About Me

I have done a lot of things in my life and have also worked in many different jobs to make a living and to experience life. This blog is just some of my musings, sometimes funny, sometimes inspirational, sometimes sad, sometimes angry, sometimes simple but all the time, it's just me.

Thursday, December 31, 2009

Last day of the year already!

It has been a busier than usual holidays for me this year.

I left Miri on 17 Dec evening after sending Al E off to the kennel hopefully for one last time before his great trip back to Kuala Lumpur hopefully by Chinese New Year.

The flight on 17 was duly delayed and by the time I got home, it was 18/12 2am.

The days from 18 to today have past by like seconds ticking on a clock or the chimes on the grandfather clock between the kitchen and my dad's room.

We have spent pre-Christmas with the family, we have gone here and gone there, we have spent Christmas eve with wifey's mom, Christmas day with them as well.

Spent some time eating jungle food and herbs with my native friend in Serendah area and with another friend eating vegetarian dim sum.

We have spent some time before Christmas with a friend that come from Netherlands and one other friend or another.

Missed some friends, met some friends, talked to some, wrote to some, remembered in my heart and reminisced about some others.

Most of all, hope, pray and wish that everyone had a good year if not a great one. And if they had a bad one, then hope, pray and wish that things only get better for my dear friends who did not have a great year.

Also celebrated my 13th wedding anniversary. In marriage, nothing is perfect, you thrive to be the best and hope that the flaws are accepted, compromised and forgiven. To last for 13 years and always wishing and praying and hoping that it will last forever.

On 30th, we had our small house party which as usual turned out quite well. Guests coming in time and last guests leaving at 2am. Doctors, lawyers, engineers, accountants, businessmen, director generals etc .... mainly humans ... friends.

How has this year been for me?

It has been turbulently wonderful.

January started with a 3.5 month trip to the Netherlands for work which ended in a nice holiday with me and wifey in Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany before coming back with heavily laden bags to Malaysia.

In my months there, I also visited Antwerp, Berlin, Vienna, Krakowia, London and pretty much every nook and corner of Netherlands that the trains would take me.

Made some wonderful friends and reconnected with some old friends.

After coming back, there was the break for Gawai just spent time reconnecting back with my boy Al E whom I had missed for 3.5 months.

Missed the Miri Jazz Festival but then there was the Rainforest Music Festival with friends.

Work wise, things have been busy and interesting especially since taking up another role or doubling up on the planning role as well.

Then of course the big transition, the changes in the work place. Applying for jobs, the tension of hoping to get a job that I'd like and the the rumours, the weekly changes and finally the announcements.

Now, the big plan to move back to KL from Miri, with dog in tow.

Some minor renovations in Bangsar house to make it dog friendly a little.

So, understandably, 2009 has been a turbulent year but great year. Some things did not start well and did not even seem to go well but surely ended well, on a positive note.

Next year I will be back in KL as everyone knows. I will miss Miri as everyone knows. I will miss the wonderful friends I have made, I will miss the wonderful sunsets that I get daily from the beach home I have been staying in, I will miss the walks on the beach, I will miss the Miri traffic (no jams), I will miss Nasi Lalapan which I have yet to find in KL.

But despite all the things I will miss, I am looking forward to a lot of things.

And I am looking forward to a wonderful 2010.

Take care and be well.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Sie lor (die in Chinese) - Gomen Swindle Taxpayers

4% Good Services Tax.

4 means die in Chinese, so die lor all of us.

4% Good Services Tax.

What is the reduction in income tax? 0%

What is the reduction in car import tax? 0%

What is the reduction in goods import tax? 0%

What is the reduction in service charge that is charged? 0%

What is the increase in our GDP? 0%

And yet, we add on more tax, the good services tax, 4% proposed.

Can I refuse for bad services?
Can I refuse if the goods do not provide any services?
Can I refuse if my life is taxing enough?

The poor currently do not pay income tax.
But now, when they buy things, they have to pay Good Services Tax.

Ahhh, these are the benefits of capitalism.

Like my good friend Datuk said, GST is not Good Services Tax.

It is Gomen (Government) Swindle Taxpayers.

Exactly that, Gomen is trying to swindle us.

To fund nice vacations by the RM (1st lady), PM (Najis) and CM (cabinet ministers and chief ministers). They go for nice vacations, stay in wonderful yachts, spend millions of dollars.

Petronas money was not enough, income tax money was not enough, other import taxes was not enough, so now we have GST.

Gomen Swindle Taxpayers.

Take care and be well.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Making a list and checking it twice

Lately it seems I am making a lot of lists - mainly because I have been asked to.

You see, I do not like making extensive lists.

Handover of Job list, Move to KL list, End of year list, Things to Do list, etc etc etc.

All types of list.

Some more detailed than others.

But nevertheless all a list of things to do.

I only have 24 hours in a day of which about half are spent sleeping, shitting, shaving, showering and shoving food into the mouth.

And if I spent the rest making lists and lists of actions and things to do, when will I actually do these things?

Sometimes I feel we get bogged down in making a list of things to do and we never end up actually doing the things.

I have to blame all this 7 Habits crap and all this new books like 1000 places to visit before you die, 1000 types of food to eat before you die and so and so forth.

We have been shoved down with so many list that we get too overwhelmed to do the things and have time to smell the roses.

I now have 8 active lists, I think I need a list to write down things to do to eliminate the lists.

Until then, I will spend time writing lists, doing nothing else and spend the rest of the time doing 5S.

Not the Japanese workplace organization 5S which is Seiri(Sorting), Seiton (Sraighten or Set in Order), Seisō (Sweeping or Shining), Seiketsu (Standardizing) and Shitsuke (Sustaining the discipline).

But my version of 5S which is sleeping, shitting, shaving, showering and shoving food into the mouth.

Take care and be well.

Monday, December 14, 2009

Spinning Wheel

Recently there was an article in the Internet that Americans no longer own the biggest houses. In US, it is quite common to have a bungalow, even a medium income family would be living in a bungalow with land all around it, especially so if not in the major cities.

I had a friend in Houston who lived in a house which he said was not visible from the road where he entered the driveway from.

Anyways, Australians have taken over the spot for biggest houses in the world.

It is nice to live in a big house with a big yard despite the higher maintenance of it all.

But the Aussie family in the story below has really taken it another notch up. What an idea, really interesting I think. As Blood, Sweat and Tears sang ...
Drop all your troubles, by the river side
Ride a painted pony
Let the spinning wheel fly


An Australian family is turning heads with a rotating house that can guarantee a different view every time they wake up.

The Everinghams have been in a spin since they moved into their dream home in the countryside north of Sydney three years ago. They can turn the house to follow the sun without having to leave the comfort of their armchairs.

"When you wake up you do wonder where you'll be facing," said Luke Everingham, a sound-engineer who came up with the idea with his wife, Deb, after chatting with neighbors.

The neighbors wished they had built their home 15 degrees further to the north to capture more sunlight.

The octagonal-shaped house sits on a turntable powered by a small electric motor and controlled by a computer, which allows it move on demand.


The house cost about A$700,000 ($641,000) to build and can complete a full rotation in about 30 minutes, according to the Everinghams' own Web site.

Take care and be well.

Sunday, December 13, 2009

The thrilling potential of 'SixthSense'

A really interesting technology, and soon, it will be open source.



Pranav Mistry (1981, Palanpur, India) is the inventor of SixthSense.

He is a research assistant and a PhD candidate at MIT Media Lab.

SixthSense has recently attracted global attention.

Designer, Engineer and Inventor, Pranav Mistry is passionate about integrating the world of information with our real world interactions.

Among some of his previous work, Pranav has made intelligent sticky notes that can be searched, located and can send reminders and messages; a pen that can draw in 3D; and a public map that can act as Google of physical world. Pranav holds a Master in Media Arts and Sciences from MIT and Master of Design from IIT Bombay besides his Bachelor degree in Computer Engineering. P

ranav’s research interests include Ubiquitous computing, Gestural and Tangible Interaction, AI, Augmented reality, Machine vision, Collective intelligence and Robotics.

Sixth Sense has been awarded 2009 Invention Award by Popular Science.

Pranav also won Young Innovator Award TR35 by Technology Review. He has been called "one of the two or three, best inventors in the world right now" by Chris Anderson.

Take care and be well.

Saturday, December 12, 2009

And yet another big leap towards 1Malaysia ... not!

This is how Malaysia is heading to 1Malaysia.

We can either go to the direction of being a developed country like we should ... by following the leading countries in our neighbourhood or we can go to in this direction.

Since 9/11, USA has also instituted draconian policies to mistreat different races.

And even so called Americans are turning against their own country. The recent capture of 5 Americans in Pakistan who were planning jihad against American army in Afghanistan just shows how American have changed.

But where are we leading as Malaysians? Where are our leaders leading us to?

To development or to draconian laws?

Saya anak Malaysia (I am a son of Malaysia), born and raised here. I am among the few "idiots" who went overseas and came back to contribute to the nation building, to contribute to the country unlike many who leave and never come back... even giving up Malaysian citizenship.

And yet, as time passes by, I feel like I am powerless against the power crazy government and opposition whose faces remain the same for the last 20 odd years. Faces like the ministers we have now have been around since I was in secondary school - Najib, Muhydin and the gang. Opposition's faces are also the same - Tok Guru, Anwar, Kit Siang and Karpal - all devoid of new ideas.

What is happening to the new blood, where are the new ideas? Maybe all overseas.





Take care and be well.

Friday, December 11, 2009

Preparing KL Move for Al E

There are a hundred and one things to consider for my move to KL.

Amongst the more important things that needs to be done is to prepare the KL house for Al E.

You see, we never had a pet in KL and therefore the house needs to have some minor renovations to cater for Al E.

Among them include adding some doors so that Al E and especially his fur do not sneak into the kitchen area as well as our walk in closet upstairs.

Also, we need to have a few baskets for Al E to sleep, possibly 1 in the master bedroom, and one downstairs.

Maybe even a nice dog house sort of thing in the back yard or somewhere in the balcony.

Apart from that, we need to buy a crate to take him with us and check him in a luggage during the same flight as us and check him out and find a way to take him to the airport.

Arrangements will need to be made and flight expenses need to be paid.

All the paperwork and flight crate itself would cost about 2.5k.

The minor renovations and doors ... need to get an estimate.

Al E is also crate trained for his poopoo and peepee business.

So, to create a covered area for him in the backyard for his deposits during the day as well as an area in our existing toilet for him to do his deposits at night.

Of course wifey and I when discussing renovations seem to have some disagreements about the toilet although we both have the same idea.

And she keeps nagging me to do some Internet research for doggie toilets when I seem to already have a clear idea about it.

But as always, we should always please our wives. And through some Internet research, I came across the perfect design for a doggie toilet.

Now how do I incorporate this into the house?



Take care and be well.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

How To Handle Rejection

A friend, Add, sent this to me. Thanks for sharing Add.

On the way to reaching any worthwhile goal, chances are you will be faced with rejection. How you deal with this rejection is often the deciding factor that will determine whether or not you reach your goal.

Many people unfortunately take rejection very personally and view it as a reflection of their self worth. For example, when you apply for a job and are not successful, it is easy to start thinking things like, "I guess I’m just not good enough…"

In order to overcome the ‘rejection barrier’ and reach your most important goals, you must learn to dismiss these negative thoughts.

But of course that is easier said than done!

In this weeks edition of Dare To Dream I’d like to share with you a simple idea that can help you eliminate the negative feelings often associated with rejection.

Imagine for a moment that you are facing a very large wall. In front of you are a number of bright red doors.



Behind one of these doors lies your goal. This could be your perfect job, your ideal partner etc. Your job is simply to keep opening doors until you find the right one.

Now let me ask you a question…If you were single and you knew that your perfect partner was waiting for you behind one of these doors, how much sense would it make to open one door and then say, "I’m not good enough to find someone special so I’m not going to open any more doors…"

In this simple example it’s quite clear that the act of opening doors should have absolutely no bearing on your personal self image. It is simply something you have to go through in order to find what you are looking for.

If you can adopt a similar approach to dealing with rejection in the real world, you will become unstoppable!

Achieving your dreams is a numbers game. If you have the courage and determination to knock on enough doors, you willfind the right one.

Action Steps:
The next time you are faced with rejection, instead of taking it personally and criticizing yourself, think of the red doors and say out loud, "This was just a wrong door" and move on to try the next door.

Take care and be well.

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

"K-worker" in a "DS" environment?

Malaysia keeps talking this thing about K worker or Knowledge worker.

To be honest, this term of knowledge worker is very old but in Malaysia it is the new hip thing.

Peter Drucker coined the term knowledge worker and started writing about knowledge worker in 1959.

Yes, 50 years ago. 2 years after our countries independence.

But our country only starts talking about it now.

A knowledge worker in today's workforce is an individual that is valued for their ability to interpret information within a specific subject area. They will often advance the overall understanding of that subject through focused analysis, design and/or development.

They use research skills to define problems and to identify alternatives. Fueled by their expertise and insight, they work to solve those problems, in an effort to influence company decisions, priorities and strategies.

Knowledge workers may be found across a variety of information technology roles, but also among professionals like teachers, lawyers, architects, physicians, nurses, engineers and scientists.

As businesses increase their dependence on information technology, the number of fields in which knowledge workers must operate has expanded dramatically.

In Malaysia, Malaysians have long given up the hard labour roles. These roles were given up to the Indonesians and Bangladeshis to develop our nation. 100 years ago, the labour jobs were given away to Indians and Chinese (for rubber and tin respectively) and they have stayed here and become part of Malaysian society.

20 or 50 years from now, the Indonesians labourers who helped build the buildings will also become Malaysians.

You see, a lot of Malaysians have this DS mentality. DS meaning damn stingy, damn selfish, damn stupid.

Generally, a lot of Malaysians do not like sharing information completely.

They will keep some information with themselves. This is so that they remain always superior than the new person coming into the job.

So, every generation, instead of having proper information, we do not receive enough information.

Even with technology, where information is stored in databases, sometimes a person has to dig through thousands of data to find the correct information although the person next to you may already know where it is.

When we do not have the information, we cannot interpret the information, when we cannot interpret the information, we cannot be a knowledge worker.

We can only continue to be DS worker.

Also, why choose to be K economy now, 50 years later. Isn't there something more advance, something better, something more up to date?

I guess we'll have to leave that to the Einstein generation to tell us.

Take care and be well.

Monday, December 7, 2009

Jumpstart

A "hero" trying to jumpstart his car in a mall parking lot cause this to happen.



Two very unfortunate souls died due to concrete debris hitting them, the debris came from the retaining wall which the jumpstarted car rammed through. My they rest in peace.

Please guys, no jumpstarting cars in a car park - push the car to an open road or something or make sure someone is on control.

The person who drove the car survived the drop.

Take care and be well.

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Reflections

Two years, this tree lies by the beach in front of the house.

Two years, the tree has not moved.

Two years, the beach has eroded.

Soon, the sea will take this tree away.

Soon, the skies will bring me west.



The sun rises east, sets west.

And trees fall and trees wash away.

Time flies by but the memories remain forever.

The memories and the friendships of the east,

Forever will remain, in my heart, in my mind,

Till the day the sun sets on me.



Take care and be well.

Saturday, December 5, 2009

The journey of a thousand kilometers or so

I came here about two years ago.

That time, from the west to the east.

Now, the journey of a thousand kilometers or so starts from the east and takes me back to the west, where home is.

As the crow flies, it will be a journey of 1369 kilometers or 850 miles approximately.

People always say a journey starts with the first step, which I fully agree.

What is not said is the amount of preparation it takes before you can even take the first step.

There is the boxes to pack, the car to move, house to vacate, the accounts to close - banking, telephone, satellite etc, the people to move and among the most valuable thing to move from here apart from me and wifey is of course my boy, Al E.

So, in all honesty, the journey of a thousand kilometers or so, actually starts a few hundred kilometers before the actual journey itself.

So, my pre-journey starts now ....

And I will see you all soon back home.

Take care and be well.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

It's confirmed, I'm no longer lost in transition

Yeay, it has been confirmed, I got the job I wanted in the recent round of transition in the company.

A lot of changes expected, not just in my job but also in the whole IT organization.

Even my existing team seems to be left with only 1 incumbent and generally a lot of different faces in different roles.

Now that the anxiety of the wait is over, the slight stress of packing and moving starts.

Al E will follow us back and finally get to see where mummy and daddy disappear every time they enter the building called Miri Airport.

I will definitely miss all the friends I have made here, really really miss them.

But coincidentally, I start my new journey as I did my journey here. You see, the person that started the same day with me in the department will also be joining the new team.

Sometimes, there is happiness and there is sadness but such is life.

And notice to all my friends. I am expecting a farewell party ;)

Take care and be well.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

I'll take a cup of kindness yet ....

It’s already the 1st of December.

334 days have passed and all that remains in 31 days.

Of these 334 days, 96 days have been Saturdays and Sundays where I have either lazed about or done one chore or another.

Leaving me with 238 days.

26 days of annual leave and 4 days of sick leave, leaving me with 208 days.

5 days in training, leaving me with 203 days.

17 days have been public holidays. Leaving me with 186 days.

I think I have spend an average of 6 days either on a plane or in an airport waiting for a plane. So, now it’s 180 days.

Of these 180 days, an average of 60 days spent sleeping (i.e. 8 hours a day, so 1/3 of the 180 days).

Left with 120 days.

An average of 60 days spent working (same as above). But in all honesty, I think I spent slightly more of the time above for working, so, I will make that roughly 80 days.

So, only 40 weekdays where I spent time with family, having meals, playing with the dog, watching television, driving, talking, listening, watching, walking.

And now I am left with 31 days in the year.

Of which 8 days are weekends and 2 days are public holidays, so left with 21 days.

8 days I am on annual leave.

13 days where I will work and sleep an average of 8 hours a day, so about 4 days of work, 4 days of sleep.

Sadly only 4 days of time doing everyday mundane things that matter the most in life.

But I will cherish these 4 days, or 96 hours – spending time with family including my furry little one, listening to music, watching television, eating, laughing, and merry making.

Take care and be well.