My 5 sen Views

Deteriorating Services (or is it deteriorating money value?)

2010-08-14T20:26:00.000-07:00

I was amused, and confused. In a span of 2 days, my money was rejected, or nearly so. Oh well, maybe it's too small a sum, I guess.

At a public toilet, I was given a "lecture" by the caretaker, when I pay with a few 5 sen coins. I was so surprised, I thought to myself "is it that the 5 sen coin had also been canceled, like the 1 sen?". Eventually, he was saying that it's hard for him to change, or something like that. I wasn't paying notice once I'm sure my 5 sens are still valid.

But afterwards, I gave the incident a deep thought. What the hell! What is wrong with paying with 5 sen? Is 5 sen not money? The fastfood chain are paying me those all the time, can I say no?

And another instance(which is quite normal nowadays)is when I pay with a RM50 note for a few ringgit of products. While I always try to avoid doing this, sometimes I just can't help that I do not have any small change. But when I pay, the attendant just totally reject the money, asking me to find some small change to pay him.

I really think the services sector should improve, and move away from this practice, as I think as a consumer, we deserved better.

Major Tolled Highways in Malaysia - and its Major Share Holders

2010-04-25T08:52:00.000-07:00

1) North South Expressway owned by PLUS
2) Kuala Lumpur-Karak Highway (MTD InfraPerdana)
3) Penang Bridge (UEM Builders)
4) Shah Alam Highway or KESAS (Selangor govt 30 per cent, Gamuda 30 per cent)
5) Butterworth-Kulim Expressway (PLUS Expressways)
6) Cheras-Kajang Highway (Taliworks 55 per cent)
7) Damansara-Puchong Highway (LITRAK)
8) SPRINT Highway (Gamuda 53 per cent, LITRAK, KPS, New Pantai Expressway (IJM Corp)
9) Kajang SILK Highway (SILK Holdings)
10) Guthrie Corridor Expressway (Pemodalan Nasional Bhd)
11) Sungai Besi Highway (IJM Corp)
12) East Coast Expressway (MTD InfraPerdana)
13) Malaysia-Singapore 2nd Link (PLUS Expressways)
14) Butterworth Outer Ring Road (Rayston Consortium SB)
15) Ampang-KL Elevated Highway (Pemodalan Nasional Bhd)
16) SMART Tunnel (Gamuda-MMC JV)
17) New North Klang Straits Bypass (Shapadu Corporation SB),
18) Duta-Ulu Klang Expressway (Wira Kristal SB 70 per cent, MRCB 30 per cent)
19) ELITE Highway (PLUS Expressways)

Toyota crisis

2010-02-25T07:12:00.000-08:00

On the first week of my working life,my company exposed me to the idea "Doing it the Toyota Way" and "Kaizen", which I was told means "improve" in Japanese. But don't get me wrong, I wasn't part of the Toyota staff, and in no way being associated with them. The only link between me and Toyota is my dad owned one Toyota Corolla.

Until the recent crisis, Toyota has been a symbol of excellence, a sustainable corporate giant that span 73 years long. Toyota cars are meant to be reliable,and to many, owning a Toyota car alone is a great pride.

I was unfazed when Toyota announced the recall of vehicles. I thought it was a great move, a sign that they really care about the quality of the cars they produced. "No recall doesn't mean it's a good car" is what deeply feel, due to the numerous problems encountered by the people owning a national car. I was in no doubt that Toyota will come back stronger.

But when the news of an internal Toyota document broke off, I was deeply shocked! The internal document allegedly boast of a "win" for Toyota in striking a deal with the U.S. government for a more limited recall involving floor mats, and saving the company $100 million.

Though until now there aren't any definite reply whether the document is genuine or not, I hope Toyota, or even Akio Toyoda himself, will clarified on this matter. While customers acknowledged that defects does happen, they will never forgive for ignoring their safety for the sake of saving money. This will be a crucial point in convincing and winning back the customers again,and that Toyota is still a reputable company that stress on safety.

My confidence on Toyota is greatly shaken by this document, and as this crisis keep on unfolding, we may, or may not get to the real cause all these recalls.

May we all get to the root of the cause..

Malaysians should be PROUD! We have a very proactive government!

2010-01-17T07:36:00.000-08:00

I have always been a passive person, and was, and still is, always urged to be more proactive in the way I do things. Perhaps I'm too passive in nature...perhaps I should learn a thing or two from the government.

The government has been, in recent time, very proactive in what is happening in the country. The two obvious cases are as below:

1) The alleged leaking of the autopsy report on Teoh Beng Hock to non-authorized personnel by Pornthip.

The PROACTIVE Personnel: MACC Officer.

2) Filing of appeal against the High Court ruling on the use of the word “Allah”

The PROACTIVE Personnel: Home Ministry/ Home Minister

I'm deeply influenced by the government's proactive-ness, and I vowed to be more proactive from now on! ( wow! what an influential government! They will have to be careful with their action if they command such great influence, as there are always Good and Bad influence)

Two is better than one

2009-12-12T06:06:00.000-08:00

After getting the work done in the office, I swiftly make a move to leave. Too swift that I found myself all alone, again, in a bustling and dangerous city..I switched on the radio...

Two is Better Than One is on the radio..and she came to my mind...how I wish I could see her for another while..will she have dinner with me? is she done with her work?.. For once, I did the right thing, that is to try...

I was delighted when she agreed! It was like an early Christmas gift..a priceless gift.. And it was calming, exactly what I need in a time when I feel insecure and uncertain.

Mineral Water! Do not buy at Teng Mini Market Centre (Giant), Bangsar!

2009-11-18T05:38:00.000-08:00

I was shopping for groceries, and suddenly thought of the need to buy a box of mineral water for a function. So I asked one of the staff there, and he informed me that I should go to the Customer Service Counter.

So here I am, at the Customer Service Counter, enquiring about the box of mineral water, and the one taking care of the counter could not give me a definite answer. I noticed that people are queuing up at this counter to pay things, so I thought maybe I should queue up and wait for my turn. BAD IDEA!

While I was queuing up, I was mocked by a customer queuing behind me. She made all kinds of monkey sounds, but I never thought that it's intended for me. The final straw came when she said "This is a fast lane, 5 items below only!".. This is the moment when I realized that all those monkey sounds are meant for me, as I was carrying my groceries. But I keep on ignoring her, as my intention is just to clarified how the hell can I buy my box of mineral water.

To the woman: Please be considerate and civic minded, it is no doubt a fast lane, but also the Customer Service Counter, I have my rights to stand there, enquire things as long as I wanted to, but I also didn't take a long time to ask. By the way, I also queue for my turn to ask, bitch!

To TMC: Are you so poor or lack of space? Can't you just have a proper Customer Service Counter?

Then I was informed by the Customer Service Counter to wait, while they take the box of mineral water from the store. Fine!

While waiting, I queue to pay up my groceries. But when I told the cashier that I also purchase a box of mineral water, she rudely said I should had let her know earlier. What?! Let her know earlier? How am I supposed to know? I was made to wait for the box of mineral water, and you come and tell me I should let you know earlier that I buy a box of mineral water?

Ok ok, fine..I have done my shopping at lease. While I leave the parking, I'm aware of the ruling that, if I buy things above RM30, I'm entitled to free one hour parking. But at the parking counter, I was charged as well, as they said I need to show the coupon to get free parking. WHAT?! Why I wasn't inform by the cashier? I made purchases of RM60 something, and I'm not made known to have such a coupon!!!

But the final straw came long after I leave TMC. I was trying to make a feedback to the Giant at their website. But after all my effort writing and streamlining it (as they limit it to 500 characters), I was given the worst possible respond: site currently not available.

I will never go shopping at TMC again!

Work can really blinded the voice of your heart...

2009-07-22T11:21:00.000-07:00

Haha..so the title very confusing, right? How can something blinded a voice?

But that is exactly what happened to me..

During the 10-week internship period, I've go through the working life of the majority of adults..waking up early, take the public transport, and reach the work place, work, go back home, sleep.. To be more extreme, this company work 6-day full day, so 6/7 of the week, I have to go through these..

Ok ,well, what I'm trying to say isn't that, a person is all work and no play. During this period, I did visit some places with friends, enjoyed some great meals together, and had fun!

But what I did not do is, to sit down quietly, and listen to what my heart wants to say..the voice of my heart.. and I didn't see the need of this. Get to relate to the title already?

The voice of our heart..is a feeling that will direct you to the purpose of your life..what you are suppose to do, your purpose in life, and not urge, or responsibility..

Only after I finish my internship, I can hear the voice of my heart again.. and found the purpose of my life..

SOPA 2009: theSun is Worthy Winners

2009-07-20T01:14:00.000-07:00

After following theSun for the past 10 weeks, I will have to say that theSun is undoubtedly the worthy winner of the 2009 Societies of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) awards: Excellence in Investigative Reporting. theSun won it's third award for investigative journalism in as many years.

Following the political tsunami on the 8th March 2008, while the English main stream media has certainly slightly reversed it's bias trend towards a more neutral stand, theSun has certainly proved itself to be the people's voice!

theSun's special reports and investigations team of editor R.Nadeswaran and deputy editor Terrence Fernandez picked up an honourable mention for investigative journalism for "Public Land Gone" - their expose on the Bandar Utama land scam where seven parcels of land meant for public amenities were alienated to political parties, politicians and businessmen.

theSun beat three other newspapers who are also vying for this award- Singapore's The New Paper and The Straits Times, and Hong Kong's Far Eastern Economic Review.

Kudos to the team! May you guys keep reporting the truth, and stay neutral!

http://www.thesundaily.com/article.cfm?id=34600

BM again for Science and Maths..Are we in the right direction?

2009-07-09T07:53:00.000-07:00

When comes to this issue, so often I will have contradictory stand, depending on which aspect I look at. Being the first batch to go through this change of policy by the government in 2003, I have often thought of the logic of implementing it when I'm in the first year of Form 6

Here are some of the Questions that keep running in my mind whenever I give a thought to this issue.. and some have answers, some no..

Q: Will teaching Science and Maths in English improve the student's command of the language?
A: NO! How can the limited English in Science and Maths improved the students' command of it. Science and Maths don't teach grammar! The most can be learned is the specific scientific and mathematics terms. For my batch, everything remains the same as before, just need to write down the BM terms, so that to link up with previous knowledge of the topic.

Q: So what is the purpose of implementing it in the first place?
A: Hell, I don't know! Improve the image of our local graduates, maybe..Cause when I attend job and scholarship interviews, the interviewer will ask whether teaching and learning is in English. And most likely, stressed on the importance of English to the people. Already, I heard people saying "English? why care? PPSMI scrap already!"

Q: So is it a good thing that we scrap this policy now?
A: I don't know. It depends on why they scrap it. If it's because the rural students can't catch up, then it's a really one BIG step backward for the nation! While we slow down to let rural students catch up, we are losing grounds to the world! Frankly speaking, I feel this is merely a political decisions to win support from the various Malay, Chinese,Indian NGO and incompetent teachers. And I can't think of any good to scrap it now. Students will be the victims...

Q: Do you agree that “Technical terms need to be absorbed in English, so strengthening English in general is not going to help in Maths and Science.”?
A: Yes, agree! But technical terms can be learned quite easily.. As long as the student grasped the concept right, terms isn't going to affect much, and shouldn't be a big issue. I know it, I've been through this! ( I study science in Chinese for 2-3 years, in BM 5 years, and in English 2 years).

Q: If I'm the Education Minister, what actions will I take?
A: It depends on what are the problems. Whenever this Education Minister makes a decision, I never quite know what is he trying to tackle or solve. As far as I'm concern, there is nothing wrong to teaching Sciences and Maths in English. The problems:
I) the low quality of the teaching staff
II) the rural students lagging.

Solutions:
I) If the teachers really unable to teach Science and Maths in English, don't let them teach! Let them teach other subjects like Physical Education. If no such vacancy, post them to other areas or school that need such teachers, and employ competent teachers to teach. I believe the incompetent teachers are being too pampered! If the students can adapt, so can the teachers! Humans are always learning and adapting! Ever wonder how you know how to eat rice?

II) If the commitment is there, in the long run, surely the quality of the teaching staff in rural areas will improve. In the mean time, provide more residential school for the students in rural area.

Print something without ink?

2009-07-01T05:40:00.000-07:00

Well, that day while I was browsing through the newspaper, I saw one of those usual Dell's advertisement brochure. Besides being colourful and pleasant-looking, this one sentence caught my attention "IT'S NOT MAGIC, BUT IT'S CLOSE".

So I read on.."Zero-ink, Bluetooth-enabled mobile printer".

Huh? Printer that is zero-ink? How is that? No ink that how it prints?

So I search through the web to find out what is this all about.

It seems like this ZINK Paper is an advanced composite material with cyan, yellow, and magenta dye crystals embedded inside and a protective polymer overcoat layer outside. When heat is applied in just the right way, full color images appear like magic on the paper - hence the term "magic paper".

To find out more, visit the following site
http://www.zink.com/ZINK-paper

Well, I just think technology is really incredible, and impossible is nothing! Try tell those non-techie that printing without ink is possible, I'm sure they will say you are out of your mind! So now, who is out of their mind huh?..

So next time if you have a brilliant idea that sounds impossible, don't simply give up and bow down to people who say "it's impossible", because if you don't try, you'll never know!

Can we just remember the nice side of Michael Jackson?

2009-06-27T07:50:00.000-07:00

Even as the world mourned the death of the King Of Pop, the media, and maybe most of the general public, are still very interested to the "exact details of MJ's death"..

I have to say when I first saw the news over the internet, I didn't feel much of a loss of this King Of Pop... I just thought, in a matter-of-fact manner, that "we all have to come to this day"..

But when the radio stations around the country started paying tributes to him, especially the Hitz FM, who for the whole day played his songs, only then that I realized that how much this King of Pop had touched and mesmerized us with his songs and when his techniques on the dance floor..I started feeling the sense of loss that others are already feeling..

But, whenever I looked at his pictures, whether is on the newspaper or internet, I can't help but feel that, he himself may have caused the early demise for himself.. I would hope that he can be a case study for everyone, that we should be proud of our own identity, and not obsessed with the short-term outlook.

So while all the media's attention focus on his cause of death, with headlines like "Exact details of Jackson death remain unclear", I will like everyone to just listen to his songs, and appreciate how he had influenced us, and our world, in his own way...

- While this isn't the most impressive of his video, none of his trademark "moonwalk", but this song had actually created awareness to a young boy about protecting our environment-

Please don’t sweep these under the mat

2009-06-07T08:30:00.000-07:00

In the recently concluded Penanti by-election, there are so many allegations against PKR by the independent candidate, Aminah Abdullah. While I feel that all these allegations may be her attempt to win over voters from voting for PKR, those allegations must thoroughly investigated! If it eventually found that PKR is guilty, then take them to the court. If is found that this Aminah was making baseless allegations, then she also must be taken to task for doing it.

Just that the election is over doesn’t mean what is said and done can be ignored! Everyone must be responsible for their actions, and I hope the people at the MACC is keeping up the investigations, and give the public a conclusion on the investigations.

Being Corteous just isn't the Malaysians way- generally

2009-05-31T02:17:00.000-07:00

I think Rapid KL should put this in the bus!

I've been commuting the Light-Rail Transit and bus to work for the past few weeks, and I noticed something that I never would have notice while commuting as a tourist previously.

While queuing up to board the bus(which I'm glad people do queue), I was confused when a middle age woman (aged around 40 something to 50 something) standing in front of me in the queue, asked me to go ahead, while she continue to stand in the queue. At that time, I thought: "maybe she is waiting for someone." But that is not the case, as I was about to find out the truth, some days later.

While queuing, I overheard the conversations between the senior citizens couple. The uncle said:" cannot lar, the queue so long, I can't stand for the whole journey!" Then his wife replied:" queue 1st lar, if really no seat, wait for the next bus lar!" Finally, I know why some of these people just skip this round of the bus, because they can't bear to stand for the whole journey.

While I admired their independence and their "not using their senior citizen status to get advantage" (there is a proverb in cantonese "yi lou mai lou"), I wonder whether it's because they know people just aren't courteous enough to give away seats to them. I got to prove this point when an aunty, who boarded the bus, but found no place to sit, told her teenage companion who just sit down: "I have to go down, I can't stand for the whole journey." Oh my god! Even the companion doesn't offer her the seat?! Then what can be expected from a perfect stranger?

I'm not trying to say that I'm a saint, in fact, I'm a bit reluctant to offer my seat and stand for the one hour bus ride. But deep in my conscience, I felt the need to be just a little bit more courteous, and this is my point, "Please be a little more courteous!".. Maybe we can put the poster in the bus too!

Why we should not put a cap on the number of subjects allowed to be taken for SPM candidates?

2009-05-28T05:04:00.000-07:00

SPM, is actually the beginning of our future path, where we finally have to make decision, and choose out career path. While we all may have childhood ambition, to become a professional like doctor, lawyer, engineer, and accountant, how do we know whether we are up for it, or do we really have the right attitude or fundamental to be successful in this line?

We don't really know, so how do we decide? By taking the extra subjects, to determine whether one is actually good in physics, or economy. While I have to admit that most of those who scored 16 A's and 21 A's did it because they want to break the record, we just can't ignore the small portion of the people where they want to know how they stand in certain subjects, and decide on their future career path!

Again, I want to stress is that, scholarship should be offered to the brightest mind in the field, and also needy! We do not need Jack of all trade, but master of none! If one is master in all trade, surely he deserved to get the scholarship, and no one will questioned about it! It's as simple as that!

So why put a cap?

Whose stupid idea to limit the number of subjects allowed to be taken by SPM students?

2009-05-28T04:30:00.000-07:00

I'm just amazed, yet again just where is the common sense of our government officials?! Recently, the Education Ministry/Minister came out with an idea to limit the number of subjects to be taken by SPM candidates. They said this is "for fairer Public Service Department (PSD) Scholarship selection.

I'm not sure what their real motive are, but this idea actually showed the lack of common sense, or even the lack of critical thinking and problem solving sense in their part!

First of all, PSD Scholarship selection issue is not a new problem, it has been going on and on for many years now, and no (education or prime) minister tried to find a solution to solve it! And now with this idea, I can be sure that not that they can't solve this, they actually didn't put this issue to thought at all!!! They just ignored it all these years, and only now with the new Prime Minister and cabinet trying to win back the people, they are giving this issue a thought.

But this is a stupid idea, no matter how you see it! And most importantly, it wouldn't solved the problem even it is implemented! They ministry just didn't use their mind to find solution and identify the root of the cause, instead trying to suppress the rights of the people!..

First of all, what caused this PSD Scholarship selection problem? Obviously, it is not the number of subjects that the students take, but is the selection criteria that caused all these problems! If you get your criteria right, then this issue doesn't arise at all! How?

Ok, a student, X scored 17A1, and 1A2, and another student, Y scored 10A1. X scored 'A1' in Physics, Chemistry, Science, and 'A2" in Biology, while Y scored 'A1' in Physics, Chemistry and Biology. So who should get the scholarship for Medical studies? Common sense will tell you that Y should get it, eventhough X scored 17 A's. Simple, right? So why care about how many subjects the student is taking, if you get your criteria right?

Actually we are already using this concept in selection for our local uni. For example, for engineering courses, they required applicants to get at lease B and above for Mathematics, so even if you score C for your General Paper, it doesn't really matter, unless there is a condition when there is a tie between the applicants.

The Beer-less 7-Eleven?

2009-05-22T08:23:00.000-07:00

So, now the local council in Shah Alam is banning the sale of beer in 7-Eleven and other shops, simply because...it is a Malay-majority area?!!

So next time, when you walk into a 7-Eleven that doesn't sell beer, then you know that area is Malay area! Great! Another way to divide the Malaysians! So when are we going to achieve One Malaysia?

Actually this is not really new..in a small town in Parit Raja, Johor, the 7-Eleven there also not selling beer..but it's not because the local council is banning it, but simply because there are no demand for them!.. At lease, the near-by shops are still selling it!

This act of banning the sale of beer in 7-Eleven and other shops definitely infringes the rights of the non-muslims!!! Can you be a bit more considerate and respect the rights of the non-muslims there?!! I'm certainly surprised that this actually happened in a developed state like Selangor?!! I think the "developed" status should be withdrawn! It seems like the people in the Shah Alam local council still do not have the developed mindset..

Please!..Don't infringe the rights of the people!! If it's really so majority, then there will be no demand right? By then, you think 7-Eleven will still stock up beers in this area?

Please, the Pakatan government, and also to the Shah Alam local council! Be sensible, use common sense, we can make this country a better place!

The final days in uni.. rush, rush and rush!

2009-05-13T06:25:00.000-07:00

There is only one word to describe the final days of my uni life..RUSH! The rush for the viva, the rush for thesis submission, and the rush to get things packed and prepare for industrial training!..

In my case, it was probably my busiest period of my uni life, and the stakes are so high that, any unexpected incident can derail my graduation. But these final few days didn't happened as I hope for (btw, I never seem to get what I hope for!). I would have like to spend more time, just to look at the scenery and have a drink with the friends in familiar circumstances, before things change for good.

While I can't hold on to time, but I do hope to hold on to the friendships that I made, and also the memories.. those days, are "a point of no return", as Jackie said..

So, thank you all for the help all these years..thanks for being a part of my life.. and as we all move on, I hope we can still keep in touch!

The final week in uni..

2009-05-03T00:56:00.000-07:00

It has been almost one month since my last post.. and thinking back, it feels just like few days back.. the past one month has been one of the busiest period in my 4 years in uni.. so busy that I have no time to look into the emotional side of life..and suddenly, I'm starting at the last few days of my uni life.. I'm...mystified, confused, and in a way..don't know how to react to this reality...maybe numb is the word to describe how I feel..

It's incredible how work can really blinded our feelings..making ourselves deaf to the voice in our heart, and caused us to miss other important things in life besides work..

In my heart, I still have a few things that I wanna do.. have some wine with friends, have a meal together, watch football together...just like we used to be... Luckily, the friends around has been doing it, organizing steamboats (which I almost miss it), having meals together, which will surely be a part of my memory..

In what was probably my last exam paper on 30th, I was seated next to Afifee, a friend that, I've known since the 1st week of uni life. He was in the same group under the same academic advisor, and today he still shares the same academic advisor with me. At that moment, I couldn't help but looked back on those days when we, in a group, did all kinds of ice-breaking activities. Looking back, some may looked stupid, but it is these stupid things that, after 4 years, you will still recall.

So..before we chart our own path after this few days, let us, have a great time and enjoy the days together!

Preferential vs Discriminatory

2009-04-10T04:07:00.000-07:00

In the book "In Good Faith" by Zaid Ibrahim (the former de facto law minister, who resigned as minister after the detention under ISA of Sin Chew's reporter Tan Hoon Cheng, Teresa Kok and RPK), there are these examples which clearly show the difference between Preferential policies and Discriminatory policies.

Discriminatory Policies

1) 5% discount for Bumiputera or Malay purchaser in a housing scheme is discriminatory

2) The requirement of a 51% equity stake to be held by Bumiputera or Malays in law firm before they are eligible to carry out work for a bank.

3) Requirements that companies must have 51% or 100% shares held by Bumiputera or Malays before they are eligible to bid for government contracts.

4) Only Malays can be promoted or hold certain positions in the civil service.

5) Only consider application for licenses of transport company comprises "X" number of Bumiputera employees or has "Y" per cent of Bumiputera equity.

Preferential Policies

1)Quota for recruitment of Bumiputera into the civil service is permitted under the Federal Constitution. However, if the Malays already make up 85% of the civil service, the present quota becomes untenable and unreasonable.

2) It is permissible, for the purposes of bringing more Malays into the civil service, to have lower admission criteria.

3) If there is a need to increase Bumiputera participation in the transport business, more licenses should be granted to Bumiputera

伤心证明书-陈奕迅

2009-03-30T21:48:00.000-07:00

Immediately thought of this song when saw someone write out "heart broken" in their shout out..

So how to know when someone is heart broken? The fact is, we will never know if they choose to hide it! But if we somehow know something is not right but don't exactly know what happened, the only thing we can do as friends, family, is to be around, and stand by them.

既然分都分了何必问
我们分手的伤还疼不疼
你担心还是心虚
随口问我求个安心
#一切只是过程到如今
爱的反面谁说就是恨
你没责任也无所谓残忍
我平不平衡都不会再以你为准
@伤心究竟能凭什么为证
是践踏自尊或梦游到清晨
只要你开心不要你关心
人不走到绝境怎会更冷静
伤心证明不了爱有多笨
别怕我报复好还给你公平
你给的教训我真的感激
决不会去恨你
我会用明天的幸福报答你
#一切只是过程到如今
爱的反面谁说就是恨
你没责任也无所谓残忍
我平不平衡都不会再以你为准
@伤心究竟能凭什么为证
是践踏自尊或梦游到清晨
只要你开心不要你关心
人不走到绝境怎会更冷静
伤心证明不了爱有多笨
别怕我报复好还给你公平
你给的教训我真的感激
决不会去恨你
我会用明天的幸福报答你
@伤心究竟能凭什么为证
是践踏自尊或梦游到清晨
只要你开心不要你关心
人不走到绝境怎会更冷静
伤心证明不了爱有多笨
别怕我报复好还给你公平
你给的教训我真的感激
决不会去恨你
我会用明天的幸福报答你

空白格-蔡健雅

2009-03-27T07:36:00.000-07:00

其实很简单
其实很自然
两个人的爱由两人分担
其实并不难
是你太悲观
隔着一道墙不跟谁分享
不想让你为难
你不再需要给我个答案

我想你是爱我的
我猜你也舍不得
但是怎么说
总觉得
我们之间留了太多空白格
也许你不是我的
爱你却又该割舍
分开或许是选择
但它也可能是我们的缘份

Online Medical Classes

2009-03-07T22:50:00.000-08:00

Ever thought of becoming a Medical Assistant? Now you can be one at the comfort of your home!..I came across this Medical Assistant School Online. I thought, "How brilliant that this course can be studied online! If only every course can be studied online..."

St. Augustine School of Medical Assistants offered the best online Medical Assistant certificate program designed by expert health care professionals. St. Augustine School of Medical Assistants offer formal training online and nationally accredited and certified Medical Assistant program. This program will allow you to study online at your own pace and convenience.

During the current economic downturn, it is vital to really upgrade your skills to become more employable, or to keep your job. Multitasking is definitely a need in the current climate where cost-cutting is everywhere. Besides, a job in the recession-prove health care sector will certainly be a more secure option at the current situation. And if you are currently employed, you do not have to give up your job and study! You can study this program during your free time. Your attitude of continuous learning may be rewarded with a job promotion!

So...want to be a Medical Assistant now? Check out the St. Augustine School of Medical Assistants.

Friends: How you know them?

2009-02-21T08:37:00.000-08:00

During the Chinese New Year period last month, when I was back in my hometown, I got to meet a lot of friends (well,at lease much more than normal days), and also some hi-bye friends and friends' friends. And there were also familiar faces that I don't really know. Everyone seems to be back in the hometown!

But of course there are some friends that I didn't get to meet, which is a pity. So the other day, suddenly I ask myself: How I know him? When?....

Well some of them I can easily recall, when and at what situation, but some..I think hard...ya..he is in the same class/activities, but when I actually got to know him personally?..

Looking back, the way I know my friends is really unique and dramatic. Some grow with me from kindergarten, primary to secondary school. Some I know them through camps, activities, sms and even friendster, facebook.

And among them, some go through hardship with me.. some work with me.. some give me memorable moments in life.. some give me inspiration by being themselves.. some give me scenes that I will always remember.. and some give me happy moments that I will always cherish..

Really grateful to have you all to be my friends.. I will appreciate every encounter and form of communication with you, even if it will only be a few minutes of meeting..or a message.

The days are numbered

2009-02-18T03:06:00.000-08:00

Today, I had a strange feeling. While riding my motorcycle, suddenly felt that the road I travel daily, is such a familiarity. And the destination of my journey, is such a joy to go, though normally I felt duty-bound to go.

This sudden feel of appreciation, happened many times in my life before. And when I feel so, it signify the end. The end of my secondary school days, the last few days of work, the last few meetings of the society I joined.

And I noted that the days in the "king of drain" are numbered. And 86 days to be exact, according to a count by my friend.

So that's why I had this strange feeling.

Please Let The People to Choose!

2009-02-04T10:18:00.000-08:00

Being a Perak-ian, I'm really saddened by the recent turn of events unfolded in the Perak state government recently. It's really chaotic, and very degrading to the human nature!

To Bota assemblyman Datuk Nasarudin Hashim, I'm giving you a huge thumb down! And I urged every voters to reject this kind of politician, who is obviously without principle( even if most politician are not principle-centered, at lease they don't do it so obviously!), self fish and disloyal! As if defecting isn't bad enough, this fella defect twice in 2 weeks!

I'm hoping that our highly respected and intelligent Sultan of Perak, Sultan Azlan Shah to do the right thing once again! In the previous Menteri Besar crisis, the decision made by the Sultan proved to be correct. Now, I hope the people of Perak are allowed to choose all over again, as I believed they felt deceived by these state assemblymen, who care only of their own benefits!

Another conclusion can be made from this incident: Anti Defecting law wouldn't work! Cause these assembly men still can remain "independent", and yet support one of the party.

Happy "Niu" Year!

2009-01-29T05:06:00.000-08:00

First of all, greetings to all! Happy Niu Year to all!

To all Mandarin speaking people, they should know what I mean. No, not that I do not know how to spell "New"! "Niu" is Mandarin actually means Ox, and as this year, 2009 is the year of the ox, people tend to use Happy "Niu" Year, literally mean "Happy Ox year"!

So how's your 1st four days of the Ox year? Has it been great? There is a Chinese saying that the most important period in a year is during the spring (Spring literally means the beginning of the year). Many believe if we have a good start, the rest will be equally good.

Personally, the beginning of the Ox year has been quite different. Unlike the previous years, there is an outing with family, which turn out to be quite well. At first I was at doubt whether it is a good idea.

Besides, from this new year, I also learn to be grateful and appreciate quality time. There are time well-spent with people that I really cherish, and time spent with people whom I don't really fancy, and the comparison suddenly made me realized that I haven't been treating the people that I cherish well enough. And expressing it with words aren't my strong point at all. So I'm determined to show it with actions, which I believe speaks louder than words!

Happy Chinese New Year Everyone!

There will always be Two Side to One Thing

2009-01-06T02:26:00.000-08:00

2009 started with a bang (though a negative one): A war in Palestine, and gas supply cut in Europe. Phew! What a way to start a year. But nonetheless, in other part of the world, life goes on. And when the war brought the share market across the globe rising, there are still people laughing to the bank, while some others are in hell.

So people are saying we are in a financial crisis, auto crisis, retrenchment...and all kinds of terms to define it, yet, to some, this is a window of opportunities..opportunities to buy over a rival, to buy cheap stocks of listed companies, to buy cheap stuffs from desperate seller. This is life! There will always be two side to one thing: one side is positive, and the other is negative.

If we look carefully enough, even the best thing will have side effect that is negative, vise versa. For example, if you have a highly paid job, it will certainly make you think twice to become an entrepreneur, where you may, or may not become a billionaire. So individually, who we are very much depends on the choices we made, or going to make.

But the choice of a government, will affect every citizen of the country. So please, governments of the world, every decision made should take into consideration of the people..of the citizens!

Hohoho! Merry Christmas!

2008-12-24T10:05:00.000-08:00

First of all, I would like to wish everyone, Merry Christmas! I hope everyone did have a good time celebrating it..

So what Christmas means to you? Do you actually celebrate it? What this Santa Claus, Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer have to do with Christmas?.. If anyone of you guys know about it, do let me know.

For me, Christmas is a very peaceful festivity, where people celebrate it in a less hectic way, unlike some other festivities, when people start rushing back to their respective hometown and jam up the road everywhere. And I like the idea of Santa Claus!

I really feel inspired by this Santa Claus, though some had said that Santa Claus has become a marketing tool for people to spend more during this festive season. Yet it is still very inspiring to me: Someone so selfless that during this festive season, he go round to each house, to give out present, to bring cheers and smiles to the people. Recently there was even a Santa Claus giving out money to the people in New York, during this financial crisis in the US.

This story really inspired me, though I did not have the best of Christmas this year, as I have been bothered by the road project. Yet, I can still look forward to the coming Christmas, to really feel the joy of this unique festivity.

The Incomplete Collection

2008-12-18T07:25:00.000-08:00

Time really flies when the end of the year is around the corner. And coupled with procrastination, I failed to collect the complete set of James Bond cars by Shell, yet again.

And this time, I miss the BMW Z3, the one who appeared on the Bond movie of 1995, Golden Eye acted by Pierce Brosnan. Z3 is now considered to be 2 generations old, as BMW has just unveiled the latest 2010 BMW Z4. More information can be obtained from the link here. The car is really breathtaking!

But for my collection, *sigh... Incomplete!

Free Games by Phelios

2008-12-11T06:37:00.000-08:00

I'm sure you have experienced this before: After a certain period of work, finally, you are having holidays, the much awaited holidays. But suddenly..you found yourself to have nothing much to do.

So you decided to play computer game. You go to the store to buy some computer games. You then pay for it, install it on your computer, play it and find out that it's not really what you want, nor is it what you thought it would be... So you go back to the store and they tell you that it is too late! The store won't exchange it nor refund you...

So can we have better options, so that we can really enjoy the holiday with a nice game? I found this site, Phelios, who offered free download of games. This will gives us a taste of what the game is about, a type of 'Try Before You Buy' system.

All you have to do is to download a free version of a game to try it out, and if you really like it, you can buy the full version directly from your computer from the comfort of your own home. No more return trip to the game shop and ask for refund, or installation method, even for mac games!

Phelios is an independent developer of downloadable games for Windows and Macintosh. They offered fun and creative computer games for mac and PC, that we will get the most out of the free time playing. And the games offered are unique and can't be found in other site, as these games are created by this site. There are many genre of games offered, all kinds of games like action/arcade games, challenging, fun puzzles, and non-violent family games. One of my favourite, sparkle for mac let me use the Orb Slinger to shoot colored spheres into groups of three or more and reclaim every corner of this once vibrant forest.

If you'd like to be notified when there are new game releases, you can subscribe to the newsletter, and you'll be receiving monthly newsletter, informing you of news, updates and patches!

Are You An Internet Addict?

2008-12-04T07:51:00.000-08:00

These are signs of Internet addiction as defined by Illinois Institute for Addiction Recovery:

1) Preoccupation with the Internet. (Thoughts about previous on-line activity or anticipation of the next on-line session.)

2) Use of the Internet in increasing amounts of time in order to achieve satisfaction.

3) Repeated, unsuccessful efforts to control, cut back, or stop Internet use.

4) Feelings of restlessness, moodiness, depression or irritability when attempting to cut down use of the Internet.

5) On-line longer than originally intended.

6) Jeopardized or risked loss of significant relationships, job, educational or career opportunities because of Internet use.

7) Lies to family members, therapist, or others to conceal the extent of involvement with the Internet.

8) Use of the Internet as a way to escape from problems or to relieve a dysphoric mood. (e.g., feelings of hopelessness, guilt, anxiety, depression.)

Jee Juh

2008-12-01T01:17:00.000-08:00

So how do you pronounce Jee Juh?
Well, according to the site, Jee is pronounced as in the letter "G," and Juh as in the beginning of the word jug.

So what is this Jee Juh about?
Jee Juh is a team of dedicated producers, musicians, sound engineers, and web developers who have come together to provide the best online service available for artists ready to make it big in the music industry.

Jee Juh's newest beats are made using the industry-standard DAW software, Digidesign's Pro Tools. Some of their earliest beats were made using Propellerhead's Reason 3.0.

Once you have selected the check boxes (next to the prices) for the beats you want to buy, click the white "Buy Now" button at the top right of the player. This will take you to a secure PayPal checkout page where you can choose your form of payment. Once your payment is complete, you will see a link to instantly access your download page where you can download all of your audio files.

Jee Juh beats are sold non-exclusively at much lower prices, and the songs that you make with these beats can still be sold, distributed, performed and broadcast, all royalty free. If two different people buy the same beat, they can still each copyright their own song they make with that beat, and sell, distribute, perform and broadcast that song, keeping all their own royalties.

When you purchase a beat from Jee Juh, the copyright for that beat still belongs to Jee Juh. However, the copyright for the song that you make with that beat, your lyrics combined with that beat, belongs to you. And, with the rights granted by the Jee Juh license agreement, you are allowed to sell, distribute, perform and broadcast that song, keeping all of the royalties.

To order, the steps below are to be taken:

1. Select beats to buy.
Select the checkboxes for the beats you want to buy. Then click the white "Buy Now" button at the top right of the player.

2. Buy beats.
Use any of PayPal's options (credit/debit card, eCheck, or PayPal Direct Transfer) to make your payment.

If you don't feel like buying, start earning free beat and instrumentals. You will be able to

1. Download your free beat's MP3 audio file (128 kbps).

2. Combine that free beat with your lyrics and copyright the finished song.

3. Sell, distribute, perform and broadcast that finished song publicly and for profit, keeping all the royalties.

4. You can even submit your finished song using our upload form, and if we like it, you'll become a Featured Artist!

Wanna get a feel of being an artist? visit Jee Juh now!

五月天你不是真正的快樂

2008-11-30T07:10:00.001-08:00

人群中哭著你只想變成透明的顏色
你再也不會夢或痛或心動了
你已經決定了你已經決定了

你靜靜忍著緊緊把昨天在拳心握著
而回憶越是甜就是越傷人了
越是在手心留下密密麻麻深深淺淺的刀割

你不是真正的快樂你的笑只是你穿的保護色
你決定不恨了也決定不愛了
把你的靈魂關在永遠鎖上的軀殼

這世界笑了於是妳合群的一起笑了
當生存是規則不是你的選擇
於是妳含著眼淚飄飄盪盪跌跌撞撞的走著

你不是真正的快樂你的笑只是你穿的保護色
你決定不恨了也決定不愛了
把你的靈魂關在永遠鎖上的軀殼

你不是真正的快樂你的傷從不肯完全的癒合
我站在你左側卻像隔著銀河
難道就真的抱著遺憾一直到老了然後才後悔著

你值得真正的快樂你應該脫下你穿的保護色
為什麼失去了還要被懲罰呢
能不能就讓悲傷全部結束在此刻重新開始活著

oh ya! No double standard, ok?!

2008-11-28T07:03:00.000-08:00

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/11/27/nation/2653945&sec=nation

After reading the link above, I really laugh out loud! ^O^ I guess the minister was right! The police did not practise double standard in arresting people attending illegal gathering. Don't believe? See the points below:

Gathering or rally can only be organised if a police permit has been obtained.

1) Anti ISA Group
- Protest against the use of ISA
- No permit has been obtained from the Police
- Outcome: Arrested

2) Pewaris
- Protest against groups who called for the ISA to be abolished
- Permit had been given by the Police
- Outcome: Free man

Ya, I guess the Police did not practised double standard when arresting people, BUT obviously, they practised double standard when approving permit. So by announcing this news to the press, do you think the citizens are dumb?

Pictures of Happiness

2008-11-17T03:42:00.000-08:00

If you would like get a Sony Skinny T Camera, this is your chance! They are having this contest on where you will have to submit a picture and write a slogan. The theme of the contest is "Picture Of Happiness".

So if you do have photos that, you feel is pretty and can match the theme, go ahead and give it a try. Who knows maybe lady luck is watching over you, waiting for you to submit. Besides, another picture of happiness can really bring joy to the world. I just browsed through some of the pictures that are uploaded, and I have to say that these pictures had actually brightened up my day!

A Step Towards the End of Racism

2008-11-04T23:51:00.000-08:00

I solute all the Americans voters for voting for who they think is the best man to lead their country, regardless of race. And here I do not mean only those who voted for Barrack Obama, who created history to become the first black American President. I'm sure John McCain has its own appeal in getting the votes, but the main thing here is: to vote without having to consider the factor of race.

By having Barrack Obama as the American President, Americans have again proved to the world, that they are a real developed nation. A developed nation, not only has the best physical facilities, but more importantly is the mentality of their citizens. Today, American has shown that the wall of racism can be destroyed, and this historic moment will serve as the role model to the world.

Bearing in mind that,America at one stage was facing the issues of racism as well, give hopes to the people in the developing nation that issues of racism in their respective country, can one day be overcome. The day when merit, instead of race will be the sole factor in choosing leaders or personnel in the higher position.

Toshiba 4GB Flash Drive

2008-10-15T07:23:00.000-07:00

After trying in vain to claim warranty to a Toshiba 512mb flash drive that I bought 2years++ ago, I decided to buy another one. And this time, it's Toshiba again!

Actually I was left with little options, as the One IT shop is doing promotion on the Toshiba flash drive (few weeks back). So I can only hope that the Toshiba dealers in the country can offer better customer service. But nonetheless, the design this time around suits me

The spec for this 4GB TransMemory™ U2K USB Flash Drive is as below:

-Supports the ReadyBoost™ function of Windows Vista™
-Write Speed: up to 5 MBytes/s
-Read Speed: up to 16 MBytes/s
-Large storage capacity
-Downloadable password lock system ( still haven't figure out where to download it)
-5 years warranty

The Story Continues

2008-09-25T02:52:00.000-07:00

I was touched by this one picture to write this posting. This is a picture of two helpless-looking people, who had one of their family member sent away for indefinite period.

Can you imagine, if one day, someone just knocked on your door, and take one of your family members away for indefinite period, how would you feel? Helpless is definitely one word most appropriate to describe, as you don't even have the chance to defend yourself/your family member. Is there anything you can do? Maybe you can pray, but nothing concrete that you can do.

This "maybe you can pray, but nothing concrete that you can do" really strikes me. It sounds to me that it is a chronic disease in the final stages, where you can pray for a miracle to happened, but there is nothing that can be done to save yourself/your family member.

But the difference between it and the chronic disease is that, we do have a choice to permanently curing it once and for all, while chronic disease, no matter how advanced is the medicine field, will continue to strikes you. So why not get united and cure it now? For those who still prefer to keep it, how sure are you safe from being strike by it?

Never Ending Story

2008-09-12T07:31:00.000-07:00

Just when I thought the racist remark issue had ended, here comes another twist of event..the reporter of the remark was caught under ISA! And also 3 newspapers were given show-cause letter: Sin Chew Daily, The Sun and Suara Keadilan.

I was like..speechless.. Can't they just leave this fella alone?..She is just doing her job, reporting what she heard and thought is the truth. Even if that is not the truth, some explanation will solve everything. Why make it all such a fuss? Is it necessary to use ISA? The most she deserve is to be sacked from his position at Sin Chew Daily and suspended for 3 years from journalism for "misquoted" someone, but now he lost his freedom indefinitely.

Is this story going to end now? Definitely no! And I suspect it's a story that will has a indefinite time period. Let us hope she will be released soon! And for those in power to do something, for god sake please do something!! Now even the DAP MP Teresa Kok is arrested, wonder what she did to merit the lost of freedom indefinitely?!

Mobile Number Portability

2008-09-01T21:07:00.000-07:00

Mobile Number Portability (MNP) was finally implemented last Friday (29 August 2008) after being taunted about for quite some time. And actually most people aren't convinced about its implementation after some delaying to it. Now, mobile phone users have the freedom to switch network service providers, while retaining their existing phone number. Therefore, from now on, no longer will the prefixes of 016 solely be that of a DiGi subscriber, or 019 be that of a Celcom number.

The initial service will be offered to Prepaid subscribers from 29 August onwards, while those on Postpaid lines will be able to join in the fun from 15 September onwards. As this limited service is launched in the Klang Valley, only selected branches or service centres your requests. The details of the branches can be referred at http://www.skmm.gov.my/

The nationwide launch for the MNP service will be in early October. Prior to the nationwide launch, each telco is only allowed to process 100 MNP applications a day. There will be a RM25 charge everytime the MNP is used to switch to a new telco. Prepaid credit will not be transferred over to your new service provider, so if you are planning to switch, finish up your credit balance 1st!

While MNP will certainly intensify competition and increase the value of the consumer's money, one problem remain is the inability of the consumers to plan their spending.

For example, as the rate for calling different network is higher than to same network, so when a person, with credit balance of 15 sen, decided to call to someone on the same network (that is according to prefix), but only found out that he/she had change network when he is being cutted off, therefore is unable to get his message across. This uncertainty is surely not good for consumers, unless the rate be made standardized, irrespective of network provider.

The Ultimate 08 Olympic!

2008-08-25T11:30:00.000-07:00

The biggest sporting events finally come to an end in Beijing, with the next station, London, lining up anxiously to welcome the event to their soil in 4 years time.

This edition of Olympics means a lot not just to the Chinese, but also all the ethnic Chinese all around the world. I just can't helped but feel touched when I watch the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing Olympics. Especially so after overcoming obstacles like natural disaster. Witnessing all the countries walking out one by one, I can feel humanity is at the peak, and peace is near, with countries like Palestine, North Korea and Taiwan participating. Unfortunately, that is just an impression, as arms attack exchanged between Georgia and Russia.

But nonetheless, Olympic is one event that still can hold the world together, as the leaders of Russia and Georgia proved. The opening ceremony was a great spectacle! Although there are some events that actually reduce the feel good factor of the opening ceremony, for example the child singer for opening ceremony which turn out to just mouthed along while another child sing, and the used of pre-recorded fire works show, these events should not overshadow the good work done by Beijing. The Opening Ceremony was indeed a great show, direct by a great Director Zhang Yimou.

Besides Beijing's great show as host, the athletes and sportsman shown great sportsmanship. For example the Georgian boxer Revazi Mindorashvili who beat the Russian gold medal favourite Georgy Ketoev in a sporting event, not in the war field. There are also many inspiring performance like world record breakers, to name a few Michael Phelps and and the fastest man in the world, Usain Bolt.

Some of these sportsman who actually inspired me include Phelps, Bolt, Zhang Ning, Guo Jingjing, Rafael Nadal, and not to forget is our own Lee Chong Wei who won't the country's 1st medal in 12 years.

All in all, this edition of Olympic is another great success, and the world is proud of you all in China! China, and Beijing particularly showed the world that they can be a great host to such a huge event, and also their mettle in terms of sports by topping the medal tally! We will now have to wait another 4 years to witness again the World greatest sporting event! May the spirit of Olympic be instill in all the leaders in the world!

Agenda Daily Debate: 1-1

2008-08-23T04:11:00.000-07:00

After watching, at one go both the Agenda Daily debates, the scoreline for both side is: 1-1. I believe many would have guess right which debater I go for: yes, it's DSAI and TSKTK.

For the 1st debate, DSAI provided concrete solutions to reduce fuel price. As for his opponent, at times I'm really mad! He just don't seem to understand DSAI idea, or maybe refused to understand. And when he keep on attacking DSAI personal track record, make comparison with country in crisis, and thought that DSAI is going to ask for more money from Petronas, everyone looking at the programme should know that he lost the plot.

DSAI idea is simple. Yes, the market price is increasing, but because Malaysia is a nett exporter of oil, Petronas profit from the high market price, as proven by the sterling profit announced by Petronas not so long ago. Petronas immediately distribute a large sum of money to the federal government. DSAI's idea is to use part of this sum on subsidy, therefore the petrol price do not have to rise as much as 78 sen so suddenly. But he is not saying all the money should be spent on subsidy, or the government should ask for more money from Petronas.

The effect of the 78 sen increase is for all Malaysian to see. Inflation rise to 8.5% in July. Even if now the petrol price decrease, other items that already increase their price will not come down.

As for the 2nd debate, TSKTK had take this chance to clear his name, his image and I'm impressed with his performance. Although at times he is confrontational, and use some personal attack, he made his point clear, and I see it as a victory to him. As for LGE, i'm slightly disappointed with his debate, and keep on asking the same questions that TSKTK had replied.

In this debate, TSKTK clears his name by explaining the whole process of the RM40 million land scam. And the measures he took to overcome this mistakes which happened 40 years ago. He explained that he referred the case to the ACA twice and the ACA did not find any wrong doing in the officials involved. So he issued a warning to the officials. At this point, LGE keep on asking why officials who committed this RM40 millions mistakes are let off with just a warning.

And I want to explain to LGE is that: anyone who is not proven guilty is considered innocent. So the most TSKTK can do is to issue a warning, and also transfer the officials involve out of the department (which LGE did after taking over the government). TSKTK has the prerogative to keep any officials in any department when he is the Chief Minister, as the officials are not proven guilty.

Another point made by LGE, which I consider funny and pointless is to ask TSKTK to exposed all the land scam cases. TSKTK reply proved his mettle as a senior politician. He said if he knew of such cases, he would have acted on it.

I believe that the replies made by TSKTK during this debate is enough to silence LGE. LGE lacked points, or rather, TSKTK replied systematically, and clear the issues brought up by LGE. One point made by TSKTK at the beginning of the show which said that LGE still acts like a opposition, I totally agree at the end of debate. Perhaps, the government of the day can no longer just brought out problems and expect others to solved for them. LGE and the government have to solved it themselves.

TSKTK still has the touch and elegance of a leader, not surprising so, being the CM for 18 years. And with LGE, there is no surprise also, with his years as opposition, and only 5-month tenure as CM in his beg, still acts like an opposition.

Costa Rica: The country of Pure Ecotourism

2008-08-15T01:35:00.000-07:00

Costa Rica is the most visited nation in the Central American region, with 1.9 million foreign visitors in 2007. Ecotourism is extremely popular with the many tourists visiting the extensive national parks and protected areas around the country. Costa Rica is the pioneer of ecotourism, and the country is recognized as one of the few with real ecotourism.

Costa Rica is home to a rich variety of plants and animals. While the country has only about 0.1% of the world's landmass, it contains 5% of the world's biodiversity. Around 25% of the country's land area is in protected national parks and protected areas, the largest percentual of protected areas in the world.

One national park that is internationally-renowned among ecologists for its biodiversity (including big cats and tapirs) and where visitors can expect to see an abundance of wildlife is the Corcovado National Park.

In order to know more about Costa Rica, one of the best way is to get to know the people. By visiting the Costa Rica forum and Costa Rica blog, we can actually get to know the people in Costa Rica, communicate with them and get to know their cultures and traditions. Besides, if you ever need more information on the country, Costa Rica directories can help you get any information from hotels to anything needed to travel to the country. Now that is what we call All-In-One!

Help teach the public to fill petrol tank?

2008-08-11T18:25:00.000-07:00

I was amused when I read about a newspaper article with this same title. My first impression was, "wow, not bad! The government is teaching us method to fill petrol tank that can help us maximize our value of money". But after I read into the details, I found that is not the case at all! Maybe the recent petrol price increase has been over my mind all these while, that any news coming out from that industry, I will hope is to lessen the petrol burden of the people.

The news turn out to be that the petrol kiosk operators in Batu Pahat are asking the government to educate vehicle owner on the self service petrol filling system. Huh? Self service system not implemented 10 years ago meh? How come until today, the kiosk operator are still facing this problem? Have they forget all about the "Angkat, Tolak, Masuk and Picit"?

I'm aware that some of the petrol kiosk are not implementing the self service system because it eats up a lot of time. For one to walks over to counter, and then walks back to the car to pump petrol is a troublesome thing. And for those waiting in the line, they will feel "can't they just move faster?". So for this reason, some petrol kiosk still prefer to have an attendant, so that more customers can be attended more swiftly.

But now, these petrol kiosk are asking for education of the people from the government? I thought the government did their part. I've been pumping petrols with the self service system for the past 10 years, so how come it's again up to the government to do the education this time around?

And by the way, pumping petrol does not really require great skill. Just "Angkat, Tolak, Masuk and Picit", and done!

Recycle a phone, adopt a tree?

2008-08-04T09:08:00.000-07:00

Nokia is doing his its bit to save mother nature! Recently, they come out with this meaningful program titled "Recycle a phone, adopt a tree", where Nokia users are urged to recycle their old phone in order to shield the environment from harmful substances! This offer a solutions to users where they don't really know what to do with their old phone besides keeping it, just as people do not know what to do with their old furniture. While this old phone problem is solved, I still can't figure out how to handle old furniture ;)

To recycle a phone, first you will have to find a Nokia Kiosk. According to the site, they are only available at The Curve, The Gardens and KTS Cellular. I certainly hope there will be more of these Kiosk around Malaysia! Then there are 5 simple steps to follow:
Step 1: Select "Recycling" on the screen.
Step 2: Slot in your MyKad or input your personal details.
Step 3: Collect the printed Barcode sticker and apply it onto your phone or accessory.
Step 4: Place your item with barcode sticker into the Recycling slot.
Step 5: Collect the receipt and have a great day!

Besides, Nokia also involve in a joint-venture with WWF and Equinox Publishing to replant trees in the Sebangau National Forest in Central Kalimantan, and you can adopt one as well! This innovative replanting project provides a novel way for anyone to participate by tagging selected trees with their names and monitoring its growth through geotags, that are trees labelled with precise map co-ordinates, by Google Earth. Check out Nokia's site at

http://www.nokia.com.my/nokiakiosk

So let us do our part! Save mother nature!

Chelsea + Nuffnang = Free passes to Chelsea's training session

2008-07-22T03:04:00.000-07:00

Calling all Chelsea fans, Chelsea is coming to town!

And Nuffnang is giving away 100 admission passes courtesy of Samsung to Nuffnangers to watch Chelsea FC’s training session. And you only need to write in to chelsea_asia_tour@nuffnang.com with details such as your full name, your contact number, email address and the number of admission passes you would like to have. Check the Nuffnang site for details.

And are we actually going to see Kaka in a Chelsea shirt? If Roman Abramovich is really determined to sign Kaka, then no one can really stop Chelsea except for Kaka's own will!

Proton Perdana more expensive than Mercedes?

2008-07-21T10:02:00.000-07:00

Well, to be more specific, Proton Perdana is more expensive to maintain, that is according to Terengganu MB, who spent RM3.43mil to buy 14 Mercedes E200 Kompressor cars. There are two implications to be made from this incident: either the Proton Perdana sucks, or the MB sucks.

If what is said by the MB is true, then I'm really mystified. How is it possible that owning a national car need a higher maintenance cost than the luxurious Mercedes? Ok, well, Perdana V6 is also supposed to be luxurious, but yet it is still a national car! Locally assembled, and surely contain more local equipments in the car than Mercedes, and yet costs more than the maintenance costs of Mercedes? I suppose Malaysians deserved better from Proton!

But if what is said by the MB is not entirely true, then he just show his inconsideration towards every Malaysians. Just when rising inflations has affected every Malaysians, where people fight to survive, and were asked to change their lifestyle to cope with the current hardship, the state government just spent RM3 mil on luxurious cars, and looking to sell them in a few years time (as the MB mentioned one of the reasons to buy Mercedes is the 2nd hand value of the Mercedes) is absurd! If the Terengganu state government do have such extra money, spend it on public transportation, please!

Reliving the Rocketmail!

2008-07-18T11:11:00.000-07:00

Yahoo is now offering free e-mail accounts under the domain of "rocketmail" again since its acquisition of Four11 Corp. back in 1997.

Rocketmail was one of the first major free webmail services and was a product of Four11. At one time, RocketMail battled with Hotmail for the number one spot amongst free webmail services.

Though Yahoo Mail is essentially the old RocketMail webmail system, RocketMail users carry a mark of distinction as some of the first Internet webmail users as Yahoo, until recently reserve the Rocketmail domain for their use. Another domain offered by Yahoo is "ymail".

The introduction of these new e-mail designations is being driven by the difficulty potential users are having as they try to find an appealing e-mail handle under the Yahoo domain. This is a great news for Yahoo mail users!

The difficulty of getting a nice login existed quite a long time ago, and only when I register with my full name that it is possible for me to get a Yahoo mail, and this is 7 years ago. I really can't imagine how can anyone register for Yahoo mail in this past 7 years! But at lease now, one can have more options with the reintroduction of Rocketmail and the new "ymail"!

If Human can talk to the Tiger

2008-07-09T07:27:00.000-07:00

Human: Yesterday, you ate one of my cattle. Can you comment on that?

Tiger: Yes. It was delicious, thank you. I prefer venison, but the deer seem to have vanished with the forest.

Human: I apologise for that. But please, my cattle are not for you.

Tiger: I don't understand. You let your cattle wander. Dinner practically walked into my mouth!

Human: Well, I can't keep them at the village all the time. They need to graze!

Tiger: Have you never heard of a schedule? I usually work the night shift.

Human: It's funny, though, the village over the hill- no one's ever lost a cow before.

Tiger: Oh, that one. I've been there. They house their cattle in these enclosures I couldn't get into. Not that I ever tried, of course. The villagers even cleared the underbrush. There was absolutely nowhere to hide. Two years without a single ambush. It was absolute misery. I had to leave.

Human: Only to move here, of course. Now the enclosures, that's interesting. How high did you say the fences were?

Tiger: All I will say is I have no difficulty scaling the walls 2 metres high.

Human: I must admit, that's rather impressive! It's good we had this chat.

Tiger: It's been a pleasure. We'll catch up sometime.

This conversation is adopted from an advertisement by HSBC some time ago. The message of it is to love our environment! And be moderate in treating this nature, as it belongs not just to human, but every living creature.

Dramatic 2 weeks

2008-07-07T06:05:00.000-07:00

The past 2 weeks has been a really dramatic period for Malaysians. I believe the newspaper sales must have increase as wave after wave of stunning news "leaked" to the general public. The vote of no confidence, sodomy, murder using explosive case, Malaysian political scene has hit more headlines than ever before.

All these news certainly battered the Bursa, but to make it worse, "technical glitch" hit Bursa, and trading was halted for one full day. And now they are saying that Malaysians are getting tired of political bickering.

Well, yes to some extent, but some how, since the situation already developed into the current situation, the politicians owe the people the truth, and also for those responsible to face the consequences! Please don't expose something, yet nothing is done to those responsible like the hundred ringgit screwdrivers!

Euro 2008 format should be revised

2008-06-20T03:55:00.000-07:00

While reading the match report of the Germany vs Portugal game, I read something about Germany's next probable opponent. The name "Croatia and Turkey" pop up, and I some how feel Germany vs Croatia is kind of familiar. Ohh ya! Croatia beat Germany in group stage, and now they are going to meet again? I was a little mystified, and I went to check out the full schedule for the competiton.

Looking at the Euro 2008 fixtures, I noticed something very wrong about the format of this prestigious competition. The teams in group A and B will never meet teams in Group C and Group D. Now I realized that to win a European Championship is not that hard after all, if a team can get favorable draw.

In the case of Germany, the teams that are considered strong in their side are Portugal (which they just disposed of), Czech Republic( which failed to qualify to the quarterfinals), Croatia( the team in their group who beat them in the 1st round, and also their most likely opponent in the semifinals). With no disrespect to Turkey, they also stand a very good chance to make it to the finals, but if they are going to face Germany in quarterfinals, not many will bet on them to win.

Never mind all those possibilities. What I want to point out here is that, a team will only need to better than those teams in their half to reach the final. If they get a favorable draw, that tasks is not the hardest. If we look at the other half, we can easily name the traditional strong teams: Holland, Italy, France, Spain, Sweden, defending champions Greece, dark horses Russia and Romania. All these 8 teams are decent team which might qualify if they are in the other half.

And after fighting out the quarterfinals, they still have to play one of these power house of football. So why don't the UEFA match the semifinals ties to the teams on the other half. For example, Germany play the winner of Italy vs Spain, or Holland vs Russia instead of Croatia vs Turkey. This will ensure teams in the same group in the 1st round will not meet again until the finals.

Also to avoid unsporting play. Lucky that Holland is a proud and sporting nation that always play to their best instead of planning their way to final. If not, ousting Italy and France will be their choice, and their one remaining obstacle is to be Spain, instead of facing Italy again, who normally start the competition slowly and get stronger during knock-out stage. UEFA should look into making the fixtures to cross over between the two half. A repeat of the same tie as in the group match will be a non-spectacle if one team is much stronger than the other. At lease in the probable event of Croatia vs Germany, Croatia had beaten the Germans in the group stage, making the tie not a one-sided event.

The Secret behind Italy's win over France

2008-06-18T06:26:00.000-07:00

So Italy made it to the quaterfinals of Euro 2008, after 1st round exit in Euro 2004. And with Italy in danger of 1st round exit again, coach Roberto Donadoni revealed the secret behind their side crucial 2-0 win over France: A letter.

Donadoni said that a letter from a young boy who wrote to the Italian camp and is about to have a blood transfusion is the moving inspiration behind his side's victory. In the letter, the boy wrote that he wanted Italy to win as that would cheer him up.

"I told the boys the story, because they have to look beyond their golden cage so to speak, so that gives us more incentive to do what we can for this boy.

"The story touched the players", Donadoni said.

With such humane external inspiration, no wonder Italy will pull through. Hope the boy is happy now!

Italy will play Spain in the quaterfinals.

Unexpected discovery

2008-06-12T18:23:00.000-07:00

Italy's 3-0 crashing to Holland in the Euro 2008 game that day was unexpected. But during that game, I also discovered something unexpected.
At some point of the game, the camera move to focus on the Italian coach, Roberto Donadoni, maybe to catch a look of his disappointing expression. Looking at his expression, I feel he looks like someone else, someone that I have seen some where, but I just couldn't figure it out.

Then when the camera focus on Antonio Di Natale,the Udinese striker, the same feeling occur. I tried to ask friends around, and one of them told me, "he looks like one of the Westlife member"..ohhhhhh...ya hor!..

Though can't say is 100% similar, but seeing one of them can actually reminds me of the other says a lot of the degree of similarity.
And with the 1st question still not resolved, I tried to think about it. And suddenly a scene pop up in my mind! HOUSE!

The Hottest Topic In Malaysia Now: Petrol naik Harga!

2008-06-06T06:31:00.000-07:00

This is not the usual "petrol naik harga" like in the past. This is the ultimate "naik harga" where Malaysians will no longer feel the cushion given by Petronas all these years!

If RM2.70 is the price per litre of petrol for the next 6 months, I feel it's not that bad, considering the market price is near RM5.00 per litre. At lease the government is still subsidizing almost half of the cost. But that is not the case. By August, the price will reach market price minus RM0.30. That will be around RM4.70, if the crude oil price remains as recently. At this rate, income of any average Malaysian will be eaten up.

Ok, so now, the average Malaysian decided to take drastic measures to cut down petrol consumption. They will use more of the the public transportation. But...besides those in the capital city, where the public transportation can still be considered fine, people in most towns in Malaysia can hardly rely on public transportation to get them to work place. So what options do these people have?

A camper’s life

2008-06-01T09:55:00.000-07:00

For the past 7 days, I attended a camp. This is the longest period camp that I ever attended. Before this, 5 days is the record. Well, it has been quite some time since I last attended a camp.

During this 7 days period, I can feel the emotion of being a camper again. For example when faced with problems and went through a rough patch, the emotion of frustration and helpless were felt by the group, and then the came the determination to overcome the situation. People work together towards the aim to complete the tasks. The will to complete the task in a short period, reminds me of the scouting days when attending camp was a formality.

Though tired and hot, and at times windy, work had to go on, and with this will, the tasks were completed. From this camp, besides learning, I’ve also discovered my shortcomings, which I hope will be overcome in future.

It was a pretty nice experience for myself to go through this camp as a camper, but this might arguably my last camp, as far as I can see now.

If only every dispute can be solved this way....

2008-05-23T08:17:00.000-07:00

So the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has ruled that Singapore has sovereignty over Pulau Batu Puteh while Malaysia owns Middle Rocks. Both countries had earlier pledged to abide by the decision of the ICJ that is final and not subject to appeal. This bring an end to this 28-year old territorial dispute between Malaysia and Singapore.

Pulau Batu Putih, which Singapore calls Pedra Branca, an isle no larger than half a football field, is about 14.3km from Tanjung Penyusop in Johor and 46.3km from Singapore.

Middle Rocks is about half a nautical mile from Pulau Batu Putih and 1.7 nautical miles from South Ledge.

As for the South Ledge, the ICJ ruled that it belongs to the state in whose territorial waters it is located.

Pedra Branca/Pulau Batu Puteh is a granite island on which Horsburgh lighthouse stands, while Middle Rocks consists of some rocks that are permanently above water. South Ledge is a low-tide elevation.

The reasoning that sovereignty over Pedra Branca/Pulau Batu Puteh belongs to Singapore are:

- In a letter dated 21 September 1953, the Acting State Secretary of Johor replied that the “Johore Government [did] not claim ownership” of the island.

- Investigation of shipwrecks carried out by Singapore within the island’s territorial waters and the permission granted or not granted by Singapore to Malaysian officials to survey the waters surrounding the island.

- The absence of reaction from Malaysia to the flying of the Singapore ensign on the island, the installation by Singapore of military communications equipment on the island in 1977, and the proposed reclamation plans by Singapore to extend the island, as well as a few specific publications and maps.

The reasoning that sovereignty over Middle Rocks belongs to Malaysia are:

Singapore’s position that sovereignty over the features goes together with sovereignty over Pedra Branca/Pulau Batu Puteh do not apply to Middle Rocks. It therefore finds that original title to Middle Rocks should remain with Malaysia as the successor to the Sultanate of Johor.

If only every dispute can be solved with sound reasoning and respect for each other like this, this world will be a better place with less blood shed.

Thomas Cup Final: China vs Korea

2008-05-18T03:45:00.000-07:00

For this final, we will be seeing a lot of the negative character of the World Badminton scene. Needless to say, the Korean's strategy that put victory ahead of sportsmanship in a sports game like badminton is one of them. Though some may call it tactical brilliance, but I would call it the failure of the WBF. WBF make this tactical brilliant!

The Korean squad is on the verge of creating history by becoming the first Korean team to lift the Thomas Cup. But more interestingly, if they won, they would also be the 1st champion to lose all their group matches. How ironic isn't it?The team that finish last in Group B are on the verge of being Champions. And I'm glad the media highlighted this, as their act should not go unnoticed.

Besides that, we will also witness the World Number 1 who beat up his own coach, and trying to fight with other team's coach. Probably not the best ambassador for the sports as well.

In today's game, the Korean definitely have a chance to win it! But they must win it as soon as possible. If the tie goes into third single, China's World Number 4 Chen Jin will surely have the edge over Shon Sheung Mo.

Lin Dan also had some not so convincing result against Park Sung Hwan, and he is surely not unbeatable as he is beaten by Lee Chong Wei

As for the 1st double, the Korean is clearly stronger and have the edge. If the Korean can obtain the 1st two points, they have a great chance to win it.The Korean top doubles pair Jung Jae-sung-Lee Yong-dae are optimistic over their team’s chances of upstaging two-time defending champions China today.

South Korea's team manager Kim Jong Soo confirmed that the Koreans would retain the same line-up from the semi-finals and added that the strategy for the final would be to rattle the Chinese by taking the first two points of the tie. I certainly agree with him.

Thomas Cup: Malaysia 2 China 3

2008-05-15T20:02:00.000-07:00

The result is out. The current Thomas squad will not emulate the squad of 1992. It has been 16 years since Malaysia last win the cup. Though we failed to win the cup again, we as Malaysian should be proud, at lease we come down fighting, unlike the unsporting Korean.

Don't get me wrong, I hold no grudge against the Korean, but their way of planning out their route to semi final is unsporting, and should not exist in sports. But the root of the problem, I feel, lies in the competition format. They should have look into this possibility before introducing the format. If football can make a format that make every team play their best out, why Thomas Cup can't?

I hope they can learn from their mistakes, so that the next Thomas Cup can be played fair. Back to the defeat, here is the result.

Lee Chong Wei beat Lin Dan 21-12, 21-14

Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong lost to Cai Yun-Fu Haifeng 16-21, 17-21

Wong Choong Hann lost to Bao Chunlai 18-21, 7-21

Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif-Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari beat Xie Zhongbo-Guo Zhendong 21-17, 21-15

Muhammad Hafiz Hashim lost to Chen Jin 12-21, 16-21

How's your 7th day of May looks like?

2008-05-07T06:45:00.000-07:00

The 7th day of May, 2008 just passed. I had an ordinary day, waiting for supervisor for hours, walking around, and did some applications to a certain quarter. Yesterday is always history. Historically, 7th of May is the day of birth and death of some, and also the discovery of the tomb of Herod The Great or some other great events like marriage.

It was not the best of days, but certainly not the worse. I spent some time watching drama. Ironically the title of the drama is "The Seventh Day". While watching the drama "The Seventh Day", I can't help but think: well, I had a ordinary day, but surely, there are someone who had a wonderful day, probably the best day of his/her life on the 7th of May 2008. Someone, at somewhere, at some time in the day.

Looking back, so how was your 7th day of May? Was it a day great day, ordinary or bad day?

Reviving Komtar,

2008-05-03T09:29:00.000-07:00

Though I am no Penangites, but I still feel for the current state of condition of Komtar. Recently Komtar has been in the news, with plans to revive it. I certainly hope they have a plan that really work.

When I was younger, I was really anxious to visit Komtar, with their tallest building status, and the majestic view of it even from far. It was the pride of not just Penangites, but also Malaysians, though I'm not sure how many people share my sentiment.

But in recent years, or maybe longer, I cannot find any reason to drop by that area anymore. I will still go to the Prangin Mall there, but certainly, that mall is not the most glamorous place that cannot be missed. And the main building... looks old, deserted, and has no match to any other shopping complex in Penang. Komtar certainly need a facelift, if not maybe they can transform it into a museum. But there are certainly some of the things that should remain, like the clock showing time of some of the major cities in the world, but at lease, with a touch of modern impression and brightness. I don't understand why it is a bit darker inside there, maybe because there are so less stalls to light up the mall.

I read from the newspaper that, Komtar masterplan was meant to prevent the inner city from becoming an urban slum. For this, I'm really impressed with former Chief Minister Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu's vision. From what I observed, urban slum happened in many major towns, but nothing has been done by those state or town council. Whether these town councilors do not have the vision of Tun Dr Lim, or it is another failed implementation of a great plan.

Finally I get my Ferrari!

2008-04-30T23:39:00.000-07:00

Well..not the real Ferrari I mean. What I mean is the one selling at the Shell Petrol Station! ;)

After weeks of waiting, finally the stock have arrived! I've been to the station for a number of times, but every time I leave in disappointment. I almost give up on the thought of collecting all the Ferrari. But yesterday when my friend went to pump petrol, I decided to give it another try, and this time, finally! I get to buy one!

I bought the Ferrari F40, one of the fastest, most powerful street cars in the world! It was produced from 1987 to 1992. This is also the last car to be commissioned by Enzo Ferrari himself!

I'm looking forward to collecting more of the others. Hopefully in the end I get to collect a full set!..

Charge card?

2008-04-22T10:21:00.000-07:00

Recently when I was asked by my friend what is this charge card all about, I said "charge card not same with credit card meh?"

"No wor, I heard is something different"..

So I decided to check out what this charge card is, and ya, I found that my concept of credit card= charge card is wrong. So what is charge card?

While the usage of the charge card is similar to other payment cards such
as credit and debit cards, i.e. you can use the charge card to make payments at
merchants displaying the same charge card brand name as that on your charge card, there are some major difference between all these cards.

1st, while Credit Card allow minimum payment of 5% of monthly outstanding balance, Charge Card don't. Outstanding balance must be settled in full by due date.

2nd, while Credit Card allow you to have outstanding balance, they charge maximum 18% per annum on outstanding balance.

3rd, for late payment charge, Charge Card normally charge a 3.0% to 3.5% per month (36% to 42% per annum) on outstanding balance or fixed minimum amount whichever is higher. For Islamic charge cards, a fixed fee is normally charged up to RM70 per month. Credit Card only charge a maximum 1% per month on outstanding balance or RM5 whichever is higher.

Examples of charge cards are American Express, Diners Club International, and HSBC Amanah Mastercard.

So, if you have ample of money around, just that you don't want to carry cash around, Charge Card can be an option. Otherwise, Credit Card will be fine. By the way, if you have the discipline, Credit Card can be used like a Charge Card as well.

When your phone ring for anything but personal..

2008-04-18T10:14:00.000-07:00

Today I received a message from a friend, talking about life and what we up to recently. I'm really glad to receive this message, for I think it has been quite some time since I received a message of this nature.

These days..my phone no longer rings as often as before. And when it does ring.. "Your validity will expire in 3 days time, pls reload to keep it active", or crabs like contests, events that has something to do with the phone company. The closest the message received that can be deemed personal is regarding coursework, tasks and so on..

And some how when receive this kind of message really "bengang"..especially those came at early in the morning 7am.. But at lease the telco company have learned, and these days no more such "patience testing" message.

Coffee

2008-04-16T11:49:00.000-07:00

Addiction is so often the word to relate to when it comes to coffee, as coffee lover don't seem to get enough of it, and ya, i'm one of them, as you can see ;)

There has been a lot information regarding the consumption of coffee, some are positive, and some are negative. While these informations are released by the experts, which cannot be disregard, I believe that anything, if over-consumed or misused, will turn into harm even though the initial intention is to do good. So being moderate is the key.

Recently I come across an article by the International Coffee Organization- Positively Coffee Programme, and there are some surprising finding, which really surprise me.

1) Drinking up to 4/5 cups of coffee a day, is not harmful and may even have some health benefits.

2) Scientific studies show that caffeine intake is associated with a lower risk for Alzheimer's Disease.

3) A cup of coffee may help relieve the headaches.Substances that constrict blood vessels, like caffeine, can help counter the painful effects of blood vessel dilation in the head.

4) Coffee drinking is not addictive. Caffeine did not act on the brain areas responsible for reward, motivation and addiction in the same way as amphetamines and cocaine.

So I'm not addicted to coffee after all. But I do love my cup of coffee ;)

missing..

2008-04-11T04:23:00.002-07:00

I have been missing my calculators for days now, or shall i rephrase "my calculator has been missing..."? Anyhow, I feel the possibility of finding it back is slim, since I can't even be sure where I left it. After that, I am lucky enough to be able to use a "spare" calculator by my friend.

But still, some how.. I feel like I want to get it back, I want to search for it! I've been using it for 4 years now, since the days of my form 6. It carries with me tonnes of memories back in the form 6, there are good ones, and bad ones. The urge to find it back certainly makes me think: why am I trying to find it back? Is it because of the calculator itself? or the memories that it brings along.

Well, after some thought, I guess the answer is quite clear. Looking back to those days, it's really hard to defined whether they are happy days or not, but there are certainly happiness in it, and for that simple reason, I will keep on looking for it...

Is life really in our hands, or in destiny's?

2008-04-08T08:34:00.000-07:00

Again I ask this question to myself, a question that has no answer to it. I guess no human in this world have the answer to this question as well.

So often after a football game, when I saw a team who try all they can and still lost the game, I will think of this question, and again it will reminds me of a game in World Cup 2002. Argentina against a Scandinavian team (either is Denmark or Sweden, I'm not sure which). In that game Argentina attack full force, I can still remember how delightful it was to see Pablo Aimar's skills and exquisite passing. And yet they failed to break down the opposition defense, and they were sent packing in the 1st round. A team full of world class players, play delightful football, and tried all they can to score, but destined not to score on that night. Can we actually change our destiny?

Today I feel for Arsenal and their supporters. No disregard to Liverpool, they played well, but I'm not sure well enough to win 4-2. And Destiny wants a repeat to last year's fixtures: Liverpool vs Chelsea.

it's the end of another sem...again..

2008-04-05T09:31:00.000-07:00

Today is the start of the study week, which also signifies the end of another semester in uni. But unlike any other study week, which is a time to relax a bit and really focus on the examinations, this time it is more of another week of the semester.

How can one define it as a study week when one have to attend class on Monday and Wednesday, presentation on Wednesday, and test, interview and quiz on Friday. Further more there are 3 submissions to be made this week. Huh~~

Looking back at the time when sit for the national level test (that is the SPM and so on), one can really focus only on the examination, as if it is the most important thing in the world that need to be done. How unrealistic that was, as in reality, we must always handle a few things at one time, and uni life is just the elementary of the reality, which one must get on and adapt.

oh! my school is on youtube..n also the zoo..

2008-04-01T09:49:00.000-07:00

my school..

and the zoo...

;)

RM100 coin, anyone?

2008-03-29T10:56:00.000-07:00

TV Reviews

While it is common for you to see a 5sen coin, have u seen any RM100 coin before? Well, you may soon see one. Bank Negara Malaysia will commemorate its 50th Anniversary this year. In conjunction with the event, the Bank has launched a nationwide Commemorative Coin Design Competition from 10 March to 9 April 2008. The value of the coin is to be RM100.

The winning design entry will be used to mint and produce the 50th Anniversary Commemorative Coin, besides receiving a RM20,000 cash prize. Consolation prizes of RM1,000 will also be awarded to each of the 10 shortlisted entries.

Can you imagine the joy and satisfaction of winning the competition? A commemorate coin designed by you, for your country, and to be keep by the citizens of Malaysia! Your design will be everywhere, wow! That is if you win the competition lah~

For more information on the competition, visit
http://www.bnm.gov.my/index.php?ch=104&pg=672&ac=585

Italia towards Euro 2008!

2008-03-27T09:26:00.000-07:00

With Euro 2008 just around the corner, the friendly against Espana is a gauge of how big a challenge the Azzurri, campione del mondo, can mount in that competition.

David Villa
His spectacular volley earned Espana a 1-0 win, and losing to this goal doesn't mean all is lost for the Azzurri. Villa's strike is typically the decider between who win the cup and who's not, if this game is not a mere friendly match. He will surely be a class act to watch during the Euro, and also the whole Espana. This victory extended Spain's unbeaten streak to 14 matches. Maybe it's time they end their jinx with major competition.

The positive
While Espana enjoyed the lion's share of possession, it was the Azzurri who created the better chances.

'We had very good chances. We didn't deserve to lose,' is what Italia coach Roberto Donadoni said.

The Azzurri threat came largely from set pieces, with Pirlo floating several dangerous crosses into the area, and Luca Toni actually scored a goal, headed in a free kick early on but the goal was disallowed for offside.

The Squad: Can they win it?
The 2006 World Cup was a dream come true to all the Azzurri fans! but this time around, with them in the group of death as well, it will be another big challenge, with the fans hopeful they can capitalize their "World Champion" status to win another major competition.

The current squad still built largely around the World Cup winning team: the likes of Goalkeeper Buffon, Defender Cannavaro and Materazzi, Midfield Pirlo and Camoranesi,and Striker Toni. Notable departure include Nesta, Totti, Del Piero(still possible to make the squad), which are irreplaceable, but life goes on, we will have to look forward to more stars to come through the ranks and keep the Azzurri at the top.

The goalkeeping section looks to be in good hand. Buffon is unquestionable, while Amelia has prove himself to be capable over this few years.

The list of defenders, besides the departure of Nesta and the inclusion of Panucci, looks very much the same as 2006. If there is anything to worry about, it is the age factor, with Materazzi and Cannavaro at 34 and 33. The inclusion of Panucci in recent games, to me has been a step backward, though I wouldn't write off his contribution to the Azzuri's qualifying campaign. The likes of Andrea Barzagli is not new to the team, and I hope he can step up to the shoes when called upon.

The midfield also, still consists of many of the 2006 team, is the strength of the team, though their form will largely effect the attacking ability of the team. Pirlo will have a much bigger role to play, with Totti now retired, he will need to provide that moment of inspiration. Some interesting young lad like Aquilani is included for this friendly, and I'm sure there will be more experimenting from Donadoni before the final squad is picked.

The Forward, or Striking department is the most worrying department. Besides Toni, there are no notable strikers with enough credential to lead the forward line. Vincenzo Iaquinta has been doing ok in Juventus, while Fabio Quagliarella, Marco Borriello and Antonio Di Natale are the in-form strikers in Serie A, but whether they can step up to the International scene is big question mark, with the recent decline of standard in Serie A.

happy moments ;) Episode 2: Calming Effect

2008-03-22T00:49:00.000-07:00

"This is an important decision to make, and if I get it wrong, I will suffer for one whole year". This sentence, I keep on telling myself. I was undecided, confused, hesitant to make a decision, and this situation bothers me. Rarely I feel so hard to make a definite decision, and as I crack my head trying to come to a definite decision, I get frustrated, I feel restless.

Then I received a message. A calming message. But no particular calming words. Just another message like any other one. Talking about recent life. Talking about how busy life can be. Talking about how one can fly to greater heights, overcome obstacles.

An ordinary message, yet it calm me down. Suddenly my analytical mind is back in its job. I started to weight the pros and cons of every options around. It's time for me to make a definite decision.

And as I talk to friends around, telling them the pros and cons of the options, each have their own perspective of the options. All these different perspectives, make me even more clear of where my decisions lies. Really thanks to all my friends around, who have listened to me, and given me suggestions. I'm glad and happy to have them around.

And to my friends who are facing difficulties, hold on, be strong and overcome it! Nothing is too hard to overcome!

Who wants to be a billionaire? :D

2008-03-14T07:29:00.000-07:00

this clip is hilarious! can't stop laughing :D

so do you want to be a billionaire??

1st you have to be a millionaire! wakaka!..you can be any type of millionaire, bankrupt millionaire, crony millionaire or proxy millionaire

and just in case anyone don't know what is AP...AP means Approved Permit. Issued by the government to the "worthy" people to import cars.

Let's be happy and enjoy the funny side of everything, be it positive or negative!

Nice song! Can't help playing it again and again! :D

2008-03-11T08:09:00.000-07:00

Again I wanna stress I hold no grudges against the man, but the tune is just so refreshing! :D

And a 5 sen view to the man,"you should have leave when you are winning".

The MC Dilemma

2008-03-07T08:59:00.000-08:00

I really pity my friend, MC. He has been going through a dilemma for quite some time now. He is one who really cares for the college we are staying in, and also the development of our university. As the student counsel election gets closer, he really feels undecided on who he should vote for. If not for his care and, he would have less of a headache he is having now.

People in the college has been telling him to vote for the representative of the college, saying that if he fails, our college will not have a representative in the counsel, and thus if anything happened to the college, the counsel will not be of help, and people in the college will suffer. He has been thinking for a while, and this theory is actually very logical! “Ya! No doubt I should vote for our college representative”. Just as he tries to take this as a final decision, he feels something is not right, something is amiss. For a while he thinks, and he finally figures out what is not right. “It’s the candidate!”

He knows this fella for quite some time already. He is a nice guy, no doubt, in fact too nice to be in the counsel, he feels. He never argues with people, always give in when there are conflicts going on, and even apologized to appease people even if he is in the right. After hearing this, I finally understand why MC is so undecided and restless.

He keeps on asking himself whether there must be a representative in counsel for his college, or someone who really deserve to be in the counsel to bring the university forward. Both are logical choices, and he can only choose one. I suggest that “maybe we should go with the best candidate instead, since if this fella really get into the counsel, he also wouldn’t do anything for the college”. But his response is, “it’s unthinkable not to have any rep from our college in the counsel!”

I do not know how he decides to vote in the end, but if our college keeps on choosing candidate that is not capable and do not performs, I guess MC will keep on having this dilemma year after year.

so you think you know what is WC?

2008-03-03T09:59:00.000-08:00

WC, or wash closet is commonly term as toilet. We all used it everyday, but how much you know about it?..

yaya, we know about the floating ball inside the cistern (the place where the water is stored), and the water will flow inside when the ball is below certain level. So what's the big deal?..If only it can be so simple and obvious!... well below and inside, every part has its own function, some you can't even imagine that it can works like that..

will post the every details later!..

a touching song

2008-02-29T23:25:00.000-08:00

I came to know this song after a few friends recommended it to me. They said that the story of the song is a reflection of reality, that it can easily relate to anyone of us. I can't agree more!

The struggle of a guy who do not know whether there are any room to go forward, yet he already can't step back. He is too involved, and already can't pull himself out.

The simple words used in the song, the story and the singing touched me.

李圣杰 - 擦肩而过

我爱着谁
爱到我有点醉
告诉我你是谁
能够把我让我变不对
你不会累
但我却爱你爱得好累
从没有为了谁
不顾安危付出一切

*站在这平衡点
我还是觉得有点危险
或许是看不见
只能够靠感觉
他不会是个好男人
也不会是个好情人
你对我说我们只是擦肩而过
好的男人有那么多
少了他的日子也能过
我不会再让你寂寞
也不会让你更难过
你听我说要好好学着去生活
就算未来有多少错
至少还有我的问候
我的温柔陪你度过

你听我说
你不要这么做
你不要看着我
说你已经知道怎么做
你很难受
我愿意陪你一起承受
只要你不怕痛
再多坎坷我都陪你走
**

就算未来有多少错
至少还有我的问候
我的温柔陪你度过

happy moments ;) Episode 1: Simple Happiness

2008-02-29T12:41:00.000-08:00

Isn't it strange that there are times when you feel happy over some little things said or done? whether it was done by people you know, or even people you don't know? It's really amazing when you think of it, and how beautiful this world is..

During one of my many journeys to KL, I met with this girl who is seated beside me. This surely is anything but love story, as nothing romantic actually happened, but it does make me cracked a smile :) , a smile from the heart!

As usual, I feel reluctant to leave my hometown to go back to study after holidays, so then my mood is actually anything but good. When I took my seat, there was this girl who's already in her seat, sleeping. "Well, normal la..get into the car sure sleep de.."

So I get on with what I'm suppose to do also, SLEEP!..and also, once a while will have small chat with my friends. At times I will also look at her, and found her "sleep look" funny..or well...ermm..maybe cute :D

Eventually, she didn't be awake during the whole journey except during the stops in rest house along the highway. And also, her fall back sleep time is really lightning! I can't stop feeling amaze, at the same time smiling away..

The world is beautiful because we can't know what is the next thing that will make us smile, and it just can be anything, even a cutie sleep look or an amazing sleep marathon :D

something about me..and my world..

2008-02-29T12:01:00.000-08:00

Some time ago, there is a friend, who once said that "seem only football can make u write sth ar". I wasn't aware back then, but looking back now, and I think that is quite true, as most of my posts were football-related. So maybe it's time I write something about myself, thus "something about me and my world" is created.

I used to write a diary, I "forced" the little book to share my sorrow, and remember my joyous moments. And there were times when I gave up writing diary, as there were people whom I can share with them my joy and sorrow. But as I become more and more a nerd, I think the cyber space wouldn't mind having me to voice up what is in my mind, right?