Calvin's Place

The coming of the last half of the semester.....

2009-10-03T23:04:00.005+08:00

The 2nd study free week is coming to an end with the start of the last quarter of the semester on Monday. This week has really been a extraordinarily busy one. From assignments to tutorials to preparation of quiz, finally its almost done, though not all. I'd rather say its not a packed schedule. Its just time plan with lots of space where I like to take breaks in between.

On and off, I've been preparing for Marketing of Services progress test 2 that is coming up next Wednesday. 3 more chapters to go at this point. I'd not say today is a busy one by waking up from sleep around 11 and only done 1 chapter for the whole day but finished 10 episodes of drama instead. Damn...!

Well, gotta catch up with studies soon as I'm looking forward for a double happiness end of the year when results are released!. Looking forward for the coming Victoria and New South Wales trip too!!

Till then......

Tulips and Fireworks...

2009-09-27T23:27:00.002+08:00

Yesterday, Saturday, 26th September 2009 was a great day out for me. After giving up on doing all the heavy works, I've decided to visit Araluen just to catch a glimpse of the tulips before it dies off soon!.. Set out for my journey early in the morning around 9.30am and reached there around 1020am.

I've then detoured to Canning Dam. It was just eye catching for me as I've never seen a real dam damn big before in my life!..

After that, I went to Perth Royal SHow and spent the night taking pictures of the famous IGA Fireworks show.

Here are some of the pictures:

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Tonnes more pictures are available in my album on Facebook....!!

Breakaway...

2009-09-05T01:21:00.003+08:00

Its been quite sometime since my last update. The feeling of neglecting this blog kinda makes me feels bad. So, here I am, back again, 0130hrs, 5th September 2009 not sleeping instead.

Its been a week for me full of exams and assignments. My week break dont seems to be like one at all, except the few days where we went travelling around Perth together with Delia's family.

Other that that, its been studying, working on assignments.

After the handing in of the last piece of assignment today, I took the chance and went for a shooting session somewhere near UWA and also within UWA itself. Just some alternative of activity to keep me refreshed, away from books. The sad thing is, my 2 year old 18-200mm f3.5-5.6 needs serious cleaning!! its full of dust within the lens. I didnt really realise it until today when a mark on the viewfinder keep bothering me. Upon opening up the filter, whoa! the inner part of the lens is real dirty!...

Its time for some maintenance I guess. Luckily there's a Nikon authorised service center here in Perth. That'll be my saviour!

Here are some of the pictures:

1. Crawley Edge BoatShed

2. Winthrop Hall or something like that in UWA

3. Those kids were actually cheering at me asking me to take more of their pictures!!

**the black mark on near the clock is actually a bird, not lens dust!!

Till then, I've got assignments and exams practically every week until the semester ends!!

Let's see when is my next post...

16th day in Perth

2009-08-12T22:25:00.002+08:00

Its been the 16th day since I got back to Perth on 27th July 2009. Its a late posting of all the places that I've went to since I got back here. Time really flies and I cant hardly catch up with it. Its now the 3rd week of my semester. Half of it is gone already with today being Wednesday.

I'm totally OVERLOADED this semester with 5 core units! Tonnes of work is setting in beginning this week and I'm beginning to feel the hard pinch of it already. Its an 180 degrees change of workload for me compared to the last semester. But well, still gonna work hard to keep up with it.

Here are some of the pictures of the places and what I've done wasting time:....

1. Fremantle

2. Fremantle - notice the uniform signboard all along the way?

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5. Boss and Charlene

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7. Cicerello's - Fish and Chips...

8. Me and Charlene

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11. Caught in the act??

12. Show House @ Mandurah

13. Perth TrainStation

14. Boss buying 20million Lotto

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17. CrossRoads

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19. 30ft from Hay St

20. LV Shop

21. Oats Street Train Station - Did you Tag Off??

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Well, these are the pictures taken throughout my 16 days...Not a lot right?...I think I'd have to buckle up and bring my camera out more often...

Till then, gotta concentrate in my studies!.. 2 more weeks to the first break....

Outings in Kuching

2009-08-04T19:13:00.002+08:00

Its a late posting though. This time back in Kuching, outings are countable, unlike previous ones which we had so many outings and trips till I myself even get confused.

Mt. Singai climb and Bako National Park were the places we went just before I came back to Perth....

I'm starting to get the feeling that the many of us is beginning to get busy with our own direction of life. Chances of getting together are getting slim!! And I really hope this doesnt gets worst until the stage where there is no outings and gatherings again....How sad will that be huh? But well, even myself have less time or perhaps I would say that my priority in life has changed....Particularly feeling that this time round. I'm starting to feel that family and career have to be put rather ahead in my priority lists. However, friends is still a must in my life! Outings and gatherings are also a must!... I know I cant live a happening life without the bunch of friends I have..

Looking forward for someone to organize a mass gathering sometime next year so I can attend!!

Some of the pictures taken:

2. Concentration at work..

3. The Chapel of Mt. Singai

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6. The 'bare' summit!!

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9. Staff QUarters

10. Never see monkey before meh??!!! as if shooting wad superstar!..

11. En-Route to Telok Tajor

12. The trail we challenged with slippers..

13. Slipper climbers...steady le..4km of jungle trail with slippers

14. Long long plankwalk

15. Aisi...since when u become so 'pui' ki?? hahaz...

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21. Nice lagoon, with waist depth water...

22. Haolien si aneh...

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24. Apostle -I, Sarawak version

25. Bye bye bako...

26. DUN night shoot - with Nian Han, Chee Shing, Icelyn, Wee Khee, Alvin, Kuan Chern, Sang Hua and of course me.. Hope I didnt left anyone out...

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So long Kuching......I'll see you again and by that time, I'll be a graduate!! Take care and enjoy all my buddies!

Last night in Kuching

2009-07-24T22:17:00.004+08:00

The calmness of the sea during sunset

Sitting in front of the laptop, looking back at these pictures that I've taken during the holidays, its really a reminder of how fast time flies, how not permanent things are in life.

Instead of going out for a last drink with friends, I've took the decision to stay back at home and spend the night in the warmness of being at home.

During this period of a month's holiday, much were done and much were undone as well, be it planned or unplanned.

Planned work were only half done, with the other half undone. I guess its homework at Perth and sending it back.

I felt bad that time spent with friends this time was drastically less. Less meeting up and drinking sessions. Only 2 trips were made with no full attendance though. Mt. Singai climb and Bako National Park + DUN night shooting were among the activities. Besides these, I've got quite an interesting fishing trip with dad and his friend. Pictures will be posted up later.

I'm just so confused about life now.....More to come tomorrow as I've got plenty of transit time at Changi.

Leaving Kuching for Perth 1100hrs tomorrow and I wont be back till late February 2010. Till then..

So long 张明通叔

2009-07-15T22:12:00.002+08:00

张明通叔 - He was a extraordinary man I have ever known till now. He is able to perform extraordinary things that you just cannot believe your eyes and ears. Being able to tell you who you are, what happened to you before and most importantly, his ability to give you some prediction about your future makes him a famous Feng Shui Master around this region.

I've got to know this man since I was a kid. He was always with dad and his 'project' of erecting a grand "Feng Shui' for our ancestors back in China back in the year 1996-1997 makes me have a deep memory of him. Lots of story was heard of him performing many acts that an ordinary person may not have even seen before such as 'cleansing' you from evil spirits, cleansing of spirits from homes and even his consultation by many well known figures around the state.

He was a great man indeed. Unfortunately, he has left us on 7th July 2009. Me and dad was at Sibu when he left us and we rushed back to attend his funeral. His funeral was the grandest by far I've attended and I was honored to be their photographer for the ceremony on the last day of the mourning that lasted for 4 days.

Here, though this post is late, I would like to extend my heartiest condolence to 张明通叔's family especially to Chong Siew Boon and Chong Siew Choon, who was with us and whom I've got to know them personally.

My greatest respect for uncle for being such a great and extraordinary man I've got to know. May you rest in peace in the other world.

Here are the pictures taken on the very last day:

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5. Breaking of father-son bond

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35. Nailing of coffin nail by eldest son

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47. The grand feast - an approx of 500 attendees, eating on the road itself.

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56. Last toast...

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Lots of pictures...SLow loading speed expected, so be patient..

An altered Road Trip

2009-07-12T11:34:00.003+08:00

Monday, 6th July 2009. Me and dad went on a road trip en-route to Miri and the expected time of return is Saturday, 11th July 2009.

We stopped by many small town such as Sri Aman, Betong, Saratok and Sarikei before reaching Sibu. 2 nights were spent at Sarikei and Sibu respectively. Its a business trip where my dad's friend were to collect back debts from his business all the way from Kuching to Miri, and that's why we stopped by so many places.

While at Sibu on the 3rd day, we had a walk at the waterfront, the famous boats assembly area where boats plying internal districts route are busy loading either daily stuffs into their ships or people en-route to internal districts such as Kapit and Song. We then visited our clients' store and also staff at Sibu. That night, we also had a dinner with one of our clients and also dad's Sibu close friend. We used to stay at his house whenever we visit Sibu if we are alone.

Life is packed with the unexpected. That night at the dinner, we were talking about dad's close friend, uncle 张明通。 Suddenly, we got a phone call from mum saying that uncle 张明通 is at the hospital and is vomiting blood profusely. Everyone was shocked to hear that and we even thought that he was only admitted to the Timberland that night after vomiting blood at home. uncle 张明通's son, Siew Boon is one of our staff and we got a call from him informing us that he is rushing back to Kuching using the last bus plying Sibu-Kuching.

After dinner, approx 45mins later, we reached back at the hotel. While looking for parking at around the compound of the hotel, dad got another phone call. What I heard was 'HA?? COnfirm bo??' I knew that something wasnt that right already at that very moment. After dad finished his conversation on the phone, he told us in a sad tone that uncle 张明通 had just passed away. We all dropped our jaws, shocked to accept this shocking fact.

Hence, the trip to Miri for me and dad is altered. We changed our plan to return back to Kuching the next day using express boat to attend uncle 张明通 funeral.

I was asked by uncle 张明通's son, Siew Boon to photograph the very last day of the funeral ceremony where all the rites and ceremonies are carried out. Pictures will be posted in the next post.

Here are some of the pictures taken during the road trip:

1. Sibu Yu Chiong

2. Handsome Trading Company?

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4. Sarikei-Sibu Junction

5. King of Mod

6. Betong

7. Betong Bazaar

8. Betong

9. Sri Aman temple

10. Betong

11. Betong town

12. Sri Aman bazaar

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22. New Celcom packagE? Photostat Celcom Blue??

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25. Mee Hung? or Mee Hoon??

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31.Heavy fine with heavy pollution!!

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35. Kuli...

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42. Temple @ Sibu

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48. Express boat terminal

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52. Kapit express boat

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54. Sanyan & Temple

55. Fishing boat

56. Petrol kiosk, for boats

57. Plywood factory - all allong Batang Rajang

58.Sibu town

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61. Indonesian cargo ship @ Batang Rajang

62. Deserted house along Batang Rajang

63. Terminal 2 - Sarikei

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66. Stick houses

67. Approaching Kuching Harbor

Pictures aren't in sequence...

Mt Serapi CLimb

2009-07-09T11:39:00.002+08:00

5th July 2009, my family, Janice and Arden went on a climb at Mt. Serapi. Ascend began at 0715hrs and we reached the observation tower 2 hours later.

Some pictures of the day:
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30. Bokeh...

Some pictures finally..

2009-07-02T16:36:00.002+08:00

Here are some of the pictures taken, not according to sequence from Perth to Singapore and then Kuching lately. Its according to grouping from SIngapore-Kuching-Perth-Singapore....

Need some comments for improvements!! So please be generous with them.

1. Merlion Park

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9. Chee Shing and his Canon..

10. Cute?? The 2nd one..

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12. Yui Ping with my Nikon.

13. Big Boss

14. Aiyor...So innocent look..

15. My office...

16. Little India, Singapore..

17. Sister...

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19. With Singapore relatives..

20. Club house pool...forget the name of the club..

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23. Bugis..

24. GoodWood Park Hotel Cafe

25. Raffles City

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29. City Hall MRT Station

30. Towards Esplanade

31. Esplanade

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34. Merlion

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37. My house-Tze Tung's Jazz

38. Why hand put so high...

39. Roe on Regal

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42. Perth Airport

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44. Camera shop-Singapore

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47. Bugis

48. Little India

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FlashBack

2009-06-29T00:41:00.002+08:00

I was at Kuching Airport waiting to pick up my dad from a delayed flight from KL. The flight was delayed from its original take off time of 6.40p.m. to 10.40p.m. due to some technical error according to the pilot. Thumbs up for the pilot for not compromising safety!..

Scooping a Sundae in front of the arrival gate, with an eye on the arrival and another on my car parked on the legendary 'yellow line', I noticed 2 UNIMAS student representative holding a card mentioning 'UNIMAS'. This gives me a strong recall of memory of me being in the same situation at Penang back in 2006, with heaps of student representatives holding card saying "USM". Its really a journey back then. Recapping, its already 3 full years and me graduated should I've not changed university!... What a journey of life I've got. This reminds me the good old days of carefree and enjoyment. Well, part and parcel of life.

Yes, I'm back in Kuching from Perth since Tuesday without being quarantined. As usual, my time back here is totally dedicated to work but of course a bit of free time to catch up with friends and party. My sleeping hours had been drastically cut from 12/13 hours to 5/6 hours after getting back here. Still adapting though. Lots of initiative to be implemented this time round. So far, only 1 had been implemented with others being in progress.

I've got a new lens added to my armada of lenses after the stop in Singapore before getting back here. Its a Sigma 10-20mm f4-5.6 EX DC HSM. It's RM500 lower in price compared to Malaysia. So, get your lenses from SIngapore if you want a better deal!!

I've got heaps of picture to be posted but...I've got no software to resize and process those pictures taken as my usual laptop has died....Posting will be done once I've acquired the software.

Till then...

An Official end to my 2nd Semester in Curtin

2009-06-19T22:51:00.002+08:00

Having finished the last paper of Purchasing and Procurement on Thursday, its an official end to my 2nd semester in Curtin, Perth. This semester was unusually different compared to the previous semester. Lifestyle was unusually different with more activities, been to more places as compared to before and of course as time passes, friends increased.

Perhaps its because I wasnt working part time this semester and I've being cut from drama downloading, I just felt that slacking is bothering me this semester. Perhaps its just because of too much free time I have, not doing anything. I know that I've genuinely been slacking in the 2nd half of the semester. The 'umph' is just missing. But well, I do hope that I will perform well in consideration of the allowance for overloading next semester.

Life isnt easy, making a life is even more difficult. I'm again being grateful to my parents for the opportunity to study here. Without them, I'm nothing. I'm also grateful for all the friends that I have here. All the times we spent together, be it working together in group assignments, happy times spent together and also other problems we have overcome together. Every moment is worth cherishing and remembering.

People walk in and out of our life. Only true friends leaves footprint in our heart. I guess I'm being filled with much footprints, enough to make a wonderful life already.

Being back in Kuching doesn't means all play and no work or the other way round. I'll try my best to juggle between work and play to spend quality time with my family and also friends while finishing all the pre-planned work.

I'll be leaving Perth, for another new month of life back in Kuching in T-minus 60mins.

Will be staying in SIngapore till 23rd June though before leaving back to Kuching. Till then..See yea all!..

Praying hard I wont have any swine flu patients on-board the same flight later.

Singapore, here I come..!

Vision

2009-06-11T16:57:00.002+08:00

No Vision in Life, in any initiative = Failure. Do I have mine? Yea..of course..

If you fail to plan, you plan to FAIL. Same happens in life as well as in any initiative I am to undertake in this short life of mine.

Its exams period and here I am studying with a relaxing schedule, not compressed but rather decompressed. The decompression is done weeks before even the start of study week. Right after finishing off my assignments, and it was a week ahead of schedule, I started off my revision. And now, I've completed most of it, except for the last paper.

The Monday few days before was really a great joke for me. I always thought Analytical Marketing paper was on Monday, 8th June 2009. I did double and triple check before the exams. Unfortunately, only by then I realize the difference between 'see' and 'look'. I choose to 'see' only. THe initial timetable was scheduled on 8th June. When I recheck the schedule, I only 'see' Monday, time and venue. All matches and I assume it to be correct.

When I walk into the exam hall, 10 minutes earlier on Monday, preparing to sit for Analytical Marketing unit, I was given the greatest shock in my life. People are already sitting in their seat busy doing their paper already. But what shocked me more is the alien faces, so different from my classmates!!. The examiner then asked me to leave the hall. I was standing alone, facing heaps of students, some looking at me and was asked to leave. I was loaded with question marks and anxiety. Have I missed the exams?? I came out, rechecked the venue and its still correct. Time was also correct. Then what caught my eye is the date... Its 15th June. Not 8th JUNE!!! Bloody joke...

But well, I was lucky as it was postponed a week later. Means preparation is already done earlier on. Basically, I am only left with the last unit now due on Thursday, Purchasing and Procurement and the good thing is, its open book..! I just love open books exams!..

The result of being overly confident!..Too early prepared.

Despite all the great feelings of being on schedule, my wisdom tooth is really a pain in the arse since Tuesday!.. Makes me moodless to do any study and end up watching drama whole day long!!

TianAnMen Square Incident - 20th Anniversary

2009-06-04T14:45:00.005+08:00

Zhao Ziyang

Today 20 years ago in the infamous TianAnMen Square in Beijing China, it was a day where the bloodbath of hundreds, if not thousands of Chinese students, civilians happened. It was an incident that changed the face of the Chinese government in the eyes of the world. Though its brutal, I've got my own views of it. Before I start my own interpretation of it, let's see some main figures during the incident.

Important Facts:

REUTERS - China's 1989 pro-democracy movement split the Communist Party leadership and triggered a power struggle that ended in a bloody crackdown on student protesters in the pre-dawn hours of June 4 that year.

Following are brief profiles of government leaders and key members of the protest movement at the time:

* DENG XIAOPING, then the power behind the throne in China, sent in tanks and troops to crush the student-led demonstrations for democracy centred on Beijing's Tiananmen Square. He died on Feb. 19, 1997, aged 92, after reviving the economy with a dramatic tour of the south in 1992.

* ZHAO ZIYANG was toppled as China's Communist Party chief after challenging Deng's decision to crush the protests. Zhao died in Beijing in 2005, after 15 years under house arrest. His secret memoirs were published last month.

* JIANG ZEMIN rose from Communist Party boss of Shanghai, where he ended parallel protests without bloodshed, to oust Zhao as national Party chief in 1989. Jiang held on to power for 13 years before retiring in 2002.

* LI PENG is known as the "Butcher of Beijing" for declaring martial law on national television days before the crackdown. Reviled by many, Li remained premier until 1998. Writing in retirement, Li has reportedly sought to clear his name, but the Party has banned publication of his memoirs.

* HU JINTAO, now China's top leader, was Party secretary in Tibet in 1989. He declared martial law in Lhasa in March 1989, following clashes between Tibetan protesters and police.

* WEN JIABAO, Zhao's chief of staff, accompanied him to Tiananmen Square when Zhao tearfully appealed to students to leave. Zhao was ousted, but Wen became premier in 2003.

* BAO TONG, Zhao's top aide, was the most senior official jailed for sympathising with the protesters. Still under constant police surveillance, he is now a critic of China's human rights record and the slow pace of political reform.

* WANG DAN, then a 20-year-old Peking University history major, was a high-profile student leader. Jailed twice, he was released into exile in 1998. Wang is now a guest researcher at Oxford University and chairman of the Chinese Constitutional Reform Association. He has not been allowed back to China.

* CHAI LING, then a 23-year-old psychology student, urged students to stay in Tiananmen Square rather than accept a negotiated withdrawal in May 1989. She escaped China after 10 months in hiding, graduated from Harvard Business School and is now chief operating officer of Jenzabar, a Boston-based firm that develops Internet portals for universities.

* WU'ER KAIXI, then a 21-year-old Uighur, was a hunger striker who rebuked then-premier Li Peng on national television. He fled to France and then studied at Harvard University, but came under attack for his extravagant lifestyle in exile. He now works at an investment firm in Taiwan, and China rejected his request to return to visit his ageing parents.

* FANG LIZHI, a professor of astrophysics, inspired Chinese intellectuals in the mid-1980s by declaring science should not be determined by Marxist theory. He sought and was granted political asylum in the United States and is now a physics professor at the University of Arizona.

* LIU XIAOBO, a literary critic, led hunger strikes on Tiananmen Square and was subsequently jailed. He was the most prominent of the signatories of "Charter 08", a manifesto calling for more rights, freedom of speech and multi-party elections. He was detained before its December release and is held in an undisclosed location near Beijing.

* HAN DONGFANG, then a 27-year-old railway worker, helped set up the Beijing Autonomous Workers' Federation, the first independent trade union in communist-ruled China, during the 1989 protests. Imprisoned and exiled, Han is now in Hong Kong where he runs China Labour Bulletin, a non-governmental organisation that seeks to defend the rights of Chinese workers.

Source: Reuters, 4th June 2009 (accessed 4th June 2009)

A View of the happening 20 years ago:

My point of view:

Personally, though this act of shooting own citizen is brutal, I felt there is a need for this act to be conducted and for sure, someone has to bear the responsibility. And for this, LiPeng has been labelled the Beijing Butcher as he is the one who ordered the martial law.

The Chinese government since those days has been growing in the direction of a 'hybrid' government, a mix of socialist government with a bit of democracy. There is a need to supress this uprising with force to serve as a hard lesson for everyone to learn. China has come a LONG way to progress to what it is now today, thanks to its central government system, where redtape of democracy is avoided. After the mass killing of protestors 20 years ago, there is no further uprising ever since! This means that the act is effective. One thing we always have to remember in mind. Without such brute force, China wont be able to maintain the country with 6billion population in order untill today. For me, this act of ruling with force sometimes is necessary to show that the government is really in control of the nation. What democracy for people, is all rubbish. Which election is not being 'bought' by money? Look at our own nation. Money politics is spilling out even from mouth of politician. Money as bait luring politicians to jump party. Such a shame!..

We really need a 'hybrid' government to maintain order in such a huge country.

Which government in this world has not conducted such a mass killing before?Even the Americans who advocates human rights done more mass killing in the name of peace! From Korean War, Vietnam War, Gulf War, Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo, how many innocents had the US killed directly or indirectly? In addition, its foreign business, not even their own!

Throughout human civilization, blood need to be shed in order of maintaining peace. The same occurs to every nation. Its a mere process we have to go through. China is clever not to open the doors to foreign widely by fullfilling these students demands as it knows that they are not ready for it.Being invaded, humiliated since the the fall of the Qing dynasty, CHina has enough of bowing down to foreign powers. To stand up strong and have negotiating power, the nation must be strong from within. A split nation cant even stand by its own, what more to negotiate with others? It takes them years to build self fulfilling economy before opening their doors to others and this makes them a low leveraged nation, low in debts as compared to the Americans! Chinese Banks are rich, packed with cash unlike Americans and Western Banks which are packed with unbalanced balance sheets, packed with debts.

I am not agreeing nor objecting the act of the Chinese government back then. But then, I guess without the supression that the Chinese government has done 20 years ago, things would be much different now. China will be held back for much of its development due to unfair and corrupted election process. I guess we should just take this as a blood shed for the progress of China.

THe dead wont be risen. Face the fact of those who has perished in that incident although it is a hard one to face especially those who has lost their loved ones. What we can do more effectively is to do things in a more 'powerful' way instead of taking the streets..and let history repeats itself.

The Military Rule and Malaysia

We should be glad enough to have peace and stability in our nation. We certainly dont need any brutal ruling method as like what happened in China 20 years back. But then, it seems that our people are getting restless as well as our elected representatives or what known to be MPs. Having different parties, be it ruling or opposition, havocs start to wreak around the nation with Perak being the highlight of the nation with a political chaos.

Do we really need something what happened in TianAnMen 20 years ago to take place in Malaysia to shut these people up and get our elected MPs back in their seat and start to advocate for the sake of people's benefit instead of trying to shout in streets, going on hunger strikes, going in and out of police station cells and topple the ruling government? That's really unmatured way of doing things. That's what students in China did 20 years back. Our MPs are merely repeating, mimicking their act!! That's really how 'young' we are in terms of civilisation!

The Ultimate Aim of Whatever government system is Peace and Prosperity. That's what people wants and we dont give a damm on who is ruling. Wake UP my dear MPs. Stop being a 'circus' around the nation, entertaining people where they find it not funny but annoying! Do things in a more matured way.... TianAnMen 1989 is a clear history that things wont work through shouting , hunger strike and camping in streets.

Even polls have been recently released regarding such a statement. People dont care who is ruling. The important thing is carrying out their job and bring the nation towards progress.

Zhao Zi Yang - The Ghost of TianAnMen

* ZHAO ZIYANG was toppled as China's Communist Party chief after challenging Deng's decision to crush the protests. Zhao died in Beijing in 2005, after 15 years under house arrest. His secret memoirs were published last month.

A book of his journal was recently released after his death in 17th January 2005. Published last month, Prisoner of State: The Secret Journal of Premier Zhao Ziyang provides an intimate look at one of the world's most opaque regimes during some of modern China's most critical moment.

*Read Time 25th May 2009 - TianAnMen Ghosts. Twenty years after China's tragedy, a secret journal reveals new details of the power struggle that led to the massacre at:

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1898042,00.html

HDR using PhotoMatix

2009-06-01T20:33:00.002+08:00

T-minus 19 days.

Its the first day of June 2009. Revision today in Uni ended with me leaving the library around and having in mind to compile a HDR photo today, I shot a few of the scenes with RAW and bracketing.

Some of the pictures I took this evening. Leave me some comments..

1. The Oval - in HDR

2. The Oval - in HDR

3. Architecture & CV - in HDR

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9. The Library

10. Curtin Volunteers' Building

11.

12.

Political Chaos in Perak - My Point of View

2009-05-29T22:33:00.002+08:00

Who is ruling - Is there any difference?

Look at the mess the fight between the ruling government and the opposition has caused. In the name of democracy, talking about the benefits of the people, these are the mess they have created. The once peaceful Malaysia has turned to what I used to see in my younger days where Indonesian mahasiswa protest against their government. And, have a look back of how the country fall into its economic crisis in the year 1997, after waves of protests causing the government to center its attention in handling these protest rather than on the economy itself.

Today's ruling government is viewed as the opposition when they opposed the British rule back in the 1950s. Being too long in power, of course everyone will slack and as a result, the purpose of being the ruling party is forgotten. Everyone will surely slack after being in their comfort zone after a while.

Here then comes the opposition, digging out all the faults of the ruling party and causing a great deal of it. Looking back in history, democratic government takes ages to grow into a developed nation. The Americans took more than a century to reach where it is now. Developed. Too much resources and people power is wasted in campaining, overthrowing government, coupe, whatever chaos a political turmoil may result.

On the other hand, look at China. The People's Republic of China only took a mere half a century to reach where it is now, the third largest economy of the world! Isnt that much more efficient. You tend to think why people in China doesnt get discontented with their government? They do. But the way the Communist government deal with things has its good side of it. It shuts all the discontent and take the whole nation's benefit as a whole. What for waste resources in overthrowing a ruling government? Look back at how the Chinese government deal with the TianAnMen incident back in 1989. Its effective even up to today. People now just dont care who the hell rules the nation. They only want a peaceful, growing nation which can provide them with a reasonably decent livelihood and peace! So, for a Malaysian citizen like me who is sick of all these shameful shit of protesting here and there, wasting time and resources, I dont really give a damm on who is ruling! Just give me a prosperous nation, be it a nationalist or capitalist!

What damage the opposition has did - an ignition of peoples' anger

Out of so many who protest in the streets, I guess if you grab a handful of them, ask them why are they really protesting, in the name of what and what makes them join the crowd, I guess 40% of them wouldnt know why are there! THey just want to join the crowd. Some might have a mere little discontentment towards the ruling party, but being ignited and lead by these opposition leaders, they began to think that they are actually back by hundred of thousands, doing the nation a good act in protesting for the people! What the heck are all these?? You guys got nothing else better to do rather than shout in the street?

Opposition always triumph if the timing is correct. Timing here refers to poverty, economic downturn and jobless rate. Look at why the Third Reich/Nazi Germany triumph back in the 1930s. Its because of the poverty, the hardship of people's life that cause the party to triumph and to gain so much support. The Treaty of Versailles actually set the stage for another world war. Germany in that time was in desperate search for a leader to get Germany out of the depression that Germany is experiencing as a result of that Treaty. And that leader is Adolf Hitler. Hitler is just the right man at the right time and place. Without social unrest, he wouldnt have succeed in what he is being labelled today as the dictator.

Basically, social unrest only causes more social unrest. Its generically a cycle. A party nurtured up, rise to its peak and then downfall it comes.

A split nation cant stand

A nation with its people split cant stand by its own. Even our own Malaysian history shows us this with strong evidence and is taught in History throughout secondary education. The split among the people and leaders caused us to be colonised by the British, Portugese and Japanese for a few century. Arent you all sick and ashame of this colonisation? Think! Why does Thailand doesnt gets colonised throughout its monarchy rule even until today? Have you ever heard of Thais protesting against their own King? Never. Set aside the political unrest that is happening in Thai today. Its again a result of protesting in the name of Democracy!..A split nation will end up falling into the hands of stronger dominant powers. The legacy of British rule within our own nation reminds us of the days of us being colonised. Lest Not Forget those who fight for our independence by not fighting among our ownself. Protesting and not waging war is just a mere 'eye trick' or a more 'civilised' way of civil war. Eventually, violence will set in when peaceful manner fails to work with too much police intervention. Then, terrorist will take the chance to recruit its suicide bombers to act 'effectively' against the government by blowing up government buildings. Next, in the name of Global Security, dominant military power will come in and place military assets in the nation. Pakistan today is a good example of all these. The fight between the Islam and the Indians has caused the US to have drones flying in their airspace hunting down terrorist in the name of anti-terrorism. Do we want that in Malaysian soil someday?

Who will benefit ultimately

Stronger nations will ultimately benefit from this social unrest. Lots of precedence case to be referred to. From modern day Iraq, Pakistan to ancient day Malaysia, it shows that civil war and social unrest will only benefits foreigners, not the people who fight among their own. Although a physical colonisation is kinda impossible in this era where media and global critisism is strong, don forget we can be dominated by many terms. Economy and 'soft invasion', like military assets placed in your nation to have a constant check on your progress, like US in Japan.

Who will suffer

We, the people will ultimately suffer the most. Those who trigger the social unrest is intelligent enough to 'cabut' once they smell that things are going not right. They can easily migrate to another nation once things get out of control as they have all the financial capability. We will be left to rot here in their mess they have created. We want this? Look at Iraq. People are split, between the Sunni and Shi'te, blowing up among themselves with foreign created weapons. Who benefits? Security forces and bomb makers and those who colonised and suck the oil out of their nation!

Wake up people!! Don turn Perak into a WarZone someday till the King need to declare a state of emergency with martial law. By that time, who rules wont a difference.

My new Laptop....

2009-05-28T21:05:00.002+08:00

Exactly 2 weeks after placing my order for my new laptop, or 'toy', it finally arrived today. Was a great day today. Went uni just to collect my assignments for Materials Management and guess what, we've got a wonderful grade for the group assignment. Its 32/35...! Both me and Kevin just cant believe our eyes!.. Hoping for the same too for another group assignment tomorrow.

After that, I left to Carousel's Next Byte to collect my new 'toy'. After paying the remaining amount, I finally get a hold of it!.. Boy.. Switching from Windows to Mac really makes me kinda lost!! It took me quite a while to actually install skype and how to eject the cd from the cd rom..! Just cant believe how technology 'unsavvy' I've become just because of a switch of OS.

Well, its a MacBook Pro 15" 2.4GHz, 4GB DDR3 RAM, 3MB L2 Cache and 250Gb HDD.

Got it together with Office 2007 for Mac and a DVI-VGA converter. A sling bag was given as a gift to compensate the student price that they are to match.

Its my most expensive and precious piece of equipment to date and all I wanna say is thank you mum and dad for this opportunity of studying here in Australia and also for this piece of high performance equipment!! Thank You!

I've got to figure out how am I gonna get a CS3 and also Photoshop elements for my Mac when I get back. Perhaps install Windows on it.

Behold, MacBook Pro 15"

1. My MacBook Pro with Office 2007 for Mac

2. Still in its box..

3.

4. Next Byte - the Apple reseller..

5.

I guess this piece will be the last one my parents will get me... After this, things should be well on my own already. Thank you mum and dad..

Happy Birthday Paul

2009-05-28T21:02:00.002+08:00

Paul's birthday is on the 24th May 2009. We had a belated celebration for him though. Its interesting how he cut his birthday cake. Using a chopper!

Happy Birthday Paul!!

1. Barbie doll candle...

2. Paul chopping the cake..

3. Paul and Sing Joo

4. He's chopping the doll..

No MEH??

2009-05-26T07:55:00.001+08:00

DAP blow to Sarawak KTAR

KUCHING: Sarawak tycoon Tan Sri Ting Pek Khiing discontinued with plans to build the proposed Tunku Abdul Rahman College (KTAR) branch campus in Bintangor because the Opposition turned it into a political issue against him.

Ting said he felt upset when the DAP accused him of attempting to use the educational project to bribe the voters in last year’s election.

“When you want to donate something (by building the college) and people drag you to court ... how could this thing happen?’’ he asked, referring to the DAP’s bribery allegation against him in an election petition.

The petition was filed by defeated DAP candidate Dr Wong Hua Seh. Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) Ding Kuong Hing defeated Dr Wong by a 51-vote majority in a five-cornered battle.

Dr Wong’s petition was rejected by both the High Court and Court of Appeal.

Ting had promised during the election campaign that he would donate land and pay for half of the project’s construction costs if Ding won the polls.

“I never had any intention to bribe the people. This is nonsense,’’ Ting said yesterday.

In last week’s state assembly session, the DAP criticised the SUPP for failing to keep its election promise after Ting announced that he would discontinue the project.

Ting said the SUPP had nothing to do with the proposed project, which was initiated by him, as the party did not have the means and resources to undertake such a big scheme.

He was disappointed that his good intention to implement the project as a personal contribution to his birthplace, Bintangor, had been turned into an issue and had drawn unfounded accusations.

Ting said he had spent some RM40mil to acquire and complete earthworks on the 120ha piece of land.

He said when he first announced his plan to build the campus in 1994, his sincerity and ability to implement it were questioned by certain people.

“They did not support the project as they said it could not be done. people,” he added.

Source: The Star, 26th May 2009 (accessed 26th May 2009)

No meh? Isnt that a 'sweet' used to sweettalk the people to vote BN?? If that Ding won, he'll build. Else He wont. NOW? No build eventhough he won. So ask that bloody MP he gamble with to fuck off the seat!!Even 3 year old kid can tell this is a lie ler...Still wanna act 'cute'..Old lor...know some embarassment ma..

Malaysia TUrned intO a Brutal POlICe State!!

2009-05-25T20:07:00.004+08:00

Watch the video below...Waseh..The BrickFields OCPD acts as if he is a Black Triad Head!..Wear HEAD HUNTERS shirt somemore!...you really think you hunt heads ar??!Wad Akta police bullshit...Perhimpunan Haram..! BULLSHIT!

Next time Police says you kumpul haram in such situation, don give a shit.. You dont even know the person standing next to you! How can you call that an assembly??! If thats an illegal assembly, then when your mother buying vegatable at the market is also considered as illegal assembly ler!!! MORON!!FUCKING POLICE!

Spend more of your time catching thieves instead of catching activists! Bloody wasting people's money. We pay you to make our daily life peaceful, not to catch up in order to protect this undemocratic ruling! FUck OFF! Continue like tat, the people wont stand still... We'll take back the rule once we are mad enough! Burn down these fucking police station or your sleeping barracks...

Yeah..Malaysia Boleh...! Semua BOLEH! Look at the May 7 Perak DUN sitting...We are really capable already in doing all sorts of monkey shows!!

Como Jetty

2009-05-24T20:57:00.003+08:00

Its a beautiful Sunday after past 2 days of stormy weather. Skies are clear today and there is no rain too. The first half of the day was spent sleeping in bed till around 1pm. What a waste for not appreciating this Sunday of good weather.

Its the start of the last week for Uni tomorrow. Means its study week after this coming week. I've drawn up my revision schedule and I'll keep to it. Having started with revision earlier on, I'd much time to juggle around, which makes me feels good and unpressured. Still needa catch up with revisions although not pressured to catch up with time.

Having completed almost a set of pass year for Analytical Marketing this evening, I've decided to go for a photo taking at Como Jetty. Its accessible if you park your car at Preston St and walk across Kwinana Freeway via the overhead bridge.

Some of the pictures taken:

1. Preston St

2. The overhead bridge

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8. Como Jetty

9.

10.

11.

12.

My image sensor is polluted with dust if you can notice some of the black spots in the picture... Didnt brought my bulb blower with me here..So only can clean it when I get back to Kch....

A day well spent I would say.... I'm sick of procrastinating already for the past weeks!!

Mid-Way to finalising all assignments

2009-05-16T21:22:00.002+08:00

Its 2 more weeks before Uni officially ends its lecturing session. Its another week for me before all assignments are due. I've practically finished off everything, waiting for the submission date next Thursday and Friday. Being so ahead in time, I took some time off this weekend, selecting pics that I've taken and also went to King's Park yesterday evening and have a glimpse of sunset from atop the DNA tower.

Its really unbelievable how fast time passes. Again, its another semester coming to an end. What more to say, most of my friends who entered local uni has already completed their studies and are either indulging a taste of working life or having a nice holidays now. Me? I've still got another year to go practically.

Well, I know I'm behind time. Well behind.. Working hard to chase up and for that, its 5 units for me next semester. That's overloading and I'm hoping I can cope. With that, I can speed up my studies to get it done after summer semester next year.

As for GRTCA that have been going on back in Kuching, my congratulations to all for archieving 2.9. I know its a bit low but as long as everyone is happy and is not 'overloaded' then I guess that's fine. Lots of things need to be implemented I know. We are really behind compared to others. Hang on....I'll be back soon!!

Some of the selected pictures taken:

1. My housemates - Sing Joo and Paul...

2. Gaming in their room...as always..

3. My housemate - Peter

4. My housemate - Zaw

5. Timing belt bearing - changed from my car...

6. Water pump - changed from my car...

7. King's Park...

8. King's Park

9.

10. DNA tower @ King's Park

11. DNA tower..

12. Me...

13. A big compass..See the ray directly coming from West??

14. This one too..

15. Sunset atop DNA tower

16. St. Georges' Bank

17. A nice dog with her owner ran atop the tower..

18. The dog just cant sit still....

19. Cindy

20. Over-exposed..

21. This one looks better..But, where is your hand??

Enough of finding excuses for me to start revision..Gonna start from tomorrow onwards!.. Final push towards victory!..Lasting for 3 weeks.

My upcoming schedule:

8th June : Analytical Marketing

Retail Marketing & Distribution

10th June : Materials Management

18th June : Purchasing & Procurement

20th June : Flight back to Singapore @ 0015hrs.

23rd June : Flight back to Kuching

Till then...

Best Wishes...

2009-05-13T22:50:00.002+08:00

Its another quarter gone. GRTCA will be conducted tomorrow and this is the 2nd time I've missed it, leaving it all to my dear mum and sis. I know they are doing very well, but still, all the best in it tomorrow and also Friday!..

We've all been through a long long journey to come to this stage. From PSP, 7 Pillars and now GRTCA. Its hell long of a journey. Many people have also walked in, left us with footprints and leave. I'm grateful for that, truly.

Life goes on. So, hang on tight and I'll be here wishing you all the best!...

1. That's my mum....the great one.

2. All the fun times we've gone through...

3. One big family...

Keep the pace and we'll be fine....

All the best!

High class uniform fight!

2009-05-09T18:08:00.000+08:00

Bloody people representatives!! Act as if they are in a scuffle in a market!.. And another one..Electing a new speaker, then raise both hands, you think its a boxing competition yeah!!??

1 Malaysia...Habis lo ini macam.....Semua orang ikut, budak sekolah pun boleh ini macam sebab ahli DUN pun ini macam ba...

Battlefield Ipoh

2009-05-08T12:08:00.005+08:00

A House in tatters
ANALYSIS
By JOCELINE TAN

It was one wild political circus at the Perak legislative meeting and the ensuing fiasco suggested that the acrimony between the two sides has reached a point of no return.

THE calm outside the Perak Legislative Assembly was a surreal contrast to the heightened political temperature inside the House.

The police had gone about in such a no-nonsense way to bar people from gathering in the area that one could have lain down in the middle of the road and not be run over by traffic.

Inside the grand building, pandemonium was the order of the day and no one, not even the fact that there were supposedly two Spea-kers in the House, could bring order to the proceedings.

It was one wild political circus from the word go.

In fact, what happened bordered on anarchy and it is difficult to visualise things returning to normal anytime soon.

The acrimony between the Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat reached a point of no return yesterday.

“I don’t even want to speculate what will happen from here because people are no longer using their heads. It is all emotion that I am seeing, the law is being put aside,” said a source close to the palace.

The Barisan Nasional managed to push through its agenda yesterday, that is, to convene a new Legislative Assembly session, replace the Speaker and appoint three new House committees.

But it was not without costs and the embarrassing melee that ensued is something which Perak will not be able to live down for a long while.

Pakatan was bent on rejecting the fact that the Barisan holds the majority in the assembly and control of the government.

Barisan, on the other hand, was determined to cement its control of the House by installing a new Speaker even to the extent of forcibly removing V. Sivakumar from the chair.

“I thought things like this only happened in other countries,” said one former assemblyman from Perak.

One side is focused on forcing a snap state election, the other sees nothing wrong in carrying on till the general election.

Both sides are supremely convinced they command the moral high ground and no one is budging.

The Yang Berhormats demonstrated some astonishing behaviour that was more akin to lawbreakers than lawmakers. There was a lot of shouting, shoving, climbing atop tables, ringgit notes torn up and even a few punches thrown.

One assemblyman, caught in one of the scrapes, lost two buttons from his outfit, exposing his hairy tummy.

This will probably be the last time Malaysians would dare make fun of Taiwanese legislators.

And as some cynics claimed, there was “no sitting yesterday because the assemblymen were standing up” most of the time, trying to shout down each other and pressing on with their side of the agenda regardless of others.

For months, the joke had been about Perak having two Mentris Besar and two governments.

Yesterday, it really did seem as though there were two of each and, for several hours, there were even two Speakers.

The media had a field day although some of them did not know whether to laugh or cry at what was happening before their eyes.

The arithmetic does not favour Pakatan. The numbers are with Barisan but a government should not have to function surrounded by hundreds of security personnel.

The police could be put to better use given all those headlines of tragic snatch thefts in the last few days. They should not be monopolised to safeguard the very people who are elected to serve the people.

The Raja Muda got to deliver his royal address only at about 3.30pm, after Sivakumar had been physically taken out of the House and the new Speaker had taken his place.

The heir to the Perak throne looked regal and composed even after waiting since morning to make his royal address. He made no references at all to what had happened but he must surely be as troubled as everyone else.

His half-hour speech was the only time when there was decorum in the House because the angry exchanges between the two sides re-erupted after he left.

The ill-will between the rival camps was palpable and the House adjourned shortly after on a sour and uneasy note.

“There was no happy ending today,” said an aide to the Mentri Besar.

It was a day of records for Perak but not the sort of records to be proud of.

Yesterday saw not only the Speaker being replaced. Even the Speaker’s ornamental chair had to be replaced because it was damaged during the scuffle.

The damaged chair seemed like a metaphor for the Perak Legislative Assembly.

The reputation of the House has suffered a terrible blow after what happened. But, unlike a damaged chair, it cannot be repaired overnight.

Source: The Star Online, 8th May 2009.

This is a sickening situation that is happening in Malaysia. For months there has been a debate on this state with 2 MBs and now it finally broke out as an 'uncivilised' scuffle in the House. We are really proud to be MALAYSIAN!.. MALAYSIA BOLEH! This sort of happenings is never expected to happen in Malaysia I guess? Totally we are in match with Taiwanese legislators except that we havent have any MPs who start throwing chairs and see blood in the House! What is this??!! We call this a democratic sitting?

Actually the whole House should be dismissed and call for a fresh election. Now a very simple question. If the government representative is being elected by the people, why on earth that we need a whole army of police to keep off the people whom have elected their representative 500m from the House??Or is it a conspirated election? Use your common sense. Will you slap your own face? NO!This act of demonstrating against their own elected representative is equivalent to people slapping their own face! Is this true? Or is these BN reps a 'non-elected' ones?

1 Malaysia vs One Black Malaysia....Creatice enough!

Enough of this shit! You guys ruining the nation!. Who the fuck be government you think people really cares?We just want peace and governement party that will function. No Talk only! NATO ar? No Action, Talk Only.

Peace be with Malaysia....