Blogabout

NHS in Malaysia

2011-01-13T02:21:00.000-08:00

NHS system to be deployed in Malaysia projected in 2013. Patients care would be driven by personal GPs. All health care costs regardless whether they are from government or private services will be covered by 90% subsidy. The rest depends on individual patients capability to pay. The new system is aptly named 1Care.

http://www.bharian.com.my/bharian/articles/Semuaklinikdigabung/Article/index_html

Mercedes SLS AMG by Jay Leno. The engine sound. Heavenly.

2010-11-22T04:27:00.001-08:00

Sweet Disposition

2010-07-01T15:15:00.000-07:00

sweet disposition

never too soon

oh reckless abandon

like no one's watching you

originally sung by The Temper Trap

Unlocking iPhones by O2

2010-06-27T00:48:00.000-07:00

Apparently O2 has already offered this in 2009. Anyhow, it's a good news for every iPhone users especially for those who are planning to upgrade to iPhone 4 with the intention of using their current iPhone with other carriers.

I think people will appreciate it if I explain briefly what sim-locks are. According to wikipedia, sim locks are capability (codes) built into gsm mobile phones that prevent their usages from other carriers. Basically.

Generally, there are 3 types:

1. Mobile Country Code: the phones can only be used in 1 country.

2. Mobile Network Code: the phones can only be used with 1 carrier. i believe this is the

commonest one. some of them are very restricted, viz., absolutely no

access to the phone from other carriers. some are less restricted, in

Malaysia, some phones come with labels on it like vodafone, 3, etc.,

the users can use this phone with Malaysia carriers but with possible

restriction on internet access eg gprs, edge and 3g.

3. Mobile Station Identification Number: the strictest one, only one sim is allowed.

I believe sim locks are softwares in nature, in other words, you can unlock it with counter-softwares. The most popular unlocking software for iPhones is Jailbreak. Unlocking iPhones with Jailbreak is a rather straightforward process where you can learn from youtube or send your iPhones to the shop for a minimum waiting time.

Anyway, for those who wish to unlock their iPhones, it can be done over the air, viz., you don't need to send your iPhones to O2. Just fill in the unlocking form and wait for within 2 weeks time (I unlocked my iphone in just 2 days time).

It should be noted, iPhone 4 is the exception to this. For iPhone 2g, 3g and 3gs, you can unlock them ANYTIME but of course, you will still need to pay for the remainder of your contract.

Unlocking for pay monthly customers is free but costs GBP15 for pay and go customers.

Lastly, here is the link which include another link to unlocking form:

http://shop.o2.co.uk/update/unlockmyiphone.html

The Turtle Theory

2010-04-14T15:27:00.000-07:00

Got this from a friend. Made my day.

A well-known scientist (some say it was Bertrand Russell) once gave a public lecture on astronomy. He described how the earth orbits around the sun and how the sun, in turn, orbits around the center of a vast collection of stars called our galaxy. At the end of the lecture a little old lady at the back of the room got up and said 'What you have told us is rubbish. The world is really a flat plate supported on the back of a giant tortoise.' The scientist gave a superior smile before replying, 'What is the turtle standing on' 'You're very clever, young man, very clever,' said the little old lady. 'But it's turtles all the way down.'

anyone else but you

2010-01-16T11:31:00.000-08:00

Your part time lover and a full time friend,
The monkey on the back is the latest trend,
Don't see what anyone can see,
In anyone else,
But you

Here is a church and here is a steeple,
We sure are cute for two ugly people,
Don't see what anyone can see,
In anyone else,
But you

We both have shiny happy fits of rage,
I want more fans, you want more stage,
Don't see what anyone can see,
In anyone else,
But you

I'm always tryin to keep it real,
Now I'm in love with how you feel,
I don't see what anyone can see,
In anyone else,
But you

I kiss you on the brain in the shadow of the train,
I kiss you all starry eyed,
My body swings from side to side,
I don't see what anyone can see,
In anyone else,
But you

The pebbles forgive me,
The trees forgive me,
So why can't,
You forgive me?
I don't see what anyone can see,
In anyone else,
But you

Du du du du du du dudu
Du du du du du du dudu
I don't see what anyone can see,
In anyone else,
But you.

Fur Elise on a boring night

2010-01-15T16:13:00.000-08:00

Was bored. Sorry for the quality..

Social Contract: In Theory and In Our Country

2010-01-09T11:14:00.000-08:00

This is an unbridged reproduction of a critically written article on social contract by Art Harun. The writer talks about the social contract in general as postulated by John Locke and John Rawl, he then dwells superficially into the current social contract as seen in Malaysia. I believe this is a good article to follow the previous post.

Here is a gist about what a social contract is:

Everyone of us is born with 'natural rights'. This comprises of basic necessities that defines us human e.g., food, knowledge and culture. However, natural rights extend beyond those, rather limitless. It literally means you can do anything because it's your body/life. Nonetheless, other defining criterion that makes us human is our need to society. We are essentially social animals.

Putting this in mind, unlimited natural rights are not suitable as interaction becomes vast. For example, taking the lands which are already owned by others. Thus, some sort of common regulations are needed. We call it laws or in our discussion, a social contract. In above case, the social contract is one should not take a land which is already owned by others. In a formation of state, society surrender their natural rights and replaced instead by civil rights which are protected by laws.

This makes a society more sustainable. In the very much modern world today, we are bounded by law to abide by the common social contract. The contract is not formed just between people but the states as well. The state here is none other than the government.

John Locke posits that a social contract only remains sustainable if all the involving parties follow the contract. For an instance, if a government abuses its power, people can overthrow them as what happened in Thailand.

This is a general discussion on social contract and by almost no means a political analysis of the social contract in Malaysia.

The Social Contract - Correcting The Misconceptions

by Art Harun

The in-thing nowadays seems to be the phrase “social contract”. Every Tom Dick, hairy or otherwise, seems to be so well versed with this subject. You make a bit of noise about the Federal Constitution and you would be referred to the “social contract”. You question a teeny wee bit about equality and you would surely be referred to the “social contract”. I think the next time somebody cuts you off in a traffic jam, you should shout “social contract” at that socially inept moron!

The latest outburst on the social contract had to of course come from Hishamuddin Hussein, the newly minted UMNO Vice-President. In his last speech as the UMNO Youth Chief – of course, it was also a speech designed to garner votes for his VP-ship – Hishamuddin branded those who question the social contract as “arrogant”. In his words :-

“Mereka begitu angkuh, sombong dan bongkak mempersoalkan kontrak sosial dan mempertikai hak kedudukan orang Melayu dan kaum Bumiputera. Kontrak sosial telah sengaja disalah tafsir dan dijadikan tajuk untuk menyemarakkan api perkauman.”

Before we talk of something important and of far reaching consequence, we should know what we are talking about. We should not just blabber aimlessly and throw about allegations and accusations as if it is our God’s given right to belittle other people. What is this creature called the “social contract”? Is there such a thing? Is it like any other contract? Must it be signed? And stamped? If so, who signed it? Before that, who drafted it? What are the terms and conditions? Can they be changed? What if it is breached? What are the consequences of such breach? Does anybody know?

Allow me to explain this concept.

Human Beings and Their Natural Rights

Early philosophers, such as Plato and Aristotle postulated the existence of natural justice or natural rights. These concepts were premised on the theory that human beings were born with and naturally follow a set of “natural” morality and behavioural patterns which are independent of human made regulations. The concepts of “good” and “evil” for example, are inherent in every human being. Thus being the case, the people’s grasp of and adherence to such “natural rules” are independent of human made regulations and their enforcement.

If we accept the postulations that human beings are born with a set of natural behavioural patterns, than we must also accept the fact that human beings are also entitled to several basic rights. These are rights so fundamental to the existence of a human being that the denial or transgression of such rights would render his or her existence as a human being almost meaningless. The most basic of these rights are rights which are universal to every human being, regardless of creed and breed, of cultures and upbringing, of religion and school.

The advent of civilisations had seen humans transformed from being individualistic and stateless animals into socio-politico creatures. Cities were built and societies developed. Governments and states were born. The rise of the states and the ensuing assumptions of power by the states and their governments would see the surrender of certain individual rights to the states and governments for the greater good of the society in general.

The Social Contract as a Concept

If it was human nature to be able to roam free anywhere and at any time, and to take whatever was thought to be necessary to survive, why would humans then surrender these basic rights to the states or governments for such rights to be regulated or even curtailed? Why must a human being respect a property which belongs to another and who, in that instance, defines and decides on the ownership of such property in the first place? Why would the people agree to follow and obey executive orders when the people, by nature, are born to be free of constraints?

Here lies the premise of social contracts. The earliest known articulations on social contracts were by Plato who postulated that members of any given society implicitly agree to be bound by the social contract by their continued presence within that society. Implicit in most form of social contracts are the “freedom of movement”, which later was termed as one of the “natural right”. The postulations of a social contract existing between a society, a state or a government and the people centre on the needs of the people to build nations and to maintain social orders within their nations. Thus, for the benefit of the nation, the people implicitly agree to surrender some of their rights to the state or government in exchange for social order and greater benefits to all.

Thomas Hobbes explained it clearly. In a state of nature, human beings have unlimited natural freedoms. However, these unlimited natural freedoms would impinge on each other’s rights as each person would feel free to do anything against each other (also described as “the rights to all things”). Men then created civil societies where these rights were governed in order to establish a social order. In exchange for subjecting themselves to the state or government, the people gained “civil rights”, which were sacrosanct and unalienable, even to the state or government.

Social Contract as a Living Document and the Consequence of its Breach

John Locke argues that the social contract and the civil rights are living documents in that their terms could be renegotiated to suit the needs of changing times. These contracts and rights are only legitimate to the extent that they benefit the general interest. Locke even posits the rights of rebellion in the event the social contracts lead to tyranny.

The breach of these social contracts by the people would result in some forms of punishment on the defaulting party, which could entail the lost of any or some of their civil rights. Thus, a thief may lose his rights to freedom when he is sentenced to imprisonment for stealing. A Government which breaches the social contracts by abusing its powers may consequently, argues Locke, be overthrown. We have seen many instances where Locke’s position has been taken to its natural conclusion. In Thailand and the Philippines for example, the people rise to overthrow Governments which were perceived to have breached to social contract by various abuses of their powers and transgression of human rights.

However, in modern states, especially in a democracy, it is submitted that the natural consequence to a Government for its failure to uphold the social contract through abuse of its powers would rest with the people’s vote in an election. The real power therefore rests with the members of the state, namely, the people and the voters to elect a new Government at an opportune time.

The Rights of the State vs the Rights of the People

The concept of social contracts also appeals to later day philosophers, such as John Rawls (1921-2002). He branded states which violate human rights as “outlaw states” and “benevolent absolutism” and argued that these states should not command mutual respect and toleration from “liberal and decent people”. Rawls of course premised his postulations on the assumptions that human beings are both “reasonable and rational” and that we are reasonable only to the extent that we are able to achieve an end together within a set of specific regulatory principles. In going about achieving this end, we, as the people, would affirm some fundamentally basic liberties or freedom, such as “freedom of conscience, expression and association”.

Analysing all the concepts of the states or government versus the rights of the people, as well as the concept of the social contract between the two elements, the question is of course one of the quantity and quality of rights which the people are ready and willing to surrender to the state or government in exchange for the greater societal benefits which may be yielded from the state. Are there in existence, for example, rights which are so basic and fundamental, which ought not to be surrendered at any cost? Or is the greater good of the state or society a justification for the transgression by the state of the people’s fundamental rights? Are there rights which are so fundamental to the existence of the people that these rights are universal in nature? Or are there values, cultural, religious or otherwise, which make these rights vary from one society to another?

Mahathir Mohammad and Lee Kuan Yew are perfect examples of the propagator and practitioners of “benevolent absolutism”. Both share a common perspective towards democracy. Under the guise of “Asian values”, they argued that democracy in Asia, particularly in Malaysia and Singapore, cannot and should not entail the concept of absolute “freedom” as practised in the West. Freedom, according to Mahathir, should be curtailed for the greater good of the country. What Mahathir and his ilk failed to address is the fact that no reasonable citizen of this country would question the curtailment of freedom for the greater good of the nation. But what is being demanded is that such curtailment must be done in accordance with the law. Such curtailment should not, at any rate, be done without the due process of the law. That basic right is cast, almost in stone, in the Federal Constitution and that is a part of the social contract, if we want to harp on the same. In truth, the Asian values which were being brandished about by Mahathir and LKY are but a lame excuse for benevolent absolutism. Pure and simple.

Underlying the “agreement” of the people to surrender some of their rights to the State for the greater good of the society as a whole is a system of “check and balance” which is ingrained in our justice and administration system. Now, what is left to the people if such check and balance mechanism is obliterated by the Government? Isn’t that a blatant breach of the social contract?

The point is this. Nobody in their right mind, and that includes me, is questioning the need for a controlled curtailment of some individual rights in favour of an orderly society. I hope I have made that clear. What is being questioned is the mechanism of such curtailment. It must be done witg due process of the law. That is the social contract. It stems from the realisation that the primacy of the individual has to be balanced with the paramountcy of society (to borrow the words of Shashi Tharoor in his excellent dissertation, “Are Human Rights Universal?” appearing in the World Policy Journal). And in my opinion, the element which provides the leverage between the two seemingly opposing rights is nothing but the law and justice system.

The Malay Annals (“Sejarah Melayu”) and the Social Contract

Just as the Magna Carta and the Bills of Rights 1689 defined early social contracts between the subjects and the English King or States, the Malays have their own version of a social contract. This is contained in the Malay Annals, an excellent satirical work by Tun Sri Lanang which consists of and is believed to have been based on facts which were romanticised with folklores. In it was narrated the story of Sang Utama Sri Tri Buana (the Palembang ruler from whom all Malay royalty claims descent) who, in his quest to rule the people, made a pact with Demang Lebar Daun, who represented the people.

“Demang Lebar Daun promised that "the descendants of your humble servants shall be the subjects of your majesty's throne, but they must be well-treated by your descendants. If they offend, they shall not, however grave their offence, be disgraced or reviled with evil words: if their offence is grave, let them be out to death, if that is in accordance with Muslim law". To which Sang Utama replied " I agree to give the undertaking for which you ask, but I in turn require an undertaking from you ... that your descendants shall never for the rest of time be disloyal to my descendants, oppress them and behave in an evil way to them." To which Demang Lebar Daun agreed " ... but if your descendants depart from the terms of the pact, then so will mine.. subjects shall never be disloyal or treacherous to their rulers, even if their rulers behave cruelly and immorally ... and if any ruler puts a single one of his subjects to shame, that shall be a sign that his kingdom shall be destroyed by Almighty God.” ( as taken from the Tuah Legend website.)

Thus was born the oft-quoted Malay saying, “Raja adil Raja di sembah, Raja zalim, Raja di sanggah”, which form the basis of the loyalty of the Malay subjects to their King. The Hang Jebat rebellion against Sultan Mansur Shah was an illustration of how this social contract was practised.

The Social Contract is not Cast in Stone

As pointed out above, Locke argues that the social contract is a living document and its terms may be renegotiated as and when the needs arise. Rawl on the other hand posits that we, as human beings, are reasonable only to the extent that we are able to achieve an end together within a set of specific regulatory principles. Thus, by no means a social contract is an unmovable object. As society evolves, generations and consequently values and cultures change, internal and external dynamics would redefine the society’s priorities and needs. It follows that the social contract would change and vary in order to achieve newer objectives and ends.

Thus in India, we would now see the practice of suttee, where a surviving widow would be burned alongside her husband’s body, being outlawed. Slavery in the United States and other parts of the world become a practice which is frowned upon. Gay marriages are now permitted, even in Singapore. Such is the power of time and progress.

The Federal Constitution for example, had never contained provisions for the New Economic Policy or a new education policy. In the aftermath of May 13^th 1969 however, the NEP was introduced out of societal necessities as well as, probably, political necessity. Thus a new social contract was born. What about the new education policy, where the English took a back seat, as opposed to the pre-Merdeka policy where a certain degree of emphasis was given to the English language? Wasn’t that a change to the social contract?

The Federal Constitution is, to my mind, the social contract between the people of Malaysia and the State or Government. But it has been amended countless time to suit the needs of the society (although one could present a really substantive argument that it was amended for political expediency on countless occasions). The Judiciary for example, in whom was imbued judicial power in the original Federal Constitution (and thus the original social contract), was later deprived of judicial powers save and except provided for by the Parliament through yet another amendment of the Federal Constitution. Wasn’t that a change to our social contract?

Hishamuddin talked about the actions of some parties who dare to belittle our Royal institution. With respect, that is almost hypocrisy. Under the original social contract, the Malay Rulers cannot be sued in any Court. No legal action may be brought against any of the Rulers. Mahathir Mohammad’s regime amended the Federal Constitution to allow the Rulers to be sued in a special Court. Many of us would have read the recent suit by a bank against one of the Malay Rulers. Wasn’t that a change to our social contract? How about the necessity for Royal assent to a bill of law before that bill could legally become law? Originally that was the position. But again, the Federal Constitution was amended to do away with such requirement. Wasn’t that yet another change to the social contract?

Hishamuddin and his ilk should realise that nobody is questioning the rights of the Malays and the status of Islam as enshrined in the Federal Constitution. What is being questioned is the implementation of the Government’s affirmative policy. There are obvious differences between the two. In any event, the social contract, as proven above, has been varied and changed on countless occasions, by none other than the BN Government itself. Of course, the BN Government would argue that those changes were necessary for the betterment of the society as a whole.

Why then, when anybody other than the BN leaders stand up to raise a question on the social contract, or when he or she would even dare to suggest a discussion on, let alone a change to the social contract, he or she would be deemed arrogant, or in Hishamuddin’s own words, “sombong, angkuh dan bongkak”?

Defining Malay and Malay Rights

2010-01-04T11:12:00.001-08:00

This is a well researched article written by Art Harun for his blog;

http://art-harun.blogspot.com

The definitions are based on Constitutional Laws and I found this very concrete to base any argument on. Bravo!

Visiting the Malay "Rights"

I have been labelled anti this and that. Apparently, I am also pro this and that, or the other. As such, I am going to begin this article with a disclaimer, just as all accountants do on their reports. This article contains my interpretation of the relevant Constitutional provisions in respect of the “rights” of the Malays. And please read the next sentence real slowly. It is not intended to question anything, whether rights or otherwise, belonging to anybody, regardless of his or her race, faith or political leaning.

"At this juncture, we should know what Malay is. Article 160 defines Malay as a person who professes the religion of Islam, habitually speaks the Malay language and conforms to Malay custom."

Malay rights. What a subject. The mere mention of it evokes so many emotions. So much anger and resentment have resulted – on both side of the fence - from this subject. It has been explored by the likes of Awang Selamat, Mahathir Mohamad, Ibrahim Ali and various NGOs. Our politicians have shouted and screamed about it. Warnings of mayhem and amok have been sounded in case of a challenge against these rights. Even HRH the Sultan of Perak had spoken about it recently. But I notice not a single person out of 27 million of us has actually taken the trouble to spell out what these rights actually are. And so, let me be the first one to do it.

The supreme law of this country is our Federal Constitution (“FC”). That means every law and policy must be in adherence with the FC. Otherwise, such law or policy would be void for being unconstitutional. We therefore have to look at the provisions of the FC to determine these so called rights of the Malays.

Generally, article 8 provides that all persons are equal before the law. I say “generally” because there are exceptions to this rule. Clause 2 of article 8 says that there shall be no discrimination against citizens on the ground of religion, race, descent, place of birth or gender except as expressly authorised by the FC. So, there you go. All of us are only equal up to the extent as provided by the FC. This means we may be discriminated if the FC expressly allows it.

Let’s cut a long story short. Article 153 of the FC is right at the centre of this issue. It is a fairly long article, with 10 clauses in it. Basically, these are what that article provides.

"How could you define Malay as a person who speaks Malay and conforms to Malay custom when the very word which was sought to be defined in that definition is the word “Malay”? It is like defining mango as “a fruit which tastes like mango".

Firstly, it says that HRH the YDP Agong has the responsibility to safeguard the “special position” of the Malays and natives of Sabah and Sarawak. Notice that the words used are “special position”, not “special rights.” Notice also that the safeguarding is not only restricted to the Malays but also the natives of Sabah and Sarawak (the “Natives”). But that is not all. It also says that HRH the YDP Agong is also responsible to safeguard the “legitimate interests” of other communities. Notice the differences at what is being safeguarded. As for the Malays and the Natives, it is their special position. While in respect of other communities, it is their legitimate interests.

At this juncture, we should know what Malay is. Article 160 defines Malay as a person who professes the religion of Islam, habitually speaks the Malay language and conforms to Malay custom. It is not a scientific definition. It is one of the most absurd definitions I had ever come across in any written law. How could you define Malay as a person who speaks Malay and conforms to Malay custom when the very word which was sought to be defined in that definition is the word “Malay”? It is like defining mango as “a fruit which tastes like mango”. Anyway, I digress.

Under article 153, HRH the YDP Agong is given the power to do the followings:

A. To exercise his functions under the FC in such manner as may be necessary to safeguard the special position of the Malays and Natives;
B. To ensure the reservation for the Malays and Natives of positions in the public service, scholarship, exhibitions and other similar educational or training privileges given by the Federal Government in such proportion as he may deem reasonable;
C. To ensure the reservation for the Malays and Natives of any permits and licenses if such permits or licenses are needed for the operation of any trade or business as he may deem reasonable; and,
D. To ensure reservation for the Malays and Natives of places in any university, college and other educational institution providing education after Malaysian Certificate of Education (SPM) or its equivalent in such proportion as he may deem reasonable in the event the number of qualified person for any course or study is more than the number of places available.

The rest of article 153 is concerned with the prohibition against depriving licenses or permits from the non-Malays or non-Natives if they have been in possession of such licenses or permits all along. This is beyond the scope of this article.

The most important thing to be noted from this provision is the fact that there is no right whatsoever conferred to the Malays or Natives. The provision does not say, for example, that “the Malays or natives of Sabah and Sarawak shall be allocated 75% of all places in universities, colleges or other education institutions or 65% to all scholarships available in Malaysia every year.” When we speak of “rights”, we speak of entitlements which are possessed by a person or body of persons. These entitlements would then be enforceable by law. Taking my example in the previous sentence, a class action to enforce such rights may be brought by the Malays or Natives if such rights are denied them in any year if the provision in the FC is couched as such.

However, that is not the case in the FC. What is provided is a power to HRH the YDP Agong to reserve licences, permits, scholarships, places in universities or positions in public service for the Malays and Natives in such proportion as he deems reasonable. That power is undeniable and clearly defined. The FC however, in my humble opinion, stops short from conferring any enforceable right.

Question may be asked as to how may HRH the YDP Agong exercise that power. The answer is in clause (2) of article 153. Clause (2) provides that power shall be exercised by HRH the YDP Agong in accordance with article 40. That simply means that the “power” conferred to HRH in article 153 is not exercisable by HRH at his discretion at all. That power is exercisable on the advice of the Cabinet or any Minister acting under the general authority of the Cabinet. By convention, that person is the Prime Minister.

In the big scheme of things then, HRH the YDP Agong does not have any say on how those things are to be “reserved” for the Malays and the Natives. Essentially, it is the Government, through a Cabinet decision, which draws out the policy on how this power is to be exercised. Basically, the Cabinet decides the criteria for such “reservation” and also for the distribution of the matters mentioned in article 153. That means, all these while, it is not UMNO alone who decides. It is the Barisan Nasional as a whole, which means the matter has all along been decided by UMNO, MCA, MIC and all the component parties within the BN.

Nowadays questions have been raised as to why students with lower scores could gain admission into universities while students (non-Malays) with higher scores could not. The same question is raised with respect to the grant of scholarship. In the commercial world, questions are being raised on the distribution of government contracts and also the requirement for a certain percentage of Malay shareholdings in corporations.

On the Government side, these questions have been received with absolute disdain. These are treated as a challenge of the rights of the Malays. Rhetoric abounds. Shouts of “ungrateful migrants” could be heard. There is even suggestion that to question these matters is to question the power of the Ruler under article 153. The “social contract” is referred to.

In my humble opinion, that is misconceived. Nobody is asking for HRH the YDP Agong’s power under article 153 be removed. I think, rather, what is being questioned is the policy which underlies the exercise of the power as opposed to the power itself. It must be noted that article 153 repeatedly provides that HRH the YDP Agong shall exercise his power as “he may deem reasonable”. Perhaps such “reasonableness” is the key.

We profess to have a democratic Government and system of politics. If so, surely Government policies, especially those which touch the very basic and fundamental rights of the people, such as the right to education for all citizens, could be discussed, analysed and even questioned. And surely, a good Government whose heart is with the people and the country would not dismiss such questions nonchalantly.

Otherwise, I suppose, the people could effect a change in such policies by changing the policy makers.

I always believe the word 'Malay' and 'Malay Rights' are being used redundantly and yet rather hollowly. It seems the Constitution Laws are being bended rather radically to serve the purpose of the monopolistic group of Malays. I know at some point we need to uphold the Malay special position but to actually take the non-Malays' money and say they are ungrateful immigrants? It is just a tragedy to Malay morality which we always hold high..

Wood To Bone

2010-01-03T02:37:00.000-08:00

Breakthrough in orthopedic surgeries. The nature bones substitute is extracted from rattan ('rotan' in Malay) woods. It resembles the human bones so much it can channel the passage for blood vessels and nerves and it doesn't need removal as do titanium or ceramic prosthetics.

Like the popular saying, nature is the best medicine. Indeed..

Click the video link here

New Health Care Bill Passed. Job Well Done Obama.

2010-01-02T04:43:00.000-08:00

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Natwest: There's A Better Alternative

2009-12-30T03:03:00.000-08:00

Natwest has never struck me as the best bank for students in the UK. Nonetheless, like most of the students particularly in the Nottingham Uni, opening account with them seem to be the most convenient choice. This is due to the fact that they have the most branches throughout Notts. They even have 1 right inside the main campus for crying out loud. My friends recommended me to open my bank account with them on the convenience ground.

So I did. I opted for Student Account which last for 1 year and with a fee of GBP7 paid monthly. Under the account, I have 2 debit cards (under the new regulations, international students are not eligible for either credit cards or cheque books) and free overdraft up to GBP1000 (I think). On top of those, I also got a Railcard (which gives me 1/3 discount on british rail services), discount on concert tickets, international call sim card, insurance on 1 gadget, insurance on laptop and many others.

As months passed by, I realized only the Railcard really benefited me. I only used it once actually. I only use 1 debit card because the other is effectively redundant and I never overdrafted. GBP7 per month proven to be a waste. According to the contract, I could terminate the account after 9 months but I can still continue with the basic account which is free of monthly charges.

"Impatiently, I told the lady, never mind terminating the Student Account, how about terminating the whole Natwest account altogether? This quickly followed by another lady who brought me into the office.."

I never saluted Natwest's customer services. You see them saying hi but at the very same moment you know right away they don't mean it. They just wanna go back home at 3 (yeah, that's the time most branches close) and get this over with. If you wanna deposit money, time is not a problem. But, if you wanna do something other than that, say, if you sponsor wanted bank address or IBAN. They sure took a long time to process it and say 'we don't do that, they are in your bank statement'. Or, when you wanna buy the card reader you required to transfer money online (my HSBC doesn't require this btw), they just say 'we don't have that, you'd have to apply online'. In the whole branch, they don't keep it. This mean you have to wait for 2 weeks before you get the card reader delivered before you can transfer money online.

"She asked why do I wanna terminate the account, I just told her I got my HSBC.."

Anyway, I went to my branch to terminate my Student Account. The lady said I need to bring all the packages they given me when I first opened the account 9 months ago. What? The package included mostly all the pamphlets about the account. Plus, I paid GBP7 every month for 9 months. That amounted to GBP63. I thought I owned them. So I told the lady. Took her long time to discuss this with her colleagues. I have to stand aside to let queue moving. And I have a class waiting. Impatiently, I told the lady, never mind terminating the Student Account, how about terminating the whole Natwest account? This quickly followed by another lady who brought me into the office and asked only for the Railcard. What? Never mind, I don't really use it anyway. I agreed. She told me it's gonna take months before they really cancel off my Student Account. Huh? This means I have to still pay the fee until it really stopped. Kept my cool and said I'm fine with it. She asked why do I wanna terminate the account, I just told her I got my HSBC..

I checked online about other complaints. Apparently, they also have problems with things like delivery of cards (for example if you lost yours). Some guy had his new card delivered to wrong addressed 4 times even he repeatedly told them to send it to nearest branch. When they did send the card to the nearest branch, it's not the nearest branch to him and they didn't tell him which branch. Natwest also has history of unethical credit issuance to students. A student, was given overdraft of GBP1000 and GBP500 credit card. He overspent with both. Instead of stopping his craze, Natwest increase the overdraft limit as well as the credit card limit. He overspent again. In the end, Natwest offered a loan with 21% interest to pay up the overdraft. Took him 5 years to clear this up. He is not alone. Apparently, many similar complains are found on the web.

It gets worse actually. Natwest under their parent company Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) reportedly has been doing dubious businesses using their customers' money. For example, The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline which is considered to be an environmental and humanitarian catastrophe in the making, and it breaches the bank’s code of conduct (Source: Friends of the Earth). NatWest also collaborated with the Nazi regime appropriating money from Jews. They have admitted they have a large number of unclaimed Holocaust-era deposits but they refuse to publish their lists of depositors.

That's my story with Natwest. I'm sure you got yours. Currently, I do most of my banking with HSBC. Yeah, the have their own problems, particularly in the loss of medical and insurance details of 370,000 customers in 2008, but so far I'm more satisfied with them than with Natwest. Compare to Natwest, HSBC is international bank proper. You can easily find their branches everywhere around the globe. This is welcomed by international student like me who love to travel. Plus, as of 2009, HSBC is both the world's largest banking group and the world's 6th largest company according to Forbes Magazine. Abbey (now Santander) is also a good alternative. They are the largest bank in euro area in market capitalization. They now offer Zero Credit Card which impose absolute 0% on foreign exchange fee, cash advance fee and others.

Schools Kill Creativity by Sir Ken Robinson

2009-12-27T09:50:00.000-08:00

"Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand."

Albert Einstein

"All children are born Artists, the problem is to remain an Artist as we grow up"

Pablo Picasso

"We don't grow into creativity, we grow out of it, or rather, we get educated out of it"

Sir Ken Robinson.

Those are so true. A humorous but relevant talk by world-renowned British Educationist. Sir Ken Robinson is multiple awards winner for his contribution to Education and Arts. He chairs the British National Advisory Committee on Creative and Cultural Education. He was knighted in June 2003 by Queen Elizabeth II for his achievements in creativity, education and the Arts. He also worked with other various governmental and non-governmental organizations. The incomplete list is below:

1. Royal Ballet

2. Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts

3. European Commission

4. UNESCO

5. Council of Europe

John Wooden: True Succes

2009-12-27T05:29:00.000-08:00

I don't really like motivational speeches. They're too generalized and broad plus they are all common sense. No matter how many speeches you heard, if you're just a lazy ass, you remain a lazy ass. Some guys believe it takes a woman to change a man's life. That's just weak. It also takes a woman to ruin them.

Anyway, John Wooden is retired college basketball coach and a member Basketball Hall of Fame both as player and coach. He won 10 National Championships in 12 years while at UCLA. This is unmatched by any other college basketball coach.

When he first signed as their coach in 1948, UCLA just had 12-13 losing season. He quickly turned this around in his very first year where UCLA became PCC Southern Division Champion with a 22-7, the most wins for a UCLA season since it started playing basketball in 1919. They also won 3 consecutive seasons making him the champion coach in his 4 years with UCLA.

In his last 12 seasons. He won 10 of them including 7 in a row from 1967 to 1973. His UCLA teams also had a record winning streak of 88 games and four perfect 30–0 seasons. In 1972, he was Sports Illustrated magazine's Sportsman of The Year Awards. According to his own writings, he turned down an offer to coach the Los Angeles Lakers.

He is now 99 years old. I admire his speech because it's very specific, clear and witty. He loves poetry very much and this is evident in this speech. I watched the video for 4 times without getting tired of it.

"The Journey Is Better Than The End"

Cervantes as quoted by John Wooden

References:

1. wikipedia.org

2. ted.com

2009-10-21T13:32:00.000-07:00

My first full cover since I started to learn to play piano/keyboard last April. Took me over a month to finish it. There are flaws here and there, more prominently at the closing of the song. This is not the original song. I learnt the song's parts from youtube tutorials and scores and remixed them myself.

Andrew Furmanczyk: My Youtube Piano Teacher and he's younger than me

2009-06-30T13:06:00.000-07:00

I started playing piano (keyboard actually) when I first came to Nottingham. Life here really requires me to learn things to survive. Nothing much I could do here except for football and occasional night outs. That of course inclusive of clinical routines. I was looking to learn to play a musical instrument. Guitar certainly topped the list but I'm not really a fan. Then I realized my new housemate plays a keyboard. The idea struck. I browsed the internet to check for basic tutorials and bought myself a book. My housemate also helped me to learn some simple songs.

I realized it was something I want to make as a hobby and bought myself a keyboard. New problem arose as my interest grew. I no longer want to play by fingering or by songs, I wanted to know the theory. I couldn't really grasp the notes in my book and having piano class was just not the alternative with the hectic clinical schedules.

I checked around youtube for luck and luck was what struck me. I came to know 'Lypur', the nickname for Andrew Furmanczyk in youtube. I thought its going to be basic tutorials like what I expected to find out but I was proven wrong. He taught almost all the theories and hands on in staggering 40 videos.

He has a his own teaching website: http://www.howtoplaypiano.ca they are all for free! the videos were of course in flash youtube format. He teaches how to read piano notes all the way to putting emotions into your music. His motto is simple "give a man a fish, you feed him for a day, teach a man how to fish, you feed him for life". In the context translation, it means: he's trying to teach people how to play piano and to the extend of how to compose music.

He started to play piano at the age of 5 and compose his own song 4 years later. He won several piano competitions. He youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/Lypur boast over 25 thousands subscribers. He teaches 30 students at his place beside supervising ice skating and ice hockey and he's 22.

Check his full biography: http://www.howtoplaypiano.ca/bio/

I am now 23. The best thing I have in my hands is the fact that I'm studying Medicine, full stop. His life story is really a slap to my face. I've been living with nothing to prove and nothing to be proud of. Just happy with my own tiny world. Being happy with enough money and good family is not the way I want to die. There's more to life than that.

Malay Students and Our Problems with the Friends Circle

2009-02-24T15:50:00.000-08:00

UK had always been my first choice in continuing my medical study in. I had many country choices during my college time and in IMU. Lot of my friends wanted to go to Ireland and of course a lot more who wouldn’t care to mind which countries they would be placed to. I deliberately crossed Ireland simply because they’re too many Malays there. I’m not a racist, plus, I am myself aforementioned Malay.

In my view, there are two main reasons of why Malaysian government sponsors its students to go abroad: one, they have better education system than ours. two, one which many Malay students tend to leave out, to learn other cultures. The simplest way to learn foreign cultures is to mingle with the locals. Many thought to join the local students during group discussion can be considered as the act of mingling. I deeply doubt if discussion about “The effects of Propranolol on the beta 2 sympathetic receptors” has anything to do with learning new cultures. It is verily agreeable to claim that Malaysians (especially the Malays) students do not extend their conversations with the home students beyond the class discussions except during gatherings.

If a little more effort is put on approaching the local students, our students should not have a problem in getting their non-Malaysians to talk. In fact, the local students are very approachable and friendly in nature. True, while some of them are easy to get close with, others may treat you in an icy cold manner. Sometimes, they can be very cocky and snobbish. No doubt. It’s a rather common sighting here in Nottingham. I don’t view those as a problem, instead, I see it as a challenge.

Back in IMU, I was closer with the Mauritians students than to the Malays. I also have friends among the Malays of course but it was with the Mauritians I hung out more with, talk about my study with, share jokes with, etc. I did all that not by isolating myself from the Malays but rather by opening myself to all kind of backgrounds. I did it by wandering alone away from the Malays. Say, if I wanna play futsal with the Uzbeks, I asked 1 or 2 Malay chaps to join me. That doesn’t necessarily mean I didn’t play if none of my Malay friends could turn up. There were many times, I was the only local students playing futsal with students from Pakistan, Tanzania, Cameroon, Mauritius and Iran.

Be it in Malaysia or in other places at all, it’s very unlikely for me to befriend the non-Malay if I’m always surrounded by Malays eg, walk with the Malays, eat with the Malays, study with Malays, hangout with the Malay, etc. There no penetration channel through which the non-Malays can enter. Yeah, it’s possible, if you do all those, you still get non-Malay friends but are they the friends who you learn new culture from?

By culture, I mean not their festivals or traditional dress but rather how they think. Human thought are generated richly by their background (one of its component is none other than culture). The Chinese and Indians surely don’t think like the Malays do. They don’t share the similar types of joke. They don’t even laugh in the same manner for crying out loud.

From my experiences with the non-Malays (I studied in Chinese schools and entered private University in which Malays were among the minority students), I learned different behaviors and put it in practice. In many instances, I could predict how the Malays and Chinese would react given certain set of circumstances. For example, a Malay guy usually waits for his friend if they were to be late for a class. Say 10 minutes late. They go down together. Friends for life. As for Chinese, they usually don’t wait for each other if one of them is late. The late guy would ask his friend to go first or the friend just leaves him. Another almost similar example is during dinner. If the food is served first to a Chinese girl, she would eat first but of course after asking her other friends. As for the Malays, they would wait until all the food is served before one can lift up the spoon or wash his hands.

Above examples are of course the primitive instances of varied differences in cultures but my point I presume, is delivered. It is a good life if you can have a lot of Malay friends who care for you and always be with you whenever you need them but don’t you think life would be richer if the ones who can care and be there for you are dispersed among different skin colors?

I consider myself as a Malaysian not as a Malay. My best friends could be Malays, my roommate could be an Indian and my girlfriend could be a Chinese. A lot of students find it hard to like other races other than their own. How can you expect to like something or someone if you don’t know them? The process of knowing other people take shape in the form of socializing. When you’re with a Chinese or an Indian, try to talk about their interest instead just about study.

We heard many times from our uncles or aunties, the Chinese and Indian are different from us. We can’t fully understand them, god forbid must you marry one of them. We need to protect our own race. If you don’t protect your own people, then who else will? While they are quite true even at this point in time, that doesn’t mean it will remain relevant 30 years down the road. One day (I pray), in Malaysia, we shall see a shift in perception. You’re children will no longer valued from their backgrounds but rather from their knowledge and wealth. I look forward to seeing one day, we become a nation like Singapore and the United Kingdom where race is not a big problem.

I don’t hate the Malays, my friends are composed of Malays mostly. My best friends are Malays (and the Mauritians). I talk in Malay, I laugh in Malay, I think in Malay. However, I believe we’re created to inherit this world to know and help each other irrespective of our language.

PENULTIMATE BREAK THROUGH

2009-01-25T09:51:00.000-08:00

Back in college years, I was put in the UK group. It was very competitive to be in that group. It was reserved for students who scored certain points. My Universities group composed of: Cardiff, Belfast and Leicester (there were 4 altogether, I couldn’t recall the other one). In order to get into any one of those Unis, I needed to pass the interview selection. It wasn’t meant to be. I didn’t get any seat out of it. I wasn’t really good in English back then and my anxiety had always been my barrier to communicating with others especially in English.

I was then called for Ireland Unis’ interviews. I declined the interview for IUMC with the intention to get the interview for RCSI. To ensure every student gets uni place, kolej mara banting withdrew the name of students who were already gotten unconditional offer out of any interview from upcoming new interviews. I fancied of going to Royal College as compared to IUMC. In the end, I got none, as my name was not even listed for RCSI interviews…

Then, came the Australian interviews, I had to sit for special admission exam for Monash Unis. I really did enjoy the presentation by the reps. Monash were taking around 30-60 students (I couldn’t really recall). I prepared for the interview. Monash interview was very relaxing but I got nervous anyway plus of course my challenged English. So, I again lost in the competition for the place. The number of students who are boundless shrunk, giving me higher chance of getting a place. University of Western Australia came for their chance to interview students. They were around 15 of us for 5 places. I screwed it up yet again.

My dream was always to be in the UK but from the experiences, evidently, I was too inferior then compared to others. Back home in Terengganu, I spoke more in Malay and even Mandarin than I did in English. I was rather an introvert, who found it hard to mingle with other people. This was clear with the fact that, my previous classmates didn’t really seem to like me back in schools and college. To make it more severe, my discipline was beyond words. I always came late for classes. The class bell was my alarm bell and I only came after recess. I put minimal of effort in any team project which gave them more and more reason to despise me. Unfortunately, I didn’t learn. I kept being myself…

I passed MARA requirement to fly but with no place to go to. My college informed me on my last-bullet chance. Auckland. I was so relieved to know my dream of ever stepping foot outside Malaysia had not vanished yet. It was only vanished when I got into the interviewing room. My anxiety hit me like always. Like other people who anxious, I said laughable and stupid things which I could made out from the awkward face of my lady interviewers.

With that, gone all my hope of ever studying oversea. I was enrolled into IMU after an interview. I got it, because they took every interviewee in. After 2.5 years in IMU, I was matched to Southampton, a pretty prestigious Uni in the UK. And, no interview, though, I knew I would like to have an interview after choosing to use English as my primary language when I enrolled into IMU. I was exempted from taking English class because I scored well in the English papers, I spoke English with everyone including the Malays, I started to write blog and few other things to work out my English. As a remedy to my anxiety problem, I was the President of Hostel Committee, President of Malay Cultural Society. Joined Counseling Club and few other stuff. I was an ‘A’ scorer for foundations, cvs, respi, hemato, endo, etc..

My eyes were off the ball when final was approaching. I did something stupid. Very much stupid. I flunked the papers.. also the resit….

I had to repeat semester 5 in IMU. It made me wonder: was I really that fxck up?

I was possibly the man with the most interviews back in KMB. I got the interviews from all countries offered by my college. When I did get the chance of getting to UK, I screwed up the exam. I got traumatized for the first time in my life. I got all C for my papers. The passing grade in IMU during my time was B.

The extra 5 months spent in IMU was like a brick thrown to my face. Nevertheless, it did make me think. I was a scorer in first few semesters but with only lecture notes as my reference. Skipped some clinical skills classes plus hospital visits. The repeat paper was my very last chance of ever continuing on with medicine. The life as a failure dawned before me.

I knew a girl who taught me the proper way of studying. From here, I started to open books and actively involved in PBL and clinical skill practices. All worked up well. Superb, I would say. I was so confidence during my final that I started to prepare my uk visa and everything else even before gotten the result transcript.

I took my result on Monday, Jan 12. I scored ‘A’ in both OSPE and Problem Case, and ‘A-’ for OSCE, overall was ‘A’. God knows how ecstatic the moment was for me.

I’m now in Nottingham, UK. Best Uni I had ever been matched to. It was a wonder how things unwound. In all my life, it took me only 5 months to turn things around. I also learned a lot from a book written by Rhonda Byrne called ‘The Secret’.

This was written out of boredom, hence the lousy grammar.

This Is A Rather Medical Entry

2008-10-12T07:15:00.000-07:00

I smuggled this from a friend of mine. Can't help but to laugh my heart out when reading it. Decided to share it here. According to her blog, http://zaatiliffah.blogspot.com/ the entries below are from real people's testimonials. Hilarious!

You know you’re a medical student when…

1. You take forever explaining to people how long you'll be in school for, and realise you’ll get a medical doctor title the same time your friend gets a PhD doctor title.

2. You get hung-over from work on the weekdays, and from alcohol/intoxicating substances (to try to forget the pain of medical school) on the weekends.

3. You contemplate anything between dropping out and suicide after you finish each exam, even before knowing the results.

4. The only people you like/adore/have a crush on/fall in love with are your colleagues/seniors/juniors.

5. You get depressed and emotional just thinking about how bad a doctor you’ll become in a few years.

6. You equate/try to relate each doctor/medical staff you meet with a character in House, ER, Scrubs or Grey’s Anatomy. The wannabe is Cristina Yang, the OCD bimbo is Elliott Reed.

7. You often mumble to yourself, “F***! Am I supposed to know that?” as soon as you see or hear about some disease/symptom/sign that you completely have no clue about. Then you blame it on the medical school for not teaching you that.

8. The sound of a van reversing with a beep makes you look around for someone’s bleep.

9. You answer every question with, “Hmm (pretending to think for a second), I don’t know.” And you know the most correct answer is, “It depends, sir.”

10. You diagnose every single abnormality on yourself/family/friends as a life-threatening condition. You think the tiny haematoma on your finger is a risk for PE.

11. You have a crush on each senior medical student or doctor who teaches you something (of the opposite sex most of the time).

12. You have too many free pens, notebooks, pamphlets, peak flow meters, blood glucose monitors etc. You know the drug reps are trying to buy you.

13. You watch House and ER, and think you can score in the exams and get through medical school. Wrong, only Dr.Wikipedia helps.

14. You instantly feel that you want to bang your head against the wall whenever someone says “You’re a medical student? You must be very smart then!”, because it’s an unbearable accusation.

15. You have bouts of breaking down, screaming or crying in the last month and wished that you were not a medical student, yet still continue the course as you have no idea what you would do if you quit. Besides knowing you don’t have enough brains to do anything else either.

16. You feel there is something wrong if you don’t have an exam coming up.

17. You often suddenly wake up in the middle of the night with palpitations and sweating, thinking it’s the day of your exams/OSCE/portfolio review.

18. The only pyjamas you have and want to wear are scrubs.

19. You think the 6-8 glasses of water recommended daily means coffee.

20. You evilly wish that someone will get hurt/collapse on the train/in any public place so you can do first aid/resuscitation.

21. Your friend is upset/distressed about something and you think “Yes, a mental health issue that I can practise my skills on!”

22. You work out so that you get a six pack, so that you will make a good simulated patient for the seniors. (Pastu kunun malu baju ketat. Pwek. )

23. You hold/shake your friend/partner’s hand for more than 15 seconds and realise you’re taking their pulse.

24. You still have never had a boyfriend/girlfriend (ever) by the time you qualify. And you don’t bother, since the divorce rate is 70% for physicians.

25. Your friend/cousin zooms in front of you with his brand new car and treats you to lunch with his own paycheck and on top of that, talks about property and houses to buy. And you’re still struggling to buy second hand reference books.

26. You find yourself always carrying a pen even if you’re out for a date/lunch/dinner.

27. You have exams in a few days and when you try doing practice questions, you don’t know what to do with your pen besides underlining the key words in the question.

28. Conversations with people involve “So tell me what happened.”, “So how does that make you feel?”, and “I understand it must be very difficult for you.”

29. You have a fever/flu/cold/cough/sore throat and can’t rest until you identify which patient caused it. Better not be that HIV or TB patient.

30. You seem to know too much gossip about too many people, and yet you’re not sure how that happened.

31. You’re 100% sure you’re fat/chubby because of Cushing’s, ascites, hypothyroidism or oedema.

32. You often wonder why the heck you even bothered to take medicine when you know you’ll work nights, be underpaid and always have to keep the clients (patients) happy. Just like a hooker.

33. You're overly proud of the fact that you have a non-medic friend. And they’re not invisible.

34. You’re cleaning a patient’s wound (draining pus or any other gruesome theme) and keep thinking about what to have for lunch.

35. You feel upset that everybody is going back early for summer and feel like doing nikah mut`ah, just so you don’t talk to the wall for two months.

36. You describe the hall as hyperechoic, the paint on the wall as anaemic and the bookshelf as elevated.

37. You have a peak moment in life when a senior says “good” or “well done”; it’s so relieving to know you’re not a complete drain on society.

38. Your intelligence/stupidity and fitness to practise is assessed based on which medical school you go to. Of course you're stupidest and unsafest if you're from Manchester.

39. You get turned on by every other male doctor, but feel nothing when performing a testicular examination on a young fit (soldier!) patient. Without gloves.

40. You’re content knowing that you actually do lead a normal and sane life. Even if it’s just a few hours in a day, while you’re asleep.

41. You don’t know why your handwriting has increased in size and incomprehensibility.

42. You’re completely socially retarded when you hang out with non-medics as you don't know what to talk about besides your miserable life as a medical student.

43. You see an extremely fit and hot person at the gym and the first thing you notice is their appendectomy scar.

44. A patient/doctor asks if you've done a procedure before (e.g. cannulation, suturing) and you say "Yes", without revealing the fact that the previous patients were plastic models.

45. You know you’re too old to be studying anything more intensive than a cookbook, and there’s practically no more space in your brain to fit anything.

46. You don’t understand why summer vacation is only one month, although summer itself is three months.

47. You hate someone and know exactly how to kill them even without involving cyanide or carbon monoxide.

48. Sarcasm is your second language. After swear words/cursing.

49. You look at people’s hands and arms and wonder which vein would be a ‘good vein’ for venepuncture or cannulation.

50. You wash your hands after meals and the loo using the 6-step technique.

51. You’re secretly happy that the really smart guy stopped medical school and start complotting who next to eliminate. Just so the normal distribution skews to the left so you won’t fail.

52. You can tell what day it is from knowing which consultant is doing his ward round that day.

53. School is anytime between 9 to 9. The next morning, I mean.

54. You think every male wearing scrubs is hot/sexy, no matter how ugly they really are.

55. You wonder where they keep thyroxine and morphine so you can steal them.

56. Your roommate, housemate, neighbour, boyfriend, girlfriend, any close friends and practically everybody are not spared from being your simulated patient (or stimulated as Kak Zy calls them ).

57. You can’t wait for weekends, so that you can catch up on your readings.

58. You don’t look at people’s faces when you talk to them. You look at their neck – for carotid pulsations, JVP, thyroid, SCM, thyroid cartilage, …

59. You lose weight just from walking around and up and down 5 floors of stairs for 4 hours for ward rounds.

60. You blame neurotransmitters and hormones for anything going wrong in your life.

61. Your hair starts greying and falling out at the age of 21.

62. You have a list of pathologies that you don't mind dying from. Definitely not cancer though.

63. You count the days till your next more-than-two-days-weekend-break, which is at least 4 months away.

Oil price falls further to $118

2008-08-05T13:06:00.000-07:00

It's about time. Experts were months ago predicting that the economic will restore its order once the demands go down amid the ever rising oil price. Now, not just the demands go down, the oil stockpilings are also being increased by OPEC esp the #1 producer, Saudi Arabia after a plea by the US. Nevertheless, this could just mean a rather temporary decline with the things going around the globe esp the depleting of the most important nonrenewable resource. Click the link for full news from BBC.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7542766.stm

A Rather Inspiring Story

2008-08-04T12:07:00.000-07:00

I got this from the net. Worth the 5 mins reading.

my parents got divorced when i was 17, just a few days shy of my SPM exams. before that, my family was quite well off since my dad works in one of the GLC and was getting quite a lot per month. when my dad left, my mom had to work as dad left us with nothing at all and no monthly allowance.

my mom only finished standard 6 of school, broke, and heartbroken.

none of my rich uncles (my dad side, one datuk, one tan sri) wanted to help. my mom looked like a beggar.

and the govt didn't help at all. until today, my mom's name is nowhere to be seen on the "ibu tunggal" list. call it weird, call it overlooked case. but everytime i went to Baitulmal to get some help for my mom, i was shunned away.

ok. before my parents got divorced, my mom bought herself a van. it's easier for us (kinda big family) to travel in it. so what my mom did? she started to drive kids to school (without permit, coz it'll cost a bomb to apply for a school bus permit)

first 6 months was hell to us. i remember waking up on raya morning only to find there's no food in the house and my mom was crying quietly in her room. that was one of the saddest day of my life. being the eldest child, i feel that i have a mountain to climb to save my family.

i sacrificed my studies. i never got the chance to finish college. i went to work here and there. sometimes double shifts just to support my family.

sometime later my mom's business got better. she got herself the permit she always wanted (took her 4 years to get it), bought a proper bus.

on the other hand, knowing that i will never have the chance to learn properly in college, i started to learn from tutorials on the net. this was during 1998, when the net was at it's infancy in malaysia. i learned everything from photoshop, to java, to video editing, etc. i saved some money (waiter during the day, burger stall during nite) to build myself the best rig that time (AMDK6-2 350Mhz, 256mb RAM, 20GB HDD) and use it to learn. after i've completed some freelance projects, my confidence grew and made me try to apply for work.

finding work without a cert is VERY HARD in malaysia. no matter how good you are, if you dun have the paper, nobody would want to even read your resume.

i found a job after about 8 months of hunting.

fast forward to now, i own an advertising company with client accounts ranging from SMEs to big boutiques. and soon i will expand to singapore (hopefully by year's end, God's willing). my mom got 3 school bus with more than 300 kids as her passengers. my sister finished university with Bsc (Hons) in Business Admin, my third bro just finished level 4 of his SKM with job offers from workshop here and there waiting for him and my youngest bro is about to take his SPM, with options to go ICOM or ASK to further his interest in music later.

my story shows that malays do not need help or being spoonfed. all we need is determination and willpower to do it. and let no one say no to our dreams.

my journey is still long. i'm just glad my family pulled thru our darkest period together. that made us closer and made me realise that how valuable my family is.

i know most part of the story will be hard for another malay family/person to live thru. but that's the harsh reality of life. and it made me realised that all this stupid NEP, ketuanan melayu BS is just benefiting the high society of malays, not ppl like my family.

i have plans to make my mom's journey into a documentary. i hope to sell the documentary to either discovery channel or natgeo. i want the world to know that my mom is a superwoman. and she did it all my herself. i'm proud of her..

The Unsung Hero

2008-08-04T09:31:00.000-07:00

He was the European most valued goal scorer when in Milan. Now, still regarded as one of the finest in history. Unfortunately he made the bad choice coming over to Chelsea FC. I am a Chelsea fan but I do believe Andriy Shevchenko will do a lot better even up until now had him chosen to stay in San Siro. Nevertheless, I've still seen some of his magic with Chelsea. Below are the great collection of those.

Incredulously Higher Laptop Price

2008-08-02T11:30:00.000-07:00

This is actually my response in lowyat.net (lyn) on a complaint made by a buyer who bought a laptop for RM4900 at a kiosk but later found out that the laptop was sold at RM3588 elsewhere. That is RM1312 difference.

"i went 2 evernew it solution n brought an asus m51vr laptop on 20 july for RM4900, but at the beginning i was looking for an acer 6920g, 1 of the evernew sales supervisor name lee recommend me purchase the asus m51vr n bluff this laptop is the latest n more powerful than the acer 6920g!!!!!!! after he bluff me how powerful is it, he told me that thay r having an exchange policy that allow me to change another laptop if i`m not satisfy with the 1 i purchase within 1 month!!! this is 1 of the main reason makes me to buy laptop with them!!!! after that i test it at home, what he said the latest is true but powerful is a naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! cant even play devil may cry4!!!!!

i sent warrenty for the dvd rom problem after 3 days, but at time i felt satisfy because they sattle my proble in only 3 hr. but when i went 2 pc fair yesterday i found out that they a selling asus m51vr at only RM3588 WITH worth 800++ free gift!!!

i stun there for a few sec n after that i quickly start calling the sales person n he gives me a bunch of excuses to not let me exchange to another model with lower price also!!!!

i'll do further action to this company if they dont gine me a reasonable feedback.

every brothers n sisters please be aware with the sales supervisor name "LEE" in evernew IT solution!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

My reply:

This scenario happens. A lot of kiosks sell laptop way above standard lowyat price. Some kiosks were selling HP TX2032 for RM3'999 tho the price was alredi reduced to RM2799 to RM3099. Now they are selling HP DV3029 for RM3'999 tho the price now is RM3499.

This happens bcoz they buy the units from other resellers themselves at roughly consumer prices say RM3'400 or RM3'450 for the DV3029. They make RM500 profit while other shops make around only RM50-RM200 usually.

This is possible due to the fact that all they pay is for the spot and some cabinets. Get some units for demo which later they could sell for demo price or worst, as a apparent new unit. They don't have ready stock, if customer want, they get from reseller, say, Sri Computers.

The risk is kept at minimum. All they need to thrive is the ppl who don't actually know about laptop pricing. I seen a lot of Malay girls fell into this group.

I won't say their promoting skill is good as most of the promoters are quite young, worst, they don't even understand what they talking about. Try pulling their leg by asking about Puma Platform, the most possible answer u get is 'AMD has two processors only: athlon and turion', worse, they still trapped in the belief that Centrino is a Processor (instead of Platform), they even still believe firmly that Core2Duo with Broadcom Wifi is still Centrino.

Last 2 days, there was an AP set HP Pavilion DV2000 special verve edition in 1 of the kiosk. It got both Core2Duo and Pentium Dual Core stickers on it.
I'm sure some of u noticed this. It has only Intel Integrated graphic chip. The price was RM5'999 which took me aback. The promoter simply said 'this is different, special edition'.

If u wanna buy laptop, try to avoid the kiosk unless ur a lowyat 'regular'. I bought 2nd hand Fujitsu S2210 (that time cost RM4k) for RM1750. Very like new. Full set.

Yeah, if ur a regular surveyor, u cud get lucky from these kiosks.

Here Comes PUMA

2008-08-02T10:25:00.000-07:00

After a long hiatus of new platform and processing chip, Advance Micro Devices (AMD) finally introduced their most anticipated PUMA platform, to compete with Intel's Montevina or officially known as Centrino 2. At the heart of is AMD hyped Griffin processor (now known as AMD Turion X2 Ultra Dual-Core). Graphic is processed by ATI HD3000 graphics series (can be integrated into the system or discrete). The platform will accomodate AMD 7-series chipset, AMD M780G and AMD SB700. Computers experts (inc. AMD Sr. staff) and geeks are saying that the speed offered by the new CPU still could not match that of Core2Duo beasts but added that graphic and components communication are more efficient with the technology like HyperTransport, AMD Enhanced PowerNow!, ATI CrossFireX & ATI PowerXpress (both come under ATI Hybrid Graphics Tech).

Below is the full article I quoted from laptoping.com.

AMD today announced “Puma“, company’s new notebook platform. “Puma” features the latest Turion “Griffin” processors, chipsets, ATI Radeon Mobile GPUs, and wireless modules, as well as advanced power-saving and security features.

“The AMD Turion X2 Ultra Dual-Core Mobile processor includes top enhancements including AMD Independent Dynamic Core Technology, a new mobile-optimized memory controller, and power-optimized HyperTransport 3.0. The new mobile AMD 7-series chipset, AMD M780G and AMD SB700, features integrated ATI Radeon HD 3200 Graphics and delivers support for Microsoft DirectX 10″, the chip maker says.

According to AMD, the integrated graphics in “Puma” deliver “up to three times” the 3D graphics performance of comparable competitor graphics. The platform also offers the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3000 discrete video cards, including the new ATI Mobility Radeon 3800 Series and older Radeon 3400 and 3600 Series.

AMD Puma-based notebooks can have both integrated and discrete graphics, which can run together to boost performance. That feature is called ATI Hybrid Graphics Technology. Other graphics technologies include ATI CrossFireX, enabling multiple discrete graphics processors to work together, and Avivo HD Technology for smooth video playback in high-definition formats. “Puma” supports HDMI, DVI and Display Port outputs and multi-monitor functionality.

The next-gen notebook platform incorporates the latest in wireless connectivity, such as 802.11 draft n and 3G modules by Atheros, Broadcom, and Ralink.

For longer battery life in laptops, AMD Puma uses the new power management technologies, including AMD Enhanced PowerNow! and ATI PowerXpress.

“AMD Enhanced PowerNow! Technology provides independent and dynamic control of core performance, and the ability to shut off areas of core logic when not in use to preserve power. ATI PowerXpress Technology, in turn, provides the high performance of discrete graphics when plugged into a power source and dynamically switches to integrated graphics when unplugged, saving up to 90 minutes of battery life,” AMD explains.

Regarding security, the company says that Puma supports Trusted Platform Module and Enhanced Virus Protection.

According to AMD, notebooks based on the new AMD notebook platform are now available from OEM customers.

The Never-Give-Up AMD

2008-08-02T09:42:00.000-07:00

Undoubtedly, Intel is the leading name in computer processors. Now they just launched the Centrino 2 platform with 45nm Penryn Processor. For many, laptops which use CPU other than Intel are considered economical. More economical than Pentium Dual-Core. By economical, I mean AMD chips are bought to save money not performance seeking.

Say what you want, but I noticed I actually lean towards AMD in term of CPU craze. I'm not saying that I will definitely buy AMD now. In fact, I'm now using Intel Core2Duo with Santa Rosa Centrino Platform. For the moment, yeah, Intel is horizon away ahead of AMD.

Nonetheless, I found I would rather wiki on AMD Puma than Intel Montevina. I much rather read on AMD Fusion than other stuff summed up together by Intel.

I believe, as a previous leading name in Processing Chips, AMD will at least close the gap significantly with Intel. The AMD Fusion is expected to debut somewhere in 2009. It features the fused CPU and GPU. Meaning super efficient data transport between the 2 components (actually, it virtually need no bus to transport them since they are fused together). AMD purchase of ATI years back certainly mean this.

Intel hasn't mentioned any research on the fused chips yet. It is a no wonder, since Intel graphics chips have described as abysmal by many critics and users. To have a fused technology, they would need to pour more money to work with and buy from Nvidia as there is insignificant chance that AMD will let them fused with ATI chips.

Given that, come 2009, I will DEFINITELY buy laptop based of AMD Fusion.

Picture above I got from gizmodo.com which I think would be apt to attach with the article. Hehe.

Cheer Up Your Day and Learn Chinese

2008-07-29T10:59:00.000-07:00

I studied in Chinese School before. After PMR, I decided to drop Mandarin subject. The single most regretful thing I've done in my life. I am thinking of reviving my Mandarin skill whenever time permits me, which evidently doubtful with the fact that I'm in medical line, now about to enter clinical years. My friend showed me this but stupidly I thought it was a quick way to re-spawn a bit of my Mandarin. You'll be surprised at how good you are at Mandarin. hehe..

127.0.0.1 Hacker! Lol!

2008-07-29T09:07:00.000-07:00

I originally found this on Lowyat.net and it was awfully rolling-on-the-floor-shedding-tears funny. Poor hacker (or was he?). I managed to find the full post from electric-escape.net
I can't post it here as blogger is unable to load words inside '<' and '>'.

Post link:
Shut Up I Hack You

The comments/discussion on slashdot

A Very Lengthy Complaint (About AP Phone)

2008-07-27T13:46:00.000-07:00

I got this one from Lowyat.net. Reading the complaint was like a journey but it was an eye opener.

I would like to express my own experience in this forum to enlighten users of lowyat.net of unfair practices by certain phone dealer and service company.

I've heard stories of AP and original Nokia phones but i was caught by surprise regarding what happened to me.I bought a phone from Mobiland Trading, lowyat plaza from a person named SKY.The shop is located beside the kingston booth on third floor.I am not able to obtain a proper address of the shop location because, at first the chop they gave me on my receipt states that the shop location is at Tesco Mutiara Damansara, but the namecard of the person who sold me states that the shop location is in Carrefour,Subang.

This is what happened,
I went to look for a Nokia E65 from a few places, so i finally survey through lowyat and ended up in Mobiland Trading, at the shop, i was offered an AP E65 for Rm1060.But i enquired about the original phone that i was intending to buy which is Rm1200.After much discussion, the salesperson convinced me that buying the AP phone is actually the same and he gave me the assurance that the service will be okay without problem at all.Anything regarding service, all i need to do is to return the phone to the shop/him.He was convincing me, and he did say that among the sellers, they regard people who buy original phone as sohai jokingly.But i did make a mistake, i succumbed and bought the AP phone from him, the company of the phone is COMSAT.

I do not know much regarding AP and original phone, since the last tiem i bought a phone was more than 4 years ago which is a nokia 6510 which is still used until today.I was happy with my new phone and i took care of it really well.Never dropped, always placed in the softcase, no scratches and etc..

But my ordeal came about when, one day i realised that my keypad backlight wasnt working which is in end of FEB.I googled and discovered that this particular model has a problem with the keypad backlight.I'm currently staying in Malacca, but i used to be in kl quite often few months back.I took a day trip to lowyat to send it back to the shop i purchased it from.

The person who sold me te phone was there, and i asked if the phone can be warrantied.He said can but takes quite awhile before it gets fixed which is around a month or so.I was wondering why does it take so long because at the beginning he told me that the serice centre is in lowyat itself.So he said that i should take it to the service centre itself(he said it will be faster and i can get my phone back within days because i'm a customer), but to my surprise, the service centre is not in lowyat but in Taman Maluri instead.The one in lowyat is the dealer who only pass the phone to the service centre.

So with his advice i went to Taman Maluri the same day, send in my phone the person who collected it said that it takes 30 minutes.But later he came out an said that one of the components burned.So i have to leave it in until it is fixed.I spoke to the manager to ask for a favour to courier it down to me since i'm not from KL, but they didn't want to.Im oky with it because i dont' mind making another trip up.I said if it can be fixed faster and i asked if i could get a replacement since the phone is in mint condition, no scratches and etc.He said i can't.He said that the cause of the damaged is charging problem, my fault.Which i said that it's not my fault for goodness sake.I only have the charger supplied by the company.What is there to say?

He said ok, the technician agreed to repair it for you....But isn't he suppose to repair it for me?That's my right.
So i put my phone in and i took the jobsheet.After that i noticed that in the jobsheet they wrote everything of my phone to be NOT IN GOOD CONDITION/BROKEN.I asked the lady who wrote it, named "IFFAH".The technician named 'AH YAN' interrupted and said what's the problem rudely, he said i was being to meticulous/fussy/mafan.He said all this is management work, you think i want to scratch your phone is it?? Because i said that if i get back my phone in bad condition i can't say anything.I just siad that, please write and evaluate my phone properly.The rude technician challenged me and said, if i don't want to give you warranty now how??He said how?I dont' want to give you warranty, you take your phone back and go make complain if you like.I was kind enough to say, ok, if you say that u will do it properly, i hope that when i get it back my phone will be in the same condition.He just walked away, rudely saying that i am fussy and etc..not understanding and etc...But i felt something fishy going on...

So i went home, after 5 days i called back, they said it's okay although they didn't give me a call at all.I went back on a saturday morning.I couldn't find my receipt because it went into the washing machine.The manager was kind enough to return my phone when i showed my ic and purchase receipt.But the front lady named "IFFAH" was rude, she said i am very troublsome and "buat saya susah".When she took my phone, she just dropped it on the service counter table, my heart sank man but i kept quiet.I collected my phone, to my surprise, my whole front faceplate has been change to some damn old one.So old that the whole colour of the face plate missing(the rubber like material 100% peel off) i was so shocked.I told the lady in her face that it's not my phone, she cheked and said it's mine.I said NO..She called the technician, and he came out with his sour face and said why not my phone.Same IMEI number,but i told him, my phone cover not like that, it came in brand new like.The back adhesive covering the screw hole also missing.He said, he go and find...after less than 2 minutes he came out and say, he can't find.. I was like !#@$#@%@#%@#...Wat the hell...He forced me to take it back to use..I said no i am not going to take it.I called the manager inside, he came out and said.It's my phone, maybe something happened and they lost my cover.He gave me the assurance that he will fix it.I said ok..I wil come back again.

After nearly 5 days, no news..I got angry and i consulted my lawyers.My lawyer gave the service centre a call, the malay girl picked up.BTW, there's two malay girls there named "IFFAH" and the other named "WAHNA".the malay girl said it's fixed.And then my lawyer requested for the manager.The malay girl put my lawyer on hold for quite long..At the same time, i got a call from their service centre right in front of my lawyer..I couldn't pick up because i was in a conversation.Then the manager answered and told my lawyer he's been trying to contact me. The deal was settled, when the manager said he will call me.He said he want to ask the technician to pay.So when i called the manager an hour later.I said, am i goign to get a new replacement or another substitute.The manager raised his voice and said " Don't talk to me like that".I said i am just asking because i should know.All the time i spoke to them, i dont' raise my voice because i'm educated.No point shouting.The manager said he will fix it, give him a few days....

After a few days, i called back the service centre, the manager resigned............

Then my lawyer adviced me to called the service centre for the last time before making various reports and proceeding with the case.I even have photos of my phone before i sent it in as evidence(i wanted to sell it to upgrade so i took a few high resolution photos of it).

I called the service centre, this time "WAHNA" picked up the call.I asked how is the phone now since the manager has resigned.
She pass the call to the technician" AH YAN".He came and abruptly say that it's hard for him to find a replacement, and all those excuse, he said i should take it home and use first until he finds one and he will call me..Which i felt is nonsence.I said, no i am not going to take it home.I just want my original cover back.He said i am too troublseome again and a problem causer.I said i have evidence regarding my phone, i have photos of it.I said this looks like a cheating case already ok.He got angry and said, "I challenge you now".I said no problem..I wil just make the reports and proceed with the case.He said, "You like la, you take all your photos all your stuffs come.I went back to my lawyers office and within half an hour.The malay girl called me and said that the technician changing it for me, he went to buy it.

After that i asked and said that is the cover going to be original.The tchnician said yes.

Then 5 days, i went back on a wednesday.I collected my phone.They change it to some pasar malam cover..I wasn't happy.And the sticked that covers the screw hole is missing..The technician asked another technician to take a blacktape but it and paste over..What kinda service is this.The technician(AH YAN) didn't want to deal with me, he asked someone from the shop to deal with me.The boy said, u want you follow me to our spare part warehouse, you choose until you happy and u take, i change for you one..I went there, i saw them writing original accessories.But when i opened up, i knew it wasn't original because i could see glue signs on the cover and the metal coating is not as shiny.He said, i didn't have a choice.It's either i take it or leave it.I just took whether feeling very sick of the whole situation.And the worst thing is, the original keypad problem is not fixed, i told him and showed him.He said, you bring back to the service centre again.I got so angry i left the place with the phone.On top of that, they created a new problem, when i slide my phone open, there's no more backlight turning on at all even on the screen..

I went back to lowyat to find the guy who sold me, I said, why you ask me to send there and now become like that.Can i send it back to you.I bought it from you and i expect that you will be able to service me.He said, he can 'help' to send but if it comes back like that again he can't do anything.I said you tell me that u can service, then u ask me to send there because it's faster.And now you come and say that u can't do anything.I asked for his shop's office, he didn't want to give me any information and he said, you complain to us no use, u now dealing with the service centre already.We only sell you the item, service centre you went there yourself so now you dealing with them now not us.I left the place feeling cheated like never before.Unitl today, they've got away with what they've done.

I could take further actions regarding this matter but i felt that i wanted to take a break from all this nonsence.I've learnt my lesson and i will not trust AP companies anymore.I hope this would serve as a reminder to all handphoner purchasers out there.

Out of all the time i'v been at the service centre.I've heard so many complains.And the same technician has always been there tell the customer."If i dont' want to give you warranty how.""I don't want to gie you warranty la.."One customer came in because his phone software got problem, the technician said, "I test many times already, you want u come in and fix yourself la."
Since when service centres do business like that..

If you buy a phone and everything works well it's okay.But when something goes wrong, that's when the ordeal starts.

I change my lowyat.net account to protect myself.This post is just to serve as an explaination to my experience with them.
My phone is only 2+ months old when it all started. Now i'm left with no phone at all, and i lost a big amount of money when i sold it away later.I hope none of you will be in my position.

Full discussion can be reached below:
http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/684700

The All New Starcraft 2

2008-07-07T15:12:00.000-07:00

I have been a Blizzard fan since I knew the game Starcraft. I have since became an avid follower of Blizzard's other games line namely Diablo and Warcraft. I am more into real time strategy games rather than other types. The introduction of Starcraft 2 is a godsend after a very long hiatus of the arguably the best strategy game in history. Below are the 2 best clips I found in youtube on the 3 races skirmishes.

'Pukau' By Phone

2008-07-07T12:20:00.000-07:00

I don't usually talk about this sort of things but for sure I heard about them. Few days back, at around 2am. I was already in my deep sleep when I heard my phone started to ring. I picked it up about to answer the call, drowsy. Before I even pressed the answer button, it struck me in the face to realize, only 5 digit popped up. Didn't think twice, rejected the call. Turned off the cell. Back to sleep.

When I woke up, I recalled my friend was telling me about some 'pukau' via phone stuff. 'Pukau' is crudely synonymous to hypnotize. The number was long in her claim, and was thought as coming from Indonesia. Victims were hypnotized into giving their full name. I guess their number were dialed up randomly. After the name were given, the damage began.

I goggled up to get some sense. The tags: pukai, phone, indonesia hit multiple similar stories on a lady called fiza. Here's the essential translation:

Fiza, was at Shell in Sri Petaling when a number conjured up on her mobile phone screen. The party claimed they were calling for Maxis Hotlink and that fiza apparently, won a Hotlink contest. She did realized, tho, the number was actually long and possibly from Indonesia. Unfortunately that didn't stop her from giving her full name upon the request. It was directly after giving her name, she lost her consciousness. Walked to a nearby ATM, and as directed by the guy, transferred RM2'600 to an account (which was actually an oversea account). To cap it up, she later on was told to buy a credit reload to an Indonesian no.

She gained her consciousness only when she got back home. Feeling something was not right, proceeded to ATM again just to find out all the money she was saving was all gone save for some mere cents.

The trueness of the story certainly remains to be questioned but it's always best to be vigilant. When by any chance you were asked about your full name, think deep, for that's where the charm fill its effects. No matter how mad you are at receiving repetitious random msgs from unknown no, the worse thing to do is to reply.

Below story took another twist but with specified phone no of 006285880386856. The victim was told their SIM card won a draw by Petronas, winning RM10K. I don't translate the story this time.

Pagi hari Jumaat, 4 Mei 2007. Saya menerima satu SMS berbunyi:- . Setelah bertanya pendapat beberapa orang rakan, saya mengambil keputusan tidak melayan SMS tersebut kerana percaya itu adalah satu penipuan. Bagaimanapun, selang beberapa minit kemudian, saya terima satu lagi SMS sama yang dihantar dari nombor yang sama. Saya percaya pengirim SMS tersebut datangnya dari Indonesia berdasarkan nombor yang tertera.

Menyedari saya telah diganggu, saya menghantar satu SMS balasan berbunyi:- Minta maaf. saya tidak kenal siapa kamu dan tidak percaya dengan apa yang kamu katakan. Kira-kira pukul 11.30 pagi, saya terima panggilan telefon dari nombor 006285880386856. Ketika itu, pemanggil tersebut yang memperkenalkan dirinya sebagai pegawai dari Petronas Malaysia memaklumkan SMS yang saya terima bukan satu penipuan. Katanya, hadiah wang tunai yang bakal saya terima akan dimasukkan ke dalam akaun Maybank. Serentak dengan itu, dia meminta Nama Penuh, No. Kad Pengenalan, No. Akaun Maybank dan bertanyakan jumlah simpanan saya dalam akaun tersebut.

Kerana tidak percaya dengan apa yang dia katakan, saya berkeras tidak mahu memberitahu semua perkara yang diminta. Bagaimanapun, dia meyakinkan saya bahawa No. Kad ATM Maybank milik saya telah pun dia ketahui. Serentak dengan itu, dia membacakan 8 digit pertama nombor tersebut. Menurutnya, dia memerlukan semua perkara yang diminta tadi untuk pengesahan supaya hadiah RM10,000 boleh dimasukkan ke dalam akaun saya secepat mungkin.

Saya yang tidak sempat berfikir panjang segera memberikan semua perkara yang diminta. Bagaimanapun, saya mula berasa cemas selepas itu lalu segera ke cawangan Maybank terdekat dan sempat mengeluarkan sebahagian besar wang simpanan saya sebagai langkah berjaga-jaga. Selepas pengeluaran itu, saya masih mempunyai simpanan sebanyak RM1,202

Kira-kira jam 2.30 petang, saya kembali ke cawangan Maybank yang sama. Setelah diperiksa, saya dapati baki simpanan saya bukan bertambah sebanyak RM10,000 seperti yang dijanjikan, sebaliknya hanya tinggal RM2.00 sahaja. Ketika itu saya sedar bahawa saya telah tertipu. Wang simpanan saya sebanyak RM1,200 telah dikeluarkan tanpa pengetahuan.

Satu laporan polis telah dibuat dan pihak polis memaklumkan, kes seperti ini sering berlaku dan mangsanya akan dipukau terlebih dahulu sehingga memberikan apa saja yang diminta. Menurut polis lagi, sindiket yang berpangkalan di Indonesia ini telah menyamar sebagai badan-badan dari Malaysia. Mereka juga bertutur dalam bahasa Malaysia untuk memperdayakan mangsanya.

Kepada kawan-kawan yang mungkin menerima SMS serupa, saya nasihatkan supaya abaikan sahaja. Jangan sesekali membalas atau menelefon kembali nombor yang tertera biarpun untuk memaklumkan yang anda tidak percaya dengan SMS yang dihantar kerana anda akan segera dipukau melalui cara itu.

Dedicated to my friends who are off to IMU Seremban

2008-07-06T18:37:00.000-07:00

This is my 1st full length video making. Got too much free time during the short-break before the final exam result come out. I was 1st inspired by the good music by French singer, Alizee. The song entitled 'Par Les Paupieres' (roughly means
'by the eyelids') taken from the album 'Psychedelices'. It's a beautiful melody.

I used Windows Movie Maker for the movie and some of the pics edition. Most of the pics were edited with Photoshop Elements and can be found here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/alimus/sets/72157606023233615/

Government Plans To Curb The Rising Oil Price (from paultan.org)

2008-06-15T12:37:00.000-07:00

this is actually the supplement to my article 2 below.

Datuk Shahrir Samad reveals a little more on what went behind the doors at the Cabinet Committee on Inflation meeting, which resulted in fuel prices to be revised to RM2.70 per liter for RON97 fuel and the formation of a new subsidy payment of RM625 for cars with engines below 2000cc.

He also gives a preview on what to expect next when it comes to how we buy our fuel and how much we pay for it.

The government decided to increase the price immediately instead of the before-mentioned August date as calculations revealed that if they had waited any longer, the price increase would have been different.

The government was considering three quantums of increase: RM0.50, RM0.78 and RM1.00, which would have resulted in fuel prices of RM2.42, RM2.70 and RM2.92 respectively. Initially the committee favored RM1.00, but RM0.78 was picked because rather than setting it at RM2.42 and increasing it again to RM2.92 soon later, a one-time increase was preferred so that it has to be swallowed once.

The RM2.70 per liter price for RON97 fuel is expected to stay for awhile (note that this does not mean a confirmation, what more in these times of conflicting government statements), with further increases in crude oil prices to be absorbed by the government. The market price for fuel will only be implemented sometime in the future where fuel prices will be reviewed every month and will be set at market price minus a fixed RM0.30 per liter subsidy.

The RM625 cash subsidy via postal order plan is a one-off thing because for subsequent years there will be a new way to implement the subsidy with more controls as the current system has many holes in it, but was chosen because it was the quickest to implement.

A new system based on quotas will be introduced next. The current cash subsidy is based on a 66 liter per month consumption (calculated over 10 months). The suggestion is that the new quota system would also assign 66 liters of fuel per month, but it will likely be based on a person rather than on a per-car basis as it is currently with the road-tax based system. This closes the loophole of someone having multiple cars but only really driving one enjoying more subsidies than he should be getting.

The way to determine who should get the subsidies is still being finalised, but a MyKad-based system or something based on some other kind of card will be used to identify the person as qualified to get subsidies at the pump… apparently this year. I think the directors of ePetrol have valid reasons to be smiling in their sleep now.

The picture that Datuk Shahrir paints seems to be one of the government’s coffers running dangerously dry, so dry that urgency of reducing subsidy expenses seemed to be placed at the highest priority.

It’s sort of implying that waiting just two months and continuing to pay subsidies at the previous level for an additional two months would have such a devastating effect that even a RM2.70 petrol price could not be sustained for the next 1 year.

It’s either that or the government is playing it safe and is doing a subsidy bill projection taking into account further massive hikes in crude oil prices.

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Barack Obama Democratic Nomination Victory Speech

2008-06-07T21:19:00.000-07:00

I don't follow the US Election campaign but this speech really stung me right into my spine. I never can bear election speeches, not in Malaysia, I don't (with all the hatred speeches) but this 1 is exceptional. This guy is very gentlemen, he attack his opponents but in very professional manner full-supported with old and current facts. He attack not his opponents but their thoughts.

I never felt as motivated and aroused in any speech but this one really got me up my seat. I watched the half-an-hour video twice. Never thought I have such a long attention span when listening to his speech. I don't think it's his message which got me attracted primarily. It is his eloquent, informative, strong speech with no script!

He really made people believe that the changes he is about to make to America is because of their efforts and faith. He made them believe that everyone of them is part of his core team.
I know we never know the real side of US Presidents (everyone liked Bush's speeches during his presidential campaigns) until they are ones, but Barack Obama surely the best one to lead US.

p/s below is the short introduction about him I copied from Wiki.

Barack Hussein Obama, Jr. (born August 4, 1961) is the junior United States Senator from Illinois and the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2008 presidential election. He is the first African American to be the presumptive presidential nominee of any major American political party.

"Since announcing his presidential campaign in February 2007, Obama has emphasized ending the Iraq war, increasing energy independence, decreasing the influence of lobbyists, and providing universal health care as top national priorities."

A graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School, Obama worked as a community organizer, university professor, political activist, and lawyer before serving in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2004. Following an unsuccessful bid for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2000, he announced his campaign for the U.S. Senate in January 2003. After winning a landslide primary victory in March 2004, Obama delivered the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in July 2004. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in November 2004 with 70% of the vote.

As a member of the Democratic minority in the 109th Congress, he cosponsored legislation to control conventional weapons and to promote greater public accountability in the use of federal funds. He also made official trips to Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. In the current 110th Congress, he has sponsored legislation regarding lobbying and electoral fraud, climate change, nuclear terrorism, and care for returned U.S. military personnel. Since announcing his presidential campaign in February 2007, Obama has emphasized ending the Iraq war, increasing energy independence, decreasing the influence of lobbyists, and providing universal health care as top national priorities.

For complete article, click here.

Oil Price: Abstract from and explanation to chedet.com (with a brief introduction to it)

2008-06-07T19:50:00.000-07:00

First come first, chedet.com is none other than the blog published and self-written by arguably the Malaysian's best leader ever, Tun Mahathir Mohamad himself. Hailed as 'the architect of the modern Malaysian economy' by BBC, he is indeed a humble economic prudent thinker, who are now RM15k/month remunerated Petronas adviser and also the adviser of Proton, Langkawi Development Authority (Lada) and Tioman Island Development Authority.

Now, although, retired and already passed 80 of age, he is still very much active in both national and global political arena. He could well be the single most important factor predisposing to BN calamitous defeat in the previous march National Election. Currently, the blog talk about domestic issues like Judiciary, UMNO (most of his articles about) and especially on the fragility of current government policies.

Undeniably, he's not the perfect leader, especially with the Wikipedia claim that he actually did more damages to Malaysia both politically and economically than he did to improve them, but for certain, he's the one who shaped Malaysia into what we have seen today, being among the finest of the developing countries.

Getting to the point, this article is to explain the Oil Price article published in chedet.com which came out right after the increment of the petrol price from RM1.92 to RM2.70 (78 cents increase) and diesel from RM1.58 to RM2.58 (RM1 increase). The increase came as a shock to us Malaysia amid PM's initial statement saying the increment will take place in August. Not enough with the bad timing, percentage of increase is staggering 40% for petrol and 60% for diesel.

Simple conversion to daily petrol expense:
RM 50 petrol = 26.04167 Liter before petrol price increase

RM 50 petrol = 18.5185 Liter after petrol price increase

It is true, compare to the oil price of UK (about RM6.3) and US (about RM5), we enjoy better amount of subsidy (plus the yearly rebate of RM625). However, if analyze it deeper, the result is rather the opposite, we are facing more increase in percentage compare with the 2 countries (this however may due to the fact that we hold on to the old price 1 year too long). From economic point of view, we suffer even more as our Purchasing Power Parity (PPP ) is actually way lower than the US and UK. It simply means the American can afford better to pay RM5 for the petrol than we do for RM2.70. Our Per Capita Income is also only 1/3 of theirs, now it means, roughly every US citizen has thrice the money we have to pay the petrol. Going deeper and cruder, it's like comparing RM2.70 divided by 1 and RM5 divided by 3 (RM1.67). This however, portray the very crude math calculation and of course subject to my limitation in Economic.

What interest me the most however is the 1 concerning the Floating of Ringgit. Floating is the type currency exchange regime by which a government let their currency follow the global market as our currency now. For better understanding, compare the regime with Fixed Currency with which Malaysia adopted to elude the Asian Economic Crisis and highly regarded by the IMF and World Bank as being successful. It is now being referred by USA itself.

True that our Ringgit has been steadily rising. In accordance to the Tun's blog, we hit an 80 cents or 20% increase from RM3.80 for USD 1 (durind Fixed or Pegging period) to impressive RM3.08 (though, I see RM3.20 in publications). Roughly, it means that we are stronger financially to BUY products from other countries. Nonetheless, in a deeper economic sense, it is rather unfavorable. Simply put, what is the good of having 20% stronger currency if the price of imported goods show a higher increment? Worse come to worst, this also means our export price also go up in relation with the higher ringgit price. Definitely, we are highly dependent country. This means we need to sell our products to buy others. We are not really self-sufficient like UK and China e.g., we need the Thais to provide us with the rice and Japanese with the electronic.
We are, like the US. If other countries should fail, we would too. If other countries reduce the no of import from our shores, this could mean we have little money flowing in.

The last matter I will discuss is concerning our oil export. According to the Petronas adviser, we are actually producing 650'000 barrel of crude oil per day and consume 400'000 of them leaving 250'000 for exportation purpose. The oil recently hit the record USD139 (oil price is fixed to USD) per barrel, ergo, the revenue that could be generated by government is as below:

Note: 3 years back, the price of global oil is USD30, now, USD139. The USD109 increment is almost purely product-based with minimal production cost involvement. Henceforth,

Annual national return: USD109 x 250'000barrels x 365days x RM3.08

That amounts to roughly RM30bil but Petronas actually generates around RM70bil annually from other sectors. That the essential reason behind the Petronas never-ending fund of reviving other collapsing nation-owned company like MAS and Proton.

Now, the government is pondering over becoming a full oil-importer country. This way, we could generate more cash buying other countries cheaper oil while selling our high-quality oil with higher price.

Recently, government has announce there won't be any more increment until next march even though the oil price hit the expected USD200 per barrel. I included the article (above) from paultan.org regarding the government strategy to curb the rapid rise of the oil price.

I need to emphasize this is not my opinion, rather an extension and explanation to Tun Mahathir's article. My best wish is to see our beloved country circumvent and break out of the current oil crisis. Malaysia Boleh!

Full article from chedet.com on the oil price could be reached here

A Beautifully Crafted Song: Young Folks (with clip)

2008-06-04T23:53:00.000-07:00

I really love this work. It is simple yet blissful. Its the song by swedish indie rock band known by the name of 'Peter Bjorn and John', the first name of each member of the band: Peter Morén (vocals, guitar and harmonica), Björn Yttling (bass guitar, keyboards and vocals) and John Eriksson (drums, percussion and vocals).

Young Folks was actually their single in 2006 which was New Musical Express 2nd best track of the year 2006. Its currently a featured song in the movie '21'.

The song would capture the listeners not just by the melody but also with the easy going lyrics as the title of the song implies. I especially love the video clips.
It is made based on classical cartoon layout.

The song sounded like Jamaican, Brazilian Samba with a bit taste of the Beatles. The rhythm is so very catchy.
Give it a shot, you'll fall for it.

if i told you things i did before
told you how i used to be
would you go along with someone like me
if you knew my story word for word
had all of my history
would you go along with someone like me

i did before and had my share
it didn't lead nowhere
i would go along with someone like you
it doesn't matter what you did
who you were hanging with
we could stick around and see this night through

and we don't care about the young folks
talkin' bout the young style
and we don't care about the old folks
talkin' 'bout the old style too
and we don't care about our own folks
talkin' 'bout our own stuff
all we care about is talking
talking only me and you

usually when things has gone this far
people tend to disappear
no one would surprise me unless you do

i can tell there's something goin' on
hours seem to disappear
everyone is leaving i'm still with you

it doesn't matter what we do
where we are going to
we can stick around and see this night through

and we don't care about the young folks
talkin' bout the young style
and we don't care about the old folks
talkin' 'bout the old style too
and we don't care about our own folks
talkin' 'bout our own stuff
all we care about is talking
talking only me and you

and we don't care about the young folks
talkin' bout the young style
and we don't care about the old folks
talkin' 'bout the old style too
and we don't care about our own folks
talkin' 'bout our own stuff
all we care about is talking
talking only me and you
(repeat)
talking only me and you

talking only me and you
talking only me and you

The Laptops Specs Explained

2008-03-31T01:15:00.000-07:00

The Specifications (specs) you usually find in Laptops brochures and what they mean

Brand:
The brand is the all important criterion needed to be stressed when buying a new laptop. Consumers usually opted the most ‘value’ laptop meaning good specs with good price. Thus, ending up buying non-mainstream names like Hyundai, Twinhead, Prestigio, etc., Unfortunately, these names although not all bad but the reputation remains to be questioned. The result is spoiled laptops just after the warranty expires (usually after 1 year) or at least spoiled hardwares like cracked lcd and hinge, dead battery and popped-up keyboard. The wiser steps to avoid the scenarios is to at least consider mainstream name like Dell and HP although the best way is to go for name instead of price like Fujitsu and Lenove Thinkpad.

Price:
Different users have different needs and of course different budgets. In my brief stint working in Toshiba Lowyat, Malaysians consumers spend an average of RM2700 for a laptop. That’s is actually a favorable budgets these days with the low price of electronic gadgets. As I mentioned above, it’s smarter for a prospective buyers to consider the brand first before the technical specs.

CPU: Brand, Type, Clock Cycle, FSB, Cache
No doubt this is the second thing a consumer would notice in the flyovers/catalogues after the price. Nowdays, Intel is way better known than it’s closest rival Advance Micro Device (AMD) in term of Processor (CPU) chip. This is due to Intel’s better and faster Research and Development to come out with faster, smaller, cooler and more efficient (specifically means power consumption per task) chips. In the catalogues, the CPU is usually written for example as this:
Core2Duo Centrino T5600 1.86gHz (1MB+1MB L2 Cache).
Core2Duo= The main Processor itself. Duo means there are 2 microprocessors embedded inside the Motherboard although most of the time, mistaken as 2 processors. This would give the processor the dual input and output paths to information (codes) sent to/by it. Hence, better information management to give better multitasking.
Centrino= This is more apt to described as Intel marketing strategy. To qualify for a Centrino chip, a laptop should have the CPU, Graphic and Wireless chips manufactured by intel itself and claimed to give better speed and battery life to the laptop. Centrino chipset only serve as a technology boosting the CPU and not the CPU itself.

Battery: Battery come standard with 6 cells pack or 4000+mAh giving a standby hours up to 3.5hours. Simple application like playing songs with Words work will dramatically reduce the life to merely 2.0hours. A user who travel a lot would consider a 9 cells-battery laptops like Lenovo Thinkpad and Fujitsu tablet PCs.

RAM: Short for Random Access Memory. RAM is simply a physical memory that a computer utilize to execute a task, say a Slideshow. The more the ram is, the faster the execution and processing speed. The commonly found RAM capacity in a laptop is 1GB ideally means the users can execute multiple programs up to 1 GigaBytes of requirement.

HDD: Unlike RAM, Hard Disk Drive is known as Read Only Memory (ROM), which briefly means the total idle/active capacity of bytes/bits that the laptop can store or hold. 120GB HDD means the computer can store 120 GigaBytes of information inside the Hard Disk. The higher the Hard Disk capacity the laptop hold, the more programs and files the users can keep inside his laptop without deleting them.

OS: These days, there are a lot of types of Operating Systems e.g., Mac OS X and Linux Linpus but the most commonly used is none other than Windows XP. 2007 is the year which mark the introduction of highly anticipated new Windows called Windows Vista. Although with the much hypes, Vista, unfortunately, thou, expectedly tainted with compatibility issues. Specifically the softwares. For example, some applications like Engineering softwares called AutoCad is not supported by the OS. Now, 1 year has passed, the issues should be well tackled. Microsoft corp. not longer manufacture Windows XP for laptop markets.

Screen: Yet again, this feature depends very much on the type of users. Business users usually opted for small 14” screen and below maybe a table PC. Normal users like students would prefer choose 14” and 15”. Hard gamers may spend their money on performance laptops with up to 17” screen laptops.

Warranty: The warranty by definition means, the period of which the manufacturer guaranttee that they products are free of defects up to the year specified in the warranty. Nonetheless, the trend of warranty upgrade 1 or 2 years more than is actually provided means that the definition has changed to free repair service by the manufacturer.

CD-ROM: Now, all CD-ROM come standard with both CD and DVD Burner regardless of the price. This very much provides the users with the covenience of burning their datas into a CD/DVD without carrying extra weight. HP and Asus laptops even have a LightScribe technology which enable users to label their CDs using the laser embedded inside the CD-ROM.

Other features: Webcam and Fingerprint: The webcam give the user the ability to have video-conference with friends, take pictures and videos from the laptop itself with no external devices. Fingerprint on the other provide more security to data protection from outsider and faster/more efficient password management.

This is my descending preference in accordance of laptops brand:

Sony VAIO "like no other"
HP "comprenhensive in all aspects"
Fujitsu "Japaneses at their best"
Lenovo ThinkPad "best machine for business and durability"
Toshiba "Fujitsu with better price"
Dell XPS "gaming rig and stylist"
Asus "sexy design"
Acer Travelmate "business partner with friendly price"

The people who voice The Simpsons.. Love it!

2007-12-01T12:42:00.000-08:00

Here's a quote from Wiki to name the main voice givers:

The Simpsons has six main cast members. Dan Castellaneta performs Homer Simpson, Abraham Simpson, Krusty the Clown, and other adult, male characters. Julie Kavner speaks the voices of Marge Simpson and Patty and Selma, as well as several minor characters. Nancy Cartwright performs the voice of Bart Simpson and other children. Yeardley Smith, the voice of Lisa Simpson, is the only cast member who regularly voices only one character, although she occasionally plays other episodic characters. There are two male actors who do not voice members of the title family but play a majority of the male townspeople. Hank Azaria voices recurring characters such as Moe, Chief Wiggum, and Apu, and Harry Shearer provides voices for Mr. Burns, Smithers, Principal Skinner, Ned Flanders, and Dr. Hibbert. With the exception of Harry Shearer, every main cast member has won an Emmy for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance.

Rukun Negara

2007-11-11T10:56:00.000-08:00

In reply to a post from lowyat.net

http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/337055/+1060

http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/337055/+1080

"so its a catch 22 then? you cant abolish the thing without getting civil unrest but cant abolish it because they are too far behind?

gradual removal to wean them off maybe?"

When Our PM said the Privilege will be conserved, he just wanna make sure we do not jeopardize the 3rd Pillars of our country:

1. Kepercayaan kepada Tuhan
2. Ketaatan kepada Raja dan Negara
3. Keluhuran Perlembagaan
4. Kedaulatan Undang-undang
5. Kesopanan dan Kesusilaan

correct me if I'm wrong.

The Pillars/Principles were written in 1970 by agreement of all major races to foster harmony between different Malaysian Ethnic groups. Guess what culminated towards the institution of the Principles? The clue is 1969.

The Rukun Negara is our philosophy to maintain the integrity of our national Motto. 'Sekutu Bertambah Mutu', simply: 'Unity is Strength'

A crack in one of the Principle will also crack the Motto. If the Motto cracks, national unity is in jeopardy.

The crack we are talking now is in Keluhuran Perlembagaan, specifically Perkara 153: Hak Keistimewaan Melayu.

Government since Mahathir era, has been loosing up the Privilege eg establishment of Chinese owned University= UniTAR, more goverment subsidy to non-Malays companies, etc

Therefore 'gradual removal to wean them off maybe?' is not a question but rather the answer itself.

The endless dispute: Malay Privilege

2007-11-11T09:00:00.000-08:00

When talking about the Malays Privilege, ones usually regard only the Malays and Chinese. We don't usually account Iban or Kadazan into it. The reason being, Chinese see the Malay 1st before other bumiputras group. Therefore he sees a Malay 1st approving his government loan before a melanau does. A Chinese see a Malay 1st, driving a BMW though with mere Diploma in his hand while she holds MD, before she see a bajau does. The sense of injustice undoubtedly creeps in. The word injustice is very well be translated into 'jealously' by typical Malay towards the Chinese. For the Chinese, the reason to bring out the issue though the Privilege had been agreed upon by their very own fathers (perkara 153 perlembagaan persekutuan) is needless to say, unfairness or stupid as ordinary Chinese might say it.

Expectedly, both are right and wrong. For the Malay, the Chinese should be very grateful on their approval of Malaya citizenship to the Chinese. The Chinese will counter this by simply saying ' u think u can drive the Benz if not because of us?'. It is ultimately true that it was the Chinese who turn Malaysian economic as it seen today. Another Malay will instantly raise and say 'who do think buy the Acer laptops from u the most?'. Again, it is true, Malays assume the biggest buying number (I intentionally use buying number instead of buying power), ergo, helping the Chinese to build the nation economic.

But yet, if u look closely, it is still unfair for Chinese. Both Ali and Yong contribute to the nation development (tho, in hell, will Yong join the Army) but Yong doesn't get equal chance in going administrate or getting education. Ali is always ahead of him. He can join the ministry with mere diploma in business while Yong has to have more than a diploma and inside 'cable' just to get the interview. A '4.0' in Yong' daughter college transcript mean she can easily apply for medicine in private University while A '3.8' for Ali' boy will almost ascertain his place in UUM medical faculty.

‘The dispute between Malay and Chinese will never stop even though the very Privilege is removed. In fact, it will stir more disputes’

If you are a thinker, you will possibly agree to the above notion. Singapore as we know it used to be dominated by the Malay until the British brought in the Immigrants imminently, the Chinese. Now, all the fields are arguably controlled by Chinese be it Politics or Economics.

If that fact would have taken place in Malaysia, domestic war would have erupted due to 2 simple reason.

1. Balance: while Malay controls the politics, it is the Chinese who controls the economic. Malay politicians force Chinese business men to hire Malay workers, in return, they get extra preference from the government (great example would be Genting Group). Chinese businessmen force Malay politicians to increase the quota for Chinese students in local University, in return, Malay students become more competitive (best example would be the quality of Malay doctors produced by UM). Therefore, equilibrium (or better still, Harmony) is achieved.

2. Number: ‘Survival of the Fittest’ is the apt fancy words to use in Singapore case. It’s not actually ‘survival’ tho. I’m talking about the political and economic power. When one talk about Singaporean, he will picture a Chinese first, then elite Indian, then some European PR, finally,.. u know where I am going. But why no riots? A proud Singaporean would answer: We organize our social structure well plus Singaporeans, regardless of what race, are elite minded, we don’t fight, if other man is richer than us, that mean we should work harder to get to his par. If you are a thinking Malaysian Malay’ u would possibly say: jerk. Nah, I mean, u would say, because Chinese is the majority population (75+%). It is a known fact that Chinese is smarter and more diligent than Malay. Therefore, theoretically, they can surpass the Malay in any field at any time, therefore again, they can easily overqualify Malay in term of politic and economic thus control the country. Malay who constitute more than half the total population of Malaysia surely will ran riot should they lost the power to the minority. For Malay, blood comes first before brain if that happen. Simply means, chaos will take place, killing will rampage. May 13 will resurrect (yah I know, it’s lame, I write it anyway).

Conclusion:

1. Malay should appreciate the special treatment they get. It’s about time to vigorously loosen up the Privilege with all the achievements by Malays in many areas.

2. We are in no position to compare Malaysia with Singapore. Most of us would blatantly say how unlucky to be born in Malaysia instead of the 1st world neighbor but you would later thank god for being a Malaysian if u could live at least 15 years more and see what will happen to the world.

N/B: Thanks to a friend of mine who inspired me into writing this article.

Is House MD for real? (a short review from CNN)

2007-09-06T08:14:00.000-07:00

I really enjoy watching House as it's apparently the only show that centered on medical drama itself rather than the life drama as seem in Scrubs, Nip/Tuck, Gray's Anatomy or even ER.

Problem with MEPS interbank money withdrawal.

2007-08-31T07:49:00.000-07:00

I won an item from ebay (Malaysia) for an unbelievable price. That nite the seller called at 10pm telling me he want to make cash on delivery (COD), simply means I take the item, he takes the cash on the spot, in 2 hours time. I agreed with that not knowing what lie ahead. ATM as we know it stops its services at 12 midnite. So I got plenty of time to withdraw the money.

Half an hour later I proceeded to my campus’s CIMB ATM (I have both CIMB and Maybank acc) just to realize that the machine was down. Its almost 11 when I walked to sri petaling LRT station to get to sungei besi (it takes 5 minutes to get there from sri petaling station). There’s a BSN’ ATM in sungei besi with which I could use the MEPS service.

When I got to Sg Besi station, shockingly, the area was all blacked out. I rushed to BSN in the hope that it will get it own supply of electricity as it’s illogical for the bank not to have any back up power considering all the security devices that run on currents.

When I got to the ATM, I got lucky as the electricity returned. I tried to withdraw RM1100 as I already had a few thousands in my pocket. Then, it came. The screen displayed daily limit reached. It seems I can’t do nothing but to wait for tomorrow. My daily limit was set at RM1000 out of which RM50 I already withdrew in the morning. To make sure same thing wouldn’t happen tomorrow as I already wasted my time and sweat running for nothing, I withdrew RM 950 but still, the machine popped up the exact same message. My mind told me something’s not right. I guessed maybe I couldn’t just hit the RM1000 mark, so I tried to withdraw RM800 instead. Now, it sent shivers all over my spine as the message still appeared.

Without thinking for any second, I ran to the LRT again to get to bukit jalil station. With the heart rate already at the top most height, I got off the train and ran to nearby Carrefour to get to ATM machine to double check my withdrawal. My journey was getting longer and longer and more tiresome. What I got for not thinking for any second was the realization that Carrefour closed at 11. Yeah, It’s already closed when I got there. I did my part time in Carrefour’s McD on last break, therefore, you could have guessed that I knew the other entrance other than the main one. My watch just hit 11.30, I bet the door were still open for workers to come out after doing closing.

I got to the ATM machine just at the nick of time before the guard close the door. Now with AMBANK but same thing occurred. Everything went upside down in my head now. I took a cab to the town of sri petaling which is actually far way from sri petaling lrt station. After telling the driver to wait, I entered Sri Petaling Maybank branch. Luckily it’s not 12 yet, I tried again to withdraw but failed but this time I checked my balance. To my horror, the balance lack RM800.

The thought of those ATM malicious devices crept in. With the same cab, I went to the source of my trouble, the BSN ATM. Bad luck haven’t gave up in following me. The ATM was already stopped its services even before 12 midnite. Sense of hopelessness and bewilderment surrounded me.

The next morning, I went to BSN. Surprisingly, the employees told me I was not the only unlucky guy whose money got trapped inside the machine. I went to Maybank to fill the report form and an employee told to avoid withdrawing money from BSN ATM. I have to wait for a day before I got back my cash. Lucky enough I didn’t lose them.

You know the message I try to deliver here.. don’t procrastinate. Nah.. if you have other choice to withdraw your cash, don't choose BSN unless of course you're withdrawing from the BSN account itself.

Hujan: Pagi yang gelap

2007-08-26T06:46:00.000-07:00

Hujan: New Malaysian sensation. I don't really enjoy Malaysian music stream but Hujan is different. I first heard of them in Channel V amp. 'Pagi Yang Gelap' is addictively catchy. Visit site below for their 5 songs including Pagi Yang Gelap:

http://amp.channelv.com/amp/viewArtist.html?id=4284

Pagi Yg Gelap

Lebih tua dariku
harap sabar menunggu
kepulanganmu ku tunggu

bukan maksudku mendiam
tiada niat menyimpan dendam
hakikatnya rindu yang mendalam
jalan ini kan membantu
hari esok siapa yang tahu
kata ibu dengar sahaja
cerita hanya kita berdua

pagi yang gelap
kini sudah terang
aku adikmu
dan engkau abang
ku amat merindui kamu
pagi yang gelap
kini sudah terang
aku adikmu
dan engkau abang
inginku ulang ke masa dulu

tak akan putus hubungan kita
tarik nafas lega kerna aku tak apa-apa
jalan ini kan membantu
hari esok siapa yang tahu
kata ibu dengar sahaja
cerita hanya kita berdua

Intel 'Ice Creams'

2007-07-20T22:25:00.000-07:00

Mobile Core 2 Extreme's over the counter... Mobile Quad Core is coming!

2007-07-18T08:01:00.000-07:00

Oh... I just bought my laptop few weeks ago just to know Intel just released their powerful microchip exclusively for gaming.. Duhhs! My laptop... I just bought it. What can I say, its a cruel world of technology.. 'buy yesterday obsolete today'..
It is called the Intel Core 2 Extreme. It simply means the extreme version of current Merom core 2 duo. Meaning u can save the battery life while shooting off the cyborg alien in Quake 4. No longer u need to plug into the power socket for a brief game while waiting for ur mom calling for dinner nor shud feel extra heat from dedicated graphic from ATI and Nvidia. Tho its rather late for Intel to come with their own version of really competitive game graphic but it is more than welcomed. It shud be integrated with later Intel Centrino which undoubtedlly wud give extra performance and extra battery life to new upcoming line of laptops giving another head blow to AMD (which apparently still waiting for their deskstop quad core launch). Frankly, I dare say no matter how powerful the Extreme chip is, I wud say it is still not a match with Nvidia graphic. Nonetheless, kudos Intel..

Intel also speculated that the Mobile version of their Quad Core (2+2= 4 times performance) will also be available during Q2 next year.. Duhhhs!

Here's some description of Intel product ranging from Core 2 Duo to Quad Core

The New 7 Wonders of The World

2007-07-12T00:56:00.001-07:00

I don't really admire the Wonders that much but what amazed me was the selection. It was made entirely on people' votes. More than 100 mil (that is more than the population of Malaysia + Thailand + Singapore + Brunei) votes were casted for the result by Swiss-based New Open World Orgnization (NOWC). NOWC is a private org, no any governmental companies related to it in establishing the list not even UNESCO
(United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization).

Lot complaints have been thrown towards the vote casting. Egyptians dont want their Giza pyramid to be on the list. According to them, the Pyramid is the only Wonder of the World. Be reminded its called NEW 7 Wonders of The World instead of just 7 Wonders of The World. The latter is still used today and coming days. It is considered under UNESCO Heritage Site.

The list is made abiding to these criteria:
1. Man made
2. Completed before year 2000
3. Still in a good state

Below are the quick gists of the Wonders which I took from wiki:

Honorary Candidate: PYRAMID OF GIZA (Egypt)
Pyramid of Giza is the honorary candidate in the new list simply because it is the sole structure that still persist today out of the 7 Wonders of the ancient World. It is the oldest and largest of the three pyramids in the Giza Necropolis bordering what is now Cairo, Egypt in Africa. It is believed to have been built as a tomb for Fourth dynasty Egyptian pharaoh Khufu and constructed over a 20 year period concluding around 2560 BC. It is sometimes called Khufu's Pyramid or the Pyramid of Khufu.

1. CHICHEN ITZA (Mexico)
Chichen Itza "At the mouth of the well of the Itza" is a large pre-Columbian archaeological site built by the Maya civilization located in the northern center of the Yucatán Peninsula, present-day Mexico.

Chichen Itza was a major regional center in the northern Maya lowlands from the Late Classic through the Terminal Classic and into the early portion of the Early Postclassic period. The site exhibits a multitude of architectural styles, from what is called “Mexicanized” and reminiscent of styles seen in central Mexico to the Puuc style found among the Puuc Maya of the northern lowlands. The presence of central Mexican styles was once thought to have been representative of direct migration or even conquest from central Mexico, but most contemporary interpretations view the presence of these non-Maya styles more as the result of cultural diffusion.

Archaeological data, such as evidence of burning at a number of important structures

and architectural complexes, suggest that Chichen Itza's collapse was violent. Following the decline of Chichen Itza's hegemony, regional power in the Yucatán shifted to a new center at Mayapan.

According to the American Anthropological Association, the actual ruins of Chich'en Itza are federal property, and the site’s stewardship is maintained by Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, INAH). The land under the monuments, however, is privately-owned by the Barbachano family.[2]

2. TAJ MAHAL (India)
The Taj Mahal is a mausoleum located in Agra, India. The Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan commissioned it as a mausoleum for his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal. Construction began in 1632 and was completed in approximately 1648. Some dispute surrounds the question of who designed the Taj Mahal; it is clear a team of designers and craftsmen were responsible for the design, with Ustad Ahmad Lahauri considered the most likely candidate as the principal designer.

The Taj Mahal (sometimes called "the Taj") is generally considered the finest example of Mughal architecture, a style that combines elements of Persian, Turkish, Indian, and Islamic architectural styles. While the white domed marble mausoleum is the most familiar part of the monument, the Taj Mahal is actually an integrated complex of structures. In 1983 the Taj became a UNESCO World Heritage Site and was cited as "the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage."

3. ROMAN COLOSSEUM
The Colosseum or Coliseum, originally the Flavian Amphitheatre, is a giant amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy. Originally capable of seating around 50,000 spectators, it was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles. It was built on a site just east of the Roman Forum, with construction starting between 70 and 72 AD under the emperor Vespasian. The amphitheatre, the largest ever built in the Roman Empire, was completed in 80 AD under Titus, with further modifications being made during Domitian's reign.

The Colosseum remained in use for nearly 500 years with the last recorded games being held there as late as the 6th century — well after the traditional date of the fall of Rome in 476. As well as the traditional gladiatorial games, many other public spectacles were held there, such as mock sea battles, animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, and dramas based on Classical mythology. The building eventually ceased to be used for entertainment in the early medieval era. It was later reused for such varied purposes as housing, workshops, quarters for a religious order, a fortress, a quarry and a Christian shrine.

Although it is now in a severely ruined condition due to damage caused by earthquakes and stone-robbers, the Colosseum has long been seen as an iconic symbol of Imperial Rome and is one of the finest surviving examples of Roman architecture. It is one of modern Rome's most popular tourist attractions and still has close connections with the Roman Catholic Church and the Pope leads a torchlit "Way of the Cross" procession to the amphitheatre each Good Friday.

4.PETRA (Jordan)
Petra (from πέτρα "petra," rock in Greek; Arabic: البتراء, Al-Butrā) is an archaeological site in Jordan, lying in a basin among the mountains which form the eastern flank of Arabah (Wadi Araba), the large valley running from the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Aqaba. It is famous for having many stone structures carved into the rock. The long-hidden site was revealed to the Western world by the Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt in 1812. It was famously described as "a rose-red city half as old as time" in a Newdigate prize-winning sonnet by John William Burgon. Burgon had not actually visited Petra, which remained accessible only to Europeans accompanied by local guides with armed escorts until after World War I. The site was designated as a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization World Heritage Site in 1985 when it was described as "one of the most precious cultural properties of man's cultural heritage."

5.MACHU PICCHU (Peru)
Machu Picchu (The Lost City) is a pre-Columbian city created by the Inca Empire. It is located at 2,430 m (7,970 ft) on a mountain ridge. Machu Picchu is located above the Urubamba Valley in Peru, about 70 km (44 mi) northwest of Cusco. Forgotten for centuries by the outside world, although not by locals, it was brought back to international attention by archaeologist Hiram Bingham in 1911, who made the first scientific confirmation of the site and wrote a best-selling work about it. Peru is pursuing legal efforts to retrieve thousands of artifacts that Bingham removed from the site. Machu Picchu is probably the most familiar symbol of the Inca Empire. Often referred to as "The Lost City of the Incas". The site was designated as a World Heritage Site in 1983 when it was described as "and absolute masterpiece of architecture and a unique testimony to the Inca civilisation".

6. GREAT WALL (China)
The Great Wall (Chinese call it as "Long Wall") is a series of stone and earthen fortifications in China, built, rebuilt, and maintained between the 5th century BC and the 16th century to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire during the rule of successive dynasties. Several walls, referred to as the Great Wall of China, were built since the 5th century BC, the most famous being the one built between 220 BC and 200 BC by the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang. That wall was much farther north than the current wall, built during the Ming Dynasty, and little of it remains.

The Great Wall is the world's longest human-made structure, stretching over approximately 6,400 km (4,000 miles) from Shanhai Pass in the east to Lop Nur in the west, along an arc that roughly delineates the southern edge of Inner Mongolia. It is also the largest human-made structure ever built in terms of surface area and mass.

7. THE STATUE OF CHRIST THE REDEEMER (Brazil)
Christ the Redeemer (Portuguese: Cristo Redentor), is a statue of Jesus Christ in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The statue stands 39.6 metres (130 feet) tall, weighs 700 tons and is located at the peak of the 700-m (2296-foot) Corcovado mountain in the Tijuca Forest National Park overlooking the city.

A symbol of Christianity, the statue has become an icon of Rio and Brazil.

Iphone is coming to Malaysia!...... in 2 years time.

2007-07-12T00:46:00.000-07:00

It has been a trend in The State for almost every new product to be contracted with another related company. This unfortunately applies to Iphone too, the most awaited phone ever. Apple has tied the cooperation with Cingular and AT&T for phone and wireless network respectively. Both especially AT&T contracts regarded by Iphone critics as unnecessary and will hold back Iphone sale. AT&T as I know, still provide short bandwidth internet service (and of course can be subscribed in US only) while tie with Cingular simply means no users outside United State can use the Iphone to make phone call which then means no use of buying it. By the time Iphone get to Malaysia, if it is not updated, it will be obsolete. But I would say, it's worth the waiting with all the features packaged stuff. Simply put, it is a Ipod + Phone + GPS + Internet + PDA not to mention the design and other features (checkout the videos) that redefine the mobile phone. Latest rumor has it that a petition will be held for Apple to cancel the contract with AT&T (hopefully, with Cingular too). To all those of u who want to get it any earlier, pray that the petition will work out.

Mac or PC?

2007-07-11T06:54:00.001-07:00

I wish someday, that people will use more Mac than Windows. Like every1 else, I can't buy Mac now due softwares shortage Mac encounter. Other than that Mac beat Windows in everything thinkable...

Surface video

2007-07-11T06:26:00.001-07:00

Microsoft Surface

2007-07-11T06:17:00.000-07:00

If u know what the title means, then u know what I'm gonna write about. I glanced through lowyat.net couple of weeks ago for electronic news as usually. 1 thing that really grabbed my eyes. It was the table computer by microsoft. The table is made possible by the future vision of the founder of microsoft, none other than Bill Gates. It is expected to be released on November this year to of course large scale enterprises 1st before any of end users could check their ATM balance in the wake of the coming of this machine. It sound absolutely new in everything, yeap, but if u realize the specs, they look very much the same as those found on laptops' brochure. It will initially runs on intel powerhouse Core 2 Duo, 2GB RAM, Graphics of at least 256MB, Wireless Intel ABG, Bluetooth and last but most importantly.... It runs on Vista, tho I dont think the screen look familiar with vista. No mouse, no keyboard just HANDS ON. According to Microsoft, the early capability of the Table only merely to do some simple hands stuff like viewing photos and video, map, ordering meals, transfering files from certain device like Zune, Mobile phones and Digital camera. All u have to do is to put it on the table, Voila! All the pics in the camera will literally splash out onto the table . Thence, u know what to do. Do u know the Machine design was originally an IKEA design? Personally, I would love it more if Apple's the 1 who come out with this innovation. Microsoft has a rich history of users' complaint with their products which include Vista. Plus Apple has been great in Innovation, eg Ipod and of course Iphone.