Life's Happenings

Weird Stuff at HUKM

2009-11-26T22:33:00.005+08:00

Was at Hospital UKM today and noticed some weird stuff. Camera went to work immediately.

At first I thot it was an accident but upon going nearer, this fella parked this way because the car park was full.

Since the Kancil car is known for its small size, the driver took advantage of it to squeeze between the lamp post and a car in front (which drove off when I reach there).

While walking about in the hospital, I noticed this eye catching public notice ....... Sunathon???

What word was that? Can someone enlighten me? haha

You need to know the malay language also to understand the meaning of this 'new word'. Does that mean that the hospital will line up hundreds of boys to have the Sunathon all on 5 Dec 2009?
Tags: Hospital UKM, Sunathon, Kancil

Cannot Speaking Inglish in Ofis?

2009-11-19T13:33:00.004+08:00

Our wonderful Deputy Education Minister has said this - "if you speak English at your workplace, that's weird".

Reason for saying that - it's harmful to the nation's culture and identity.

Crazy fella ............. sorry to say that lah but then I think he has not seen a lot in life.

My company for one has lots of foreigners (besides the cleaning ladies) in the office. English language is being used so that everyone understands each other. By conversing in the national language, we would have to translate each and every sentence or words every now and then in order for all to understand and respond accordingly.

Maybe need to appoint a professional translator that majors in a few language or a few translators sitting in a meeting room ............ haha. We would be holding a routine department meeting having many translators sitting together in a meeting room just like the United Nations having dozens of professional translators. Now you see what I meant.

The same thing goes for many multinational companies based in Malaysia as they would have lots of professionals coming from various nations.

At a time when we are encouraging foreign direct investments, the senior management staff of such investors would usually be based in Malaysia to oversee the business operations. Now, this fella has to open his mouth to tell us that speaking English in office is weird.

The government is also trying to bring back many professional Malaysians who had been working overseas for a number of years in order to beef up our human resource capacity. These Malaysians may not be fluent with the national language anymore. Are we telling them not to come back now?

You who speaks English in office is weird and he's perfecto for not doing so.

I guess that he's strunggling a lot with the English language itself.

Reading: Malaysian minister says English at work 'weird' - Malaysia Today
Tags: English Language, Deputy Education Minister, Weird

Maybank Used For Phishing

2009-11-17T08:51:00.005+08:00

Malayan Banking Berhad ("also known as Maybank"), being the largest bank in Malaysia, has been often used by syndicates to dupe Maybank's customers into revealing their internet user id and password. Once you log in using those so-called Maybank 'links' ........ your money will be all gone within seconds, if not minutes.

Received an email from maybank@dynasty.com.my alerting me that my maybank account has been blocked. Is this a Malaysian based email address?

Specifically requested me to click at a maybank2u link to restore my access.

Within minutes, received another email from maybank2u@myb.com.tr. I clicked on the supposedly link to maybank2u.

And this is what you get to see in a new pop-up window. The exact duplication of the genuine site.

If you were so blur and did key in your username and password, you can wave bye bye to all your monies in your maybank account.

This is known as phishing. These internet syndicates were trying their luck / scams in hoping that blur blur Maybank customers will key in their particulars.

In fact, and sadly too, there are blur blur fellas out there.

Related post: Con Job Involving Four Local Banks
Tags: Phishing, Maybank, Malayan Banking Berhad, Maybank2u, Internet Scam, Internet Syndicates, Con Job

Police Base Attacked!

2009-11-15T00:30:00.004+08:00

Police beat base was attacked and those fellas who did it were really brave.
Well, you could say that this beat base was abandoned in actual fact.
Tags: Police Beat Base

Caught in Audit But Any Action Taken?

2009-11-09T13:14:00.006+08:00

Do you own a laptop (some call it notebook)? Do you know the general pricing for a laptop from a simple set-up up to a heavy duty laptop loaded with many latest softwares or accessories?

If you do read the newspapers, magazines or browse the internet, you would have noticed that the general pricing for a laptop is around RM2,000++ up to RM5,000++ (US$1 = RM3.40).

Would you have bought a laptop with a price tag of RM42,320? Even if you do, you would have asked for the specifications and will want to know what does the price cover.

But any person would have queried that price tag for sure because at RM42,320 you could buy a new local manufactured car. Any person who has no knowledge of the general pricing for a laptop would have sensed something wrong given the huge amount.

At RM42,320, you could purchase eleven good laptops fitted with good enough accesories / softwares.

Unfortunately, the person(s) who proposed, those that concurred and the one(s) that approved the purchase presented a very sad situation in Malaysia. They didn't only buy one but two! So they bought it at RM84,640 ........ could bring in a good and new Toyota or Honda car.

The best part, the purchase request happened at Kolej Kemahiran Tinggi Mara Balik Pulau in the state of Penang. Bravo! I really wonder what had they been teaching in this college. In my company, the purchasing department is supposed to find out the pricing from various sources before deciding on the final supplier. That too, went through stringent approval levels.

Not only that, the same college has paid for PC monitor and laser printers at sky high prices. When asked of the abovesaid purchases the respond came in this manner - "The equipment were purchased in a lump sump and there was no price breakdown for the laptops. The price breakdown was only done after the equipment was supplied for the purpose assets record and it could not be used as a basis for reference."

What a good explanation and was that accepted by the Auditor-General? The Auditor-General Annual Report do highlight so many discrepancies and abuse of public funds but were there any actions taken on those people who had caused all this issues. Year in year out, it's just a show only. They have to be seen doing something lah.

If those purchases were done in the opposition-ruled states the various government agencies, under the control of the ruling government, would have gone for some lifes at all cost ............. if you know what I mean.

Reading: RM42,320 for a laptop - Star
Tags: Kolej Kemahiran Tinggi Mara Balik Pulau, Laptop, Notebook

Merchants Charge Credit Card Users

2009-11-08T01:57:00.004+08:00

The Malaysian government has decided to impose a service tax of RM50 for each principal credit card holder wherelse the supplementary card would be penalised with a service tax of RM25.

Reason given for the implementation of the service tax is to 'teach' credit card holders to spend wisely. What else does the government want to teach me where my credit card balances are clean every month? That I reduce my charges to the credit cards in spite of me having settled all amounts every month? You call that teaching but I call it penalising.

As I'm renovating my house, I was able to charge to my credit cards for lots of purchases and raked up lots of points at the same time lately. I do have the cash but I prefer using my credit cards to pay for it owing to the points.

Unfortunately, the government has decided that I'm to be penalised for using the credit cards. Ok, maybe the government has to think of some ways to earn some revenues to maintain the nation's economy.

But what do you say when the merchants, who have signed up with banks to have a credit card facility in their businesses, are also charging consumers like you and me.

Of late, I have been shopping around for many stuff for the house renovation. Certain shops (not all) that accept the usage of credit cards (applies to both VISA and MASTECARD) for payments have told me this - "I have to charge you 3% extra because you are using the credit card to pay". If you pay by cash, it'll be a bit cheaper.

The goverment is taxing me and now the merchants are passing their costs to me as well. In the end, it's the consumers that are dying.

As far as I understand is that merchants arranged to have credit card facilities in their business premises for their customers' conveniences. At the same time, they'll tell their customers that the credit card facilities were set-up for the benefit of the customers but the customers would have to bear that costs. Fair?

One merchant has fixed the amount of money to be paid if you use your credit card. Say RM5 for each credit card transaction.

What does VISA and MASTERCARD have to say about such practises? Does your company explains to the credit card users who should bear that 3% charges?

What does our local banks have to say about such arrangements? Do you all (banks) know about such games being played?

Are the merchants permitted to pass the costs to the customers? What's the answer?
Tags: VISA, MASTERCARD, Service Tax, Credit Card

15,000 Bibles Held

2009-11-04T19:02:00.004+08:00

Government talked so much about 1Malaysia ..... but acted otherwise?!?!?!

CHRISTIAN FEDERATION OF MALAYSIA

(PERSEKUTUAN KRISTIAN MALAYSIA)
Address: 10, Jalan 11/9 Sec. 11, 46200 Petaling Jaya, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
Telephone: (03) 7957 1278, (03) 7957 1463, Fax: (03) 7957 1457
Email: cfmsia@yahoo.co.uk

CFM media statement on 15,000 Bahasa Malaysia Bibles held by authorities
CFM CALLS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF 15,000 BIBLES

The Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) calls for the immediate release of the 15,000 Bibles in Bahasa Malaysia currently being withheld by the authorities.

To withhold the use of the Bahasa Malaysia Bibles is an infringement of Article 11 of the Federal Constitution which gives every Malaysian the right to profess his/ her faith as well as to practice it.

This constitutional right is rendered illusory if Christians in Malaysia are denied access to Bibles in a language with which they are familiar.

This action of withholding the Bahasa Malaysia Bibles deprives Christians in Sabah, Sarawak , and in Semenanjung, a large majority of whom use Bahasa Malaysia, the right to use the Holy Scriptures in Bahasa Malaysia, to practice and profess their faith and, to nourish themselves spiritually.

It is baseless to withhold the Bibles in Bahasa Malaysia on the ground that they are “prejudicial to public order”. Bibles in Bahasa Malaysia have been used since before the independence of our country and has never been the cause of any public disorder.

Since the 1970s and in consonance with the government’s policies in education and the national language, Christians in Malaysia have received their education in Bahasa Malaysia. To deny the same Christians in Malaysia the right to read and study the Bible in Bahasa Malaysia is thus ridiculous and offensive. In fact, it is this action by the authorities themselves which is an affront to good public order.

We call on the relevant government officials who have neither the authority nor the right to act in this unconscionable manner to explain their action to the church leaders and to the public.

Church leaders and the Executive Committee of the CFM in “An Affirmation to the Churches in Malaysia” (6-8 Sept 1989, the Kuching consultation) and then later in “A Declaration to Churches in Malaysia” (30 January 2008) have stood on their commitment to Bahasa Malaysia as our national language and have used and continue to use Bahasa Malaysia in the life and witness of our Churches and Christian organizations.

The government and CFM have exchanged letters on this matter previously and we have a written agreement in December 2005 that Bahasa Malaysia Bibles can be distributed so long as the symbol of the cross and the words “A Christian publication” are printed on the front page.

We call on the government to walk the talk of its 1Malaysia policy and vision and not to curtail or impose conditions on the freedom of citizens to worship, pray and read the Holy Scriptures in Bahasa Malaysia. How can the first pillar of the Rukunegara i.e. Belief In God, be made a living reality in the lives of Malaysians if the government imposes restrictions and conditions on the constitutional and fundamental right of citizens to freedom of religion?

We ask that the relevant authorities resolve this matter promptly and release these Bibles for the use of Christians without any further delay or excuse.

signed
__________________
Bishop Ng Moon Hing,
Chairman and the Executive Committee,
The Christian Federation of Malaysia

Dated : 4 Nov 2009
Tags: Christian Federation of Malaysia, Persekutuan Kristian Malaysia, Bible, Bahasa Malaysia Bibles, 1Malaysia, Rukunegara

Chicks Used To Entice Customers

2009-11-03T14:02:00.004+08:00

Dead chickens being hanged outside to dry up or to collect dust before being cooked. How unhygienic.
Tags: Chickens

Lightings and Paints

2009-11-03T00:22:00.006+08:00

Bought the biscuit tin designed lightings for my car porch area. Cost me RM60 each.

Still yet to buy lightings for my dining area, car porch pillars and staircase wall lights.

The carpentry works are still on-going and three of the rooms' cabinets are already installed albeit needing some touch ups here and there.

Upon advise from the ID, my house's colour scheme were chosen from Jotun and ICI paint brands. Just the paints itself cost me close to RM2,700.

Chose the matt range from the Jotun brand. The paints were used for internal walls and ceiling.

Can't use those ICI pearl glo type as the walls have to be properly skim coated first since almost all the walls are not smooth as you want it to be.

In order to skim coat the whole house, I have to burn another RM5,000 easily. Better not.

* ICI Pentalite paints for my internal walls.

* ICI Gloss Finish paints for toilet doors/frames and external gates/MS grille / wood.

The family hall located upstairs displayed a grayish wall. Intend to make this area a cooling place while I enjoy those movie/TV sessions.
Tags: Paints, Jotun, ICI Dulux

Buy Your Coffin Online

2009-10-30T11:44:00.004+08:00

You can order your own coffin before you rest in peace for good. If you think your time is about to run out, click Wal-Mart.com quickly to order a coffin. Don't worry about the delivery time as they rely on Federal Express to courier the coffin to you.

Who would simply order a coffin for no reason? That's where FedEx come into play and it will reach you within forty eight hours. Hopefully it can reach you on time.

The price ranges from US$895 to US$2,899. The most expensive coffin is 100% bronze and the interior plush velvet is hand made. Wow .......... furthermore, it allows you to pay in twelve installments. I wonder whether you could last that long to pay off the twelve installments?!?!?! Unless you were buying it for another unfortunate person.

The abovesaid coffins are being sold at offer prices and will last till 31 Dec 2009. So, if you want to save some money, die earlier.

Sorry to tell you, you can't return the coffin once delivered to your place unless it due to freight or cosmetic damage from shipping.

Just when you thought this coffin/casket is a taboo product, another similar wholesale company by the name of Costco is giving Wal-Mart a run for their money by selling coffins/caskets too. Costco must have analysed that these products will bring in handsome profits.

Buying tip: If you can't wait up to seventy two hours, don't order from Costco.
Tags: Coffin, Casket, Wal-Mart, Federal Express, FedEx, Costco

Want To Try Flying a Boeing?

2009-10-29T11:55:00.007+08:00

Malaysia Airlines is giving you, yeah you irrespective of your nationality, a chance to be in a Boeing 777-200 cockpit. It's no joke but at a price of course.

A normal person like you and me could at last fly a Boeing 777-200 even though we don't have a licence to fly as a pilot. The MH Flight Simulator Experience ("FSE") is opened to the general public at the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport, Subang.

If you have played those Flight Simulator pc game before, this would be quite similar just that this is done in a real cockpit set-up for such purpose. That's the same cockpit used for training MAS pilots. I remembered those yesteryears in trying to fly a small plane (the pc game format of course) and it was not easy just to take off. Once up there, it's not easy to land it. I gave up on mastering that game without getting to take off and land safely at least once.

As for this MAS experience, the only setback is that you have to pay RM500 for a 20 minutes experience. You'll get a chance to to visit a flight deck and you'll be guided on how to take off and land the plane by a Simulator Engineer. Not bad, isn't it?

You must meet the following simple requirements before being allowed to test the flight simulator:-
a. 10 years of age or older;
b. get written consent from parent or guardian to participate in FSE (applicable to participant under the age of 15 years old);
c. be in good health and free from heart, back or neck problems, motion sickness or other conditions that could be aggravated by the motion of the simulator. It is advised that expectant mothers should not participate;
d. be dressed appropriately in smart casual clothing with flat shoes; and
e. not be under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Keen? Do contact Flight Simulator Sales & Marketing of Malaysia Airlines.

This is definitely not a paid blogposting. Anyone willing to sponsor me so that I can blog more about it? MAS? Hellooooo ........ can you hear me?
Tags: MH Flight Simulator Experience, Malaysia Airlines, Boeing 777-200, Cockpit, Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport, Simulator Engineer

Singaporean Bloggers To Be Monitored

2009-10-28T13:05:00.005+08:00

Blogging in Singapore has taken a new twist.

Singaporean bloggers seated in front of their own desktop PC / laptop will be monitored on how and what they blog about (besides those people who urinates in the public toilets).

Singapore's Media Development Authority is looking at rules to ensure that bloggers do not simply endorse, review, advertise, recommend or promote products & services. The main issue here is that some bloggers are being paid to do so where conflict of interest may arise.

If you are being paid, most likely you are obligated to write positive remarks, right?

One of the rules being looked into is that bloggers would be required to state whether gifts were presented / money was paid / products & services were provided for free - prior to putting up that blog post.

I'm all for this new ruling so that consumers won't be duped into obtaining products & services that could be fake/below standards via blogs.

I do lots of reviews and recommendations but they were my own opinions / experiences while using those products & services. If I do get an opportunity where a party requires me to blog about their products & services, I'll certainly be transparent about it. I won't promote the products & services which are lousy or one that fails even my own standards knowing that I'm to be paid or given benefit-in-kind to write about it. In other words, if I have nothing better to say, I'll just keep quiet.

One thing that disturbs me most is where some bloggers do post about products & services not known to them. Such bloggers will be assigned certain products & services to blog about and will be paid once that's done. The best thing, the products & services do not even exist in Malaysia. There's no blogging ethics at all and money is all they think about.

What's your stand on this issue? Malaysia gahmen should impose this too.

Reading: Bloggers who get gifts or money may have to own up - ytlcommunity
Tags: Blogger, Bloggers Monitored, Singapore, Media Development Authority, Blogging Ethics

Request Made to Reduce Coverage on Auditor-General's Report

2009-10-27T22:40:00.005+08:00

There you go ............ as predicted. The Auditor-General's annual report has opened up so many cans that are full of worms in it and a MP,Datuk Wira Ahmad Hamzah, from the ruling party is now suggesting to reduce the media coverage that the annual report is getting now.

Reasons given -
* gives a very bad impression and it is meloyakan (nauseating)
* embarrassing perception which would cause our competitiveness to drop

Trying to cover up something?

The people who caused all this bad impression and embarrassing situations didn't even think of such as long as someone's pocket is filled. And this MP is worried about it instead.

If it was done right from the beginning, we need not come to this stage of shameful reporting. Anyhow, all these years, there were no improvements being made despite many shocking revelations that were exposed.

But that doesn't mean we should just keep it behind closed doors. We still need to publicise such deplorable actions by the respective federal / state government departments. This report is meant for the public's consumption as taxpayers have the right to know how their tax contributions are being managed.

As for this MP, I really wonder about his knowledge on an audit exercise. He said that the auditors should also "teach” and “guide” especially for those who might have done wrong.

Hello MP, if those people had committed those acts, they should be sacked or jailed if any criminal offence existed. The auditors' job is not to teach or guide people.

This MP suggested that prior to the release of the annual report to the public, the auditors should have asked the department head to explain on those irregularities. What if those department head took ages to respond? Wait till the cow comes home?

He also questioned on who should audit the auditors. So, whistle blowers are always the guilty parties, not those who committed the 'sin'.

I think he's very ignorant of what an audit is all about but yet he brought this topic up in the parliament.

Reading: Parliament: 'Filter AG’s report' - Star
Tags: Auditor-General Annual Report, Auditors, Audit

1TooMany

2009-10-22T22:55:00.005+08:00

Nothing wrong with the title ....... it's correct ........ 1TooMany.

The Prime Minister launched the 1Malaysia concept, back in April 2009, to foster closer relationship amongst the multi ethnic/racial society in Malaysia.

The Prime Minister is looking towards the 'One Dream, One People, One nation' and was glad that this has brought much positiveness to the nation. He has claimed that Malaysians are accepting the 1Malaysia concept which brought about the win in the recent Bagan Pinang by-election.

But I think he got carried away till the concepts of 1Region and 1World were mentioned when he addressed the 35th Unesco general conference’s opening plenary session. Not saying that it's impossible to achieve this two concepts but it's way too big. The United Nations is still experiencing certain difficulties in bringing nations to agree on grave issues all these years.

I'm sure that the concepts of 1Region and 1World can't beat the following 1 ....... 1Toilet!

What 1Toilet?

The state of Terengganu's Education, Higher Learning, Human Resource, Science and Technology Committee mooted the 1Toilet concept. Now how is this 1Toilet going to work along with 1Malaysia?

The 1Toilet was to get teachers and principals to share the same toilets with their students. Just by the virtue of sharing the same toilet will bring much transfer of wisdom from the teachers and principals to the students ?!??!?!?!??!??!

This is really getting 1TooMany now. Can we stop abusing the "1" thingy?

I think we should encourage all government-linked-companies to adopt this 1Toilet as well. I want to see all the Tun, Tan Sri and Datuk to share the same toilets with their managers, executives, clerks and office boys. I'm sure this will enhance the corporate mentality and thus, increase the productivity and effectiveness of each company.

What about 1Race? Bangsa Malaysia?

What other 1 should we have?

Reading: ‘1Toilet’ plan to let teachers and students mingle freely - Star
Tags: 1Malaysia, Malaysia, 1Toilet, 1Region, 1World, Unesco General Conference

Do We Pay When Contract is Breached?

2009-10-21T21:01:00.006+08:00

It's sickening to read a newspaper article stating that "not a single reservoir in Selangor was cleaned or washed for the whole of last year". Not only that, even the Sungai Sireh water treatment plant in Kuala Selangor had not been washed for over 10 years.

What's happening? Who's in charge of it?

Let's see:-
* Raw water - State government of Selangor
* Water treatment - Puncak Niaga Holdings Bhd, Syarikat Pengeluaran Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Splash) and Konsortium Abass Sdn Bhd (ABASS)
* Distribution of clean, treated water to consumers - Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Syabas)

Our monthly water bill would have included all the above services - provision of raw water, water treatment and distribution of consumable water to us. Failure on one part of the services would have considered a breach of contract?

If they had not done / completed their works, why do we still need to pay the full amount? It's always at the expense of the consumers. What choice or say do we have when such things happen?

If we protest by not paying, we would be penalised.

If they didn't do their works, how should they be penalised?

Reading: Operators fail to follow clean-up schedule - Star
Tags: Puncak Niaga Holdings Bhd, Syarikat Pengeluaran Air Selangor Sdn Bhd, Splash, Konsortium Abass Sdn Bhd, ABASS, Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd, Syabas, Water Treatment Plant, Reservoir

Will Our Buildings Withstand Earthquake?

2009-10-15T20:07:00.005+08:00

After experiencing those earthquake shakes at my condo and office building before, it's really not comforting to have read about a Bernama news report that Malaysian buildings cannot withstand a strong earthquake even if it happens at a neighbouring country.

Indonesia's many earthquakes have caused many tremors in Malaysia and a 6.0 Richter Scale shake in Indonesia could be felt in Malaysia easily.

A professor from the Universiti Sains Malaysia's Disaster Research Unit has commented that less than 1% of Malaysia's buildings have constructed the buildings factoring in the earthquake situation. My my.

Which of the buildings in Malaysia then?
Answer: Kuala Lumpur Twin Towers, Penang Bridge and Komtar. Only three structures? That's even less than 0.1%. For those of you whose buildings that are not mentioned .......... ahhh you know what to do.

My office building shook on 30 Sept 2009 when a strong earthquake hit Padang in Indonesia. It was a correct decision to evacuate the building no matter what.

I did hear from friends that not all their colleagues evacuated their offices on that day with some saying that it's just a tremor from Indonesia (if it was an earthquake) and some said that there's no earthquake in Malaysia. Some people really take things for granted.

A structural engineer has told me before that even if it was just a tremor due to an earthquake that has happened faraway, a building may not collapse immediately. Structural damage may have occured but we don't know. If there was a damage and if the structure was built according to actual designs, the structure could withstand the damage temporarily up to say thirty minutes. That's enough time to evacuate and walk faraway from the building.

What about you? Will you evacuate or you are more worried about what others may say about you being the first person to run away?

Reading: Less Than One Per Cent Of Buildings In Malaysia Have Earthquake Preventive Measures - Bernama

Related post - Earthquake Shook My Office Building
Tags: Kuala Lumpur Twin Towers, Penang Bridge, Komtar, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Disaster Research Unit, Earthquake, Richter Scale, Structural Engineer

Hunting for House Lights

2009-10-14T23:52:00.004+08:00

My hunt for downlights has ended. Finally found the downlight recommended by my ID. This downlight is a die-cast type and it has two bulbs attached to it.

The lighting shop sold it to me at RM41 that includes two Toshiba 18w light bulbs with two ballasts.

Whole house is filled with this downlight, up to sixty one of them.

This is the halogen light where I bought nine units. Cost is RM72 per unit. The brand's Gama. Cost of replacement bulb will be RM5.

This halogen light is used for higlighting certain walls in the house. Got this from Top Ten Lighting Sdn Bhd that is located in Pusat Bandar Puchong, next to Tesco Puchong.

The above are just downlights and halogen lights. I still need pendant lights, wall lights, pillar lights and spot light for other parts of the house. Killing me slowly.

Ten-Gro Lighting Sdn Bhd is the shop that supplied me with the downlights. Shop located behind Tesco Puchong.

Hardworking brothers owned the shop. Ask for Ken Chan @ 016-6579957.
Tags: Ten-Gro Lighting Sdn Bhd, Top Ten Lighting Sdn Bhd, Downlights, Halogen Lights, Ballasts, Toshiba Light Bulbs, Gama, Pusat Bandar Puchong, Tesco Puchong

Sorry State of Public Asset

2009-10-13T13:49:00.003+08:00

Going to certain government offices (I can say that this applies to any part of the world) is something that many people do not look forward to. The queues would be long, waiting period for the processing of documents may be hours and the worst of all would be the waiting area are congested.

But it won't beat the situation as shown below -
Tags: Government Office

Barred From Leaving Malaysia

2009-10-12T09:01:00.003+08:00

Recently, there were some Malaysians that were barred from leaving Malaysia. Who are they? Wanted criminals? Tax evaders?

It seems that the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) and the National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN) are conducting such checks in collaboration with the Immigration Dept and managed to catch up with many income tax and loan defaulters.

Those badly affected were Malaysia Airlines employees who have to travel frequently in their line of duty. It was affecting the cabin crews and can you imagine that you are trying to board your plane (or report for duty in the airplane) and you were stopped at the Immigration check point.

The last minute replacement crew would have been rushed from somewhere to replace that crew that was barred from leaving Malaysia.

In a way, I can't pity such people as they have a duty to settle their income tax or loans. If you have taxes or loans to be paid, do pay first because you are obliged to do so. It could also be a chicken and egg story where a cabin crew needs to 'fly' to earn their income in order to pay for the taxes or loans.

Unfortunately, I have also heard from someone that even though you had made payments to PTPTN, the people working there were slow in updating the files. In due time, info on bad loan accounts were sent to the Immigration Dept to nab such culprits.

In this case, I agree that income tax defaulters/evaders should be barred for they were supposed to pay taxes based on preceding year's income. They have earned the income but failed to remit the required amount. It's their bad financial management then. They chose to default.

Some are really innocent. Some acted as if they were innocent. Why did it happen in the first place? It happened because these people took it for granted.

The Malaysian Airlines System Employees' Union (MASEU) is calling for a review on the travel ban on income tax and study loan defaulters. What for? To protect people who flout the laws?

Unless these staff had agreed on settlement plans with IRB or PTPTN in advance, they should barred. Well, you were barred because you failed to do something properly. Whose fault in the first place?

If it was IRB or PTPTN that didn't update their files even though settlement agreements/payments were made, then we should get those fellas in IRB or PTPTN to compensate for the loss of income of those that were barred from travelling for no reasons. Fair?

It works in both ways, cannot be just penalising the defaulters but also the bad performers.

Reading: MAS employees want review of travel ban on tax, loan defaulters - Star
Tags: Inland Revenue Board, IRB, National Higher Education Fund Corporation, PTPTN, Immigration Dept, Malaysian Airlines System Employees' Union, MASEU, Malaysia Airlines

Astro To Increase Price Again?

2009-10-09T08:27:00.013+08:00

This year, the satellite TV provider company in Malaysia, Astro All Asia Networks plc ("Astro"), has already increased the subscription rate especially for those who subscribes for the sports channels. Being a profit based company, they have to please certain stakeholders but to the detriment of the subscribers.

I have already known two friends who didn't continue with the sports channels (they are not really into football like me) for this current football season.

Come next year, when the new English Premier League 2010-2011 season begins, I expect Astro to increase the subscription rate for those who has the sports channels in their package. Can you foresee subscribers not continuing the sports channels for the forthcoming football season?

* Why increase?
For goodness sake, Astro together with ESPN STAR Sports will pay a total of US$250 million to obtain the broadcasting rights to telecast the english football matches for the 2010-2011 season up to the 2012-2013 seasons. That works out to US$83.33 million per annum.

Astro could come out saying that they have gotten a better deal compared with SingTel in Singapore. SingTel paid an enormous amount of US$285 million for to broadcast to their little country of a few million people. So, people in Malaysia, be prepared to ee

What do we, football fans, have? Astro monopolised the situation and the premium paid for the right to broadcast could be shoved down our throat. Take it or leave it! Majority, could say over 90%, would take it grudgingly.

This too, was after a recent increase as late as end 2007.

* Increase by how much?
Beats me but you can roughly estimate.

When Astro paid somewhere in between US$150 million to US$200 million (take the median price of US$175 million) for the 2006-2007 season up to the 2009-2010 season, it somehow affected the Astro subscription rate where it was increased twice in year 2007.

This time round, they have to pay US$250 million, an increase of US$75 million (from the median price of US$175 million) and for those melancholics, it's 42% extra.

Your guesstimation is as good as mine.

* How to escape from paying and yet get to watch those football matches?
Simple lah ...................

1) Go to the nearest mamak stall as I'm sure they do subscribe to it. No Astro no business nowadays. Pubs have it as well but the drinks there are more expensive of course.

2) Try to befriend all your neighbours now. This is also in line with 1Malaysia as being hyped. I'm sure one of those guys is a football fanatic in your neighbourhood.

3) Ask the person who subscribes for it to record the match (you supply the recorder of course).

4) Tap into your neighbour's satellite dish without him knowing ..... but surely he'll find out later by hearing your football "shouts" during goals.

5) Relocate to Sabah and Sarawak and you'll get to install your own large satellite dish. No subscription fees to pay and get to watch to your heart's contend.

Reading: Astro to pay bulk of US$250mil to telecast Premier League - Star
Reading: How I save RM30 on Astro a month - Malaysiakini
Tags: Astro All Asia Networks plc, Astro, Satellite TV Provider, Satellite Dish, English Premier League, ESPN STAR Sports, Football, Soccer, SingTel

Malaysia Finished Behind Laos

2009-10-08T08:58:00.004+08:00

"Malaysia Finished Behind Laos" - when I saw that headline in the online news, I got a very good feeling that it was related to football. True enough, it was. How devastating!

If you think that it was alright because it was just the Under-19 team representing Malaysia, please bear in mind that this group of players (if they are the best) would be representing Malaysia for as long as they can play. So, don't think of World Cup qualifications for the next 10 years???????

Hopefully they can spot a few other talented players over the years to beef up this squad.

How can Malaysia's football development be so poor? Whose fault? Our future doesn't look bright at all. Foundation is always the main thing.

If you were to say 'please give them a chance', I would tell you to follow up with the on-going Under-20 World Cup being held in Egypt. Look at who has qualified for this World Cup tournament.

Of all countries, Laos? And kudos to Laos for the fantastic results knowing the fact their resources/facilities are way below what Malaysia can provide for their team.

Why am I bothered with this football progress since it's so poor? I'm passionate about it since young and would love to see my own country being up there. That's why! Not just because I like to ridicule.

Reading: Malaysia finish behind Laos - Star
Tags: Laos, Football, Soccer, Under-20 World Cup

Bloggers Invited By Federal Government

2009-10-06T10:10:00.003+08:00

Received an invitation from the Ministry of Federal Territories last week to be present for the Blog4FT campaign which was to be held at Pavilion KL on Monday.

I did question the person who invited me as I was wondering how did he obtain my email address and how did he get to know that I was a blogger. You know what I mean when you receive an email from the Federal Government people.

Found out that he was the Special Officer to the Minister too. A small world indeed when my colleague told me he knew this guy after reading the email invitation for this event.

Took leave on Monday and ran around to settle some stuff for the new house and rushed back to shower prior to departing for Pavilion KL. Quite a jam along Jalan Sultan Ismail after exiting Smart Tunnel. Arrived at the centre of Pavilion and saw that it was filled with chairs in view of the launching of the Blog4FT campaign.

The shopping centre was beautifully decorated with Kolam designs in anticipation of the forthcoming Deepavali festival on 17 Oct 2009.

Back to the campaign. What's the campaign about?

The Ministry is engaging bloggers and traditional media to write about stuff / happenings in the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan.

Browse through the dedicated website for this event itself, Blog4FT. Are you game for it? A blogging competition is being held and the Ministry actually encourages you to blog positively and promote FT indirectly.

It's opened to anyone divided into four categories, namely:-
* Malaysian Public - This category is open to all Malaysian citizens except those that fall under the Malaysian Media or the Junior Categories.

* Junior - This category is open only to Malaysian citizens below the age of 18 as at 31 December 2009.

* Malaysian Media - This category is open to employees of Malaysian Media Companies registered with the Malaysian Government.

* International - This category is open to non-Malaysian citizens.

I found that this is a good move indeed as this Ministry is trying to build good rapport with the bloggers instead of threatening bloggers as done by another ministry (which do not deserve my mention).

Registered my goodself upon arrival and was told that the event may begin around 3.15pm. My guess was correct. The little delay to the start of the event attended by big shots was expected.

Don't know how many bloggers were invited but felt privileged to be one of the bloggers.

While waiting for the event to begin, I dropped by at Dome cafe which was located just besides the event area. Made full use of the RM5 voucher (part of the door gift) and ordered a Tiramisu cake (a blogger has forgotten to take picture of his food?!?!??!). After deducting the RM5, the cake cost me RM9.95.

The arrival of the special guests was welcomed by a group of drum instruments performers. Can't take a picture as they were seated on the other end of the stage. You get to see different races playing their own drums (must learn the names of those drums) and they were able to rhyme it beautifully.

The Minister, YB Dato' Raja Nong Chik, gave a short speech telling us that he just got the hang of the internet and high technology era because of pressures from his kids.

After much persuasion from his kids (not those in kindergarten mind you but teens), he caught up with it really fast and is now known as the Facebook Minister in the Cabinet for having a thriving Facebook account.

Sadly and maybe unfortunately, the Ministry of Federal Territories' website is not updated and bearing in mind that the event was organised by the same ministry, they should have taken more responsibility in updating the name of the Minister. It's still showing the previous Minister's name and the previous organisation chart ......... tsk tsk tsk.

C'mon, please update your website.

At the end of the speech, a number of guests were called to the stage to press a button I supposed and it initiated a "biometric scanner". That's what it says at the screen behind them.

Thereafter, a short skit was presented by five individuals depicting how they were brought up in FT since young and what FT was to them.

At the closing of the event, representatives from the Ministry, organiser, sponsors stood at stage for a photo session.

The event (especially the blogging competition's prizes) was sponsored by some large Malaysian companies.

Walked up to the 4th floor to take this picture of the event area.

Could see a better effect of the Kolam design from up there.
Tags: Blog4FT, Ministry of Federal Territories, Pavilion KL, Kolam Design, Deepavali, Raja Nong Chik

Earthquake Shook My Office Building

2009-10-04T17:41:00.005+08:00

Last Wednesday's late afternoon, around 6.15pm, I was still in my office trying to touch up some loose end for a document before going off. I was leaning towards my work area and looking at the laptop closely.

My boss came out from his room asking a general question "Did you feel it?". "Feel what" was my response.

He said that the building could be moving. At that of time, I relaxed and leaned onto my chair. Then I felt the chair swaying left to right and vice versa.

I said "I felt it now!"

Straightaway, I moved to the pantry area and looked at the construction site for "The Intermark", an on-going development that is taking place where once the Yow Chuan Plaza stood.

Noticed no work is being carried out and thus, the building wasn't affected by the construction activities. Wasted no time and shut down laptop, moved out as fast as possible. I took the second lift that stopped at our floor. No time to think of running down the steps from 31st floor.

The idea of an earthquake struck me but with the construction activities just adjacent to our 58 storey Vista Tower (formerly known as Empire Tower), we doubted the safety of the building.

Upon reaching ground floor, the security personnel requested us to run instead of walking. Maannnnnnnnnnnnn, what tension!

Upon reaching outside, lots of people were already gathered. Security personnel moved us further away standing just next to the busy Jalan Tun Razak.

One thing I noticed, there wasn't any alarm at all to warn us. It was all phone calls that got us down.

Later on, another colleague from another floor did mention that alarm was sounded but when he got down, so many people had evacuated the building long before him.

As I walked further away, I noticed that the construction workers actually evacuated the whole area much faster than we had evacuated our building.

Two of my colleagues (in this pict) still have time to pose for this shot.

What happened to the alarm and the PA system?

We heard from someone that a person who came down earlier saw our office building swaying.

That's ridiculous. If that had happened, the building would have collapsed. That person ought to go for eye check-up. Or was actually too frightened from the swaying effect.

A colleague of mine who stayed back most of the days felt very relieved. He said that he won't feel guilty in leaving for home at 6.30pm hahahaha. Off he went.

Some colleagues can't go home at all. Reason - their cars are still in the office building.

Well, I parked far far away ....... just next to the BMW showroom. When I walked till the BMW showroom, I noticed the workers at this 4 storey building had also ran down in wake of the strong shake ................... confirmed it was an earthquake.

Reached home and a colleague updated me that an earthquake tragedy struck Padang, Indonesia with a richter scale of 7.6. That's awfully high.
Tags: Earthquake, Richter Scale, Padang, Earthquake In Indonesia, Vista Tower, Intermark, Jalan Tun Razak

Higher Calling

2009-10-02T09:55:00.003+08:00

A man is driving down the road and breaks down near a monastery. He goes to the monastery, knocks on the door, and says, My car broke down. Do you think I could stay the night?

The monks graciously accept him, feed him dinner, and even fix his car. As the man tries to fall asleep, he hears a strange sound; a sound like no other that he has ever heard. The next morn in g, he asks the monks what the sound was, but they say, We can't tell you. You're not a monk.

The man is disappointed but thanks them anyway and goes about his merry way. Some years later, the same man breaks down in front of the same monastery. The monks again accept him, feed him, and even fix his car.

That night, he hears the same strange mesmerizing sound that he had heard years earlier.The next morning, he asks what the sound was, but the monks reply,We can't tell you. You're not a monk.

The man says, All right, all right. I'm dying to know.If the only way I can find out what that sound was, is to become a monk, how do I become a monk?

The monks reply, you must travel the earth and tell us how many blades of grass there are and the exact number of sand pebbles. When you find these numbers, you will become a monk.

The man sets about his task. Some forty-five years later, he returns and knocks on the door of the monastery. He says, I have travelled the earth and devoted my life to the task demanded and have found what you had asked for. There are 371,145,236,284,232 blades of grass and 231,281,219,999,129,382 sand pebbles on the earth.

The monks reply, congratulations, you are correct and now you are a monk.

We shall now show you the way to the sound. The monks lead the man to a wooden door, where the head monk says, the sound is behind that door. The man reaches for the knob, but the door is locked. He asks, May I have the key?

The monks give him the key, and he opens the door.

Behind the wooden door is another door made of stone. The man requests the key to the stone door.

The monks give him the key, and he opens it, only to find a door made of ruby. He demands another key from the monks, who provide it. Behind that door is another door, this one made of sapphire. And so it went until the man had gone through doors of emerald,

...... silver, topaz, and amethyst.

Finally, the monks say, this is the key to the last door. The man is relieved to no end. He unlocks the door, turns the knob, and behind that door he is astonished to find the source of that strange sound. It is truly an amazing and unbelievable sight.

. .. . But I can't tell you what it is because you're not a monk.

Tags: Monk, Monastery, Blades Of Grass, Sand Pebbles, Humour, Funny

Plastering the Ceiling

2009-09-29T14:45:00.008+08:00

The plaster ceiling materials arrived just before the hari raya week.

The ID people started the plaster ceiling works at the dry kitchen area. When I first saw it, I was quite disappointed with the low plaster ceiling level. My fully stretched hand could touch it.

After listening to the reason given by the ID staff, I hope that it will turn out as what they had envisaged.

Aluminium brackets installed initially is to hold those plaster ceiling boards.

After the hari raya holidays, I dropped by at the house to peek at the plaster ceiling status. After laying the plaster on the ceiling, the ground floor has brighten up quite a lot compared to the beginning of the house renovation.

My ID prefers a straight plaster ceiling. Only that beam stretching from the store room door to the opposite wall spoiled it all.

Plaster ceiling works on the ground floor are done and they are commencing works on the first floor this week itself. Should complete all by end of the week and painting for the whole house can commence.

The ID rate per square feet of those plaster ceiling is RM3.00. The L-box pricing for the curtain areas is about RM15.00 per foot run.

Sometimes I really wonder did I overdo it with those power points hehe

That red colour cables are specifically for my surround speakers. Yeah, aiming to turn this family hall into a audio/visual area. No need to go to cinema.

Also wondering whether I have sufficient $$$$ to buy a proper sound system ........ did so many wirings for future ..... it's not that I can't lay the cables later on but wanted the walls to have a clean look.

Otherwise, you'll see plastic cover running all over the house in future for additional power points.
Tags: Plaster Ceiling, Power Points, Surround Speakers