Rest in Peace Michael Jackson

At about midnight last night while talking on the phone to yours dearly, she asked me if I was watching the news. I answered no and asked why. She then tol me that there is a news report claiming that MJ is "dead". At first, I thought it was some joke, like the Jeff Goldblum's hoax. And then I saw the article on bbc saying that MJ is "dead".

I traced the article back to TMZ.com who was the first to report it and saw several tweets about htis on my blackberry. It was later confirmed that he did in fact die, and it was a tragic news indeed.

I'm sure that many have bought the tickets to his comeback concert, which was fully sold out within days if not hours. Certainly, people will think that 50 concerts is stretching it a bit too far considering his age but hey, he's a perfectionist.

I'm pretty sure everyone of you has a favourite Michael Jackson song. I grew up loving "Black and White" thinking that Michael Jackson is in fact, a magician with real powers (yes dreaming) and can turn into a tiger. That's thanks to his "Moonwalker" sort of movie I guess, I remember vaguely he could turn into a car.

But my absolute favourite song of his is without a doubt "Man in The Mirror". I believe that he was under tremendous pressure for the past 15 years since he was accused of being a paedophile. Looking at him, you can't really believe that can you? Whatever it is, may peace be with him and with Youtube, he will live on forever, or that's what I would like to think so.

Bocor every month

Talking about no post to update, after the circus incident last week in Parliament, where 2 MPs, namely from Kinabatangan(of Keluar Malaysia fame) and Jasin(of Close one-eye fame) argued (with a straight face):

“Mana ada bocor, Batu Gajah pun tiap-tiap bulan bocor juga (Where is the
leak? Batu Gajah leaks every month too).”

Batu Gajah here refers to Batu Gajah's MP(DAP) Fong Po Kuan, who incidentally(like all other DAP MPs) have a blog here. Thinking that this matter should be easily resolved had Bung Mokhtar and Said Yusoff issue an apology of the statement, they went further by saying

“It is normal to play with words,” he(Bung Mokhtar) said, adding that it would be wrong if the statement had been made with malicious intent.

Mohd Said said the statement was made in the heat of the argument.
“I don’t see what the fuss is about,” he said. “It is normal to play with words,” he said, adding that it would be wrong if the statement had been made with malicious intent.

Shame shame la. Finally today YB Sharizat wants to take this matter to Cabinet. Even Najib 'bung' in to say

the remarks were not supposed to be taken seriously and that there were certain
parties out to make a big deal of the issue.

Hello Najib, if you still want the ladies to vote for you, better get a grip and become more sensitive. I'm pretty sure that had you have said this during your years in university(of nottingham), you will be subjected to great hatred.

Certain parties out to make a big deal?

Now I can see the issue of pariahs made by RPK here. Heck, even pariahs have their own respect, these 2...... no respect from me sorry. Being politicians doesn't give you freedom to make sexist remarks in public, let alone a parliament session.

Mind you, the sittings at that session was supposed to serve the following function:

The sittings last week were an extension of the March 19 to April 26 meeting for
Parliament to deliberate on several important bills like the Anti-Trafficking in
Persons and Employees Provident Fund amendments. [Source: The Star]

So instead of 'solving' problems, they create more problems. I say throw these MPs out of parliament, make damn sure to let them know

You serve the people, and if you don't serve them
right, you're out.

What say you on this issue?



Reference:

1. Sexist remarks to be brought up to Cabinet, The Star, 15 May 2007.
2. Sexist remarks becoming the norm?, Elizabeth Looi, The Star, 13 May 2007.
3. Let off despite 'sexist' remarks, The Star, 11 May 2007.

Adverts, Twin Towers and Skydiving

smalltalk: Lunch interview today, wish me luck. Fingers crossed.



I have to admit, when I heard about Mahathir's mega projects I thought it was really a big black hole for everybody's tax money. But it did some good in the end, although a small amount of people REALLY profit from it.

(A certain somebody who is now making a move to take his company, Maxis, private :D )


For those who are wondering, I got this off FT.com's website. Look, the 2nd easiest tower to recognise is out twin towers. It really put Malaysia on the global map doesn't it? Here's another nice pic of it.


But here's another mega project that you might have seen in the newspaper for the past few days (or weeks).


The once "mat-rempits" have done the country "proud". Check howsy's post on this for more info. The big question is, how did it put Malaysia on the world map? Did we benefit from this jump?

Trust me, do a search on google for news on "Putera Umno" or "North Pole" or "Skydiving". The only news you can see about this are from Bernama, Malaysia's very own news agency.

If there were so many records broken, why haven't any other news agencies reported it?


And there is one big flaw. There were NO photos whatsoever that they made the jump. The only photos were taken when they were on the ground. Chances are most of them didn't actually take the jump?

The only pics I could've found are here, here and here. So what's the truth? We demand some proof on taxpayers' money well spent.

I don't know, you be the judge on this. Whatever.



References:

1. Series of Skydiving records broken, The Star, 3 May 2007.
2. Putera Umno Skydiving Team Returning On Thursday, Syed Azwan Syed Ali, Bernama, 24 April 2007.
3. Comment: Exuberant energy at the North Pole, Rehman Rashid, NST, 27 April 2007.
4. Successful North Pole Landing for Putera Umno Skydivers, Syed Azwan Syed Ali, Bernama, 23 April 2007.
   

Fraud in schools? Believe it!!

I should actually nominate johnleemk's blog Infernal Ramblings as one of the blogs that got me thinking. But I'm not into all these awards thingy as it's just another lame attempt to cook up something that would last for a few weeks.

Anyway I've came across this post of his about "Educationist Defraud a Charity" which he'd written a few day ago.

It was a very valid story and it reminded me of my alma mater. Let me summarize his story first.

His ex-classmate was involved in raising some fund for a charity (outside school I presume). After they had managed to collect an amount which in john's word is "not unsignificant", "the teacher in charge of advising the organising committee told them that she wanted half of the proceeds for the school."

Yes I know what you're thinking. Low-life etc etc.


Let me relate to you a few stories of my own.

As you may have known, I've started putting nuffnang ads on my blog to raise some money to be donated to my secondary school.

Let me tell you this. I'm actually not too keen on doing this for many reasons. One of the main reasons is that we would never know how these money have been put to good use.

I know that with the money, we have been building more classrooms, demolishing my beloved tennis court etc. Word has it that the contractors involved in these are charging the school at extraordinary amount.

What makes it worse is that they are on the board of directors of the school committee. They would also consistently donate RM3k or a little more to the school everytime there's a donation drive. The question is they donate, just to earn it all back from these contracts which would be easily worth more than RM500k? When I was still in school, I was told by the headmaster (whom I know personally) that we still owe the contractors a huge amount of money.





What is it with these people? First, we don't get enough funding from the Education Ministry. Second, our own donation drive (huge ones I assure you) would be just like a money making machine for these contractors.

Word also has it that the contractor involved was on the brink of bankruptcy. Now? He owns a huge hotel called Star City in the middle of Alor Star. How did he turn around? By getting petty cash from the school through his fraudulent schemes of being on the school board and the contractor involved at the same time.

I would call this a scam but I think this is much much worse. He's not conning just 1 person of their money but a whole bunch of ignorant people. Now I understand why my parents were reluctant to donate their money last time when I was trying my best to persuade them to.

I'm telling you "SMK Keat Hwa" in Alor Star. Stop asking for charity until you have proven that our money has been put to good use. Shame on you.


Onto my second story. Another school involved in these scheme is my primary school, SRJK (C) Keat Hwa (H). Here's a story that shocked the nation not too long ago. Photo taken from Paul Ooi's blog.

If you don't know. One of the teachers fell to his death after falling from a ceiling which is infested with termites. I'm telling you this, the SAME contractor is involved in this.


Nevertheless, I'll still donate as I've claimed earlier. For a simple reason that I really want them to improve. The next step would be for them to correct their mistakes and hopefully put all these money to good uses.

Lampe Berger

IS A SCAM!!!!

Holy lot, some of you might not have heard of it but for those who have, I hope you have found out about the truth. I don't really care how much good it does for your health (so they claim)

It's actually a type of aromatherapy thingy. I believe that initially it was really meant to be a healing product of some sort but when it came to Asia, it transformed itself into a MLM (Multi-level Marketing a.k.a. scam, ponzi scheme, pyramid scheme) machine. Remember Amway or Cosway? Let's hope Elken not turn into one either.

My mom tried putting one in my room when I had difficulty breathing or my allergy (which I found out was actually hayfever) hit.

IT DIDN'T FREAKING WORK!!!!

Even my mom stopped using it already after discovering that it doesn't work.

To all you lots who are members of the group, I would advise you to pullout as far as possible. Forget about the money you put in, there's no way you could get that back now. And please stop all those unethical pulling of new members. You're actually destroying their life for all you know it.

There are a few blogs you can read:

• Anti Lampe Berger
• Lampe Berger Help
• Lampe Berger Truth
  

The last I heard there were 2 big issues:

• Lampe Berger was listed on the Securities Commission's list (Investor Alert issued in fact) and taken out shortly after that.
• I heard the latest scam is for a member to pay a certain amount (on top of RM30k+) and they would be enrolled in a twinning programme with some college in Australia. Upon completion can get some diploma of some sort.

There are of course noteworthy things to take form here:

• Their marketing strategy is perfect, and they aim people's greed and emotions. I would say it's the most powerful persuasion marketing technique ever.

If you still wonder why I say this is a scam, consider this:

• What kind of business promises you that you would earn 6-figure salaries within a short period?
• What kind of business makes money with a product that doesn't garner as much revenue to pay for those 6-figure salaries?

If you really want to donate these people, you might as well donate it to me to fund Project MORSEHack. I can personally guarantee you that you will never see your money ever again (same with Lampe Berger) but at least you know that your money will be put to good use for the next generation. Treat it as charity ok?


So readers, be smart or be f**ked. Ok? No other way.





Sheesh Lampe Berger.

I challenge you Lampe Berger, come sue me for defamation and let's make this a big court case.

Of scams and pissing them off

I promised Kelwin(a.k.a. TenthofMarch) that I would do a post reminding people not to fall for scams. Well at least I could show you what is scam. Read on.......

Not too long ago, I was sent an email of notice that I've won some lottery. This is the email.

WARNING LONG POST AHEAD.

---

FROM:THE DESK OF THE VICE PRESIDENT INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS/PRIZE
AWARDS DEPARTMENT AUSTRALIAN INTERNATIONAL SWEEPSTAKES LOTTERY
CORPORATION/EUROPEAN COMMISSION.

Winning Numbers GB8701/LPRC

AWARD NOTIFICATION: FINAL NOTICE

We are delighted to inform you of your prize release on the 24th of
April 2007 from the Australian International Lottery Programme with the
following information:

Date:24/4/2007
Ref: 475061725
Batch: 7056490902/188
Winning no: GB8701/LPRR

Which is fully based on an electronic selection of winners using their
e-mail addresses.Your name was attached to ticket number;
47161725070564909 serial number 7741137002 This batch draws the lucky numbers
as follows: 5-13-33-37-42 bonus number 17,which consequently won the lottery
in the second category.

You hereby have been approved a prize of US$450,000.00 (FOUR HUNDRED
AND FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS) in cash credit file ref: ILP/HW 47509/02 from the
total cash prize shared amongst eight lucky winners in this
category.All participants were selected through a computer balloting system
drawn from One hundred thousand E-mail addresses from Canada,
Australia,United States, Asia, Europe, Middle East and Africa as part of our
international promotions program which is conducted annually .

This Lottery was promoted and sponsored by a conglomerate of some
multinational companies in Australia as part of their social responsibility to
the citizens in the communities where they have operational base.

Further more your details(e-mail address) falls within our European
representative office in Amsterdam,Holland, as indicated in your play
coupon and your prize of US$450,000.00 will be released to you from our
Australian regional branch bureau in USA.

We hope with part of your prize, you will participate in our end of
year high stakes for US$1.3 Billion international draw.

HOW TO CLAIM YOUR PRIZE:

Simply contact our Fiducial Agent, REV Micheal Karl Via
(micheal.karl@bos-uk.info)to file for your claim .

Please quote your Date of draw, Reference Number, Batch Number and
Winning Number, which can be found on the top-left corner of this
message.Also you should give in your telephone number to help locate your file
easily. For security reasons, we advice all winners to keep this information
confidential from the public until your claim is processed and your prize has
been released to you. This is part of our security protocol to avoid double
claiming and unwarranted taking advantage of this programme by non-participant
or unofficial personnel.

Note: All winnings MUST be claimed by the 10th May 2007, other wise
all funds will be returned as Unclaimed and eventually donated to
charity.

Congratulations once again on your winning!

ALSO ENSURE YOU TYPE THE EMAIL ADDRESS CORRECTLY TO ENSURE SAFE & QUICK
EMAIL DELIVERY/RESPONSE. ANY BREACH OF CONFIDENTIALITY ON THE PART OF
WINNERS WILL RESULT TO DISQUALIFICATION.

Best Regards.

Carol Sweet(co-ordinator)

PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS EMAIL. CONTACT YOUR CLAIMS AGENT VIA EMAIL
(micheal.karl@bos-uk.info)

LOTTERY SPONSORS: CHIEF SPONSORS;

USA, MICROSOFTCORPORATION ASIA

---

Ok, a few points to note here:

• They always have a deadline in which you have to claim before that date. (Just so to make you "kan cheong")
• It's always a huge sum of money, which never in your life would you ever have the chance to win.
• It's always sent to people living outside the country involved (In my case it's Australia)
  

I replied to it (for the fun of it)

---

To: micheal.karl@bos-uk.info

Winning Numbers GB8701/LPRC

AWARD NOTIFICATION: FINAL NOTICE

We are delighted to inform you of your prize release on the 24th of
April 2007 from the Australian International Lottery Programme with the
following information:

Date:24/4/2007
Ref: 475061725
Batch: 7056490902/188
Winning no: GB8701/LPRR


Would like to claim my winning

---

Go ahead, spam the fella's email as much as you want. I'm actually quite surprised he replied to my email. Wow....

---

British Organisation Center
Claims Department
Address-6903 Pouter Dr
E-mail:micheal.karl@bos-uk.info

Dear Wilson Quah,

The Claims department has received your information required for the claims
of your Australian Lottery Winnings ,to this effect we would require further
verifications to prove that you are the correct
beneficiary of this funds.

You are therefore advised to provide us with the following:

1)Scanned Copy of your international passport or drivers license .

2)Full Name:

3)Address:

4)Tel:

5)Occupation:

6)Age:

7)Marital Status:

These information are required due to security reasons ,Also to prevent
impersonation.
As soon as this information has been provided your details would be sent to
the funding bank for transfer approval.
Further inquires should be sent to us via e-mail

Best Regards,
Micheal Karl .

---

To which I replied,

---

Certainly, I would glady provide you with my information.

Just wondering if you're the Michael Karl I know

FROM THE DESK OF MR LUCKY
MICHEAL PERCIFICTRUST
SECURITY COMPANY BRANCH OFFICE ACCRA GHANA.
WEB;WWW.percifictrust corp.com
PRIVATE
PHONE,00233-27-7738400
SUBJECT:GREETINGS FRIEND

GREETINGS FRIEND.

I HUMBLY SOLICITING FOR YOUR ASSISTANCE REGARDS TO
CLEARANCE OF $6.5 
(SIX.FIVE MILLION UNITED STATE DOLLARS)FROM MY OFFICE
HERE IN GHANA OR 
HEAD OFFICE IN EUROPE THIS MONEY WAS FORMALLY
DEPOSITED IN MY COMPANY BY 
YOUR BROTHER(MR MICHEAL KARL) A MAJOR CONTRACTOR WITH
SHELL 
DEVELOPMENT COMPANY HERE IN ACCRA GHANA.WHOM 
DIED ON A MOTOR ACIDENT WITH THE WIFE AND THERE ONLY
SON MR BOB ON 
14-2-2000.IN VIEW OF THIS MY COMPANY DIRECTOR HAS GONE
TO YOUR EMBASSY FOR 
INSEARCH OF HIS NEXT OF KIN/HIS RELATIONS FOR THE
CLAIM OF HIS 
CONSIGNMENT MONEY BUT TO KNOW AVAIL , SO I WOULD LIKE
TO PRESENT YOU TO MY 
COMPANY AS THE BENEFICIARY/NEXT OF KIN TO THIS ACCOUNT
AS THIS MONEY COULD 
ONLY BE CLAIMED BY YOU HIS RELATIVE A FOREIGNER
FROM
HIS NATIONAL. ALL 
DOCUMENTS TO FACILITATE THE CLEARING PROCEDURES OF
THIS FUND WILL BE IN 
YOUR FAVOUR.THE PROJECTS TAKES JUST SEVEN WORKING
DAYS.I PROMISE TO 
REWORD YOU 40% OF THE TOTAL SUM AT THE END OF THIS
BUSINESS 50% FOR ME 
WHILE 10% WILL BE SET OURSIDE FOR MISCELLENEOUSE
EXPENSES.FINALY FRIEND I 
DINT WANT YOU TO DISCLOSE THIS BUSINESS TO THIRD
PARTY.I GUARANTEE YOU 
THAT THIS BUSINESS WILL BE EXECUTED UNDER A LEGITIMATE
ARRENGMENT THAT 
WILL PROTECT YOU FROM ANY BREACH OF THE LAW.IF FOR ANY
REASON YOU
DECIDED NOT TO ACCEPT THIS PROPOSAL THAT I AM OFFERING
YOU TODAY,PLS
DO GET BACK TO ME IMMEDIATLY SO THAT I  SEARCH FOR
SOMEONE
ELSE.BUT IF YOU ACCEPT IT PLS DO REPLY ME IMMEDIATLY
WITH YOUR 
TELEPHONE AND FAX CONTACT FOR EASY COMMINICATION.
BEST REGARDS,
MR,LUCKY MICHEAL.
N.B
PLEASE  ENTER THE WEBSITE  BUT DONT
CONTACT ANYBODY BECAUSE
KNOW BODY KNOWS ABOUT THIS DEAL APART FROM
ME AND YOU
WE HAVE THREE WAY TO CLAIM THIS MONEY 
(1) YOU COME TO CARRY IT PERSONALLY
(2)IT CAN BE DELIVERD TO YOU AT YOUR DOORSTEP THROUGH
CORIER SERVICES.
(3)THROUGH ONLINE BANKING TRANSFER.
BEST REGARD,

---

HAHAHA, PWNZ his face, think he can con me?

My uncle once told me, if you want to be rich, there's no shortcut, you have to work hard for it.

If you follow this rule, at least you won't be conned the many thousands of ringgit.

He still have the nerves to email me.

---

Dear Wilson Quah ,
I Am not in any way the micheal karl who sent you that e-mail message ,i would advise that you report every case of internet fraud to the internet fraud department of the london Metro Politan police Uk ,Contact information is as follows :

E-mail :internetfraud-department@londonmetropolice-uk.net

Best Regards,
Micheal Karl .

---

I say we SPAM him. Email is micheal.karl@bos-uk.info.

So any of you feeling itchy wanna spam somebody's email, spam Michael Karl's.

If you wanna join in the fight against scams, write a post about it. Together we can fight it.

By-elections? Buy elections!

How to buy your way through elections. That's right folks, that's the hot topic that's been stirred up since the Machap by-election. Well BN bought their victory by hook or by crook, let's try to see what happens in Ijok.

First of all, one has to ask himself, what do you know about Ijok?

A search in google reveals a few interesting results. The most interesting being masak-masak's post on New Beggar's Delicious Restaurant @ Ijok. I have to say the beggar chickens look very tasty, but beware if you're muslim because they do serve pork too. Don't say I didn't warn you first.

This of course doesn't tell us too much about Ijok. Here's a map on where Ijok really is for all you katak bawah tempurung(me included). People say you have to pass Ijok if you're heading to Kuala Selangor via the north route, I wouldn't know since I stay in the south(Subang) and I've never been to Kuala Selangor(hope the kelip-kelips are still there).


After a few pages, there's still no sight of both the famous Ijok blogs. The publicity team must be doing a shit job at this. Heck, they really should go consult some SEO expert and read up on what is google pagerank.

Also, there's a rocky's post on Ijok and with some nice statistics here.

Recently, there's so much press about how development had been brought to Ijok virtually overnight. Khir Toyo's 36 million ringgit is just a prelude, I actually expect more goodies to come. I actually think now the rakyat should already figure out a strategy to get the most out of the present government.

Here's the plan if you don't already know it. By-election period, show your support to BN, and they will reciprocate you by building roads etc in your area thinking you are going to vote for him. Don't vote for BN, instead, vote for the opposition and make him win. At the next election, the BN people will try harder to please you, bringing yet again more developments. Show your support but again vote for the opposition. See the viscious cycle here?

I thought I'm pretty smart to have thought of this.


.................I must be kidding myself, there's no way BN would lose. The "law of shopping" is that when you buy something, it is legally already yours. It's Sales carnival Malaysia season if you haven't realised, for the politicians that is, and they are spending too much of the taxpayers' money on a correct region for the wrong reasons.

Sad and angry

After writing on a post regarding how I'm doing my bid to help reduce e-waste, it saddens me deeply when I came across and article written by johnleemk on his blog regarding absolute poverty. It redirected me to the related article on Daily Express where you can find the story, the whole story and no stones left unturned.


It saddens me because after The Star published an article on a student who has to live on RM1 a day, now we are faced with a mother who has to care for 6 children living on RM70 a month. What's worse is that the boy had committed suicide. The reason?

"My son replied there would be fewer people to feed and to take care of if he were to go and that his share of the food could be given to his brothers and sisters," she said, fighting back tears. [Source: Daily Express]

Not only is she fighting back her tears, I'm also trying to hold back mine. Remember when I talked about the Gini coefficient of Malaysia? If you seriously believe that the situation has improved in our country, then as popular saying goes, please believe that pigs can fly too.

What angers me is not because that the leaders of our country lied to us about our improved life. Sure, urban citizens may see an improvement in infrastructure, but when it comes to basic needs, we are still far behind first world countries. There are just too many people under absolute poverty. I know this because my family has our roots in a small village and I've seen a lot of relatives living in relative poverty(not absolute poverty here I hope).

What angers me is the fact that people are suffering in the very state which has a chief minister whose how much his personal wealth is a topic of dispute in the public. Want more images to confirm, click here to see those evidence. When there's a bit of corruption it's the ACA's issue, when there is corruption of such a mammoth scale, it's a national issue.

We really need to address this issue in a progressive manner. Enough with the debates of who should benefit from the NEP, let us put our minds into figuring out how to help those out of these poverty traps.

Barely 2 years ago, Pak Lah said here that he wants absolute poverty to be totally eradicated in this country within 5 years. How much have we progressed? I believe the answer should be very clear to you.



References:

1. Suicide lad's mum breaks silence, Daily Express, 7 April 2007.
2. Malaysia had set new target to eradicate absolute poverty in the country, bes. online rtm, 24 July 2004.
   

Candidate for networking?

Earlier yesterday I was talking to my cousin on msn. Some really juicy topics came up from our little chat, most of which I'm not going to disclose, fearing that it might be confidential. Anyway, my cousin alerted me on the latest happenings in the Malaysian business world. Forgive me for being a katak bawah tempurung but when it comes to business dealings, somehow or another I don't have my source. (Poor networking I would say)

Introducing Malaysia business's upcoming star, Carmen Chua. I'm not sure if you are aware but she's on the front page of Bizweek last weekend, talk about high profile. They say wit and charm comes in a package, I couldn't agree more.


Currently she's the MD of the OneKL project, if I'm not mistaken. Tagline is "94 apartments, 95 swimming pools". She's also on the board of several of Datuk Chua Ma Yu's company, understandably she's Datuk Chua's eldest daughter.

But looking at the article on The Star, it's not like she doesn't deserve it. Doing several stints at firms like Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank and UBS, mind you these are investment banks and I do know how hard it is to earn an internship with them. It is a phenomenon in the UK that almost all of the graduates want to work with an investment bank and she had worked for 3 of them? That's astounding. I can't even manage to get into a firm which is less competitive, talk about comparison.

Now don't give me all those shit about she's here because of her father. I've known of people who I call the luckiest bastards in the world and all they do is go out, have fun and draw from their parents' deep pockets. If she can be at this position, I would say it's all because of her hardwork and brilliant networking.

There's always an ongoing debate whether it's easier for children from rich families can maintain the wealth of the family or for children from poor families to make it big. Afterall, there's a chinese saying that goes by "Fortune in the family can't last for more than 3 generations". I don't have an answer for those, it really does depend on the individual. My only comment on this is that children from the rich has the connections and a headstart, while children from the poor has the drive and determination.

So what happens to people clamped in between like you and me? Well, I'd like to draw from an old joke the phrase "sometimes matador wins, sometimes bull wins". That's my perception of how the business world will be like.

I was telling my girlfriend about what I've read about Carmen when she popped the question:

Do you think you are a candidate suitable for networking?

My first answer was.........

I haven't really try but..........

That's when she interrupted me

A person good at networking doesn't need to try, take Timothy as an example.

Oh my god, she's right, at least she makes sense. I've known Tiam for almost 6 years now and there's always this aura around him that makes people feel close with him. And that is the single biggest factor that would push Nuffnang further. It did for Carmen and OneKL, where she played a significant role in the government's move to abolish the real property gains tax(RPGT).

It suddenly daw tned on me that I'm really a loser when it comes to networking. Save for the fact that I'm stuck in this small town/village/university, I just haven't been able to manage my network correctly. Suddenly I feel all so sad, how am I going to improve?

So I'm not a candidate for networking, all books and no play makes Boss Lepton a sad sad person. Is this graveyard before I've even started my career? If there's one thing that I have it's not giving up. So here I'm asking for your opinions, any pointers on how to improve my networking skills?
.
.
.
.
.
.
Oh and anybody close to Carmen, could you pass her a message?

Please start a website for OneKL, learn from Guinness's mistake on the Adam King campaign the last time.

Reference:

1. Finding her place, Anita Gabriel and Hari Raj, The Star Bizweek, 7 April 2007.
   

Gangster Clearup in Sarawak

A good move by the police, whatever means they used.

Question:

• What next? Arrest the next 300 gang members?
• Even if you arrest all the 300 gang members, are you going to put them on trial? Under what charges?
• Even if all of them are found guilty, are you sure we have enough capacity in prison to house all of them?

Please don't kid me, Malaysia Boleh. But please, if you wanna counter gangsterism, a more innovative way is needed I think, the old catch and punish scheme wouldn't work anymore.

I hear people saying just go for the head of the gangsters. Hello, we're dealing with people of influence, probably some rich datuks I'm suspecting. And even if you've arrested them, there's still a way to bail themselves out. Forgive me if I'm not up-to-date with the current "market price", the last I heard, RM300k is good enough for a criminal to escape the death penalty and a clean record.

Unbelievable? Well, I hope my sources are correct. Don't believe the RM300k figure, it may just be rumours, but no smoke without fire right?

clipped from thestar.com.my Suspected gangsters held By STEPHEN THEN and LOURDES CHARLES MIRI: The arrest came in the wake of an order by the Inspector-General of Police to crack down on gangsters in Sarawak. Inspector General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan, who went to Kuching and Sibu last week to assess the crime situation for himself, had said a special task force under his supervision would be set up to investigate those controlling the gangsters. “We want to know if there are any influential people involved as alleged and will not hesitate to act against them,” he had said. Musa had also said that police had identified 16 gangs in the state, with a membership of between 200 and 300 people, and would go all out to arrest them.

Golf Properties Ahhhhh........

First, this caught my eyes when I was looking through FT.com.


A Villa in Sabah around one of Asia's best 18-hole golf courses. Sounds tempting no?

Went ahead to look at the sales detail at the website:

It says "Prices from c. £105,000" on their website, I think that's for the apartment. Anyone wanna guess how much it would cost for the villa?

Moreover, it's designed by Wimberley Allison Tong & Goo. Don't know who they are? They're the designer of:


Sun City Resort in South Africa



Venetian Resort Hotel in Las Vegas. (Can you believe they have gondolas in the middle of the desert? With money, anything is possible.)


The Atlantis in the Bahamas.



Fuyoh, head over to their website. Award-winning 5 star hotel eh? I want I want!!! In my dreams :P

Am I eligible to vote?

Upon reading the news that 4.9mil eligible Malaysians who have yet to register as voters, I quickly consider the position I am in. I am a Malaysian citizen who is definitely older than 21 years old, that makes me one of the 4.9mil right?

Am I fully qualified though? I took a detour to check out the official Election Commission website. Here's what I found:
Am I residing in any Election Constituency in Malaysia? For the past 4 years, I've only been in Malaysia for no more than 3 months each year, while most of my time is spent in university here in the UK. I think that makes me disqualified as an elector right?


But the question is am I able to register now as I might be in Malaysia when the General Election is going to be held. Speculations of a few dates are given in my previous post here.

I then googled for the Malaysian embassy's contact number here in the UK. The result was horrifying, either the embassy doesn't have an official website, or the website is probably the worst website I've ever been to. Check it out here.

Nevermind the design which is absolutely bad, there are broken links everywhere and they even forgot to include an email contact address in the front page where they havethe address and phone number.

Horrible? Pathetic? Those are understatements. Please, go experience it yourself.

Dato' Abed Aziz, please please get somebody to sort out the website and ask for Wisma Putra's help if you really need any.

So much for our pride in Informasi Teknologi and VMY 2007.

Guess I have to call the embassy up to get more information about my eligibility to vote tomorrow.


References:

1. 4.9mil yet to register as voters, The Star, 2 April 2007.
2. Election Commission of Malaysia (aka Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya Malaysia)
3. Malaysia Embassy London.

It's official, the FINE

Yes, as from previous posts, you should know that I nearly started a fire in my flat. I've just received a letter from the warden stating that they are going to fine me. How much you ask?

£50!!!!!!! ====== RM350!!!!!!!!


You know much is that worth? That's worth a month of my tesco shopping, meaning enough food to last me for 1 whole month. Sigh........... That's like............ an extra hefty speeding ticket, all because of negligence. I do have the right to appeal in mitigation, but it is not likely that they are going ot reduce this fine.

Here are the exact words in the letter:

Since this is an incident relating ot firesafety within halls and your actions were contrary to residential regulation 20 (a) (ii) - I hereby fine you £50. The fine should be paid immediately.........

And residential regulation 20 (a) (ii) says

Non-compliance with any of the University Accomodation Regulations (as set out above), or with any rule in the handbook for the relevant Hall of Residence.

Set out above here refers to regulation 20 (a) (i) saying

Anti-social behaviour such as drunkenness; disorderly conduct; unnecessary noise; selfish use of noise emitting equipment including radios, music centres, CD players, televisions, computers, musical instruments; playing games in close proximity to residences; disregard of such hours of silence and visiting hours as may be laid down in the handbook for the relevant Hall of Residence, and any behaviour causing a nuisance, inconvenience, or annoyance to other residents.

I mean I do think I'm guilty of nearly causing a fire, but it was an accident. Surely that is not anti-social behaviour right? Someone enlighten me on this please.

Anyway, I'm just gonna pay the stupid fine and get on with it. If there's anything I'm happy about, it's that this case is finally resolved and I can concentrate on my studies.

Relevant posts:

1. Fire Fire
2. Update on Fire Alarm Incident

Need motivation? Think you're very unlucky?

Think again!
Surviving on RM1 a day[Source: The Star]

........M. Manivannan, 15, faces similar financial difficulties. He said he once starved for two days surviving on just sips of coffee because he did not want to ask anyone for money......

This always make me wonder what would become of me if I were in the same position. We should consider ourselves fortunate. Ironically, I read this article after I had a glance at Pak Lah's : Abdullah waiting for 'feel good' factor to get even better.

Weird eh? To think that one person is concerned with the 'feel good' factor while the other has to think of ways to survive day to day.

Points to ponder:

1. Why buy the Airbus ar? Isn't it better to provide money for the poor to at least get some decent education?
2. How can YOU survive on RM1 a day, with the current inflation rate in Malaysia.
3. "Sometimes, their parents want to pay us with jewellery or money that they have borrowed from Ah Longs." <------ not everybody borrow from Ah Long just to gamble ok?
4. What can us fellow Malaysians do to ensure everybody gets a decent standard of living? Or at least, decent education for a person who couldn't afford it?
5. Just TELL ME god dammit, how to help? Oi government, do something about this la.
   

Update on Fire Alarm Incident

An update on my Fire incident on 6 March:

The sub-warden came over to see me to get a detailed statement from me which I gladly gave. The update is that he is going to discuss with the Warden on whether any action should be taken against me.

Bad thing is that it is very likely that action is going to be taken, i.e. a fine most probably. The not so bad thing is that it is going to be a maximum of £50 fine according to the sub-warden.

He said that the payment was a token to the fire department for their action. It is estimated that everytime a fire engine is called out for a false alarm(I thought my case was pretty genuine) it would cost £2000, no way do I have the money for that eh? Sigh......

Still pretty upset, but yea hope this would resolve soon.

PRAY FOR ME please....

Nail this Shit

Support aisehman's plead, nail this MUTHA F**KA!!!

Seriously it makes me sick.