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.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Whirlwind Typhoon

Seems like our lives (mine and wifey) has become a whirlwind typhoon.

First was the big move of our beloved dog Al E into his new home all the way from Borneo to mudvalley.

Then the packing up belongings to move our stuff in Borneo to KL.

Then our actual physical move.

Then the usual work related stuff, new environment, new scope, new people etc etc.

Then the container of goods arrives - so the home is turned into this wonderful place for 5 year old's to play hide-n-seek or maze but a big mess of boxes everywhere for adults.

Now the unpacking, not just in our home but also re-decorating mom's home (not that it seems to be appreciated by some residents of that home).

Then there is studying for PMP amidst all this chaos. Exam is in 2 weeks, I must study, I will study, I shall study and I will do well.

Norman Vincent Peale said, "Change your thoughts and you change the world."

Whirlwind typhoon be gone and let this nice calmness set.

May the lottery Gods strike me and datuk the big big money so that we can just hire someone to do this and just retire into the sunsets of the world.

Take care and be well.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

My dear Julie - rest in peace

Our dear friend from South Africa Julie passed away this morning 5am South Africa time.

Got a message from Darrel, her husband, at around 2pm Malaysian Time.

Julie will be remembered very very fondly by both Sarah and myself. She was always cheerful and the life of any party.

We will miss dearly her but I am grateful that God has taken her now after months of suffering through a very difficult cancer.

The world is a little less cheerful today and the heavens are smiling as all her cheeriness is going there.

Rest in peace my dear Julie, and I am sure that you will have a fun time up in heaven.


Take care and be well.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Best Malaysia University - USM

I just deduced from what I read in the newspaper today that USM (University Sains Malaysia) is the best Malaysian institute of higher learning in this country.

This even when compared to all the multiple localised and private institutes of higher learning that have mushroomed in Malaysia.

Now why do I deduce this?

You see, in the newspapers today, there was an article of an Iraqi doctorate student from USM pleaded not guilty to a charge of reckless driving which ended up killing another person.

This Iraqi student - who is studying to be a PhD, a doctorate degree, in USM pleaded not guilty through an interpreter.

An interpreter was used because this 45 year old Iraqi could not speak English or Malay and therefore an Arabic interpreter was used.

What has this got to do with USM being top university?

Well, it would seem that USM now offers doctorate degrees in multiple languages including Arabic.

Also, Penang has become so advanced that all the restaurants, road signs, banking facility etc etc is now available in Arabic.

Either that or this guy is so freaking rich that he has hired an interpreter to even go to his classes and do translation for his doctorate dissertation.

But then if he is so freaking rich, why attend USM right?

I have had a few friends who attended USM and they had to do all their dissertation in wonderful Bahasa Malaysia.

In fact most of the wonderful lecturers in USM can barely speak English.

So, when an article that shows that a doctorate student who cannot speak English and Malay is in USM - I am just flabbergasted.

Our education system must really be going in the right direction.

But it is likely that this Iraqi has got Muhammad Muhammad Taib as advisor. For those who forgot MMT or Mike Tyson, our ex Selangor Chief Minister who "speaks no Engrish" as per his famous case in Australia.

Well, all you buggers and bloody justice system, a person got killed because of this fella's reckless driving - he better start speaking some Engrish or Malay - and we better get some justice.

Take care and be well.

Monday, March 22, 2010

Bitter Sweet

"Dude, you have a tattoo. Sweet. What does mine say?"

"Dude. What does mine say?"

"Sweet."

"Dude"

Anyways, I was reading the free newspaper today and for a while now we have been hearing Malaysians have a sweet tooth and consume a lot more sugar than the average recommended amount of daily sugar intake.

I for sure like sweet stuff but do not generally intake a lot of sugar on a daily basis.

It is claimed that Malaysian take about 51 grams of sugar a day or about 7 teaspoons in our drinks.

I for sure do not have that many sweet drinks a day but I guess they are taking an average.

So, what is the average?

This is where the article is not entirely clear on its story.

The average it quotes is 50 grams a day.

So, Malaysians are only eating 1 gram more? What is the big deal, right?

You have to keep reading to note understand that Malaysians are taking the average total amount just in their drinks.

It does not tell us how much sugar we consume in food etc. on a daily basis.

But just extrapolating for the drinks, let's say we double it up. Then an average Malaysian takes about 100 grams a day, which is double the recommended amount.

3 kilo's of sugar a month, 36 kilos of sugar a year. A population of say 27 million, means about 1 billion kilos of sugar consumed in Malaysia.

That is 1,000,000,000 kilograms of sugar consumed by Malaysians in a year.

Can this be right?

No wonder GLC Felda took over the sugar distribution in Malaysia from Robert Kuok and no wonder the government immediately raised price of sugar.

We do not need GST in Malaysia, we just need the monopolistic GLC's to raise the price of goods or services they supply and the government will be filthy rich, rich enough for the 1st Lady to go on a 100 million shopping spree in Europe again.

Imagine water price went up, electricity price went up, sugar price went up, petrol price went up ...

What other GLC's do we have?

I think Malaysia is a rich country, but yet we are spiraling into oblivion. We should be richer than Singapore but yet their currency is stronger.

What happened to all out wealth?

Well obviously gone into shopping sprees, corruption etc etc.

And yet, the income tax sends me a legal court notice to pay up on some minuscule profit I made in some house I sold when they did not even reply to my lawyers letter 3 years back.

Yet again, Satu Malaysia, teras panduan, PTUI.

Take care and be well.

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Our little adventure in Shah Alam

Yesterday morning, Wifey, Mack (who came down from her attic) and I went to this place in Shah Alam called SkyTrex Adventure and we sure did get ourselves into an adventure for sure.

We were going out with a few other people and duly arrived there as we were told at 11am and our adventures supposed to have started at 11:30. However, the organizing committee showed up a little late, so the 3 of us had a nice ice cream from those traditional ice cream vendors.

When the other 3 of the adventure party showed up, we were informed we would have to wait another hour or so because we were waiting for another 2 people.

Finally, the 2 more showed up and we took the bus ride to the adventure place.

The other party had booked us for the Extreme Challenge when I would have gladly done the Little Adventure. I was not feeling extremely well with my Vertigo acting up and room spinning in the morning (some days it feels like my head is spinning like Linda Blair in Exorcist but it is more the room spinning).

As we got out gloves and water packs and locker keys, the Brit's friend had given us Boots Repel Extra Strength Insect Repellent Spray to spray on ourselves.

After spraying it, I and wifey felt a little itchy but Mack immediately had a allergic reaction with arms and face going all red and puffy.

We went to to bathroom to immediately wash it out but her condition just got worse.

So, we went to our friends and told them that we (wifey and I) were going to take Mack quickly to a medical center and we needed the culprit (insect repellent) as evidence that could maybe help the doctor.

We also went to the management to see if we can get someone to drop us off to our car using their personal car as waiting for the bus may take too long.

The management was super nice to get one of their staff in his little car to drop us right by our Hyundai.

In this chaos of getting help and being concerned for Mack's well being, I did not hear what the Brit said.

As per wifey and Mack, he informed Mack, "Make sure you return the insect repellent. It is not available here, it's from the UK."

If I had heard this (which I did not), I would have told this bloody Brit to go f... himself and shove the bloody repellent to his face.

Some people seem to be more concerned about products than well being of people. Such is the materialistic world that we live in.

In Miri, many a times when I have been sick, Mack, Kupps or Datuk or any of the friends would gladly come no matter what they were doing to help a friend who was truly in need. Especially in medical emergencies or medical concerns.

The same way wifey and I were concerned yesterday so it was really disheartening to here these sort of statements.

Anyway, our adventure in SkyTrex ended before we even started.

But the adventure did not end there.

Being unfamiliar with Shah Alam, I just drove out to find the nearest clinic or medical center and we ended up in Pusat Rawatan Darul Ehsan (Darul Ehsan Medical/Treatment Center) and told them it was an emergency.

I even parked my car in the emergency box.

Mack was duly put in the room immediately but we could not follow.

Apparently she was given a jab of Piriton which in her own words could even knock off an elephant. She was knocked out and was sleeping in a bed in the emergency room.

After a while, we asked the guy who put her in the room what was the situation and he informed us that she was sleeping but we could go in one at a time.

Of course I do not heed the advice and follow wifey in the room at the same time.

Mack was just getting up but still groggy but doctor said she could leave but not drive for a while.

So we came back to my house where she slept it off again and I went to buy some food and ice cream for all.

By the time I got back, there was a science experiment going on to make coffee in the new machine wifey got.

We all ate a late lunch.

Then relaxed a little before heading off for a walk with Al E.

After which Deb, Mack's lil sista came and picked her up, lepak for a while.

Mack is much better now but it was quite a scare for all three of us but all is well now.

Still disheartened about materialistic people who care more about a £6.59 insect repellent than they would for their friends. Wish Boot's made a repellent for this sort of human insects.

But that is our adventures. We have not given up on SkyTrex, we will return, but hopefully this time with a group that is closer knit.

Take care and be well.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

More expensive hotels

Now our PM is singing the same stupid song that the tourism minister did a few months ago .... that 5 star hotels should charge higher rates because tourist are happy to pay a higher price.

Apparently, lower prices leave them wondering if the hotels are really 5 star hotels.

People come to visit us because we are cheap.

IT industry and other industry set up shop here because we are cheap.

The maufacturing industries set up shop here because we were cheap and many left because we became expensive.

If a consultant or a PMP certified project manager was to charge the same rate as one with similar experience in Europe or US, companies would not want our so called K workers.

If hotels started charging >1000 ringgit per room, which is what 5 star hotels in Europe or US charge, people will have no reasons to visit Malaysia.

Currently, having cheaper hotels gives the opportunity for "poorer" Europeans to enjoy 5 star service in Malaysia because it is affordable.

I have had friends come to Malaysia from Europe and stayed in our cheap 5 star hotels and they came back again because it was cheap.

I seriously do not know who these 1Malaysia useless government is trying to cater to - probably to all the rich Arabic terrorists like Osama and his followers or supporters who have made Malaysia a tourist destination.

They tend to forget that the tourist will gladly go to Thailand, Indonesia, or any other South East Asian countries that has similar things to offer the tourist that do come here.

Already Penang was destroyed as a tourist destination by the government and made into a industrial island full of pollution and traffic jams; now destination rest of Malaysia.

God bless us all.

Take care and be well.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

I relented and I spent

Usually every year I buy myself something, something really nice and something I will really use.

Usually I would buy myself a present for my birthday and a present for Christmas.

But last year, I did not have any of this indulgent purchase.

On my birthday, I did a trip to London and that was costly enough that I could not buy a present.

Over Christmas, due to the changes, the moves, the transition, I just bought myself a few work pants which I call a necessary purchase rather than a present.

And soon my birthday is coming up and therefore I decided to buy something.

So, I have relented and I have spent and I have bought an iPhone 3Gs 32GB smart phone.



Still figuring out how to use it, but I have it. I have no one upped my boss who has the older version :P

I actually got another item but this is for the family and going to be in the living room. It is not entirely a purchase but still, something new.

A Samsung Series 7 46 inch LED television, the largest television that I have ever had.

Mind you, my first television when I first started to work some 20 years ago was a Toshiba 12 inch CRT television.

I am right now getting used to using the iPhone and patiently waiting for the Samsung television.

Take care and be well.

Friday, March 12, 2010

The real thing

Yesterday a good friend of mine and I were chatting and somehow, just simple chats help.

Today we continued our chat and I was telling how people in KL pretty much make a lot of excuses and have no time to meet up with friends.

Yes there are jams, and yes there are families and other matters, but sometimes I feel friends need to be there for each other.

People tend to be able to go to work everyday, do other mundane things every day but when it comes to meeting up a friend ... jam lah, far lah, this lah, that lah and all the excuses in the world will come out.

Sometimes, talking helps, chatting on instant messenger helps, a lot of things help but people get too busy with work that they forget to say good morning, hello, how are you.

Then this friend send me this email about a 30 second speech from Coca-Cola CEO Bryan Dyson

"Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling some five balls in the air. You name them - Work, Family, Health, Friends and Spirit and you're keeping all of these in the Air.

You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back.

But the other four Balls - Family, Health, Friends and Spirit - are made of glass. If you drop one of these; they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged or even shattered. They will never be the same.

You must understand that and strive for it."

I fully agree with Bryan on this, work is always there but people tend to think that work is the glass ball and that family, health, friends and spirit are the rubber balls and will bounce back.

Oh how wrong can these KLlites be.

We really need to take care of those glass balls.

The thing is, everyone is juggling the same type of balls.

While we may take care of our glass balls, sometimes that is not reciprocated and that creates a chain reaction.

For example, if you care and give time for your friends and you juggle the ball well but say your friend who is also juggling balls dents the friend ball ... then you get hurt and you tend to drop that ball to at times.

And this is what creates a negative chain reaction, your friend drops the friend ball, you get hurt, so you drop the friend ball too.

This goes back to being human.

How do we overcome that is easier said than done. Basically unconditional love. We must have total unconditional love for our family, for our health, for our friends and for our own spirit.

So what if you get hurt by someone, break the chain reaction, you kept juggling those glass balls, you keep giving it 100%.

Like I said, it is easier to put it in words rather than practice it.

We need to learn from other beings in this universe of ours.

Take care and be well.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Life in KL

It has been barely 2 weeks since getting back to KL.

On arrival, of course Al E who had not seen me for a month was all over me.

On the Sunday, met up with a close friend for dinner and on Monday was off to work in Cyberjaya.

Like any first day of work in any new organization, there are the first day blues.

I am supposed to be on moving leave still but decided to go to work on Monday rather than Tuesday.

And as in any new place, there is a slight cultural adjustments that you have to get used to.

However, thanks to living in Bangsar and the new Maju Expressway, getting to work is generally quite a breeze.

In the last 10 days of so, I have already worked from the hotel for 3 days due to late calls - basically I work The Netherlands times when I work from home, so basically from 2pm until 11pm.

The Internet connection in the hotel is generally good but at home it is quite unpredictable.

I do certainly miss Miri but it is really good to be back home with the family.

On Monday, had a wonderful dinner with friends (ex Boss and wife whom both wifey and me would now consider friends).

Some minor construction/renovation is ongoing in the house and still waiting for the container to arrive. Not really in a rush and as such have not called the movers about it yet. Let them do their job and call me when they are ready and this time, I will demand they come as per my convenience, not theirs.

This Transition in my company has been very interesting and I am certain if I can combine all the reactions and experiences of all the people especially in regards to our experiences with HR, I can write a novel that will rival War and Peace.

Dealing with HR is also like War and Peace, in the end they are the Gods anyways.

People here tend to start work later. I arrived for work at 8am on Monday and nobody was around. People start to trickle in after 9am.

It also took a week to get my security card to work for the office gates.

All in all, still adjusting and been busy working.

Walking with Al E and wifey in the mornings and evenings is as always wonderful.

My mind has got busy with all the projects I have been doing. And unfortunately, until now, I have not had the mood nor inspiration to write a blog entry.

I will promise to write a little more often but possible not as often as in Miri.

Until then, as usual ....

Take care and be well.