Friday, April 07, 2006

A very fine month and a great birthday....

To those that do not know, I turned 23 recently. I had a tremendous celebration. I practically celebrated my birthday for 3-4 consecutive nights. On Friday night, I had an awesome dinner in Prego, Westin. The meal was great, the service was very good and to cap it all of; the company was perfect. Prego, Westin is definitely my favourite Italian restaurant by a mile. The food is absolutely brilliant.

After a great dinner, I went to Jues' house for a mini drinking session. We ended up playing a drinking game which was OBVIOUSLY chosen to make me drink more. All thanks to Lok. Although a bit tipsy, I was still quite sober although I had to lay down awhile before driving. It was definitely a great time spent with good friends.

On Saturday, I went to KLCC and MidValley in the afternoon for fun. I went to New Paris SS2 with my usual group of friends for dinner where I treated them to a simple dinner. Then we adjourned to Breakers for a couple rounds of pool. I thank my friends for giving me face and turning up on the eve of my birthday and for spending time with me.

Then on the actual day itself, I went to 1U during lunch time to have lunch with Akmal, May Yee and Wen Hsi. At night I of course had dinner with my family in Iketeru, Hilton Sentral. After dinner I went down to Jalan Imbi for beef noodles.

The next day, went for training but at night I went for a tour of Subang. Haha... I went to Sunway then Taipan and then back to SS 15. On Tuesday night, I went for dinner in Lobsterman with my colleagues and then for drinks with them in Slippery Senoritas. My colleagues bought me a flaming, a shot of JD, a shot of strawberry something and some licorice thing (semboka) or something like that. I also had several glasses of whisky. Thankfully I was still sober in the end.

This was probably my best and favourite birthday ever because I managed to celebrate it with lots of different people. But to be honest, there is someone incredibly special that made this birthday even better. Someone who spent nearly everyday with me throughout that period of time. Someone who really made me super happy during this period of time. Someone who touched my heart with her sweet words. Someone who never fails to amaze me.

16 Comments:

Blogger Unknown said...

who's the special girl la?

8:48 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

It is pathetic and outrageous that Korea is talking about "one family, one robot" while Malaysia is still struggling with "one family, one computer" a decade after both countries had got off a similar starting-mark in ICT development.

I have a quite number of friends who are lucky enough (rich enough) to pursue an overseas degree and eventually work in Silicon Valley in the US, thus contributing significantly to the pool of IT pros in that country.

But here Malaysia, we have a deadwood and sit-warming person. If you really mean business in something, you have to hire a really mean business person such as down to earth and no-nonsense person.

Otherwise forget about developed status, ICT and so on. Technology such as biotechnology, ICT and such a catch phases are not an easy thing to achieve. We must a highly intelligent and quick response person to do it.

Korea has such a pool of talented people and result can been seen today, and what they going to do by 2010 aim also can be achievable.

Having worked with in Korea and Korean companies over the years, let me state that it is not as simple as saying the government there is better.

It is but other than that, Korean workforce is one of the best trained and motivated people that I have ever met in the world. Their handicap is their Confucian hierarchical system and culture but unlike the Japanese, they are incredibly strong-minded and bigger risk takers.

It takes technologically focused consumers, hard working, forward thinking, ethical, educated, civilised, and a people whom can take criticism with action to improve for growth. Copying the Japanese development methodology will not work in Malaysia.

Malaysia culture is unproductive, restrictive, racially, protectionism, and Islamic linked. Educated human capital, where are they? Do you see sophisticated, educated, and civilised hard working people in your Malaysia culture? Do you see a demand in quality?

Government protection of your miniscule local market is blatantly narrow-minded. Protection of the malays has lead to a reversal in the above traits that would have otherwise lead Malaysia to be a greater nation than it is today.

When will the monorail be integrated with KL Sentral? How about building a flat footpath? If you walk around - it seems that Malaysians are incapable of building even that.

Malaysia, given its poor government and poor incentive and poor trained workforce had a smaller chance of making the MSC worked, and yet it took those early opportunities for granted and in fact squandered it away, much as we squandered away over the years the many opportunities of our resources, our people generosity and tolerance, our logistical advantage, our institutional strength, our diversity, even our constitutional strength.

We continue to take these things for granted and hence will inevitably fail. It is not the lack of resources, it is not the lack of infrastructure, it is the politics and the government system - the Umno hegemonic, the NEP and the corrupt ways.

Since when did Malaysia had the lead in anything? Perhaps is in the production of natural rubber and tin - at one time.

But at least we can still score some world prime with the first Malaysian eating "nasi lemak and teh tarik" in space by using millions of ringgit, and the money had already channel through that programme. It is those outdated mindsets for purely glamour that is drag our country down.

9:34 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I left the Malaysia country some 20 years ago. I am very glad I made that decision. My children got the education they desired and both enjoying their chosen professions after completing university studies.

I enjoy tremendously living and contributing to my adopted country. I am an IT professional, so are many of my friends who left Malaysia with me in the 1980s.

Most of our children are professionals in their own rights. They earned their places in the society on their own merits. Many of them are in the engineering, financial, IT, legal and medical professions.

Dare I say many of them won various scholarships throughout their academic pursuits. Oh Malaysia! You don't know how much you have lost……….

I would never come back to Malaysia. It sucks……….control of malays. They have no rights for Chinese or whatsoever. The Chinese, Indians and other races worked hard to pay their tax while the malays just spend it. Where is the right?

I did watch a documentary on the history of Singapore……….few days ago. There is an incident of the joining of Singapore and Malaysia.

The main reason Mr Lee Kuan Yew doesn't want to join with Malaysia is because Tunku Abdul Rahman wanted the malays to stay power on the political side and the others be second class citizens.

If during that time Tunku Abdul Rahman were to treat everyone the same……….Malaysia will be as rich and famous as Singapore today.

9:37 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

If we observe the educational backgrounds of those most zealous Umno leaders who now champions of the 'national' education system, we cannot fail to find that most of them are not products of the system they claim to be the best for 'national integration', 'national unity' and what not.

If they themselves have no confidence in the local or so-called 'national' education system, why do they insist that it is the best for the children and grandchildren of ordinary Malaysians?

Have we forgotten the slogan of 'leadership by example'?

It is sad that mother language education should yet again, be victimised by our ethnic politicians. That Chinese and Tamil medium primary schools are in short supply is patent.

Despite the government lavish spending on national schools and its zealous denial of vernacular education's contribution to national progress, both Chinese and Tamil schools still thrive.

Given this circumstance - and the fact that the right to mother language education is enshrined in our constitution - the government present education policy is both myopic and undemocratic.

Even if we ban all vernacular schools in the country, it will not mean that national integration will be achieved. Students would not integrate if they feel they are being denied equal chance to universities or government assistance.

We are tax-paying citizens and it is our right to demand for more schools of our choice. We as parents want to have a say in how we educate our children.

But please don't stop us from choosing what is best for our children. This is something that is very sensitive to the Chinese community and I hope that just as the sensitivities of the malays must be respected, the same would go for the Chinese and Indian communities in Malaysia.

9:41 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Malaysia's first astronaut will be chosen from a shortlist……….Malaysian astronaut will carry his nation's cuisine on the space……….

Isn't it cool? For a cool US$25 millions, we get to send one person to joyride with the Russians, dressed in batik and drink teh tarik in space!

What a wonderful way to spend your hard earned tax dollars. Bet Malaysia looks wonderful from the space but for the investment, what have we achieved?

Are we the first?
Did we build the spacecraft?
Did we contribute in any way to the space program except funding it?
Does Malaysia actually benefit from it?
Is there any thing we learnt that can be of use to you and me?

When the hardcore poor are surviving on snails and wild vegetation; the government is going to spend US$25 millions to send somebody to space to eat roti canai and drink teh tarik.

Is this a joke?

Another sheer waste of public fund! What is the aim? Use the money to train more doctors which is more sensible!

Just wonder that the resources and money would be better spent improving the quality of drinking, drainage system on par with the West.

Yes, this is a sheer waste of money. We have become crazy with this Malaysia Boleh slogan. There is nothing to crow about with the capability of climbing the highest mountain, swimming across the cannel, having the longest roti canai, etc.

9:43 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Alas, what we have in Malaysia is political interference in the education system. Unless we remove this interference, no improvement is likely to happen. Government should only provide the legal framework and the means for educationists/professionals to plan and implement the system.

The aim of the first phase of the NEP is to fill up all such positions with malays who are inept, ill qualified or under qualified to handle the responsibilities that come with their positions, and so that people like you will be so frustrated and pissed that they would bundle up and get the hell out!

I think the 'reformers' should be reformed before we could think about reforming the system. They all should be sent to re-education camps for an indefinite period until they are reformed.

They must be made to understand the importance of nation building in the world - nation building through education. It is time to re-examine the national curriculum and see how it meets today's requirement.

Education is not something new that much have not be known. To have a quality educational institution, we must allow the educationist/professionals to plan and implement the system. Allow some healthy competition and the system would maintain its standard.

The private education system would serve as a model if the government is really honest with itself that there is no political agenda for being so closely involved in educational issues as it at present.

We do not need a crystal ball to see that. Have we forgotten the strength and spirit with which we won our independence - the Malaysian way, with all the races standing united and showing the colonialists that we were a force to be reckoned!

Perhaps, not only Singapore but other countries too will be envious of our position. Otherwise, you will end up as cannon fodder.

Of course, I am as angry as you are and as hurt as you are. For me to call this country as home but being treated like a degraded human being where opportunities are accorded and denied along racial lines can never be of comfort to us.

It is as degrading and demeaning but that is an issue we have to struggle or even fight for. And I have to admit that the ruling elite has become very greedy and selfish. When I mean the ruling elite, it includes Chinese and Indians too unless you are going to deny that Chinese and Indian ruling elite cannot be placed in the same category as their malay counterparts. The only difference is in the numbers.

I have many friends - Chinese, Indians and Malays who struggle to make ends meet. There is no need to rub salt into their wounds.

I think better change ourselves first……….too much to hope for the institutions and society to change……….and even if institutions and society do change……….the change may not be to our liking.

God gives each man and woman the will and power to change themselves for the better.

Of certain, if you can create a critical mass beyond a certain threshold……….then you can change institutions society and society and the country.

Do I see a better Malaysia in the future? No, I am not sure. May be we can be rhetoric about it, but as long we as a nation, go on squabbling along racial and religious lines, we are doomed.

I left the country when I felt that there was no future for me and my family, and now I no longer felt oppressed or deprived of my rights. The world is a wide-open space. Go where you are appreciated. Why keep poisoning yourself drinking from the poisoned well?

I know of others who have made it on their own. Half of my classmates made similar decisions and after almost 30 years, we still keep in touch through phones and emails. Often times we fondly remember the good times we had as a group and nobody gives a hoot about our different races. How times have changed.

9:47 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Statistics show that an average of four women are being raped and are susceptible to violent crimes daily. Have we given up the will to fight and provide safety for our womenfolk who form about half the population?

It appears that not only are car parks not safe for our women but even a healthy jog in daylight is now a high-risk activity. Not only do thousands of women fear the lurking snatch thieves, they now have to live in the shadows of being raped by perverts and sick men.

Ask any parent and they will tell you without batting an eyelid that their fears for the safety of their children has been on the increase especially for their daughters.

This then calls for a national action plan. It is the duty of elected representatives who have been given the mandate to act to come up with a solution. To argue that these are events beyond us, runs contrary to the fundamental tenets of having a government.

An immediate outcome should be fixing the perennial manpower shortage story that is plaguing our police force. Also increasing the budget to improve citizens safety should be a greater priority for our policymakers.

Meanwhile, women's organisations too, must rally together to demand and ensure that constructive action plans are implemented by the authorities. They have a right to their safety.

Let us hope that we can join the ranks of those countries in the world that proudly announce as themselves as being the safest places on planet Earth. But we must act and act fast. The least the authorities can do is to enable our womenfolk to feel reassured of their safety to a dependable level.

10:08 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

There is nothing to lose if you have made up your mind. Best wishes to you.

I agree that there are more opportunities outside Malaysia for non-malays if you don't have the right connections at home Malaysia. The pasture is definitely greener on the other side!

I went through the same process 15 years ago with my three children, and today, they are very successful in their respective careers. To these young qualified professionals, the world is their oyster.

15 years ago, by the racial discrimination in terms of quota system, my children had slimmed or no chance to enter local university which was the dream of every kid in those days.

With the comparison of the result with that of the outside world now, it is of no priority or consideration at all by the present generation.

It is like one says: "In the old days, students were forced to go overseas only when they could not secure places in University Malaya. Now it is the reverse - students go overseas as a priority".

With the proficiency of the English language and substance (my children) they have, they have secured their professional jobs by choice and have the opportunity to work in Australia, then Singapore, then back to Australia, and one is still working in London because of the pursuit of a specialist course.

It is amazing that they could just secure their job with the submission of CV through Internet followed by telephone interviews. This is the type of ability that our present Malaya 60 thousands of unemployable graduates could not have.

Two my children have now settled down in Australia with secured jobs and one is still in London. However, three of them have secured on their own each with a residential property in Australia, and they are all at an age of below thirty.

We are no traitors as we use our own resources all the way unlike some government scholarship holders who spent away money and now refuse to go home to serve the country because they too find that overseas life is comfortable.

We cannot keep living in an environment where robbing A to pay B is a norm, and the world is now our children performing stage.

If we didn't move out in those days, my children would be in the present group of the 60 thousands unemployable graduates if they were lucky to be admitted to those local Malaysia university.

I am very happy with their achievements and what someone say, "Give a man a fish, he eats for a day, teach him how to fish and he eats for a lifetime", is very true as my children really know how to fish and in such a manner, I can retire comfortably in my twilight years. I suppose this is my harvest time.

10:11 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Forget about globalisation. Our Malaysia country can't even sort out internal multi-culturalism. Searching for the best person for the job is too much.

Why not have a major breakthrough and break another glass ceiling for racial harmony in Malaysia? At least consider all qualified Malaysians irrespective of race as UM vice chancellor (VC) to be. Not just a list of malay candidates! So insulting to the 'Malaysia Truly Asia' slogan.

A really good VC will implement meritocracy in the truest sense of the word. Of course this will not be sympathetic to the malay Agenda. I think the powers that be is fully aware of this and will not dare to hire somebody outside their race.

That is why we have brain drain. Who want to work in a place where there is no prospect and your destiny is designed by the color of your skin .The sky is not the limit here - your skin color is. It doesn't hurt that must if you are in other countries, but to be treated like that in your own country……….it really sucks.

If this country is to progress and the dominant race is to advance to a higher level, the politicians will have to discard their current mindset first. No use talking about first class mindset when their very own mindset is narrow and selfish. To them everything is about race, their race that is.

Firstly the prime minister must have first-class mentality, so that he can lead the country towards excellence. So far we are not yet to see that in Pak Lah.

Those in power still have this Ketuanaan Melayu mindset. Therefore to get somebody other than their race is not on their agenda. All this talk should to have a first class mindset is you guessed it, talk only.

Umno Youth leader will come out with his keris if any other than a malay is appointed VC of the country premier university. There is no way, not in a million years, will a non-malay be a bank negara governor, chief justice, state secretary, vice chancellor, etc etc.

This is malay pride and racial pride supercedes national priorities in this country

Malaysia is now what Germany used to be in the Second World War under the reign of Hitler. As what person has mentioned, the malay pride is at stake.

The world had never seen an ethnic race with such an inferiority complex. They are forever afraid of losing out to other races. Sigh!

Bolehland is too full of wishful 'Boleh' such that too many are hallucinating and no longer acknowledge reality of globalisation.

Just like economic developments, where we were once on par with the likes of Korea, today we are ranked in the lowly hundreds while Korea are playing in the World Cup. The same malaise will happen to any VC if he is of the 'wrong' race.

Until and unless there is that confidence that the best person has been selected and that person should be allowed to do his/her job, anyone in that position would be subjected to all kinds of interference as pointed out.

Over the decades, the government has proven to the world that malays are up to the mark for all positions of importance. There is therefore no need to put up malay candidates just to show that malays can perform.

The government has confirmed that meritocracy is the guide for student enrolment and staff recruitment into universities. The person sitting on the post would have to follow that policy. There is therefore no hidden agenda to be secretly carried out by the trusted person of specific racial origin.

Do the right thing by appointing the best person to any job.

10:13 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

We live in a little make believe cocoon called Malaysia and the threat of globalisation is going to destroy all our companies, GLCs and private, who insist on doing business as usual. MAS and Proton have already felt the heat. Telekom Malaysia (TM) is another government privatised company which still functions very much like a government department.

I applied for the Streamyx broadband Internet service in last December. I was told to call a 1300 number for activation. After doing that, I was supposed to be able to enjoy broadband Internet speeds. However, after three days there was no DSL light which means that my line has not been hooked up.

Telekom claimed to have checked the 'jumpering' and said there was nothing wrong. Two installers have come and said there is nothing they can do because the problem is with Telekom.

Then as if that was not bad enough, I was billed RM88 for two months of broadband access which I have not even got. Somehow there seems to be little communication between the departments. What a mess!

All it takes is for TM to check the jumpering, go to my house to verify its working and if not go back to the jumpering again and repeat that until the customer is satisfied. What is lacking is a service mentality.
If Telekom Malaysia is truly profit-driven in a competitive environment, it will realise that an unhappy customer will be someone else's customer very soon. If there was an alternative out there, I would have switched immediately.

Close shop or wake up. The Malaysian market is an Utopia but the world out there won't react so kindly.

10:18 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Many countries have tried to develop an IT industry much earlier and with more and better resources, and better government than us Malaysia and have not succeeded.

The chance of us succeeding given our handicaps was never good and will never be good. It begins with poor politics, then poor government, then poor education, and then poor business environment (e.g. small market).

What is remarkable to me is that some people have managed to make good money and build companies despite our problems - Mobif, Jobstreet, Green Packet, etc. These people proof that the government is more in the way for developing the industry than helping it.

In fact, the government would do better to get out of the way rather actually have any sort of grand plan like MSC. The real only way the government can help is by having open competitive bidding in government procurement of IT and putting competent people in charge of that.

Nothing else they do would really mean anything much. I would argue all the spending on grand projects, computer labs, computer courses etc, amount to basically waste.

There is no hope of the MSC really succeeding, but we can still benefit from better IT and that perhaps is would be better because at least it means less waste.

The truth is there it is no real strategy. MSC was never a great idea - it was an opportunity for government spending more than anything else and as Bill Gates told us very politely, it would not work because of that.

10:21 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The (mis)interpretation of history is a viable tool to promote and pursue political and ideological domination or colonisation. We have heard arguments that the mainstream version of history should be adopted and accepted, without question.

In contemporary term, this practice is known as 'absolutism' - which is unfortunately a distortion and manipulation in itself.

The most dominant version of history may not necessary represent absolute truth but it is merely a viewpoint or an opinion presented by the majority.

A version of history promoted as a dominant viewpoint argues that the contract was primarily about the exchange of Malaysian citizenship for the two immigrant (Chinese and Indian) communities and in return they recognise the rights of the malays as the natives and the masters of the land.

Hence, proponents of this viewpoint argue that other communities, especially the present generation particularly those of Chinese descent, must accept these rights - both political and socio-economic - unquestionably.

Any social contracts or agreements made between communities in a particular time period cannot continue to bind generations to come without adjusting to the transformations and developments of a society.

Proponents of the dominant viewpoint have some serious questions to answer. Are those who are born and bred in Malaysia, especially non-malays, still considered as immigrants? Since they are born as Malaysians, the social contract is not relevant to them.

Furthermore, Malaysians of all races, post-independence have contributed significantly albeit through their own ways and means to the country's progress and development. All races have had a hand in the making of a modern and developed Malaysia. Surely this means more than a mere exchange of citizenship. What is the worth of a citizenship if it does not come with equal rights?

The creation of a truly Bangsa Malaysia (Malaysian race) cannot be achieved through a master-servant relationship model. What is obviously needed is a condition where a shared common identity can be fostered through the existence of socio-political equality and justice.

In a global village, all communities in Malaysia are minorities. Our experiences in facing the forces of globalisation or in trying to make ourselves heard on international platforms where our presence is dwarfed by much bigger and dominant countries should have taught us well that the above concepts or misconceptions are not suitable for us.

We need to promote a new and all-inclusive national agenda to foster greater unity and to capitalise on our rich diversity in order to stand up to the challenges of globalisation.

This can only materialise if we can discard our old mindset and destroy these dormant perceptions of majority might and master-servant relationship.

10:23 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Singapore had a head-start when Goh Chok Tong's team came up in 1984 with the vision of achieving the Swiss standard of living in 15 years, i.e. by 1999. Mahathir, in his usual loud style, came up with Vision 2020 and was pronounced a visionary.

Vision 2020 is catchy because it suggests a perfect vision (for eye testing - 20/20 is considered "perfect" eyesight.) It was actually a copycat idea, but marketed with pomp and pageantry as if it was his original idea.

Now take the topic under discussion - the ICT industry. Singapore started its computerization programme in a big way, way back in 1981. The second phase was from 1986 - 1990. In 1991, it embarked on the IT2000 programme to turn Singapore into an Intelligent Island.

Shortly after this, Mahathir caught onto the idea, and as usual came up with the brilliant marketing idea of Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC).

One thing must be said about Mahathir ideas. His ideas are good and original. Unfortunately, those ideas that are good are not original, and those that are original are not good.

Pak Lah's comments are almost always casual in nature and without any substance; if an outsider were to just listen to what he has said without knowing who he is, that person would think that he is a kampung folk making coffee shop talk.

Despite Mahathir's flaws, Pak Lah can't achieve 10% of Mahathir calibre. Pak Lah should stick to becoming a foreign minister and let someone else lead.

Telekom Malaysia (almost single handedly) stunted the growth of the Internet in the country and the need for everyone to be wired, hanging on to monopoly and going for their high profits! Germany is already in Gigabits, Singapore is talking about moving to 100Mbps, and we Malaysia can hardly sustain 512Kbps. Furthermore, how often does our lines drop?

It just shows how slow we are compare to others, even when we start at the same time. Maybe we can achieve "1 home 1 PC" by 2020. What a joke, that might not really happen! Nothing much will change if the Umno people didn't change and keep playing political cards and not on developing the country.

Sorry, this should be their mindset. It already a known fact that "malay = slow". How can we progress! They can keep their man at the top here, but when we compared with the world, where are they! LRT, MAS, TM, you named it, they flop it. Bio-valley already a failure, MSC is next.

The MSC is a total failure on all counts because of the significant lack of IT professionals in the country. The root cause of it is attributed to the NEP which set a quota for the various races entering our Malaysia public universities.

Moreover, our bright non-malays are given a raw deal by being offered "shitty" courses such as applied sciences, social science and other "low class" degrees. So, good courses such as computer science and IT are in turn offered to malays as part of the ever popular "malay agenda" and to fulfill the malay pride as one poster had mentioned.

If the government is forever embroiled in the destructive notion of the malay agenda and the NEP to put the malays on par with the other races, Malaysia will seal its own doom sooner or later.

10:28 AM  
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