I am in the midst of developing a new hobby on remote controlled (RC) airplanes. This RC hobby is something that I wanted to do long time ago. The lack of knowledge and also the cost of embarking on this was rather high which therefore had delayed me for years. I chanced upon Encik Jaafar who is a veteran RC flyer and he had taught me patiently the very basics of air modeling and I am intrigued by the technicalities and also the skill that required to be developed in order to learn up this hobby.
There are some of the basic terms that I picked up over the course of the learning process. The key control components of the plane include its rudder, ailerons and elevator. Each of these control surfaces is linked by a rod which is pulled or pushed by a servo. The servo is a device that rotates, and the rotating motion is translated into a linear motion that pushes and pulls the rod that ties to the control surfaces into their various desired positions for flight control. Normally if they are 3 control surfaces, then 3 separate servos are required to do the job. In additional to that, there is another servo requires to control the throttle of the engine. There is a electronic receiver gadget, as the name implies, it receives the signals from a transmitter hand held by the flyer, with the control sticks on it that navigate the direction and movement of the plane. Each of these wireless signals generated by the control stick movement is then fed into the receiver installed inside the plane high up in the sky. The receiver then relays those signals to the individual servos that moves the respective control surfaces into positions. In this case, the receiver is said to be making use of 4 channels; one channel to control the rudder and front wheel at the same time (Left and Right), one that moves the ailerons on the wings (Tilting the wings Left and Right), one on the throttle (Speed control) and the last one is the elevator at the tail (Up and Down). My Futaba 6EX transmitter could control 6 channels, there are 2 more channels left after using 4, which at later part could be utilized to control more features of advanced planes or helicopters.
I had to purchase a Thunder Tiger 2 strokes engine of 0.46 cubic inch on nitro fuel to power the plane. The engine needed to be run-in so that it could function smoothly over a range of speed and RPM. This is in some way similar to buying a new car that needs a run-in period for its new moving parts of the engine. There are a lot of aerodynamic theories involved in flying RC planes. It is hard for non-technical people to understand how a propeller that spins clockwise viewed from the pilot seat, could generate a torque that tends to push the aircraft to the left. Instead of mounting the engine at exactly 90 degrees to the wings, one therefore needs to mount it at a slightly inclined right thrust angle of about 2 degrees so as to compensate this sideway movement. This will ensure the plane to fly straight instead of towards the left all the time! Similary there is a down thrust angle such that whenever one throttles up, the plane will fly upwards, otherwise it will start to descend. The transmitter also provides some fine trimming controls to correct this as well! All these seem complicated to be described in words but it is a lot of fun when you really hand-on and get a grasp on what I had mentioned here. It is better to fly one yourself in order to get a better feel on how one could actually navigate the flight! Yes it is indeed great excitement to see those toys up in the sky flying like birds.
I had bought one RCM 40 trainer plane which has high wing (mounted on top side of the plane body) of 63" wing span. This is a slow speed plane that could float and glide well in the air for beginner. And I also purchased another small electric powered Cessna 182 EPO plane just to train on the dexterity of my fingers over the control sticks of the transmitter. One has to finger on multiple controls simultaneously, for example, when a plane turns its direction with the use of the rudder or ailerons, it tends to descend, one has to pull up the elevator a little bit so that the plane will climb back to its horizontal flying position.
Setting the sensitivity of the throws of the controlling stick on the transmitter using dual rate and exponential is another fascinating topic. Simply put, during certain delicate control situation such as landing, one needs to make the moving of the stick less sensitive corresponding to the servo movement especially the elevator, so that the plane could do a soft landing in a gradual gliding down and graceful manner.
It is not a easy hobby as I first thought, and I damaged one of the wings of the trainer nitro-plane and also crushed the front portion of the electric Cessna 182. But I hope to master the hobby within the next 2-3 months when the monsoon season is over and the weather is getting better for more viable flying practice sessions.
I have a phobia for height since I was kid but I yearn to be high up in the sky. Look like this dream of flying high could only be fulfilled via this hobby. One day I hope to fly the low wing aerobatic plane and the more complicated helicopter. It would be my next project to mount a camera on one of the planes to capture some scenic aerial views from above the sky.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Monday, November 1, 2010
Brand Names
Some of the brand names in this country grow with us since our childhood days. The Milo trucks from Nestle used to show up in every of our sport day event giving out free ice cold milk chocolate drinks to all the participating school children. Milo became a household name for many of us, to others it is probably just another chocolate drink! One could observe how a good and innovative company that has the long term vision of investing in a brand for years, and then enjoy reaping the harvest and success of their effort! In Malaysia, Milo now is synonymous with chocolate drinks. This is good marketing strategy!
Bata shoes is another marque which we Malaysians are familiar and associated with for a long long time. Remember those day where we had the cheaper version of Fung Keong and other China made "warrior" ( 回力) shoes? But then the more popular Bata "Badminton Master" sold for RM3.90 was considered a premium pair of school-going cum sport shoes in those days. It is about 40 years ago compared to now that any of the Bata shoes on sale in the shops, which is retailed in the region of RM60 per pair. The price is roughly about an increase of 15 times. Did our basic income increase by 15 times after all these years?
Coming to the "warrior" brand, it was then the most popular basket ball shoes because it was cheap, with good design and comfortable. This Chinese company based in Shanghai had subqsequently diverted itself into the tire business. They had a joint-venture with Michelin tire during those early years of economic boom in the newly reformed China, and they are now one of the biggest and dominant tire players in China market.
Our children nowadays are brand conscious, and they would prefer Nike, Adidas, Reebok, New Balance etc. Bata is definitely not their choice. Many times Bata became my choice because my rationale is simple; I would not pay 300% more for a pair of imported brand, probably the quality or durability of it is 10% better than a pair of Bata. Thinking that the bulk of the cost comes from advertising and also into the pockets of some super athletic stars somehow hinder my decision to purchase!
I remember years back when I bought some souvenir electrical items commemorating the Commonwealth Game held in Malaysia from our local brand Pensonic, they just stopped functioning after just a few times of usage. That left me a very bad impression of the brand name, they might have improved a lot now over the years but they had lost me as a customer that decided to stick with Panasonic instead. See how this little things count when poor quality products are put up in the market!
When we were having the EDMAT (Engineering Development Motivation Awareness Training) in University Malaya in the 80s, one of the talks given to us was by SKF bearings. A handbook was given out to all the participants. Because of this simple act, whenever there is a requirement of bearings, SKF will automatically come into my mind though there are many other reputable bearing brand names in the market.
I always like to remember the good gesture of my brother CM Lee who had bought me Adidas shoes in the region of RM30 per pair from Singapore many years ago. Later part, I did buy another pair from Germany while I was having an industrial training there in Stuttgart. The poster outside the store read something like "DM30 Abs"! I got to learn about this German word "Abs" that signifiies "Upwards" when I asked the lady store owner why the shoes prices inside the store were much higher!
Having said all these about my non-preference for branded shoes, however during my 3 years stay in Ciudad Juarez, in and out of El Paso, Texas, I had bought numerous pairs of Reebok and Nike shoes for myself and my family. I had bought another pair of Adidas for myself in the Factory Outlet store in San Francisco too. I bought them for the simple reason that they are sold much cheaper in the US than in Malaysia.
Bata shoes is another marque which we Malaysians are familiar and associated with for a long long time. Remember those day where we had the cheaper version of Fung Keong and other China made "warrior" ( 回力) shoes? But then the more popular Bata "Badminton Master" sold for RM3.90 was considered a premium pair of school-going cum sport shoes in those days. It is about 40 years ago compared to now that any of the Bata shoes on sale in the shops, which is retailed in the region of RM60 per pair. The price is roughly about an increase of 15 times. Did our basic income increase by 15 times after all these years?
Coming to the "warrior" brand, it was then the most popular basket ball shoes because it was cheap, with good design and comfortable. This Chinese company based in Shanghai had subqsequently diverted itself into the tire business. They had a joint-venture with Michelin tire during those early years of economic boom in the newly reformed China, and they are now one of the biggest and dominant tire players in China market.
Our children nowadays are brand conscious, and they would prefer Nike, Adidas, Reebok, New Balance etc. Bata is definitely not their choice. Many times Bata became my choice because my rationale is simple; I would not pay 300% more for a pair of imported brand, probably the quality or durability of it is 10% better than a pair of Bata. Thinking that the bulk of the cost comes from advertising and also into the pockets of some super athletic stars somehow hinder my decision to purchase!
I remember years back when I bought some souvenir electrical items commemorating the Commonwealth Game held in Malaysia from our local brand Pensonic, they just stopped functioning after just a few times of usage. That left me a very bad impression of the brand name, they might have improved a lot now over the years but they had lost me as a customer that decided to stick with Panasonic instead. See how this little things count when poor quality products are put up in the market!
When we were having the EDMAT (Engineering Development Motivation Awareness Training) in University Malaya in the 80s, one of the talks given to us was by SKF bearings. A handbook was given out to all the participants. Because of this simple act, whenever there is a requirement of bearings, SKF will automatically come into my mind though there are many other reputable bearing brand names in the market.
I always like to remember the good gesture of my brother CM Lee who had bought me Adidas shoes in the region of RM30 per pair from Singapore many years ago. Later part, I did buy another pair from Germany while I was having an industrial training there in Stuttgart. The poster outside the store read something like "DM30 Abs"! I got to learn about this German word "Abs" that signifiies "Upwards" when I asked the lady store owner why the shoes prices inside the store were much higher!
Having said all these about my non-preference for branded shoes, however during my 3 years stay in Ciudad Juarez, in and out of El Paso, Texas, I had bought numerous pairs of Reebok and Nike shoes for myself and my family. I had bought another pair of Adidas for myself in the Factory Outlet store in San Francisco too. I bought them for the simple reason that they are sold much cheaper in the US than in Malaysia.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Climbing of Gunung Nuang
In my younger days, I had never done any mountain climbing. The nearest, part of the mountain range that I came across was the hill adjacent to the far end of Pei Yuan secondary school in Kampar. During recess time, we used to gather and hop around on those big rocks near the foot of the hill but never dare to venture further beyond that where the Kampar hill proper is within reach just a few hundred meters away.
A mountain always looks forbidding to me because one never gets a chance to see through what lies in between the foot of the hill and its tip. The undergrowth and trees that intermingled within, shrouded any barely visible jungle path and the bright sunshine. The thick leaves on the tree tops cover the sky and present a shadowy, and gloomy surrounding which seems to be filled with too many hidden unknown elements. Strange noises from insect, birds, monkeys and other wild animals, the gentle breeze on fallen leaves and the rubbing of branches add further mystery that deter any stranger from venturing into such an unfamiliar territory. At that time I just could not imagine someone who would like to trek for days to Gunung Tahan and Taman Negara park. It would be a dangerous attempt that could land yourself to the menace of blood sucking leeches, stepping on poisonous snakes, accidentally bumping into bears or even man-eating tigers! Mountains did not fascinate me in those years and I'd rather take a cool nice dip in ponds or lakes where one could just float close to the water surface, feeling more cozy that way, even with the unfathomed depth lying below!
I changed my attitude towards mountains lately, perhaps very much influenced by the companionship, comradeship and also enjoyed the togetherness of conquering mountains with a few of my friends and buddies. Another probable reason being, it is much easier to strike a lottery than to spot a tiger in the wild nowadays. After the first ever Gunung Bunga Buah climb near Genting Highland, the momentum had driven me to set foot on Gunung Nuang near Ulu Langat. Its close proximity to the city makes it easily accessible from Kuala Lumpur.
I recounted the climb and wanted to relate and share my experience here with some photos:
On the holiday of 1Malaysia day, CC Wong and myself set off at about 7.00 am and parked our car at the entrance of the park. Registered ourselves with the park authority before starting the climb. It started with a stretch of road and CC termed it aptly "The never ending road". The road led us through some "Orang Asli" or aborigine houses and bamboo forest, on the way there were some huts built for the resting of the trekkers. The distance was roughly about 5Km and we took about half an hour to complete the journey, it was a pleasant walk under the morning sun, take a look at those photos below and you will understand what I mean.
Before long, we reached a few streams that we had to cross after arriving at a water catchment area. I took off my shoes to avoid wetting them, othewise it would be uncomfortable for the long journey up and down the hill. I roughly counted we had crossed six streams in between some rocky paths!
CC is a veteran trekker and he had climbed even to the mount Everest base camp. This was his sixth times climbing Nuang and yet we lost our way for almost half an hour near the first stream though somehow we managed to trace the path backwards and followed the big water-piping that eventually led us to camp Lolo. We climbed all the way further up the next destination, Camp Pacat. As the name implied, there must be leeches. Surprisingly so far I encountered only one leech near the crossing of one of the streams and I was just in time to get rid of it before it started to bite. Comparing to the Gunung Bunga Buah trek , I would say leeches here are actually rare!
We finally reached there, snapped a photo of me for the record. One could enjoy a good idyllic view of the Ulu Langat dam from above the mountain.
We completed the entire trip roughly in the region of 8.5 hours. They are saying that if one could climb this mountain, you could practically climb all mountains in Malaysia. I took the challenge and now I have more confidence and am looking forward to climb more Malaysian mountains in the near future.
A mountain always looks forbidding to me because one never gets a chance to see through what lies in between the foot of the hill and its tip. The undergrowth and trees that intermingled within, shrouded any barely visible jungle path and the bright sunshine. The thick leaves on the tree tops cover the sky and present a shadowy, and gloomy surrounding which seems to be filled with too many hidden unknown elements. Strange noises from insect, birds, monkeys and other wild animals, the gentle breeze on fallen leaves and the rubbing of branches add further mystery that deter any stranger from venturing into such an unfamiliar territory. At that time I just could not imagine someone who would like to trek for days to Gunung Tahan and Taman Negara park. It would be a dangerous attempt that could land yourself to the menace of blood sucking leeches, stepping on poisonous snakes, accidentally bumping into bears or even man-eating tigers! Mountains did not fascinate me in those years and I'd rather take a cool nice dip in ponds or lakes where one could just float close to the water surface, feeling more cozy that way, even with the unfathomed depth lying below!
I changed my attitude towards mountains lately, perhaps very much influenced by the companionship, comradeship and also enjoyed the togetherness of conquering mountains with a few of my friends and buddies. Another probable reason being, it is much easier to strike a lottery than to spot a tiger in the wild nowadays. After the first ever Gunung Bunga Buah climb near Genting Highland, the momentum had driven me to set foot on Gunung Nuang near Ulu Langat. Its close proximity to the city makes it easily accessible from Kuala Lumpur.
I recounted the climb and wanted to relate and share my experience here with some photos:
On the holiday of 1Malaysia day, CC Wong and myself set off at about 7.00 am and parked our car at the entrance of the park. Registered ourselves with the park authority before starting the climb. It started with a stretch of road and CC termed it aptly "The never ending road". The road led us through some "Orang Asli" or aborigine houses and bamboo forest, on the way there were some huts built for the resting of the trekkers. The distance was roughly about 5Km and we took about half an hour to complete the journey, it was a pleasant walk under the morning sun, take a look at those photos below and you will understand what I mean.
Before long, we reached a few streams that we had to cross after arriving at a water catchment area. I took off my shoes to avoid wetting them, othewise it would be uncomfortable for the long journey up and down the hill. I roughly counted we had crossed six streams in between some rocky paths!
CC is a veteran trekker and he had climbed even to the mount Everest base camp. This was his sixth times climbing Nuang and yet we lost our way for almost half an hour near the first stream though somehow we managed to trace the path backwards and followed the big water-piping that eventually led us to camp Lolo. We climbed all the way further up the next destination, Camp Pacat. As the name implied, there must be leeches. Surprisingly so far I encountered only one leech near the crossing of one of the streams and I was just in time to get rid of it before it started to bite. Comparing to the Gunung Bunga Buah trek , I would say leeches here are actually rare!
From Camp Pacat onwards, the climb was steep and upon reaching Puncak Pengasih, that was one of the peaks. To reach the other peak which is of the same altitude, we had to go downhill through a wet and muddy path and climb another 45 minutes to reach the Nuang peak.
We completed the entire trip roughly in the region of 8.5 hours. They are saying that if one could climb this mountain, you could practically climb all mountains in Malaysia. I took the challenge and now I have more confidence and am looking forward to climb more Malaysian mountains in the near future.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
A complete and non-stop playlist for my favorite songs
We already have software program that downloads movies overnight and watch them for free! How about all those programming wizards out there to come out with another one that a user just names the favorite song and its preferred original singer in a list then you could have them ready on our PC to be heard the next day? I am not talking about the kind of iTune package that one has to pay USD0.99 per song but I am more into the kind of software capability which could retrieve and select the best quality WMA or MP3 files from the various multiple sources available for downloading a particular song. The program will evaluate the noise and recording quality after taking into consideration of interferences over the internet transmission and its environment etc.; after that it would make the best choice on our behalf to download them all into our computers while we sleep through the night. When you wake up the next morning, you have your Don Mclean's "American pie" and "Vincent", the Three Dogs' night's "Never been to Spain", CCR's "Proud Mary", Little Anthony' s "Tears on my pillow", Gene Chandler's "Duke of Earl"... the playlist goes on and on, presenting a repertoire of non-stop songs and music readily available near your bed side, inside your car and perhaps even in the office. How about that?
I used to prepare an Excel file with the content of which I fill in the titles of the favorite songs during my free time. I wanted to come out with a complete favorite playlist. You know it would take a long time to remember and state all the songs you wanted to listen. It is very much dependent on your memory, your mode there and then of the day which you suddenly have that pining for just a particular songs to be played along! Right now, "The house of rising sun", "Yellow river", "Those were the days", "Alone again naturally" come suddenly into my mind! Do you see what I mean?
I came from a family which could be considered as quite musically inclined. My brother CM Lee told me one day, it would be very nice to be a musician that could earn money and enjoy the work that you are doing at the same time, even though one might not become rich for being a musician! He and I own a complete set of drum, electric and hollow guitars, keyboard and pianos back home! It would be very nice if and when all the family members are ever home for the festive seasons, then everyone of us each pick our own most skilled instrument to play a gig session. We are no professionals but we are music enthusiasts that used to play with the worship team in our respective churches as guitarists.
Music is an integral part of our life. And sometimes I just marvel at how humans with the invention and aid of such instruments could produce such beautiful-to-the ears sound waves which sooth and touch our hearts and souls! I imagine one day when a host of angelic musicans of the heavenly orchestra, treating us to an occasion where we all immerse ourselves in enjoying a party of splended and most awesome display of the greatest sounds in this universe. All of us regardless of skin colors and ethnic origin gather before the throne of the most high God and start to worship and sing the song of praise " Oh God, how great thou art!"
I used to prepare an Excel file with the content of which I fill in the titles of the favorite songs during my free time. I wanted to come out with a complete favorite playlist. You know it would take a long time to remember and state all the songs you wanted to listen. It is very much dependent on your memory, your mode there and then of the day which you suddenly have that pining for just a particular songs to be played along! Right now, "The house of rising sun", "Yellow river", "Those were the days", "Alone again naturally" come suddenly into my mind! Do you see what I mean?
I came from a family which could be considered as quite musically inclined. My brother CM Lee told me one day, it would be very nice to be a musician that could earn money and enjoy the work that you are doing at the same time, even though one might not become rich for being a musician! He and I own a complete set of drum, electric and hollow guitars, keyboard and pianos back home! It would be very nice if and when all the family members are ever home for the festive seasons, then everyone of us each pick our own most skilled instrument to play a gig session. We are no professionals but we are music enthusiasts that used to play with the worship team in our respective churches as guitarists.
Music is an integral part of our life. And sometimes I just marvel at how humans with the invention and aid of such instruments could produce such beautiful-to-the ears sound waves which sooth and touch our hearts and souls! I imagine one day when a host of angelic musicans of the heavenly orchestra, treating us to an occasion where we all immerse ourselves in enjoying a party of splended and most awesome display of the greatest sounds in this universe. All of us regardless of skin colors and ethnic origin gather before the throne of the most high God and start to worship and sing the song of praise " Oh God, how great thou art!"
Sunday, October 17, 2010
A day in the village with sticky seeds on pants!
I remember those days my dad came home with his pants full with sticky seeds of the weeds all over. My mom would pick them out one by one patiently before washing. It was a tedious and unpleasant job of getting rid of them. My dad must have adventured into some wilderness with his friends. Did not remember exactly for what purpose he made the trip but I believe he must have gone on a fishing trip that required him to walk along the sand dunes of the ex-mining land, waded through some streams and also trekked some areas with lallang and tall undergrowth. He and his friend had gone to that fascinating and mysterious region of wilderness located just opposite my grandpa's home. A meandering river and the mining activities kept the landscape there ever changing. My memory could only register a vague image of the scenery of that place which was fast changing too many times over the years! I did remember seeing the row of long tender bamboo fishing rods that were laid on the side of the house, perhaps it was for the sun to dry up the equipment before they were kept in-house for future trips.
The strip of land over there was a "happening place" for the village folks. It was rumored that those big deep ponds further inland were once infested with crocrodiles, someone claimed they saw but no one actually caught or killed any one of the beasts. It was also a favorite spot for the villagers to do fish farming and a kid in the neighborhood was drowned in one of those fish ponds. It was a young boy by the nick name of "Little monkey" and that was a sad episode of life in the village where the youngs were often left alone while the parents were at work and the whereabout of their children was hard to be monitored!
I used to follow my mum and those women in the village nervoulsy to the side of those big ponds (with crocrodiles?) for the "dulang washing", which is an ingenious method using the centrifugal force of the swirling water to get rid of those mud, sand and stones, but retain the heavier tin ore at the center of the washing bowl called "Dulang"! This old fashioned way of dulang washing profession had fed many of the families in the village though now it had become obsolete that perhaps one could only see this dulang bowl item for display in the muzium!
There was a stretch of vast sweet potatoes land located right before crossing over the river where the happening place was. The sweet potatoes fields were planted for its leaves to feed the pigs, which were kept and reared at the backyard of practically every home in the village in those days. The sweet potatoes field there also served as the natural playground for us where we used to fly kites, catch dragonflies, crickets, butterflies and ambush birds!
We used to see helicopters hovering over that piece of the land in the evening from far away! One day I was told a helicopter crashed in that area but I had not got a chance to see the crash site for myself despite my curiosity!
There came a time with further discovery of rich tin ore deposit in the land by an Australian mining company! The 24 hours rumbling of the giant size bull dozers, "big stomach" scrapers, excavators and dump trucks cleared the land, transformed the entire landscape again beyond recognition. The whole western side of the village was supposed to be relocated for the mining operation to take place but fortunately it did not happen.
These little pricky sticky seeds on my pants brought me back to memory lane once more! By the way, I asked the name of this grass with the sticky seeds on facebook, my "learned friends" said it is called the "love grass"!
The strip of land over there was a "happening place" for the village folks. It was rumored that those big deep ponds further inland were once infested with crocrodiles, someone claimed they saw but no one actually caught or killed any one of the beasts. It was also a favorite spot for the villagers to do fish farming and a kid in the neighborhood was drowned in one of those fish ponds. It was a young boy by the nick name of "Little monkey" and that was a sad episode of life in the village where the youngs were often left alone while the parents were at work and the whereabout of their children was hard to be monitored!
I used to follow my mum and those women in the village nervoulsy to the side of those big ponds (with crocrodiles?) for the "dulang washing", which is an ingenious method using the centrifugal force of the swirling water to get rid of those mud, sand and stones, but retain the heavier tin ore at the center of the washing bowl called "Dulang"! This old fashioned way of dulang washing profession had fed many of the families in the village though now it had become obsolete that perhaps one could only see this dulang bowl item for display in the muzium!
There was a stretch of vast sweet potatoes land located right before crossing over the river where the happening place was. The sweet potatoes fields were planted for its leaves to feed the pigs, which were kept and reared at the backyard of practically every home in the village in those days. The sweet potatoes field there also served as the natural playground for us where we used to fly kites, catch dragonflies, crickets, butterflies and ambush birds!
We used to see helicopters hovering over that piece of the land in the evening from far away! One day I was told a helicopter crashed in that area but I had not got a chance to see the crash site for myself despite my curiosity!
There came a time with further discovery of rich tin ore deposit in the land by an Australian mining company! The 24 hours rumbling of the giant size bull dozers, "big stomach" scrapers, excavators and dump trucks cleared the land, transformed the entire landscape again beyond recognition. The whole western side of the village was supposed to be relocated for the mining operation to take place but fortunately it did not happen.
These little pricky sticky seeds on my pants brought me back to memory lane once more! By the way, I asked the name of this grass with the sticky seeds on facebook, my "learned friends" said it is called the "love grass"!
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Busy for the month of September
I was not busy with work but rather busy with some schedule to prepare for the upcoming event in the early part of October. To put it simple, I registered for the inter-companies run in Pasir Gudang in Johore on 3rd October 2010. I could not understand why I have to take this 5 km run so seriously afterall it is just something routine that is being carried out every year by the group for its employees, no big prices and nothing special about a privately held cross country race run on a tarmac road either.
To give some background on this, I had moved in since a year ago to stay in a place very near to the beach where I could do some cycling and jogging whenever I feel like it. Most of the time I do it in early the morning 6:30am or about 7pm in the evening. My daily schedule would be doing a evening ride on mountain bike for 20 km and jogging for 3 km in the morning before going to work. The initial going was a bit tough for me because I had stopped exercising for the past 5-6 years when I worked overseas where the weather was simply too nasty to do such a thing compared to what it is in a tropical country. I take up this challenge partly to boost my own ego and also try to catch up with my brother-in-law, who is a few years older than me but is a good veteran runner in the marathon race. He is probably ranked top 10 in the country veteran category.
I had climbed 2 mountains, namely Gunung Bunga Buah and also Bukit Nuang, and did also a trekking to the Pelangi waterfall in Sungai Lembing within a period of 2 months before the race as part of a cross training program for strength and stamina! Even during the week long Hari Raya holidays, I jogged 5 km with my brother-in-law just to keep fit and at the same time to get some advice and training tips from him on running long distance races.
There was supposed to be a session for my remote controlled nitro-plane, which had been fully assembled ready for the virgin flight in Dungun arranged by my friend cum coach Jaafar . I postponed the date just to give myself more time to be trained and ready for that particular event. In my mind, if I could not even win a race in a closed event organized by the company, how could I ever win one in the open race? This perhaps explained why I have to take that race so seriously! In fact I had been coughing for about a week since coming back from the camping trip of Pelangi waterfall. I was a bit worrying that coughing might interfere my breathing during the race. Fortunately it did not and I ran the race well though not perfect!
I eventually finished off in the 6th position in the veteran category. From the race, now I know where the standard of my opponents is, so that I could do the catching up. I vowed to come back next year to improve my position to top 3 in the run. I probably need to prepare myself and participate in the half marathon training in order to cope with those guys who had beaten me in the race. That is my target set for year 2011!
To give some background on this, I had moved in since a year ago to stay in a place very near to the beach where I could do some cycling and jogging whenever I feel like it. Most of the time I do it in early the morning 6:30am or about 7pm in the evening. My daily schedule would be doing a evening ride on mountain bike for 20 km and jogging for 3 km in the morning before going to work. The initial going was a bit tough for me because I had stopped exercising for the past 5-6 years when I worked overseas where the weather was simply too nasty to do such a thing compared to what it is in a tropical country. I take up this challenge partly to boost my own ego and also try to catch up with my brother-in-law, who is a few years older than me but is a good veteran runner in the marathon race. He is probably ranked top 10 in the country veteran category.
I had climbed 2 mountains, namely Gunung Bunga Buah and also Bukit Nuang, and did also a trekking to the Pelangi waterfall in Sungai Lembing within a period of 2 months before the race as part of a cross training program for strength and stamina! Even during the week long Hari Raya holidays, I jogged 5 km with my brother-in-law just to keep fit and at the same time to get some advice and training tips from him on running long distance races.
There was supposed to be a session for my remote controlled nitro-plane, which had been fully assembled ready for the virgin flight in Dungun arranged by my friend cum coach Jaafar . I postponed the date just to give myself more time to be trained and ready for that particular event. In my mind, if I could not even win a race in a closed event organized by the company, how could I ever win one in the open race? This perhaps explained why I have to take that race so seriously! In fact I had been coughing for about a week since coming back from the camping trip of Pelangi waterfall. I was a bit worrying that coughing might interfere my breathing during the race. Fortunately it did not and I ran the race well though not perfect!
I eventually finished off in the 6th position in the veteran category. From the race, now I know where the standard of my opponents is, so that I could do the catching up. I vowed to come back next year to improve my position to top 3 in the run. I probably need to prepare myself and participate in the half marathon training in order to cope with those guys who had beaten me in the race. That is my target set for year 2011!
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Life as it is!
A strange feeling and unfamiliar setting make me wonder whether this is the same world which we used to live many years ago. When we look around us, things suddenly appear to be different as though it all happened just in the blinks of your eyes. We once used to wonder how your future spouse and children are going to look like, will they ever be pretty and charming, or your off-springs would behave and inherit some traces of similarities of yours? Abruptly the time came that we had the added family of in-laws and life started to center around our own family of spouse and young kids! They are the ones with these distinct real faces appear right before you to accompany us for the rest of your life. Changes did not stop here, very soon they outgrew their shoes, shirts and toys, and they reached the age of adolescence with their own friends and making own decision and choices despite you telling them otherwise. We woke up in one of the mornings and found ourselves well qualified for the partial withdrawal of our EPF fund, which marks the great number of years that we had been through!
We looked forward to attend birthday and wedding parties that always filled with joy and happiness. The time had come that we had to visit the bed-ridden beloved ones in hospitals, and bidden them final goodbye in funeral services. Long lost friends, classmates and contemporaries occasionally called to meet up and you took note and captured glimpses of their aged bodies, wrinkled faces, and traces of grey hairs. That prompted you to take a quick look at your own face in the mirror on how those years of toil had eroded your youthful look!
We felt the sadness and loss in years when the elderly of our family and those from the side of the in-laws disappeared one after another, you are slowly moving up the rank of seniority. The only consolation could be you finally get to enjoy the golden age discounted travel tickets on buses, railways or airplanes! You over joy every time upon the renewal of your employment contract which proves not just your earning capability but also you are still wanted!
We became sentimental of the past and nostalgic of the good old days where things were done differently. An old song would always make you remember the exact moment and time of what you were doing then. We become interested and yearn to involve in those hobbies or interests which we could not fulfill for whatever reasons during those younger days.
Suddenly you feel the strong urge to defy this age gaining process and wanted to prove that you are as fit as before. Climbing all the high mountains, visiting places and taking part in activities and races that demand physical strength and superiority.
The recent passing away of the eldest aunty of my wife and also the Singapore minister mentor Mr. Lee Kuan Yew's beloved wife Kwa Geok Choo seems to be just another ordinary day-to-day incident. But somehow it has reminded me time is so short and life is so good, we must always appreciate the time we spend with our love ones while the sun still shines on us everyday!
We looked forward to attend birthday and wedding parties that always filled with joy and happiness. The time had come that we had to visit the bed-ridden beloved ones in hospitals, and bidden them final goodbye in funeral services. Long lost friends, classmates and contemporaries occasionally called to meet up and you took note and captured glimpses of their aged bodies, wrinkled faces, and traces of grey hairs. That prompted you to take a quick look at your own face in the mirror on how those years of toil had eroded your youthful look!
We felt the sadness and loss in years when the elderly of our family and those from the side of the in-laws disappeared one after another, you are slowly moving up the rank of seniority. The only consolation could be you finally get to enjoy the golden age discounted travel tickets on buses, railways or airplanes! You over joy every time upon the renewal of your employment contract which proves not just your earning capability but also you are still wanted!
We became sentimental of the past and nostalgic of the good old days where things were done differently. An old song would always make you remember the exact moment and time of what you were doing then. We become interested and yearn to involve in those hobbies or interests which we could not fulfill for whatever reasons during those younger days.
Suddenly you feel the strong urge to defy this age gaining process and wanted to prove that you are as fit as before. Climbing all the high mountains, visiting places and taking part in activities and races that demand physical strength and superiority.
The recent passing away of the eldest aunty of my wife and also the Singapore minister mentor Mr. Lee Kuan Yew's beloved wife Kwa Geok Choo seems to be just another ordinary day-to-day incident. But somehow it has reminded me time is so short and life is so good, we must always appreciate the time we spend with our love ones while the sun still shines on us everyday!
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Managing your people
Managing people is a daunting task and most of the time the job itself is not really that tough but people management is what the company pays a top manager for!
Most of the smaller companies will judge you by the results that you deliver, regardless of your ways of getting things done. But for reputable multinational companies, to function as a manager per se in there, you are also judged by how well you perform in the area of employees' satisfaction. This aspect is evaluated hand in hand with the actual result achievable in the work assigned to you. It is easy to rule with an iron fist and get quick and short term results but before long the organization will suffer the loss of employees and subordinates. I had learnt this concept of "preferred employer"management from HP, which I worked there 2 years and it was an eye opener that took me to a different level, and also gained substantial people management experience which is beneficial for my working career later on.
HP employs a lot of graduates from top universities both local and overseas with first class honors of academic excellence. The bulk of the executives are highly qualified professionals, and therefore require a more comprehensive and employee-centered kind of management approach to handle them. It was difficult for managers recruited from other companies of different culture to grasp the concept; very often when you thought you had done a good job but the boss told you that you miss out the human aspect and the subordinates did not like your style of doing things. They ranked your management skill by giving a lousy score in their satisfacion survey carried out every year. HP expects you to optimize employees' satisfaction and work performance, and that is really not easy and it is almost an art! After working in the corporate world for many years, if one could ever manage to juggle the magic of managing 70% of the people favor you as their superior while there are still 30% do not like you for no obvious reasons, this is already acceptable.
When I come to manage the present factory, a totally different and extreme situation exists here! Most of the executives wanted to become nice guys, recommending good grades for year end performance evaluation practically for everyone of their subordinates despite they are always being late for work, sloppy workmanship, inefficient or even insubordination at times, and you name it. It is probably a "nice guys" culture here, in which things only get done at their own pace. They are not exposed so much to the kind of goals driven and mean operations in the very competitive electronic industry environment which I used to come from!
An organization has to distribute its allocated incentives such as bonuses, raise in grades etc based on merits in the form of a normal distribution curve. With everyone falling onto the top end of the curve, how could a fair distribution of incentives or performance evaluation could be carried out? It is an easy operation with simple expectation here, therefore an executive needs not work extra hard to pass the grade. Even with this low expectation an executive needs not choose to be a mediocre. One has to realize the fact that inefficient subordinates will reflect on you and actually hamper your career growth in the eyes of the management if you choose to be good guys that are slack in managing your staff, which implies a typical characteristic of weak leadership that could not be entrusted with more important and urgent task!
A company is not a charitable organization that pays every month and also to give automatic increment in salary after every year of service. Employees need to do the basic task that they are expected to do for the company and the basic task expectation will change every year after you get your raise in salary. As superiors of your staff, we have to make clear to them our expectation and company objectives. Other than that, one has the added responsibility to ensure the subordinates under you are well trained to carry out the task assigned. It is also our social responsibility for these young employees to be eventually well equipped with the knowledge, know-how and experience so that they could survive in any other organization when one day they step out of the door of the company. Their performance within or without the company is reflective of how good you are as their boss. I would be extremely proud if any one of my subordinates quits the job because he or she is well trained and competent enough to become a GM of another organization.
Manage your people well because they are the greatest asset of the company and if you have good employees working for you then your job and life as manager will be made much easier for sure!
Most of the smaller companies will judge you by the results that you deliver, regardless of your ways of getting things done. But for reputable multinational companies, to function as a manager per se in there, you are also judged by how well you perform in the area of employees' satisfaction. This aspect is evaluated hand in hand with the actual result achievable in the work assigned to you. It is easy to rule with an iron fist and get quick and short term results but before long the organization will suffer the loss of employees and subordinates. I had learnt this concept of "preferred employer"management from HP, which I worked there 2 years and it was an eye opener that took me to a different level, and also gained substantial people management experience which is beneficial for my working career later on.
HP employs a lot of graduates from top universities both local and overseas with first class honors of academic excellence. The bulk of the executives are highly qualified professionals, and therefore require a more comprehensive and employee-centered kind of management approach to handle them. It was difficult for managers recruited from other companies of different culture to grasp the concept; very often when you thought you had done a good job but the boss told you that you miss out the human aspect and the subordinates did not like your style of doing things. They ranked your management skill by giving a lousy score in their satisfacion survey carried out every year. HP expects you to optimize employees' satisfaction and work performance, and that is really not easy and it is almost an art! After working in the corporate world for many years, if one could ever manage to juggle the magic of managing 70% of the people favor you as their superior while there are still 30% do not like you for no obvious reasons, this is already acceptable.
When I come to manage the present factory, a totally different and extreme situation exists here! Most of the executives wanted to become nice guys, recommending good grades for year end performance evaluation practically for everyone of their subordinates despite they are always being late for work, sloppy workmanship, inefficient or even insubordination at times, and you name it. It is probably a "nice guys" culture here, in which things only get done at their own pace. They are not exposed so much to the kind of goals driven and mean operations in the very competitive electronic industry environment which I used to come from!
An organization has to distribute its allocated incentives such as bonuses, raise in grades etc based on merits in the form of a normal distribution curve. With everyone falling onto the top end of the curve, how could a fair distribution of incentives or performance evaluation could be carried out? It is an easy operation with simple expectation here, therefore an executive needs not work extra hard to pass the grade. Even with this low expectation an executive needs not choose to be a mediocre. One has to realize the fact that inefficient subordinates will reflect on you and actually hamper your career growth in the eyes of the management if you choose to be good guys that are slack in managing your staff, which implies a typical characteristic of weak leadership that could not be entrusted with more important and urgent task!
A company is not a charitable organization that pays every month and also to give automatic increment in salary after every year of service. Employees need to do the basic task that they are expected to do for the company and the basic task expectation will change every year after you get your raise in salary. As superiors of your staff, we have to make clear to them our expectation and company objectives. Other than that, one has the added responsibility to ensure the subordinates under you are well trained to carry out the task assigned. It is also our social responsibility for these young employees to be eventually well equipped with the knowledge, know-how and experience so that they could survive in any other organization when one day they step out of the door of the company. Their performance within or without the company is reflective of how good you are as their boss. I would be extremely proud if any one of my subordinates quits the job because he or she is well trained and competent enough to become a GM of another organization.
Manage your people well because they are the greatest asset of the company and if you have good employees working for you then your job and life as manager will be made much easier for sure!
Monday, August 23, 2010
Bikes and bicycles
Sometimes we run out of idea on what to write especially if suddenly you feel that you have not been writing for the past a week or so. A casual talk started on the topic of riding motorbike, Harley Davidson came into the conversation and gave me the theme for the day. Talking about Harley, it is a pricey machine and very exclusive in this part of the world, mainly due to the high import duty. Other than just from performance and the aesthetic points of view, the fans of Harley are also fascinated by the thundering sound of the machine when it roars past us. That reminded me of the British Norton marque bike long time ago when its heavy engine sound ripped through the morning silence of a village, as though the piston was pounding so hard that it shook the ground underneath its wheels. Some other bikers have modified their exhaust pipes just to emulate and get that heavy pounding sound, somehow our discerning ears would be able to tell the difference. I suppose that could be due to the characteristics of the engine design, its air flow pattern, in combination with the bends and turns of the exhaust pipe that give rise to the distinctive and yet unique sound associated with a particular brand of these machines.
Owning a Harley in the East Coast of Malaysia could be a pain. Ramli, a restaurant boss and previous Harley owner had related to me that one has to send the bike all the way to Kuala Lumpur even for the change of lubricating oil. And that sounds ridiculous but it is true!
We Malaysians are more used to smaller capacity bikes of 50-250 cc, and the fact that when we got our driving licence, we are permitted to ride bikes only up to the 250cc and that always limits our range of purchase. Exceeding this range of capacity, one has to take a separate driving test in order to be qualified for riding those big bikes. Big bikes are heavy and it would be difficult to lift them back into upright position once they fall. That reminded me of an incident that happened to me many years ago, that a smaller version of a bicycle fall had given me the imagination on what is it going to be like when one is pinned under a heavy big cc machines such as a Harley or Honda Goldwing:
During certain school holidays my dad would send me all the way to my grandmother working place in a tin mines at the remote outskirt of Kampar town. The landscape of those tin mines areas is mainly of white sands, shrubs and some creepers vegetation that form the favorite food and also a natural habitat for the crickets. It is almost identical and looks like a desert as in White Sand of New Mexico. There was a Chinese medicine herb with unknown name, the branches of which after fully grown would dry up and turn full black with tiny and distinct white round shaped seeds still clinging onto the branches; we named them as "Little Balls Herb". I used to cycle around and collect them in bundles and when my dad came to pick me with his car, we would load them onto the trunk and then sell to the Chinese medicine shops for a couple of dollars. A day of the same routine for me to collect those plants in the white sandy land, suddenlty dark cloud shrouded the sky and the rain was imminent. I propeled my bicycle to full speed with all my might, an attempt to beat the rain before it started to pour on me. At a path where there was a gentle curve with loose sand, a gentle swerve of the bicycle handle caused me to fall flat and sent me pinned right down under the machine. I stayed motionless, short of breath for a couple of minutes, struggled but could not get myself up. When the rain started to pour, there came my savior, a kind Sikh old man who was looking after the cattles that free ranging those mining lands nearby came to my rescue. When he lifted the bicycle, I was instantly revived and hurried my way home.
In my mind, I am wondering where is this old man once helped me? Could not remember his face, could he be an angel sent down by God just to help me at that moment of time? Even after so many years, I want to thank him for that!
Owning a Harley in the East Coast of Malaysia could be a pain. Ramli, a restaurant boss and previous Harley owner had related to me that one has to send the bike all the way to Kuala Lumpur even for the change of lubricating oil. And that sounds ridiculous but it is true!
We Malaysians are more used to smaller capacity bikes of 50-250 cc, and the fact that when we got our driving licence, we are permitted to ride bikes only up to the 250cc and that always limits our range of purchase. Exceeding this range of capacity, one has to take a separate driving test in order to be qualified for riding those big bikes. Big bikes are heavy and it would be difficult to lift them back into upright position once they fall. That reminded me of an incident that happened to me many years ago, that a smaller version of a bicycle fall had given me the imagination on what is it going to be like when one is pinned under a heavy big cc machines such as a Harley or Honda Goldwing:
During certain school holidays my dad would send me all the way to my grandmother working place in a tin mines at the remote outskirt of Kampar town. The landscape of those tin mines areas is mainly of white sands, shrubs and some creepers vegetation that form the favorite food and also a natural habitat for the crickets. It is almost identical and looks like a desert as in White Sand of New Mexico. There was a Chinese medicine herb with unknown name, the branches of which after fully grown would dry up and turn full black with tiny and distinct white round shaped seeds still clinging onto the branches; we named them as "Little Balls Herb". I used to cycle around and collect them in bundles and when my dad came to pick me with his car, we would load them onto the trunk and then sell to the Chinese medicine shops for a couple of dollars. A day of the same routine for me to collect those plants in the white sandy land, suddenlty dark cloud shrouded the sky and the rain was imminent. I propeled my bicycle to full speed with all my might, an attempt to beat the rain before it started to pour on me. At a path where there was a gentle curve with loose sand, a gentle swerve of the bicycle handle caused me to fall flat and sent me pinned right down under the machine. I stayed motionless, short of breath for a couple of minutes, struggled but could not get myself up. When the rain started to pour, there came my savior, a kind Sikh old man who was looking after the cattles that free ranging those mining lands nearby came to my rescue. When he lifted the bicycle, I was instantly revived and hurried my way home.
In my mind, I am wondering where is this old man once helped me? Could not remember his face, could he be an angel sent down by God just to help me at that moment of time? Even after so many years, I want to thank him for that!
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Mating of my wild Betta Imbellis
With the only wild fighting fish Betta Imbellis left in my keeping, I handle this pet with special care, ensure there is a constant change interval of water and also feed it with more nutritious food. Occasionally I throw in some deserts made up of mosquitos that tried to bite me but failed miserably, flattened under my claps and ended up in the belly of this beloved fish of mine. Surprising, over a few months, it has grown much bigger than its normal natural size found in the wild. Somehow I believe, the confined space without any external threat or predator, easy prey of rich diet readily available and also the lack of "exercise" contributed to its current state of physique!
With the pools of bubbles that appear occasionally on top of the container that it lives in, it was a sign that the fish had grown to its puberty age. I was in a situation of lacking the stock of wild females for its mating. It happened that the local aquarium shops sold me some Siamese female fighting fishes of various breeds and colors. I had chosen a few and reared them at home for a couple of weeks to pick on the right fish for the breeding project. After much observation I decided to pick on the white and long fin female. Well it was almost like matching an Asian to a white woman! My only worry was that this wild male might not recognize a white bigger size female as its own kind because it has never seen one before in its life time! Initially when the male was first introduced into the bigger tank of the female, it behaved a little bit timid, perhaps the size of a strange looking female might seem formidable and difficult for it to handle. I guess my worry was unncessary, its lust for a female after being suppressed within a confined wall for that few months upon reaching its adolescent stage eventually reared its ugly head! The female was no match for its fiery courting bites and it finally succumbed and gave way to her little wild beast!
One day after I returned from work to home, the pool of bubbles was thick and whitish and I knew the mating had taken place and eggs were laid and kept floating above the water level by the bubbles. The male fish kept on chasing away the female after their mating ritual was over. It was as though the love affair between them was finally over. In actual fact, it is a natural behavior for the male to take care of the eggs until they are fully hatched. Female fighting fishes tend to eat the small fries if without the protection from the male fish, and that is the reason why the female was constantly being chased away!
Looking at the haggard and sluggish moving female fish and constantly being attacked by the male, I scooped it away to another container. Now the male was given the full time nursery responsibility to care for the youngs. Eggs turned greyish after 2 days and the tiny young fishes finally appeared on the third day under the tender care of the male fish. The young tiny fries dotted the surface of the aquarium and they live on micro-organisms that are plenty in the aquarium. The aquarium is filled with water weeds, plants and wood to resemble the natural habitat environment though the lighting is still a bit bright to be considered as natural. I temporarily switched off the water pump to avoid the young fishes from been sucked in during the filtration process.
I am curiously anxious to see how the offsprings of this mixed mating will eventually grow and look like. I guess they would bear the best features of their parents. Perhaps, decorated with fluorescent, glow in the dark iridescent bluish green color over a white based body, long and red spotted tails and fins etc. Bigger in size and more hardy species could be the possible end product! I mean, if you look at how those mixed children from parents of different races look like, then you could possibly relate and figure out why I have this imagination!
With the pools of bubbles that appear occasionally on top of the container that it lives in, it was a sign that the fish had grown to its puberty age. I was in a situation of lacking the stock of wild females for its mating. It happened that the local aquarium shops sold me some Siamese female fighting fishes of various breeds and colors. I had chosen a few and reared them at home for a couple of weeks to pick on the right fish for the breeding project. After much observation I decided to pick on the white and long fin female. Well it was almost like matching an Asian to a white woman! My only worry was that this wild male might not recognize a white bigger size female as its own kind because it has never seen one before in its life time! Initially when the male was first introduced into the bigger tank of the female, it behaved a little bit timid, perhaps the size of a strange looking female might seem formidable and difficult for it to handle. I guess my worry was unncessary, its lust for a female after being suppressed within a confined wall for that few months upon reaching its adolescent stage eventually reared its ugly head! The female was no match for its fiery courting bites and it finally succumbed and gave way to her little wild beast!
One day after I returned from work to home, the pool of bubbles was thick and whitish and I knew the mating had taken place and eggs were laid and kept floating above the water level by the bubbles. The male fish kept on chasing away the female after their mating ritual was over. It was as though the love affair between them was finally over. In actual fact, it is a natural behavior for the male to take care of the eggs until they are fully hatched. Female fighting fishes tend to eat the small fries if without the protection from the male fish, and that is the reason why the female was constantly being chased away!
Looking at the haggard and sluggish moving female fish and constantly being attacked by the male, I scooped it away to another container. Now the male was given the full time nursery responsibility to care for the youngs. Eggs turned greyish after 2 days and the tiny young fishes finally appeared on the third day under the tender care of the male fish. The young tiny fries dotted the surface of the aquarium and they live on micro-organisms that are plenty in the aquarium. The aquarium is filled with water weeds, plants and wood to resemble the natural habitat environment though the lighting is still a bit bright to be considered as natural. I temporarily switched off the water pump to avoid the young fishes from been sucked in during the filtration process.
I am curiously anxious to see how the offsprings of this mixed mating will eventually grow and look like. I guess they would bear the best features of their parents. Perhaps, decorated with fluorescent, glow in the dark iridescent bluish green color over a white based body, long and red spotted tails and fins etc. Bigger in size and more hardy species could be the possible end product! I mean, if you look at how those mixed children from parents of different races look like, then you could possibly relate and figure out why I have this imagination!
Monday, August 2, 2010
Political Analysis
On the night of meeting my old primary school classmates, I chanced upon having an interesting conversation with one of a renowned political analyst guest. We discussed on the right way of writing article on the political scenario and constructive criticism so that the public in general or readers of newspapers and magazines could be given an impartial view and update on the actual situation of the country.
He mentioned that the media is very much controlled or monopolized by pro-government businessmen or proxies of some political parties.The publishing licence is granted for short term renewal and is constantly being scrutinized under the watchful eyes of the authority, the issuance of which could be revoked any time at the whim and fancy of the power-that-be. Writers are given certain space in the media to write and in return they are rewarded for their service. Since political parties have vested interest in the media, any one sided criticism would not benefit the power-that-be behind the media and also the livelihood of writers. The writers are in a difficult dilemma. Therefore the thriving political analysts must be able to master the skill of administering the rightful amount of criticism; even at certain times they must have the gut to sling mud onto the face of the political party affiliated to their pay-check employer, just to add in a dosage of impartiality! A successful writer must be able to juggle this well, optimize all considerations and apportion the right amount of criticism and at crucial moment, even has to abstain from any heavy bombarding to give them a breather. This is a technique employed to attract the interest and draw the attention of the readers, and take into consideration the very fact that by so doing their privilege of being able to keep their space and getting paid for their article regularly in the media are not at stake.
I disputed this kind of compromising writing style with monetary gain as their hidden primary objective. Under this situation, the tendency to become non-independent is questionable despite all that skillful camouflage. With the advent of internet, there are many intelligent readers out there that scan every piece of available information and compare notes. They would be able to evaluate and distinguish the genuine political wrtiers and their ulterior motives.
In view of our differing opinions, I counter proposed to him that a good political analyst writer should read the review of other fellow writers as well and determine what are the areas of weaknesses of their written article to be further improved or beefed up for future writings. View the topic from different perspectives and see how the flow and the logics of argument to lead the readers, and drive home the points the writer wanted to convey. At the same time also recommend an alternative or more innovative, above the pack kind of proposal to better tackle the particular controversial topic or situation. In the end, a respectable political analyst writer, in the name of independency and impartiality, should prepare even to lose his/her job and write for free in the internet!
The topic then changed to who should we cast our votes to. I said we should vote for those performers in the interest of the "Rakyat". To me, it really does not matter which party rules the country as long as there is a denial of two third majority which acts as a check and balance for the good of all Malaysians. I am equally happy if BN or PKR could win the election, it is a collective decision by the "Rakyat", which should be based on how the candidates collectively had contributed and performed for their constituencies and country, instead of just by emotion or the demagogue of just wanting a change situation.
He mentioned that the media is very much controlled or monopolized by pro-government businessmen or proxies of some political parties.The publishing licence is granted for short term renewal and is constantly being scrutinized under the watchful eyes of the authority, the issuance of which could be revoked any time at the whim and fancy of the power-that-be. Writers are given certain space in the media to write and in return they are rewarded for their service. Since political parties have vested interest in the media, any one sided criticism would not benefit the power-that-be behind the media and also the livelihood of writers. The writers are in a difficult dilemma. Therefore the thriving political analysts must be able to master the skill of administering the rightful amount of criticism; even at certain times they must have the gut to sling mud onto the face of the political party affiliated to their pay-check employer, just to add in a dosage of impartiality! A successful writer must be able to juggle this well, optimize all considerations and apportion the right amount of criticism and at crucial moment, even has to abstain from any heavy bombarding to give them a breather. This is a technique employed to attract the interest and draw the attention of the readers, and take into consideration the very fact that by so doing their privilege of being able to keep their space and getting paid for their article regularly in the media are not at stake.
I disputed this kind of compromising writing style with monetary gain as their hidden primary objective. Under this situation, the tendency to become non-independent is questionable despite all that skillful camouflage. With the advent of internet, there are many intelligent readers out there that scan every piece of available information and compare notes. They would be able to evaluate and distinguish the genuine political wrtiers and their ulterior motives.
In view of our differing opinions, I counter proposed to him that a good political analyst writer should read the review of other fellow writers as well and determine what are the areas of weaknesses of their written article to be further improved or beefed up for future writings. View the topic from different perspectives and see how the flow and the logics of argument to lead the readers, and drive home the points the writer wanted to convey. At the same time also recommend an alternative or more innovative, above the pack kind of proposal to better tackle the particular controversial topic or situation. In the end, a respectable political analyst writer, in the name of independency and impartiality, should prepare even to lose his/her job and write for free in the internet!
The topic then changed to who should we cast our votes to. I said we should vote for those performers in the interest of the "Rakyat". To me, it really does not matter which party rules the country as long as there is a denial of two third majority which acts as a check and balance for the good of all Malaysians. I am equally happy if BN or PKR could win the election, it is a collective decision by the "Rakyat", which should be based on how the candidates collectively had contributed and performed for their constituencies and country, instead of just by emotion or the demagogue of just wanting a change situation.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Things that come lately
We should have owned our 1st BMW at the age of 30 instead of 15 years later! I should have my present level of command for my English language when I took my MCE "O" level so as to secure a better grade. I should have married younger and by now all my children would have graduated. Things always seem to come lately.
It is true that there is nothing to shout about if we achieve certain things when other people had way passed you at a much earlier stage or younger age. We just have to accept that some people are simply smarter, more talented and richer than you!
When we were young, we have all the energy, the time but did not have the money to do things that we like to do. While we were at the middle age, we had the money and the energy but we were so busy with our career and families that we could not spare the extra time. At older age, we might have all of these, except the physical strength to carry out things that we wanted to do during our younger days! Life sucks and we seem to be always in a situation of "out of sync with what we wanted so much right at that point of time"!
When we compare ourselves to the best, we think all those things really come too lately for us. But we are glad that we did not fall into the trap of drugs that caused many wasted years as what many drug addicts had gone through. It took many of them in the region of 10-20 years to get rid of the habit before they started a new life, and many more could not make it and remain drug addicted for the rest of their lives. We did not commit any serious crime that could have ended up in a dungeon and wasted our years on our career building and earning capability. We are also so blessed that we did not suffer any long illness that deprives us the best time of our lives! Thank God for all these!
Life is not perfect and let us be contended with what we already have. We hope and pray to continue to live a healthy life and enjoy every moment of what we can do. It is always better late than never!
It is true that there is nothing to shout about if we achieve certain things when other people had way passed you at a much earlier stage or younger age. We just have to accept that some people are simply smarter, more talented and richer than you!
When we were young, we have all the energy, the time but did not have the money to do things that we like to do. While we were at the middle age, we had the money and the energy but we were so busy with our career and families that we could not spare the extra time. At older age, we might have all of these, except the physical strength to carry out things that we wanted to do during our younger days! Life sucks and we seem to be always in a situation of "out of sync with what we wanted so much right at that point of time"!
When we compare ourselves to the best, we think all those things really come too lately for us. But we are glad that we did not fall into the trap of drugs that caused many wasted years as what many drug addicts had gone through. It took many of them in the region of 10-20 years to get rid of the habit before they started a new life, and many more could not make it and remain drug addicted for the rest of their lives. We did not commit any serious crime that could have ended up in a dungeon and wasted our years on our career building and earning capability. We are also so blessed that we did not suffer any long illness that deprives us the best time of our lives! Thank God for all these!
Life is not perfect and let us be contended with what we already have. We hope and pray to continue to live a healthy life and enjoy every moment of what we can do. It is always better late than never!
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
A mountain trekking trip
The mountain selected this time was Gunung Bunga Buah half way near to Genting Highland resort. Since we had to start off at the home of our buddy in Jalan Bunga Anggerik of Ukay Heights of Ampang at 7 am and therefore we put up a night there instead of travelling across the KL city from west to east just to avoid the usual morning traffic woes. Started the journey in Gotong Raya after our expensive breakfast which was RM9 for a plate of "wantan mee". I suppose this place is meant for the tourists and not the local trekkers like us!
The climb and the descend of this second hill was smooth after our warming up stretch just before this. But the muddy trek, fallen tree trunks and the roots were obstacles that we had to overcome in order to push our journey further up. The roots of the trees and some of the paths were slippery and therefore the kind of climbing shoes worn that gave the maximum grip would be important for this type of terrain. We stopped occasionally for a drink to keep our body hydrated and sometimes leeches dropped themselves from the leaves when they sensed the movement and noise. It was a leech infested forest but I was lucky to be spared of not even a single bite. Most of us had managed to discover and get rid of them just before they about to take on a sumptous suck!
We continued the climb and passed through a small rock garden as we about to reach the peak and took a view of the surrounding mountainous range which was simply scenic! We scaled the mountain for another 40 minutes before reaching the top. It was misty at the peak and the view was partially shrouded by the fog. We had our lunch here with the provisions that we brought along. We finished off most of the water and left some for the returning path and our load and thus the weight was very much reduced for the descending journey.
The descending along the same path which we climbed up was pleasant and the toughest was now the stretch of ascending back and up the second hill. We were in good spirit and wanted to complete the descend in 2 hours compared with the more strenuous climbing up of about 2 hours and 45 minutes. The actual descending time took us probably in the region of 2 hours and 15 minutes.
There was an unforeseeable incident happened on the way down hill, a couple was lost in direction and one of my buddies trekked backward and went to look for them. Together with another guy from another, they finally found them and the delay was 2 hours from the original finishing schedule of 3 pm. From this event, I would be able to judge the fitness level of this buddy, he could back trek for another 2 hours without any problem after a total non-stop uphill and downhill of 5 hours! I really need to train harder in order to be in par with him on stamina and strength!
It was also an important lesson to learn that no matter how simple and straight forward a trekking trail appears to you, one should never underestimate and rule out the possibility of getting lost in direction. Therefore it is a good habit to mark the trail with papers along the way and also carry along a GPS system and an extra set of mobile phone battery as spare.
This was my first trekking trip and the next day the muscle of both of my thighs was pulling and painful while walking down the steps of staircase. It is hard to say that I really enjoyed the process of climbing such a tough and muddy mountain filled with leeches, but the feeling when the climb was over and that you had conquered a mountain, the joy of satisfaction and the sense of accomplishment of how your body could withstand and overcome the challenge is just beyond the description of words!
My next target would be Gunong Nuang in Hulu Langat!
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Who is having the absolute truth?
Over the internet and many forums, there are many people arguing on whose religion is of the right choice and insisted that they are embracing the absolute truth. Whenever you are a believer belonging to any particular faith, the preachers or priests would normally tell you that this is the absolute truth and there will always be having something reserved about the others. Not a direct comment but inevitably implying something which is implicit enough and yet could get the message across to the listeners. The different protestant churches will express variably over what is the right way that one should be baptized; by immersion in water or sprinkled with water while others will emphasize the ultimate baptizm by holy spirit and the speaking of tongues etc. The Catholics will have different interpretation about the biblical teachings from the Protestants and vice versa. One just could not imagine the possible confusion caused to the general public at large by the many denominations and interpretation of one particular religion of Christianity. The Christians are not alone while our Muslim brothers also have their own fair share of differences with their Sunni and Shiite sects and others.
I do not normally participate in such internet discussion mainly because when we said we are right and that will probably imply or get the message across to the other party that they are in the wrong. Religion is a sensitive issue and sometimes you might win an argument but could end up offending the other party and lose a friend. Such unintentional mutual fault finding and argument on religious topics will take us nowhere. I therefore always opt to talk about the common things that we all share and agreeable such as we are the worshippers of one Abrahamic God! The interpretation of religions is very much an individual thing and they have to experience for themselves and also to witness how a religion change and impact a person's life. Eventually they will have to combine them, base on their critical thinking skill to evaluate on the teachings and also their own experience over time, and then make their own final choice. Thou shalt love thy neighbors and respect them even if they opt to take on a faith different from yours!
I am no expert in the field of Chrisitianity but I would be most honored to answer questions that I know and explain them from my very own perspectives.
May God always give us the wisdom! Amen
I do not normally participate in such internet discussion mainly because when we said we are right and that will probably imply or get the message across to the other party that they are in the wrong. Religion is a sensitive issue and sometimes you might win an argument but could end up offending the other party and lose a friend. Such unintentional mutual fault finding and argument on religious topics will take us nowhere. I therefore always opt to talk about the common things that we all share and agreeable such as we are the worshippers of one Abrahamic God! The interpretation of religions is very much an individual thing and they have to experience for themselves and also to witness how a religion change and impact a person's life. Eventually they will have to combine them, base on their critical thinking skill to evaluate on the teachings and also their own experience over time, and then make their own final choice. Thou shalt love thy neighbors and respect them even if they opt to take on a faith different from yours!
I am no expert in the field of Chrisitianity but I would be most honored to answer questions that I know and explain them from my very own perspectives.
May God always give us the wisdom! Amen
Indonesian maids
As Malaysia progresses itself to the direction of a developed nation, many working parents need maids at home to help out the chores and taking care of their kids. Indonesia with its very large pool of labor resources, by virtue of its closeness to Malaysia and ease of communication with the almost similar language to our "Bahasa" language, they are the natural choices for us Malaysians.
How lucky we Malaysians are, many of us could afford maids, cars and even own a second house! I had spoken to some of my American friends years ago, and they commented that we Malaysians indeed are having good life. Comparing to the plight of one of them, he had his second marriage therefore he needs to support and raise the children of his 2nd family, though he is already a grandfather from his first marriage. Hardly any middle class Americans could afford the comfort of having a full time maid at home in the US in comparison with Malaysia practically one could find maid in almost every home in the urban areas!
Some of the well-to-do parents wanted Philipino maids because they could speak good English but this comes with a price to pay. Generally, Malaysians prefer the cheaper and mild nature Indonesians. It is unfortunate that some of the employers mistreated their maids but I do believe those were just isolated incidents. We must always treat our maid as human beings, they are here to find a livelihood to feed their families just like you and me. They hope to work hard and save some money to build a better future for them. Sometimes employers should not expect too much from maids because if they are highly educated with good exposure to the outside world, they would not have come here to become maids for you. We have to be reasonable and treat them as part of the family so that they could do a good job for us. Have patience to coach them, and some love for them too as fellow human beings!
Maid agencies must be regulated such that collection of fees both from the employers and the maids must be reasonable. They receive the double portions from both sides as middle men but provide the services of dealing with the immigration on permits approval, satisfying the government specified requirement, arranging transportation and travel, giving basic training etc. Sometimes the fees collected from the maid side could be relatively an exorbitant high sum by their standard that they need to work for years to redeem back the sum of money.
Recent development had prompted Indonesian government continues to prohibit the sending of maids to Malaysia. Perhaps it is a strategy to negotiate for better pay and extra off days for their citizens. I think this is fair for every government to protect the interest of their "Rakyat". On the other hand, we should not be hand tied because of this prolonged unresolved issue despite compromise and negotiation involving even our Prime Minister. Though MOU after MOU were signed, and yet they drag their feet on this matter.
If we are offering job opportunities for the Indonesians, Cambodians, Burmese and Vietnamese etc, where many other countries such as China and India are excluded from the approved list of maids supply, these countries must be thankful to the Malaysian government. Employment in all forms if possible must be an open market that decides the values and the salaries. Malaysia should not bow herself so low just to get in maids! Open up the market for more countries to come in and let there be fair competition!
How lucky we Malaysians are, many of us could afford maids, cars and even own a second house! I had spoken to some of my American friends years ago, and they commented that we Malaysians indeed are having good life. Comparing to the plight of one of them, he had his second marriage therefore he needs to support and raise the children of his 2nd family, though he is already a grandfather from his first marriage. Hardly any middle class Americans could afford the comfort of having a full time maid at home in the US in comparison with Malaysia practically one could find maid in almost every home in the urban areas!
Some of the well-to-do parents wanted Philipino maids because they could speak good English but this comes with a price to pay. Generally, Malaysians prefer the cheaper and mild nature Indonesians. It is unfortunate that some of the employers mistreated their maids but I do believe those were just isolated incidents. We must always treat our maid as human beings, they are here to find a livelihood to feed their families just like you and me. They hope to work hard and save some money to build a better future for them. Sometimes employers should not expect too much from maids because if they are highly educated with good exposure to the outside world, they would not have come here to become maids for you. We have to be reasonable and treat them as part of the family so that they could do a good job for us. Have patience to coach them, and some love for them too as fellow human beings!
Maid agencies must be regulated such that collection of fees both from the employers and the maids must be reasonable. They receive the double portions from both sides as middle men but provide the services of dealing with the immigration on permits approval, satisfying the government specified requirement, arranging transportation and travel, giving basic training etc. Sometimes the fees collected from the maid side could be relatively an exorbitant high sum by their standard that they need to work for years to redeem back the sum of money.
Recent development had prompted Indonesian government continues to prohibit the sending of maids to Malaysia. Perhaps it is a strategy to negotiate for better pay and extra off days for their citizens. I think this is fair for every government to protect the interest of their "Rakyat". On the other hand, we should not be hand tied because of this prolonged unresolved issue despite compromise and negotiation involving even our Prime Minister. Though MOU after MOU were signed, and yet they drag their feet on this matter.
If we are offering job opportunities for the Indonesians, Cambodians, Burmese and Vietnamese etc, where many other countries such as China and India are excluded from the approved list of maids supply, these countries must be thankful to the Malaysian government. Employment in all forms if possible must be an open market that decides the values and the salaries. Malaysia should not bow herself so low just to get in maids! Open up the market for more countries to come in and let there be fair competition!
Monday, July 12, 2010
Aggression or integration?
If we take a look at the history of China, the Mongolians led by Genghis Khan had conquered a substantial part of China and subsequently Kublai Khan was the Mongolian emperor that established the Yuan dynasty and ruled China for almost 100 years. While the Mongolians were then defeated by the original Han people and the new dynasty of Ming was ruling the country for another 276 years before Manchurian Qing dynasty came into existence for another 270 years.The Mongolians and Manchurians were non-Han Chinese and they actually have their own languages and writings which exist even until today. They however had adopted the rich culture of the Chinese and its language as a medium to rule and administer the country. Inter-marriages and integration over the many hundred of years had blurred the identities of these people of different races and ethnic origins. So much so that now it is hard to tell whether there is any Monglian or Manchurian blood in me or any other Chinese!
Many had travelled to Beijing of China and witnessed Great Wall as an awesone and one of the greatest wonders of the world. One could even see the wall structure dotting the earth surface from the moon or from photos sent back via satellites. The Great Wall was built with the purpose to defend its territory especially in the northern region from the constant attacks and invasion from the tribes that lived along its wide boundaries of its border. It is almost unthinkable if not hard to imagine how these Mongolians and Manchurians, who were just nomadic tribes on horses living in the arid, half desert infertile pasture lands of the north could break through this gigantic, tall and strong wall barrier and conquer a land of that size inhabited with more advanced civilization. It is equally puzzling for me trying to understand how Israel as an isolated little country surrounded by the Arab nations could ever win the 1948 Independent war and the 6 days war in 1967. People said history repeats itself and it did in all other parts of the world but just in different forms and ways! History seems to be governed by a hidden hand at work! We could only witness, and wonder why it happened that way which very often we found it beyond our human understanding!
The rise and fall of a nation or empire is always the norm in the course of time. We used to have the Great Britain empire that colonized the Commonwealth countries and now we are living in an era where America continues to lead in this new world order after the Cold War. We would not know when the turn of events will take place that a nation would be toppled or weakened and makes way for new upcoming stronger nation or nations block that would eventually take over the helm.
If you are historian, it would not surprise you that Japan as a super-power in 1940s started its expansive ambition to conquer this part of the world, the event unfold itself seems to conform to the pattern of historical norm. It is just part and parcel of the phenomenon of "rise and fall of empires" in the process of forming part of our world history. But in this case, we called that aggression instead! Think of it from a different perspective if that could make you feel better; imagine if Japanese were ever able to successfully conquer China and rule them for 100 years or so, by adopting the Chinese culture and language and be wholesomely integrated as one nation as what the Mongolians and Manchurians had done, then we would have a "Jap" dynasty in China instead. If history ever repeated itself in this manner, then perhaps we could not even differentiate ourselves whether we are the Chinese or Japanese in our blood! So what is the difference between aggression and integration?
It seems to me that it could only be one side of the coin, either it is an aggression or an integration and there is no in between. When it is regarded as an aggression, hatred follows and conflicts, massacres, rapes or comfort women etc. would always be the topics that we read in the newspaper over and over again even many years after the war was over.
Taking the world history as a valuable lesson perhaps we Malaysians could learn to adopt the more intergrative approach of nation building. Using one common language, encouraging inter-marriages without imposing constraints or restriction of religions etc. In this way, could we build a better and more integrative 1Malaysia?
Many had travelled to Beijing of China and witnessed Great Wall as an awesone and one of the greatest wonders of the world. One could even see the wall structure dotting the earth surface from the moon or from photos sent back via satellites. The Great Wall was built with the purpose to defend its territory especially in the northern region from the constant attacks and invasion from the tribes that lived along its wide boundaries of its border. It is almost unthinkable if not hard to imagine how these Mongolians and Manchurians, who were just nomadic tribes on horses living in the arid, half desert infertile pasture lands of the north could break through this gigantic, tall and strong wall barrier and conquer a land of that size inhabited with more advanced civilization. It is equally puzzling for me trying to understand how Israel as an isolated little country surrounded by the Arab nations could ever win the 1948 Independent war and the 6 days war in 1967. People said history repeats itself and it did in all other parts of the world but just in different forms and ways! History seems to be governed by a hidden hand at work! We could only witness, and wonder why it happened that way which very often we found it beyond our human understanding!
The rise and fall of a nation or empire is always the norm in the course of time. We used to have the Great Britain empire that colonized the Commonwealth countries and now we are living in an era where America continues to lead in this new world order after the Cold War. We would not know when the turn of events will take place that a nation would be toppled or weakened and makes way for new upcoming stronger nation or nations block that would eventually take over the helm.
If you are historian, it would not surprise you that Japan as a super-power in 1940s started its expansive ambition to conquer this part of the world, the event unfold itself seems to conform to the pattern of historical norm. It is just part and parcel of the phenomenon of "rise and fall of empires" in the process of forming part of our world history. But in this case, we called that aggression instead! Think of it from a different perspective if that could make you feel better; imagine if Japanese were ever able to successfully conquer China and rule them for 100 years or so, by adopting the Chinese culture and language and be wholesomely integrated as one nation as what the Mongolians and Manchurians had done, then we would have a "Jap" dynasty in China instead. If history ever repeated itself in this manner, then perhaps we could not even differentiate ourselves whether we are the Chinese or Japanese in our blood! So what is the difference between aggression and integration?
It seems to me that it could only be one side of the coin, either it is an aggression or an integration and there is no in between. When it is regarded as an aggression, hatred follows and conflicts, massacres, rapes or comfort women etc. would always be the topics that we read in the newspaper over and over again even many years after the war was over.
Taking the world history as a valuable lesson perhaps we Malaysians could learn to adopt the more intergrative approach of nation building. Using one common language, encouraging inter-marriages without imposing constraints or restriction of religions etc. In this way, could we build a better and more integrative 1Malaysia?
Sunday, July 11, 2010
By the rivers of Babylon
As Booney M started to sing " By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down and wept when we remembered the Zion. For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song. How can we sing the songs of the Lord in a strange land?..... Let the words of our mouths and the meditation of our hearts be pleasing in your sight..."
The rivers of Babylon probably refer to the Euphrates and its tributaries and the Chebar river! The Jewish people was in exile when Jerusalem was conquered by Babylonian circa 586 BC. The verses were taken from Psalm 137 and Psalm 19:14. It expresses the yearning for returning home and sadness of being in exile or captivity in a foreign land! Zion metaphorically is a home where we were born and raised! This feeling of displaced and deserted happens everywhere and we all just wanna go home to where we belong!
Civil wars broke the homes of many and families were separated and they never had a chance to meet each other again. When the red army of communism took control of China, Germany, Korea, Vietnam etc., this scene of physical displacement and weeping by the river of Babylon repeated in many parts of the world. The Kuomintang party led by President Jiang Kai Shek fled China to Taiwan and he brought along many of his followers, generals and soldiers from all over the provinces of China after his defeat in the civil war. While I was in Taiwan 20 over years ago, it was a pitiful sight to see many of the old and lonely soldiers spending the rest of their lives in this little island of Taiwan, separated by the strait of Taiwan overlooking the land once they used to call home, never be able to see their families and friends again! The same sad stories happened in North and South Korea, East and West Germany, Palestine, Eastern Europe and also those who fled and escaped to countries of democracy and found new freedom!
At home here in Malaysia, during the time when communism was still a threat to the nation, many of our elderly folks were prohibited to visit their families and relatives in mainland China. The differences in idealogy and political systems had cut off all forms of physical contact and communication other than occasional mails and letters exchange which took weeks to reach the other side of the mysterious communist world. That was the only means to get updated on the latest condition of our relatives living over there. Many did not live to see their brothers and sisters, wives and friends; their last departure from home village was also the final bidding goodbye to them forever!
I happened to have a chance to visit my grandpa's village in China about 2 years ago and the folks informed me that after the batch of immigrants left the village since at least 80 years ago, no one ever returned, I was the first related person went back to the village!
To many that belong to the later generations like me, the land of our ancestors left us no or little impression simply because we are all born and raised here, Malaysia is the only place we call home. Living in this modern world, we always have a chance to be more mobile than before. Equipped with an international passport and visa, we could work away from our home country for years to experience that feel of "By the rivers of Babylon..." though we always have the assurance that we could return home!
From my past expereince, I could withstand to leave Malaysia just for a period of about 2 years, and then the feeling of home sick will be getting stronger each day. As we get older, the yearning for our home town or village also becomes a more intense force than ever. Dwelling in a big city like Kuala Lumpur at times, is like "River of Babylon" to me in another form!
The capturing and the sending to exile for the Jews were probably the consequence of their disobedience to God. God knows the nature of man, it is more painful to banish one from returning home as a form of punishment than just to take his life away. We therefore need to constantly examine our hearts, our minds and words, so that we could be sanctified and holy before Him, and be pleasing to the eyes of the Al-mighty in whatever we act and do!
May God always bless us and keep us close at home with our love ones.
The rivers of Babylon probably refer to the Euphrates and its tributaries and the Chebar river! The Jewish people was in exile when Jerusalem was conquered by Babylonian circa 586 BC. The verses were taken from Psalm 137 and Psalm 19:14. It expresses the yearning for returning home and sadness of being in exile or captivity in a foreign land! Zion metaphorically is a home where we were born and raised! This feeling of displaced and deserted happens everywhere and we all just wanna go home to where we belong!
Civil wars broke the homes of many and families were separated and they never had a chance to meet each other again. When the red army of communism took control of China, Germany, Korea, Vietnam etc., this scene of physical displacement and weeping by the river of Babylon repeated in many parts of the world. The Kuomintang party led by President Jiang Kai Shek fled China to Taiwan and he brought along many of his followers, generals and soldiers from all over the provinces of China after his defeat in the civil war. While I was in Taiwan 20 over years ago, it was a pitiful sight to see many of the old and lonely soldiers spending the rest of their lives in this little island of Taiwan, separated by the strait of Taiwan overlooking the land once they used to call home, never be able to see their families and friends again! The same sad stories happened in North and South Korea, East and West Germany, Palestine, Eastern Europe and also those who fled and escaped to countries of democracy and found new freedom!
At home here in Malaysia, during the time when communism was still a threat to the nation, many of our elderly folks were prohibited to visit their families and relatives in mainland China. The differences in idealogy and political systems had cut off all forms of physical contact and communication other than occasional mails and letters exchange which took weeks to reach the other side of the mysterious communist world. That was the only means to get updated on the latest condition of our relatives living over there. Many did not live to see their brothers and sisters, wives and friends; their last departure from home village was also the final bidding goodbye to them forever!
I happened to have a chance to visit my grandpa's village in China about 2 years ago and the folks informed me that after the batch of immigrants left the village since at least 80 years ago, no one ever returned, I was the first related person went back to the village!
To many that belong to the later generations like me, the land of our ancestors left us no or little impression simply because we are all born and raised here, Malaysia is the only place we call home. Living in this modern world, we always have a chance to be more mobile than before. Equipped with an international passport and visa, we could work away from our home country for years to experience that feel of "By the rivers of Babylon..." though we always have the assurance that we could return home!
From my past expereince, I could withstand to leave Malaysia just for a period of about 2 years, and then the feeling of home sick will be getting stronger each day. As we get older, the yearning for our home town or village also becomes a more intense force than ever. Dwelling in a big city like Kuala Lumpur at times, is like "River of Babylon" to me in another form!
The capturing and the sending to exile for the Jews were probably the consequence of their disobedience to God. God knows the nature of man, it is more painful to banish one from returning home as a form of punishment than just to take his life away. We therefore need to constantly examine our hearts, our minds and words, so that we could be sanctified and holy before Him, and be pleasing to the eyes of the Al-mighty in whatever we act and do!
May God always bless us and keep us close at home with our love ones.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
The law of conservation of wealth
We read many theories on laws of conservation, such as laws of conservation of momentum, mass or energy etc. I would say there should be a law of conservation of wealth as well. Before this is rigorously proven, it would remain very much a hypothesis of its own. Hear me out on what I mean and its implication to Malaysia:
In a country if there is no natural resources and also no positive balance of trade, the only available wealth within the land would always remain a constant. Naturally in this way, whatever wealth gained by one family or one group would be at the expense of the other remaining groups or families. On the other hand, if this nation has oil, timber and industries that export goods in big quantities, which draw in revenue from abroad, and the amount of which is more than sufficient to offset whatever to be imported, then this extra portion from outside would be the added wealth to be distributed to the people, even though it might not be shared in equal proportions. A nation of the first nature would be more suited to have a economic or political system such as socialist or communism in place to run the administration of it so that every one of its citizens gets its fair share to sustain their livelihood. While the second kind, would be typically a capitalist state whereby most of the countries in this world had adopted this particular model, inclusive of Malaysia.
The world has changed so much and every country is aspiring to become a developed nation. Whether this could be achieved or not, is very much dependent on the people and also the leaders they elected to lead them to the right direction. If everyone in a country works hard and emulates the good models of the developed nations under the guidance of good and prudent leadership, with some fine tuning and adjustment, taking into consideration the diversity and differences of respective local environment and conditions, it is just a matter of time that these countries will progress themselves and be categorized under developed nations. While aiming to achieve this, we in general very much forget the law of conservation of wealth still applies in all situations. The wealth gained by one nation, it must be at the expense of other nations! There is no such thing as every nation in the world will gain enough wealth and be in the league of developed nations! To make it simple, this could be likened to the case of everyone wanted to become the boss and no one to become employees.
China has emerged to become a super economic power recently, probably at the expense of huge trade deficit with the US, to some extent at the expense of Malaysians losing many jobs when FDI pulled out by MNCs to move their production facilities to cheaper China, etc. It would come to a point where every nation in the world is scratching their head as to how strategies could be adopted to be more effective in generating more wealth. For example drawing up more aggressive migration policies causing brain drain which attracts the best minds into the country or creating regional situation and taking side to enable more supply of advanced weapon or fire arms to conflicting parties facing threat, and hostility etc. It is not a surprise to reason out why everyone is eyeing on oil fields and why different nations are in constant conflicts under the pretext of allies belonging to different politically aligned blocks. To safeguard their sovereignty, they decide to amass more powerful and advanced weapon as their priority. They have foregone other nation building activities and spending which could be beneficial and doing more good to their own people. Such sales of weapon would easily help to wipe clean a huge portion from the trade deficit account that is being accumulated over the years.
Some countries are willing to allow their citizens to work under adverse and harsh condition or sweat shop environment in an effort trying to gain a head start in gathering more wealth. In doing so, it triggers the protest from human rights activist groups that demand their working condition to be improved to a level in par with the advanced nations. There is a constant tussle over this human right issue, in the process of rounds and rounds of negotiation, more time is bought and the working condition is gradually improved hand in hand with their wealth condition! What a smart move to tackle whatever hidden agendas!
China with its huge 1.3 billions population has gathered enough wealth over the past decade, coupled with its strict capital control policy to cap its outflow of foreign exchange would very much remain a self-sustaining economy by virtue of its huge domestic market. On the other hand, small population nations like Malaysia must compete with all the up-rising neigboring countries in order to move itself away from the pack and grab whatever remaining, after countries such as China, India or even Brazil had taken a big chunk from the "constant wealth" cake of this world. With the gradual drying up of oil wells, and the depletion of other un-replenishable natural resources, all Malaysians have to work together in the face of ever increasing world competition to achieve our vision 2020. Note that we are competing as a nation against the rest of the world and not amongst ourselves, for the cake is out there and not within us anymore!
The law of conservation of wealth will continue to apply and nations that are left out of the race could go bankrupt is not a myth, this would be a common happening of cruel reality for us all to witness very soon in the future!
In a country if there is no natural resources and also no positive balance of trade, the only available wealth within the land would always remain a constant. Naturally in this way, whatever wealth gained by one family or one group would be at the expense of the other remaining groups or families. On the other hand, if this nation has oil, timber and industries that export goods in big quantities, which draw in revenue from abroad, and the amount of which is more than sufficient to offset whatever to be imported, then this extra portion from outside would be the added wealth to be distributed to the people, even though it might not be shared in equal proportions. A nation of the first nature would be more suited to have a economic or political system such as socialist or communism in place to run the administration of it so that every one of its citizens gets its fair share to sustain their livelihood. While the second kind, would be typically a capitalist state whereby most of the countries in this world had adopted this particular model, inclusive of Malaysia.
The world has changed so much and every country is aspiring to become a developed nation. Whether this could be achieved or not, is very much dependent on the people and also the leaders they elected to lead them to the right direction. If everyone in a country works hard and emulates the good models of the developed nations under the guidance of good and prudent leadership, with some fine tuning and adjustment, taking into consideration the diversity and differences of respective local environment and conditions, it is just a matter of time that these countries will progress themselves and be categorized under developed nations. While aiming to achieve this, we in general very much forget the law of conservation of wealth still applies in all situations. The wealth gained by one nation, it must be at the expense of other nations! There is no such thing as every nation in the world will gain enough wealth and be in the league of developed nations! To make it simple, this could be likened to the case of everyone wanted to become the boss and no one to become employees.
China has emerged to become a super economic power recently, probably at the expense of huge trade deficit with the US, to some extent at the expense of Malaysians losing many jobs when FDI pulled out by MNCs to move their production facilities to cheaper China, etc. It would come to a point where every nation in the world is scratching their head as to how strategies could be adopted to be more effective in generating more wealth. For example drawing up more aggressive migration policies causing brain drain which attracts the best minds into the country or creating regional situation and taking side to enable more supply of advanced weapon or fire arms to conflicting parties facing threat, and hostility etc. It is not a surprise to reason out why everyone is eyeing on oil fields and why different nations are in constant conflicts under the pretext of allies belonging to different politically aligned blocks. To safeguard their sovereignty, they decide to amass more powerful and advanced weapon as their priority. They have foregone other nation building activities and spending which could be beneficial and doing more good to their own people. Such sales of weapon would easily help to wipe clean a huge portion from the trade deficit account that is being accumulated over the years.
Some countries are willing to allow their citizens to work under adverse and harsh condition or sweat shop environment in an effort trying to gain a head start in gathering more wealth. In doing so, it triggers the protest from human rights activist groups that demand their working condition to be improved to a level in par with the advanced nations. There is a constant tussle over this human right issue, in the process of rounds and rounds of negotiation, more time is bought and the working condition is gradually improved hand in hand with their wealth condition! What a smart move to tackle whatever hidden agendas!
China with its huge 1.3 billions population has gathered enough wealth over the past decade, coupled with its strict capital control policy to cap its outflow of foreign exchange would very much remain a self-sustaining economy by virtue of its huge domestic market. On the other hand, small population nations like Malaysia must compete with all the up-rising neigboring countries in order to move itself away from the pack and grab whatever remaining, after countries such as China, India or even Brazil had taken a big chunk from the "constant wealth" cake of this world. With the gradual drying up of oil wells, and the depletion of other un-replenishable natural resources, all Malaysians have to work together in the face of ever increasing world competition to achieve our vision 2020. Note that we are competing as a nation against the rest of the world and not amongst ourselves, for the cake is out there and not within us anymore!
The law of conservation of wealth will continue to apply and nations that are left out of the race could go bankrupt is not a myth, this would be a common happening of cruel reality for us all to witness very soon in the future!
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Credit cards
I was first introduced to the idea of credit card in early 80s when my boss Mr. Wong Sow Fee handed me the application form. I told him that my income then might not have qualified me for getting one and he replied: " No worry, it can be done!" That was how I got my first ever American Express card!
The credit card serves its purpose where one could spend future money and given a grace period to wait for your salary to be deposited in and settle the bills later. If you do not mind the exorbitant compounding interest equivalent to 18% per annum, you could also opt to pay by instalments. What a useful and convenient plastic card for young engineer like me who needed this badly to smoothen up my cash flow then!
One day I was settling the bill late and the payment was sent by check via post but yet to be received by the card center. I was planning on my way to the East Coast for a "Cuti Cuti Malaysia" holiday trip with my wife and that coincided with the date the Amex card was due for renewal. I went to the card center to appeal and a young lady talked to me and she left me sitting and stranded on a cold chair, and that was the kind of arrogance you could expect from this particular card center! From that incident, I took my latest pay check for the month and settled all outstanding amount and kissed goodbye to American Express!
During my working career with HP and each section head was entitled a company American Express card but I declined to own one. Since the last decade or so, the credit cards war amongst the banks is in full swing and everywhere you go people is begging you to take on their credit cards. American Express re-appeared and entered the Malaysian market more aggressively through some banks at that warring period and as expected one of the sales persons approached me! I briefly related her the old story and just so sorry that there will be no more American Express card for me !
It is important lesson to learn how arrogance had left a tainted impression on a brand name to the consumers and how certain organizations employed "short-sighted" employees to handle customers in such unprofessional manner that eventually lost the customer forever!
Before long after giving up my Amex, Visa and Master cards came and they swept the entire market in Malaysia and Amex was a name long forgotton by many. I am now the proud owner of both Visa and Master cards from Citibank and Maybank. Credit cards are useful especially during time of emergency like hospitalization where the medical treatment bill is very expensive and sometimes one needs to swipe a few cards to its limit in order to cover the expenses. I was financially in dire strait during the time my mom and father-in-law both were critically ill and needed medical attention at the same period simultaneously. The credit limits of my credit cards were almost full every month and life was indeed an agony!
As my earning income gathered strength at later stage especially when I was posted overseas, my credit cards are hardly used and we pay cash most of the time for almost all our spending. The credit feature of credit card to me though is convenient but on the other hand is also a trap for undisciplined young people. It will nurture them to an undesirable spending habit while they still do not have the capability to earn enough for that kind of life-style. My principle of using credit card now is, if possible limit credit card to emergency usage only or those payments that could earn you points or discounts. And also have your credit limit set as low as practically possible so that you will be reminded when to cut-down your spending once the limit is reached and the alarm is thus raised to your attention.
When Aeon credit card was first promoted by Jusco, a favorite shopping place for my wife where double points are to be rewarded to cardholders. I thought it was not a bad idea to own one of their card for my wife. I presented my overseas earning credential and surprisingly the credit evaluator disqualified me! Did not know on what ground they rejected the application but I was thinking and laughing to myself, if I am not qualified, perhaps at least 50% of Malaysians will not be entitled! Again they approached me a few months later, and I told them : "Good luck, Aeon card!"
The credit card serves its purpose where one could spend future money and given a grace period to wait for your salary to be deposited in and settle the bills later. If you do not mind the exorbitant compounding interest equivalent to 18% per annum, you could also opt to pay by instalments. What a useful and convenient plastic card for young engineer like me who needed this badly to smoothen up my cash flow then!
One day I was settling the bill late and the payment was sent by check via post but yet to be received by the card center. I was planning on my way to the East Coast for a "Cuti Cuti Malaysia" holiday trip with my wife and that coincided with the date the Amex card was due for renewal. I went to the card center to appeal and a young lady talked to me and she left me sitting and stranded on a cold chair, and that was the kind of arrogance you could expect from this particular card center! From that incident, I took my latest pay check for the month and settled all outstanding amount and kissed goodbye to American Express!
During my working career with HP and each section head was entitled a company American Express card but I declined to own one. Since the last decade or so, the credit cards war amongst the banks is in full swing and everywhere you go people is begging you to take on their credit cards. American Express re-appeared and entered the Malaysian market more aggressively through some banks at that warring period and as expected one of the sales persons approached me! I briefly related her the old story and just so sorry that there will be no more American Express card for me !
It is important lesson to learn how arrogance had left a tainted impression on a brand name to the consumers and how certain organizations employed "short-sighted" employees to handle customers in such unprofessional manner that eventually lost the customer forever!
Before long after giving up my Amex, Visa and Master cards came and they swept the entire market in Malaysia and Amex was a name long forgotton by many. I am now the proud owner of both Visa and Master cards from Citibank and Maybank. Credit cards are useful especially during time of emergency like hospitalization where the medical treatment bill is very expensive and sometimes one needs to swipe a few cards to its limit in order to cover the expenses. I was financially in dire strait during the time my mom and father-in-law both were critically ill and needed medical attention at the same period simultaneously. The credit limits of my credit cards were almost full every month and life was indeed an agony!
As my earning income gathered strength at later stage especially when I was posted overseas, my credit cards are hardly used and we pay cash most of the time for almost all our spending. The credit feature of credit card to me though is convenient but on the other hand is also a trap for undisciplined young people. It will nurture them to an undesirable spending habit while they still do not have the capability to earn enough for that kind of life-style. My principle of using credit card now is, if possible limit credit card to emergency usage only or those payments that could earn you points or discounts. And also have your credit limit set as low as practically possible so that you will be reminded when to cut-down your spending once the limit is reached and the alarm is thus raised to your attention.
When Aeon credit card was first promoted by Jusco, a favorite shopping place for my wife where double points are to be rewarded to cardholders. I thought it was not a bad idea to own one of their card for my wife. I presented my overseas earning credential and surprisingly the credit evaluator disqualified me! Did not know on what ground they rejected the application but I was thinking and laughing to myself, if I am not qualified, perhaps at least 50% of Malaysians will not be entitled! Again they approached me a few months later, and I told them : "Good luck, Aeon card!"
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Everything has its season and time
One of my friends commented that " Your religion taught you heaven is a better place for you, why are you scared of death? " and another friend responded saying that " Perhaps he is not ready yet! ".
Truthfully speaking, whether we are scared of death, be it ready or not ready, it is not for us humans to say! "There is a time to be born, a time to die, a time to sow and a time to harvest, a time to love and to hate, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time for war and a time for peace!" - Ecclesiastes 3:2
In life we always have many roles to play, slowly we realize that by far the greatest and the most important role that we play and spend the most time of our lives as ordinary people is to be parents and raise our children. Come to think of it, most if not all parents toil and sacrifice their lives just for the sake of their children!
When we play our parental role, we shoulder the responsibility to do our best for them, our beloved children. We work and earn money to cater for their needs and education, spend our time with them to give them warmth, love, care and the sense of security of being in a family. And we refrain from all kinds of risks as part of our responsibility to safeguard our stay on this earth could be long enough for us to discharge that responsibility fully as intended. We even exercise to keep ourselves physically fit and in good shape to achieve the same purpose and also to lessen the probability of becoming a liability to them as we get older. Despite of all we could have done, there is always a timing for everything, which only God will decide!
There is also a timing for our children to understand the unconditional parental love for them; perhaps not now, only the right timing, the days will come when they become parents themselves!
Even though we might eventually fall short of the threshold mentioned in 2 Timothy 4:7 - " I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race and I have kept the faith!", we are still proud to tell the world that we had fully discharged our duty as parents!
May our heavenly Father watch over all parents as we watch over our children! Amen!
Truthfully speaking, whether we are scared of death, be it ready or not ready, it is not for us humans to say! "There is a time to be born, a time to die, a time to sow and a time to harvest, a time to love and to hate, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time for war and a time for peace!" - Ecclesiastes 3:2
In life we always have many roles to play, slowly we realize that by far the greatest and the most important role that we play and spend the most time of our lives as ordinary people is to be parents and raise our children. Come to think of it, most if not all parents toil and sacrifice their lives just for the sake of their children!
When we play our parental role, we shoulder the responsibility to do our best for them, our beloved children. We work and earn money to cater for their needs and education, spend our time with them to give them warmth, love, care and the sense of security of being in a family. And we refrain from all kinds of risks as part of our responsibility to safeguard our stay on this earth could be long enough for us to discharge that responsibility fully as intended. We even exercise to keep ourselves physically fit and in good shape to achieve the same purpose and also to lessen the probability of becoming a liability to them as we get older. Despite of all we could have done, there is always a timing for everything, which only God will decide!
There is also a timing for our children to understand the unconditional parental love for them; perhaps not now, only the right timing, the days will come when they become parents themselves!
Even though we might eventually fall short of the threshold mentioned in 2 Timothy 4:7 - " I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race and I have kept the faith!", we are still proud to tell the world that we had fully discharged our duty as parents!
May our heavenly Father watch over all parents as we watch over our children! Amen!
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Seeing old friends in Singapore
I am just writing this to record a trip which is not unusual but rather rare for me because it was a trip done a long time since I last visited Singapore other than just transits in the Changi airport. The currency exchange rate is so high and goods sold with GST imposed do not appeal to me and my family that we could find any good reason to visit. Going down south to visit Singapore this time for me was solely to meet up with good old friends, we value friendship that transcends time and distance than anything else.
It was supposed to be a trip to accompany friends who had earlier participated, and to review the recent Gonga mountain trekking in Sichuan China and also the cycling expedition around the Qinghai lake. I did not take part in this trip though I joined them for the previous Jiuzhaigou adventure which I had shared some of the photos in my blog. There were friends gathered around potluck dinner table and later presented their videos and photos taken during this particular trip to China! It was interesting to note how they enjoyed the activities and all the beautiful scenery of the places they visited.
In view of the limited time of the trip, we had arranged to meet in the same everning Chai Lee Fung and Lee Kok Meng both of them are my sixth form classmates from St Michael Institution Ipoh. Kok Meng's family owns the famous "fairy" brand soya sauce Kwong Heng factory in Bidor. He told me about his heart by-pass operation and his wife's ordeal with the much dreaded cancer disease. Thanks to the Singapore compulsory medical care insurance and the competent doctors there, both he and his wife are completely healed now. He had chosen to become Singaporean and I asked him the reasons why? He told me the low crime rate of living in Singapore that gives him the sense of security and also the advanced medical treatment and facility in the island that offer better assurance for him and his family were the main reasons. He sold off his IT business company and takes life easy and told me life now is not just about career and making money! I agree with him on this aspect about life but not entirely on his giving up of his Malaysian citizenship!
The next day I went around the city that reminded me again on some of the familiar street names many years ago such as South Bridge road, Bras Basah, Havelock, Clementi, Thompson etc. My favorite visiting place in the late 70s then was along Orchard road where there were a lot of shopping complexes. I still remember it was spectacular to visit Orchard road during Christmas season where the lighting decoration of shopping malls and carol singing were the main attraction!
In the afternoon, visited another old friend Mr.Wong Peng and family, who was my next door neighbor back in the village. I used to live in his rented home while I first went down to Singapore. We did not see each other for quite a while especially after his dad passed away. Before that he and his brother Wong Kam used to bring their families back to the village for the Chinese New Year. It was a getting together of good old childhood friends at a time that we all had our hairs turned grey over the past decade or so. Time just flies and it was as though our faces and physical bodies simply turned uncles overnight! He mentioned about deteriorating health and I could only advise him nothing more than exercise more frequently. Anyway, aging is an inevitable process and we could only attempt to slow it down and that is all we could do if we choose to exercise and have a healthier life style! It is good to see that all his children have grown up and started working through the years.
Despite my absence of so many years from the island, Singapore is still very much a strange place to me in all aspects and it could hardly stir up much of my interest. I just could not imagine how I could ever get used to the life in Singapore if my son one day ever chooses to work there. My wife would most probably be following him to reside in this neigboring country. It might end up every weekend I have to cross the causeway even just to breathe the Malaysian air!
It was supposed to be a trip to accompany friends who had earlier participated, and to review the recent Gonga mountain trekking in Sichuan China and also the cycling expedition around the Qinghai lake. I did not take part in this trip though I joined them for the previous Jiuzhaigou adventure which I had shared some of the photos in my blog. There were friends gathered around potluck dinner table and later presented their videos and photos taken during this particular trip to China! It was interesting to note how they enjoyed the activities and all the beautiful scenery of the places they visited.
In view of the limited time of the trip, we had arranged to meet in the same everning Chai Lee Fung and Lee Kok Meng both of them are my sixth form classmates from St Michael Institution Ipoh. Kok Meng's family owns the famous "fairy" brand soya sauce Kwong Heng factory in Bidor. He told me about his heart by-pass operation and his wife's ordeal with the much dreaded cancer disease. Thanks to the Singapore compulsory medical care insurance and the competent doctors there, both he and his wife are completely healed now. He had chosen to become Singaporean and I asked him the reasons why? He told me the low crime rate of living in Singapore that gives him the sense of security and also the advanced medical treatment and facility in the island that offer better assurance for him and his family were the main reasons. He sold off his IT business company and takes life easy and told me life now is not just about career and making money! I agree with him on this aspect about life but not entirely on his giving up of his Malaysian citizenship!
The next day I went around the city that reminded me again on some of the familiar street names many years ago such as South Bridge road, Bras Basah, Havelock, Clementi, Thompson etc. My favorite visiting place in the late 70s then was along Orchard road where there were a lot of shopping complexes. I still remember it was spectacular to visit Orchard road during Christmas season where the lighting decoration of shopping malls and carol singing were the main attraction!
In the afternoon, visited another old friend Mr.Wong Peng and family, who was my next door neighbor back in the village. I used to live in his rented home while I first went down to Singapore. We did not see each other for quite a while especially after his dad passed away. Before that he and his brother Wong Kam used to bring their families back to the village for the Chinese New Year. It was a getting together of good old childhood friends at a time that we all had our hairs turned grey over the past decade or so. Time just flies and it was as though our faces and physical bodies simply turned uncles overnight! He mentioned about deteriorating health and I could only advise him nothing more than exercise more frequently. Anyway, aging is an inevitable process and we could only attempt to slow it down and that is all we could do if we choose to exercise and have a healthier life style! It is good to see that all his children have grown up and started working through the years.
Despite my absence of so many years from the island, Singapore is still very much a strange place to me in all aspects and it could hardly stir up much of my interest. I just could not imagine how I could ever get used to the life in Singapore if my son one day ever chooses to work there. My wife would most probably be following him to reside in this neigboring country. It might end up every weekend I have to cross the causeway even just to breathe the Malaysian air!
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