Deteriorating Services (or is it deteriorating money value?)

I was amused, and confused. In a span of 2 days, my money was rejected, or nearly so. Oh well, maybe it's too small a sum, I guess.

At a public toilet, I was given a "lecture" by the caretaker, when I pay with a few 5 sen coins. I was so surprised, I thought to myself "is it that the 5 sen coin had also been canceled, like the 1 sen?". Eventually, he was saying that it's hard for him to change, or something like that. I wasn't paying notice once I'm sure my 5 sens are still valid.

But afterwards, I gave the incident a deep thought. What the hell! What is wrong with paying with 5 sen? Is 5 sen not money? The fastfood chain are paying me those all the time, can I say no?

And another instance(which is quite normal nowadays)is when I pay with a RM50 note for a few ringgit of products. While I always try to avoid doing this, sometimes I just can't help that I do not have any small change. But when I pay, the attendant just totally reject the money, asking me to find some small change to pay him.

I really think the services sector should improve, and move away from this practice, as I think as a consumer, we deserved better.

Toyota crisis

On the first week of my working life,my company exposed me to the idea "Doing it the Toyota Way" and "Kaizen", which I was told means "improve" in Japanese. But don't get me wrong, I wasn't part of the Toyota staff, and in no way being associated with them. The only link between me and Toyota is my dad owned one Toyota Corolla.

Until the recent crisis, Toyota has been a symbol of excellence, a sustainable corporate giant that span 73 years long. Toyota cars are meant to be reliable,and to many, owning a Toyota car alone is a great pride.

I was unfazed when Toyota announced the recall of vehicles. I thought it was a great move, a sign that they really care about the quality of the cars they produced. "No recall doesn't mean it's a good car" is what deeply feel, due to the numerous problems encountered by the people owning a national car. I was in no doubt that Toyota will come back stronger.

But when the news of an internal Toyota document broke off, I was deeply shocked! The internal document allegedly boast of a "win" for Toyota in striking a deal with the U.S. government for a more limited recall involving floor mats, and saving the company $100 million.

Though until now there aren't any definite reply whether the document is genuine or not, I hope Toyota, or even Akio Toyoda himself, will clarified on this matter. While customers acknowledged that defects does happen, they will never forgive for ignoring their safety for the sake of saving money. This will be a crucial point in convincing and winning back the customers again,and that Toyota is still a reputable company that stress on safety.

My confidence on Toyota is greatly shaken by this document, and as this crisis keep on unfolding, we may, or may not get to the real cause all these recalls.

May we all get to the root of the cause..

Malaysians should be PROUD! We have a very proactive government!

I have always been a passive person, and was, and still is, always urged to be more proactive in the way I do things. Perhaps I'm too passive in nature...perhaps I should learn a thing or two from the government.

The government has been, in recent time, very proactive in what is happening in the country. The two obvious cases are as below:

1) The alleged leaking of the autopsy report on Teoh Beng Hock to non-authorized personnel by Pornthip.

The PROACTIVE Personnel: MACC Officer.

2) Filing of appeal against the High Court ruling on the use of the word “Allah”

The PROACTIVE Personnel: Home Ministry/ Home Minister


I'm deeply influenced by the government's proactive-ness, and I vowed to be more proactive from now on! ( wow! what an influential government! They will have to be careful with their action if they command such great influence, as there are always Good and Bad influence)

BM again for Science and Maths..Are we in the right direction?

When comes to this issue, so often I will have contradictory stand, depending on which aspect I look at. Being the first batch to go through this change of policy by the government in 2003, I have often thought of the logic of implementing it when I'm in the first year of Form 6

Here are some of the Questions that keep running in my mind whenever I give a thought to this issue.. and some have answers, some no..

Q: Will teaching Science and Maths in English improve the student's command of the language?
A: NO! How can the limited English in Science and Maths improved the students' command of it. Science and Maths don't teach grammar! The most can be learned is the specific scientific and mathematics terms. For my batch, everything remains the same as before, just need to write down the BM terms, so that to link up with previous knowledge of the topic.

Q: So what is the purpose of implementing it in the first place?
A: Hell, I don't know! Improve the image of our local graduates, maybe..Cause when I attend job and scholarship interviews, the interviewer will ask whether teaching and learning is in English. And most likely, stressed on the importance of English to the people. Already, I heard people saying "English? why care? PPSMI scrap already!"

Q: So is it a good thing that we scrap this policy now?
A: I don't know. It depends on why they scrap it. If it's because the rural students can't catch up, then it's a really one BIG step backward for the nation! While we slow down to let rural students catch up, we are losing grounds to the world! Frankly speaking, I feel this is merely a political decisions to win support from the various Malay, Chinese,Indian NGO and incompetent teachers. And I can't think of any good to scrap it now. Students will be the victims...

Q: Do you agree that “Technical terms need to be absorbed in English, so strengthening English in general is not going to help in Maths and Science.”?
A: Yes, agree! But technical terms can be learned quite easily.. As long as the student grasped the concept right, terms isn't going to affect much, and shouldn't be a big issue. I know it, I've been through this! ( I study science in Chinese for 2-3 years, in BM 5 years, and in English 2 years).

Q: If I'm the Education Minister, what actions will I take?
A: It depends on what are the problems. Whenever this Education Minister makes a decision, I never quite know what is he trying to tackle or solve. As far as I'm concern, there is nothing wrong to teaching Sciences and Maths in English. The problems:
I) the low quality of the teaching staff
II) the rural students lagging.

Solutions:
I) If the teachers really unable to teach Science and Maths in English, don't let them teach! Let them teach other subjects like Physical Education. If no such vacancy, post them to other areas or school that need such teachers, and employ competent teachers to teach. I believe the incompetent teachers are being too pampered! If the students can adapt, so can the teachers! Humans are always learning and adapting! Ever wonder how you know how to eat rice?

II) If the commitment is there, in the long run, surely the quality of the teaching staff in rural areas will improve. In the mean time, provide more residential school for the students in rural area.

Print something without ink?

Well, that day while I was browsing through the newspaper, I saw one of those usual Dell's advertisement brochure. Besides being colourful and pleasant-looking, this one sentence caught my attention "IT'S NOT MAGIC, BUT IT'S CLOSE".

So I read on.."Zero-ink, Bluetooth-enabled mobile printer".

Huh? Printer that is zero-ink? How is that? No ink that how it prints?

So I search through the web to find out what is this all about.

It seems like this ZINK Paper is an advanced composite material with cyan, yellow, and magenta dye crystals embedded inside and a protective polymer overcoat layer outside. When heat is applied in just the right way, full color images appear like magic on the paper - hence the term "magic paper".

To find out more, visit the following site
http://www.zink.com/ZINK-paper

Well, I just think technology is really incredible, and impossible is nothing! Try tell those non-techie that printing without ink is possible, I'm sure they will say you are out of your mind! So now, who is out of their mind huh?..

So next time if you have a brilliant idea that sounds impossible, don't simply give up and bow down to people who say "it's impossible", because if you don't try, you'll never know!

Please don’t sweep these under the mat

In the recently concluded Penanti by-election, there are so many allegations against PKR by the independent candidate, Aminah Abdullah. While I feel that all these allegations may be her attempt to win over voters from voting for PKR, those allegations must thoroughly investigated! If it eventually found that PKR is guilty, then take them to the court. If is found that this Aminah was making baseless allegations, then she also must be taken to task for doing it.

Just that the election is over doesn’t mean what is said and done can be ignored! Everyone must be responsible for their actions, and I hope the people at the MACC is keeping up the investigations, and give the public a conclusion on the investigations.

Being Corteous just isn't the Malaysians way- generally

I think Rapid KL should put this in the bus!

I've been commuting the Light-Rail Transit and bus to work for the past few weeks, and I noticed something that I never would have notice while commuting as a tourist previously.

While queuing up to board the bus(which I'm glad people do queue), I was confused when a middle age woman (aged around 40 something to 50 something) standing in front of me in the queue, asked me to go ahead, while she continue to stand in the queue. At that time, I thought: "maybe she is waiting for someone." But that is not the case, as I was about to find out the truth, some days later.

While queuing, I overheard the conversations between the senior citizens couple. The uncle said:" cannot lar, the queue so long, I can't stand for the whole journey!" Then his wife replied:" queue 1st lar, if really no seat, wait for the next bus lar!" Finally, I know why some of these people just skip this round of the bus, because they can't bear to stand for the whole journey.

While I admired their independence and their "not using their senior citizen status to get advantage" (there is a proverb in cantonese "yi lou mai lou"), I wonder whether it's because they know people just aren't courteous enough to give away seats to them. I got to prove this point when an aunty, who boarded the bus, but found no place to sit, told her teenage companion who just sit down: "I have to go down, I can't stand for the whole journey." Oh my god! Even the companion doesn't offer her the seat?! Then what can be expected from a perfect stranger?

I'm not trying to say that I'm a saint, in fact, I'm a bit reluctant to offer my seat and stand for the one hour bus ride. But deep in my conscience, I felt the need to be just a little bit more courteous, and this is my point, "Please be a little more courteous!".. Maybe we can put the poster in the bus too!

Why we should not put a cap on the number of subjects allowed to be taken for SPM candidates?

SPM, is actually the beginning of our future path, where we finally have to make decision, and choose out career path. While we all may have childhood ambition, to become a professional like doctor, lawyer, engineer, and accountant, how do we know whether we are up for it, or do we really have the right attitude or fundamental to be successful in this line?

We don't really know, so how do we decide? By taking the extra subjects, to determine whether one is actually good in physics, or economy. While I have to admit that most of those who scored 16 A's and 21 A's did it because they want to break the record, we just can't ignore the small portion of the people where they want to know how they stand in certain subjects, and decide on their future career path!

Again, I want to stress is that, scholarship should be offered to the brightest mind in the field, and also needy! We do not need Jack of all trade, but master of none! If one is master in all trade, surely he deserved to get the scholarship, and no one will questioned about it! It's as simple as that!

So why put a cap?

Whose stupid idea to limit the number of subjects allowed to be taken by SPM students?

I'm just amazed, yet again just where is the common sense of our government officials?! Recently, the Education Ministry/Minister came out with an idea to limit the number of subjects to be taken by SPM candidates. They said this is "for fairer Public Service Department (PSD) Scholarship selection.

I'm not sure what their real motive are, but this idea actually showed the lack of common sense, or even the lack of critical thinking and problem solving sense in their part!

First of all, PSD Scholarship selection issue is not a new problem, it has been going on and on for many years now, and no (education or prime) minister tried to find a solution to solve it! And now with this idea, I can be sure that not that they can't solve this, they actually didn't put this issue to thought at all!!! They just ignored it all these years, and only now with the new Prime Minister and cabinet trying to win back the people, they are giving this issue a thought.

But this is a stupid idea, no matter how you see it! And most importantly, it wouldn't solved the problem even it is implemented! They ministry just didn't use their mind to find solution and identify the root of the cause, instead trying to suppress the rights of the people!..

First of all, what caused this PSD Scholarship selection problem? Obviously, it is not the number of subjects that the students take, but is the selection criteria that caused all these problems! If you get your criteria right, then this issue doesn't arise at all! How?

Ok, a student, X scored 17A1, and 1A2, and another student, Y scored 10A1. X scored 'A1' in Physics, Chemistry, Science, and 'A2" in Biology, while Y scored 'A1' in Physics, Chemistry and Biology. So who should get the scholarship for Medical studies? Common sense will tell you that Y should get it, eventhough X scored 17 A's. Simple, right? So why care about how many subjects the student is taking, if you get your criteria right?

Actually we are already using this concept in selection for our local uni. For example, for engineering courses, they required applicants to get at lease B and above for Mathematics, so even if you score C for your General Paper, it doesn't really matter, unless there is a condition when there is a tie between the applicants.

The Beer-less 7-Eleven?

So, now the local council in Shah Alam is banning the sale of beer in 7-Eleven and other shops, simply because...it is a Malay-majority area?!!

So next time, when you walk into a 7-Eleven that doesn't sell beer, then you know that area is Malay area! Great! Another way to divide the Malaysians! So when are we going to achieve One Malaysia?

Actually this is not really new..in a small town in Parit Raja, Johor, the 7-Eleven there also not selling beer..but it's not because the local council is banning it, but simply because there are no demand for them!.. At lease, the near-by shops are still selling it!

This act of banning the sale of beer in 7-Eleven and other shops definitely infringes the rights of the non-muslims!!! Can you be a bit more considerate and respect the rights of the non-muslims there?!! I'm certainly surprised that this actually happened in a developed state like Selangor?!! I think the "developed" status should be withdrawn! It seems like the people in the Shah Alam local council still do not have the developed mindset..

Please!..Don't infringe the rights of the people!! If it's really so majority, then there will be no demand right? By then, you think 7-Eleven will still stock up beers in this area?

Please, the Pakatan government, and also to the Shah Alam local council! Be sensible, use common sense, we can make this country a better place!

Please Let The People to Choose!

Being a Perak-ian, I'm really saddened by the recent turn of events unfolded in the Perak state government recently. It's really chaotic, and very degrading to the human nature!

To Bota assemblyman Datuk Nasarudin Hashim, I'm giving you a huge thumb down! And I urged every voters to reject this kind of politician, who is obviously without principle( even if most politician are not principle-centered, at lease they don't do it so obviously!), self fish and disloyal! As if defecting isn't bad enough, this fella defect twice in 2 weeks!

I'm hoping that our highly respected and intelligent Sultan of Perak, Sultan Azlan Shah to do the right thing once again! In the previous Menteri Besar crisis, the decision made by the Sultan proved to be correct. Now, I hope the people of Perak are allowed to choose all over again, as I believed they felt deceived by these state assemblymen, who care only of their own benefits!

Another conclusion can be made from this incident: Anti Defecting law wouldn't work! Cause these assembly men still can remain "independent", and yet support one of the party.

Happy "Niu" Year!

First of all, greetings to all! Happy Niu Year to all!

To all Mandarin speaking people, they should know what I mean. No, not that I do not know how to spell "New"! "Niu" is Mandarin actually means Ox, and as this year, 2009 is the year of the ox, people tend to use Happy "Niu" Year, literally mean "Happy Ox year"!

So how's your 1st four days of the Ox year? Has it been great? There is a Chinese saying that the most important period in a year is during the spring (Spring literally means the beginning of the year). Many believe if we have a good start, the rest will be equally good.

Personally, the beginning of the Ox year has been quite different. Unlike the previous years, there is an outing with family, which turn out to be quite well. At first I was at doubt whether it is a good idea.

Besides, from this new year, I also learn to be grateful and appreciate quality time. There are time well-spent with people that I really cherish, and time spent with people whom I don't really fancy, and the comparison suddenly made me realized that I haven't been treating the people that I cherish well enough. And expressing it with words aren't my strong point at all. So I'm determined to show it with actions, which I believe speaks louder than words!

Happy Chinese New Year Everyone!

There will always be Two Side to One Thing

2009 started with a bang (though a negative one): A war in Palestine, and gas supply cut in Europe. Phew! What a way to start a year. But nonetheless, in other part of the world, life goes on. And when the war brought the share market across the globe rising, there are still people laughing to the bank, while some others are in hell.

So people are saying we are in a financial crisis, auto crisis, retrenchment...and all kinds of terms to define it, yet, to some, this is a window of opportunities..opportunities to buy over a rival, to buy cheap stocks of listed companies, to buy cheap stuffs from desperate seller. This is life! There will always be two side to one thing: one side is positive, and the other is negative.

If we look carefully enough, even the best thing will have side effect that is negative, vise versa. For example, if you have a highly paid job, it will certainly make you think twice to become an entrepreneur, where you may, or may not become a billionaire. So individually, who we are very much depends on the choices we made, or going to make.

But the choice of a government, will affect every citizen of the country. So please, governments of the world, every decision made should take into consideration of the people..of the citizens!

Hohoho! Merry Christmas!

First of all, I would like to wish everyone, Merry Christmas! I hope everyone did have a good time celebrating it..

So what Christmas means to you? Do you actually celebrate it? What this Santa Claus, Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer have to do with Christmas?.. If anyone of you guys know about it, do let me know.

For me, Christmas is a very peaceful festivity, where people celebrate it in a less hectic way, unlike some other festivities, when people start rushing back to their respective hometown and jam up the road everywhere. And I like the idea of Santa Claus!

I really feel inspired by this Santa Claus, though some had said that Santa Claus has become a marketing tool for people to spend more during this festive season. Yet it is still very inspiring to me: Someone so selfless that during this festive season, he go round to each house, to give out present, to bring cheers and smiles to the people. Recently there was even a Santa Claus giving out money to the people in New York, during this financial crisis in the US.

This story really inspired me, though I did not have the best of Christmas this year, as I have been bothered by the road project. Yet, I can still look forward to the coming Christmas, to really feel the joy of this unique festivity.

oh ya! No double standard, ok?!

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/11/27/nation/2653945&sec=nation

After reading the link above, I really laugh out loud! ^O^ I guess the minister was right! The police did not practise double standard in arresting people attending illegal gathering. Don't believe? See the points below:

Gathering or rally can only be organised if a police permit has been obtained.

1) Anti ISA Group
- Protest against the use of ISA
- No permit has been obtained from the Police
- Outcome: Arrested

2) Pewaris
- Protest against groups who called for the ISA to be abolished
- Permit had been given by the Police
- Outcome: Free man

Ya, I guess the Police did not practised double standard when arresting people, BUT obviously, they practised double standard when approving permit. So by announcing this news to the press, do you think the citizens are dumb?

A Step Towards the End of Racism

I solute all the Americans voters for voting for who they think is the best man to lead their country, regardless of race. And here I do not mean only those who voted for Barrack Obama, who created history to become the first black American President. I'm sure John McCain has its own appeal in getting the votes, but the main thing here is: to vote without having to consider the factor of race.

By having Barrack Obama as the American President, Americans have again proved to the world, that they are a real developed nation. A developed nation, not only has the best physical facilities, but more importantly is the mentality of their citizens. Today, American has shown that the wall of racism can be destroyed, and this historic moment will serve as the role model to the world.

Bearing in mind that,America at one stage was facing the issues of racism as well, give hopes to the people in the developing nation that issues of racism in their respective country, can one day be overcome. The day when merit, instead of race will be the sole factor in choosing leaders or personnel in the higher position.

The Story Continues

I was touched by this one picture to write this posting. This is a picture of two helpless-looking people, who had one of their family member sent away for indefinite period.

Can you imagine, if one day, someone just knocked on your door, and take one of your family members away for indefinite period, how would you feel? Helpless is definitely one word most appropriate to describe, as you don't even have the chance to defend yourself/your family member. Is there anything you can do? Maybe you can pray, but nothing concrete that you can do.

This "maybe you can pray, but nothing concrete that you can do" really strikes me. It sounds to me that it is a chronic disease in the final stages, where you can pray for a miracle to happened, but there is nothing that can be done to save yourself/your family member.

But the difference between it and the chronic disease is that, we do have a choice to permanently curing it once and for all, while chronic disease, no matter how advanced is the medicine field, will continue to strikes you. So why not get united and cure it now? For those who still prefer to keep it, how sure are you safe from being strike by it?

Never Ending Story

Just when I thought the racist remark issue had ended, here comes another twist of event..the reporter of the remark was caught under ISA! And also 3 newspapers were given show-cause letter: Sin Chew Daily, The Sun and Suara Keadilan.

I was like..speechless.. Can't they just leave this fella alone?..She is just doing her job, reporting what she heard and thought is the truth. Even if that is not the truth, some explanation will solve everything. Why make it all such a fuss? Is it necessary to use ISA? The most she deserve is to be sacked from his position at Sin Chew Daily and suspended for 3 years from journalism for "misquoted" someone, but now he lost his freedom indefinitely.

Is this story going to end now? Definitely no! And I suspect it's a story that will has a indefinite time period. Let us hope she will be released soon! And for those in power to do something, for god sake please do something!! Now even the DAP MP Teresa Kok is arrested, wonder what she did to merit the lost of freedom indefinitely?!

The Ultimate 08 Olympic!

The biggest sporting events finally come to an end in Beijing, with the next station, London, lining up anxiously to welcome the event to their soil in 4 years time.

This edition of Olympics means a lot not just to the Chinese, but also all the ethnic Chinese all around the world. I just can't helped but feel touched when I watch the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing Olympics. Especially so after overcoming obstacles like natural disaster. Witnessing all the countries walking out one by one, I can feel humanity is at the peak, and peace is near, with countries like Palestine, North Korea and Taiwan participating. Unfortunately, that is just an impression, as arms attack exchanged between Georgia and Russia.

But nonetheless, Olympic is one event that still can hold the world together, as the leaders of Russia and Georgia proved. The opening ceremony was a great spectacle! Although there are some events that actually reduce the feel good factor of the opening ceremony, for example the child singer for opening ceremony which turn out to just mouthed along while another child sing, and the used of pre-recorded fire works show, these events should not overshadow the good work done by Beijing. The Opening Ceremony was indeed a great show, direct by a great Director Zhang Yimou.

Besides Beijing's great show as host, the athletes and sportsman shown great sportsmanship. For example the Georgian boxer Revazi Mindorashvili who beat the Russian gold medal favourite Georgy Ketoev in a sporting event, not in the war field. There are also many inspiring performance like world record breakers, to name a few Michael Phelps and and the fastest man in the world, Usain Bolt.

Some of these sportsman who actually inspired me include Phelps, Bolt, Zhang Ning, Guo Jingjing, Rafael Nadal, and not to forget is our own Lee Chong Wei who won't the country's 1st medal in 12 years.

All in all, this edition of Olympic is another great success, and the world is proud of you all in China! China, and Beijing particularly showed the world that they can be a great host to such a huge event, and also their mettle in terms of sports by topping the medal tally! We will now have to wait another 4 years to witness again the World greatest sporting event! May the spirit of Olympic be instill in all the leaders in the world!

Agenda Daily Debate: 1-1

After watching, at one go both the Agenda Daily debates, the scoreline for both side is: 1-1. I believe many would have guess right which debater I go for: yes, it's DSAI and TSKTK.

For the 1st debate, DSAI provided concrete solutions to reduce fuel price. As for his opponent, at times I'm really mad! He just don't seem to understand DSAI idea, or maybe refused to understand. And when he keep on attacking DSAI personal track record, make comparison with country in crisis, and thought that DSAI is going to ask for more money from Petronas, everyone looking at the programme should know that he lost the plot.

DSAI idea is simple. Yes, the market price is increasing, but because Malaysia is a nett exporter of oil, Petronas profit from the high market price, as proven by the sterling profit announced by Petronas not so long ago. Petronas immediately distribute a large sum of money to the federal government. DSAI's idea is to use part of this sum on subsidy, therefore the petrol price do not have to rise as much as 78 sen so suddenly. But he is not saying all the money should be spent on subsidy, or the government should ask for more money from Petronas.

The effect of the 78 sen increase is for all Malaysian to see. Inflation rise to 8.5% in July. Even if now the petrol price decrease, other items that already increase their price will not come down.

As for the 2nd debate, TSKTK had take this chance to clear his name, his image and I'm impressed with his performance. Although at times he is confrontational, and use some personal attack, he made his point clear, and I see it as a victory to him. As for LGE, i'm slightly disappointed with his debate, and keep on asking the same questions that TSKTK had replied.

In this debate, TSKTK clears his name by explaining the whole process of the RM40 million land scam. And the measures he took to overcome this mistakes which happened 40 years ago. He explained that he referred the case to the ACA twice and the ACA did not find any wrong doing in the officials involved. So he issued a warning to the officials. At this point, LGE keep on asking why officials who committed this RM40 millions mistakes are let off with just a warning.

And I want to explain to LGE is that: anyone who is not proven guilty is considered innocent. So the most TSKTK can do is to issue a warning, and also transfer the officials involve out of the department (which LGE did after taking over the government). TSKTK has the prerogative to keep any officials in any department when he is the Chief Minister, as the officials are not proven guilty.

Another point made by LGE, which I consider funny and pointless is to ask TSKTK to exposed all the land scam cases. TSKTK reply proved his mettle as a senior politician. He said if he knew of such cases, he would have acted on it.

I believe that the replies made by TSKTK during this debate is enough to silence LGE. LGE lacked points, or rather, TSKTK replied systematically, and clear the issues brought up by LGE. One point made by TSKTK at the beginning of the show which said that LGE still acts like a opposition, I totally agree at the end of debate. Perhaps, the government of the day can no longer just brought out problems and expect others to solved for them. LGE and the government have to solved it themselves.

TSKTK still has the touch and elegance of a leader, not surprising so, being the CM for 18 years. And with LGE, there is no surprise also, with his years as opposition, and only 5-month tenure as CM in his beg, still acts like an opposition.