this is asterix.

2011 That is Almost Over

2011-12-30T23:36:00.003+08:00

In just one more day, 2011 will draw its final curtain. And looking back over the last twelve months made me realized how far have I come this year. 2011 has always been a very personal year to me, especially since I have started to plan for my engagement ceremony since July 2010 (Yes, that's how long I've been planning my wedding). I guess the highlight of the year began with significant change in my work. It was in March 2011 where I was finally given the opportunity to cover the Airline sector after lobbying for it since I joined the department in February 2009. I'm not saying the Consumer sector was not fun, but the Airline sector has always been a dear to me since I joined the company.

But I guess, the Airline sector proved to be a lot tougher to cover than I expected. I had anticipated cyclical earnings and high risk from jet fuel price volatility but, MAS gave a whole different challenge to my skills as an analyst. The next highlight for the year was my engagement ceremony in May 2011. It was a low-key affair by many standards but my engagement was one of the many high points in my life. It was when I came to a sudden realization that in 9 months' time, I will be marrying the love of my life.

The high point continued in July where I found out that I had passed my CFA Level I examination. And shortly after that, I acquired my first car. Though not as fancy as expected, I think buying the car was one of the best decision that I have made. It was a practical choice and so far, it has been reliable to me. So I won't say much more on that.

I guess, I'll be leaving 2011 with no regrets. I have done great things and met with great people. I've discovered new friends and new acquaintances. So, goodbye 2011 and I'll be ready to meet 2012.

My New Year resolution? To be more content and grateful with what I have and not regret on things that I don't have.

Have a great New Year Everyone!

Got My First Wedding Gift.

2011-12-30T01:35:00.002+08:00

Went out for dinner with some friends as a very good friend of mine came back from UK on year-end holiday in Malaysia. Last time I saw him was just after Aidil Fitri in September this year. What surprised me was at the end of the dinner, after our gossiping session at Chawan (Chatime was already closed at the time), he told me that he has something for me as a wedding gift. I was not expecting anything from him and if there was ever anything from him, I was hoping that he would be able to turn up for my wedding.

Anyway, thanks for making my night Khalid. Thanks for the gift and needless to say that seeing you tonight was more than enough as a wedding gift. I still digesting the fact that you will not be around for my wedding but I hope that you'd be around when I have my first child (whenever that is. Haha).

So there you go, 35 days to my wedding, and I have gotten my first gift. Thanks again. Alhamdulillah :)

A New Start?

2011-12-22T00:16:00.002+08:00

I recently read a blog of someone who I had just met a week ago. This person is just like any ordinary person - or so I thought. It turned out that there's more to this person. When I had a conversation with him, I noticed that he has a very refreshing way of looking at things. It's not that the way he thinks is totally out of the box but, it was just plain refreshing. I'm further impressed by his manners and attitude in life. And then when I read his blog, it inspires me to revive this blog. I guess I've forgotten what blogging was all about. Blogging is all about writing on whatever that ticks you. It does not have to be long, but just enough to highlight what you believe in.

So I hope that this will be the new beginning of this blog. And to this person, thank you for inspiring me to do something that I have long left behind.

Wedding Bliss

2010-01-10T17:13:00.001+08:00

I had the pleasure of attending a wedding of a very good friend of mine today. He had the solemnization ceremony on Friday and the bride’s reception on Saturday. I only have the opportunity to attend today’s reception because I was at another wedding in Ipoh yesterday.

I think, the best thing about attending a wedding is when it is the wedding of your good friend. And I guess, I have never felt happier when I see the bride and groom at a wedding then I was today when I saw him and his wife for the first time at the reception.

To the bride and groom, may Allah bless your marriage with lots of love and joy. I am so happy for the two of you.

Welcome 2010

2010-01-05T15:57:00.000+08:00

Goodbye 2009 and Hello 2010. This entry may be 5 days late but I’m going to post it anyway.

One year had passed, and what have I accomplished in 2009?

If someone were to ask me what 2009 is to me? I would say it is a career year. I know that I started working in 2008 but for six months between August 2008 and February 2009, I was actually under Management Trainee Programme at my company. Therefore, in true meaning of being employed, I started my career as an investment analyst in 2009. It actually feels nice when people ask you what do you do? And you are able to say, “I’m an investment analyst.”

In 2009, I had my first vacation using my own hard-earned money. In August, I went to Siem Reap, Cambodia for a 4-day-trip with my friends. It was actually nice to know that you pay for your holiday with your own money.

2009 ended with my 2-week vacation in Mumbai, India. I think the holiday in Mumbai is a perfect way to end 2009 as my Career Year. I had a great time there and seriously, after spending 14 days there, I have to say that I really appreciate that I am born a Malaysian. I also bought a nice gift for myself to mark the year 2009 and I hope and pray for a better year in 2010.

There are a lot more things that I wanted to achieve in 2009 but did not materialise. I pray that these things will become reality in 2010. If 2009 is a career year, 2010 will be more on my personal life. I pray to ALLAH for a better year in 2010 and may my hope and dreams become reality this year.

Arrogant Politician.

2009-11-02T21:37:00.001+08:00

I am disgusted by the arrogance shown by the Prime Minister in his speech yesterday. He was commenting on the call for a particular minister to resign for underperforming his duties. While I am indifference as to the minister’s performance, I felt shocked that the Prime Minister’s remarks that his decisions cannot be questioned. He went on to say that as the Prime Minister, he knows what is best for the country and therefore no one can ever doubt his decisions. He also went as far as saying that as the Prime Minister, it is his to right to decide whatever he deems fit for the people.

Mainstream media describe the Prime Minister’s statement as charismatic. I describe it as downright arrogant.

In short, the Prime Minister is describing himself as a prophet, who is sent by God for the betterment of mankind – or in this case, the Malaysians. Therefore, people are supposed to just sit quietly and listen to whatever he is saying and obey his decree to the letter.

To give the Prime Minister the benefit of the doubt, he might have meant something else, but the words that he had chosen pictured him just like what I had described earlier.

I hope he does realize that he is not elected as a Prime Minister by Malaysians. He was elected by a handful of warlords to lead a political party that happens to lead a coalition of parties. And none of that matters if he was not elected as a representative for his constituency.

And honestly, please stop thinking as if you know what’s best for the people because to tell you the truth, you don’t.

S****D Politicians.

2009-09-10T23:15:00.000+08:00

When are they going to realize this? It does not matter who brought, stepped, and spat on the cow head. It does not matter if they are UMNO members. It does not matter if they are PKR members. It does not matter if they are PAS member. It does not matter if they are DAP, MCA, MIC members. What matters is, the media has their pictures and videos. What matters is, from those pictures and videos, we can charge them in court. What matters is that the court has to find them guilty and they have to be punished.

I personally do not give a damn from which party they came from. I especially do not give a damn if they are not even residences of Section 23. But I give a damn if they are not punished for their insensitive actions. So please stop all these drama on which party was behind the whole thing because that is not even the issue at hand.

Our politicians have this habit of deviating from the real issue at hand. That is one trademark – apart from corrupted – of our politicians that I despise so much.

Merdeka. Are We Really?

2009-08-31T12:18:00.001+08:00

Happy Merdeka Day.

After 52 years of independence, we still have not moved from not respecting other races and religions. This year’s Merdeka Day was tarnished by an appalled act by some residences of a certain city in Malaysia. I can try to understand the frustration of the residences over the plan to build a Hindu Temple within the vicinity of their homes. But, does that justify their actions? I seriously do not think so, especially the Hindus are not the party to blame in this issue. The Hindus in the area has as much rights as their Muslim neighbours for a place of worship. That is one fact that no one could deny.

But, it is the authority that has the power to decide where and the places of worship can and cannot be built. Of course this is a delicate matter, but an intelligent authority would definitely be able to handle this matter swiftly without this turned into a racial issue. I honestly have no solution because I have no access to population data of the area. And I certainly cannot use the data provided by the media because the numbers are contradicting. Some media says that Hindus’ population is only less then 10%, some says it is more than a third. The truthfulness of the data can only be answered by the local authority. They should know it at the back of their head.

I’m not going to argue whether the temple should be built or not because that is not my job. But I do feel that the super-insensitive act by the residences few days ago is sickening. How could people who claimed to be well-educated do something like that?

I also feel disgusted by Pakatan Rakyat leaders’ statement that kept on blaming UMNO as the party behind the demonstration. Don’t they see what is happening? It does not matter who was behind it because that would not solve the problem. They failed to see that this issue has become quite deep and needs quick solution. Instead, they chose to blame other people. Granted, let us just say UMNO was indeed behind it. Does that solve the problem? No.

From the way I see it, the authority has two choices. Either go back to the grass root and explain why the construction of the temple was approved or they could halt the plan altogether. Both options have its own repercussion and as a government, it is impossible to keep everyone happy. But the most important thing is, go and resolve the issue and stop blaming other people. Regardless it was your fault or not, wouldn’t it be better if you actually became part of the solution?

In the mean time, whoever that was in the demonstration the other day, shame on you! There was nothing Islamic about what you did. Shame on you!

Revert to Bahasa Melayu/Malaysia

2009-07-08T21:36:00.001+08:00

So now we are back to square one. Deputy Prime Minister announced today that the teaching of science and maths will revert to Bahasa Melayu or Bahasa Malaysia (I still don’t know what they call it these days because the keep changing it every time we have a new Information Minister). The reason for the flip-flop was because the gap between rural and urban students have widen since the introduction of the policy in 2003. Let me get this straight, is the Deputy Prime Minister trying to tell everyone that before the teaching of science and maths in English, the performance of the rural students are at par with the urban students? If that is true, I think our education system must have been the best in the world.

So, basically the teaching of maths and science in English policy had ruined our education system. Hail to the government for making things right for everybody. From 2012 onwards, we would see the equal performance of both rural and urban students in public examinations. Parents will be happy and live happily ever after.

Sadly, that was not the case. Urban students tend – read tend – to perform better than rural students because they usually have better resources. Therefore, regardless of English or Bahasa, urban students have always performed better than their colleague in rural areas. So, basically the policy of teaching maths and science in English is not the reason behind the gap. At least we have established that.

Next, Dr. Mahathir’s greatest mistake when he introduced the policy was actually not ensuring the education system is well equipped with qualified teachers. The policy was introduced at a time when the teachers themselves learned maths and science in Bahasa. So, it is quite absurd to expect them to teach in English overnight. However, it is equally absurd to say that within the 6-year period, teachers are still unable to grasp the skills to teach Maths and Science in English.

The problems that have been plaguing the policy can be rectified if and only if there is a political will for it. Unfortunately the political will here is to win the Manik Urai By-Election (BN will definitely without a doubt lose in Manik Urai regardless of their actions). Policy can be perfected with adjustment here and there and not through abolishment altogether.

With public and private education institutions using English as medium of communication, what the government is doing is just helping the English-haters to delay their encounter with the language. By which time, they would be struggling with their new subjects and language altogether. Or maybe by then, the government can order all universities to use Bahasa as medium of communication. Then they can order all private sector companies to use Bahasa. Or why not ban English and make life easier for everyone?

Spontaneous? Really?

2009-06-17T21:17:00.002+08:00

When Datuk Seri Nizar just shouted in the parliament on Monday, I just thought that the former Mentri Besar had just found a new low in his behaviour – even lower than the attempted hunger strike a month ago. However, when Datuk Seri Nizar said, his action in the Parliament was spontaneous, I just realize that this so-called Datuk Seri can actually go lower than any dirt can go (pardon the language).

I honestly do not mind if any of our MPs would want to convey their message by wearing a badge or a headband. I can also tolerate some sub-intelligent actions by them such as shouting in the august house because that’s what our MPs do. I did have an entry in this blog labelling our MPs as monkeys. But, to actually tell the press that whatever you did in the parliament on Monday was purely spontaneous, that’s just…well…lets just not go there shall we?

If its not for the hypocrisy, I would have noted his actions in the parliament as bold (though that doesn’t mean I approve it). But, since Datuk Seri Nizar is willing to cover himself with filth lets just give him the credit that he is just full of filth (again, pardon the language). He could’ve just said that that was the only way for him to convey his message. He wanted to uphold the constitutions or to bring attention to the plight of Perak in the parliament. But he chose to say that his actions were spontaneous.

In that case, I would like to say that this entry is a spontaneous reaction by me after reading about his spontaneity.

P.S. A true leader would defend his actions when his conscience tells him that he is right and acknowledge his mistakes when he made them. A so-called leader would invent excuses.

Song in my dream.

2009-05-10T11:27:00.000+08:00

Last night I had a dream. I dreamt that I was singing this song and apparently I love this song so much! The problem is now, I don’t remember what song was that. And I have been spending all morning googling to see if I can get remotely close to that song. Sadly enough I haven’t found that song till now. Sigh. I don’t remember the title, I don’t remember who sings that song. All I have in my head is a blurred memory of that song.

I guess I just have to stop and get over it already. Haha. Just like an SMS I sent to a friend of mine, earlier this week, “Sometimes, it is better to let something go, rather than holding on to something that was never really there in the first place”. I might have sung the song in my dream, when for all I know, that could well be a fictitious song in my mind.

On another note, Happy Mothers’ Day to all mothers!

Just a Thought.

2009-04-20T21:23:00.001+08:00

“Remember those walls I built?”

I am pretty sure that most of us had been in this position. We opened up ourselves to other people all the while thinking that that would make us happy. So, we bring ourselves to this whole new level only to be stabbed, crushed and broken. We then turned into this bitter person and push away everyone and everything that had the guts to come near us.

“Baby, they’re tumbling down, they didn’t even put up a fight, they didn’t even make a sound.”

Until someone came and somehow or rather, we forgot all the pain in the past and beginning to slowly open up ourselves again.

“I swear I’d never le you in,”

We keep telling ourselves that if we decide to give in, we will only ended up getting hurt again.

“But I never really had a doubt, standing in the light of your halo, I got my angel now.”

No matter how hard we tried to resist, this person keeps coming back into our life, proving how much we are worth to them. Until we finally realize that this person is actually our best friend, our soul mate, our guardian angel.

“It’s like I’ve been awakened, every rule I had you breaking, the risk that I’m taking, I will never ever shut you out. Everywhere I’m looking now, I’m surrounded by your embrace. Baby I can see your halo, you know you are my saving grace.”

And we know for sure that this person is all that we have been waiting for throughout our entire life.

“Everything I need and more is written all over your face. Baby I can feel your halo, pray it won’t fade away.”

Excerpts from Halo by Beyonce.

P.S. On January 21, this year, adamkeste celebrated its third year in the blogging world! As at April 19, 5,682 people had visited this blog. Thank you for all the support!

P.P.S. Yes I am fully aware that the third anniversary is like four months ago.

My Love...

2009-04-19T13:56:00.001+08:00

This is my current favourite song. Unfortunately, I don’t fully the understand what the song is actually about but I do think the melody and lyrics are somewhat beautiful. And I do feel that I can relate to some of the lyrics. My Love by Celine Dion.

My love, we have seen it all,
The endless confession, the rise and fall,
As fragile as a child,
But lately I’m sorry I can’t hold a smile,

But I stand tall to get by,
No matter how hard I try to hide,
Did you know I’d take the time for you?
Did you know that I would see you through?
Did you know that I would play the part?
I must’ve made it clear from the start,

My love, can you give me strength?
Somehow I forgot how to ease my pain,
I know I’m right where I belong,
Something for nothing never proved me wrong,

But I stand tall to get by,
No matter how hard I try to hide
Did you know I’d take the time for you?
Did you know that I would see you through?
Did you know that I would play the part?
I must’ve made it clear right from the start,

I would share my whole life with you,
Would you do the same for me?
I would give all I am to you,
Would you do the same for me?

And I will stand tall to get by,
No matter how hard I try to hide
Could you see I could break,
Did you notice all my mistakes,
There were times I could feel you read my mind,

Did you know I’d take the time for you,
Did you know that I could see right through?
Did you know that I would play the part?
I know I made it clear right from the start.

Nasib Badan.

2009-04-18T22:46:00.001+08:00

I is very unfortunate that we, Malaysians live in this country where its politicians only want to do what they do best, politicking. The latest circus in town is the resignation of Penanti Assemblyman, which effectively means another by-election will be held within the next 60 days. I don’t mind if we have a by-election when the incumbent rep dies or found guilty in courts but, I do mind if an incumbent just resign over personal matters or just allegations. I am happy for a rep with a government position to let go their post over personal matters or allegations over something but not – definitely not – for parliamentary or state assembly seat.

The reason being, you were elected – read elected – by your constituents. If you were charged in court and found guilty, by law you would automatically vacant your seats anyway. So, until proven guilty, why should you resign? And if your constituents do not like you anymore, they can always vote you off in the next election.

Here is what I am suggesting to Barisan Nasional – since BN were very vocal condemning this by-election – to not to boycott the by-election because that would deprive Penanti constituents of democracy. My suggestion is, choose the best candidate you have but do not spend money on campaign – basically don’t campaign at all. If the Penanti people still believe in Pakatan, they will choose the Pakatan candidate – after all, this by-election is to determine the next Deputy Chief Minister II. If the Penani people choose the BN candidate, this will remind all politicians to do their actual job – to govern the state and country especially in today’s condition.

Things that I do.

2009-04-05T22:17:00.001+08:00

When I left my secondary school, I made a vow not to do something. But then, God knows why, I ended up in the same situation when I was doing my A-Level. Again, I told myself not to repeat my mistakes and I did manage to do just that during the first year of my university days. However, I went on to do the same mistake during my second year and subsequently, my third year. When I started working in August last year, I thought to myself that that kind of mistake will most definitely never happen, given the circumstances. However, towards end of December, I began to see myself heading the same direction.

By February, I knew for sure that if I did not do anything to make things right, I will be bound to make the same mistakes again. It is already April and I think I am seriously going to do the same thing again. The only difference this time is the situation has definitely changed. And another thing that is different this time around is that I currently have up till middle of the month to ponder and make all the right things when the time comes.

I know that this entry is not making any sense at all to anyone who is reading it and I don’t intend to explain anyway. But I know that this is something that I have to do and I have to make sure that I will not put myself in the same position as I was years ago. I am tired of it and I seriously need to grow up. I do.

On another note, I am loving Somewhere Only We Know by Keane at the moment. I think that song has so many levels to it.

Crisis?

2009-02-13T13:50:00.000+08:00

When I put up the ‘Daulat Tuanku’ banner in my blog, I am referring to the act of former Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Ir. Mohammad Nizar to not to resign when asked by the Sultan to do so. No matter how unfair it may seem, the Sultan had made his decision. And I think, assuming Datuk Seri is a gentlemen, he should have respected the Sultan’s decision and resigned from his position.

The question on whether the Sultan’s action is legitimate or not should only be determined by the court and not by public act of defiance or demonstration. From this, I do agree with Lim Kit Siang that if Karpal Singh decided to sue Sultan Perak, then he should be given the opportunity to file the lawsuit. Whether the lawsuit will be accepted by the court or not, it is again up to the court to decide.

Economic Crisis

2009-02-12T13:45:00.000+08:00

I was thinking about the whole economic problem that we are facing today. And I am seeing all the governments around the world coming up with various rescue plans. But the economy continues to slow down along with global world trade. Therefore, the question that should come to our mind is whether all the rescue plans are effective or not.

Personally, I think the real problem is actually the credit market. The problem lies with the bankers. I mean, if you think about it, is it true that the consumers and the corporate do not want to borrow money? I think it is the banks that do not want to lend money to people. As a result, we are still trapped in this credit crisis.

Yes I know that the governments have been injecting money into those banks, especially in Europe and the United States. If the banks have gotten all the soft loans from the government, why are they not using that money to give out loans to their customers? Instead, they chose to use the money to give themselves fat bonuses.

So, the problem is the banks. And the governments need to focus on those banks. Although I prefer free market, I also believe that since the governments give those soft loans, they should be able to dictate what banks should do. And what banks should do is to give out loans. But then again, care should be taken when giving out loans to ensure sub-prime-crisis-part-two from happening.

I have some comments on Perak thingy, but I will save it for the next post.

FOCUS FOCUS FOCUS!!!

2009-02-08T12:05:00.002+08:00

I think at the moment, everyone is already aware of what is happening in Perak. Some call it a constitutional crisis, others call it political crisis but I think, it should be called a time-waster. For goodness’ sake, the whole world is facing the worst economic crisis since the 1930’s Great Depression. And instead of focusing on how to improve our economy, our politicians – so-called Wakil Rakyat’ – are not even putting the Rakyat’s interests at heart. All they care is about how to become and maintain their position as a government.

First of all, in an ideal democratic world, in a situation like this, a fresh election should be called so that the people can actually voice out their opinion through the ballot paper. But, one should take a holistic approach and I believe the Sultan of Perak took this approach. At the current economic crisis, should we be concerned about democracy or about having food on our table?

Let’s think for a while, and look around us carefully. Everyday, we are hearing news on how factories are cutting down production, some are even contemplating of closing down their plants. This creates a massive unemployment for our workforce. And I think most of you know someone in your life who had just graduated and still unable to find suitable jobs. And I have been looking at jobs section in The Star and my observation is that the Star Appointments are getting thinner. This paints a very gloomy picture on how our economy will move for at least the next two years.

And it pisses me off that the people who were supposed to work their ass off to help us are not even doing their job. They have been spending the last 11 months calculating their political future. They are ONLY concern about themselves. These are the kind of people who I wish they were dead on the day they were born. They are just like parasites sucking blood on their hosts (Rakyat). Be it from Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat, politicians are parasites. Their aim in life is how to enrich themselves with wealth by enslaving Rakyat. I HATE POLITICIANS!!!

If the tone of this entry offends anyone, I am not going to apologise because I don’t have to. I think politicians need to apologise to the Rakyat for not carrying out their job properly. Politicians need to bow down to prostrate at the Rakyat’s feet and ask for forgiveness. If the politicians want to be remembered as leaders – and respected as one – they need to start working hard to earn that position and the respect that comes with it.

Bukit Antarabangsa Tragedy.

2008-12-06T17:53:00.000+08:00

I just came back from Ulu Yam when I heard the news from my sister-in-law. And my heart goes to those who were affected. As at this afternoon, four were found dead while some are still trapped under the rubble and some were already relocated to Datuk Keramat.

For your information, this is the third time it happen this week. First is in Ulu Yam, then Jalan Semantan in Damansara. I am taken aback by Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s statement on not permitting hillside development because we should already have this policy since the Highland Towers tragedy. Don’t we already have this policy already or someone is not doing their job right?

OK, lets put this aside for a moment and focus on rescuing the survivors of the Bukit Antarabangsa landslide tragedy.

Wanita Wanita...

2008-11-15T18:48:00.000+08:00

Succession plan was never provided for under the party constitution. So, why bother having a so-called plan in the first place? Such succession plan will only work if the duration of the plan does not clash with party election. That is a simple politics 101, of which I am sure seasoned politicians like Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz know at the back of her head. And as one of the people who were vocal in asking Pak Lah not to defend his position as the party President, I think our Kak Dah would know already that her time is up.

But then again, if one wants to uphold the party constitution, Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz should defend her position because she has the nominations needed to contest in the Party Election in March 2009. Therefore, asking her not to contest is very wrong indeed. I would say, let Kak Dah defend her post because that is what the party members want. And at the same time, let Datuk Kamilla contest the Deputy Wanita Chief post because again, the members have spoken.

The question that we should be asking now is what should Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil do? She received nominations for both Wanita Chief and Deputy Chief. In this situation, she has a choice and we all should let her make her own decision. Whatever she chooses, we should respect her decision and when it is time to vote in March, delegates should vote for the right candidates based on their track record leaders.

The only way UMNO can survive is to have a paradigm shift in many aspects. UMNO should be more brave in throwing out irrelevant leaders – be more like Hang Jebat and Laksamana Bentan.

P.S. This is my personal opinion – not an advice.

Are You Listening?

2008-08-30T10:12:00.001+08:00

After the conclusion of the Permatang Pauh by election last Tuesday, I feel like I have to write something here – not as supporter of anybody but as a responsible Malaysian citizen. Firstly, congratulations to former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim for his victory. This victory is very much personal to Anwar because it is supposed to mark his comeback into Malaysian political scene. However, it is not really a victory when you managed to do something that people have already expected you to do. Say for example, people know that you would get full marks in your additional maths examination, by getting that full mark means nothing more than eating a cake with a fork. Having said that, winning the by election is still a success by any standard.

Secondly, the by election results showed us that at least the opposition still have a chance of winning an election. Some of you might not agree with me, but I still believe that if the government can rig election results, why would they let the oppositions win five states? Call me naïve but I am entitled to my own set of believes. And isn’t it weird that when the oppositions win the election, none of them alleged the ruling party of interfering with democratic process. All the talk about phantom voters is suddenly dead.

Third, with weak leaders comes weak government and this is what have to deal with right now. Malaysia is currently being led by a leader with lack of vision on how to propel this country to the next level. For the first time since the independence, this country is losing direction and running mad like a runaway train. Weak governments are government that is highly inconsistent – saying one thing but doing otherwise, making one big policy decision before reversing its decision thirty seconds later.

Fourth, inconsistent government signals uncertainty in the economy. This will drive away potential foreign investors into the country. When the country should be focusing on tackling the economy in this trying time, our politicians – so-called leaders – are busy politicking. People are suffering because their disposable income lesser than before. Hence, they will buy less due to decreasing purchasing power. Consumer demand will slow down, the industry will reduce supply. As a result, the economic output will be reduced and the economy will contract. Foreign investors will pull out their funds and what we will have is an economic recession. The RAKYAT is suffering, but again the leaders are still busy saving their own asses and achieving their political dreams.

Fifth, with Anwar Ibrahim keep on talking about toppling the ruling party, the economy became more and more uncertainty. Investors are afraid of uncertainty because it affects the way they do business. If Anwar Ibrahim really loves his country like he says he is, he would not do this to Malaysia. He would not even try to cause continuous uncertainty in the country, which is already bad enough with a wobbly government.

Sixth, Prime Minister Abdullah is now tainted with image of being incompetent. Deputy Najib is tainted with alleged sex and murder scandal. Former Deputy Anwar is tainted with alleged sexual misconduct. The way I see it, the three of them should just step aside, clean up their mess and live their life as a responsible Malaysian citizen. Just take a bow, call it a day and leave the political scene because I personally have had enough with all these dramas. And I assume Malaysians too are becoming sick of all these.

Finally, what we want is a government that can help the RAKYAT. A government that is efficient at doing their job. A government that always have the RAKYAT’s best interests at heart. A government that is competent, consistent and accountable in all of their actions.

A Working Adult.

2008-08-27T20:53:00.000+08:00

Last Friday would be two weeks since I started working and I have to say that working life is not that bad at all. I mean, it is a hassle having to wake up early in the morning to go to work, but I have been doing that since I was 11 years old anyway. So, that was not really a problem to me.

Since I just started working, I am still a Management Trainee and right now I am working in the International Fund Management Department (IFMD). PNB invests money in both Malaysia and abroad, so the main job of IFMD is to invest PNB’s money in overseas capital market. May I add here that the money that PNB uses for international investments are PNB’s money, which means, IFMD does not use the money from the unit trusts managed by ASNB.

So what have I been doing for the past two weeks? I am currently working on a standardised economic fact sheet so that our portfolio managers would have all economic data readily available at the tip of their fingers. And yes, preparing fact sheets is tedious and really takes a LOT of your time. Besides, not all information are available for every country, so basically I spent most of my time searching for the correct data before putting it into the fact sheets.

How are my colleagues? They are very friendly and helpful whenever I need to ask help or anything. Some of them took their time explaining things that I find difficult to comprehend while some even sat down with me to demonstrate few things so that I would do things correctly.

To be honest, I am having a great time at the office and I am looking forward to learn more new things in the near future. I will be working in IFMD until Aidil Fitri before I will start my Management Trainee Programme for a month. And of course, the best part is when you start to get your monthly salary in you bank account at the end of the month. Haha.

Black 26.

2008-08-26T21:18:00.003+08:00

I have not been updating my blog because I am in the middle of getting myself to working life. I will write more on that in other entry. But for now, I just want to express my sadness over the Black 26. I can only hope and pray that things will get better after this.

P.S. Working life can be both fun and boring at the same time.

Majlis Ekonomi?

2008-08-08T12:40:00.000+08:00

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced two days ago that a ‘Majlis Ekonomi’ will be set up to tackle economic problems in this country. This council will help the government to come up with solutions to lower inflation and slow economic growth.

While I welcome this move – albeit too late – I also have to ask one question. During the economic crisis of 1998, the government at that time set up Majlis Tindakan Ekonomi Negara (MTEN), which eventually helped the country to get out of the recession. For many years after that, MTEN was also involved in helping the government to write their annual budget. My question is, why do we need another Majlis Ekonomi? What the hell happen to MTEN? Is MTEN not qualified enough? Or is MTEN no longer exist?

As usual, my question will be left unanswered but that is not my main concern. My only concern is for whether this so-called Majlis Ekonomi can come up with anything solid to ease the burden of my fellow Malaysians during this difficult time.

Warning: Democracy Kills.

2008-08-06T14:17:00.000+08:00

Apparently, to our so-called leaders, democracy kills. Therefore, democracy must be avoided at any costs. I am talking about this one political party that supposed to represent the Malays in Malaysia. I have always have a soft spot for this one political party. However, lately, I am beginning to have my doubt. I mean, how can I continue to support a political party that has no respect towards democracy? But then again, there is no such political party anyway in this country.

Going back to this political party, how can the supreme council of the party recommend the members not to contest in certain positions? I find it absurd that an elected leader of a party can name his/her successor, who is also supposed to be elected by the members. Who gave them the rights to name his/her successor? A Prime Minister can do that because it is his prerogative in choosing his successor. But an elected leader of a party does not have such privileges. In fact, he cannot even recommend to the members who they should vote – at least not directly.

People who are in elected positions do not have the right whatsoever to write a succession plan. They come as they are elected and they go when they resign or fail to get re-elected. That’s how democracy works – in case they do not know yet.

P.S. Wake up and smell the coffee.

Was It Our Fault?

2008-07-31T17:34:00.000+08:00

Was it our fault?

Have you ever been kicked in the nut after being punched in your stomach? I think most Malaysians would say yes to that question. Only after not less than two months of announcing the biggest fuel prices hike in history, few days ago the government also agreed to increase fares for express bus services. The government stopped short of saying by how much the fare will be increased.

Like I said in my last entry, the people who are badly affected by this difficult time are the low income people who probably have been using the same Kancil 660cc for the past 10 years. They might have 4-5 kids who are still in school. Taking up advice by their beloved Deputy Prime Minister to change their lifestyle, they seek to lower their travelling expenses by taking express bus services to go to their hometown. But now, even than last ray of hope looks bleak.

I also read in The Star yesterday how students are struggling especially in buying books. I’m talking about the college and university level. My significant other asked me to buy some of her books from the UK (mind you that Pound Sterling is six times more expensive than Ringgit) because even with the inclusion of shipping costs, she saved more than RM200. That might not seem a lot, but if you have to spend RM1000 for books, to save RM200 is good enough. Which begs another question, why on earth that books in Malaysia are so damn expensive?

I blame the government.

Kafe MU Pit Stop.

2008-07-26T11:49:00.001+08:00

I think it is quite difficult nowadays to dine at an affordable restaurant with a character. Most cheap restaurants today are just there to do a business – to shove food down your throat. But this morning, I went to a small restaurant at Taman Melati and I think restaurants should be like this. A restaurant should be about service to customers. A restaurant should be about selling dining experience.

This restaurant is called Kafe MU Pit Stop. Although the name has the word café in it, I don’t for one second think that that it was in fact a café. It is simply because it is really a restaurant. Why do I say that the restaurant has characters? Once you go inside the restaurant, you will notice that it is just like your typical restaurant but you will also notice the old advertisements of Coca Cola and cigarettes hanging on the wall. On the right side of the restaurant, there are three glass shelves that housed antique cameras and miniature cars. There are also two or three antique radios and telephones. You would also be able to see a desktop that can be used to surf internet for free along with free wifi that you can use with your laptop or PDA.

On the food side, I ordered Nasi Lemak, Mee Bandung, Soto and Roti Bakar. The Nasi Lemak was very nice especially when coupled with an exquisite Sambal Ikan Bilis. I also took Sambal Sotong and that too was very delicious but a little heavy on the Belacan side. The Mee Bandung was up to standard but could be better with more spices. The Soto on the other hand, was a little bit too spicy but still, not something that I would complain about. The most important thing is, the food there tasted like home-cooked food rather than from a food producing factory.

If you want a decent meal in a nice restaurant that will make you feel at home, then, why not head to Kafe MU Pit Stop at Taman Melati, Kuala Lumpur.

P.S. MU stands for Melati Utama and not Manchester United. The restaurant owner is actually a Liverpool fan. And the Kafe did not pay me to write this entry.

Enough!!!

2008-07-25T20:20:00.000+08:00

I think the time has come for everyone – from all walks of life – to express their dissatisfaction at our politicians. This madness has got to stop. I mean, we – the rakyat – struggling to make ends meet and our politicians are more engrossed with their own problems (political and/or private).

I suggest that those politicians to take one step back and look at how the people struggle to live their lives in this difficult time. I mean, the rate of inflation is already 7% and soon, the central bank will increase interest rate. Someone made a remark the other day about how Malaysians are still out at the mall on a shopping spree, which means, Malaysians are not that affected by the increase in costs of living. But, what that someone failed to notice is that the ones affected are the low income people who had no other ways to change their lifestyle due to higher costs of living. I mean, the middle income people can change their lifestyle because their lifestyle consists of necessities and extras, such as eating out, holidays etc. But the low income people are already living a very basic life. How else can we expect them to change their lifestyle? These people are the ones who are badly affected by the high costs of living nowadays.

Unfortunately, our politicians are more interested in saving their own asses than concentrating on these people. One politician is busy meeting his party divisional heads trying to salvage his already dying political career. One politician is busy fighting rumours about his involvement with a murder case. One politician is busy clearing his name from an alleged sexual misconduct. There are also politicians who are busy defending their decisions to pamper themselves with luxury cars. The list can go on and on. But none of them seem to care about – at least to me – the plight of the rakyat today.

Honestly, I am exhausted by all these political dramas. Politicians who are more interested in their own personal matters should resign from being politicians.

Rants.

2008-07-16T11:22:00.000+08:00

On UMNO.

I don’t understand why all these Badan Perhubungan UMNO Negeri are already nominating Prime Minister Abdullah and Deputy Prime Minister Najib as the President and Deputy President of UMNO. I mean, according to the party constitution, only UMNO division can nominate anyone for anything. Don’t they know the constitution of their own party? Or are those some kind of hint (read instruction) to the UMNO Divisions to do the same. I don’t care if UMNO already have a transition plan in place, because when it comes to democracy, nothing else matters (and I do not mean street demonstration). So, I guess the UMNO leaders should just let the division to make up their own mind on who to nominate.

And what about this so-called 2-year transition plan. How can Prime Minister Abdullah name Deputy Najib as his successor in two years’ time when UMNO election is coming in 5 months’ time? How can he be so sure that Deputy Najib will still be there after the December election? And Deputy Najib was ‘terharu’ for being selected by the Prime Minister, how can you be ‘terharu’ when he already said the same thing right after the 8th March General Election?

And don’t get me started with the super long transition period.

On Fuel Debate Last Night.

What a waste of money and time. What good can come out of it? The debate last night was just another way for the government to defend themselves why they increased fuel prices and another opportunity for Datuk Seri Anwar to be under the spotlight. I am surprised at the fact that he can still attend the debate when a warrant had already been issued to arrest him (I guess someone like him has to have some preferential treatment right?). Going back to the debate, that kind of debate should be done during campaign period before the election. Because after people listen to the debate, they can make up their mind on who they should vote. When it is done after the election like last night – that’s what we called bunkum.

On another note, I am glad that Datuk Seri Anwar actually said how is he going to reduce fuel prices – and not by using Petronas’ earnings.

23

2008-07-15T14:00:00.000+08:00

I went to have lunch with a friend of mine who is currently working at Menara Maxis yesterday. He paid for the lunch.

As I watched him paying for our meal, I realised that he is paying with the money that he earned. And it hit me that I am soon going to be just like him. I’ll be working in a month’s time and I would do the same. As at 3.21 in the morning today, I am 23 years old. I cannot believe that I am now 23 years old. I have completed my degree with a result that I never thought I could get. I have my first scooter. I have friends who are already working from 9 to 5 every single day. I have friends who are already married, some of them even have kids of their own. I guess, I am slowly but surely becoming an adult. And adult who will be responsible in making my own decision.

I always ask my friends what have they accomplished on their birthday and now I am going to ask myself the same question. At least I have accomplished my academic goals – for now. It is now the time to start to set new goals to be achieved.

I love every bit of my life and I have to thank my family, my significant other and my friends who had been with me throughout the 23 years of my life. Thank you very much.

F**K Politicians.

2008-07-03T09:46:00.001+08:00

DEAR STUPID MALAYSIAN POLITICIANS,

FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, STOP ALL THIS CONSPIRACY THEORIES BULLSH*T. IT IS TIME TO WORK ON OUR NOT-SO-GROWING ECONOMY.

THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO CANNOT SLEEP AT NIGHT THINKING ABOUT HOW TO FEED THEIR KIDS TOMORROW. THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO CANNOT SLEEP AT NIGHT THINKING HOW TO PAY THIS MONTH’S BILLS.

FOR HEAVEN’S SAKE LET FOCUS OUR ATTENTION TO DEVELOP THIS COUNTRY, TO LOWER OUR RATE OF INFLATION, TO REDUCE UNEMPLOYMENT, TO SET A NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE AND TO ACTUALLY INCREASE OUR STANDARD OF LIVING.

FRUSTRATED CITIZEN.

P.S. It is essential that capital letters are used in this post to show how frustrated I am with our self-centered politicians – and that means all Malaysian politicians.

P.P.S. I’m finally back in Malaysia.

P.P.P.S. Sorry for the language. Except that I am not sorry at all.

Au Revoir.

2008-07-01T05:00:00.002+08:00

“Another summer day,
Has come and gone away,
In Paris and London,
But I want to go home.”

This would effectively be my last entry written while I am still in the UK. And by the time you read this, hopefully I would be onboard MH0001 to Kuala Lumpur. For the next thirteen hours, I will be thinking about my new life – life after university.

“May be surrounded by a million people,
I still feel all alone,
I just want to go home,
I miss you, you know.”

I still in a state of disbelief thinking that I have finally finished my formal education years. I mean, I can still continue to study Masters in the future, but as for now, I’m going to stop here and get a taste of working life. My friends who have started working warned me that working life sucks, so, I guess I’ll get to see how sucks it is in the next few months.

“Another aeroplane,
Another sunny place,
I’m lucky I know,
But I want to go home.”

But to be honest, I am actually looking forward to work. Probably because it would be a new thing and it is supposed to be exciting. Ok, maybe working with PNB will never be exciting, but still, working should be totally different from studying. Therefore, in that sense it will be exciting.

“Another winter day,
Has come and gone away,
In even Paris and Rome,
And I want to go home.”

I cannot wait to see my family once again and of course, I cannot wait to reunite with my other half after spending almost three years 12000km apart. This day has finally come, thirteen hours from now, I will be back in Malaysia.

“I’ve had my run,
Baby, I’m done,
I’ll be home tonight,
I’m coming back home.”

P.S. Bon Voyage!!!

Noise. Just Noise.

2008-06-29T17:00:00.001+08:00

A company should be run like a company and not like a charity organisation or a political party. And I personally believe that that is what the Malaysian government should learn to do. Look at how the government runs Malaysia Airlines and Proton and you will know what I mean.

I know, some of you might say that, if the Malaysia Airlines did not get any help from the government, the company will go bust. The problem is, when the national carrier had a severe cash flow problem few years back, it was due to mismanagement by the management team. And not because of the company is incompetent to compete in the market. Granted, Malaysia Airlines might not be the best airline in the world, but it is not an embarrassment as well.

Why am I talking about this? Well, I heard a news that finally MAS will withdraw the New York-Stockholm-Kuala Lumpur route in due time. They actually wanted to axe the route during the 2006 route rationalisation plan but the government decided to meddle and asked the airline company to maintain that route, presumably for prestige reasons. But now, I guess, if you cannot turn a product (the New York-Kuala Lumpur route) from loss-making into profit-making, you have no choice but to cancel it altogether. I am sad, but I hope that this is for the best for the airline company.

As for Proton, their problem is huge. The car company produces relatively cheaper cars in a not-so-high-income country but still trails behind other carmakers in terms of market share. That is so weird. Well, not that weird, considering Proton cars are not that good anyway (quality wise). I mean, Proton can actually produce a decent car (ride and handling wise) but when it comes to quality, they just suck. Few days ago, Proton launched “Zero-Defect” campaign in order to drive up the quality of their cars. I wish them a lot of luck with that.

Finally for Petronas, the government needs to wake up and realize that the oil compny is not a huge piggy bank. It is company and should be run as one. Petronas needs to retain their profits to fund their oil exploration programmes because, let us face it, oil exploration is becoming more and more expensive these days. Petronas’ job is to find oil and sell them for profit and find more oil and sell them for more profit. Not to give ‘loan’ to government on ‘as needed’ basis.

There you go, another one of my ranting.

P.S. I’m leaving for Kuala Lumpur tomorrow.

An Imperial College Graduate.

2008-06-28T17:00:00.001+08:00

“And so we talked all night about the rest of our lives,
Where we're gonna be when we turn 25,
I keep thinking times will never change,
Keep on thinking things will always be the same.”

It feels as if it was yesterday, I arrived in Wye beginning another chapter of my life. And after three years, this day has finally come. Today, I will be leaving Wye for good. I’ll leave Wye to start another new chapter of my life. It is not like I had never expected that this day would finally come but I just cannot believe how fast time passes by.

“But when we leave this year we won't be coming back,
No more hanging out cause we're on a different track,
And if you got something that you need to say,
You better say it right now cause you don't have another day.”

I have to admit that, when I first came to Wye, I hated this place. I was alone, I had no friends and everything seems so different and I felt like I was thrown onto another planet – if not another universe. But then, I began to meet some people who eventually became my very good friends. I guess, it is part and parcel of studying. You go somewhere to study and when the time comes, you have to pack up and leave. Sometimes, I do feel a bit unlucky when compared to my Malaysian friends in other universities. When they graduate, they would still be able to see at least their other Malaysian friends in Malaysia. As for me – being the only Malaysian here – when I leave Wye today, there is a slim chance that I will see my friends again. I would only see them if they come to Malaysia or I come to the UK.

“As we go on, we remember,
All the times we had together,
And as our lives change, come whatever,
We will still be, friends forever.”

I wish all my friends all the best in their future. I have met many friends in Wye, some of them became my closest friends. Sometimes, I cannot believe that I only have this short period to know them, but I guess, that’s life. It has been a great pleasure to know people like Benedict, Freddy, Fatih and Cheeno and I wish I don’t have to say goodbye. But the time has come, I have to say goodbye to them. This goodbye may not be forever but it will seem like it is.

“Will we think about tomorrow like we think about now?
Can we survive it out there? Can we make it somehow?
I guess I thought that this would never end,
And suddenly it's like we're women and men,
Will the past be a shadow that will follow us round?
Will these memories fade when I leave this town,
I keep, I keep thinking that it's not goodbye,
Keep on thinking it's a time to fly.”

P.S. Goodbye Wye.

All Packed Up.

2008-06-27T17:52:00.001+08:00

All my bags are packed and I am ready to go. My hall rental agreement expires tomorrow and I’ll leave Wye and stay in London for two nights. On Monday night, I will leave the United Kingdom for Malaysia.

It feels a bit weird looking at your half empty room, as if, you just arrived. This room had been my home for the final two years of my university life. And I love every bit of it. It is going to be emotional for me when I finally say goodbye to K15 tomorrow.

But, just to make you and me happy, let us hear this song by Jason Mraz called, I’m Yours.

Alhamdulillah.

2008-06-25T23:00:00.000+08:00

When I came to Wye on the 30th September 2005, I had only one goal, that is to redeem myself after screwing up my A-level. I was broken and I felt like the world almost collapsed on me at that time. And throughout these three years, the nightmare of A-level keeps on haunting me like a ghost that just will not go away.

And today, I woke up knowing that the day that I have been waiting for has finally come. Today is the moment of truth and I could only pray and hope for the best. I think I can safely say that I have tried my best in all the things that I can do. And the rest is up to God.

I went to the teaching office just before lunch, after my friend told me that the result is ready to be collected. I went there, told them my name and an envelope was handed over to me. I opened it and there it was, every letter on that piece of paper was screaming ecstatically at me.

All I can say is, all praise be to Allah for giving me this day. I have finally redeemed myself. Alhamdulillah.

Counting Days till Wednesday.

2008-06-24T04:15:00.000+08:00

Three years of working your degree, now, it all boils down to Wednesday. If the US Presidential Election had a Super Tuesday, I would call this Wednesday the Super Wednesday.

I am praying and hoping for the best. Amen.

P.S. Apparently the motion of vote-of-no-confidence against the PM was just a gimmick by SAPP.

Short Break in Newcastle.

2008-06-19T17:00:00.001+08:00

I am currently in Newcastle and will only be back in Wye on Saturday. Why am I here? Well…I’m trying to spend some time with a few of my friends and actually waiting for my exam result to come out. It is hard actually, trying to enjoy your holiday while at the same time trying not to think about the results. But, just like one of my friends said, thinking about it will not change the results, so, I hope I will enjoy my two days in Newcastle.

I guess, I’ll see you again on Saturday or Sunday.

Newsflash for PM.

2008-06-18T17:30:00.000+08:00

When the newspaper reported yesterday that one of Barisan Nasional component parties will be making an announcement today, I began to sense that the announcement will be a big one. Especially after there had been rumours going around about the party leaving the coalition. And when I woke up this morning, turns out, I am right.

Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) announced today that when the parliament begins its new session next Monday, their MPs will table a motion of no confidence against the Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. For you information, such motion would be the first in the history of Malaysian politics.

What are the implications of this motion? Firstly, the motion has to be approved by the Speaker. Only then the vote of no confidence will be taken. If majority members of the house voted against the Prime Minister, he would have no choice but to tender his resignation. When this happens, the King would have two choices, either to appoint a new Prime Minister among the members of the house, of which in his opinion has the majority support or to call a fresh General Election.

However, the whole point of a vote of no confidence is usually to topple a government – not just the Prime Minister. Therefore, it would be interesting to see what will happen on Monday. If I am not mistaken, SAPP only has two MPs in the parliament, therefore, on the face of it, it looks like they are literally sticking their neck out on the chopping block. But, they could also be the hero of the day, championing the cause of its supporters – the Sabahans.

Let us wait till Monday and find out.

How to Kill Your Time?

2008-06-16T17:00:00.001+08:00

A friend of mine introduced me to VideoJug and I have to say that this website is not that bad, to be honest. From the surface, it looks just like any other video sharing websites such as YouTube, Metacafe, Dailymotion and etc. But it is not in two ways, firstly most of the videos uploaded
on the website are made by the company itself. Secondly, the videos on VideoJug have only one theme that is How-To videos. If you are familiar with HowStuffWorks, VideoJug is exactly like that but instead of in written articles it is in video form. So basically, to sum up, it is a more interesting version of HowStuffWorks.

I spent few hours on VideoJug on Friday and I found that the website is very interesting because not just the videos are informative, some of them are actually very funny. You can get tips from how to tie a tie to how to tell if a girl is attracted to you. There are also videos on how to take a good photograph and how to be a perfect boyfriend.

The videos on VideoJug covers a wide range of categories, among them are Food and Drink, Love and Sex, Beauty and Style, Sports and Fitness and many more. Like I said, if you like HowStuffWorks, there is a chance that you would like VideoJug. To get you started, here is a video on how to make an origami swan. Enjoy!

How To Make An Origami Swan

Happy Fathers' Day!

2008-06-15T17:00:00.000+08:00

I would like to wish a very happy Fathers’ Day to all fathers all over the world. And of course I would also like to wish Happy Fathers’ Day to my DAD who is at home now or out celebrating the day with my brother and my sister-in-law. Also the same wish goes to my brother (a father to a son and a daughter) and my brother-in-law (a father to two daughters and a son). I hope they all are having a very good time in Malaysia today.

Special thanks to my Dad for always there to support me throughout my entire life. I haven’t said enough, I do love you. And I cannot wait to fly home to Malaysia in two weeks’ time to see you and of course the rest of the family.

Once again, Happy Fathers’ Day to all!!!

More Rants About Fuel Prices.

2008-06-14T17:00:00.001+08:00

Should the fuel prices in Malaysia be increased? I would say it has to at some point and increasing it now is better than later right? Well, depends on where you stand, there is a big chance that you might not agree with me. First of all, the oil subsidies already costing the government up to RM53 billion annually, which is a huge amount of money. Secondly, other countries have already beginning to tax fuel when our country is still continuing to subsidise fuel. And third, letting the fuel prices to float at market level might actually allow us to use cheap fuel when the oil price goes down (if it goes down, that is).

So, what is wrong with this increase?

Firstly, last year, the government announced that the civil servant got an increase in salary by 35% and at the same time, household prices increased by 20%. And now, the fuel prices increased between 40% and 63%, which basically means the previous increased in salary is now meaningless. Another thing, the civil servant got an increased in salary last year but the private sectors did not increase wages. Basically, what we have is almost stagnant growth in wages but an escalating cost of living. And that will bring down our standard of living because with our current income, we can no longer enjoy higher quality and varieties goods and services in the market.

Second, is that the increase in fuel prices is a little bit too abrupt for many Malaysians. At least, the government could have warned the people that the prices will be hiked at some point in the future before actually increasing them. What happened was that a certain minister said that the prices will be increased in August only to increase the price two days after that. Basically, Malaysians was caught off guard and the fact that the hike was done in the middle of the month made things worst. If say, the prices were increased near the end of the month, most people would get their monthly salary around that time and would be able to adjust their fuel consumption behaviour accordingly.

Third, by not making a hasty decision like now, the government would then be able to roll-out better subsidising policy and measures to help the people to cope with the increase costs of living. What the government did was banning foreign cars from buying fuel in Malaysia only to take a u-turn a week later. The government also announced that the new prices will actually fluctuate every month depending on the world oil prices but yesterday announced that the prices will be maintained until next year. The government announced a new cash-rebate system that will only be implemented for a year until they come up with a better way to subsidise those in needs. These are evidences of how hasty was the decision to increase fuel prices. It was as if, there were no studies regarding the matter and it seems to me that the government just flipped a coin to decide what to do next.

I know that I am rambling over here but we do live in a democratic country don’t we? Again, I am all for the increase because it has to happen – face the reality – but I am a little bit unhappy at the how the whole situation is being handled.

P.S. It should be interesting to note that in the UK, fuel consumption has decreased by 20% as a result of 15% increase in fuel prices over the past year. What do you think about that?

Malay Terrorist.

2008-06-13T16:23:00.006+08:00

UPDATE: Yeah two people already told me that this is an old video and was withdrawn due to complaints from the Malaysian government.

If I am not mistaken, the Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister, on Tuesday, described the UK-Malaysia relationship as a very good one. Now, please watch the video below and think about it. Thank you to a friend of mine for giving me the link.

On another note, it is one good recruitment advertisement indeed. I wonder when can Malaysian army come up with an advertisement as good as this.

Real Prices of Cars.

2008-06-11T01:04:00.009+08:00

The Malaysian government is planning to make Malaysians pay the real price of fuel by August this year. This will be done by removing fuel subsidies altogether. This means – correct me if I’m wrong – from August onwards, the fuel prices will go higher than the current level. The government said that the fuel prices will be reviewed every month to follow the world prices. What this means is, when the prices go up, the domestic prices will go up as well – minus 30 cent (the capped subsidies that will still be given by the government). Whether the government will reduce prices of fuel should the world prices go down remains to be seen.

This brings with it another question to the Malaysians. If we now have to pay real prices for fuel, should we also pay real prices for our cars? Let me illustrate this to you. Let us start with a basic model of Honda City i-DSI. The price for the car sold in Peninsular Malaysia is RM 79,800.00 (On-the-road with insurance). The price for the same model in Langkawi Island is RM 53,800.00 (On-the-road with insurance). This means car buyers in Peninsular Malaysia is paying a premium of 48% from the buyers in the Island. Assuming Honda Malaysia behaves rationally (profit maximisation behaviour), this means at Langkawi price, the company would still be making profit per car. If this assumption holds, why are we paying RM 26,000 more for the same car? As you might already know, Langkawi is a Duty Free Zone, which means, Honda City sold in Langkawi is free from duty. This is what I mean when I ask, should we pay the real prices for our cars as well? And this is the question that our government has been trying to avoid when they announced the new fuel prices last week.

Let us look at another example, Toyota Fortuner 2.5V. In Langkawi, the selling price for tha Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) is RM 99,014.63 (On-the-road with insurance) while the price in Peninsular is RM 171,494.09 (On-the-road with insurance). Again, the buyers are paying 73% extra, which can be translated into an excess of RM 72,479.46. Why do we have to pay this ridiculous amount of taxes and duties when at the same time we already have to pay the real fuel prices?

Don’t get me wrong, I am not asking for subsidies-for-life programme but I just hope that the economists in the government to consider a concept in economics, which is called, the compensated demand curve. This means, a change in one thing should be compensated with a change in another to maintain the same utility level of the people. The prices of fuel have to go up – no doubt about that – but other measures need to be done to lessen the impact of it on people. Moreover, this is not just about making life more affordable to the average Malaysian but also to ensure that our country will not be hit by hyperinflation. God forbid that from happening.

And to the government, don’t go around and tell the Malaysians that our fuel prices are still among the cheapest in the world because in reality it is not. You can read an analysis on that here. In the meantime, why don’t you head here and have some laugh.

P.S. Weather forecast says that the hot sunny weather over England will end tomorrow. Sigh. Enjoy it while you still can people!!!

SOURCE: Honda, Toyota, asia.vtec.net, and sonirodban.com

European Army??

2008-06-06T19:43:00.001+08:00

I just read a piece of news on BBC about the idea of having a European army. Should I be scared? Is it not enough with the world having to deal with the US army invading Iraq and Afghanistan? And I haven’t included the UK army in the equation yet.

Why on earth the European community would need an army? Can’t just the individual countries just find ways to coordinate their armies together? Ok, the basis for having a European army is for defence and peacekeeping role. But, what guarantee can the European Union give that that will be it? That the new army will not be used for another pre-emptive strike against any region or country?

I am happy to support – not that it matters anyway – for the establishment of such organisation if the purpose of the army is just for defence and peacekeeping. And to be honest, I don’t think the UK will support any move towards having a European army, especially not after the Iraq fiasco.

On another matter, albeit slightly too late, I condemned the Malaysian government for not sticking to their words. I condemned them for announcing that the fuel prices will be increased in August but then suddenly increased them two months earlier. For once, can’t the government say one thing and just do it? Not say one thing and do another.

As you can see from the above counter, I am going back to Malaysia on the 30th of June 2008. Till then, I will be spending my time in Wye, savouring every bit of it while I still can.

P.S. Some people are just born to be jerk aren’t they? I guess they are. I mean, he is.

KLIA - A Hub?

2008-06-06T06:55:00.000+08:00

Jetstar had just announced that they will discontinue Kuala Lumpur-Sydney route after September 2008. This is not a surprise news but a very sad news indeed. It is not a surprise because Qantas, Jetstar parent company, had announced a few days earlier that they will reduce their flight capacity. And other airline companies like RyanAir and British Airways also had announced that the plan to reduce capacity is in the pipeline, depending on the jet fuel price in the market.

I guess, in trying times like these, it is better for airline companies to rationalise their routes and only fly to routes that will the most yield possible. Actually, the most optimum route would be the route that will give the highest revenue per available seat-kilometre (RASK). And according to Jetstar, the reason for the withdrawal from Kuala Lumpur was to free up airplanes to fly to Japan. So, I guess, we can now say that the Japan routes generate more RASK than Kuala Lumpur.

This is a sad news because, there had been rumours about Jetstar wanting to use Kuala Lumpur as a stopover to launch Europe routes. But, hey, I guess we can throw that rumour out of the window by now. There you go, just another blow to Kuala Lumpur in its dream to compete with Singapore and Bangkok as a regional air transport hub.

Brace! Brace! Brace!

2008-06-04T19:23:00.000+08:00

Petrol prices will be increased by 40% and 63% effective 12 midnight 5th June 2008. The old price for petrol was RM1.92 now, it will be RM2.70 and the new price for diesel is RM2.58 as opposed to the old price of RM1.58.

Under the new system, people who use cars under 2000cc will be getting an annual cash rebate of RM625, while motorcyclists will be getting RM120. This cash rebate can be claimed when these people renew their road tax.

I am speechless. I really don’t know what to say about this.

Although, I have to ask the government this question, what the government intends to do with the savings in fuel subsidies as a result of the new prices?

What do people say about this?

“This is ridiculous. There would be more transaction costs to consumers and the government in claiming the annual cash rebate.”

“There would be a ripple effect as a result of this. The increase in the price of fuel would push transportation costs for businesses. This means, a lot of household products would become more expensive.”

“Will the government invest more money into public transportation system as a result of this?”

The problem with our country is, our costs of living keep climbing up but not with a faster pace than the climb in wages. As a result, our standard of living will fall. This might not be apparent now, but it will be in the future because this is where we are heading right now.

Increase in costs of living is good. But only if it is being followed by at least the same increase in wages. Because then, our standard of living will also increase. If things continue the way they are now, I’m afraid we would have to brace ourselves for the prospect of hyperinflation in the near future. So help us God!

SOURCE: paultan.org

Fuel Subsidies, Anyone?

2008-06-04T04:15:00.002+08:00

I guess, I am about to enter my working life at the wrong time. At the time when I am thinking about buying my first car, the government is thinking of removing fuel subsidies altogether. It is not like I do not see this coming because the previous Prime Minister had been warning people that the fuel subsidies will be removed at some point in the future. And apparently, that future is now.

The government is thinking of a new way to subsidise fuel so that only people who need them will benefit from the subsidies. And I have been hearing that a card-based subsidy would be used. I think I can picture it in my mind because I saw it when my brother got a fuel credit card from his company. It is just like a normal credit card where you just swipe it at the pump and just refuel your car as usual. The thing is, my brother got a RM300 monthly fuel allowance. So, when he reached the limit, the pump will just stop automatically and will give out the receipt. Let say he wants to continue refuelling, he just has to pay from his own pocket.

The good thing about this kind of system is, the subsidy would be limited to a certain amount and will encourage those who would get the card to not waste their monthly allowance by using petrol excessively. Plus, this kind of system would also help to prevent gray market of petrol from existing.

However, the problem is with the card itself because who should get this card? Will it be based on the car or income? And how many card can a person gets? Assuming he has two cars that is registered under his name but one of the cars is for his wife, can he apply for two cards? Can his wife apply?

The government has been saying that it might use MyKad as the subsidy card. But, again, will the subsidy based on income or the type of car?

I cannot wait for the Prime Minister to announce parts of the plan on Wednesday. Hopefully, this time around, the government will actually come up with a brilliant idea.

P.S. Now, what car should I buy? :P

Post-Exam.

2008-05-30T15:58:00.003+08:00

"Stop writing."

In most exams, once you hear that phrase, you would be wishing for more time so that you could finish your last sentence. Yesterday, that phrase was like a ringing bell, reminding me of the fact that I am no longer a student. Sure, I might do Masters in the future, but for now, I am actually out of the formal education system. No more assignments to write, no more lectures to go. Just me.

So, as the popular question goes, "How was it?"

The exam was OK I guess. I want to say that I am happy with the effort that I've put in, but I know that if only I have more than three hours to do each paper, I'd be able to write better answers. But hey, I only had three hours, so, let us just say I'm happy with the effort that I had given during the allocated three hours. Hmm...actually happy would be too strong, the actual word that I'd choose instead is, content.

But then again, I cannot speculate on the sort of marks that I would get because, at the end of the day, it is not you who are going to decide what mark will I get. I just hope and pray to Allah that everything will go the way I hope it is going to be. Amen to that :)

The second most popular question is, "How's freedom?"

I wish I could say, FANTASTIC. But, as you might know, I am now being hit by a post-exam syndrome. Where, you actually have a lot of things to do in your mind, but you just don't know which one that you want to do first. And you'll end up sleeping for the whole day. Haha. But actually, I have not slept since yesterday. Well, I did sleep at three in the morning last night.

Last night, I had nice dinner with some of my close friends, whom I might not even see again until October for our graduation. One of my friends is going to Dubai to help with his family business. Another one will take a gap year and travel the world. Another friend of mine will continue with a law conversion course since he wants to become a lawyer. As I listened to their post-study plan, I realized that this is the time, where you get to end your life as an undergraduate and start to chart the way that you'll live your life. To be honest, I still cannot believe that this day has finally come. I don't know whether I am happy or anxious. I guess, time will tell :)

And tonight, I'll be having dinner with some of my friends from the second year. They're having their last paper today - now actually. I guess, I'll continue next time. Bye.

No Longer a Student!

2008-05-30T05:30:00.002+08:00

I just want to say that as of today, I am no longer a student.

Final Exam.

2008-04-26T21:50:00.000+08:00

As you can see, I only have three weeks left before my final exam starts. This would be my last exam as a university student.

Monday 19th May 2008 - Statistics & Econometrics

Wednesday 21st May 2008 - Human Resource Management

Friday 23rd May 2008 - Financial Management

Tuesday 27th May 2008 - Business Economics

Wednesday 28th May 2008 - Business Information Systems

Thursday 29th May 2008 - International Marketing

"Oh Allah, make useful for me what you have taught me and teach me knowledge that will be useful to me. Oh Allah, I ask you for the understanding of the prophets and the memory of the messengers, and those nearest to You. Oh Allah, make my tongue full of your remembrance and my heart with consciousness of You. Oh Allah, You do whatever You wish, and You are my availer and protector and best of aid.

Blessings of Allah be upon Muhammad and his progeny. Oh Allah, I ask you, the one who mentions goodness and actualizes it and commands it, remind me of that which satan makes me forget.

Oh Allah, nothing is easy except what You have made easy. If You wish, You can make the difficult easy.

Oh Allah, I seek refuge in You from worry and grief, from helplessness and laziness, from cowardice and stinginess, and from overpowering of debt and from oppression of men.

Oh Allah, I entrust you with what I have read and I have studied. Oh Allah, bring it back to me when I am in need of it. Oh Allah, You do whatever You wish, You are my availer and protector and the best of aid."

Hibiscus Papa Delta.

2008-04-23T20:52:00.003+08:00

Malaysia Airlines (MH) is going to repaint one of its jumbo jets (registered as 9M-MPD), which is now painted with the Hibiscus livery, into the original MH livery. This simple move would actually save the airline company up to RM900,000 annually. The reason is because according to some sources, the colour red, is the heaviest colour there is and therefore, is expensive to maintain, in terms of fuel usage. The savings mentioned earlier is the savings from not having to carry that red paint. As you might already know, the original MH livery is the normal white upper body and grey lower body with two thin blue and red stripes running in between the white and grey body.

I guess the livery would have to go at one time anyway, but I was just hoping that it would go later rather than sooner. I have not even been in any of the hibiscus yet. For your information, there are two Hibiscuses – the 9M-MPD and 9M-MPB. There is also another special livery adorning MH’s Triple Seven – 9M-MRD – with a livery called Helicornia.

So, I just would like to use this opportunity to bid farewell to Hibiscus Papa Delta. You will be missed.

Mecca Meridian Time.

2008-04-22T18:31:00.001+08:00

What do you think about MMT – Mecca Meridian Time? Apparently, during a conference in Qatar, Muslim clerics and scientists are calling for the adoption of time as the point of reference instead of Greenwich Meridian Time (GMT). The reason for this is because geologists have found that lies in prefect alignment with the magnetic north.

Mecca, has been the direction all Muslims face when they perform their daily prayers. I applaud them for actually having this kind of studies to enrich the knowledge of the Muslims about science and technology. And this news is a fresh breath to me especially because I am tired of hearing news about extremism among Muslims.

However, regarding the call to change from GMT to MMT, I have only one thing to say – if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it.

SOURCE: BBC

Kicked-Out for Praying.

2008-04-18T17:26:00.002+08:00

Should people be allowed to pray on a plane? Yes if they are not going to hinder the flight attendants from doing their job and the safety of the flights are not being compromised. A man got pulled out of a flight in New York because he was praying. Apparently, the flight attendant had asked him to get back to his seat to allow boarding procedures. He, however, decided not to heed the instruction and continued praying. After which, the flight attendant called the airport security and escorted the man out of the plane.

Now, before you jump to conclusion that this man is a Muslim, HE IS NOT. He is a Jewish - an Orthodox Jewish to be precise. Personally, I think when you go on an airplane, you should be prepared to follow any instructions given by your flight attendants (reasonable instructions, of course). I am not saying he cannot pray at all because I also think that everyone should have the chance to perform their religious rites (reasonable and acceptable ones).

I don't know about other religion but in Islam, the religion is very simple. If you cannot fast during Ramadan, then don't fast. If you can't pray five times a day, then, combine them. If you can't pray standing up, then sit down. The list goes on and on. As for the man, I pity him for being taken off the flight but there is not much that I can say here because unless I was there, I cannot really say who is to blame. Because, let's face it, sometimes the news that we hear or see is only telling us half of the story.

But at least one thing is clear here - Muslims cannot say that they are the only religious group removed from an aircraft due to their religion.

SOURCE: ABC

Airline Industry.

2008-04-13T16:32:00.000+08:00

Ryan Air had just announced that the company is planning to ground up to 20 aircrafts during the winter traveling season, citing rising operating costs. When I heard this news, I almost could not believe it because as far as I know, airline companies would rather fly an aircraft rather than let it sits idly on the apron. But I guess, the time has finally come that the rising fuel costs make it impossible for airlines to keep flying.

As in my previous post on Oasis Hong Kong, a lot of other airline companies have shared the same untimely death. And I cannot possibly imagine what other airlines would fall next. But I do know that at least the so-called national carriers will continue to run even if it makes no economical sense to do so (Alitalia comes to mind). Having said that, I do not think that any airline deserves to die, but since we all live in a free market, I guess sometimes the inevitable could happen. Take Malaysia Airlines for example, had the company not done anything about the bleeding cash flow problem few years back, I would not be flying with them this July.

Speaking about Oasis Hong Kong, I really pity a friend of mine who already paid 400 pounds for a round-trip to Hong Kong this summer. Now that Oasis had gone into liquidation, he might not even get his money back. The thing with liquidation is, the people who would get their money from it depends on your rank on the liquidator's (in this case, KPMG) list. And usually the first priority will go to the creditors (banks, financial institutions, suppliers), then the bond holders, then the preference shareholders, followed by ordinary shareholders, then the customers. And given the circumstances, when the customers' turn comes, there would be nothing much left to be liquidated.

This is asterix.

Charlie Bit Me...

2008-04-12T07:14:00.006+08:00

I hope you like this video as much as I did.

Make Way for Change!

2008-04-11T14:59:00.003+08:00

So, finally I am able to get this new template off the ground. It does look weird doesn't it? Do you like it? I, myself is not even sure whether I like this but I hope I will in the near future. My final exam is coming up pretty soon and I am going to have to work my ass off for that. Not that I haven't been studying for exam, but I wish I could bring up my pace a little bit. Wish me luck YA!!!

Temporary Update

2008-04-11T03:58:00.002+08:00

If you are wondering why this blog looks bare now, it is because I am currently in the middle of updating the blog template. I hope blogger will just let me do that.

WHAT THE F**K??!!!

2008-04-10T18:37:00.003+08:00

[UPDATE 11 April 2008] I know that the video does not work. I have now updated the video.

I heard this news and I don’t know what to say. You can watch this and maybe leave a comment.

I am utterly disgust by this.

Goodbye Oasis...

2008-04-09T18:53:00.003+08:00

What a sad day for the commercial aviation community these days. Only last week, Aloha Airlines and Skybus in the US shut down, citing financial difficulties. And this morning, I got a call from my friend telling me that Oasis Hong Kong shuts down today. I went on Google and found out that all flights on Wednesday have been cancelled. About two hours ago, the officials from the company gave a press statement confirming the news. For you information, Oasis had been in operations since 17 months ago.

Oasis Hong Kong is supposed to be the pioneer in the low-cost model for long-haul travelling and sadly the days of Oasis Hong Kong are now over. My heart goes to the employees of Oasis Hong Kong who are affected by this terrible news. Also, to the travellers who now would have to find other alternatives in a very short notice.

This brings my thoughts to Air Asia X who is now flying to Gold Coast, Australia and Hangzhou, China. While Oasis Hong Kong business model might not work, I really hope that the business model of Air Asia X will work. I hope that Air Asia X will prove to its critics that its low-cost model will work for long-haul operations.

I never got the chance to fly with Oasis but two of my friends who did, told me that for a low-cost airline, the onboard service was not low-cost. A sad day indeed. Sigh.

Freedom of Speech at Any Cost?

2008-04-03T18:30:00.000+08:00

Freedom of speech – a very powerful phrase that can bring down a government or even someone’s life. There are people who are willing to die defending Freedom of Speech and there are also people who are willing to die making sure Freedom of Speech dies. Regardless of whatever we believe, we have to acknowledge that Freedom of Speech is very important to us. It allows us to speak our minds and allows us to think freely. It also allows to do things that we think are right without fear of being oppressed by anybody. However, we all should realise that Freedom of Speech is not a one-way street and with freedom, comes responsibility.

I guess, you should see where am I going when I talk about this subject. Yes, I am going to talk about one short film that have caused the Muslims around the world to call JIHAD against the person who made the film. As a Muslim, I have watched the movie and I am appalled by two things. I am appalled by the way the maker of the film interpreted the Holy Koran in his own way and used the clips of Muslims to convey his message in the movie. Secondly, I am appalled by the fact that those Muslims in the clips actually said all of those horrible things.

Let us face the fact, we – the Muslims – keep on referring to the non-Muslims as enemy and always come up with things like, “Let’s kill the Jews” or “Let’s kill the Christians” (as seen in the short film). This is like as if we gave them the bullets and then the maker of the film now uses the bullet to shoot the Muslims. Of course, he was wrong for shooting us, but why on earth that we give him the bullet in the first place?

I am not defending the short film but I am asking the Muslims to – for once – just be calm and voice your protest in a more civilised way. Stop burning flag or asking a Fatwa for the maker of the film to be assassinated. For God’s sake, if the Muslims want the world to stop thinking that they are terrorists, the Muslims will have to stop behaving like one.

To the maker of the short film, I respect your right to Freedom of Speech but why hide behind the veil of freedom to pour oil over an already big fire? There are at least one million Muslims in the Netherlands and as a member of the Dutch legislative body, I am sure you know better than anyone to not to mess up with people’s sensitivity. Show some respect for yourself will you?

To the Muslims, let us be rational and use whatever platform (politically) that we have to condemn this horrendous act and to put pressure on the relevant parties to take action against the maker of the short film. He has his Freedom of Speech and we should have ours as well (this is a two-way street).

P.S. I am so disgusted by the short film that I don’t think the name of the maker of the short film or the name of the film itself deserved to be mentioned in this entry.

Benelux Trip: Part 2

2008-04-02T15:58:00.002+08:00

Now it’s time for the second part of my Benelux Trip. After spending one night in Luxembourg and two nights in Brussels, we made our way to the Netherlands. There, we spent another two nights in Amsterdam.

This, I personally think is the best part of the trip. And I think most people would know that any trip to the Netherlands would not be complete without seeing the famous tulips and the infamous Red Light District. On the first night that we were there, we took a stroll along the alleys in the Red Light District, which was helped by the fact that our hostel is within the parameter of the Red Light District itself. Red Light District, if you don’t already know is a centre for sex services. Basically, it is a one-stop sex centre. From young and very attractive prostitutes to live sex shows to normal sex shops, which sell sex video tapes and sex toys. Another feature of the Red Light District is the Coffeeshops. Coffeeshops are not your ordinary coffee shops because they sell drugs instead of ice blended coffee. Most coffeeshops sell marijuana, hashish and cannabis, which are legal in the Netherlands – but only in the Netherlands. People who goes to these coffeeshops usually smoke them but if you cannot or do not want to smoke, you an always buy the special cakes. Why is it special? Because it contains marijuana. I would like to write more on Amsterdam but since the pact was “what happens in Amsterdam stay in Amsterdam”, I will stop here and let just say that we had a good time there. And honestly, Amsterdam is really beautiful. If you go there, be sure to rent the canal bike and cycle around the city. We did that and I love it so much.

The next highlight of the trip was the visit to Keukenhof Botanical Garden where we get to see the famous Amsterdam tulips. For some reason, whenever people go to Amsterdam, they will always want to see the tulips, so, we spent the last day in the Netherlands in Lieden. Lieden is another town just 30 minutes away from Amsterdam. From there, we took a bus on a 20 minutes ride to Keukenhof Botanical Garden, which they claimed to be the most beautiful spring garden in the world. The garden itself was built based on the design of an English garden. And as we walked through the garden, we passed through 4 stations – Juliana, Wilhemina, William Alexander and Orange Nassau. Except for Juliana and Orange Nassau, the stations have big restaurants for people to sit down and enjoy their afternoon lunch surrounded by beautiful and colourful flowers. At Juliana station, they showed us the history of tulips and we got to see how tulips became so popular in the Netherlands. At Orange Nassau station, there is an exhibition on orchids. We also went to watch birds show and climbed a windmill that overlooks a field of tulips. Unfortunately, the field was not filled with tulips yet, so, there was nothing much to see. In front of the windmill though, there was this big green field with dozens of giant bean bags where you could just lie on and bask under the sun. We did that and I know that I actually napped for about half an hour.

I am going to stop here. There might be a third part for this but I have not decided yet. If there is another part, you will see it in few days time.

Benelux Trip: Part 1

2008-04-01T18:15:00.006+08:00

I’m back from my spring trip. Actually, calling it a spring trip would be an overstatement. The weather was not nice at all. I was hoping for a nice sunny weather, but was greeted by rain and snow. But, thank God for the sunny weather on the last day of the trip when I visited Keukenhof Botanical Garden. Now, let me tell you few highlights of the Benelux Trip.

First of all, for this trip, I flew for the first time on a propeller airplane (Fokker 50) on an airline that I have never flown before – VLM Airlines. Another thing about the trip is the fact that I flew from London City Airport for the first time. I have been waiting for so long to fly from London City Airport and last Monday, I got my chance.

Secondly, the unique thing about this trip is that my friends and I did not gather in London and flew together to Luxembourg. What happened was, all of us went at different times on different mode of transport and met at the Luxembourg Central Station. I flew from London City AirportLuxembourg around 6 in the evening. A friend of mine from Cambridge flew from Gatwick on Monday morning and arrived into Luxembourg around 9 in the morning. Another friend of mine from Newcastle went to a one-week trip to GermanyFrankfurt to Luxembourg. He arrived at Luxembourg around 4 in the afternoon. The fourth person in the trip took a train from London on Tuesday morning and we met him in the afternoon in Luxembourg. on Monday afternoon and arrived into took a train from

The third highlight of the trip is Brussels. There, we tried three things that without which would make our trip to Brussels incomplete. First of all, following the recommendation from my friend in Oxford, we bought some Belgian Chocolates at Pierre Marcolini. The price was a bit on the expensive side, for about €18 for 33 pieces of chocolates. But when I ate them on Sunday, I think those chocolates just worth every cent. And of course, you cannot leave Brussels without trying the Belgian Waffles, which we did. But then Belgian waffles in Brussels are not that much different than what you can get in Oxford Street, so, nothing new there. Although technically not in Brussels, in Bruges, we spend quite some time during lunch eating mussels. They had an offer of €13, we got a whole pot of mussels, plus dessert – one very tasty chocolate mousse.

I will continue with the next part of the highlights in some other time because I cannot finish up writing the highlights of the trip in one single sitting. So, just wait for the next part OK?

Spring Break!!!

2008-03-24T17:30:00.000+08:00

I’ll be off to my Spring break today. I’ll be spending 6 days in Luxembourg, Brussels and Amsterdam. I’ll see you again hopefully on Sunday!

Adios.

And So It Begins...

2008-03-14T19:29:00.001+08:00

Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir on the 12^th of March sent a letter to Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi pleading him to resign as the President of UMNO and consequently the Prime Minister of Malaysia. The same letter was also carbon copied to the UMNO Deputy President, UMNO Secretary General and UMNO Vice Presidents. The content of the letter can be looked up here.

Finally, there is someone inside UMNO who is willing to voice out their opinion. I am not supporting nor not supporting Mukhriz but I am keen to see more freedom of speech within UMNO. Whatever Pak Lah’s decision is, with regards to the letter, I think, the reason Mukhriz is so bold (I don’t want to use the word brave) is because he obviously thinks that he has nothing to lose.

First of all, the worst thing that could happen to him is he will lose his UMNO Youth EXCO position. UMNO leadership will not sack him from the party because that would ultimately expel him from Barisan Nasional. If that happens, BN would lose one seat in the parliament – something which, I believe UMNO is not keen to see happening. So, at least, for the next four or five years, Mukhriz would remain in UMNO and as MP for Jerlun.

This letter could trigger only two things, first, UMNO members would unite behind Pak Lah and assassinate Mukhriz’s political career. Second, UMNO members would unite behind Mukhriz and topple Pak Lah’s leadership. The next few months in the run-up to UMNO party election in August will be very interesting indeed.

On another matter, Datuk Seri Chua Jui Meng had called Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting to resign due to MCA bad performance in the last election. Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim blamed Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid and Datuk Seri Radzi Sheikh Ahmad as the culprit behind him not being re-appointed as the Menteri Besar of Perlis. Interesting.

Focus People!!!

2008-03-11T16:52:00.002+08:00

Kuala Lumpur Composite Index fell 123 points to 1173 points yesterday after the humiliating defeat of the ruling coalition. To be honest, anyone should have expected this after such election results. Investors are concerned about the investing climate in Malaysia, particularly in the opposition-led state. They are also concern about the future of the planned economic corridor after the ruling coalition lost two-third of its majority in the parliament.

While the drop in the market is pretty normal given the circumstances, I hope that the federal and state governments (especially the opposition-led ones) should issue a statement saying that investment climate will not change too much. The federal governments should also say that they will continue to work with the opposition-led governments for the betterment of the country and vice versa. And as far as I know only the designated Menteri Besar of Selangor, Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim had issued such statement.

To all politicians, let’s just forget about the election and start to serve the Rakyat shall we?

[UPDATE] Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said that the state government will maintain a good rapport with the federal government. He is planning to meet the Prime Minister to do just that. If I am not mistaken, Penang is the only state where Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Kun appeared together with Lim Guan Eng on public to handover the state government administration.

Ass Fetish.

2008-03-11T03:48:00.002+08:00

I have never seen so many ass kissers shown on national television during prime time. But I guess there is always first time for everything. No, I am not talking about people from certain organizations, I am talking about actual ass kissers – people who kiss other one person’s ass to make a living. It is terrible, how could they show such act during prime time where kids are supposedly watching? I thought during prime time, only decent shows are allowed to be shown on television. Maybe I was wrong.

I really cannot blame those ass kissers, because like I said earlier, they are just trying to survive in this world. I mean, they themselves get their asses kissed by other people. So it is really like I-kiss-your-ass-you-kiss-mine world, which usually can only be seen in fetish porn movies. But time change and so do people, and maybe because of that, these scenes are now allowed to be shown on national television.

Anyway, I had to walk through hailstorm today and I can tell you that I do not like it. I remember in the first year when I walked through hailstorm and I swore that I would not do it again. But I did it today and it was awful!!! I hope this thunderstorm that is currently hitting the UK will stop soon so that I can enjoy the UK Spring sun for one last time. Sigh.

P.S. A link to this blog was put on Mak Cik Maimun's blog.

C'est la vie...

2008-03-09T04:01:00.000+08:00

I don’t know whether I am surprised or not following the 12th General Election results yesterday. I expected that the ruling coalition would lose a lot more than they did in the last election. But to lose three states altogether is something that I never thought would happen. I also did not expect that Barisan Nasional would lose its two-third majority in the parliament (at the time of writing Barisan have won only 134 seats).

Whatever the results are, I think it is quite clear as to what the Rakyat wants from their leaders. And I think any decent leader would simply resign after such humiliating defeat.

To the Barisan Nasional, now would be a good time to ponder upon the messages that the Rakyat was trying to deliver when they voted on Sunday morning. To the opposition, now would be a good time for them to prove to Rakyat that they can be a better government than Barisan Nasional was.

Actually, I am beginning to see a better future, in terms of the voters are no longer afraid at the thought of changing governments. In a way, this mimics the developed countries where they can change government in almost every general election.

But the most important thing is, after all these are over, everyone should just unite under the umbrella of Malaysians. Although, I do not think that is possible because (some) Malaysians are very fanatical when it comes to politics.

Anyway, tomorrow will be just like another day and congratulations to Malaysians for exercising your rights. Good night!

Let's Vote Again!!!

2008-03-07T06:18:00.002+08:00

In just less than 48 hours, Malaysians will go out of their houses to vote for their favourite candidates. And by midnight on the 8^th of March, the country would have a brand new government to carry out the economic development for the next five years. There is nothing I can do but to stay in front of my laptop on the 8^th to watch the election results online at TV3 website.

Today, I came across one news report about the oldest candidate in this 12^th General Election – Ms. Maimun Yusuf. Apparently, now she has her own blog maimunbintiyusuf.blogspot.com and her own Facebook profile. I am very impressed that at 89 years old, she can still have all that. Of course, she did not do it by herself, there are two young businessmen behind her in making all these reality. I have not added her as my friend, and I don’t think I will but if you want to do so, go ahead. I wish her all the best – she would have a tough time considering she is facing two politicians that are obviously very experienced in politics.

And here is my take on the 12^th general election. Barisan Nasional will retain its two-third majority, but would only win around 150 seats in the Parliament. They will not win Kelantan from PAS and they would be lose some seats in Penang, Perak, Kedah and maybe Selangor – But will still control the state governments. As for my area, I think Barisan Nasional would win in both Gombak Parliamentary seat and Gombak Setia State seat.

Again, please go out and vote because your vote matters. And do vote for the right people for the right reason.

Stop Bashing People.

2008-03-05T17:21:00.002+08:00

Beginning yesterday until the 10^th of March, Malaysiakini.com is making all the contents of the website freely available to the public. It is to allow Malaysian voters to have more access to alternative sources of news during this election period. I personally applaud this move as it will indeed give people more choices as to what they want to see, hear and read. Lately, I always watch Buletin Utama every night and I could not help but notice that there are a lot of people who are complaining about TV3 being biased towards the ruling party in their news report. To be fair, the people do not have to watch TV3 if they do not like it. There is no point of calling names and insulting the management of the TV station for running their business.

I might have a weird believe but I actually believe that TV3 is just like any business will run their business in a way that will ensure profitability of the company. And if they think that by being biased, they will remain profitable, they have every right to do so. Besides, we – again – do not have to watch TV3 if we do not like it. There are a lot of other sources of news that we can use, for example the Malaysiakini.com (I am not the promoter of Malaysiakini.com). Or you could always choose to read Aliran, HarakahDaily etc. The point is, there are other sources available all around you actually.

So, instead of calling other people unfair, you have to be fair by reading/watching alternative sources of news. Even if you do not have internet, you can always buy print media that is also available everywhere for you to read. If you think that is not enough, just go ahead and listen to one of the many ceramahs between now and the 8^th of March. No one will point a gun to your head and force you to watch TV3 and believe in whatever they dish out to you.

All I am trying to say is, stop bashing other people and start to think with your head. Therefore, come this Saturday, please go out and vote for the right people for the right reason.

P.S. TV3 will be showing the General Election results live from its website on the 8^th of March 2008. And congratulations to Hillary Clinton for making a comeback last night!!! You go girl!!! LOL.

5 More Days...

2008-03-03T17:06:00.000+08:00

In about 5 days, 10.9 million Malaysians will cast their votes on the next government. And there are sayings like, if we could just give the opposition the chance to become government, maybe we could finally see whether they can be a good government or not. I honestly don’t think so. I mean, choosing a government is not like buying a new shirt where if you don’t like them, you could just throw it away of return it to the store. Choosing a government is much like buying a car or buying a house to live in.

I personally don’t mind voting for the opposition but only after they have proven that when and if they become government, they would be an effective government. For example, take one of the opposition party’s manifestos regarding bringing welfare state if they manage to become government. I am all for welfare state because I personally believe that education and healthcare should be free. I believe that there should be an income support scheme for poor people. But, to execute all those programmes, the government needs money. And when asked by reporters on how the opposition would raise such money, their answer was to take from Petronas (Malaysian Oil Company). Now, there are two ways for the government to take money from Petronas, one is through taxation. This way is easy but not that easy because the government can only tax according to the corporation tax rate, which has to be passed through the Parliament. And if approved would be applied across the board (all corporations are affected). To take money means to increase corporation tax and just for the records, Malaysia still has one of the highest corporation taxes in the region (South East Asia). I think I don’t have to go into details on the effect of increasing the tax rate do I?

The second way is through interest-free loan from Petronas to the government. While this seems like a very viable option, one needs to remember that Petronas is an oil exploration company and as you might already know, exploring and searching for oil requires a lot of money. Therefore, there can only be so much of interest-free loan that Petronas can give to the government before it has detrimental effects on the company itself. It might work in a super short term but not in the long run.

I am not endorsing you to vote for any party. This is just an observation on my part as a citizen of the country. Like I said in previous posts, always and always, vote for the person who you think would be able to make a difference in your area. And at the risk of creating a tagline, I just would like to say, vote for the right people for the right reason.

What an Insult!!!

2008-02-27T16:58:00.001+08:00

It is bad enough when our – supposedly – leader keep telling us not to read blogs because blogs are written by unintelligent people with nothing better to do. And now suddenly an opposition leader is trying to tell Malaysians to stop watching television because it is being used as a tool by the governing party to spread propaganda. To these people, I have this one thing to say, even if you are a member of the government or a leader of a political party, you have no right whatsoever to tell us what to and what not to do. Seriously, who the hell do you think you are?

The cabinet members are insulting voters’ intelligence for implying that we – the Rakyat – cannot differentiate between what’s right and what’s wrong when we read blogs on the internet. The opposition leaders are also insulting voters’ intelligence for implying that we – again, the Rakyat – can be easily fooled just by watching some programmes on the television. If the people really are that stupid, why bother asking us to make the right choice?

Malaysians, come 8th March 2008, please vote for the right people for the right reason. This is my plea and unlike the so-called leaders, I had never and never will insult your intelligence.

Mari-lah Mari, Pergi Mengundi.

2008-02-25T06:46:00.001+08:00

And so it begins, the 12^th General Election for Malaysia.

Here are some statistics for my area, Parliament Gombak (P-98) and State Gombak Setia (N-17).

For the year 2008, the candidates for Parliament Gombak are Said Anuar Said Ahmad from BN and Mohamed Azmin Ali from PKR. I have to say that I know nothing about Said Anuar but I do hear a lot of things about Azmin Ali. In 2004, Parliament Gombak was won by Dr. Raman Ismail, representing BN with a majority of 13207 votes. Parliament Gombak is a predominantly Malay area and it is expected a lot of Islamic and Malay-related issue to be played here, just like previous general elections.

Let’s go to State Gombak Setia, for this General Election, from BN camp is the incumbent, Yuszahari Mohd. Yusoff and he will be facing Dr. Hasan Mohd. Ali from PAS. To be honest, I know nothing about Yuszahari as well. But I do know Dr. Hasan, in fact, I used to go to some of his motivational camps when I was in primary school. In the 2004 election, Yuszahari won by a majority of 2728 votes. Let’s see whether he can do the same thing this time round.

My take is, considering Yuszahari is an incumbent, and assuming the reason he got nominated again was because he had been a good Wakil Rakyat, I guess he would be able to win again this time. For Parliament, I have no idea because the Parliament Gombak seat had been alternately won by BN and PAS, so, I cannot really say who will win it this time. Although, I have a feeling that BN will win again this time, considering there is not really a strong issue in my area – that I know about.

Anyway, come 8^th of March, about 10.9 million Malaysians will cast their choices and make their voices heard (really? Ha-ha). I also read the news about ten seats won uncontested (9 seats to BN and 1 to PAS). All I can say about this is, for candidates who did not fill up their nomination form properly and got their name rejected should be punished for denying the people’s democratic rights to vote. Seriously, because of them, the people in those particular areas now cannot exercise their rights. And for the parties that did not nominate someone to contest also should be punished for the same reason. They are obstructing democratic process and last time I check, obstructing democratic process is a crime in Malaysia.

Anyway, vote wisely and may the best candidate wins!

12th General Election.

2008-02-14T18:53:00.001+08:00

The date has been set, now all that we are waiting for is the competition to begin. Election Commission (EC) today announced that the Nomination Day will be on the 24 February 2008 (Sunday) and 13 days later will be the Polling day on the 8th March 2008 (Saturday). Honestly, I was quite surprised that the campaign period has been extended to 13 days, considering the trend for the past few General Election (GE) was less than 10 days (8 days in 2004).

For your information, during the 11th GE, Barisan Nasional (BN) won 198 seats from 219 seats contested at that time. And for this year’s election, there will be 222 seats up for grabs by all competing parties. I am beginning to wonder how will BN do this time considering this is the first election that all races in Malaysia actually have issues with the current government. If you have been reading around, you would see that the Malays are very concern about the rising cost of living and alleged corruptions within the government. The Chinese are concern about where the Malaysian economy is heading amid anticipation of the US economy recession. While the Indians, are apparently concern about them being sidelined by the government.

However, I think BN will try to ride on the ‘Economic Corridor’ wagon since it is quite obvious that the government launched all the Economic Corridor before calling up the election. This means, the content of the BN manifesto would revolve around the idea of giving them the chance to work all the corridors for the benefits of the people. After all the grand launching of the Economic Corridors all around the country, it is expected that most Malaysians would want to see the outcome of it, hence, another big victory for BN.

Whatever the wagon the competing parties are trying to ride on, I just hope that the RAKYAT will vote with conscience and vote for the right candidate.

I found this video on YouTube. Have fun watching it!

Antara Kelahiran dan Pilihanraya.

2008-02-13T21:03:00.000+08:00

Around 11pm I received a phone call from my significant other telling me that my sister just gave birth to a girl – after more than 48 hours of labour pain. I did not call my sister straight away as it would be stupid to try to call someone who just spent the last few hours giving birth to a baby. When I woke up the next morning, I received a picture message from my sister – a picture of my third niece (her second daughter and third child). She does not have a name yet as my sister and her husband was not prepared for the baby girl. Apparently, they were expecting a boy and not because the scan went wrong but because they did not scan for the baby’s gender in the first place. Which is a cool thing, since there was some element of surprise when the baby finally came out around 3am in the morning, Malaysia time. Anyway, I just want to say congratulations to my sister and brother-in-law for the newborn daughter.

On a very different matter, as expected, Pak Lah announced the dissolution of the Parliament today afternoon, which means the General Election could be held as early as the 1 March 2008. I would expect the election to be in March since Pak Lah has a thing for the number three. I do not want to speculate on how the results might be but I think I would find this election very interesting for two very different reasons. Firstly, this will be the first election that I will be watching from outside Malaysia. Secondly, this will be the first election ever that the leader of the governing party already conceded that the Barisan Nasional would not win with a landslide victory. Although, I must say that the government had faced tougher General Elections in the past and came out of it almost – read almost – unscathed. I just hope that Malaysians will vote with their conscience and vote for the right people.

Blue.

2008-02-05T20:52:00.000+08:00

I guess when you are running out of time, you will start to think about what is going to happen next. And when I attended MAS interview last weekend, I was hit by the reality – in less than 150 days I will no longer be a student. I have been trying no to think about the life after this but I guess there will be a point where we all have to finally set our foot back on earth and accept the reality that is coming towards us. And few recent events made me realize that the time has come for me to make few very crucial decisions that will definitely how I live my life 10 years from now. I am not scared, but I do feel overwhelmed.

And I also want to share a video that can really tell you what am I thinking right now by HappySlip.

My First Job Interview.

2008-02-03T17:08:00.000+08:00

I have not mention this in this blog yet, but before the end of last term, I applied for Management Associate Programme at Malaysia Airlines. And about two weeks ago, I received a call from the Human Resource department inviting me for an interview session on the 2nd February 2008. And for the past two weeks, I have been preparing myself for that interview. So, now let me tell you about the interview yesterday.

The email from MAS did not say specifically how long was the interview session, so I went without a proper knowledge of how the interview was going to be handled. The interview session started at 9, and I arrived around 8.30 in the morning. I went into the building and was greeted by the receptionist. I then registered as a visitor and took the elevator to basement, where the interview was held.

When I came down, there were already 4 candidates eating Nasi Lemak (Malaysia Hall) with 4 other MAS’ staff. I introduced myself and join them for breakfast. It was good! My first Nasi Lemak since September. At 9 o’clock, all of us moved to the seminar room where the interview session (at this point it became apparent that it was going to be a one-day assessment centre rather than one-off interview) was officially started. One of the staff gave a brief overview of the day’s itinerary and explained what is going to happen in every part of the assessment day.

The assessment day was divided into three different sessions – business case study session, evaluation test session and interview session. I do not want to go into the details of every single session but I would say I found the evaluation test was the hardest for me since I have not done any of those things since 2003 when I applied for PNB scholarships.

And when the day finally ended around 6 in the evening, I was already exhausted. So, all of us (there were 6 candidates in total) took a group picture and exchange phone numbers. So, how did I do? Well, I think I did OK. I mean, I can safely say that when I left the MAS office at 6, I left without feeling frustrated because I did something stupid and what not. And the most important thing is, I actually enjoyed my time there and I really had a great time not just with all the interviewers but also with newfound friends as well. Since this is my first job interview, I really treasure the experience.

Aduhai Tun...

2008-01-31T07:34:00.000+08:00

I was readin Reuters and I found an interesting news about Tun Dr. Mahathir. He gave an interview talking about what he feels about the current Prime Minister and the upcoming general election. I will not go into what he feels about Pak Lah because most people know about it already. But I want to go into what he said about the election.

Tun Dr. Mahathir urged Malaysians to vote in the general election based on the candidates’ credibility not solely on the party that the candidates came from. I agree with him on this but why did he never say any of this when he was the Prime Minister? Is it that only now he realizes how incompetent the current government is? Can’t he sense that during the last 22 years of his premiership?

I don’t want to blame him because there is no point of blaming. But I can’t help but wonder why only now that he wants to say all these things. Nevertheless, whenever the general election is, I just hope that Malaysians will do the right thing by voting for the right candidates (right is a very subjective word, I am not endorsing anyone or any party).

SOURCE: Reuters

Happy 200th Posts!!!

2008-01-28T00:36:00.000+08:00

In just 2 hours and 30 minutes, the 22nd edition of Anugerah Juara Lagu closed its curtain with some surprises (at least to me). Before I go down with the results, let me comment few things on the Anugerah Juara Lagu.

First of all, I like this year’s event because even with four presenters, all of them did not talk about random things like there is no tomorrow. They also did not try to outshine each other by stop talking when they need to. And the most important thing is, they did not come out with lame jokes – maybe with one or two here and there, but overall, they did their job very well.

Secondly, I really like this year’s theme, which is Music is Magic. And the stage that was built for the event really captured the theme very well. Unlike previous years, they had a very simple circle stage, which put emphasise more on the performance by the artists rather distracting audiences with elaborate stage decorations. And of course, the intermission performance was nicely choreographed. I like how the tried to use songs to tell the story of two people in love.

Next, all contestants really gave their best performances. For the first time ever, I actually love all performances – there was no such thing as a boring performance in this year’s Anugerah Juara Lagu. Congratulations to all!

And now lets go to the results. For Best Vocal Awards, at first, I thought Nora was going to win the awards, but when I saw Jaclyn and Lah’s performance, I knew that they would win the awards – turned out, I was right. At the beginning, when I saw the concept of Siti Nurhaliza’s performance, I was almost sure that she was going to win the Best Performance Awards, until I saw Mawi’s changing clothes act. And surely enough, Mawi won the awards.

After 6 times battling her way through Anugerah Juara Lagu, finally, on her seventh try, Nora went home with something in her hand. Maybe there is such thing as, seventh times a charm. She won the Song of the Year Awards for Ethnic Creative with the composer, Johan Nawawi, and the lyricist, Ahmad Fedtri Yahya.

The next awards is, Song of the Year Awards for Ballad. I was almost sure that Kasih Tercipta was going to win but in the end it was Izinku Pergi’s night. Sahri sang the song very well I think they deserve it. Izinku Pergi was composed by Azlan Abu Hassan while the lyrics were written by Sulu Sarawak.

In the Pop/Rock Category, I never thought that Itu Kamu would win. In my last post, I predicted Farhana but in the end, Estranged managed to clinch that awards. This song was composed by Estranged themselves while the lyrics were written by the vocalist of the group, Rich. And of course, Itu Kamu was also crowned as the winner of the Song of the Year Awards. Congratulations to Estranged, and congratulations to other winners as well. Since the video of Anugerah Juara Lagu has not been uploaded on youtube yet, I’ll post the video clip instead.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the winner of the 22nd Anugerah Juara Lagu – Itu Kamu by Estranged.

Anugerah Juara Lagu Predictions.

2008-01-27T19:20:00.000+08:00

Here are my picks to win the Anugerah Juara Lagu tonight from each category. I cannot pick winners for Best Performance Awards and Best Vocal Awards because, I have to watch them performing first before picking up the winners.

Song of the Year Awards for Ethnic Creative Category:
Samudera by Nora
Composer: Johan Nawawi
Lyricist: Ahmad Fedtri Yahya

Song of the Year Awards for Ballad Category:
Kasih Tercipta by Ajai/Bob (not really sure who’ll sing the song tonight)
Composer: Ajai
Lyricist: Shuhaimi Baba

Song of the Year Awards for Pop/Rock Category:
Farhana-Puteri Bumi Kenyalang by Jinbara
Composer: Denai
Lyricists: Andy Rahman & RD Razi

And Song of the Year Awards will go to Kasih Tercipta.

Of course, these are just my speculation. We’ll see what happens tonight!

22nd Anugerah Juara Lagu is BACK!!!

2008-01-26T02:44:00.000+08:00

And just like any other years, the time has come again for 14 best songs in Malaysia compete against each other to win the most coveted award of Anugerah Juara Lagu. This year, which will be its 22nd edition will be broadcasted live by TV3 not just through television and radio, but also its website, www.tv3.com.my.

Here is the list of all the contestants according to their order of performance.

Farhana-Puteri Bumi Kenyalang by Jinbara (Pop/Rock Category)
Composer: Denai
Lyricists: Andy Rahman and RD Razi.

Samudera by Nora (Ethnic Creative Category)
Composer: Johan Nawawi
Lyricist: Ahmad Fedtri Yahya

Harapan by Fazli Zainal (Ballad Category)
Composer: Hazami
Lyricist: Hazami

Destinasi Cinta by Siti Nurhaliza (Pop/Rock Category)
Composer: Lin Li Zhen
Lyricist: PSNN

Mahakarya Cinta by Fiq (Ballad Category)
Composer: Audi Mok
Lyricist: Shah Shamshiri

Kasihnya Balkis by Aishah (Ethnic Category)
Composer: Adnan Abu Hassan
Lyricist: Mohariz Yaakup

Sembunyi by Andy Flop Poppy and Misha Omar (Pop/Rock Category)
Composer: Aidit Alfian
Lyricist: Loloq

Janjiku by Sofaz (Pop/Rock Category)
Composer: Taja and Tass
Lyricist: Taja and Tass

Izinku Pergi by Sahri (Ballad Category)
Composer: Azlan Abu Hassan
Lyricist: Sulu Sarawak

Angan Dan Sedar by Mawi (Pop/Rock Category)
Composer: M Nasir
Lyricist: Loloq

Ceritera Cinta by Lah Ahmad and Jaclyn Victor (Ballad Category)
Composer: Ross Ariffin
Lyricist: Habsah Hassan

Itu Kamu by Estranged (Pop/Rock Category)
Composer: Estranged
Lyricist: Richard Lawrence

Dirgahayu by Ramlah Ram (Ethnic Creative Category)
Composer: Eddie Hamid
Lyricist: Hairul Anuar Harun

Kasih Tercipta by Ajai (Ballad Category)
Composer: Ajai
Lyricist: Shuhaimi Baba

Apart from the main awards, which is the Song of the Year Awards, all the songs will be competing for Song of the Year Awards in each category, Best Vocal Awards and Best Performance Awards.

Good luck to all competing songs! Don’t forget to tune in at TV3 this Sunday, 27 January 2008 at 8.30p.m. (GMT+8)!!!

Al-Fatihah.

2008-01-24T23:19:00.002+08:00

Tan Sri Megat Junid Megat Ayob passed away this morning due to cancer. I must admit that I know very little about him, I guess, when I started to become interested in Malaysian politics, he had already left the scene.

I was quite surprised when I read the news on The Star this morning. I just would like to express my condolences to the his families and

Cross Over.

2008-01-22T20:44:00.000+08:00

Today marks the new beginning. Well, not a new beginning of anything, it’s just that after 10 years of using Internet Explorer, I decided that it is time to change. So, as of today, I no longer use Internet Explorer and switch to Mozilla Firefox instead. I know that other people have been using Firefox for like a million years, but, I think the time has come for me to ditch IE and walk into the new era of Firefox.

I have been thinking of changing to Firefox since the end of last year but I always pushed that thought to the back of my head. However, after having too much problem with IE in the last few weeks, I decided that maybe it is time to let IE go. And by letting IE go, does not mean I am not going to use IE ever, but I think I will use it from time to time whenever necessary.

So, goodbye IE, we have had our fair share of tears and laughter, it is time for me to experience different things in life. Ha-ha. Unless, Microsoft come up with something better to beat Firefox. Hello Firefox!

Happy Birthday Asterix!

2008-01-21T18:12:00.000+08:00

After two years, Asterix is still alive and I am so happy that I am still here blogging. I know that I have not been that faithful to this blog but trust me, I am trying. Although I don’t really know how many people actually read my blog, I know at least there are one or two people who keep checking out my blog every now and then. And to those people, I thank you very much for spending some time reading whatever I dish out for you.

Two years ago, I decided to start a new blog and moved my friendster blog to here. And one of those people who read my blog at that time is my friend who is studying in Nottingham University who is also celebrating his 23rd birthday today! So, Happy birthday to him as well.

I hope that to those who still read my blog will continue to read and I am really hoping to be able to say these things again year after year. Thank you to all. And lastly, I would like to leave you all with one of my favourite songs by Amy Mastura. I dedicate this song to my significant other.

P.S. The picture on the laptop above was taken at Stirling Castle, the location where Braveheart was flimed. Stirling Castle is situated in Stirling, near Edinburgh.

Black Thursday.

2008-01-18T04:01:00.000+08:00

It is a sad day to me today. A Boeing 777 just had a crash landing this afternoon at Heathrow. I am happy that all the 136 passengers from Beijing managed to escape unscathed but I am very sad that one of the most beautiful airplane ever built by human (in my opinion) had its first accident since its first flight in 1995. That’s a 12-year record without any incidents whatsoever. Have any other airplane models ever make that record? I doubt it.

What went wrong? I don’t know since I am not an aeronautical engineer. But according to BBC, the airplane lost all of its power (electronics and engines) at the last minute during the final approach. Whatever the reason is, I am pretty sure the Department of Transport, Civil Aviation Authority, British Airways, Boeing and Rolls-Royce are doing all their best to investigate the cause of the accident. And I am hoping the British Airport Authority will do their best to manage this little chaos that is going on at Heathrow at the moment.

Again, my thoughts are with the people who were in the flight 38 and well done to the British Airways crew onboard for their quick actions evacuating all aboard.

Facts on the B777.

Aircraft Registration Number: G-YMMM
Model Number: 777-236ER (Boeing 777-200ER)
First Flight: 18 May 2005
Manufacturing Serial Number: 30314
Delivery Date: 31 May 2005
Engine: Rolls-Royce Trent 895-17

Little Note About Life.

2008-01-10T04:35:00.000+08:00

To Whom It May Concern,

Thank you for coming into my life. Thank you for being a very good friend. Thank you for cheering me up whenever I was down. Thank you for having me at your place. Thank you for just being who you are and after all that, thank you for being the biggest jerk I have ever met in life.

Regards.

P.S. Not hating, just disappointed.

The Invisible Hand.

2008-01-07T21:19:00.000+08:00

I read this piece of interesting discussion on Emirates and Sri Lankan Airlines. For those of you who didn’t know, for the past 10 years, Emirates have been under Management Share Agreement with Sri Lankan Airlines. This gives them the right to manage Sri Lankan Airlines in any way that they see fit. And it is not such a bad agreement because Emirates would be able to exploit Sri Lankan Airlines’ route network and Sri Lankan Airlines get to align itself with one of the fastest growing airlines in the world.

However, as at March 2008, all this is going to end. Emirates are no longer interested to renew the Management Share Agreement with Sri Lankan Airlines. And it seems like the main reason for this is because the Sri Lankan government wants more control on how the airline should be run. I guess this is what happens when politicians want to do something that they don’t know how to do.

Both Sri Lankan Airlines and Emirates are state-run airline company. The difference between the two is, while Sri Lankan Airlines is run like a government department, Emirates is run like a business. Rings any bell here? Malaysia Airlines (MAS) is a state-run airline company, but unfortunately, it is not run like a business. Tell me, how many times does MAS have to alter their route rationalisation plan just to satisfy some politicians? Why does MAS still operate on loss-making routes?

Malaysia Airlines is not a great airline but it is not the worst either. It can be better if some people just let the management do their own job. I am sure they can do better job without having someone breathing down their neck 247. Whatever it is, I just hope that MAS can climb back – not on its feet – but onto an escalator because MAS is the most laid back airlines – at least in South East Asia. I mean, come on, MAS doesn’t have online check-in facilities or e-tickets. Their website’s search engine is still primitive compared to other airlines (read Singapore Airlines and Thai Airways). Their business class is comparable only to premium economy class in other airlines (read Virgin Atlantic). Their first class is at the same level as other airlines’ first class (again read Singapore Airlines). The only things left that can be proud of (if you want to) are its in-flight services.

Having said all that, do I still love MAS? I must say I do. Do I want to work with MAS? Hell I want to. Why? It’s because I believe that if they had been good before, there is no reason why they cannot be better in the future. Besides, the only problem that MAS is having now is financial-wise and not product-wise (read Proton), therefore it is only a matter of time before the company climbs back on the escalator.

I guess I will stop here for now. Have three essays to finish before Wednesday.

Hall of Ferris.

2008-01-05T20:53:00.000+08:00

In case any of you are wondering about the picture in the blog title, that is a picture of a very old Ferris wheel in Vienna. I don’t even remember the name of the wheel but it does look nice does it? For your information, this Ferris wheel was situated next to a theme park, but I guess when I went there the park was closed and that park has its own Ferris wheel. Speaking of Ferris wheel, let me show you my collection for Ferris wheels pictures.

Let us start with the picture of London Eye. I have an old picture of the Eye, which I took in 2005, but since my friend took a better picture during the New Year’s day, I’ll put this picture instead.

Next, is a picture of a Ferris wheel that I took when I went to Nice during Christmas 2005. This picture was taken at a Christmas fair, which happened to be a custom in Europe. I mean, everywhere you go during the Christmas week, you would see a Christmas fair.

My next picture of a Ferris wheel was also taken in 2005, but this time the wheel was in Monaco Christmas fair. Unlike the first two, this picture was taken from a hill near the palace where the Monaco royal family lives. Quite a nice picture isn’t it?

For my next picture, I don’t have a very good picture of it and this is the best I have. Quite a shame, really, not to have a nice picture of it considering the Lake Titiwangsa is a nice place to take picture. But hey, a picture is still a picture isn’t it? This was taken in summer 2007.

Next is a picture from another Christmas fair in Edinburgh. My friends and I actually took a ride on this Ferris wheel and I learnt one thing here – don’t ever go on a Ferris wheel during winter. But I think of all the Ferris wheel I’ve seen, this is probably the best because firstly, Edinburgh is a very beautiful city and secondly, the wheel was located at the edge of a valley, so, the view from the top of the Ferris wheel was magnifique!

Finally, the picture that you’ve already seen, the Ferris Wheel in Vienna.
There you go, my collection of Ferris wheels – London, Nice, Monaco, Kuala Lumpur, Edinburgh and Vienna.

Happy New Year!

2008-01-05T05:25:00.001+08:00

It’s that time of the year again where we all go out and watch the fireworks while hoping that the New Year will bring more joy and happiness. It’s that time of the year again where we all come out with a very long list of resolutions – things that we want to be sure that we will get them done by the time we watch the next set of fireworks. The sad fact remains that the next day will be just like another day. The sun will still rise from the same side of the earth. The moon will still shine like any other night and we will still be the same person we was a year ago. But that does not stop us from cheering and hoping for a better year every year does it?

I guess that is what we – human – do. We constantly need to have hope even if deep down inside us, we know that hope is just another word for denial. I know that it is a bit weird to start the New Year with a very negative tone, so, I will stop there. Ha-ha. Albeit too late, I would still like to wish everyone a very Happy New Year 2008. I had a great New Year celebration in London – thanks to Nikman and Faisal for spending their time with me.

So, let us hope for a better year before us and may all our dreams, ambitions, desires, come true with this New Year!

P.S. I am really hoping I will continue to update this blog this year.

What a shame...

2007-11-23T08:47:00.000+08:00

I know that I have not been loyal to this blog lately, but it is not entirely my fault. I blame Imperial for giving me so many assignments that I have no time to update this blog. Now that I’m back after a month, I think I will try to write something today rather than just leave this blog dead.

Yesterday, or was it two days ago, I don’t remember and I just don’t even care to remember. I read the news about Proton, dropping its partnership talk with Volkswagen. The reason being Proton now is good enough that it does not need any help from anyone. Yeah right. Well, that’s not really the reason, the reason given by the management was that Proton is now so weak that they are at disadvantage with regards to the negotiation with Volkswagen. They were hoping that once Proton climbed back into better position, then the talk can somehow be resuscitated.

Honestly, I think Proton would be better off if they had just went on with the strategic alliance with Volkswagen. But then again, what do I know?

On another thing, I am utterly embarrassed by our dear information minister. I’m sure you all know about it already. So, I won’t go into details about that.

I think that’s all for now. Bye!

What does it feel like to be in love?

2007-10-15T07:20:00.001+08:00

This is from the movie ONCE. So, what does it feel like to be in love?

Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri

2007-10-11T19:41:00.000+08:00

I guess it’s time to tell everyone that I am already back in Wye. Third year has been so busy that I didn’t have time to write anything here since I got back. And I haven’t even called my family yet since I flew back to the UK last week. The only contact I had with them was an SMS saying that I had safely arrived at Wye. I guess I will give my family a call on Aidil Fitri this Saturday.

Speaking of which, I’d like to wish everyone Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri of Eid-Ul-Fitr (whichever one is preferable to you). To be honest, I am not quite in a mood to celebrate Aidil Fitri this year. Don’t ask me why because I really don’t know and that’s why last night I came out with this idea of skipping Raya. Have you watched the movie Christmas With The Kranks? Yeah, in that movie the Kranks were planning to skip Christmas. So, can I actually skip Raya? I don’t think it will be possible since I already brought back with me from Malaysia two containers of tart and ingredients to cook Rendang and not to mention some instant Ketupats.

It is only possible for me to skip Raya if it falls on Friday. But then I will still go to the morning prayers, so, doesn’t sound like skipping to me. Anyway, skipping Raya would be a crazy idea, therefore, I don’t really see it happening – at least not in this lifetime. Ha-ha.

Again, Selamat Hari Raya to ALL. Maaf Zahir dan Batin.

Doctors Want Some Rewards

2007-09-30T13:09:00.001+08:00

According to The Star today, an Australian doctor left her family to attend to three sick passengers on a Malaysia Airlines flight to Kuala Lumpur. As a reward, she wanted an upgrade but MAS said no.

Now, while I personally believe an upgrade would be a nice gesture from the airline to the doctor, I also believe that the airline has no duty to reward every doctor who came to help sick passengers on board. I mean, first of all, the real party who should be thankful to the doctors themselves are the family of the sick passengers. If there is a medical emergency, the airplane can always make an emergency landing some aircrafts are actually fitted with corpse locker e.g. Singapore Airlines A340-500.

I applaud the doctor for helping but demanding reward after that is just not very doctor-ish. Maybe some of my future doctor friends can give their opinion on this.

Stretching It a Bit Too Much?

2007-09-29T23:39:00.001+08:00

When companies start to stretch the definition of Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR), that’s when you start to hear things like AirAsia’s latest press statement. According to The Edge, “AirAsia recently upgraded its fleet with the purchase of its firm 150 Airbus A320 plus 50 options as part of its continuous effort towards delivering sustainable value to society via its various corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes and practices”.

OK, first of all, I have no problem with AirAsia buying A320 because personally I think A320 is a very good airplane. Secondly, I have no problem with them buying 150 airplanes to continue with their world domination plan because as long as it makes perfect business sense to do so, why not?

However, I have problem with the reason why they have chosen the A320. I know that in terms of passenger comfort A320 wins hands down when compared with Boeing 737 but still, that doesn’t mean by choosing A320, the community will get the benefits. Yeah, they can go on and on by saying that the A320 is very fuel efficient, less noisy, hence, the community will get the benefits, but still aren’t they stretching the term CSR a little bit too much?

I don’t know but that’s what I think. I have nothing against AirAsia because I love the company, I like their business model and corporate culture but I do think that the PR department can do better than this.

AirAsia X will commence a 4-times-weekly flight to Gold Coast beginning 2nd of November. Now that we have two low-cost-carriers flying between Malaysia and Australia (AirAsia X and Jetstar), it is interesting to see how this business model will continue to survive in the within the next few years.

Al-Fatihah Untuk Nurin.

2007-09-21T23:23:00.000+08:00

Nurin Jazlin Jazimin. She is certainly not the first victim that we heard being abducted, raped and killed. And I wonder whether she will be the last. I don’t have a daughter, so I cannot really say I understand what Nurin’s parents have to go through. I can only imagine how they must have felt to learn that their daughter who they have been searching for the past one month is now gone, forever.

Every time these things happen, we all will join in rage condemning the rapist cum killer. We will all start to come up with Lots and lots of suggestion on how to prevent things like these from happening again. But after 2-3 months, we will all go back to our normal life as though these things never happened.

Who’s fault is that? But then, is that even the right question? Should we spend time pointing our finger towards each other or should we work together and try to find the solution? But then, is there a unique solution to this problem? Saying there is no solution is wrong as much as saying there is a solution.

But for a start, maybe we can work on something to prevent things like these from happening again. Things like never allow small children to wander outside the house alone. Things like getting to know your children’s friends. Getting to know their friends’ parents would also be a good start. Mind you that my suggestions here are more like a precaution than a solution.

May in 2-3 months time, we will not forget about Nurin and we will continue to ensure such atrocities will never happen again. May Nurin rest in peace. Al-Fatihah.

Got My Accommodation!

2007-09-20T16:57:00.000+08:00

I just received my accommodation offer for the next academic year. And just like my exam results, I received the offer through e-mail. For some reasons, everything seems to be done electronically these days. I have no qualms about moving into this IT era but it is irritating when these electronic systems have minor glitches.

Take my results for example, the email says, in order for me to retrieve my results, I have to log on to student service website. Sounds easy eh? Not quite. It took me almost half a day typing in my username and password over and over again before it finally let me to log in. While my other friends already flooding my facebook wall with their results, I was still trying to figure out how to log in.

Same thing happened with my accommodation offer. Only this time, it took me half an hour to log into the accommodation website. Cannot wait to see which room I get this time, I click on the ‘view offer’ link and turns out that, they just gave me my hall and not my room number. According to my friend who called the accommodation office, we will only know which room we are going to get when we arrived at Wye. I’m a big fan of surprises when it comes to birthday or anniversaries but not about this. Still, at least I know that I already have a HALL waiting for me when I got there.

It is already a week into Ramadhan and I am enjoying every bit of it because I have almost three weeks to spend the Ramadhan with my family.

Have a nice Ramadhan to all!

“Ramadhan is the (month) in which was sent down the Qur'an, as a guide to mankind,
also clear (Signs) for guidance and judgment (Between right and wrong). So every one of you who is present (at his home) during that month should spend it in fasting, but if any one is ill, or on a journey, the prescribed period (Should be made up) by days later. Allah intends every facility for you; He does not want to put to difficulties. (He wants you) to complete the prescribed period, and to glorify Him in that He has guided you; and perchance ye shall be grateful.” – Al-Baqarah, 185.

Not Dead Yet!

2007-09-10T09:28:00.000+08:00

I logged onto my blog today and realized that my last post was on the 18th of July 2007. I was like OH MY GOD!!!

First, let me tell you that I am not dead yet.

Second, I don’t think I will update my blog in the next couple of weeks simply because I’m just too lazy to do it. So, don’t bother checking out this blog. (I don’t seem to know who does)

Third, Selamat Menyambut Ramadhan Al-Mubarak!

There you go, my latest update. Ha-ha.

“The only reason for time is so that everything doesn’t happen at once.” – Albert Einstein.

Nuri Crash

2007-07-18T20:06:00.000+08:00

To date, there had been 18 crashes involving Nuri helicopters. And yet, the government has no plan whatsoever to ground or order for replacement for the helicopters. As mentioned by Datuk Seri Najib yesterday, Nuri is important as transportation and for special operation that any move to ground the helicopters are not feasible. And here I would like to ask Datuk Seri, if the helicopters are so important to the armed forces, then, why the government did not buy new helicopters to replace those ageing Nuri?

Don’t try to tell me that the government has no money considering the government already bought 4-5 private jets for the use of the Prime Minister and the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong. We only have one PM and one Agong, why do we need to have 5 private jets is beyond me.

Realizing that I might get shot after posting this entry here, I might as well stop here. If you don’t hear from me after this, just ask my family for the location of my grave.

P.S. I’d like to express my deepest condolences to the families and friends of the six officers involved in the Nuri crash last Friday.

“The worst thing in this world, next to anarchy, is government.” – Henry Ward Beecher.

UPDATE: Right after I posted this, the government announced that Nuri will be replaced. And our PM is on another holiday according to Buletin Utama.

How Will You Travel Through Life?

2007-07-09T08:01:00.000+08:00

Congratulations Boeing on the premiere of the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner this morning. As I watched the new airplane rolled-out from behind the big screen in Everett 20 minutes ago, I can see that Boeing is redefining our future travel experiences.

With 45 airlines ordering more than 680 airplanes even before the 787 was built, I would expect more airlines will be ordering the new Boeing after the premiere this morning and many more will be ordered after the first flight later this year. The Dreamliner is set to be in service this May with ANA.

Congratulations to Boeing and all its employees, suppliers and whoever involved in the production of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

“How will you travel through life?” – Boeing.

SOURCE: flightblogger, Boeing787.

Datuk Seri Oh Datuk Seri

2007-07-01T20:58:00.000+08:00

I thought we all live in free market. I cannot help but feel disgust at the remarks made by Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamad Tajol Rosli Ghazali, who asked Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia and Firefly to forget about profits and serve the Ipoh-Kuala Lumpur route with charity in mind. First of all, those three companies are commercial entities. They exist with one reason only, that is to make profits.

“Urging Malaysia Airlines (MAS), its subsidiary Firefly and low-cost carrier AirAsia to help revive the under-utilised Sultan Azlan Shah Airport here, Tajol Rosli said: “MAS and AirAsia must forget about whether the flights are viable. Flights to Ipoh must be seen as a social project. Be more considerate and forget about profits.”

I am sure someone as educated as Datuk Seri, would be able to differentiate the difference between Rural Air Services in Sabah and Sarawak and Ipoh-Kuala Lumpur route. While there is a need to provide air services in Sabah and Sarawak due to inadequacy of decent road network, there is simply no urgent need to justify social service reason purported by Datuk Seri for Ipoh-Kuala Lumpur route. This is because, Ipoh and Kuala Lumpur are already connected by highways and soon will be connected by high-speed train.

But surely, as a Mentri Besar who cares about his people, he has every right to plead airline companies to serve the route.

See, I am a reasonable person, first I criticise his opinion, then I give him some credit for simply doing his job.

“Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something.” – Plato.

P.S. The last sentence of my entry is a normative statement.