Baine's World

Lunch With That Person

2009-12-07T17:32:00.000+08:00

In Malaysia, that would be Tun Dr. M. There's just way too many things that I want to talk to him about. No single person in the history of this young country evokes such different reactions when his name is uttered by its people.

Like him or hate him, he's the type of person that you only get to see once in a lifetime. People like him don't come often enough and despite my admiration for him, he needs to answer some facts about his tenure as the CEO of Malaysia for 22 years.

As for what I would like to discuss with this man who was our PM for most of my life, that's between me and him. I wouldn't want to spill the beans or let the cat out of the beg now do I? I've some queries that would enlighten some of the questions that I have in my mind and I wouldn't want you to steal it from me :P

Another would be the late great Tan Sri P.Ramlee. He is still the most gifted entertainer that Malaysia has ever seen. Where did get all those ideas for his movies, both the funny one's and also the heart wrenching tear jerking one's also. Most Malaysian's would be able to recall at least 1 line from his movies and that means he's a legend even to the younger generations.

It's too bad that he is no longer with us but than again with the amount of crap that our current entertainers come up with these days, it maybe good for such a gifted soul that he doesn't see it too. His movies and music live on till today and will live on for very long time indeed.

Internationally it would have to be U2's Bono. This man is a musical genius in my books and I would like to pry his brains to see where his rocking genes come from. To be able to come up with such epic songs consistently for so many years is an art.

To have a career that U2 has had for so many decades is something that is hard to replicate. To keep band mates together is in fact a challenge in itself. He has a voice that is so unique that you know instantly its Bono and no one else. It's also one of the reasons why it makes covering U2 songs difficult. His vocal range is simple amazing.

Both of these people have a presence about themselves. They hold such an awe inspiring aura that an entire room's attention would shift straight to them if they were ever to talk into it. Not many people can claim to do that and the only other way you could achieve such an attention is if you tripped on the carpet and fall flat on your face, taking the cutlery from the table with you.

Chances of meeting either one of them? Slim if not close to impossible. I bet I'm not the only person on this earth that would like to have lunch with them and I don't think I'll be around long enough if there was a queue for it :P

Cheers!!! :D

Make Over

2009-12-04T01:05:00.001+08:00

This blog has been around for quite awhile and it has gone through some makeovers to its look over the years. Today I decided to give another makeover as part of Baine's World's 5th year in existence (yes I know, it was supposed to be done in September and not December :P).

Baine's World was originally green in color (yeah I know, it was quite limited back then) and at that time it was still Blogspot before Google bought it over and renamed it to Blogger. Since I was still fresh from my graduate uni days, I was able to do ~~most~~ some of the HTML work since things were not as easy then as it is now to spruce up your blog.

Than came the gray theme of the blog which coincidentally signaled a somewhat lull in the blog's postings. Not sure what came over me to go gray but it was tweaked so much that I couldn't use any of the default Blogger stuff to add it to the blog. This was also the time the whole blogging phenomenon exploded and the blog was basically linking to WAY to many stuff.

As the blog and myself grew older, I started to shed most of the things from the blog and simply went...well simple. Just a normal plain ol' white background with very very few stuff on the site. Most of the blog's little followers began emailing how it was easier now to read my ~~posts~~ rubbish.

There were a few other variations to the blog's design but time machine couldn't get a hold of it.

And then there is this....

I decided to go the ~~lazy~~ easy way to give Baine's World another makeover. It's a bit more ~~edgy~~ darker and it is most definitely the opposite of the last blog design. Why the sudden dark mood? Beats me but I kinda like it. It looks more like a stone-wall which what I suffer through ~~from time to time~~ often when I need to find something to blog about.

It seems I've added some of the weight I shed on the right column of the blog. You've got your normal Twitter snippets and a link to your photos online. I guess it's not too much ~~of self promotion~~ for the blog when compared to its last design.

I have to warn you IE users though (especially those STILL on IE6) that the log will look slightly odd on IE compared to the other browsers. I'm just too ~~incompetent~~ lazy to make it work on both in all honesty and Blogger pretty much lives with it.

If you're on IE that you MAY also miss seeing Baine's World's first ever favicon inspired by this post. ~~Padan muka~~ So go get a proper browser please.

Maybe you could share how many "surgeries" has your blog/site gone through over the years.

Cheers!!! :D

Grateful Right Now For

2009-12-03T11:38:00.000+08:00

Religion: I'm grateful to be born as a Muslim and I thank Him for keeping me in His faith.

Mom: I'm grateful to have such a kind soul that brought me to this world and is still with me till this very day.

Wife: I'm grateful to be gifted with such a patient and loving wife. I'm truly blessed by Him.

Kak's & BIL: I'm grateful that they have included me in their lives and they will always be in my thoughts.

Bro's & Friends: Where would I be without them. They've been with me for all these years and I look forward to many more.

Health: Certainly blessed by Him on this. I can do so many things in life because of this and it is all thanks to Him.

Job: Grateful that I have a job that puts food on the table. There were times in my life when this was no certainty and I will always remember that time of my life.

Memories: I have lived a life that's full and I'm grateful that I can draw on so many past experiences in order to live the present and plan for the future.

Maybe you could share some of the things that you're grateful for right now. Life is sometimes too short that we do not remind ourselves that life is important not only to us but to those who we care.

Cheers!!! :D

Brushing Frequency

2009-12-01T21:46:00.002+08:00

If there's even such a thing of course. I'm not even sure if it's even proven but don't you think that the frequency or speed of which you brush your teeth tends to follow the speed of the water coming out of the tap?

I can't be the only one suffering from this scenario. When the tap is running or flowing rather quickly, the frequency and speed of which I tend to brush my teeth much quicker compared to when the tap is turned off or dripping slowly.

There must be some subconscious reason we do this as I don't believe that the behavior is limited to just brushing teeth in the morning. Maybe it's the eyes sees the water flowing or the ears catching the sounds of the gushing water that controls the hand's movement while brushing.

I'm no scientist and I doubt that anyone should even bother but then again, I heard on the radio the other of how some scientist in Europe actually did a study to show how differently men and women react to something scary and fear. Way too much time on their hands.

Maybe you could share your experience?

Cheers!!! :D

Hot and Cold

2009-11-29T15:03:00.000+08:00

I'd take the wet and rain of the hot and sticky anytime. Even when I was still off-roading, I would still take the wet of the humidity anytime. I'd take the cold of the temperate countries over the humid and dry equator any time.

Which brings me to a question, how do most people handle themselves when the weather is not what they're used to? So often we see new expats walking and living around Malaysia being red as a crab as they adjust to the heat waves that strike this country.

As for me, it takes quite a deal of getting used to when I get to a new place or country if I'm traveling. Minus the jet lag, it normally takes me about 2 days before I get used to the new weather. Unless of course the new place is colder than where I was than it would take an even shorter time.

I'm one of the few Asians I guess to prefer a 4 season weather pattern as a place of living. The 4 seasons adds such variety to life and I really like it a lot. Being in Malaysia though we also get 4 seasons of our own which are dry, hot, humid and floods!

I'd rather be wrapped up in layers of clothing during a severe cold rather than trying to keep some cloth on me when the day is hot and humid. I know I'm contradicting myself because when it rains, I hate the KL traffic that comes with it.

So between hot and cold, it'll be cold for me. How about you?

Cheers!!! :D

Angkat Bakul Sendiri

2009-11-26T10:53:00.001+08:00

It’s that time of the year again. It’s time where the “polishers” start applying the elbow grease in preparation for “fanning” their respective bosses or supervisors behind. It’s not really just Christmas but its also time for the appraisal.

Ahh yes, appraisals. The single activity that would determine if you’ll get that raised or promotion or that bonus you’ve been eyeing for. It can also be the single activity that determines if you’re going to still be in a job.

If you happen to be in the appraiser’s position, this is the time where suddenly your team is hardworking and productive. Suddenly everyone wants to update you everything, even if they want to take a nature break.

It’s funny how people think that 10 months of laziness will be forgotten with 2 months of goodwill and hard work. Well at least I am not THAT naive. When you have to do self assessment, that’s when the ABS kick in.

ABS = Angkat Bakul Sendiri

This pretty much translates to tooting your own horn. Suddenly a simple job gets exploded into such an event that the company should be aware off. A simple ad-hoc task suddenly gets overblown in an activity that saved the company millions of shringgit.

Everyone is guilty of it and everyone does it because who doesn’t? A full year of wages hinges on a one to one session with your boss or supervisor. If you could carry your own basket to the top of KLCC, you know you would :P

If you’re in the position of appraiser, the challenge is to reward the consistent one’s and separate the rest. Sometimes this is the hardest thing and I know of some leaders who lose sleep over it.

So ladies and gents, try to cut down on the ABS. Such a thing should be left to keep your car under control when you’re not ;)

Cheers!!! :D

The Shank

2009-11-25T16:42:00.001+08:00

No matter how good you are at something especially sports, life tends to be fair to everyone so that we’ll have our good days and not so good days. No matter how good you are or how you have trained your muscle memory, well have one of these from time to time.

A shank

I had one of those days at the range the other day. I shank’ed almost 80% of the balls I played. Anyone who plays the game would know that you’ll have one of these times where nothing works.

No matter how hard I tried or keep telling myself to get back to basics, I’d continue to shank every time I put club to ball and believe me, it was frustrating to say the least.

Its kind off like how life tends to be from time to time. Everyone’s going to go through a phase where absolutely nothing works. Even the most basic rudimentary things would suddenly so difficult to do.

Most of the time the solution is not trying harder but the actual opposite because the harder you try, the worse things become. It’s always best to take a step back and pause for a moment and take a break.

Most of the time it’s a mental thing more than anything else. You don’t lose your golf swing or your ability to prepare presentation slides and reports overnight; you just can’t get out of the ~~rut~~ shank.

So the next time you get the shanks don’t panic. Just break away for awhile and give it another go after some time ;)

Cheers!!! :D

Office Games

2009-11-24T17:25:00.001+08:00

Everybody wants to play it. Everyone thinks they’re good at it. They believe they know every trick in the book and could outplay anyone. Some are so full of themselves that they talk themselves into believing in their own hype.

The fact of the matter is, most of the time these same people are just pawns for the real office politicians. These people don’t realize that they’re just a piece of a bigger puzzle but they fail to see it.

They tend to have “objectives” and “targets” of conquest when they don’t realize they’ve already backed themselves into a corner and lost any leverage that they may have had earlier.

I was once told that in any office you either play the game or be prepared to be played by it.

I’d prefer to stay on the fence on this one. I’ve learnt enough to know how to take care of my behind when the going gets tough. It’s easy, just doing what you’re supposed to do and you’re safe. Well most of the time at least :P

Attacks come in so many ways that you’re pretty much better off not giving a care if you enjoy your own sanity. Pantry gossip, online chats, flying emails, secret lunch meetings and anonymous letters are just part and parcel of the corporate world.

One of the biggest mistakes for anyone to do is to leave a company and hope that the grass isn’t filled with backstabbed people on the other side. Office politics are everywhere and exist in every company.

It exists everywhere but maybe on a different scale, that’s all. Less politicking and more work would make the office and in fact the whole world a better place ;)

Cheers!!! :D

Office Irritants

2009-11-19T15:02:00.000+08:00

Most of the people reading this blog are probably already working. In fact I think most of you reading this blog are doing so from the office! Betul tak? Most of us spend a good chunk of our time in the office or getting to/from office.

There are a few things in the office that irritates the hell out of me. Some of them beyond one’s control and other are. I’m sharing my peeves here and see if you agree or disagree with them:

Missed Calls: If you’re going to leave your mobile at your desk, do put it on silent please? No one else likes your ringtone and no one wants to hear yours on repeat.

Paper Jam: Just when you’re pressed to submit that proposal, the copier machine jams or the toner finishes or something breaks.

Staples Depleted: Irritating isn’t it? Especially when the staples are across the office in the store room.

Washroom Closed: Even worse! When the urge comes there’s not much you can do about it, you have to go there and then! Even worse when your cubicle is on the other end of the office, walking all the way to find it closed is depressing!

Blinking lights/lamps: When these flicker you’re transported to some dance disco with strobe lights. Irritating to the max!

Let Me Breathe: It’s normal for people to come to your place to show you something or have it reviewed but please, not too close even though you have impeccable BO.

Bone Dry Markers: There’s like 20 whiteboard markers in the meeting room but not a single on of it works.

Where's My..: Most of us tend to have issues when our stationary is taken/borrowed and is not there when we need it.

Care to add friends? ;)

Cheers!!! :D

Old Slang Sine

2009-11-06T12:16:00.001+08:00

Pardon the title, I know it makes no sense whatsoever but it just crossed my mine the minute I launched notepad to draft this blog post.

I spent 10 years growing up in the northern area of the peninsular, Penang to be exact, Lorong Batu Lanchang to be spot on but I don’t have the exact GPS coordinates if you wanted to know :P

Spending my formative years there meant that I had learnt the northern tongue or slang or in it’s 1Malaysia form “pelat”. Malaysia is unique that almost every state except for KL & Selangor will have their own slang to the same lingo.

I’ve since spent the last 19 years of my life back in KL. My parents decided to retire in the city instead of a nice and quiet town. I remembered when I first moved back to KL with a thick northern “accent” and had my school mates wondering what on earth I was saying.

I do suffer from momentary lapse back into the northern slang once in awhile, especially when relatives or friends start conversing in it.

I went back up north last weekend to meet up with some relatives and yes, I came back to work with the “pelat” thick as hell with some wondering if I’d hit on my head too hard. Try and see if you can figure out what these words mean.

Ayaq

Mampuih

Cerok

Meghelit

Lip-lap

Teghuih

Tang

Cengeh (silent H)

Ketegaq

Try also to find on any maps or Google maps and see if you can locate these locations.

Tanjung

Bagan

Best of luck to all ;)

Cheers!!! :D

Program Jejak Blogger

2009-10-20T13:04:00.001+08:00

I finally finished the awfully painful and irritating task of copying my Haloscan comments into Blogger (yes, manually) as I got tired of having JS-Kit ads on my site. If you haven’t notice, I’d like to keep my site ad-free.

Of course the entire exercise also meant that I was able to read back all my older comments from my earlier posts circa 2k5 to 2k6. That was the time when this blog was alive with vibrant posts and comments.

So, the next phase would be surrounding the same theme and it is called:

Program Jejak ~~Kasih~~ Blogger

I’m going to try and track down the bloggers who have posted comments on at least 2 occasions to see if they’re still blogging and the location their current blog. Of course this means I get to stretch this idea to a few “series”; which means it’s a cheap way of maintaining a constant steam of posts for the blog.

It’s also a way to say thanks to all those people who have supported me and this blog all those years ago ;)

So stay tuned for Projek Jejak blogger part 1 coming soon.

Cheers!!! :D

Ironic Rain

2009-10-19T15:22:00.001+08:00

I sincerely believe I have found the solution for dry spells that hit this country from time to time. I believe that next time Malaysia goes through a drought again all I have to do is wash my car and magically it’ll rain the entire day.

I’m not sure what about the rain or what it has against me but every time I decide to wash my car, it rains. It’s almost as if the clouds are watching; waiting for the time where I part way with my cash before it lets the heaven’s open up.

I can’t remember any occasions where I have enjoyed more than a day of a clean car before the rain comes falling down on me. It must be one of the most frustrating things for most people when it happens, it is to me :)

So the next time your area of the country is facing a long dry spell fear not, just let me wash your car in your area and chances are likely that it’ll rain soon enough there ;)

Cheers!!! :D

Painfully Irritating

2009-10-15T16:11:00.002+08:00

I've been trying to look for a way to get my Haloscan comments out from Haloscan and into Blogger but I haven't yet found a way or tool to do it. So now I'm going through the painful process of copying out each posts' comments out and than creating a comment on the posts and pasting it all back in.

Yes, I know that it is a painful job but I have scoured the net and can't find a proper way to do it. Using scripts might render as an "attack" by Haloscan and block my account altogether while I don't believe in paying them to export my comments out and than still unsure of how to import it into Blogger.

The job isn't made easier having the fact that Baine's World in its earlier days (when posts weren't so serious) had at least 50 comments for each post. It is painfully irritating but it's part of the blog and I don't want to lose it.

If you happen to know any other way to do it, please let me know because I've only gone through a year's posts and I'm beginning to lose it :)

Cheers!!! :D

Fruitless

2009-10-13T13:24:00.000+08:00

Have you realized that there’s no more fruits season per se? I mean there used to be a time when selected fruits only tend to be available for a certain period of the time during any given year.

These days it does not seem to be the case anymore. Fruits like durian and the like are available throughout the entire year and everywhere too. It is almost hard these days to drive and not find roadside fruit stalls selling fruits.

I guess when things are common like fruits are common throughout the year; it tends to lose its specialty somewhat. Too much of a good thing is normally never a good thing.

Not that I’m complaining though.

At least fathers to be would not cringe when their significant other craves for a specific fruit in the middle of night with fruits now being a season-less treat. Imagine if your significant other wanted to eat a fruit that was done for the season, you’d be in some trouble.

So there is some good in too many of a thing indeed.

Cheers!!! :D

Cuti Is My Break

2009-09-25T12:10:00.004+08:00

*Rage mode ON*

I'm out of office between 19/09/2009 and 27/09/2009 and will have limited acccess to my email. I will try to respond to you at the soonest.

Bahagian mana dari statement di atas yang anda tidak paham? I believe that the statement above would be a clear indication that I won't be working throughout that time right?

Habis apa pasal susah sangat bagi anda nak paham? Awak klien saya dan bukan ibubapa saya so harap maklum bahawa my priorities are as such.

You wouldn't like it if I was to call you during your festive holiday or break right so apasal you sibuk nak cari I time-time raya nie? Tak paham bahasa or to tengok iklan raya yang diulang-ulang on the damn TV?

Minggu depan saya start kerja balik and unless my boss calls my mobile, there's nothing earth shattering that can't be dealt until then. As such, tolong faham saya ada beberapa lagi hari untuk holiday so please understand and respect it.

Cuti is my break ok? Tak paham bahasa.

Sekian.

Cheers!!! :D

Spastic Statistics

2009-09-23T23:25:00.001+08:00

I find it almost shocking the amount of lives we lose on our roads on a daily basis during these festive periods. It sickens me to the core every time I see the statistics displayed in the news on how many people died on our roads.

What is with accidents and the long holidays? Do we suddenly become awful drivers all of a sudden? Is it because we allow k-car type cars on roads outside of the city for which these cars were never meant to go to in the first place?

I have a simple albeit crude way to describe how I feel about all this. Drive/ride/walk like a spastic and you’ll end up a statistic!

It wasn’t too hard for me to come up with that really. Motorcyclist riding without helmets during raya will definitely say good bye to this world even if they just fall off their bikes and knock their head against the asphalt.

Why is it also so hard for drivers to bring their ego just so ever lower and accept what your vehicle can and cannot do on the roads? No offense but hey, if your car doesn’t have the acceleration, torque or top speed, do keep yourself on the left side of the roads.

Drivers too think their cars are good enough to weave in and out of traffic and believe that they have cat-like reflexes. Most of the time, both is not true. Most would either be driving cars with no mechanical technology/assistance and even those fortunate to have such cars, probably paid their way to a driver’s license.

So please ladies and gentlemen, give our enforcement officers a break. They want to enjoy their holidays and go on long breaks too. Until everyone stops driving like a spastic, they can never be able to enjoy themselves.

Cheers!!! :D

Cleansing Rain

2009-09-21T18:11:00.000+08:00

Rain will always bring a certain calmness to me, it’s like washing the world off the dirt that man has created on it. It just feels like the rain would wipe away all of man’s indiscretion and when the rain stops, we can start anew.

At least that’s how I feel and maybe that’s why I love the rain so much. When the rain stops, the smell of a post downpour almost feels like an aphrodisiac to my soul. The smell of wet grass will always trump the many potpourri fragrances.

It’s just so natural that rain calms human beings. Some say rain brings disaster with flash floods and falling hill slopes but hey, what caused it in the first place? Flash floods are caused by indiscriminate and non existent city planning on the part of humans while hill slopes erosion is caused by man too.

Nature will always have its way of reclaiming what belongs to it. No man made structure will come close to those created by nature. How else can something as tough as a concrete retaining wall be unable to do what tree roots can in gripping the soil to the earth?

I’m enjoying the rain at my in-law’s place right now. Suddenly the roads are empty and calmness sets in. I like it. Unlike rain in KL where it causes nothing but havoc and chaos, rain in this part of the country only brings me at peace.

Cheers!!! :D

Astonishing Astro Service

2009-09-18T15:27:00.001+08:00

Almost everyone has one of it at home, some have two. Most would say without Astro things would be worse but some would say Astro is a prime example a monopoly that has no regard for its customers.

Astro to me is and will always be infamous for reruns to the point that I could watch the same show like 3 times in a single day. Why does this happen? Is it because Astro has no more money to pay for new shows? They did burn a huge hole in their pocket thanks to their poor Indonesian investment.

If I could have a competition it would be name which channel on Astro’s service that does not show a single repeat of the same show in 1 day. Try and see if you could figure that one out :P

Many have tried to come in and unseat the monopolistic beast that is Astro but have failed miserably. I’m just wondering was it because of the immense startup costs or bad management/idea/direction or is Astro to big of a giant to take down.

Until a suitable “David” comes along to take a chunk out of Astro’s complete pie of the pay TV market, I’ll console myself with the following acronym every I see a repeat.

Always
Showing
Terrible
Reruns
Over and over again

Care to add on maybe?

Cheers!!! :D

Project Manager

2009-09-10T11:20:00.001+08:00

According to Wikipedia, PM (not prime minister lar) or project managers are professionals in the field of project management. Project managers can have the responsibility of the planning, execution, and closing of any project.

Nice eh? What a glamorous definition for such a job. Well I have my own definitions for PM’s too based on my limited experience of course.

PM = Paling Mental

Paling mental essentially means that you would have to be a nutcase to do a PM’s job and it’s all because of the deadly Bermuda triangle on projects. What they are? Well imagine a tripod where each leg is the cost, schedule and quality.

Try to extend or shorten any leg of this deadly triangle would mean the tripod would topple and so does your sanity. Try to cut short on schedule and though you may cut cost but quality maybe suffered.

Trying to keep the balance perfect would drive most to insanity.

PM = Pasti Mati

Pasti masti of course directly translates to confirmed death and why not? PM’s are always the front that faces the customer so anything that goes wrong, PM’s will almost always be in the line of fire not only to customers but also his/her own organization’s stakeholders.

Execution of the PM can happen almost everywhere. You’re either declared dead during meetings, over the phone, via emails and texts. Most clients tend to keep PM’s barely alive so that the project can still be continued.

PM = Post-man

This is a breed of PM’s that really irks me to the core. Earning fat pays and high ranks/positions, PM’s in this category tend just to be nothing more than a glorified postal worker.

These PM’s are normally people who have worked in an organization for ages without anywhere to go or unable to move up higher in the corporate ladder. So organizations tend to ship them out as PM’s due to their “experience” with the organization.

Cheers!!! :D

Want It Back

2009-08-30T12:47:00.001+08:00

I think I’ve gotten a tad bit serious lately. I mean, reading at my past few posts, it’s certainly a far cry from the more lighthearted style of blogging of which this blog was first started on.

Not sure where the sense of humor has gone to or where has my much simpler outlook of life has disappeared. Maybe its because I’m not getting any younger or maybe because the next birthday that I celebrate will mean the disappearance of the number 2 from the beginning of my age :P

Spending time outside of KL with my in-laws has provided me with a lot of time to reflect on things. I’m not really in a “kampung” environment but hey it is still not KL and thus all the strings that comes attached with KL has been disconnected from me.

I’ve blogged previously how the creative juices aren’t flowing anymore but this has got to be a new one. Where my lightheartedness and lighter look at life has in general has gone too. It’s amazing the phases in life that I’ve gone through on this blog.

A friend of my told me the other day that my “fun” side has left the blogging world and entered the Twitter world. Not sure if that is true but I haven’t really realized the type of tweets that comes from me on that platform.

I’ll be heading back to KL at the end of the day and I hope to relocate my sense of humor that has seemed to have disappeared into thin air. Too much seriousness can’t be good for me especially when in high school my tag line was…

“Selamba sajalah!”

Cheers!!! :D

Mischievous Past

2009-08-26T13:20:00.000+08:00

Fasting month is here again and it also comes with numerous experience and memories of fasting as children or kids. It’s amazing how it seems effortless to most adults now when it looked so daunting when we were younger.

Fasting while brings us closer to religion it also brings out the mischievous in some of us. We’ve either heard about it or even done it before how so many methods were used to try and sneak in that gulp of water or that piece of kuih.

Suddenly children loved to brush their teeth, wash their faces to or even take baths during the day when most of the time the 3 things are just the laziest thing for most kids to do. Even while taking the wudhu’, kids tend to gargle way too much than what they are supposed to.

Then again some kids don’t ever grow up and they still do it even while they are fasting as an adult. Too bad that these days Muslims caught not fasting and eating during the day are no longer required to board the “van jenazah” with plate in hand as proof to be reprimanded.

Believe me it was a sight to behold. Grown men and women lining up to sit in the van with plates of rice and glasses of drinks in their hands while trying to cover their faces up. Not so easy when you’ve got your hands full with food eh?

Then there were those who got their non-Muslim friends or Muslims friends who don’t look like Muslims to buy food to be smuggled back to the dorm rooms. It’s amazing to walk down the corridor and suddenly smell nasi kandar coming out in the middle of the day during Ramadhan.

Hunger pangs will hit us every once in awhile but while we may no longer find ways to steal that sip of water anymore, it is nice to remember what we used to do as kids trying to get through a day of fasting.

Cheers!!! :D

Impartiality

2009-08-19T17:46:00.000+08:00

Sometimes I really wonder if in Malaysia is there any avenue that is truly neutral and impartial in reporting news, facts and information. Depending on what you refer to, it can always be associated as “leaning” towards one’s interest or another.

So what is then left for us; the silent majority; that we can refer to ensure that we get unbiased reports on current events? I know its wishful thinking but is it really that difficult to set one up and distribute it to the masses?

Why can’t we report things for what it is rather than trying to paint one side the victim and the other the savior? Why cant reports just be about facts rather than taking one side or the other? Why do we have to take sides anyways?

Don’t lay the blame purely on MSM for this biasness; the new media is just as guilty of it too. How easy is it for one to find on the net news that is really neutral with no strings attached? News sites and blogs will always belong to a particular side of the fence that finding one that sits on it is almost impossible.

News and information should always be based on fact. Not based on hearsay, rumors, gossips, assumptions and lately; fabricated statutory declarations which can be done for as cheap as RM2.

Way too much spinning is going around in the information/news business today. Facts are twisted and spin to the point where the actual truth or the actual facts of something gets totally blurred. Disgusting.

I want impartiality not biasness.

I want news and information, not spin.

I want facts and not hearsay.

I want proof and not rumors.

Cheers!!! :D

Profiting from H1N1

2009-08-17T10:41:00.000+08:00

I’m just throwing a curve ball here so don’t get me wrong. With the whole influenza H1N1 @ Swine Flu dominating headlines, a rather wicked thought crossed my mind. Who stands to profit from what many believe to be a pandemic in the making?

I’m no conspiracy theorist but I do like to see the other side of things. It is common in human history for business to take advantage of tragedies for the benefit of a few. I believe, the same case also applies for the current H1N1 virus spreading like wild fire.

Everyone knows that the manufacturing needed to support a World War was what helped lift the US economy out of its slump. Manufacturing of artillery and vehicles introduced demand in a market that no stimulus package could ever compare.

Read the news lately and what do you see is complaints by people of difficulty of getting access to flu medicine and even surgical masks. Suddenly there is a sudden surge of demand for mobile human body temperature check devices and such.

Like I said earlier this is a curve ball based on my humble views only. List to me the biggest pharmaceutical companies that are currently “challenged” to identify a cure for the swine flu. Imagine the scramble for the cure if it is proven to be effective?

Even in Malaysia there are people that stand to benefit from the impending pandemic. If you’re a supplier or importer of thermometer devices that you just hit pay dirt. If you’re producing surgical masks than Christmas and Raya has come early for you too.

I remembered when the pandemic started how some corporations wrote to that US government and to UN how it shouldn’t be called the swine flu. Why? Was it because of scientific facts?

No ladies and gentlemen. It was done so that their business would not be affected by people being scared to eat pigs.

There you go a curve ball after yet another hiatus on my part ;)

Cheers!!! :D

Fragile Reflection

2009-07-29T15:23:00.000+08:00

The Mrs. and I celebrated our birthdays recently. We thank Allah for gracing us with a good life and good health. We are all weak among his creations and we err easily so it is to Him that we ask for forgiveness and good grace.

The last few weeks have also seen people leave this temporary earth of ours. It brings me to a shudder to think how life is so fragile and that when our time comes, there’s nothing that we can do to stop it.

It is so easy for us (especially me); how we are here today, living, breathing and walking thanks to Him. Often I forget how grateful and thankful I should be but I do feel I don’t do enough at times.

The holy Quran says “And We did not create jins and humans other than to submit to Us.” And that should be the essence of which Muslims should lead their life with. That does not mean that we forgo life on earth in search of heaven, life should be balanced.

I believe and I know that I don’t devote enough of my time, effort and energy to His cause and to Him. I am ashamed as I fear that He thinks that I take it for granted the life that He has given me.

As we both thank Him for continuing to bless us with life on this earth, we will constantly remind ourselves how fragile we are in this life. Not a day should go by without being grateful and asking for forgiveness for our sins and the sins of our parents.

My greatest fear is that I love this life far too much and fear death. I pray to Him that such thoughts and feelings are banished from me and my family.

Cheers!!! :D

Al-Fatihah For Yasmin Ahmad

2009-07-26T14:31:00.002+08:00

Just as we were about to recover from the lost of a legend, we are shocked by the departure of the late, great Yasmin Ahmad. The late Yasmin had suffered a stroke and went through brain surgery before finally breathing her last breath late yesterday.

I won’t even try to write a fitting tribue for the late Yasmin, I’m sure that there are many those out there who are much more talented in writing one. Personally I never met her but she touched everyone through her art.

Her films spoke virtues that the silent majority felt closely in their hearts. She touched on issues that to many sparked controversy, to those who felt such topics should be swept under the rug rather than discussed.

Her brilliance shone through despite all the people trying to keep it down. Not only she was recognized here but her work was recognized internationally via various film festivals.

Her TV ads tugged at the emotional strings in every Malaysian. Again, she appealed to the silent majority rather than the noisy minority. Her appearance on the video for the song “Here In My Home” showed that she was part of the silent majority.

Her family has lost a member dear to them while the country has lost a gem; a gem that comes once every few decades and most of us may not live long enough to see another brilliant and talented person like the late Yasmin.

While we mourn her passing and try to move on with our lives, death brings a reminder to how fragile life is and how in the end, we will all be brought to face judgment in front of Him.

We will all be asked about our deeds and sins and we will reap the benefits or the opposite of what we have done in our lives. Our limbs will speak for themselves in front of Him, telling the life that we have lived on this earth.

For now she rests until the time comes. To those who live it is a stark reminder that when He decides to take us away from our loved ones, it will not be a second too soon or a second too late.

Al-Fatihah to Yasmin Ahmad. May He bless her soul and she is grouped together among those who are obedient to Him.

Amin.

Baine's World

*Lunch With That Person*

*Make Over*

*Grateful Right Now For*

*Brushing Frequency*

*Hot and Cold*

*Angkat Bakul Sendiri*

*The Shank*

*Office Games*

*Office Irritants*

*Old Slang Sine*

*Program Jejak Blogger*

*Ironic Rain*

*Painfully Irritating*

*Fruitless*

*Cuti Is My Break*

*Spastic Statistics*

*Cleansing Rain*

*Astonishing Astro Service*

*Project Manager*

*Want It Back*

*Mischievous Past*

*Impartiality*

*Profiting from H1N1*

*Fragile Reflection*

*Al-Fatihah For Yasmin Ahmad*

Lunch With That Person

Make Over

Grateful Right Now For

Brushing Frequency

Hot and Cold

Angkat Bakul Sendiri

The Shank

Office Games

Office Irritants

Old Slang Sine

Program Jejak Blogger

Ironic Rain

Painfully Irritating

Fruitless

Cuti Is My Break

Spastic Statistics

Cleansing Rain

Astonishing Astro Service

Project Manager

Want It Back

Mischievous Past

Impartiality

Profiting from H1N1

Fragile Reflection

Al-Fatihah For Yasmin Ahmad