was able to go to work on Friday, albeit walking a bit slowly. However, by saturday morning she was not able to even stand up was at time in tears. Luckily my cousin Abg Razak was able to "urut" the affected leg and Alhamdulillah, she is now able to move around a little bit.

On another note, CONGRATULATIONS to Bogak on the arrival of his fourth son! Another one and he will have his own Cagers basketball team :)

Fatherhood beckons

If the calculations from the doctors were to be right, I will be a father in exactly two months from now.

That would be on September 16th, 2008.

I wonder who will be the Prime Minister of Malaysia on that day?

Arresting A Politician

Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim, with his problematic back and age, is unlikely to flee or brandish a semi-automatic when faced by the police who came to arrest him.

Why then, the Unit Tindakan Khas with the ski-mask and all when they took him just a few meters before his house ? Flight risk ? Surrounded by armed supporter ? Hell, No.

The poor guy was given until 2.00 pm to present himself at the IPPK. Yeah, had it been 2.01pm, sure.. arrest him.

The Debate

Who would have thought Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim with lock horns with Dato' Shabery Chik in a live debate telecast by Astro Awani, Bernama TV and TV9? It did happened and the debate, which took place at Dewan Bahasa & Pustaka was moderated by Datuk Johan Jaafar. The format followed the US presidential debate but the same can't be said about the content.

Anwar was his brilliant self, playing to the gallery and camera. The topic "Hari Ini Bentuk Kerajaan Besok Turun Minyak" was about the current oil issue but Dato' Shabery Chik was more content on delivering personal attacks which has nothing to do with the topic.

... hmmm..

Monday Morning Traffic

I was on my way back from sending Honey Dearest when I saw the roadblock just before the Kota Darul Ehsan arch on Federal Highway. Lucky for me I was heading towards PJ/Shah Alam or else I would be stuck in a very very long gridlock. The jam lasted all the way until after the the Plaza Toll Batu 3 Shah Alam, a good 15-20km of it.

Business Networking

MARA invited me for a business matching cum seminar session at Golden Straits Villa Beach Resort, Port Dickson. The timing is a bit off as it coincides with the Malaysian International Food and Beverage Fair but luckily MARA moved it one day later and I was able to attend the opening day of MIFB.

I drove from Subang Jaya on friday, leaving my house at around 7.15am. It was indeed a pleasent drive, safe for the half hours spent just getting out of Subang Jaya ! After registration, we were given our accomodation which is an apartment unit with three rooms. The people I shared my units with are some of the nicest and we had a good time discussing and throwing ideas on how best to improve our business.

I wouldnt want to go deeper on the programme (of course, talks and seminars etc) but all in all, it was a fruitful session and I am looking forward to work more with my fellow MARA entreprenuers.

Ten Years Ago

Watching the TV the other day, it was as if it was ten years ago...

... with the sodomy charges and all.

You just have to admire the timing.

Accountability at GLCs

Taken from the headline of the Business Section, The Star today:

"SIME DARBY SACKS CFO

Sime Darby Berhad on Monday sacked its chief financial officer (CFO) and another senior executive following an in-depth inquiry into RM120mil losses from Crude Palm Oil (CPO) futures trading."

It's not often you read about senior officers of big businesses in Malaysia being dismissed. Normally, they would issue a statement where the officer has opt to "leave the company" due to all sorts of reason (among the famous ones are health or wanting to spend more time with the family) although in the real reasons tend to run abuzz in the grapevine. Therefore it is refreshing to see MNC/GLC such as Sime Darby taking step in upholding transperancy and corporate governance.

Mini Vacation

Courtesy of my mum-in-law, Honey Dearest and I spent the weekend at Holiday Subang (despite the hotel being a 5 minute drive from home, heheh). My mum-in-law has some vouchers expiring at the end of the month and since there is one for a free one night stay with breakfast, we decided to utilize it and treat it as a mini vacation for us.

We checked in promptly at 2.00 pm and were given the room 1507. Correction, it was SUITE 1507 and it was simply marvellous! It was at the corner of the hotel, with two views of us to enjoy. One is the view of the Tasik Subang Jaya and the Kelab Golf Negara Subang (with the federal highway sandwich in between) and the other is the view of Subang Jaya township itself (with the yet-to-be completed elevated road leading into/out of SJ being a prominent landscape now). I guess we didn't do much accept laze around and watch TV.

Then again, sometimes the best of vacations is just that... doing nothing :)

It's RM2.70 per litre, people...

Well, the inevitable just happened. The government just announced that fuel price would be increased by 40% to RM2.7o per litre while diesel is increased by RM1.00 to RM2.58 per litre.

It was just a matter of time before the fuel price has to be increased. The amount of subsidy that the government has to fork out has resulted in the balloning of the deficit.

Yes, everyone is affected by this. I was among the many who queued up at one of the stations near my house and managed to fill up Honey Dearest's and my car (I avoided the obvious popular stations such as Petronas and Shell).

Certainly a lot of things to say about this...

Wow... what a f*%k*d up place we live in

If we were to believe everything we read in the blog lately, then surely this country is the worst country for anyone to live in. You are sometimes put in a quandry; reading the mainstream media will give you the impression that all is right with the BN government and if were to read the blogs (esp the well-known ones, you know who they are), the Pakatan Rakyat is the true saviour of the "people" and everything BN/UMNO/Bumiputera/Malay/Islam is deemed to be "bad". No, don't give me that look. Lets face it, its what's out there now.

It is always good to have two sides of the matter to consider. In terms of governing, its good to have Check and Balances. If you are an ardent follower of certain blogger, you should also not totally boycott the mainstream media, vice versa. After all, it is you who can decide what you wish to believe in.

Some of the articles posted on the blogs are actually well-thought out and provoking piece which makes us ponder on the state of our nation. The arguments presented are not neccesarily emotional in nature but unfortunately, it is the comments from the readers which can sometimes be difficult to fathom. Many times you will come across people who take the opportunity to go into Malay/Islam bashing under the guise of "justice/fairness" for all and make racial/religious comments which frankly is unacceptable. Yes, you can sense that pent up frustration of years of being "discriminated" by the UMNOputras/Bumiputras/Malays, so is this so called "political tsunami" really a change for a better of Malaysia or its just a way to get back at the above ?

Makes you wonder..

Taking Credit

In The Star newspaper, there was a piece of news from Penang where the former political secretary of Tan Sri Koh Tsu Koon has chided the Penang Chief Minister Mr Lim Guan Eng for claiming credit for two high profile FDI into Penang.

The new state government took control about 2.5 months ago suddenly they are able to bring in RM1.315 billion in FDI. Hmm.. and the two companies can decide in two months to invest such a huge amount of money, just like that.

Mr Lim, give credit where credit is due.. and this case, to your predecessor who did all the hard work to get the companies to Penang.

Congratulations to the MC Cagers '08

The Malay College Cagers basketball team managed to win the Piala Hamdan Tahir for the fifth time in a row during the recent Hari Kecemerlangan SPB in Jitra, Kedah.

The Wan Zaleha Radzi Encounter !

I was in still in MCKK when I had my major crush on Wan Zaleha Radzi. When everyone else was going ga-ga over singers and actresses (it was the Debbie Gibson-Tiffany-Raja Ema days, mind you), I was smitten by this petite yet stunning lady who read the news on TV3. I mean, its not often that you get an unbelievably stunning lady, who is educated and once represented the country in athletics (I came across the back issue of Dunia Sukan magazine which has a picture of Wan Zaleha during an athletic meet. I was estatic!). Wan Zaleha is truly "beauty and brains" personified and whenever she was on air (whether for Buletin Utama or Majalah Tiga), I would pay extra attention to the TV. Yet, despite all that, never once did I meet Wan Zaleha in the flesh. Sigh.

So, here I was with a friend at Ikea for lunch when I caught a glimpse of a petite lady wearing white jumper and her shoulder length hair tied back. Could it be after all these years? Lo and behold, it was Wan Zaleha having lunch there too.

I would love to rant more but I do remember that my wife reads this blog too, heheh:)

Indiana Jones...

Last friday, Honey Dearest and I made our way to the GSC at One Utama to catch the latest Indiana Jones movie. Honey is a big Harrison Ford fan (heheh, really BIG fan!) and since it's been 20 years from the last Indiana Jones movie, we decided to catch it early.

I remember back then, about 21 years back I was interviewed by Berita Harian (something about my scholastic achievement, which honestly, was not really something to shout about) and when they asked me what was my ambition, I replied "Archeologist" (which they wrote "Ahli Kajipurba"). The article actually appeared on bottom of the front page and made me a "mini-celebrity" at my primary school and "sekolah agama". But why the ahli kajipurba ? Hehehe, coz i wanted to be like Indiana Jones :)

Happy Birthday Sayang :)

Today, the 26th of May, 2008 is Honey Dearest's 30th birthday!

Baby, you dont look a day over 25 years 3 mnths, so here's for more wonderful birthday to come!

I love you so muuuccchhh!

JPA Scholarship : Part Deux

I would like to express the following in mixture of English and Bahasa Malaysia

Hari ni ada sorang lagi dok hantar surat kat The Star pasal tak puas hati tak dapat biasiswa dari JPA. Hish, sorang lagi yang nak main the "racial cards". Really spoil my morning bila aku baca the letter pagi-pagi buta masa aku nak breakfast dengan Honey Dearest.

Aku tak paham betul la bila sesetengah orang tu ingat, bila tak dapat something they want, it all boils down to discrimination (read: racial bias). Tolong la sikit. Hebat sangat ke engkau dengan 10A1 and A2 engkau. Kononnya "getting 10A1 and A2 for my EST has become more of a burden to me. I have become too good to enter matriculation but not good enough for PSD (JPA). Maybe I shouldn't have studied so hard and played more."

Apa yang engkau cakap ni ? According to him, dia rasa cheated sebab he thought "all students with 10A1 would automatically be given scholarship by JPA". Memang JPA akan bagi scholarship, tapi yang JPA gurantee is the scholarship for studying at local institution. Yang engkau minta tu overseas scholarship. Aku ada dua issue yang aku nak raise kat sini. First sekali, yang engkau mintak tu overseas scholarship. Engkau ni ada baca suratkhabar tak ? Engkau takkan tak tahu yang overseas scholarship under JPA ada 2000 tempat aje and engkau tahu tak ada berapa orang dapat straight As ? According to JPA, ada 6,262. Yes, read that again.. SIX THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED SIXTY TWO. Out of that entah berapa ribu yang dapat more than 10A1s, so sah-sah you know where you stand kan ? In fact, yang mintak for the scholarhip ada 15,000 orang and 7,500 made the cut. Congratulations, since you were among the 7,500 but paham le sikit, benda ni gila competitive. Besides, ada ke JPA bagitau engkau your marks for the interview, co-curricular activities etc. ? Mana engkau tahu you did well in the interview? Entah2 apa yang engkau jawab is not what they are looking for. Why do you people (well, some of you at least) assume that just because you get 10A1 and god-knows berapa A1 lagi, you guys are simply the very best? Hey, kalau engkau dapat full mark pun dlm the academic portion (by virtue of your 10As), setakat aktif dalam co-curricular activities, mana cukup ? Mungkin engkau presiden Interact Club but the other guy may have represented the country for some other activities. Sah2 le engkau lose out.

Lagi satu, apasal tak mention pasal applying for local universities ? Tak cukup BAGUS untuk yourself ke ?

"We are still the best. Let us hold our heads up and move on. I believe wherever we are placed, we will still shine because we have overcome the worst rejection and biasness"

HEY, apa yang engkau imply ni ? Granted, you did well by scoring that 10A1 and A2 but siapa yang reject engkau because of biasness ??? Dah tak dapat tu, as you said, move on la. Engkau tak mintak ke scholarship lain ? Engkau tak sudi ke nak belajar kat local U ?

Mr Lee of Kuala Lumpur... please la. Grow Up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good Neigbourliness

I just want to find out.

When we buy a house, what constitute as our property is up to the front gate right? The road is considered as public property and the small patch of land between the drain out of our fence/gate and the road does not constitute as our property right ?

You see.. I had this rather irritating experience of neighbours (not immediate ones but about 5 houses away) who put potted plants or rubbish bins in front of their house so that no one can park in front of theirs. It so happened that there was this one particular night where I was back late and it was the ONLY parking spot available. So, I parked my car there (and its not I intend to leave it there for days or weeks) and whadda you see... a note in the morning "Please dont park your car infront of our house".

... and you park BOTH your cars inside your house!

So, to the SS18/** resident living at that particular house... %*&$&#@## u!