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!
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
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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