The final post

Time passes so fast. A year has passed by already. This blog is unable to serve it's purpose any longer due to several reasons which I shall not disclose. In addition to that, the poor internet connection here hit the final nail into the coffin. I'm moving off from spending too much time on the internet and shall be pursuing other things which I've been neglecting for far too long. Much more important and meaningful things in life. This virtual world has been my boon and a bane as well.

What I desire for Christmas & New Year...

I can't stop salivating at this. The Ball Engineer Hydrocarbon Spacemaster. At a price tag of USD2699...it remains a wishful thinking hehehe

Pleasant memories

Went out for dinner at this "kopi tiam" restaurant where the theme is retro. Each table has a "Happy Family" deck of cards and 5 bottle caps.

Which brings me back to the memories of my primary school days. The hottest games then were the "5 bottle caps game", the "turn the eraser over" game or the "turn the cards over" game. Simple games like these took hours of our attention. Of course the games also revealed who had more "cheating tendencies" hahaha...

The 5 bottle caps game goes like this. You put 5 of them up (the side with the "teeth" upwards) and then rotate them. They will then disperse. Your opponent will then choose which cap you need to target using another cap. You need to "shoot" one cap with another. You can use whatever method you like but assistance is restricted to your bodily parts only, usually using both hands. Many methods were used especially if the caps are not in direct line of vision with a third cap blocking the way. The most common way is using the other hand as a guide to swerve the cap over to the target cap. Another would be to shoot up the air hoping it will land on the other cap using the other hand as a "landing guide". You cannot however move your guiding hand. Most cheaters will move the guiding hand a little to "nudge" the cap to it's target. There are also several variations to the rule.

The other game I remember would be the "turn the eraser over" game. Each player would purchase some brand new erasers. Each will contribute one or 2 or even more erasers. They are then stacked up nicely. Then the starting player is chosen using the "bird, water, stone" method. The player would then warm up his inner palm by rubbing it repeatedly on the table. He then presses the stacked up erasers with his inner palm and lifts it up. Some or all of the erasers will stick to his inner palms and drops down later. Any erasers which turns over belongs to him. The next player will then try on the remaining erasers and so forth. There is a distinct method of turning over the erasers after lifting them up. The cheaters will usually discreetly "push" the erasers forward while trying to lift them up. This will cause the erasers to roll over instead. Believe me, those cheaters have refined the skill until it becomes an art. However arguments have occurred and the verdict was usually to repeat it. The game will go on until a player loses all his erasers or if he stops playing.

Proudly I think I was one of the top players in both games. I had won lots of the "bottle caps" game and also won lots of erasers. I was an honest player. Honest. The "cheaters" also won a lot, usually from unsuspecting newbies or new players. In retrospect, the "cheaters" were usually not very interested in their studies but are among the more creative and sociable people around. I'm not surprised if they are very successful in their careers today but probably not in the academic line.

I'm not sure what's the point of this post actually...but I suppose we can tell if our kids are destined to take up a traditional academic career or a more unconventional career pathway like entrepreneurship or business related line by just observing their tendencies while playing games. And I believe the "cheaters" will probably be more successful in the future as they are probably "risk takers", willing to take the risk of being found out for the glory of a huge victory hehe.

What's wrong with Malaysia?

As 2009 is coming to an end, it's time for reflections again. With all the mega scandals in 2009 from the C4, to the PKFZ to the missing jet fighter engines that Hollywood might be interested, one cannot but wonder what lies in store for Malaysia

As for the common people on the street like me, more mundane stuffs dominate their daily lives. I've personally experienced some of them. I've some questions for which the answers might be pretty obvious. Answers which explain the path Malaysia has gone down to.

1) We have great government offices without signage sprawling in Putrajaya but no obvious public carparks. Cars are parked by the roadsides. I saw some police officers writing summons.

Question : Why do you have government offices when there are no carparks for them? And why summons them when you do not provide carparks in the first place? Is it not a place where public will go for government services?

2) We sell many Proton cars and even give RM5K discount as an incentive for old car owners to upgrade.

Question : Why do we encourage more cars on the road when the roads are perpetually jammed, full of potholes and confusing? Drivers get impatient and irritated - thus they make illegal U-turns, use emergency lanes or worse, get into accidents. And police summons them for that. Why there isn't any proper planning and proper roads? Why encourage sales of cars then?

3) To solve the traffic jams, we have public transport.

Question : How come there are long queues at the LRTs? We trade queuing at the jammed roads with the long queues at the public transport. How fantastic! I've been to places with higher density of population like HK and S'pore, their public transport is nothing short of efficient.

4) We have many police officers who can be deployed for disbanding public rallies, but why crimes are getting rampant?

Murders and aggressive crimes are highlighted almost daily in the newspapers. I've got colleagues whose bags where snatched in broad daylight, handphones pick-pocketed, cars whose windows were smashed. And my stolen shoes. What are the police doing about it?

5) Why inflation and cost of living has been spiralling upwards? Cost of property is beyond the reach of most people. Cost of food has been rising. And we introduce GST.

I mean these are the daily grind the public is facing and it looks like it's not getting any better anytime soon. Hopefully there will be some light in 2010. Sigh...

New Orleans

I had the opportunity to visit New Orleans recently. The journey was horrible, with a total time of about 32 hours to reach there. However I was pleasantly surprised that my luggage had arrived there with no hiccups at all.

My first time to the US. The security and immigration was horrendous, to the point of being paranoid. The immigration officer (who looked like a Latino) asked me if the lady who was passing by the counter looked hot or not ! Anyway after the multiple security checks, there I was in New Orleans. Roads are wide, building are sparse (comparatively to KL or Hong Kong).





The city is by the edge of the Mississippi river and the weather was bearable. Not freezing cold. Apart from job related obligations, I went visiting the city, the wonderful Audobon aquarium of the Americas, the French market and tasted many local delicacies including the croc. Apparently New Orleans is famous for it's voodoo tours, Mardi Gras, swamp tours, crocodiles and the local food - gumbo, jambalaya, shrimps etc. The city itself had a very European feel. Many people speak Spanish and the French quarter is probably the highlight of the city.

We went for a spin at the swamps using the airboat and was given a history lesson. Apparently the US government wanted to prevent erosion of the swamps and introduced water lilies, when that got out of control, they introduced some big rats to eat it up, and when the rats got out of control they introduced hyenas, and when they started eating local wildlife, they started shooting them. Anyway didn't see any wild crocs as they were hibernating.


That's the fried croc meat. Anyway after about a week, I was more than ready to get home to the warm weather and spicy local food. New Orleans does not allure me very much. Malaysia is still my home.

Stupid Malaysians

Some Malaysians are either too spoilt or too stupid to appreciate the things which are provided for them free of charge.

Some Malaysians refuse proven treatment for free, which will cost RM100K in private and rather go for dubious"alternative therapies".

On the other hands, foreigners, illegal or otherwise will grab any opportunity to obtain treatment in a medical facility. Perhaps by learning through some of their community's painful lessons of delaying proper medical treatment, these foreigners truly appreciate what is being provided for them in a medical facility even though they are poked many times left, right and center by inexperienced house officers. They thank the medical provider regardless of the outcome. I had one foreigner who can hardly speak a word of English or Malay, who is even willing to fork out RM60K for a particular treatment. And the patient had probably begged, borrowed or steal to obtain the funds for treatment.

In contrast, some Malaysians will outright reject proven treatments which costs a bomb to the government. Even if it is provided to them for free! How stupid can one get. They default frequently and behave as if they are primadonnas. The feeling I get is "we want to treat them more than they want to be treated". And their favorite past time is complaining, why they have to pay RM5 for consultation, why they have to wait so long, why this and why that. In contrast, we have poor foreigners who are willing to fork out RM50 for consultation and comes for follow up religiously. The Malaysians who are appreciative are the ones who have finished their money in private and realized that proper treatment is not cheap. We have seen a Malaysian screaming four letter words at the top of his voice just because he had to wait a little longer for consultation.

Sometimes treating poor foreigners is so much more satisfying and rewarding. Serve Malaysians right if they have to pay through their nose for healthcare in the future.

A piece of paper

The UPSR results are just out. 9.51% of students got all As.

Now, As are a dime a dozen. Even the Ministry of Education has decided there has to be a new category, A+. This is to satisfy the unending lust of parents and administrators to see more As. What's the value of an A anyway?

What's the value of a piece of paper? In the past, a scroll guaranteed certain things in life. Better opportunities for further education, a better job, a better status and a better chance of getting better remuneration. But what can it do now?

The last I read, there are over 50,000 unemployed graduates. Now everyone can be a graduate. It satisfies the students who can be called graduates now, it satisfies parents who want their kids to be called graduates, it satisfies their school and universities (better statistics = promotion for administrators, more students enrolling = more income) , it satisfies the Ministry of Education ( better statistics = promotion = higher salary + chance to be PM?? ) and our country can then boast to have a very high literacy rate. How deluded can we be ???!!!

We dished out As and scrolls to satisfy our own delusion. But what's the value of the scroll now? Can the scroll put food on your table? Can the scroll clothe you? Can the scroll protect you from the elements? Can the scroll repair a leaking pipe? Can the scroll repair your broken down car? It is just a piece of paper, nothing more than a piece of paper. Maybe useful as toilet paper.

I mean parents and students are spending tons of money for that piece of paper. This must be the biggest scam of all times. But never mind, we can boast we have that piece of paper with As, others don't. Hahahaha...

The hardly literate farmer in the furthest corner of the country can laugh the loudest now, at least he can put rice on the table. And you have to buy rice from him. And doesn't need to sell it to you either. What can your magical piece of paper do?