SOMEWHERE IN THE MIDDLE OF ME AND I

Getting rich together?

2011-12-12T19:06:00.000-08:00

I recently had a debate with my housemate about a statement we saw on Astro. It was a short preview of a documentary which is being aired on the Bio channel on Astro. It was a documentary about Chairman Mao and one of the things was quoted saying a long time ago was "Let's get rich together!". I reckon it was one of the things that sparked the revolution in China.

I shared with my housemate that, the idea of 1 billion people getting rich together was rather impossible and had China succeeded in achieving that goal, the world economy could very well be in jeopardy. Why do I say so? In my opinion, for everyone to live in peace and harmony, there has to be a balance between rich and poor just as there are day and night, left and right as well as long and short. It's all about balance, yin and yang.

Say one day, everyone becomes rich and has a million dollars each. Would anyone want to work hard to make more? I doubt so because when everyone has enough to get by, nobody will have the will and determination to strive and work hard anymore. The services (no matter how big or small) we depend on in our daily lives will come to a standstill and even the providers of such services, such as buses, taxis, food stall operators, cleaners, security guards, nannies and care providers, policemen, fire-fighters would be sitting at home expecting someone else to do their job and provide essential services to them instead.

Furthermore, if everyone in the world became rich and had a million each, I wonder how much money would need to be printed to accommodate such a sudden influx of riches. The more 'millionaires' there are, the higher the demands would be for premium goods and when this happens, every producer in the market would be scrambling to produce goods to cater for this market. When this happens, automatically the price of everything in the market would have to be adjusted upwards because nobody will be eyeing low cost, generic or brandless products anymore. If everyone had a million each, I wonder how much a million would be worth then. It would probably be like Indonesia where a million rupiah is worth USD111. That is probably one of the countries where everyone is a millionaire. The question is, are you considered rich with a million there?

Producers would then have to find other third world (reads: poorer) nations to dump their products. This would become a problem in terms of product pricing after deducting logistics and handling costs to export these products. But when everyone is rich, where do we find poorer nations to dump cheap products in?

When producers are not able to dump their cheap products, there would be a new problem of consumers being ripped off with low cost products being passed off as luxury or premium products.

Thus, in my opinion, a world where everyone can become rich in the sense of dollars and cents is merely an ideal situation propagated by politicians and leaders to give hope to their people in order to encourage and motivate them to work harder and dream bigger dreams. I am reminded of the analogy of the farmer who uses a carrot tied to a string in front of his donkey to 'motivate' his donkey to keep on walking ahead and pull his wagon along. To be entitled to the carrot, the donkey must put in the effort and time to pull the farmer and his wagon along to the market. Tomorrow he must put in the same effort to be entitled to the carrot again and as long as the farmer does his part in planting seeds to grow carrots and the donkey puts in the effort to pull the produce to the market, can he have carrots to eat everyday.

It is the same for us human beings. We may be motivated by 'carrots' that are being offered as we progress through life but we must first put in the effort, time and another crucial element, intelligence to be entitled to the carrots we see dangling in front of our faces. We must always remind ourselves that the gap in wealth between the rich and poor and all the people in between is there for a reason because if everyone is rich and wealthy then there will be a gross imbalance in the economy and grave consequences may result from it. The gap between the rich and poor is also there to remind us constantly that if we are poor, we have to work harder, invest more time and money or increase our knowledge so that we can put in more effort so that we too can become rich.

There is no such thing as reaping rewards before putting in the effort. I read somewhere that, for one to receive something without working for it, another person would have to work for without receiving. Wouldn't that be unfair? If you were that person who had to work for without receiving, would you be mad about it? I'm sure you would, just as I would too. The message I want to convey in this post is, don't be that person who always expect to receive in life without first putting in the time and effort to achieve something. There is no such thing as something for nothing as well as everyone in the world getting rich together.

That would be something to ponder about.

Convocation Experience.. yet again!

2011-12-06T01:49:00.000-08:00

I reluctantly dragged myself out of bed in the wee hours of Sunday morning because I had to work. It was 4:30am in the morning and I could think of a thousand other things I'd rather be doing at that hour, in that day for the matter. Nevertheless, I got showered, put on a nice expensive shirt and a silk tie and drove myself to the JW Marriots Hotel KL. The college i'm attached to was having their 15th convocation ceremony and like everyone else in the team, I had a role to play in ensuring that the convocation ceremony went along smoothly. Being the newcomer (about 1 year on the job), I was given quite a minimal role to play in ensuring that all the lecturers who was attending (as VIPs) had their academic robes on for the 'grand' march into the ballroom at the start of the graduation ceremony.

The last convocation I had attended was during my own graduation slightly more than a year ago when I went on stage to receive my Masters cert from Professor Wilson from the University of Hertfordshire at a convocation held in the Nilai Springs Golf Resort in N9.

Never would I imagine that, a year later I would attend someone else's convocation as an academician and march into the ballroom on the red carpet to the boisterous cheers and thunderous claps of hundreds of graduates adorned in their graduation robes and mortarboards! The ceremony was graced by the guest-of-honour, Mr. Mike Cogger, the Associate Pro-Vice Chancellor and Dean of Faculty of the University of Gloucestershire, Datin Irene Gan and family, the owners of the Reliance Pacific Group of Companies as well as the Reliance College (which I am attached to)

Above is a picture of me (in the middle) flanked by 2 other lecturers, Mr Alex Chang to my left and Ms Teresa Lo to my right. The ceremony which started at around 8:30am lasted till around 11:30am. The guests then adjourned to the foyer to be treated to a luxurious buffet spread.

Here are my 2 cents on graduating. Imagine a marathon where a few hundred runners are participating. They all line up at the starting line and when the pistol goes off signalling the start of the race, every runner races forward with much enthusiasm and vigor. Halfway through the race, only half the runners who had eagerly started earlier are still running. Three quarters through the race only bout 25% of them are still running and towards the finish line, maybe only 5-10% are still running. At the end, there are only 3 shiny medals that really matters, a gold for the runner that finishes the race in 1st place, a silver for second and a bronze medal for third place. Everyone can start a race but it takes one that has the same determination and perseverance as when he/she started off will be the ones who will complete it.

In my life's journey, I have observed this. 95% of people quit what they started out doing due to lack of determination. Another 4% soldier on despite the odd and obstacles they face and another 1% actually finish as winners. I believe that, this 1% are winners because they envision themselves as winners even before the race began and manifested this vision throughout their journey (or race for this matter) and had made it their absolute mission to succeed no matter what it took.

So who are these 95%, 4% and 1%? Honestly, I'd say that, I fall in all these 3 categories at one time or another. Sometimes I'm really determined to succeed in spite of the odds, sometimes I just want to give up and quit and sometimes I want to finish as a winner and show people how good I am and what I am capable of achieving.

So the advice I give to my students during their orientation programme or during lessons is, before you embark on a new journey, have your goals in mind, write it down and refer to it every time you feel like quitting and give up. In every journey you undertake, or every new task you plan to accomplish, you will always find yourself in one of the 3 categories I had mentioned above. I'd be honest to myself what I want to achieve, my abilities and the time I have to accomplish the task I set out to do because we only have that much time on our hands and being human, we try to multitask and try to squeeze as many things as we can so that we have a 'back up plan' in case something goes wrong.

To the class of 2011 who graduated on 4/12/2011 at JW Marriots Hotel, Kuala Lumpur, I congratulate you on a job well done to arrive at where you are today. You truly deserve whatever you have earned through your hard work, perseverance and determination. I wish you all the best in your future undertakings and if you like to, you may take this little advice I humbly give you in this blog posting.

David Geh

Farewell dinner

2011-10-13T10:25:00.000-07:00

I was invited to a farewell dinner today at a fancy chinese restaurant opposite KLCC. It was the senior class in the college I'm currently teaching at and today is their last day of school. I was invited as one of their lecturers. I taught them Research Methodologies as one of their final year subjects. There were few other lecturers there too and the air there wasn't filled with sadness and tears that stemmed from the thought of not being able to sit in the same classroom with each other again. It was instead a joyous one celebrating the end of 2 years of classroom education and the beginning of a 6 months industrial training stint at either a hotel or travel agency and then onward to a new chapter in their lives!

Students were taking pictures with each other and the lecturers way into the end of the dinner. There were mini games planned with prizes to be won as well as karaoke crooning all thru the night. The food and company was great and I must say I really enjoyed myself despite knowing the fact that I may not see this bunch of students around the college again.

Memories of my college days came flooding back to my mind. When I first went to college back in 1995, not many of us could afford handphones although some of us were lucky enough to be given one by our parents. For cameras we still used those drop in film roll type. It's a whole world of difference today with the advancement of technology. Back when I was in college, I never took many photographs, mainly due to the hassle of getting it developed and keeping physical copies of it which would end up fading or damaged as time goes by. Come to think of it, most of the memories of my college days today are only fragments I can remember from the past. Not the ones painted in colorful pictures.

I did take alot of pictures when I was in Uni though, back then (in 1998) I was still using analogue still cameras but maybe because of the crazy fun time I had, I probably made it a point to take pictures to remember those times. Come to think of it, I really miss those good old days when I was in college and uni.

Today I'm lucky to be a lecturer and a undergraduate degree programme head who can reminisce on the good old days because I have students all around me everyday when I go to work in a private college in KL. Many of my friends ask me why I choose to work in a small college with a student population of maybe around 200-300 when, with the same qualifications, I can pretty much choose where I want to work at. I don't know... I do ponder on their question sometimes but again, when I go to work the next day, I am still able to convince myself that for now, I am still making the right decision. Why? It all boils down to the work environment and people around you. I feel very comfortable with the knowledge that, as long as I am making a difference in the future of a young person, I am doing the right thing. Isn't that what being a lecturer is all about? Also I kinda like people calling me Mr David and Sir.

My ex-room mate has been a lecturer for almost 10 years in a private college. I used to think why he can have the staying power and go to work with the same kind of passion every single day for the past 10 years. Even my mother had been an educator for the past 30 years of her working life. After becoming one only did I realize that, it can be a bit addictive. Addictive how you may ask? Addictive in the sense of the level of respect you get as an educator, from both parents as well as students. Also in the difference you are making for the student.

I know that alone, I may not be able to change the world but I believe that I am helping to change the world by helping to make a difference in the life of one person at a time, starting with the students I teach and those who come to me for guidance and counselling.

About me being ignorant!

2011-05-24T14:27:00.000-07:00

My 88th blog posting! You know I don't usually blog about myself being ignorant or foolish, although sometimes I do! Today I had some guests over at work from the UK. They were actually university staff of the university that our college had a collaborative partnership with who were down here in KL for a meeting with us.

There were 3 of them, a Dr Michael and 2 ladies. We had our meeting throughout the day and then adjourned to lunch. After lunch, my boss asked me to go get the dessert, which was Tapioca with some coconut shredding on top of it. It was served on a rectangle flat serving plate and cling wrapped so when I brought it to the dining table, both me and one of my female guests from the UK (I think she's Irish from her surname) were both staring the dish down equally baffled and trying to figure out what on earth that thing was! It was chunky,yellow in color and had a texture which was somewhat similar to a pineapple. The moment I set eyes on it, I concluded straight away that it was slices of pineapple!!! Big chunky slices of pineapple but again, I was kinda baffled as to who would serve pineapple for dessert after a main course of pineapple fried rice?

Well, a few seconds later my boss and our British guests caught me staring the odd looking dish down and asked me what's wrong. Humbly, I said, I've got no idea what that thing is... seriously. What followed was the typical what-an-idiot-you-are unfolding before my eyes. A short moment of deafening silence before a roar of laughter from everyone, even the lady who wasn't even sure what was being served on that serving dish! It was the moment of truth that made me wish that at that very moment, I was sleeping nice and quietly at home. I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT A TAPIOCA WAS OR HOW IT LOOKED LIKE!!! o.O"" Forgive my blatant ignorance cos even with a business degree from a reputable business school in Australia and a Masters degree from the UK, I didn't know what a tapioca was! ZZZZZzzzzz

And so, as our 3 British guests were savoring the dish for the first time in their lives, topped with coconut shredding and syrup and all, so was I... So was I!

This kinda reminded me about the argument I had with my girlfriend and sister a few years ago about the difference between a peach and a plum, again my ignorance proved me to be less than smart individual by mistaking a plum for a PEACH! zzzz...!

Take Yr Time

2011-05-15T15:41:00.000-07:00

The sound of low buzzing air condition compressors fill the night air. Besides that, the night is generally quiet in this small little village. Who would guess that a village right in the centre of a bustling metropolitan city would be so quiet in the wee hours of the morning like this. I inch my window open a little wider and grabbed a stool and sat there for the next 20 minutes enjoying the fresh air and quiet night. Living in the moment was never my thing. I was always on fast forward mode, always planning for and anticipating event of the future.

My moments were not small moments, they had to be big moments like, getting the keys to my new apartment, or the keys to my new car or the graduation ceremony for my bachelor's and master's degree. I was on fast forward mode so long that, I can't even remember the last time I actually slowed down and tried to live for the moment before.

Our loved ones and family members are the only ones who will be around us when all the dust clouds of glamor, stardom and popularity amongst peers has settled but yet some of us rarely acknowledge that fact. I for one am guilty of that crime. I seldom take the time to appreciate small gestures or the little things in life. They were always too insignificant for me to fully appreciate or respond to.

Now, as I grow older, I realize that speeding through life on the fast lane all the time is really taking a toll on my health and well being. Throughout my 20s, the dominant thought that I had was the fast pace of the city (KL) was the only way to live and the city was the only place on earth I'd want to be in for me to realize my dreams of becoming rich and famous. Today, at 34, although I have achieved many things in life, I am neither rich nor famous yet. However, I have came to take a different view of how my life is going to be like moving forward. Now I have even considered the idea of living in my hometown, Penang or even places like Sarawak!

I don't want to be Adam Sandler in the movie 'Click' with a remote control in his hand and he's fast forwarding through life until the point where his wife leaves him and he leads a meaningless life. I want to slow down my pace and try my best to enjoy the little things in life cos if we keep planning and anticipating for the future so much, we may wake up one day and realize too late that, the future probably won't come for you and as you look back at your life, you'd probably see a war zone pretty similar to Pakistan after the Al-Qaeda bombed the heck out of them in retaliation for killing their boss.

How did Old Town sell so many cups of White Coffee to city folk? It was probably because they were asking people to 'take your time' and many of us kinda bought the idea.

Dream

2010-11-18T05:07:00.000-08:00

I wanna write what I still remember from my nightmare last night but after more than 20 hours, I don't think I remember much about it already. Anyways, here is what I remember about it.

I was on holiday in Thailand. I'm not too sure where it is, maybe Bangkok cos it did look quite metropolitan in my dream. I was there with a bunch of other tourists, more like tourists from either China or Malaysia. That part I don't remember very well. I checked in around 11pm, it was quite late already and we had to convince the hotel manager to let us check in. It was quite a seedy hotel in a seedy part of town but somehow it was the only one available at that time. It was probably recommended by a taxi driver after we arrived.

Close to dawn all the guests were awakened and somehow gathered downstairs and the situation was pretty tensed. Apparently a few guests in the hotel was brutally murdered in certain rooms and one of the murdered guests was the person who checked in together with me around 11pm.

There were police all around and the whole place was full of people. There were small talk and open discussions among the surviving guests about who the suspected killer was and apparently it was... either the hotel manager or his family members. I remember being surround with a sense of insecurity and as if my life was being threatened by the unknown. To make things worst, there were whispers of the accomplice still on the loose amongst the guests.

Some dream huh? I remember waking up finding my laptop next to me and googling tourist murders in Thailand and the search came up with millions of related webpages. I wonder what in my mind would trigger such a weird dream. I've only been to Thailand twice.

Happy Independence Day, Malaysia!

2010-09-04T10:40:00.000-07:00

I remember my sister telling me a joke about a time when she was studying in the UK. When she said she was from Malaysia, they pulled out a map of China and asked her to show them where it was on the map!

Living abroad was fun, I lived and worked and studied in Australia and Singapore but the place I love to be the most is right here in Malaysia. Here's a place where I'm not a second class citizen, a tourist, a permanent resident or a visitor, I'm a pure citizen with rights to decide which government I want in the general election through a vote. Isn't that a privilege?

Two days ago I went to a roadside stall to buy some food for dinner and when I started to talk to the food seller, she asked me if I was Chinese or Malay because of the way I talked (with a heavy northern state malay accent). She said she couldn't even tell the difference. I didn't really give her my answer but smiled. This is some of the things I enjoy about living here.

However, I'm very sad to read in the news that, of late, some irresponsible people who have been given the responsibility to educate young minds in this country have been stirring up racial tones by making a statement at a school assembly that Malaysian citizens of Chinese origins are merely passengers (or penumpang in the Malay language) in this country and should all go back to China. This particular person has caused a stir in the harmonious racial relationships amongst the Malays, Chinese and Indians who make up the majority of races in Malaysia.

A multi racial country is not about tolerating each other. It goes beyond that. It's more about living in harmony with each other. If we talk about a united country and then we say we merely tolerate each other, it means that we are simply toeing the line that separates us and the smallest ripple may cause the fragile domino to collapse.

Thus, when we talk about being multi-racial, are we living in harmony or are we being tolerant of each other? To me, being tolerant is akin to accepting one another with a condition attached to it. It isn't fair to think so, is it?

I'm a fifth or sixty generation Malaysian. My ancestors have been here over 200 years and have never ever step foot into China before, not even for a holiday, and I don't think my dad or grandfather has ever been to China either. So, if one day you were to come up to me and say, "Hey, you're a penumpang in Malaysia, get you arse back to China!" I wouldn't even know which province to end up in there!

Lets not let the actions and bad judgement of one person make us question our allegiances towards each other. Our forefathers had fought hand in hand to ensure the freedom of this country from her colonial rulers 53 years ago. Malays, Indians, Chinese and other races that make up this beautiful country, we are all brothers! United we are one, divide we shall fall.

After 53 years of living in an independent and sovereign country, do we feel threatened by the existence of each other? Do we feel threatened economically? Politically? Religiously? or Physically? To my Malay, Indian, Sikh, Eurasian and Indigenous (Iban, Kadazan etc) brothers and sisters, I am a Chinese by origin, but if you strip away my skin color, you will see that I am just a Malaysian. A Malaysian just like you are. I have the right to call this country my home just like you. I have the right to freedom to live my life and take care of my family in this land just like you do.

I eat at places you eat, shop and play at places you shop and play and celebrate whatever religious festivals you celebrate as you are my brothers and sisters. I do not feel like I am better than you or you are better than me, because when it all comes down to it, we are all equal and the same.

We suffer hard times together when the economy is bad and enjoy the good times when the economy is good. Let us never talk about country of origin or skin color ever again, cos when u take out that blue color card that is kept in your wallet, you will see that you and me, we have the same identical piece of plastic and it says, Warganegara. Let us all understand this term and value it.

Sebagai warganegara Malaysia, musuh bukan lah di antara kita kerana kita adalah saudara. Mengapa kita perlu bergaduh sesama sendiri lalu memberi peluang kepada orang asing untuk merealisasikan agenda mereka untuk memecah belahkan kita bila kalau kita bersatu padu, kita boleh menjadi lebih kuat dan berjaya dari apa yang kita boleh mencapai hari ini.

Wahai warganegara Malaysia, warna kulit hanyalah diluaran sahaja. Marilah kita mengetepikan hal yang remeh ini dan tumpukan perhatian kita terhadap cita-cita yang lebih besar daripada isu kekauman dan ketidak samaan diantara kita, kerana jikalau kita sama sama mengupas kulit kita, kita akan ketahui bahawa, dibawah warna kulit ini, kita semua adalah sama sahaja, warna darah adalah merah dan bukan warna lain. Yes, the color of blood is red and it flows in the same color tone in each and every one of us.

Let us be together as one, live in harmony with each other and love each other as if we are brothers and sisters in one big family. The enemy is not among us, why do we need to fight and allow outsiders a chance to realize their evil agenda upon us? It is when we are not united that we are vulnerable to attacks.

I Love Malaysia, Saya Cintakan Malaysia, Wo Ai Malaysia. I may not be a soldier but I love my country, I am willing to lay down my life for my country and I will fight to the end to defend my country when threatened.

Like the radio station DJ said, "1Malaysia is not a dream, it is what we were and can be again." but, nothing grand is achieved without much struggle and sacrifice. Merely trying is not enough, we try and try harder till we achieve the goal set by our Prime Minister. 1-Malaysia, rakyat didahulukan, pencapaian diutamakan.

HAPPY 53rd MERDEKA and MALAYSIA DAY!

How a Broke Geek Settle his Debt and still Own the latest Apple Products

2010-08-13T11:24:00.000-07:00

How a Broke Geek Settle his Debt and still Own the latest Apple Products <--- Feeling trapped in a vicious cycle of credit card debt? Check this out!

Rest in between work to post up nice photos!

2010-07-28T11:22:00.000-07:00

May 12, 2010. My 33rd birthday celebration at Italliannes (not sure how it's spelt) at Gardens Midvalley, KL. All the photos the waitress took were blurry except this one. But I had a nice time cos they served me a brownie with a candle on top on the house and all of them floor crew came and sang me a song and clapped happily! What a happy day! (it made me forget that I was getting older!)

May 18, 2010: Penang trip! Going back to Penang is always fun! Especially when I get to eat all my favorite food. Here we are drinking coconut water on a hot and humid day at a shop that only sells coconuts and has tons and tons of coconuts! This picture was taken by my mom :)

Oh yeah, thats a photo of mom down there at the Ghee Hiang biscuit factory where we stopped by after our refreshing coconut drink and Nyonya cuisine lunch at Abu Siti Lane in Georgetown!

I tried posting a few pictures of us having lunch at Mama's Nyonya Restaurant but I duno why blogger is uploading it for me. At 2:20am my brain is not functioning well, so I guess I will continue to upload them tomorrow or some other time.

Back to my dissertation work!

Dave

Heaven or Hell?

2010-07-28T09:59:00.000-07:00

Someone asked me, David, would you like to go to HEAVEN or go to HELL? This was my answer:

"I dunno. Never thought of that. Heaven may not be as heavenly as they say. Or hell may not be as bad as they say either. Its subjective based on individual perceptions and what religion preaches, don't you think? At tht end of the day there may not even be a heaven or hell or even a judgement day. Whatever someone believes becomes their reality and whatever someone believes isn't doesn't become their reality. So to me, the question of heaven or hell doesn't become an issue cos it's subjective."

I would like to add to that by saying, heaven or hell is a term conceived by early preachers of religion to scare us into being good. In early times of lawlessness, it probably is beneficial for the church (I am assuming it derived from christianity, although I am not certain) to paint a picture of heaven being a place which is blissful and peaceful and pure and if you're good throughout your lifetime, maybe you 'deserve' a place there. It's like a get out of jail free ticket provided you are good.

Another picture they would paint in the mind of their devotees are, the picture of hell, all fiery and painful and people being tortured.

And the ultimate picture they paint in devotees minds are, a day of JUDGEMENT where people all stand before GOD to be told if you will take the gate that is marked HEAVEN or HELL.

Well, the reason why to me it's subjective is because the religion that I practice now doesn't scare me with the notion of having to choose where I want to end up. A side thought: if I am good and I end up in heaven, I may not want to be there cos of who I am and vice versa. The reason why I say so is, heaven may not be what people say it is. It could still be clean and tidy, with people wearing white robes, have wings, a halo over their heads and play the harp everyday and night and eat nice food, but what if I don't want that?

What if I still want to go to the casino and thrown some dices or booze all night long with my buddies? Or go to a horse race and place bets? I may not get to do that in heaven even if I had gained my right to be there.

I prefer the idea of rebirth. Being reborn over and over again and learn from different experiences until I have learn from past mistakes and experiences to the path of becoming enlightened. Doesn't that beat going to heaven or hell anytime?

Of course at the core of it all, you still would have to be a good person because it benefits society as a whole.

My take on the secret

2010-06-23T10:30:00.000-07:00

The thing I am afraid of the most is not ghosts or spirits or dying but to end up poor or average. I know in this life I will not end up poor unless one day I hit my head on the wall, lose all my memory and end up not being able to work or live like a normal person. That way I'd probably end up poor, stupid and homeless. Which is much worst!

So currently as I still got my 5 senses, my 4 limbs and a sizable brain size capable of thinking like a normal person, my only fear is to end up average. Can you imagine the horror of being average? Not being able to realize your true potential? I wake up in cold sweat at night just thinking about it. Because of this deep fear of mine, the only option in my life is to end up rich and successful, not just rich and successful but filthy rich and mega successful with superstar fame! Sounds ludicrous?

This is my take about the secret to life. I'm sure I'm going to attract alot of negative energy because of this posting, but nobody knows me, so what the hell?

I don't believe in God. But I do believe in the universe and a higher power, but that doesn't mean I believe there is a God. There is nothing wrong believing in God. Its just that I don't believe in God, thats all. To me, God is an object, an object for people to praise when things go their way and when they achieve something great, an object to blame when something goes wrong, an object to hang on in desperate times, a glimmer and ray of hope. Does it really exists? We may not know as long as we are living.

This is my take on life. Life is all about energy flow. Everything in the universe happens as part of a plan, as part of a system that will keep on evolving and evolving till infinity. Some people call it karma, I call it energy and the flow of energy. We flow positive energy out, we attract positive energy. We flow negative energy out, we attract negative energy. It's like an invisible force field. We receive exactly what we receive.

It simply means, if we do good for people, people will in turn do good things for us. If we respect people, in turn people will respect us, if we appreciate people, people will appreciate us. However there is a catch... If we do good for people, the people we do good for may not do the same for us, but others will. It's the same for all other examples I have given. It's not in direct proportions. You may ask why? Well this is why... For example, we flow out positive energy to the recipient but the recipient may not be in the state to flow back the positive energy to u because they are in a state of negative energy. Thus, they are not in the 'position' to give back to u the same energy u have given to them.

However, another person who has the correct energy flow will flow it back to you. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, it could be a year's time or 10 years time. It's as a response to the energy that you have flowed out to someone at a particular time.

Everything is about energy. Love is energy, passion is energy, hate is energy, determination is energy. Everything in this universe is about energy and the flow of energy. Like the movie Avatar, I believe that in this world too, everything and everyone is interconnected with the land. We humans probably have not learnt to master that skill yet, or probably some already have. I know I haven't.

Some call it the law of attraction. People rave about the secret. What is the secret? If it's a secret then why is everyone talking about it openly? To me, the secret is plain and simple, its all about energy and the flow of energy. If we flow out positive energy, we will attract positive energy and vice versa. There is nothing more complicated than that.

Such a sad tragedy

2010-06-19T14:07:00.000-07:00

I wish to extend my deepest condolences to the surviving family members. Here is an average everyday family in Malaysia, just like to rest of us, trying to live our lives in ways as normal as we can, hoping that our family is safe everyday from any harm that may come. Lives were snatched away selfishly in this tragedy.

To the surviving family members, the tragedy that befell your family I'm sure none of us would want to happen to our own, I for one would not want that too. I feel very sad every-time I hear news like this, news which could happen to anyone at anytime, even me myself and my family.

Although we are total strangers and will never get a chance to meet each other by design, I wish to extend my deepest condolences to you. What I can say is, both God and time will heal the pain this tragedy has caused. Your loved ones may be gone physically from this world, but they will live on forever in your memories and your hearts. One day when all of us are standing at the gates of heaven to be judged, may you have a beautiful reunion with your family members who have left this cruel and unkind world.

You will hug them and tell them how much u have missed them and they will smile back and tell you they are safe in God's hands and they have waited for you here all along. You will shed a tear and they will gently kiss it and make all the pain go away.

I always believe the reason our loved ones leave this world suddenly is becos God has a job for them and want them to assume their 'positions' on a short notice.

I pray to God that you will have strength to live another day, to do great things and touch lives in the process. I pray to God that you may have the strength to smile a smile that will light up the world, so that when you are gone, people will forever remember how your smile made a difference in their lives, made a difference in the world.

Psalm 23

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul; He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: Thou anointest my head with oil, my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

May your souls rest in peace, Mr. Roland Wee Seng Hock, Mr. Joash Wee, Ms. Jeslyn Wee, Ms. Jacinth Wee & Mdm.Lim Kim Boon. I do not know any of you and will not have a chance to know any of you but in your photos, your social networking profiles and sites dedicated to you, I can see that you were splendid and well liked people, people I'm sure I'd like to be friends with if you were alive.

Nevertheless, I want to dedicate this song you. Maybe we may have a chance to greet each other, the day we stand before our maker to be judged at the gates of heaven, in the kingdom of God.

When I get to where I'm going - Brad Paisley and Dolly Parton

When I get where I'm going
on the far side of the sky.
The first thing that I'm gonna do
Is spread my wings and fly.

I'm gonna land beside a lion,
and run my fingers through his mane.
Or I might find out what it's like
To ride a drop of rain

(Chorus:)
Yeah when I get where I'm going,
there'll be only happy tears.
I will shed the sins and struggles,
I have carried all these years.
And I'll leave my heart wide open,
I will love and have no fear.
Yeah when I get where I'm going,
Don't cry for me down here.

I'm gonna walk with my grandaddy,
and he'll match me step for step,
and I'll tell him how I missed him,
every minute since he left.
Then I'll hug his neck.

(Chorus)

So much pain and so much darkness,
in this world we stumble through.
All these questions, I can't answer,
so much work to do.

But when I get where I'm going,
and I see my Maker's face.
I'll stand forever in the light,
of His amazing grace.
Yeah when I get where I'm going,
Yeah when I get where I'm going,
there'll be only happy tears.
Hallelujah!
I will love and have no fear.
When I get where I'm going.
Yeah when I get where I'm going.

---
I bid you Au Voir~!

David Geh

Happy Birthday to the King!

2010-06-05T11:24:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to the King! The DYMM SPB YDP AGONG to be precise. It stands for Duli Yang Maha Mulia Seri Paduka Baginda Yang Di-Pertuan Agong, which I reckon would translate to His Royal Highness The King of Malaysia.

Now, the only 2 other places (other than Malaysia) I have lived in my life are Singapore and Australia and given the short time I have been around in this earth, I reckon it's quite something, considering within this 3 countries, I have stayed in around 30 different houses in the short 3 decades + 3 years of my life. Amongst the 3 countries I have lived in, I reckon Malaysia is one the most unique, not because I was born here, but the country itself to me is rather special. Why, it's one of the few countries in the world where you have a King as a ruler of the land.

I hear people talking everyday bout how bad the country is being run, how a certain political party is doing this to a certain race and not doing that for another race, personally I'm not really bothered about all that. To me, I have never been given an unfair chance or have been treated unfairly or exploited ever before while living in Malaysia. Well, sometimes you may come across a case or two about someone being treated unfairly or needs not being taken care of hey, its our job to look out for number one, not anybody else.

I truly love my country, never have any place given me the opportunities to be who I want and do what I want (within the boundaries of the law of course).

This is taken from Wikipedia.org lest we forget:

BAHAWASANYA NEGARA KITA MALAYSIA mendukung cita-cita hendak :

mencapai perpaduan yang lebih erat di kalangan seluruh masyarakatnya ;

memelihara satu cara hidup demokratik ;

mencipta satu masyarakat adil di mana kemakmuran Negara akan dapat dinikmati bersama secara adil dan saksama ;

menjamin satu cara liberal terhadap tradisi-tradisi kebudayaannya yang kaya dan berbagai corak ;

dan

membina satu masyarakat progresif yang akan menggunakan sains dan teknologi moden.
MAKA KAMI, rakyat Malaysia, berikrar akan menumpukan seluruh tenaga dan usaha kami untuk mencapai cita-cita tersebut berdasarkan atas prinsip-prinsip yang berikut :

KEPERCAYAAN KEPADA TUHAN (Belief in God)

KESETIAAN KEPADA RAJA DAN NEGARA (Loyalty to King and Country)

KELUHURAN PERLEMBAGAAN (Upholding the constitution)

KEDAULATAN UNDANG-UNDANG (Rule of Law)

KESOPANAN DAN KESUSILAAN (Good Behavior and Morality)

I truly believe that if all of us are able to follow the rukun negara, there will be less crime, less hatred, less chaos and more harmony, peace and unity in our land.

MALAYSIA, I LOVE YOU!

Reliving nostalgic memories

2010-04-21T05:57:00.000-07:00

I was at Metropolitan College this afternoon to meet Ronald, my MBA thesis supervisor and it was our first meeting. It was quite a hot day and I had to walk quite far cos being a cheapskate, I decided to park my car at the housing area in SS14 to save on parking fees and not get stuck in the mad jam finding a parking space in SS15.

Despite the hot sun and the long walk from SS14 to Metropolitan College, I was actually quite excited. Why? Because I'm revisiting the college after about 13 years. I did my twinning program there in 1996-97 right after my pre-u in International College, Penang. One of the reasons it was of fond memories for me was because that was my first time I was out living on my own and my first time living outside my hometown in KL! Well, not really KL but in PJ.

The college definitely had a different feel from the time I studied there. It's now owned and operated by Laureate International, the education group that also owns Inti, MIM-Inti and PJCad Colleges. The students definitely looked a world of difference from the time I studied there. Back then there were no international students and many local students look much much more fashionable from 13 years ago!

Walking back to my car a distance away from the college after my meeting with my supervisor, I couldn't help but to reminisce about my Metropolitan College student life. I had never in my wildest dreams expect that 13 years later I could achieve so much in life. I have came so far from my simple student life to who I am today, having achieved everything I have ever dreamed of when I was a broke student, having so much to thank God for and so much to look forward to in the future.

I also remembered all the friends I have made back then and feel really thankful that I still keep in touch with some of them, who have been by my side thru thick and thin. Our life back in college were fun and full of surprises but best of all, we didn't have to worry about anything at all except get good grades and graduate.

As I reached my car, I noticed that I actually took the time to look around and time wasn't rushing by me like it used to be back in 1997. I guess back then as a student I was in a hurry to finish my studies and become somebody and best of all make money to do the things I wanna do and achieve all that I could.

Now that I did, I'm glad I could walk slower and actually take in the scenery around me. My journey hasn't ended yet and there are miles of road ahead of me. I am thankful that I made it safely all the way here. Now I can look forward to the future knowing that I am in good hands, God's hands.

Living for the moment

2010-04-13T12:51:00.000-07:00

I have never given much of a thought to living for the moment till recently. Looking back in the past, I sometimes relive memories which were fond to me as if they were real and is happening all over again. Those are good memories of course. As humans we tend to block out the memories that we don't want to and only retain those we want.

I somehow relive memories from the past when thinking of how bad my situation is in the present. Or so I think (it's bad). What has kept my happy memories happy all these years? I gradually came to a realization that, those memories were happy ones because at that time I lived in the moment. Enjoying every happy moment made a permanent impact in my mind.

Many a times we feel lousy or down and think that tomorrow will be a better day or next month or next year, we are not living in the moment, it's more like living for tomorrow or living for the future. I for one am guilty for that sometimes. I always compare my life now for what may be or what could be in the future and tend to 'fast forward' my life to the desired moment in the future which I think my life will be better or brighter. Every time I do that the movie Click flashes to mind. It's like taking a remote control you got from Bed and Beyond and pressing the fast forward button to the future.

Many people say, yesterday is the past, tomorrow is the future, today is a gift, thats why it's called the present. I'm pretty sure many people (yours truly included) go thru the motions in life on automatic mode, more like drifting through life without any emotions, without any thought and without any care. I'm sure you go thru that as well, ever had a day where you forgot which day of the month it was? Or was so deep in thought that you didn't realize how you drove yourself to work and arrived at your destination? Thinking is hard, that is why so many people choose not to engage in it. After all, why waste time thinking when you can live automatically?

We work hard because we don't want to end up miserable and poor living in a cardboard box under a bridge or a freeway. But in the process of working hard, we achieve everything we want, a big house, a big car and the more earthly possessions we have, one fine day we wake up and realize... whats the point in all that when it all means nothing to us? We, as humans have failed to live in the moment. The ultimate entitlement, luxury and enjoyment that has been granted to anyone and everyone living on this planet which is life and we, in the process of chasing material luxuries and enjoyments have failed to use this entitlement which is to live.

There's an article on http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/Mathews2.html by Joseph Mathews called 'The Power of The Present Moment' and inside that article there's a line that says 'Death creates a deadline, a deadline creates an urgency, urgency creates action and action produces results'. I want to ask a question. Is our urgency to die or to live? Because as we speed thru life without living it, then our urgency is probably to die. But if we enjoy every moment of our lives and live it to the fullest, then and maybe then, our urgency is to live.

After realizing all this, I realized that my whole life, 33 years of it has been spent planning for some time in the future where I think I'm going to be happy, comfortable and have achieved my dreams without even realizing that maybe now I can be happy, or now I am comfortable or now I have achieved everything I have ever wanted in life. Well, because I have been speeding thru life planning, scheming and preparing for a brighter future, I intend to slow down and accept the fact that to live in the present moment is much more rewarding than an uncertain future.

Of course the whole process of slowing down and changing pace may take time, weeks, months and even years but I'm sure that once it's finally achieved I may see things in a whole different light. Just like when the mist clears and we can 'see the forest for the trees' I wish to live my life to the fullest for the moment.

Feeling shitty for the past week

2010-02-02T08:57:00.000-08:00

I dunno why but for the past week I was feeling kinda shitty for no particular reason. My facebook microblogs reads: "Suddenly I'm just sick, sick of everything that is going on around me. Every single thing irritates the heck out of me, is it my problem or what? Maybe I have been keeping everything inside my heart all this while and now everything is starting to blow up. Everything seems wrong and out of place. I feel really feel trapped. There must be something more than this, I know there must be."

Sounds bad huh? A quick thinking friend suggested 'mid life crisis' and I was like, "What the heck?" I'm turn 33 in 2010! So I googled "Mid life crisis" and the 2nd search result caught my eye. Well the website particularly. It read divorcesupport.about.com so like a cat, I curiously clicked on it knowing well that I have never been married nor am I going thru a mid life crisis.

Here's the answer the website gave:
A midlife crisis is experienced between the ages of 40 and 60. It was first identified by the psychologist Carl Jung and is a normal part of the maturing process. Most people will experience some form of emotional transition during that time of life. A transition that might cause you to take stock in where you are in life and make some needed adjustments to the way you live your life. Most seem to come through the process smoothly without making major life changes.

For some, a midlife crisis is more complicated. It can be an uncomfortable time emotionally which can lead to depression and the need for psychotherapy. Those who have a hard time with this transitional stage might experience a range of feelings such as:

Unhappiness with life and the lifestyle that may have provided them with happiness for many years. Boredom with people and things that may have been of interest to them before. Feeling a need for adventure and change. Questioning the choices, they have made in their lives and the validity of decisions they made years before. Confusion about who they are and where they are going. Anger at their spouse and blame for feeling tied down. Unable to make decisions about where they want to go with their life. Doubt that they ever loved their spouse and resentment over the marriage. A desire for a new and passionate, intimate relationship.

All those stuff were in bullet format but became like that when I cut and paste it into my posting, well sorry and thank u divorcesupport.about.com for the intriguing answer above! The moment my eyes caught sight of 40-60 I immediately felt a sense of relief and peace. 40-60!!! thats 7 yrs away.

Then I thought it might have something to do with me adjusting to my new job, so I spent the next few days talking to all the colleagues in my department to find out the 'root' of my resentment to the job I am performing or my dissatisfaction. To my surprise, I felt better after that! Not 100% better tho, but a little better. Also to those who gave me tips and advice on my facebook microblog shoutout, some of the actually helped! talk about group therapy! lol!

Today after feeling much better, my facebook shoutout reads " U know what guys, you're right! wallowing in self pity is a waste of perfectly good and productive time. It's time to get up and do something about it. Life is just too short to be a pathetic wanker! Better be a good for something wanker than a good for nothing one."

How's that sound? A good for something wanker! Now what about that huh?

A typical day?

2010-01-13T03:26:00.001-08:00

The principal for the product I'm managing came down from Singapore today with a new guy whom I'm supposed to be working closely with for the entire duration I'm going to be employed in this company. Took them out to Tesco at Mutiara Damansara for lunch with my Division Manager and spent the next hour after a great lunch at Mdm Lim's Kitchen walking around getting a feel of their cleaning operations, type of flooring etc.

On the way back after getting my ticket at the Kota Damansara toll, Ignatius asked me something and I turned around to answer him. At the exact time, I took the wrong turning, supposed to turn right and I went and turn left. The road leads to Sg Buloh and Ipoh. So he jokingly asked me "Are we going to Ipoh for dinner now?" My boss flashed me a sarcastic smile and for the next half an hour they were engaged in a conversation about how men can't multitask. Thank God for Guthrie Corridor Expressway or I would have to use the long way back to Shah Alam on a sleepy Wednesday after a big meal!

I guess I must have been sleepy or something cos when I reached home, I reversed right into the metal gate at the office carpark and my rear tail lamp which was already cracked from my reverse into a lamp-post action last year cracked a further 2 pieces and now one is missing! It probably shows that after 15 years of driving, I'm still bad at it. (hears clapping and cheering)

Well the only consolation about it was that at 5:30 when the siren went off I was already at the punch card machine getting ready to shoot off and join the usual gang on the highway burning fuel and wearing off my brake pads. Yup, the 1 hour crawl home.

Oh well, you can't have good days everyday right? This is probably one of my not so good ones!

Thus all this garbage!

2010-01-07T06:49:00.000-08:00

To me, the first week after the first month on your job is the toughest anyone who just started a new job has to go thru. This week is my first week after the first month I worked for this new company. I still can't get used to seeing rows and rows of forklifts everywhere and they're already planning to expand to the building next door!

To tell you the truth, I'm pretty lost about how I'm supposed to go about this job. The position states 'manager' but I'm expected to go out and meet clients and do sales calls just like the rest of the salespeople in the office and the difference is, they get commission for every expensive equipment they sell and I don't. Of course the boss promised me a big fat bonus and an increment if I managed to hit the ridiculous target I set for myself (its like shooting yourself in the foot if you ask me!)

For someone who have never sold expensive industrial equipment before, it was rather brave of me to set such a high target. But of course we have to justify the salary we are getting by setting high objectives to achieve so that management will see us in a positive light in the future right?

Earlier I was at a forum and one of the members posted something taken from Thomas Wolfe "You have reached the pinnacle of success when you become uninterested in money, compliments and publicity" I quite agree with that quote but the problem is, I'm interested in money, publicity and most of all compliments, but not in a salaried employment setting. How gratifying is it to have all that when you still have drag your ass up at 6 in the morning to go in d office by 8 to see black sulky faces all day long until 5:30pm and get stucked in a jam just to get home?

Something just ain't right if it's gratifying isn't it? So can someone say they have reached the pinnacle of success in their job or career? I wonder what defines success when it comes to being an employee?

I don't know if my feeling like this is a dead-end is part of the slow start or learning curve which I have to endure as part of the start of a new career for me or is it part of something more long term and I may have to change my attitude towards employment. I'm sure there are certain satisfactions and gratifications that come along with it and I haven't found it yet. I wonder...

When any employee starts working in a company they are given an employee handbook which among other things tells them what they should or shouldn't do, what they should or shouldn't wear to work and many other things. Why aren't we given a booklet that tells us how we should feel and react towards work and what we should do when we hit a brick wall or stall?

Many years ago I flipped the bible and there was a page which tells you to go to which chapter or page when you are feeling a certain way, like if you are feeling suicidal or depressed, you should flip here and the words will 'talk-to-you' and some how you would feel better.

Well maybe my mood is just down today, thus all this garbage!

How Ah Longs deface public property

2009-12-27T08:52:00.000-08:00

I'm pissed! Of late, all the nice pretty signboards put up by the local council are defaced by stickers offering money lending services by Ah Longs who operate around KL. With the Government fast terminating the mobile phone numbers found on the stickers that deface and litter public as well as public property, it's amazing why these people keep coming back for more.

It's either they are trying to tire down the government or they are really hard up for business. Nevertheless, I don't think it's right for them to do such things! I'm really pissed when I can't read the roadsigns especially at night. If I can't read it, it means the people who come and visit me cant as well. So what gives?

Boxing day! Happy Belated Xmas to all!!!!!

2009-12-26T11:08:00.000-08:00

Xmas came and went in a blink of an eye but not without the fanfare and celebration. This year I noticed alot of different things unique to the coming of a new decade. The first thing was, a radio station, which happens to be the one I listen to the most, took the initiative to put up a xmas tree. It wasn't any simple xmas tree, but one where listeners could donate toys and other essential items to put up on the tree to be donated to a children's home somewhere in KL.

I didn't really follow up on the development of the tree but the last I read the deejays' blogs, they mentioned that there already were stuffed toys, food items and even 2 television sets and dvd players. Now what amazes me was that, the first toy was donated by a malay guy and so was a few other items that went up on that tree. The point I am trying to stress is that, coming of age, xmas is not only celebrated by christians alone but of all races and religions.

As a non-christian, I have came to accept xmas as being not only a symbol of religious significance (in this case a milestone in the history of Christianity) but as a symbol of unity amongst all races and religious believes, I dare say this in the context of being a Malaysian and my ideas may not be correctly intepreted outside my own country.

The weekends leading to xmas day had seen mainly shopping malls decking out their centre spaces with ornate and unique xmas decorations and setups. Everyone was seen trying to capture perfect shots of the xmas decorations with or without themselves in them, busy buying gifts of chocolates and whatever nots for their loved ones and friends and going about their so called xmas shopping. At the Pavilion mall in KL, half of these people were from the Middle East, and the rest of them consists of the 3 major races in Malaysia as well as other Malaysians.

Which brings me back to my point, xmas today, as compared to many years ago has become a Malaysian thing, not merely a christian thing cos everyone gaily celebrates this holiday and find ways to make it a special part of their lives.

As for me, we had a cozy little barbecue at my girlfriend's place on xmas night and I really had a good time and non of us are even christians.

In the spirit of 1Malaysia, I'm happy at how this holiday went by leaving everybody happier and closer to each other and the level of acceptance (not merely tolerance, as previously used in the media to describe a peaceful inter-racial society) that we have came to have of each other. I am so proud to be Malaysian!

The most disgusting thing ever!

2009-12-15T07:58:00.000-08:00

I really dunno whether I should write this here or not. It's disgusting! I thought of writing it in Experience Project so that nobody will know it's me! hahahaha... anyway this is the story:

Yesterday I decided to ride my motorbike to work to avoid the crazy jam. At 5:30pm it started to rain heavily so I hung around the office a while and decided to brave the rain and ride back after wearing my raincoat and jacket. Halfway home I smelt Satay Kajang, something I haven't had for a long long time already. This satay stall in the highway rest area is the famous 1 in kajang, Haji Samuri Sate Kajang and it happens to be my favorite! So I ordered 10 sticks and just when I was about to sit down and eat 1 stick, Kev called and asked me to go to Cheras for dinner with them. So I decided to eat only 5 sticks and tapao the rest home.

A little about satay kajang is that, many people have been talking about them adding women's sanitary pads (which is some sort of black magic used by bomohs in Malaysia to make people get addicted to stuff - so I was told lah) into the kuah (curry) of the satay so that people will get hooked to it and keep coming back. Because I love satay kajang, I think what people say is all total bollocks, besides, why would they do such a thing and tarnish their own image? They are a franchise now.

So that aside, I went to have dinner with Kev, his wife Eve and his housemate Ah Soon who couldn't walk for the past 2 months after a motorcycle accident left his leg broken and he had to use crutches. After the dinner I took my satay home (in a white plastic bag)and left it on the kitchen counter and went to sleep, cos too tired and all drenched by rain on the way back from work earlier.

The next morning I woke up and decided to finish up the 5 sticks of satay cos the kuah couldn't be kept long and will become stale. I opened up the plastic bag and u know what the hell I found? A used condom with spunk inside! What on earth?! Then all the stories about bomohs and black magic quickly flashed in my mind, u know lah if you are forced to wake up for work at 6am and u see something like this, u will be pissed too. I didn't think much about it and took it and flushed it into the toilet bowl and I finished up my food. Actually the condom didn't touch my food lah cos my food was in separate plastic bags, the white bag was only to carry all the separate food plastic bags.

The whole journey to work I was disturbed by what had happened earlier, I totally had no idea what happened. Then I remembered the night before the guy renting the room from me had a female guest overnight at his place. So I smsed him asking him if he had mistook my plastic bag of food for a garbage bag, which is common cos we all mostly use white plastic bags for our garbage around here.

He said oops, he was having drinks last night and could have threw his used "...." inside my packet of food! And I was like... WTF!!!!! of all the possible people this kind of things could happen to and it had to happen to me! Luckily my day at work was pleasant if not I'd be kicking some ass already. Anyways my friend said he owe me a nice meal. Now ain't that disgusting!

On second thoughts...

2009-12-06T08:41:00.000-08:00

On second thoughts, I think I will continue to update here as well as in wordpress cos the wordpress blog buttons and dashboard is too difficult to understand, it will take me some time to do so.

Anyway, here's a video from my last visit with Lions Clubs International to Ti-Ratana Children's Home in KL. Its very cute! Enjoy!

What are the rules of the game-Part 1

2009-11-17T09:16:00.000-08:00

What are the rules of the game? If you want to play to win then you must know the rules of the game. In every game there are rules. Be it a game in sports, politics, work, life or even relationships, it doesn’t matter, as long as we are going to play it, we have to know the rules.

Knowing the rules of the game doesn’t mean we have to follow them in order to win. Remember what I said in the second sentence, if you want to play to win then you must know the rules of the game. Some people win by playing according to the rules, while some others win by breaking the rules. It all boils down to what our individual definitions of winning is. For each and every one of us, winning can be different things. For me it may be having a lot of money to spend when I am old and for Tiger Woods it may be a hole-in-one at the US PGA championships.

The universal first rule of any game, in my opinion, no matter what game you are playing is, to make a commitment to participate fully and wholeheartedly and not quit until the game is over.

Some of my previously unpublished thots #4

2009-11-17T09:15:00.000-08:00

Like most KLites, running the rat race doesn’t leave me much time to think about anything else besides myself and those who are important to me. I have wanted to give back to the community for as long as I could remember but when it came to actually doing it, there are a million and one excuses I can conjure for not doing it. Sounds familiar? Sadly, giving back to the community to many of us is nothing more than what we confess we never could find the time to do.

Fortunately, last week my girlfriend and I, we were lucky enough to have both the time and opportunity to actually do our little part in giving back to the community and it was an eye opener to the both of us although what we did was what many may consider insignificant. Yet we were happy that we managed to do our part.

I recently joined a KL chapter of a club (LCI) which focuses on doing social and community work. On a rainy Monday evening, inching through the rush hour traffic which had just started to build up, we made our way to Brickfields accompanied by 2 friends who were visiting KL from the UK we had just met at a Deepavali open house the night before. It was around 5pm and the rain wasn’t showing signs of stopping anytime soon. We arrived at our destination at the Railway Club building behind the YMCA in a part of town I swear I had never set foot upon before.

To describe how I felt then, maybe it was the damp weather, everything looks a pale shade of gray, the neighborhood looked tired and sad and there already was a line forming outside the building. We were there for the LCI’s feed the needy which some of the members try to run everyday at 5-6pm on weekdays. About 20 minutes later, one of the member’s car pulled up at the entrance and popped his trunk. We wasted no time distributing Styrofoam packets of food to those who were waiting in line to receive them. These Styrofoam packs contain rice and a few vegetable dishes cooked by our fellow LCI members.

One member told me that those who receive these packets of food were mostly the blind working in massage parlors nearby, ex-drug addicts, physically challenged individuals, beggers and those who looked really and desperately poor and the both of them (a couple) have been doing this for so long that they have memorized most of the names of those who come and collect their food packets daily.

This experience has taught me a few important lessons in life. The first is to be happy with what I have and never ever complain that I don’t have enough because there are those who are far more disadvantaged than me. The second is the importance of giving back to the society and community because what goes around comes around. Our act of giving back to the community may not reward us with monetary gains but it may reward us with happiness and contentment that we have played our part in making a difference in someone else’s life.

Some of my previously unpublished thots #3

2009-11-17T09:14:00.000-08:00

I’ve lived in KL for the past 7 and a half years. Hailing from Penang, I still miss my life on the island much more than in the big city. If it wasn’t for my commitments here in the city, I would have moved back a long time ago.

During my time here I can proudly say that I have managed to achieve what most young people who move to the big city from every small town and village in Malaysia have achieved and more. You may call it the Malaysian dream if you like. Frankly I’d like to see it as the Malaysian dream as well, a house, a car, a stable relationship and a promising career.

However in the past 2 years I have come to challenge my beliefs about what this all meant in the long run. Will we be truly happy with what we have achieved so far and is it able to sustain us in the long run?

Recently the government announced that the poverty line for Malaysians living in KL is RM3,000 per month. I am no statistician but I assume that not less than 70% of the 4 million or so KL residents fall within this category with no certainty that their fate will be much brighter as the days go by. Coupled with inflation, the rising prices of goods, the uncertainty in the world economy and million other considerations, what is there not to challenge about our social beliefs? But yet many of us still go thru life on auto pilot everyday working harder and putting longer hours in their jobs hoping that one day, maybe one day something unexpected happens and their lives would be changed forever.

Today I read in the newspaper that a man who has been buying 4D numbers for the past 20 years hit the jackpot of RM9million. I’m both envious and really happy for him but how many of us will ever be as lucky as him? It’s a one in 26 million chance ratio! For the rest of us, it’s back to work at 9am tomorrow morning or our bosses are more than happy to show us the door.

I believe that most of us are in the situations we are in because we are not aware enough of the world which is revolving around us. Yes, I meant what I said. Even I am guilty of that. We are too engrossed in ourselves that we fail to hit the ‘pause’ button and look around and feel our surroundings. Hear the sounds, see the sights, smell the air, feel the reality of being in the present. No, I am not Deepak Chopra or talking about the ‘Secret’. Rather, the order of nature is what goes around comes around and we need to constantly circulate around what we want to receive eventually.

Let me explain what I mean by this. I am just like any other person on the face of this earth, someone who has to constantly look out for number one and find every way to survive each day just to see the next and put food on the table but I find that the harder I try to chase something, wealth, health, career, relationships the further I find myself away from it. After a while, I, like any of you start to question whether all of this is worthwhile. I start to question my methods and the way I think and act and came to this conclusion. When I stop thinking about me and start to think of things bigger than myself, everything I have been worrying and stressed up about start to take care of itself in a way.

I started to really embrace the way of life where in order to receive, first I have to give. Years ago I attended a seminar and the speaker talked about HAVE, DO, BE and BE, DO, HAVE. To many, including myself, the mindset is, when I have the time or the money or whatever then I will do the things which I want to do, be it a business, social work, charity, chase dreams, go on a holiday and so on and thus, I will be happy or rich or whatever emotions or gratification we normally attach to achieving what we set out to do.

What about the other way round? Have we ever given a thought to that? To be, charitable, or satisfied with what we already have or happy then do the things that those emotions or state of mind allows us to do and have the rewards that comes with it at the end as a result of it. This is the most powerful 3 words that if embraced right, are able to determine the outcome of our lives but first, we need to really appreciate the meaning of it and get it in the right order.

Not many people are able to put their lives at a total halt and take a timeout to check the map and see if we are going in the right direction or chart a new course and follow it if the destination we are heading towards isn’t the one we want to follow but changing the way we think with the guidance of the 3 little words Be, Do and Have can make a profound difference in a person’s life. I call it synchronizing our beliefs to our actions and following through while checking our progress each step of the way.

Will the outcome be what we want it to be? Then it boils down to our principles and what we stand up for or what we see ourselves to be. Will we have more money, more time, more satisfaction, more love, more happiness, more health to do the things we want to do?

Some of my previously unpublished thots #2

2009-11-17T09:13:00.000-08:00

Have I been living under a rock all this time? I have been too engrossed in living my life here in KL that 2 years and 8 months have passed since I last went back to Singapore. Where did all that time go to? All this while I thought that ‘how time flies’ was just a figure of speech!

I also just found out today from the ICA website that I have not kept my end of the bargain in the 1 year minimum requirement for me to stay in the island state. With 4 months more to go before my permanent residence in Singapore expires, I am not so sure whether or not the Singapore government will consider renewing my PRship.

On the other hand, my life hasn’t been all that smooth sailing in the past 2 years and 8 months as well. The only thing that went well for me was my MBA which up to today, I have managed to finish 8 out of 9 subjects and now left with 1 more subject to go and a thesis before I can finally add that 3 alphabets after my name and start chasing bigger dreams, dreams I had wanted to chase in Singapore, Australia, the United Kingdom or even in the United States.

I was there over the weekend, accompanying a friend to a job interview he setup with a new company based out of Singapore. After the Star Cruises experience last year, I had came to realize the importance of going with conventional wisdom and mainstream choices when it comes to choosing which field you want to be in when you were in Uni or in school.

When I was in Uni in Australia in the 90s, all I thought of was taking the easy courses so that I could do my best not to drop out and graduating as soon as possible so that I could go home to see my family a few thousand miles away. Since we were studying the easy courses (business!), we used to have a good laugh at friends who were struggling in their engineering or architecture or even accounting courses, burning the midnight oil trying to stay awake cramming for their examinations. Look at where they are and who they are today! At this point I wish I studied finance or some useful degree back then.

Specialist skills is just as important as wearing a condom if you are not expecting a kid. If I were wise old sage talking to young kids while seating atop a very high mountain in Tibet I would say this: “Don’t listen to the wanker who tells you that you should follow your dreams and go to university to study business, or commerce or management and marketing as a degree.” What you have to go thru the next 10-20 years after that might just be what I am going thru today, totally unsure about the future.

Unless you are lucky to become somebody famous like my Uni mates Joey Yap, the famous feng-shui master or Kid Chan, the celebrity photographer, chances are you’d have to work your ass off from a very low place in a company who wouldn’t understand why they need to pay you the one thousand bucks extra a month just because you graduated from an overseas university when they can pay 2 ‘O’ levels grads to do the same job as what you are doing.

Courses like Accounting, or Finance or Banking or even Electrical Engineering never sounded cool back when I was in university. To us they were reserved for geeks and nerds. Well if we only knew what would happen 10 years down the road, we wouldn’t be thinking the way we did back then.

I am not saying all that overseas education taught me nothing, after all, I was in a managerial position in my last job, I was just not satisfied with the choices that were made back then. And we thought we knew it all!

I got this from the Straits Times in Singapore. It was an article by Su Guaning, the president of Nanyang Technological University in his address to the Student Network Forum.

I would like to share with you this view of employability by the founder of Visa International, Dee Hock:

“Hire and promote/First on the basis of integrity;/Second, motivation;/Third, capacity;/Fifth, knowledge;/And last and least, experience”

“Without integrity, motivation is dangerous;/Without capacity, understanding is limited;/Without understanding, knowledge is meaningless;/Without knowledge, experience is blind./Experience is easy to provide and quickly put to good use by people with all the other qualities.”

Your time in university is about acquiring knowledge to help you in your chosen career. Do not simply become a passive recipient of knowledge. Isn’t that meaningful? I wish this guy had came around 10 years ago and told me that.

Some of my previously unpublished thots #1

2009-11-17T09:11:00.000-08:00

Things get better every day because we make it better. It is not because of some higher power that dictates how our lives are lived or events in our lives unfolds. I should know better because I have been blaming that higher power for every miserable thing that had ever happened to me in the past 5 years. Now I know that I myself hold the key to my own happiness and my own destiny.

What we get out of life is proportionate to what we put into it. Like in computing terms, garbage in-garbage out applies to every aspect of our lives as human beings. I realize that the root to all results is our belief system. We are what we believe we are.

Isn’t it true? The children of people living in slums believe that it is their reality and continue to live there for generations without ever finding a way out of it. We see it everywhere, Brazil, India, The Philippines, Indonesia. Even if these people are thought that the predicament that they find themselves in isn’t their reality and they have the power to change it, they might not consciously choose to take action because they have been ‘programmed’ for generations that they cannot change their reality. However occasionally we find that there are rare jewels amongst the haystack that stand out and go down into the history books as someone who made it from rags to riches but how often do things like that occur? It takes incredible will power and determination to do even a simple thing as to choose one’s life outcome.

But, in my experience, when we consciously make the decision to actually do something about our reality, it takes even more work to follow through with our choice and to really see things work out the way we want it to. Thinking is the hardest thing to do, that’s why so few people engage in it. It’s funny, we think that we are thinking but in reality most of the time we run our lives on auto-pilot. It’s easier to sit back and relax and drift through life hoping that time will go by faster and everything will fall into its place eventually and cross the bridge when we get to it. That way we can blame it on God or ‘the way life is’ for the unfortunate things that happen to us.

Mitsubishi Lancer Restoration

2009-08-18T00:11:00.001-07:00

Finally after 3 years, my vintage car restoration has been completed. However, the car is still in the workshop to fix a broken door window which I broke trying to open the door which locks got stuck last week. The restoration could have been completed sooner had I the funds to do so. However, I think I'm pretty satisfied with the way it is now.

My review about P1 Wimax

2009-07-02T09:04:00.000-07:00

Kelvin my neighbor who stays 3 floors down from my apartment called me up this evening and asked me to meet him at the lift lobby cos he was going to pass me the new P1 modem to try out in my unit. The P1 coverage map shows that 1/3 of my apartment block is within their coverage area and so happened, my unit is slightly out of the coverage area. Block B which is right next to our block is totally out of the coverage area range. I wonder why they plan their capacity in such a way. This apartment has over 550 units and most of the residents here are young working adults and families which I believe can potentially become Packetone’s long term customers but yet so many months after their launch, nothing is being done about the coverage for the whole apartment complex. Furthermore, my apartment is located within the inner KL city limits, which is 10km radius of KLCC.

When I got the package, the first thing that struck me was the product itself. It’s matt black finish and compact size is really compelling. As compared to Maxis broadband’s ZTE modem which I signed up for 2 years ago, this modem has much more appeal! Furthermore the blue neon indicator lights is really cool. It reminds me of the new Hyundai Elantra speedometer. Their P1 logo right in the middle of the modem body on one side also lights up when you turn on the unit. I couldn’t locate any on/off buttons on the set though. The whole product design is actually quite simple, and it reminds me of a mini ionizer!

Basically the indicators are simple to understand. Just picture a traffic light. Red, amber and green light. Red being the worst coverage, amber is so-so coverage and green is excellent coverage. When the ‘traffic lights’ are blinking it means there is no or limited connectivity and when it stops blinking it means there is signal strength.

Unlike the ZTE modem, this unit doesn’t have a slot for you to insert your 3g simcard as it runs on wimax. This evening when I got the package, plugged it into my notebook and ran the speedtest available at http://speed.p1.com.my the first reading I got was 266 for DL speed and 100 for UL speed. I ran a second test right after and got 400+ for DL speed and the same UL speed. If you are paying RM49 for the most basic package, I think this speeds are quite reasonable to accept. However I’m not very clear about the fair usage policy. I need to go to P1 to get further explanation about this. 5GB limit for home user sounds a little bit to little. I wonder if I use it for normal surfing, chatting with my friends, updating my facebook page etc would 5GB be enough? Would they cut me off after I have used 5GB? Is 5GB of usage per day or per month? So many questions, so little answers!

Now it’s 11:30pm, the red light has been blinking for the past half an hour and I couldn’t access any of my websites, it alternates between red, amber and even a few seconds of green every minute. Right now only it has kinda settled down a little. I wonder if we will get that every time we attempt to use it. My friend told me that I can hook up a wireless router to it and use it wirelessly without having to plug the thing into my notebook and be stuck in one place. I definitely gotta find out more about that.

Finally, this is a great product if you know where to place the modem to get the best coverage. I live on the 11th floor of an apartment complex which has another 5 storey of car park. That makes it 17 storeys high but I still don’t face the problem I previously faced when I was using Maxis broadband, which when I called their customer service hotline was told I need to be 5th floor and below to get the best results, what about people living on the 30th floor of their condo? Does this mean that I am not a valuable broadband user?

I still have my slight dissatisfaction about not being able get full coverage inside my apartment but so far it has been quite stable. Since I am only going to get to use this modem for 1 day, I wouldn’t know what the long term service quality is going to be like unless I sign up for a package myself.

Transformers 2 premier thanks to DHL Express

2009-06-25T00:14:00.000-07:00

Why thanks to DHL Express, we managed to catch Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen at GSC Mid Valley in a sort of exclusive i-booked-the-whole-cineplex kinda way. This is something I must say is pretty awesome! Incidentally it coincided with the opening premier of this much anticipated movie.

To tell you the truth, I was excited all morning through to evening about watching it today, before anyone else. I have been anticipating the movie since its trailer started screening a couple of months back and the funny thing was it was heavily advertised by Energizer which gave out discount coupons for battery purchases. The surprising thing was, my girlfriend was even more excited about the whole thing! (And I thought I was a great big Transformers fan…) I reckon that made 2 of us.

DHL Express rented out 2-3 cineplexes for their clients I reckon as a thank you for your business gesture. Somebody’s somebody couldn’t make it at the last minute and here we were with 2 free tix for the movie.

However, getting to mid valley itself was almost a high drama plot. Lydia called me at about 5pm and told me bout the free tickets so I said I’d fetch her at 6:30 from work around Times Square and we’d drive to Mid Valley to get the tickets before 7:45 from one of the Managers at DHL at GSC.

At 6pm it started to rain cats and dogs. On a clear day I could see the entire KL skyline from my apartment window right over to the mont kiara hills and slightly beyond. North I get a good view of Genting Highlands right up to the red ‘GH’ logo on top of the hotel. At 6, I couldn’t even see the government clinic located right below my block! In fact, I couldn’t even see 2cm beyond my window. That was how bad the storm was. I notice we seem to get a lot of that these days. Is this wat they call mother nature’s fury for screwing up her beautiful planet?

I drove out from my apartment to horrible traffic jams everywhere, caused by flash floods (everywhere!) The road which usually never retains any water looked like lake Toba! The storm drain which is normally below normal levels were bursting at its seems and if it rained another few hours I reckon it was going to spill over. It was going at a rate that would damage the cops speed cam. That was how bad it was. Not to mention all the stalled vehicles on the roadside unable to start their engines cos their exhaust intake had too much to drink.

Anyways, after all the drama, we managed to reach Mid Valley in time to grab the tickets only to be told at 7:30 that the movie starts at 9:30. Try to beat that! Thank god the tix were free.

The movie was great! I’m not gonna give away any details here that’s for sure. Go catch it yourself! One thing I can say is, it was freaking 2.5 hours! We had a big bag of popcorn, big cup of coke, baloney breath sweaty corporate executive next to me who laughs out loud everytime the transformers move their bodyparts and ensures the whole Cineplex knows he is amused, fidgety senior citizen who yawns out loud next to Lydia. The rest of the experience was pretty normal. It ended at 12:10am!!!

One thing I wanna comment bout the movie was, there were too much foul language from the bots. Are you sure this is a U rated movie? If I had kids, I wouldn’t bring them to watch, dude! What’s up with that Mr. Bay? As if we don’t have enough foul mouth kids running around swearing at anything that walks. The movie reminded me a lot of Nicky Cage’s National Treasure 2. Watch it, you’ll know what I’m talking about.

Another thing about the movie was, the fighting scenes are really fast! Too fast for my Pentium 1 brain to process. I reckon if I were watching a pirated copy, my notebook might just fry trying to accelerate the graphics from the fighting scenes. No wonder Mr. Senior citizen next to Lydia was so fidgety. He’s probably still trying to figure out why he found himself in GSC in the first place. Maybe Mrs. Senior Citizen dragged him there. She fell asleep 2 seconds after the movie started and didn’t wake up till the end. It must have been the noisiest 2.5 hour sleep she ever experienced in her life. Not to mention her husband yawning out loud every 25 seconds. I should have reached over and offered him some popcorn!

Well, that concludes my little movie adventure for today. I’m not much of a movie buff, the last movie we caught at the plex was Vin Diesel’s FnF4 but experiences like this really gives us stuff to talk about in the days to come. Great movie, great storyline, great action, a 7/10 from my scoreboard. I’m definitely gonna watch it again.

Birdie fall from a tree

2009-05-31T21:31:00.001-07:00

Tell you guys something weird that happened to me on friday 29 May 2009. That morning I went to my gf's place as usual to fetch her to work by motorbike, cos KL traffic in the morning, u know how its like lah. So here we were leaving her residential estate when suddenly out of nowhere I felt someone hit my chest real hard. I wasn't wearing my riding jacket at that time so it hurt real badly. it was like someone punching my ribs in and the impact is really strong.

It all happened really fast, so riding at 40-50km/h my first reaction was to avoid touching whatever object that fell on my chest and let the damned thing fall to the road. I stopped the bike after about 1 meter from the object cos I was stunned bout what happened. And the pain!

I turned my bike around to the spot where the object fell down on the road after hitting me and saw a little bird. I can't say it's a baby cos its wings and feathers have all been developed, only not fully developed. I think i'd stick to the term 'juvenile bird'. haha...cos thats what it seems to look like.

The bird was panting like someone who just got off a treadmill with its eyes half open. Can u imagine? I dunno what to make of it, confusion? shock? i didn't really know what to do bout the bird lying there then. what u supposed i was supposed to do? give it 'kiss of life' like the park ranger and the penguin in madagascar 2? remembering h4n1, i wouldn't even dare lay a finger on it. it might have da flu!

by that time my gf was reminding me how late she was for work so i left the poor fella there to hyperventilate. or whatever he/she was doing.

well the sad part bout this story was, at night when i passed that way again, the juvy bird, together with his/her sibling has now been reduced to a pancake or roadkill that needed to be scrapped off the tarmac. well it's a pity...

I guess what happened was the birds were attacked in their nest by other birds or predators. u know how it's like in the animal kingdom. eat or be eaten. and da poor fella didn't even learn how to fly yet.

all the while i was thinking to myself, how da heck does a bird fall out of a tree???

2009-05-27T20:53:00.000-07:00

More on life...

2009-05-26T03:02:00.000-07:00

What possibly could be the remedy of a lifetime of mistakes and bad judgments calls? Envy of others is the only words that comes to my mind whenever I think of my peers who started out at the same time with me on a level playing field whom today can lay claim to being ‘somebody’ either in a certain social circle, profession, achievement or circumstances. This feeling of envy of course is only directed towards those who have achieved rather outstanding outcomes in the same amount of time I took to become who I am, or who I am not, today.

Don’t get me wrong. I am extremely proud of them. The feeling of pride only a friend can have for another whenever he or she achieves a certain outstanding milestone in their lives. I can consider myself privileged to have crossed paths with some of the great individuals of my time. From outstanding athletes to brilliant academicians, well groomed and learned professionals to individuals whom have successfully raised beautiful children whom will one day inherit this beautiful world we live in.

As I look back, I could find many things that I would have set the record straight about given a chance to go back in time. However I also believe that, the choices which I had made at one point or another in my life had lead me to where I am today and to get to where I want to be tomorrow, I have to make choices today which will affect a favorable outcome. I don’t know if there is such a thing as too little too late or being too old to do something to become successful.

Whenever I get that thought, my mind will immediately do an auto search of my mind’s archives to retrieve the story of Colonel Sanders which at either 60 or 70, who got 1000 doors slammed in his face in the process of selling the rights to use his KFC chicken recipe, didn’t give up and became a screaming success after the 1001st client said yes and believed in him.

I remember being in a client’s office 9 years ago seeing a poster I never would forget. It said in bold letters ‘THE 3 SECRETS TO SUCCESS!’ 1.Think Big! 2.Work Hard! 3.Never give up! How many times have you heard of that before? If you’re like me, hearing it for the first time, I’m sure it’s definitely advice worth its weight in gold. However, 9 years down the road, I still don’t reckon I have achieved success yet.

However, have I ever considered what I consider as success? What benchmark or acid test do I apply to say my situation is a lost cause? I reckon I have set a very high standard for myself to achieve, that’s why even after numerous successes in life, I still find that I really am lacking something. But what is it?

Let’s do an inventory check, a nice apartment with a 360 degree view of the city, a car, high education with another kick ass degree on the way, a loving partner, parents and siblings. For the ordinary person, I reckon it can be more than anybody can ever ask for. In fact, if I were to compare myself to the average Malaysian, income wise earning 3k and less per month, which I’m sure represents about 80% of the entire workforce in Malaysia, I’m way better off. This would put me in the top 20% of the workforce. Now I’m not talking about the population in general. I think if I were to rank myself against the general population, the calculation would probably be like this: assuming KL population is 4 million, which is 15% of the entire 26 million people in Malaysia. Assuming I put myself in the top 25%, I would be in the top 5% of the Malaysian population earning a good living and living a good life. I wonder if I’d achieve that kind of success living in another country, like in Singapore or Australia. Although these places are excellent to live in and promise great job opportunities and quality of life, I’m not sure I will be able to be in the top 5% of the population there. In today’s world, where you rank is all that matters. To achieve success, it’s paramount that you know where you stand and implement changes your circumstances and make better decisions to get to where you want to go to. Clarity is power!

Ok this is part 2. To tell you the truth I took so long to complete this blog entry, I kinda lost my train of thought somewhere along the way. In the past 24 hours I did take the time to ponder about what I wrote here last night and it got me thinking. Am I really there yet? As in the top 5% of the entire population in Malaysia. I wonder what kind of benchmarks I would use to gauge that. Or maybe I’m not? I could well be swimming in the bottom 95% of the gene pool and quite contented with it.

Then I came to this conclusion. Life could be simple it could be complex. So far I have chosen the it to be complex, which is good from where I am, now. And then what? Is running a race your whole life and still running past 50 great? I know I wouldn’t wanna be running a race my whole life and wake up 20 years later telling myself, u know what? Maybe I shouldn’t be running like this after all.

It’s all about the choices we make and the actions we take. We have been conditioned from young that there is a fine line between right and wrong, so, when we do stuff right we get rewarded and when we do stuff wrong, we get punished. So we go about our lives trying our darnest not to fail or do the wrong thing. Which, in the end, could end up wrong as well. Perhaps its our fear of failure that lead us to failure in the end. What say you?

The long way home...

2009-05-21T23:48:00.000-07:00

When you can’t seem to find what you want to in a certain place no matte how hard u look for it, is the thing you are looking for misplaced or are you looking in all the wrong places?

That is what I have been asking myself for the past 9 months since I left the cruise company after finding out they were going to pack up and leave for another country.

I keep asking myself where I went wrong. I keep improving my methods, my techniques and my game plan but it seems like the more hope I bank on, the more disappointed I get. Am I kidding myself?

This town didn’t work for me before. That’s why I left in 2002. What made me think that I could make it work this time around? Was it because I have been away for a while and now I’m back and wiser? Well right now it seems like the wiser I get, the worst my situation gets in tandem.

No wonder my best buddy left. It was perhaps the best decision he made in his life. Look at where he is now, a bright future ahead of him. It didn’t matter where it took him, even to a god forsaken place. My gal was right. I’m too choosy! But you would too if you were me. We need to set a certain standard for ourselves in this world right? It’s all about wanting the best for ourselves. Isn’t that what our parents wanted for us while we were growing up? But look where all that brought me? Nothing but one frustration after another.

Like everyone else, I don’t know who I should start blaming next. The government? The global economic meltdown? Paranoid companies? This day and age? Religion? I think I’m all over spewing my unhappiness over all of the above. Its about time I get a mirror and take a long hard look at who I really am and who I really want to be and what I really want to do. But… do I really have the luxury of that? Do we all? My dad used to tell me that we rarely get to do the things or become who we really want to be in this lifetime. Life is all about grabbing whatever we can get our hands on and making the best out of every moment we can.

Which brings me to another question… Have I been taking all the wrong advices? Have I been following all the wrong principles?

What would I do if I know that I couldn’t fail? I’ve read that sentence somewhere in the tons of books I own and tons more in the libraries I go to frequently. What would I do? Is this a trick question? Do I have to delve deep inside my soul to find the answer to that or is it something superficial which escaped my eyes? I don’t know if there is more to this life than what have been served to me thus far or there is a more simple answer to all the worries and suffering of everyday human life.

I mean, life should be simple, right? I mean, it really could be. We humans take something as simple as life and complicate and mess it up so badly that in the end we don’t even know what it is all about anymore. Its like we thrive on chaos, complication and uncertainty.

This is exactly what I am going through right now. If I didn’t put my hopes up too high, aim for the moon, expect more from myself and complicate the shit out of my simple existence, I wouldn’t be in such a predicament I am currently in. If everyone is a big shot doesn’t mean I have to be one too right? I could be a Mr. Nobody and still be happy and contented. I dunno why I can’t bring myself to accept that for a fact.

But, it isn’t such a bad thing after all. Look at what I have achieved in this life so far. It far exceeds even my own expectation in such a short period of time. If it’s that good, then what do I still want? What else is lacking in my life? Why can’t I accept it for what it is now? I keep thinking in terms of how it could be like, what it is like when its done. The end justifying the means. I’ve been so obsessed with the end result, I can confidently say that, I’m not sure what I had expected the end result to look like. For all I know, I have already achieved that result!

In all the frenzy of running the rat race, always thinking in terms of tomorrow and what if, I have kinda lost touch with some of the things which exists in the present. I’m sure I have. I find myself doing less and less of the enjoyable things I used to engage in before I started worrying about the future and how to get there. It’s true! I don’t hang out with my friends like I used to. Even if I do, I seldom reminisce about the past with them the way I used to do before. What we talk about is always about whats ahead and what we’d like to be or like to have or what will be. What a drag! I used to enjoy the simple things in life.

I think my problem is, I do more of the planning for life but less of the living of life. Well I’m glad. I’m glad I finally see what I have been denying myself of seeing. I fully understand it now. Live every moment as if it was your last. Live as if you’re gonna die tomorrow. Life is simple, why complicate it? But where should I start? When is a good time to start living my life? When should I live like I am dying? When should I love like I never loved before? When should I start planning my life and start living my life? Today? Tomorrow? Right now?

I have made a decision not to worry so much. Not to fear so much and start to live my life for the present. Yesterday is in the past. Tomorrow is too far away, today a gift, a gift from the Almighty, I think that’s why it’s called the present.

Foodcourt encounter!

2009-04-27T23:02:00.000-07:00

Something inexplicable happened to Lydia and I this week. We went to this foodcourt along the 3 ½ mile of Jalan Cheras. This foodcourt has been around for some time, around 8 years. Its inconspicuous and kind of hidden from view from the mainroad. The people who eat there are mostly regulars or know where to find it. I used to be a regular there years ago when it was still new but now it’s a bit rundown.

They hire a lot of foreigners to serve foods and drinks, and some of the foodstalls even have foreigners running them. I had just fetched Lydia from work at around 8pm and we were heading home. We decided to have dinner nearby as it looked as if it was going to rain. So I pulled over to this foodcourt off the mainroad as I remembered they used to serve good food back when it first opened.

We sat down outside and while deciding what to eat, the waitress came and asked what we would like to drink. We asked for Chinese herbal tea but the waitress who served us didn’t understand Cantonese very well so she called her colleague over to ask us what we wanted to have. We repeated ourselves and she rushed to the drinks station to get us our drinks. We were too busy chatting with each other that we didn’t really notice anyone around us, let alone the waitresses, lottery and dvd sellers.

When the drinks came I asked the waitress how much it was, she said RM2.00. I pulled out RM10 from my pocket as I only had RM10 and a RM1 inside. She gestured that it was too big a note that she had to get it changed at the counter, so off she went. When my food arrived I didn’t have any change to pay for it, so I told the Indonesian or Thai waitress to wait till the drinks waitress to bring back my change.

After a long while, we realized that the drinks waitress had not returned, so I went to the counter to ask if the waitress had forgotten the change for my table, #18. The cashier gave me a blank look and the drinks supervisor came and asked me what’s wrong. I told her what was wrong and she asked me, “Did u remember how the girl looked like?” At this section of the foodcourt we got 4 people waiting tables including me. She was a local Chinese lady while the other 3 are thai nationals. I said “I’m sorry I didn’t notice” and she said “Then I’m sorry I couldn’t help u”. I was thinking whether it was a ploy to cheat unsuspecting customers of money and if it was, the method was really sleazy and unethical. But yet again, would u expect a foodcourt operator to be ethical and clean?

So I went back to my place and Lydia asked me “How did it go?” I said “Not too well, they asked me if I could remember the waitress’s face. I couldn’t, Lydia couldn’t too because we were to engrossed in chatting with each other. The hawker we ordered food from was still waiting for her change and I went over there and I said, “Nevermind I will pay you first” remembering I had another 3 pieces of RM50 note in my wallet.

I opened my wallet and there it was, tucked neatly inside was 1 piece of RM5 and 4 pieces of RM1 including the RM1 I already had in my wallet, together with the 3 pieces of RM50 I had inside. I asked Lydia, “did u see the waitress return me the change?” she said, “She left with your RM10 and didn’t even come back!” I was like, erm…. So I went and asked all the waitresses who delivered our drinks but none of them admitted to even doing it. What a weird encounter at this local foodcourt! Spooky!

If you guys wanna know where this foodcourt is, its along the 3 ½ mile of Jalan Cheras, opposite Brunsfield’s City View Condo where there is a Perodua showroom. The foodcourt is called Payathin (Pat-yeh-theen in Cantonese), the same row as a furniture shop and a Nissan showroom.

CNY 2009 1st day family pic

2009-01-27T07:50:00.000-08:00

Happy CNY 2009 to all!

2009-01-27T07:42:00.000-08:00

What do u know? It's 2009 already and it's the 2nd day of the Chinese Lunar New Year or the spring festival. 4 days ago I spent 5 hours instead of the normal 4 driving back from KL to Penang. The highway was literally full of cars and at certain spots it was really jammed up. Well, after it all, I'm quite glad that I made it home in one piece and only 30 bucks of petrol! Talk about fuel savings! With savings like that, who wouldn't want to drive back to their hometown often huh?

Its always relaxing to be home with your family ain't it? Well, there isn't much to be said here as I am enjoying my holidays now in Penang! All I wanna say is Happy CNY 2009 to all, and may the year of the ox bring you and your family prosperity, happiness, wealth and health!

When people Wins, I win!

2008-11-06T23:05:00.000-08:00

This was a blog entry I typed out on June 24 2008 which I wanted to post back then but forgot:

I have had a very profound revelation bestowed upon me today. Of the 15 years I have been online, chatting with and making new friends, of surfing the net hoping to find the something which will make my life a little bit better, building my life around corresponding with friends and family via emails and lately friendster and onward to facebook, website names which have yet to find itself into the English dictionary, I can confidently say that today is the actual turning point of my life.

I have been contemplating a career switch into sales this past year after finding myself behind a desk full of paperwork in a dead end mundane job chasing the illusive dream that someday I will make something out of this ‘career’ I have landed myself in while ranting about how good the ‘benefits’ are here to my friends and family.

The actual fact is that, behind the scenes, when they turn off the lights at night in the fancy 20th floor with a view of the kl tower, I’m just a helpless broke with pennies to my name instead of the millions of dollars I have been chasing all this while. I guess they were right when they said that the more you chase something, the faster and further it runs away from you.

The power-point slide shows the grand canyon and a little caption below it which reads “The more you plan your life, the more you’ll miss the chance of destiny hitting you.”

Today I found out that one of my friend from my hometown had cancer. I don’t know the seriousness of the cancer, I also don’t know whether she will live or leave in weeks or months to come but I have learnt something today.

That the way I have been living my life has been totally upside down. Today I vow to unlearn everything I have learned about living my life for the past 31 years. I have been conditioned, mostly by my peers to consider this phrase:

“What would you do if you knew you couldn’t lose/had nothing to lose?” or “If money wasn’t an issue, what would you be doing in life?”

Phrases that makes me consider what would I do in MY best interest if nothing was in my way in life. What I would do for myself that will enhance my standard of living… social status… creature comfort… family… etc.

What if I totally change the phrase I was taught to live by and now it reads:

“HOW WOULD I LIVE MY LIFE IF I ONLY HAD 24 HOURS TO LIVE?” How would you life your life if you knew you were going to die tomorrow? Would I still think of my own benefit at the expense of others?

I would want to share everything I know, all the knowledge and wisdom that I possess, with the people I know will benefit from it.

I won’t think of what’s in it for me when helping other people.

I now realize that, often we think more of ourselves than of others. Perhaps this is one of the primal instincts of mankind. To look out for their own above all else. Our pursuit for material gains and creature comfort makes us put up a limit when we’re suppose to consider other people’s welfare.

Slowly we develop a mindset that reminds us often that no matter what, we have to look out for our own first. Our actions and decisions got us to where we are today and we are the masters of our own destiny. Therefore we cannot blame anyone else for our plight or predicament, if we are in a rut and if we’re fortunate enough to be bestowed with the riches and luxuries which life can offer us, we have to count our lucky stars and we deserve everything we have ever worked for and the less fortunate are where they are because they did not work hard enough or make good enough decisions to ensure that their lives are better than what its supposed to be.

Today I shall rid my mindset of all poisonous and selfish thoughts and genuinely care for people. I will think of their benefit because when people win, I win!

I believe! Yes I can!

2008-11-06T22:24:00.000-08:00

Maroon 5 is playing on the radio now and I'm feeling totally relaxed on a Friday afternoon. Not because the week is rolling into the weekend, cos it really doesn't make a difference to me anyway. Its a kind of calm confidence coming over me.

A quick check showed that I haven't updated my blog since June, it's November now and that makes 5 months already. So many things had happened since then. My untimely exit from the workforce (yet again) in September and the passing of a good friend in October.

I've just embarked on my Real Estate career and what I feel like saying is, right now the road ahead is still very long. However, I have built a strong foundation by choosing the right company to start out with. Eventhough I have not sold any property yet, I would like to thank Reapfield Properties for providing me with a strong foundation to start in this business (eventhough I had to pay for the training), I feel that its all worth it. I mean, which person ever gained from something that was given out for free, right?

Unless it was a lashing, then the person would have gained a heartache and a plan to get even!

I'm still not very sure about my direction moving forward towards the future, at least I'm taking the first step there and know that all's well ends well (as far as the movie title goes).

All my 8 MBA subjects ends at the end of next year, that is if I consistently take 2 subjects per semester from Jan all the way to July and end with 1 subject at the end of the year. After that I have to plan and start on my thesis. Like I anticipated from the start, it ain't easy but I'm now halfway through it, I won't stop now! I hope that the me reading this 2 years from now when I'm finally an MBA will know that I'm a fighter and not scared to fight all the way to the end. I know that I will be proud of what I have achieved!

By then I would be well footed in my Real Estate biz too. Right now I am struggling so much. My opportunity cost this 3 months I am out on my own is more than 10 thousand ringgit, which is alot in today's economy. I know that I still have to find a job right now to ensure that I can still comfortably drive my car and comfortably live in my condo. That is besides having food on the table everyday and pay for the bills.

I will pull through these tough times! I imagine myself laughing heartily at this blog entry many years from now when I'm financially stable. I know that all my efforts won't go to waste. My motto, "Every step I take brings me closer to the realization of my goals and dreams" still holds true and strong in my mind and soul.

As my good friend Stanley told me some time back. Don't worry about what you don't have now. Whether you win or lose, you will know when you're in your older years.

Obama had taught me that, no matter who you are, black, white, yellow, tall, short, skinny, fat, if you think you can, you can. I believe! Yes I can!

Has it really been 3 months already?

2008-06-17T19:25:00.000-07:00

Has it really been 3 months already? Last week my cousin sister sent me an email asking me to update my blog. Today I noticed that I haven't updated it since Mar 20, almost 3 months.

I can't believe that I have been so engrossed with work and life so much to the extent that I have failed to come in here and express myself and let go whatever feelings and emotions which I have built up for so long and allow myself to slowly be eaten up by the everyday stresses of working and living in the city. Also many things has changed and happened in the 3 months I have been away. Earthquake in Si-chuan China and Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar killing scores of people and more prominently back home, the fuel hike from RM1.92 to RM2.70 per litre of unleaded petrol. Whats worst, coming soon is the increase in electricity rates.

The only thing which I haven't heard is increasing is my salary and those of my fellow Malaysians. But being the peace loving and god fearing Malaysians we are, many of us (me included), life still goes on. I guess it's nothing new around here. The fuel price has been hiked many times in the past and look at us, we're still standing on our two feet.

On the 1st of April 2008, I have also moved into my own apartment, the one which I bought in 2004, completed and went through the key handover ceremony in Dec 2006 and had been rented out all this while. Finally the 'Malaysian dream' of mine of having a house and car of my own has 'materialized'. Now the only thing which is left to do for me is to work hard and make enough money to live happily in it.

I'm not one to complain much because my office is 10km away from where I live and I ride an old motorcycle to work everyday. My fuel usage, before the hike used to be RM70 per month and parking fees another RM10 per day. Now it's about RM100 (est) per month for fuel and the same RM10 for parking under the shade.

Driving would cost me about 5x more with the jam and extorbitant parking charges (RM8 per day!)Guess I've got nothing much to complain about. As for the quake and cyclone victims, I make sure I set aside some money (saved from not driving my car to work)to make donations every month. Its my own way of giving back and repaying my 'karma'.

Well, one thing which doesn't really make sense to me in the days after the 'aftermath' of the fuel price hikes. People are still driving around in their big ass gas guzzling cars as if the hike never happened. I'm not pro government or anything, just being sensible. All the calls for 'ubah gaya hidup' by our PM has probably yet to settle into our lifestyles or has fallen on deaf ears.

Things as simple as leaving half an hour or an hour earlier to work everyday constitutes the lifestyle change our govt has been encouraging us to do. Also I guess our mindsets has to change as well. When I say 'we' or 'our', I am including myself in the equation because I am also a member of everyday Malaysians angry at everything which dramatically alters our lifestyle. I am a rakyat too.

The world economy, global oil prices increase, greenhouse gases, depleting ozone layers, open burning for land clearance, earthquakes, floods, cyclones and hurricanes are all beyond our control as human beings, but our own mindset is. Small things like not driving like an F1 driver on steroids during rush hour traffic while trying to look like James Dean or leaving the house in Klang at 8:45am trying to reach the workplace in KLCC at 9am.

Other things include, not being a scrooge when it comes to servicing the car when it's scheduled to, which is every 5000km if you're using normal engine oils and around 7000-10000km if you're on da good stuff, like Mobil 1. I admit I used to be in that category as well. Doing this in the long run actually results in a worn out engine and higher fuel consumption. The other thing is tyres. I see many cars on the road with less than 20-30% thread left on them and many looking like Kojak's head (botak!). Cmon lah, are new tyres more expensive than the lives of the passengers you carry in your car? 'Fuel saving' tyres actually (if you inflate it right) does give you more mileage for the fuel you pump in your car.

The last thing I would like to share here is, because of the recent fuel hike, some opportunities have arise to make some good profit. The if you're looking for business opportunities, the sale of EPS fuel savers, fuel saving sticks, fuel additives and the likes of it to save from 5-25% on motorists' fuel consumption, you can write me an email at davegeh@gmail.com. There is always 2 sides to a coin. Even the chinese word for crisis (weiji) contains 2 characters, signifying both 'danger' and 'opportunity'. When you're in a crisis situation, take a look at the situation from the inside when you're in it, then step 'outside' of yourself and look at it in another light... there might be opportunity to be gained out of it.

Funny vid - Doggie humps his passed out master!

2008-03-20T18:27:00.000-07:00

Never a good idea to pass out in public...

Courtesy of LiveLeak.com

Public Holiday! Its the birthday of Prophet Muhammad S.A.W

2008-03-20T10:57:00.001-07:00

First of all, I would like to again congratulate Datuk Ong Tee Keat for being promoted to the position of Transport Minister of Malaysia by the PM!

The last week was really hectic, running here and there like a mad person plus the erratic weather. I really dunno whats happening to the climate nowadays, it never rained so much before, especially this time of the year. Now it practically rains everyday!

Besides the deadlines of my Human Resource Management and Challenges to Management assignments drawing nearer and nearer, I have recently found something new to stir my interest in making money (although I don't have any to start with.) and for once, it doesn't involve Insurance policies, Unit trusts, Multi-level marketing, Stocks and bonds, talking to strangers, cold-calling, bugging my family members to buy worthless things from me or God. (Thank goodness it doesn't involve the last 2!)

But like I said, if someone were to pre-qualify people to join in this program to make huge bucks, then I will be the first one that person will DIS-qualify as a prospect. This is because it involves an initial capital outlay of about RM30,000 and above. The whole week this term has been revolving in my head "Rich man getting richer game".

You'd think you finally 'cracked the code' and found the secret of how the rich becomes richer and the poor (that includes me for now) becomes poorer and poorer and how we wish a guy in a green suit with a feather on his cap riding a white horse would come along and drop sacks of gold coins on our front porch. Lo and behold! Lesson learnt: The rich became richer by using money. Period. After cracking my brain for many hours, weeks, days, months and years, I still can't think of any other way besides, well, robbing a bank (too risky), marrying into money (too sleazy) or conning rich old ladies (too cheap).

For the rest of you who do have money, you might want to check out this neat little investment strategy called 'Land Banking'. While driving home after dinner with my dearest in Pudu, I heard an ad on LiteFM on UK Land and the tagline was really catchy. "...consistently outperform every other investment instruments..." Wouldn't you think they would have at least some data to support what they blurt out on national radio?

In land banking you may find terms like Capital Preservation (Protection?), Capital growth (14.4% compounded and 22% simple interest) and things like 'land in the path of development' and seeking to double your investment in 4-6 years. For those who have attended introductory seminars in Land Banking, will find it very familiar and much so for those who have actually invested in Land Banking products, will find it very familiar plus highly rewarding and enjoyable! What it means in idiot terms (for people like me) is, 100-200% ROI in a couple of years! Impossible? I doubt so.

I'm a critic, but I'm also an optimist and an opportunist. When something good or bad comes along, I always like to play Horatio Cane and snap on my rubber glove and pretend I'm in a shoot of CSI: Miami although my head not always senget like his. We have to question whether good really is good and bad really is bad or good really is bad or bad really is good, right? There is a seminar on Land Banking coming up at Walton International (one of the major Land Banking players in Malaysia) at their 8th floor Wisma Genting office in KL on Sat 29th March 2008. If you're reading this and curious to find out more, do drop me an email at davegeh@gmail.com . We could make arrangements to meet up and go listen to what they have to say.

THERE IT CAME AND WENT! TSUNAMI?

2008-03-10T00:56:00.000-07:00

Congratulations Datuk Ong Tee Keat for your win in P100.Pandan (Selangor) in GE12, 2008!
There it came and went. The general election that would go down into the annals of history (although I doubt that it will ever go into the history books for the newer generation of Malaysians whom we groom to take over our country to learn)

The one called the mother of all general elections, the tsunami wave of political change, people’s power and the most prominent one being, the dawn of a new Malaysia. Glued in front of the television with a bottle of Carlsberg from the nearby kopitiam and a bag of giant groundnuts till the wee hours of the morning waiting expectantly for the result of the 12th general election, I must admit that I, like millions of other Malaysians, were anxious and extremely curious about what the results would be like. Will the ‘giants’ rule another day or will the underdogs be given a chance to prove their worth, to walk their talk after 50 years of the ‘ruling coalition’ dominance.

Today, 2 days after the ‘tsunami’, I must admit that I’m still in a daze about the outcome. I must also admit that, I am one of those who actually bought in to the words of our PM advising us to “be thankful for what you have” and see no reason or rhyme to actually go against anything which I consider good. Life really was good for the past 5 years since the last election in 2004.

I actually was thankful for what I had, and even more thankful for what I didn’t have to go through, things like war, hunger, unemployment, sleeping on the street, foreign occupation and scarcity. After a while, it dawned upon me that, if I was living in Indonesia, as a Chinese (being the minority there), in face of a multitude of adversity and uncertainty, I can still have for myself if I work hard enough, enough food so that I wouldn’t die of hunger, a roof over my head so that I wouldn’t have to live out on the street and enough money in my pocket, so that I wouldn’t have to go beg others for it.

No matter who is in power, that person or group would still by all means do it’s best so that they do not run the country into the ground as they themselves live here too with their families and friends all around them. Who in their right mind would want chaos in their own ‘house’? This very thought had empowered me to adopt a wider take on politics and the economy which I would normally not really give a thought about.

Congratulations to the ruling coalition MP in the constituency which I had voted in for 2 general elections (P100.Pandan, Selangor), Datuk Ong Tee Keat (BN-MCA). Yes, I voted for him in 2004 and 2008, but only because he is a humble, hardworking, dedicated and caring person who have really listened to us and served us throughout the years. His banners and posters doesn’t even bear his honorific title, just his humble name. I have deep respect for him because he is walks his talk.

In the state assembly in my area, I would like to congratulate first time assemblywoman, Ms. Jenice Lee Ying Ha (DAP) for her impressive win in this area. The previous state assemblyman had really left many of us who have actually entrusted our vote to him utterly disappointed and frustrated for his lack of participation and presence, something we had wished he would have done something more about in the last 4 years or so. It is no surprise why he didn’t seek re-election this time around. Ms. Lee, we know you’ll dedicate yourself to doing a much better job and not let us down.

Although I can be considered a 2nd generation Pandan resident, buying a property here shortly before the 2004 general elections, I have lived in this area since 1999 after returning from studies overseas. It’s a really nice place cozy place to call home if you can forgive the lousy traffic jam that seems to centre around the MRR2 as you come from Cheras (Tesco Cheras) to the Pandan Indah flyover. Places of interest here include Steven’s Corner in Pandan Indah, ‘Mini-Genting’ an elevated stretch of road in the vicinity of Bkt Teratai where couples go to be close to each other while enjoying a great view of KL city especially at night. The night market and a wide variety of food outlets at Tmn Muda/Tmn Putra commercial centre (famous for it’s Buffet style Chinese mixed rice) is also famous amongst city folk.

Also equally famous here is the lake in Pandan Perdana where avid joggers, anglers and leisure seekers enjoy their morning and evening walks or just to relax and leave the hectic world behind. Pandan Indah is also home to MPAJ’s HQ. The night markets around Pandan Indah, Pandan Jaya and Taman Maju Jaya (Pandan Perdana) is also as famous and popular as those in Tmn Connaught, Seri Petaling and Damansara Utama.

I love this little spot on the map and hope that it remains beautiful, peaceful and lovely for as long as it can. It’s the way we like it and would like it to be for our future generations. All we hope for those we have entrusted our votes to is to keep it that way and possibly bring changes you deem necessary to make our lives better, both as residents of Pandan and as citizens of Malaysia.

Click on the link to access the websites of Datuk Ong Tee Keat (MP for Pandan) and Ms. Jenice Lee (ADUN-Teratai)

http://www.ongteekeat.com/

www.jenicelee.com/joomla

Strange Experience in KLCC

2008-03-06T16:37:00.000-08:00

I was in KLCC after work yesterday to pay my Maxis Broadband bill at Menara Maxis, and since I rode my motorcycle to work, I had to park in the basement motorcycle park like everybody else. The parking fee alone cost me RM1.50. Well, that wasn't the strange experience I had. :")

While walking towards the escalator that leads up to the linkway between Suria and Menara Maxis, right in front of Auntie Anne's (I think), I suddenly had this 'spinning sensation' and lost my balance. It was as if the floor was all wobbly and stuff under me. It felt like walking on balloons, if you know what the feeling is like. And as I fought my way to stay upright these few seconds, up ahead was a security guard and I had to literally cling on to his arm to prevent from falling down.

Well our friend was of cos startled by what 'grabbed' him from behind. (Arm I mean) that he asked me to go take a sit at the nearby eatery bench. I told him that I was fine, I just felt the ground wobble under me as if there was a minor tremor right here in KL.

Later when I went in to the Maxis centre and told the girl across the counter about my little 'experience' a few mins ago, she told me that, KLCC was built with some 'Japanese technology' which incorporates a bubble at the bottom of the structure which allows the entire building to sway from left to right according to the wind speeds...bla...bla...bla... What a great bedtime story, she almost put me to sleep!

When I reached home later that night I pondered to myself was it my extreme schedule and lack of sleep that made me lose my balance right there in Suria? Or was it something else that happened in that 10 or so seconds that the ground went all vertigo on me. If it was fatigue, then how come from the carpark all the way up to the mall everything seemed fine for me?

Of late I've been keeping a really tight and busy schedule, with activities occuring every single second of the day, from work, to my studies, to my relationship to things like 'planning for a brighter future' reflections and step by step action taking. Nothing happens till you take action right? I think I remember Tony Robbins saying, Planning without action is a waste of time, or Dreaming without taking action is the beginning of delusion, or something along that lines.

Today, sitting in my office cubicle at 9am in the morning, down with flu, a bad cough and an even worst headache, I'm reflecting if I would make it out 'alive' in 2 years time. But like I promised myself time and time again, No regrets!

The annual dinner!

2008-02-24T16:39:00.000-08:00

STAR CRUISES ANNUAL DINNER 2008 AT SHERATON HOTEL SUBANG JAYA

OSCAR NITE!

Picture 1: Dave, Adrian (back), Gerrad

Picture 2: Adrian, Gerrad, David

Picture 3: Jesse Wong & David Geh

Picture 4: Ting Shin, David & Susan

After working here for more than 7 months, I finally got a chance to attend the company's annual dinner, after they have put of off once in November 07 because of Uncle Lim's sudden demise. The dinner was held at Sheraton Hotel Subang Jaya's Grand Ballroom.

The theme of the night was the 'Oscar Nite'. Come to think of it, these people in charge of organizing annual dinners must have shared the same the same party planning handbook or Annual Dinner for dummies handbook, cos as far as I can remember, I've been to so many 'Oscar Nites' already.

I think what I could say about the entire nite was, the buffet style food was nice. The main spread had a mix of western and some asian delights. The pasta 'station' was something different. I mistook it for an omelette station, I didn't really go near the salad and fruits station cos me and my fellow drinking kaki colleagues were busy down at the beer 'station' helping ourselves to watered down carlsberg.

After 3 drinks we still found ourselves sober with a sickening aftertaste of watered down beer and lots of water. Reminded me of ribena with too much water in it.

The show lined up for the evening was great, especially with Colin Kerr, the Cruise Director for the SC fleet as the MC. The 'showgirls' performances especially the belly dance one was extremely entertaining. It got people running from one end of the ballroom to the other end to avoid being chased by the transvestite belly dancer. The scene could be described as altogether hilarious, chaotic and enjoyable.

All that aside, I guess the highlight of the evening was the lucky draw event. There was like 2 dozen digital cameras up for grabs, home theater systems, plasma and lcd televisions, handphones, overseas trips and the grand prize was a Dell Latitude notebook. What I got? An electrolux electric toaster! I still wished it was a 32" plasma telly.

Personally I think that the highlight of the evening for most of us (guys) was the very very rare chance to see their fellow (female) colleagues dress to kill for the evening. Some were even hardly recognisable in their make up, hairdos, glitter and bling. It was a truly great evening.

The weekend that was 16-17/2/2008

2008-02-17T05:05:00.000-08:00

Barely making it out 'alive' from a whole weekend of attending lectures for my MBA class, at least now, lying comfortably on my bed with the airconditioning on full blast and wrapped tightly in my comforter like a popiah, I can gladly say "THANK GOD IT'S OVER!", well at least for this month. I still got 4 projects to worry about for the whole of March till the middle of April.

The 2 subjects I am taking this month is Human Resource Management as well as Challenges to Management, in which classes were held on saturday and sunday respectively. I'm pretty happy glad that i'm in a very nice class with excellent coursemates, all 13 of them.

The lecturers fot the 2 subjects were great too. You'd expect the local faculty to be below average when it comes to teaching an MBA class right? Well, the 2 lecturers we had were seasoned pros. I reckon they could even teach the class with their eyes closed and hands tied behind their backs.

The HRM module lecturer was quite lively, he encouraged feedback and gave alot of industry based examples but his overall style was still alot of spoon feeding. The CTM lecturer really blew us away. The class was more like an American MBA program session. Alot of debate and exchange of ideas flowed freely the whole day. Alot of us which were used to being spoonfed were caught unaware and it took a while to respond to this new 'experience'. I must admit that, although I have pretty much 'seen it all', this new experience I had pretty much blew my socks off too.

Overall, it was a great weekend, although I only got to see her on saturday only. We went to Thean Hou Temple last night after dinner near Tawakal Hospital. All the lanterns were lit up and it looked very beautiful. There were even illuminated paper lanterns of the 12 animal zodiac signs with a giant rat lantern in the courtyard. Spent some quality time together and had a great evening there although there was so many people around. We left around midnight.

I really regret not being able to spend more time with her during the weekends, now even more so that I'm attending classes for the MBA program. And if thats not enough, work is taking alot of my energy during the day and when it comes to going home after it all, I hardly got any 'battery' left in me. Nevertheless, I'll try my best to make time for her. Life is all about striking a balance between work, relationship, future, commitments, spiritual enrichment and also to live life. This is my commitment for 2008! There will not be any achievement with contentment without a little sacrifice and hard work. This is what I live by.

A HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR 2008 IN PENANG!

2008-02-14T18:55:00.000-08:00

GONG XI FA CAI! HERE ARE SOME CNY PICS TAKEN ON MY SISTER'S DIGICAM ON THE FIRST DAY OF CNY 2008

Us cousins.

From left to right: Sheena Geh, Gary Geh (bro), Pamela Geh (sis), Tracy Lynn + youngest son Joshua Lye, David Geh (me!), Karen Geh.

Front row: Clement Geh & Cheryl Geh

This pic was taken in one of our relative's (Uncle Soo Hay's) house in Jesselton Heights, Penang on 7/2/2008.

Above pic: My immediate family! My bro's 17 and he's taller than me!
Left to right: Bobby(dad), Teri (mom), Gary(bro), Pamela(sis) and David(me!)
The 5 of us again, this time taken in YMCA Penang's multipurpose hall right after the photo session of our Geh Clan's first gathering. The 'Geh' surname has a clan, don't play play huh!

Seated version.
Siblings!

RM9.6 million jackpot anybody?

2008-02-12T21:36:00.000-08:00

Earlier at lunch I was told by a fellow colleague from another department that a regular guest on one of our cruises who happen to be a junket as well had passed away on the first day of chinese new year of some disease. He told me that this person almost literally lives on the ship as he's up there and out at sea almost 6 days in a week and spends most of his time at the 'entertainment centre'. He's also well known to be a high roller and friendly to almost all the crew onboard.

Well, the reason for him telling me the story of this man's passing wasn't because he wanted to tell me how much sympathy he felt for the deceased, but for the regret he is currently carrying around in his heart for missing the opportunity to purchase the 4D/Toto number of the dead person.

Although I occassionally get the itch for gambling and trying my luck at four digit numbers, I however don't enjoy making use of dead people's 'lucky' numbers. Be it the number of their automobile, mobile numbers as well as maybe death certificate numbers. My take on the whole four digit number and afterlife thing is, if the guy is 6 feet inside the ground, lets leave him to rest in peace.

But the fact that yesterday's draw was a special chinese new year one, and the first prize money pool (which happened to be the dead guy's handphone number) came up to be RM9.6 million, I guess every person who was close to him or even knew who he was had a small reason to wallow in self pity and enjoy the privilege of blaming him/herself for not putting some money down on that number to enjoy a slice of that prosperity pie.

Anyway, it wasn't that bad after all, at least we had something to chat about over lunch. We were daydreaming about what we would do if we had 9.6 million bucks in the bank. Would we resign tomorrow and go relax on some remote beach in Hawai'i, wouldn't that be awesome!

The MAD Rush Back 2 The City

2008-02-11T16:25:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday, 10th February 2008, 2-3 million Malaysians and I were stuck on the North South Expressway for about 8-10 hours trying to get back to work the next day in the city from various parts of Malaysia, mine being Penang island. I left my parent's house in Tanjung Bunga at around 3:30pm and reached KL at a little past 12 midnight! Now if that ain't a jam, I don't know what is.

Spending 8.5 hours on what normally would be a 4 hour journey from Penang to KL is something maybe I'd not want to try again next year. However it definitely taught me a lesson or 2 in time management. I reckon the best lessons in life are learnt when you put your hand in the hole or when you get burnt trying it out for the first time. But wait a minute, this isn't my first time getting caught in the jam going back to KL, I remember back in 2000 and 2001 when I was driving a much smaller car and still being subjected to the same congested experience.

Well, in spite of all the chaos, I guess I must really thank my lucky stars that I had arrived at my destination in one piece and blessed with the ability to go to work early the next morning. The side effects of sitting in the car for almost 9 hours was the fatigue and tiredness which really took a toll on my health.

That aside, the week long break in Penang was well worth the trip back. I managed to unwind and set my direction straight as I charge forward into 2008. For many of us chinese, I guess that the year haven't really started until after the festivities of chinese new year. It is when the real 2008 starts, after the feng shui master's predictions, the exchange of red packets, the long mahjong sessions that stretch into the night, all the food and the reunion dinners and after all the hampers has been opened.

However, a day after the long trip, here I am back by the window on the 20th floor writing this entry while hoping and praying that this year would be much different in terms of opportunities, experience as well as social wise and career wise. And I also hope that the fatigue would eventually wear off by tomorrow and I would be in top form again.

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR TO ALL!

2008-02-08T02:41:00.000-08:00

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR (RAT) 2008!

GONG XI FA CAI! SING NIAN KHUAI LE!

NIAN NIAN YOU YUE, WAN SHUI RUE YI!

It's chinese new year again! Same shit different year right? As usual it's hoped that (like every other year) things will be much better than the outgoing one. I, like everyone else, hope for the same thing for myself and my family.

Well this year it's pretty much going to be different, not by chance but by planning on my part. I heard it somewhere and it's stuck permanently in my head for some time now. "If it is to be, it's up to me!" Sound catchy? Well this year, besides finally moving into my own apartment (bought, not rented), I'm finally taking the crucial step to start my MBA program with the Malaysian Institute of Management (MIM) which offers its MBA program in conjunction with the University of Hertfordshire, UK. Before this I was contemplating between one from a local university college, the University of East London, RMIT University and this one but finally settled for this program because of it's catch phrase, "100% assignment based!" I was sold!

So, I'm going back to the classroom almost 9 years after I graduated from uni with my bachelor's degree. I reckon the time was right and if it ain't now, I don't know when is. We'll always be busy with this and that and there always will be something important coming up that tends to 'steal' your time away from pursuing your dreams and I thought to myself, if I made this my priority, then maybe I'd be busy with this instead of the small things which are both NOT important and NOT urgent.

I know this year is not going to be easy, a 1k a month mortgage and a self sponsored 30k MBA program as well as payments on the car loan, groceries, traveling, income tax, provident fund, insurance etc. I can say that I'm pretty much 'tied-down' for the year or for 2 years at least. (The MBA program runs for 2 years)

About Chinese New Year... the whole week leading to cny was really fun cos I was in Penang since the beginning of the month. Normally I don't enjoy the grind of cny. To me every single year, like the year before is the same thing over and over. Since Kevin went to Abu Dhabi earlier last month, I had wanted to take over his flight ticket to Sarawak to have a CNY with a difference, far away from the familiar routine I go through every year but too bad his ticket was for 20 days and I only could take off max 10 days from work.

As with the 'what ifs', a vacation somewhere far would be a nice change, I reckon. Chinese new year to me is like this, the night before cny, we will all gather in my uncle's place, my dad's eldest brother. The reunion dinner dishes has been the same every single year since I was a little kiddo. Green curry, my fav lor bak, some veggies, kiam chai boey soup, tu tor th'ng soup

Then there's the 1st day visiting relatives routine. Only I think this year is abit different in a sense that, most of us (my cousins and i in our generation) driving from one relative's house to another in black MPVs and V6ers. This year there's a fully tinted black Toyota Harrier, brand new black Toyota Wish, a black Honda Stream, then there's my dad's silver Hyundai Sonata, uncle Tommy's Waja, uncle Richard's black Wira and uncle Johnny's Gen2. If you had seen our convoy rollin' up and down the northern part of Penang on CNY I reckon you'd say it was like something out of a Mafia movie.

This year was particularly hot. I remember sweating like a pig in my new Valentino short sleeve shirt. That, was made worst by long lost cousins and uncles offering you Carlbergs and red wine at 12 in the pm out in the porch of some long lost uncle or auntie's semi detatched house.

That aside, all the ang pows made it all worth the effort.Almost a hundred bucks for a few hours of visiting, how's that for a profit. Hehe... Anyway, all that red packet and money comes with a message attached. And it reads clearly "THIS YEAR IS THE LAST YEAR YOU'RE GONNA GET ONE FROM ME!" and guess what? I'm pretty sure I'm gonna get another one next year! WAHAHAHA!

It's like this when it comes to red packets during chinese new year. When you're not married yet u get as many as you want as often as you want. When you get hitched, everyone comes to your big day and gives you a darn big packet for being the king of the day, everyone remembers you as being officially MARRIED! Then guess what? You get to give their kids when you go on your cny rounds once a year. But you get glitch back. Nada, Zero...

The strategy for getting back what you give out every year? Make babies! Make many and make em fast! Then when you got one to go around on the first day of cny to show off, you automatically get back 1 for every 1, 2, 3, 4 or as many as 6-10 if you're unlucky to meet some relative with that many children. Or if you feel broke for the year, you could always give a silly excuse like you in-law's cat died so you only can give out mandarin oranges this year. How many mandarin oranges can you give out until someone finds out that you're a cheapo broke dude? You might get banned from reunions after that.

Alright, this is the end of the posting. I don't want friends complaining I write long grandfather stories. Till next time!

KLIA to the U.A.E

2008-01-29T07:58:00.000-08:00

I haven't sent anyone of my buddies off at the airport for a long long while, I reckon since 1999 when I was still in uni. Well back then friends come and go everytime summer break rides in with it's 40 degrees celcius heat.

Well last Sunday was one of the rare times I get to send a close close buddy off at the airport bound for Abu Dhabi, UAE. Dude, I know you will only be there for 3 months and like we told ourselves, with MSN and stuff like SKYPE, far away doesn't seem very far away after all, since keeping in touch isn't hard at all. But you know lah, sometimes when we get caught up in the grind of our daily lives, the simplest of things often gets done the last, or worst, forgotten!

Anyway, I just wanna say that I'm both happy and proud that you got such a nice 'surprise', the opportunity of a lifetime even before the year of the rat began. Congratulations, man! This cannot in any way constitute as luck at all because I know that you have worked hard to be where you ended up in today, even if it's in a desert town far far away from the comforts of everything you ever know or love.

I've always knew you had it in you to come this far and much further than you could possibly imagine because all there is in you is the virtues of pure hard work, sacrifice and determination, not forgetting, knowing when to have fun while you're at it.

Well, do keep in touch, mate! And while we're at it, thanks for all the good advice that came from you all these years. It has helped me align my direction when i lose focus sometimes.

The 50th blog entry!

2008-01-17T22:34:00.000-08:00

i like this comic (above) copyright of jeroen of www.kartoen.be

I'm popping the bottle and pouring some champagne to celebrate my 50th posting on Blogger.com!

"...i've received some encouraging comments from those who have dropped by and read my blog and I would really like to thank them for taking the time to read the stuff I've written here. Someone complimented me a couple of days ago about how well written this blog is. I wish to thank you from the bottom of my heart, but I believe that there's much more room for improvement and I will keep improving myself..."

Here I am sitting in my 20th storey cubicle in Wisma Genting while staring out of the window at a gloomy Friday afternoon. It's 2:40pm now, I'm counting down another 1 hour and 20 minutes till 4pm when I am finally go home. Today is dress down and leave early day, a day everyone looks forward to like the highlight of the week.

And as I ponder upon my activities for the coming weekend, the long term planner in me is busy at work scheming in the backgroud on what I should be doing in the long run to escape the monotony of the daily grind I go through as described above.

After chasing him for 17 days for the monthly rental due to me, yesterday I finally got him on the phone only to hear him say that he'll be staying till the middle of march before moving out. Initially he said he would not be paying me any more rental cos he wanna use up his 2 months deposit paid to me initially, then it got me pondering... stay for 2.5 months more but, 2 months deposit and won't be paying me anymore rental. Something not right here somewhere, so I texted him back and told him that he should be paying me another half month rental. Unless he will move out by the end of february.

He replied saying "No problem, I'll move out at the end of feb". So here I am left in sort of a quandary.

I have just been staying in my current place for about 2 and a half months only and although it's an old dodgy place full of rats and cockroaches and lizards, but I'm slowly getting the hang of staying here. It's really convenient and peaceful. On one hand, I wouldn't mind staying put where I am for a couple of years before I move to another place, and on the other hand, I've got my own apartment, which I have to pay roughly a thousand bucks every month for which is going to be vacant in another 1.5 months.

Another thing which is bugging me is, I recently came across this MBA program in Communications and PR from Limkokwing University which caught my interest. I was seriously contemplating MBA programs during the first half of 2007 but after landing this job, the plan slowly took a back seat as I didn't really have much time to do anything else after the grind of the 9-6 I was putting myself to for the past 6 months.

Now that I'm kinda settled down here plus the office move from Pulau Indah (Westport) to Wisma Genting in the middle of the city, I am left with alot more time to pursue whatever I had put on KIV before, and one of them included my MBA plan.

I remember telling my friend SK in Penang back in 2006 that one of my 2007 new year's resolutions was to embark in a MBA program. Look at how time flies? It's 2008 already, exactly 14 months after I shared with someone my new years plans for the past year, I'm yet to fulfill it!

Maybe the main obstacle back then was my financial situation. Not that it has improved dramatically now, I'm still broke as hell. While the funds from my EPF will help out a little and inch me a little bit closer to my dream, I still have to work my butt off to find the other 60-70% of funds to pay for the program fees.

So right now what I'm contemplating is, should I move in to stay in my own apartment in March or sell it off and use whatever money I can from it to upgrade myself with an MBA degree so that in the long term, my job prospects would be better and (possibly) I could aim to buy a much bigger house or drive a much bigger car because of the opportunities it presents me.

Not that I'm complaining about my situation now, but I will be turning 31 this year and I don't want myself to be stuck in a dead-end job with no prospects for the next 10-20 years whining about missed opportunities and watching my friends and peers wheeze by me in their flashy BMWs and Mercedez Benz talking about how successful their lives has become and me ending up snuggled cosily in the 'Middle class' cradle thanking my lucky stars to be alive and talking about how I made do with less to put my kids through school and university.

On a lighter note, this is my 50th post on blogger! I'm giving myself a pat on the back, maybe not so much for a job well done, more towards for being able (and consistent) enough to write 50 entries from 2006 till today. I know some of the entries are short, some are only pictures and a little message, some are nonsense and a little humour, but most of it are close to my heart, and I guess this one is no different either.

Thanks to blogs we get to express what we tend to keep deep inside us. If not for writing in them, we'll all probably be walking time-bombs just inching closer to blowing up cos we are unable to express our feelings.

Till next time! Thanks for reading and visiting my site...

Life is a Highway!

2008-01-11T06:56:00.000-08:00

Barely reaching home, I’m all restless wanting to go right back to my pad, fire up the notebook and start typing away again. I wonder if this is what they call hypergraphia. Oh my goodness, my dream was to become a famous writer, not a famous quack who couldn’t stop writing! I guess this is born from all the emotions and feelings buried deep down inside just exploding to come out.

Maybe all there is to say has been poured out, and there’s nothing left to say, then maybe I’ll be one suffering from writer’s block. How’s that for a change?

Ever feel that urge to just pour everything out at once? What you feel at work, your family, your friends, your neighbors or even about stuff like politics or the economy or just simply your radical views about the weather, the climate change thingy.

If you ask me, this may very well be one of those days. Not only do I feel like I’m suffering from acute hypergraphia, I think I’m suffering from acute anything that has hyper tagged along with it. I spent an unusually large amount of time at the gym today, having being absent for almost 1 month. I think I’ve been away so long that I couldn’t even recognize the face of my group exercise instructor anymore. When he went about his usual welcoming the newbies routine and asked first timers to put up their hands, I was almost compelled to do so. After an unusual 2 hour work out, I then adjourned to the pasar malam next door and walked some more.

I don’t know what got into me but if it was a jogging spirit, it couldn’t have picked a worst body than the lump that I am.

Anyways, my thoughts of the day. Of late, I have been checking out profiles of my childhood friends whom which I have lost contact with some for more than 15 years. Many of them are in Australia and Singapore, places which I have stayed in before for many years before deciding that at home in a more familiar surrounding is fun too. So here I am, 2008 and turning 31 years old in Kuala Lumpur.

Not that it’s crappy here or anything, but the fighter in me is slowly waking up and trying to hint at me that there could be more to life that the comfortable routine I am putting myself through right now. I don’t know if it’s a form of self sabotage or the likes but every time I get comfortably settled down somewhere, I pluck myself up and relocate somewhere else for the sake of doing it. Then later on when I’m visiting a friend in his/her beautiful house, I start to envy how settled down they are and their ‘beautiful’ lives.

Don’t I have a chance at it too? I guess I do but for the past 5 years I chose to live (literally) like a nomad, shuttling between Singapore, KL and Penang constantly. My car doubled as my bedroom most of the time and when I wasn’t working the daily grind, I would be on the road traveling.

Now I’m contemplating if, at 31 I should put myself through that ‘experience’ again. Come to think about it, if I take another 10 years do be on the road, traveling and staying at places I had only wished upon during my childhood, the worst it could get is, I get settled down at about 40!

Life is a highway right? Or that’s what they sing about all the time. I guess I’m one of the suckers who got sucked into all that hype. So I guess in situations like this, it’s not that awkward to be saying “Now kids, don’t try this at home!” How corny!

Well a crossroad is a crossroad. When u ride up to it, there’s probably only 2 choices you can make there and then, go left or go right, or if you’re lucky enough, you get to go straight ahead and choose to exit at the next one. Anyway you choose to look at it, sooner or later you have to choose. Its been 2.5 hours since I turned on the pc just now and thank goodness my little hypergraphia binge is slowly wearing off.

I still feel like saying a lot more, but thanks to the magic of blogs, I can still come back tomorrow when the craving starts and I start to write a whole load of crap again. So hope to see all of you here again soon!

The week that was

2008-01-04T07:54:00.000-08:00

Friday finally! Other than dragging myself out of bed at 8:30am in the morning and speeding down the kesas highway at 120km/h to work in the rain on bald Michelin tyres, I guess the rest of my day went pretty well.

Today was also to be the last day I will be going to work in the cruise terminal in Port Klang, 50+ km from my house, paying RM13.20 in toll charges daily and an average of RM15 for petrol. All those traveling for the past 6 months had really taken it's toll on my health, but nevertheless, the beautiful sea and port view, ships sailing by, sound of the waves always leaves me with a refreshed feeling and a renewed perspective of things everytime I think about it.

I took some great pictures of the team with my handphone, without me inside :( toiled for half the day like a labourer carrying boxes, had a good lunch with the boss and the rest of the team members and pretty much enjoyed the whole of today (my last working day at Port Klang). I know I'm gonna miss this place but I know that everything that happens, happen for a reason. And I do believe that good reason outweights bad when it comes to moving to the city to work.

Going to work in the city ain't so bad after all (I hope...) as many say that it's both fast paced, fun filled and challenging. 3 words which are seldom used together unless it's for going to a Keanu Reeves movie or running a marathon. Today I'm not very sure I can take another day of cramming in a crowded LRT train commuting to work in downtown Kuala Lumpur everyday with a few hundred thousand people. It brings back really unpleasant memories of my life in Singapore a few years back.

It's not that I hate public transport... I HATE PUBLIC TRANSPORT! How's that for a statement? Well, since it's convenient for me, living just 15 minutes away (walking distance) to the lrt station, I'm gonna give it a shot for the sake of trying and if it sucks eggs just as I had anticipated it, then I'll stick to riding my rickety old motorcycle to work every morning. I don't mind all the traveling on the road plus all the dangers thrown in, but at least I get to travel alone, not having to smell somebody's foul body odour beside me.

I don't know why but today suddenly I had a tingling urge to find out more information about Px2, a large payment processing enabler. Not that I have never heard of it before, but the idea bulb in my head suddenly blinked on as if possessed and shone a bright shiny yellow light in my head. The little birdy in my head told me that if I could come up with an idea to emulate the business model of this company, maybe I can propose it to a company which has the resources to kinda duplicate this company.

Naturally when I get these kinds of sudden idea binges, what I'd do first is to research the alternatives, as well as pros and cons to this company and it's product. Looks like I have dug up quite alot of dirt as well as gold nuggets based on this idea alone. Well, seems like whoever reads this might have the slightest clue what I am talking about, don't worry, it's for me to refresh on in time to come and understand what was going on in my head at the time, as in this time. What I can say after reading through the overload of information on the internet is, it's a good idea and the thing with good ideas are, most people come up with it and sit on it after that. I have learnt after all this years that, to succeed, you must TAKE ACTION and TAKE ACTION NOW!

Happy New Year 2008, so far...

2008-01-03T06:46:00.000-08:00

WELCOME 2008! THANK YOU 2007 FOR ALL THE OPPORTUNITIES YOU HAVE PRESENTED TO ME!

1st Picture: Bright lights from a lighthouse
2nd Picture: If you turn this picture 45 degrees to the left it's actually a picture of the banks of the Birmanian Lake, this picture can only be taken once a year with the right camera angle, right lighting and right tide.

All photos are copyright of it's respective owners.

WELCOME 2008!

Wow, what a year 2007 was. I managed to achieve almost all the goals which I had set myself out to do last year with an exception of one or two. It looks like some of the things which I had left out in 2007 would have to be credited into 2008 for me to push for it's achievement or to make right. One of the more significant resolution I made in 2007 was to lose weight significantly, but in the end, as of 31/12/2007, I'm as round as ever! So much so that, when I was sitting in front of the television one day back in Penang watching a gourmet show having a beer with my dad, he turned around, took one look at my belly and said "My goodness, you're as fat as that chef on tv!" and just as he was saying that, the fat bald chef on tv turned around and looked straight at me as if he knew we were mocking him... or me, for that matter.

I sat there grinning from ear to ear, patted my belly and took a sip of my beer and continued watching the fat bald chef take another bite of some friend exotic asian food. At the back of my mind I was slowly trying to figure out what happened in the 12 months I had been going to fitness first and all that membership fees I have been paying them. Perhaps it was the MacDonald's or KFC down the road which I have been frequently going to after exercise sessions.

I don't know if I dare to make anymore new year's resolution that involves a certain degree of pain which I have to undergo so that I gain approval from my peers and family members, but taking another look at the full length mirror in the bathroom, I'm seriously reconsidering my options. Lose weight or lose weight! Now let's see which shall I do first...

Is it just me or I suddenly feel quite depressed talking about new year's resolutions. Let's change to another topic shall we? I made quite an amazing discovery when I went back to Penang last month. I tend to get kind of 'electrocuted' everytime I come in contact with something with metal element in it, like the tap in the kitchen, my dvd player, door knobs, my car door, even house keys. Now I don't really know how to explain this phenomena, but I did ask my dad briefly about it, cos he used to work in a factory where they manufacture stuff in a cleanroom environment. He told me, my body has got extra electrical charges, or was it electrostatic and the only way I can prevent myself from getting these mini electric shocks is to 'ground' myself. I asked, How? With a brown ground wire attached to a metal surface?

Now if one end of the wire attaches itself to a metal surface to channel out all the surplus current, where does the other end go? I dread to even think about it... My bee-hind? God almighty! I'd rather have surplus electricity and enlist in the X-men! Wouldn't that be cool? An electrifying fat beer drinking cussing word swearing dude.

Ok, about the new year... I drove 5 hours from Penang to KL on 31/12/2007 so that I'd make it in time to be in KL to welcome 2008. New year this time around was a little different, special and one I might remember for a while. This was the first time in the many years I had celebrated new year's in KL parked by the side of the highway with a thousand other cars just to catch a glimpse of fireworks going on in KLCC and the infamous Bukit Bintang area.

We caught a glimpse alright, also drenched in the rain as it was pouring! Nevertheless it was worth it I guess. After that, it got better, the rest of the night was spent in some mamak bistro in ampang having a roti naan and watching the new year's concert 'live' on astro, thanks to the mamaks.

To someone special to me, I know you sometimes sneak around and read my postings here as well... hehe.. I would like to say, thank you for the best new year's present you had given me. You may not realise it, but it's what I have been waiting for all this while. However, right after that, because of your doubt, I suddenly doubt alot of things myself.

I know it's tough, but you have to be confident as well. Let me jot that down, one of my new year's resolution is to have a higher degree of confidence! So that I know that if I fell tomorrow, I fell holding my head high. Life is a journey and it's the journey which is worth going through, the destination is not as important.

To end this post, I would like to tell the world that, like me, the new year's resolutions you make this new year need not be a continuation of the ones which you have made last year or the previous years or a repeat of what people are making. It could be as simple as wanting to enjoy all the emotions and experiences which you didn't get to experience in 2007. How's that for a resolution?

Let's say you didn't really experience happiness in it's purest sense in 2007 cos you were going through a bad financial crisis, you could jot down Happiness in 2008 as your resolution. Try maybe... understanding... or a clear mind or maybe peace and serenity.

To my dear readers, Happy 2008! Shalom!

Hilarious Beijing Olympic Advert

2007-12-26T01:05:00.000-08:00

WIN 2 TICKETS AND ALL EXPENSES PAID INCLUDING AIR FARES TO THE 2008 OLYMPIC GAMES IN BEIJING, CHINA!

To participate is very easy, just view the attached photo, correctly answer the following questions and send your answers to:

International Olympic Committee,
Private Bag,
Lausanne, Switzerland.

1. Which student seems to appear tired / sleepy?

2. Which ones are male twins?

3. Which ones are the female twins?

4. How many women are in the group?

5. Which one is the teacher?

Good Luck!

I guess you are not going either! Ha ha ha ha!!!

Haunted Apartment blocks?

2007-12-25T22:51:00.000-08:00

Someone forwarded me an email just now which contained a security camera video clip. There was a recording of a lady, in office clothes in her 20s walking down a corridor. Nothing unusual there until she turned left abruptedly and walked right through a wall! The title of the clip was clerkghost.wmv, so out of curiousity, I decided to google the word clerk ghost. Nothing exciting turned up, so I decided to google the word 'Genting ghost' instead.

Alot of blog sites and discussion threads popped up and I was going through a couple of them and one in particular was quite interesting and I decided to stay a while and read on. Alot of interesting stories were shared inside on ghost in genting highlands, especially the apartment called Ria almost at the peak with its many incidents and occurances. Here is my short story (which I also shared in the website http://www.spookycorner.com/, enjoy!

I would like to share a funny incident which happened to me many years back in the Ria apartments.

It was way back in 2001, sometime in July to August. During that time I was working in a small IT distribution company in Mid Valley, KL. Since all the colleagues were predominantly Chinese and very close to each other, we always plan trips together either for lunch or dinner right down to overnight trips to Genting Highlands, which we enjoy very much because of the cool breeze and relaxing atmosphere.

On one particular weekend, we decided to go up to Genting Highlands for an apartment stay. There were around 8 of us, 5 guys and 3 gals. We drove up in separate cars and met at Ria Apartments. There were a lot of agents downstairs ready to rent out rooms for guests around so we got hold of one and got a unit. It was a high floor (can’t remember which floor it was) selangor side.

That evening we had a good dinner and all went back early to the apartment to enjoy the company of each other and play cards. As the 2 blocks face each other, we decided to play a game, we wanted to see which block looked creepier than others. So we started looking randomly at the individual units there.

All of a sudden, we saw a unit about 2-3 floors above us on the Pahang side with only a lamp on (warm yellow light illuminating the whole unit (I’m not sure if it’s the hall or bedroom) so it looks quite bright. The curtain was open quite wide so we could clearly see what was going on inside. There was a young couple inside the unit playing catch with each other. The girl would run around in the room and the guy would try to catch her. The girl runs to the window sill and the eerie part is, she would look directly at us and wave frantically. Then finally the guy catches the girl and they would fall down on a sofa or a bed and the girl could be seen struggling with the guy a bit and within a few seconds, the scene repeats itself again in exactly the same manner.

This went on for a good 1-2 hours or so, all of us guys were in the hall in our unit witnessing the whole incident. We were excited at first, as we got to see some ‘action’ for the night, since we were with colleagues and wouldn’t be getting any and the girls were chatting with each other in the room. Getting bored of the incident happening opposite our unit, we decided to watch some tv, have some drinks and play cards, occasionally we would catch a glimpse of the unit above us and like a youtube recording, it keeps replaying itself.

The next day we woke up and went to the window sill to see if the couple was still playing catch with each other and guess what we saw? We saw that the unit looked like it had been abandoned for years, the windows were all boarded in and there was no way anyone could look inside from the opposite direction.

I will never forget that incident.

I can see clearly now that the rain is gone!

2007-12-15T06:32:00.000-08:00

Above: The wonders of God! Isn't it beautiful?

Its december again. Looks like it's a wrap for a great year. What a year 2007 was eh? As for me, I had experienced so many things in 1 year which I had previously not in the last, say 20-30 yrs or so.

A new job, moving to a new place, getting a chance at a fresh new start in life with new friends, new surroundings and new decisions. No doubt the results of all my old decisions will keep coming back to haunt me right through the new year and many new years beyond that, I am still thankful that I am still here and able to count my blessings in person.

So whats currently going on in my life? Financially, still unstable as heck, waiting, like everyone else for a miracle or someone to drop a bag of gold coins from the sky directly on top of my head. Or better still striking it rich with a Big Sweep ticket and never having to work another day of my life. If you wish to know, yes, I do stand in line at the Magnum, Toto, Damacai outlets like everyone else for my weekly dose of number betting. And like everyone else, hoping that someday it would be my turn to jump up and down shouting like a mad cow.

In terms of religion... erm.. religion... I prefer to call it 'spiritually' I guess spiritually I am well balanced. Yeah, not imbalanced to the faithless yet not imbalanced to the extremely religious. Well balanced in a sense I have a faith I profess to. Do you notice I try my best not to mention the word religion? In itself, it's a sensitive thing, sensitive enough to humans to kill other humans. So I better leave it at that.

Professionally, well work wise, I guess I am sailing along smoothly. With 6 months into my new job, I am like people say 'Getting with the program and feeling flexible'. In other words, 'getting extremely comfortable in my comfort zone'. Good or bad, it depends on what my priorities are at the moment. At the moment, my priorities are getting with the program and feeling flexible. Sounds simple enough? That said, I must say that one of my new year's resolutions should be to break free from my comfort zone and explore more creative and better ways to optimize my earning potential and plan way ahead into the future.

Mentally, I don't mind the grind. The 9-6 is fine with me plus the occasional stress binges. The irritating boss is slowly becoming part of my everyday routine. The situation is best explained like this: If your neighbour has a dog which barks all day long, at first you would get irritated and think of 1001 ways how to kill your neighbour's dog or its owner or both. Then slowly you learn to live with it. Then one day you realize that you have been listening to that darn dog bark for the last 3 years yet not feel anything. It has already became background noise to you and your brain, being the magnificient super computer it is, has managed to filter all the noise out.

Socially (or more like romantically), i must admit that nothing much has been going on in this part of my life. 2 of my cousins got married this month, and another already announcing her engagement, family members have been asking me the unavoidable question. When? To the family members reading this, I wanna tell you this, I ask this question too, almost everyday. So you will know when I know, kapish? The story so far is, I have been seeing someone recently. I don't know what the outcome is yet by far but the all the signs look quite promising. I have just known her for about a month only. I have already expressed my 'intentions' to become more than friends already (which took me quite abit of courage to do so), right now it's up to her to decide if it's worth it to be with me or not.

What I can say and observe about whats going on is, it started off on the right foot. Everything is going along smoothly, before this i seldom talk on the phone more than 10 minutes but now I find myself talking to her for 30 mins, 1 hour and some times even 1 and a half hours till maxis mandatorily cut our conversation short at exactly 1:30:00

Overall, I'm quite upbeat and positive about life at the moment as everything is sailing along smoothly after the 'storm' for the last 3 years. I can confidently say that I can see clearly now that the rain is gone. I hope my uptrend remains on it's course and even if it doesn't I will be there at the helm to do 'correction' and be the captain of my own ship. Welcome to my destiny!

Another one of my bright ideas?!

2007-11-29T04:49:00.000-08:00

Now how catchy is the tagline to this posting? After almost half a year in my new job as a Marketing communications person (well almost)... I have slowly came to realise that taglines are what pushes products and services, not so much what we are selling.

I remember reading in Roger Konopasek's Sales Magnets book that we humans have a few buttons which other people can press to make us do certain things, such as buy more stuff from them for example. Scary huh? Imagine what would happen if this secret were to fall into the wrong hands? It's like handing the switch of an A-bomb to a mad scientist bent on taking over the world! It lies in what people call the secret of marketing.

Well to make you feel better, it HAS already fallen into the wrong hands! May God save us! Well today I'm not going into a whole lot of marketing ideas and stuff. What I left in the office at 6pm today stays there till I go back and chain myself to the desk again tomorrow at 9am.

Now if only I could get my neighbour to stop crooning his Theresa Teng songs so loud. Maybe I should turn up the volume to my Namo Guan Shi Yin Pu Sa chanting... It may not work! Cos the old lady next door is singing at the top of her lungs. I reckon it must be revenge cos I shouted at her dog to shut the heck up earlier.

That aside. I thought about something today. With all the craze about podcasting and stuff, I thought of trying my hands at it. Any ideas and comments? At first I thought of narrating famous business and motivational books like the Blue Ocean Strategy I bought recently, but since I myself fell asleep after reading the first chapter, I wonder what would happen to others who would potentially hear my dull voice narrating each and every line of the book and fall asleep in their cars, mrt trains, while walking on the street, in their office and in their homes. Wouldn't that be a bummer?

My ratings would drop so low it would make John Howard look like the Aussie Prime Minister again! And oh yeah, before I forget, congrats Mr. Rudd! I never would have imagined a pro-asian aussie PM! OK, before you guys hang me from the next up, lets stop talking about politics. One of my favorite tea-time topic with like minded colleagues (a.k.a. DULLARDS!!!)

Now seriously, what do you think about podcasting? It ain't limited to just talk right? If we have the right equipment, we could as well be filming a short clip or something to be shown to the digital world! Personally, I haven't heard a podcast before in my life, but I can imagine it being really interesting. It could very well be the first step to a journalism career for some.

Ok, I think i'm gonna stop here for today, can't really focus on writing when my bloody neighbour is singing 60s top hits at the top of her bloody lungs. Perhaps I should call the mental hospital! For the first time after over 40 postings, I am welcoming comments and feedback to my personal email davegeh@gmail.com, please no spam or I'll spam your email account back so hard your grandkids gonna feel the heat, and not forgetting the fact that if you spam me, I'll stand outside your house every single day of the week till you go crazy and bark like Odie and run around on all fours.

To my dear ex-schoolmates...

2007-11-25T09:45:00.000-08:00

I was at the gym earlier this afternoon and I was thinking of how I should write my latest blog posting and I came up with an idea to write in a letter format, you know, like a letter to a friend! Then half an hour ago, when going through my emails and yahoogroups mailbox, i stumbled upon a mail from an ex-schoolmate in my alma mater group mailbox. It was from the head prefect Sze Keat who's currently working in Japan.

What a pleasant surprise to know that recently got married and is going to have his wedding dinner back here in Ipoh. So I thought I'd write a letter to all my ex-schoolmates! Here goes...

To my dear ex-schoolmates,

Oh my gosh! It's November already? Another year gone by in a blink of an eye. It seems like the years are going by faster and faster nowadays, or is it becos we're getting older?
Next year will mark the 14th year we left school. We've been through so much individually and for some of us, together. So, as we brace for the end of the year with the barrage of wedding invitations, the long vacations, the year end closing of our departments and not forgetting Christmas and New Year's.

This time of the year always presents me with a potpurri of emotions ranging from relief to anxiety to stress to joy all bundled together as one like a big xmas gift pack waiting for me at the fireplace. Relief because I finally get to wrap up all the projects I am working on in the office and I can finally pull out the 2008 yearly planner and plan for a better year ahead.

Anxiety because I am yet to meet certain deadlines I am supposed to meet for the year in terms of my job and my personal life, and stress for the same matter. Maybe it's the targets I had set for myself at the beginning of my new career journey which in my personal capacity I have not readied myself enough for, thats why I have to do all the catching up in the end.

Its like climbing Mount Everest without prior training and prepping! The end result is leaves much to be desired. Finally Joy because I can finally look forward to a brand new year which promises to present me with brand new promises, opportunities, friends, challenges, (love and relationships) perhaps?

I break into cold sweat just thinking about the last one. I know my mom and dad hasn't got to pressuring me about it yet, but if I were in their shoes, the thought of their soon to turn 31 year old eldest son still living a bachelor life far away in the capital would get me kind of worried too. But at 55 and 54 respectively, they're still not grumbling about not having grand kids yet, I mean, I wouldn't want to be questioning why I don't have grand kids calling me grandpa yet when I turn 55, thats why I'm pretty sure thats the reason why my mom and dad's not complaining (or so I reckon)... Well they haven't said a thing yet so I'm just gonna leave it at that for the time being.

Opportunities to become rich and not having to work another day of my life? I, like any other person living on the face of this earth, save for those who have already made a ton of money and sipping coconuts on a beach in Malibu, Bahamas or Bermuda, pine and yearn for that day to come. It is no wonder why casino and lotto operators get richer and we get nowhere near. Maybe it's time to wise up and start thinking of better ways of getting rich or, an alternative to that is, to redefine what we mean by getting rich or becoming rich.

To many including me, the definition of richness is having a million bucks in the bank and another million to blow on a 100-room castle, a yacht, 10 ferraris, lamborghinis, maseratis, porsches and the likes, a first class ticket around the world, a handshake and a cuppa with Donald Trump and Warren Buffett perhaps?

Well to redefine it would maybe mean that our definition of richness is now having enough money to send our kids to college and buy ourselves a nice cosy house on a hill overlooking the sea in the Pearl of the Orient (Penang) and still have enough to enjoy a good meal and drinks at a nice restaurant everyday or getting to go on a cruise holiday or take a trip to Europe once a year. Wouldn't that be less stressful on ourselves than set goals and targets too high for our own good?

What I like about the New Year is that each and every one of us gets a clean new sheet of paper to set for ourselves what we want to achieve for that year. Let me gently remind you that the white piece of paper that each and everyone of us gets is for resolutions for that year and that year alone. Perhaps the one thing that holds everyone back from achieving whatever they want to every year is that they set their goals too far ahead, 6-12 months (short term plan), 1-5 years (mid term plan) and 5-20 years (long term plan). Sounds familiar?

Its one thing to be thorough and plan ahead in life. There's nothing wrong with that. I sometimes get carried away and do that too. The problem with that is, we get carried too far ahead that when we look back, we don't see dry land anymore! Thats when all our hopes and dreams fall out. I read in a book that, if your dreams don't scare you, they ain't big enough! The problem with big dreams is that when they do scare us, we're too immobilized to act upon them and thus as a result, don't follow through on them. Then finally one fine day 11 months later you look back at the sheet of paper you wrote your new year's resolutions on 31st December 2007, 2 things would be playing about in your head. First, you'd be thinking of the 31 ways you would want to cook that piece of paper and 2nd, you'd think of 31 ways how you'd want to punish yourself for finding yourself in the same position you were in 11 months ago without feeling or becoming any better, or richer for that matter.

I don't qualify as a preacher, I don't even practice christianity, nor am I a wise old man from the mountains of Tibet. I'm just a writer and an aspiring (perhaps one day) Best Selling Author, my advice for the new year's is this. Dream big, but make reasonable, achievable, measurable and attainable goals. Thats what I'm gonna do, wait a minute, I think Donald Trump said that on a CNBC show. Well, I can't say for sure if thats what he said but if he did, it's really good advice.

To my dear ex-schoolmate Sze Keat and your new found love and happiness, I'd like to warmly congratulate you and wish all the best! I'd also like to wish for you lots of happiness, lots of love for each other, lots blessings from above and lots of kids and grandkids to be proud of eventually!

Perspective

2007-11-17T00:24:00.000-08:00

I had seen a comparison of planets in our solar system before, but this goes beyond ours and makes it pale by comparison....

Now this is pretty neat.. kind of puts things in perspective.. Makes you feel pretty insignificant.....

I thought this was enlightening. Didn't even realize we knew much beyond our sun ....
It's a big universe(s).

Antares is the 15th brightest star in the sky.

Now, who doesn't believe in eternity....?

Malaysia's CSI movie - CSI Kg Baru

2007-11-17T00:17:00.000-08:00

Malaysia 's CSI movie - CSI ; KAMPUNG BARU

Ahmed died in a fire and his body was so badly burned that the morgue needed someone to identify the body. As he had no family, they called up his two best friends, Ah Beng and Kumar.

Ah Beng went in first and the mortician pulled back the sheet.Ah Beng said, "Wah-lau-eh, he's very barbecued like cha siu.? But if you would roll him over, I will tell you if he's my friend Ahmed or not."The mortician rolled the body over.

Ah Beng looked at his ass and said, "Heng-ah! No-lah, dat not Ahmed." The mortician was puzzled how he was so sure but he didn't say anything. He went and got Kumar to check the body.

Kumar looked closely and said, "Aiyoyo, it is true he's burnt very bad, but need you to roll him over and I can confirm if he's my friend, Ahmed."Again the mortician rolled the body over. Kumar looked down at the ass and said, "Aiyoyo, oh no no, this is definitely not Ahmed."

The mortician, unable to suppress his curiosity any longer, said, "Okay, you have to tell me now - how can you and Ah Beng tell for sure this is not Ahmed?"

Kumar said, "Well, this Ahmed, he had two assholes." "What?!!" the mortician said in disbelief, "He had two assholes?!!"

"Oh yes, everyone in the neighbourhood knows this.?Every time the three of us go out, people always say, ' Here comes Ahmed with the two assholes'. "

Weird!

2007-11-17T00:12:00.000-08:00

5 Don'ts when you are sleeping

2007-11-17T00:06:00.000-08:00

The last one really cracked me up! haha

DON'T SLEEP WITH WATCH Watches can emit a certain level of radioactivity. Though small, but if you wear your watch to bed for a long time, it might have adverse effects on your health.

DON'T SLEEP WITH PHONE Putting the phone beside your bed or anywhere near you is not encouraged. Though some of us will use phones as alarm clocks, but please put the phone as far as possible. Scientists have proved that electrical items including mobile phone and television sets emit magnetic waves when used. These waves can cause disruptions to our nervous system. Therefore if you need to put your mobile phone near you, switch it off first. DON'T

SLEEP WITH MAKE UP People who sleep with make up might have skin problems in the long run. Sleeping with make up will cause the skin to have difficulty in breathing and problem in perspiring. You will also need a much longer time to go into deep sleep.

DON'T SLEEP WITH BRA Scientists in America have discovered those that wear bras for more than 12 hours have a higher risk of getting breast cancer. So go to bed without it.

DON'T SLEEP WITH OTHERS' WIFE You may never wake up again....

Mother of the year!

2007-11-16T23:15:00.000-08:00

In a zoo in California, a mother tiger gave birth to a rare set of triplet tiger cubs. Unfortunately, due to complications in the pregnancy, the cubs were born prematurely and due to their tiny size, they died shortly after birth.The mother tiger after recovering from the delivery, suddenly started to decline in health, although physically she was fine.

The veterinarians felt that the loss of her litter had caused the tigress to fall into a depression. The doctors decided that if the tigress could surrogate another mother's cubs, perhaps she would improve.After checking with many other zoos across the country, the depressing news was that there were no tiger cubs of the right age to introduce to the mourning mother. The veterinarians decided to try something that had never been tried in a zoo environment. Sometimes a mother of one species will take on the care of a different species.

The only orphan that could be found quickly, were a litter of weanling pigs. The zoo keepers and vets wrapped the piglets in tiger skin and placed the babies around the mother tiger. Would they become cubs or pork chops? Take a look...you won't believe your eyes!!

Now, please tell me one more time..........

why can't the rest of the world get along?

Davester: This fwd email was one of the rare ones that has enough impact to take my breathe away. A lesson to be learnt for one and all!

All photos are copyright of the owner.

Lessons to be learnt

2007-11-16T20:45:00.000-08:00

Perhaps the most profound thing I picked up from reading the late Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong's biography was 2 things he mentioned inside it. The first was, for one to succeed he/she must be dan da xin xi (bold but cautious). A great leader of men, he had proved to everyone that, success is a result of hard work plus a sharp mind to think. Before I read his biography, I had heard many people say that Uncle Lim (as we all had came to affectionately call him) became successful despite being an illiterate has proved to be totally untrue.

Uncle Lim is not only fully literate, he possesses a mind which is sharper than even the smartest of us all. It's the faculty of reasoning plus street wise common sense that had earned him riches and fame even before his Genting Highlands stint. He also advised us on the virtues of having a positive outlook on life as well as to smile and be courteous to one and all cos we never know who we will meet along the way as we charge ahead in our daily lives.

Other things which I have picked up in the book was, the virtues of being single minded. This is not the same as being close minded or one track mind. It's a totally different ballgame altogether. Being single minded means when you set your mind to doing something, make sure thats what you want to do and not get distracted by your surroundings (friends, colleagues, acquaintances, family members). In this day and age, it's very easy to get distracted by people who promise you fast and easy riches. Becoming 'instant millionaires' is the buzz word nowadays with the promise of even 18 year school leavers buy. I remember a phrase from a Napoleon Hill book, "Fast to make a decision, and slow to change it..." I think he was referring to Henry Ford. Phrases like this was written about Warren Buffet, Donald Trump and other successful people, and Uncle Lim was no exception.

Once he had set his mind to developing a remote mountain into a holiday resort, nobody could get in his way or change his mind about it. He was deeply rooted in his ambition and will to succeed and charged ahead till he saw completion of it.

Another important word inside the book which caught my attention was this, the dual word used to describe 'nation' in mandarin is guojia. It comprises of the word guo which means country and jia which means family. What he says is that family is the most important building block and pillar of strength for a country to truly be a nation. For without family, we would all just be individuals running around fighting our own personal battles and amongst each other for survival. No longer do we live here, we just merely exist. So another important lesson to be learnt from this great man is the virtues of family.

I have a deep admiration and respect for Uncle Lim and every night when I flip the page of his autobiography, I feel truly honored and some what blessed that I am able to read the lines and pick up the stories written by such a great yet humble and down to earth leader of men. I would have given anything to meet him in person when he was alive, but being able to take a journey into his life though his stories makes me a truly lucky person. Like a scene in 'The last samurai' where the Emperor of Japan asked Tom Cruise, "will you tell me how he died?", in which Tom Cruise replied "I will tell you how he lived..."

(In memory of Tan Sri Dato' Seri (Dr) Lim Goh Tong)

On ambition

2007-11-09T09:06:00.000-08:00

What would you do if one day you found yourself in the same position you started out from 10 years ago? Would you go screaming mad and start to pull all your hair out? Would your bang your head on the wall and cuss at yourself for not putting in the extra effort to make bring yourself a little closer to your goals and dreams.

I have a friend in the exact same position. In his late thirties where most people would have already achieved a certain level of success in their career or business, he still find himself in the exact same position he started out 15 years ago doing the exact same job while seeing those who started off the same time as him or later than him climb up above him and eventually becoming his boss or leaving the company for jobs which pays 10-15x more.

Well I know that many would say that thats the reality of life when you work with people, but the worst reality is, actually being in that situation and not being able to do anything about it. Talk about being helpless. It's like someone holding a knife to you and whatever is happening to you is way beyond your control.

I work in an office as well, and my situation is no better than the gardener with the lowest salary in my company or the CEO with the highest salary in the company, you know why? Because the 3 of us have to put in the exact same 8 hours a day or 44 hours a week into the job to be entitled to the paycheck at the end of the day be it the gardener, the CEO or me.

If I was the owner of a smart private institution of higher learning, I would come up with a program called "Professional Office Worker" or the likes of it. Or if the person was working with the telephone on the front line, we would call it "Professional Call Advisor" or some nonsense. My best bet is, with excellent PR and an even better marketing plan, we would be selling these programs like hot cakes as the tag line is 'continuous improvement to your work life' and somewhere in between the lines, we would sell the hope of jumping to a better job with a bigger paycheck just cos of the the cert has the word Professional or Certified in it. Wouldn't that be lucrative?

It may sound silly but I actually fell for one of those nonsense many years back when I was a call centre operator.. I mean, Customer Service Officer in Singapore. The company introduced a program called a "Certified Customer Service Professional" offered under the then National Skills Recognition System which was ran by the Workers Development Authority (WDA) of Singapore. The aim of the program we took was to train front line customer service agents to provide consistent service across the board (which we were already doing thanks to our stringent operating standards) and to give recognition and glamour to so called unglamourous and mundane/boring/routine jobs. Those who passed were given a recognition certificate in the presence of everyone in the department and a small little blue tie pin which immediately recognises you as one who have taken the test and had passed with flying colors.

But what got our tails wagging excitedly back then was the fact that, if we decide to change jobs within the industry later on, we would get a better advantage over others. Sadly, today, few years on I'd come to realise that all that was is just alot of hype and a browning toilet paper. I might even like to conclude that we had been taken for a hot air balloon ride back then. But I reckon looking back today, I'd say that it's all in the spirit of competitiveness eh.

Well between someone who will retire a clerk just as he was a clerk for the past 50 years or a clerk retiring as the president of the company, I reckon that there are goals and dreams far bigger than the ones we strive to achieve in the span of our careers. However big they may be, to me, being still young and brash and I may say a little naive, I fail to see whats more important than to make tons of money and look + feel rich. Maybe its bcos of the insecurity of not having enough growing up, or the insecurities I feel now still not having enough after so many year I have put in to my career.

At this juncture of my life, I don't respect mediocracy. I don't respect people who choose to be mediocre or normal. If I myself were to one day choose to be mediocre or normal, I would not respect myself either. Dreams are to be dreamt big, or else, why bother to even dream in the first place, we're just taking up precious time and may in a way obstruct others who may want to dream big ridiculous dreams. But who are we to say people's dreams are big and ridiculous? The airplane and telephone was once big ridiculous dreams... look who's laughing now? Only the ones heading to the bank with sacks of money with dollar signs printed on the sack.

I was once told, if your dreams doesn't scare you, it's not big enough. So why don't we want to dream big? It's free isn't it? We'd stand in line for hours just for free pens or meal vouchers... why not stand in line and start dreaming big? I want to make it a point to dream BIG HAIRY OBNOXIOUS RIDICULOUS OUTRIGHT IMPOSSIBLE DREAMS and i want to do it today without any delay. If Tony Robbins can become a rich dude with a castle at 21, I believe so can I. If Donald Trump can be so rich he travels around in his own personal plane, I believe so can I.

Deepavali day dinner...

2007-11-08T17:08:00.000-08:00

Last night we decided to go for dinner at Northam Beach hawker centre along Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah (Formally known as Northam Road, or Millionaire row)

The 1 word I would use to describe the situation all the way from our house to Northam beach is Pandemonium! All sorts of inexperience to inconsiderate drivers came out and decide to become king of the road on this particular day. This plus the army of outstation vehicles and tour buses parking inconsiderately along road shoulders and traffic light junctions really got my dad’s blood boiling I guess. He was cussing and swearing at them all the way to dinner. I can understand his pain. Folks in Penang don’t always have to put up with all this inconvenience, save for festive seasons and school holidays. Yesterday being Deepavali, we unfortunately had to be put through that little 'experience'.

All the way I played what Dr Mano told me the last time I went for my consultation with him. He said, let me draw you a diagram. Do you wash your car youself or send it to the carwash? I said I had washed it myself on few occasions. He said, imagine a water hose, from the tap in the house to the bucket outside a few metres away. You have a short water hose, you take another much thinner water hose and attach to it but it’s still not long enough to reach the bucket. You then take another water hose, much thinner and attach to it and finally it reaches the bucket. While you are controlling the flow of the water, you need to make sure that it’s too high pressured as the water pressure will make all the 3 water host burst and water will spray everywhere.

The water tap represents your heart, the first hose is the artery, the second is your normal blood veins and the 3rd is the veins to your brain. The artery and bigger veins can take the pressure but the much smaller veins, which are the ones in your brain can’t take too much of it. When you cause yourself to be stressed out to the max or suffer from high blood pressure (like I do on certain occasions) you could force the blood veins in your brain to burst itself and you migh end up in a coma or something along that line.

Because my doc painted such a horrible image in my mind, I always remind myself to keep a cool head in every situation and avoid being in situations where I literally turn green, 3 times my size, rip off my shirt, pound on my chest and jump a few hundred feet from where I am standing and destroy every single thing I lay my eyes upon. And oh yeah, not forgetting the thunderous roar.

The same situation unfold on the way home from dinner but in between, the dinner was excellent! We had (lemmie recall), loh bak, seafood popiah, German Sausage, a pot pie, cheese cake and salad set, pizza and my bro had some weird looking ‘french’ food and we all had Apple juice with assam. Quite satisfying for a RM60 or so dinner. I’d highly recommend Northam beach for a really good dinner with first class seats by the beach overlooking the Butterworth Container Terminal and the straits between Penang Island and Province Wellesley. If you can look beyond the dirty beach right below where you are seated to the beautiful background setting further ahead, you might enjoy the experience. The breeze is cool and as it gets darker and the whole place is lit up with miniature xmas tree lights overhead it really turns out to be something like a mini fiesta or beach party like environment. I must say I really enjoyed myself there.

Happy Deepavali to all my hindu friends. Although I feel abit sad this year bcos nobody invited me to their house for makan, I still share in your festive joy the same way I share in every religious and cultural festival in our multicultural country! One of the things I enjoy the most is, every time there is a festival, I get a long long leave. He he he... Now tell me again, whats not nice about being in Malaysia? I'm having a ball here!

A day in the life of...

2007-11-08T17:01:00.000-08:00

I used to think that only crazy people with too much time on their hands write in blogs all day but I find myself writing more and more entries after finding out the fact that people actually read the stuff I write, which makes it even more worthwhile. I made a new fan yesterday out of my blog! And I would really like to thank those who take the time to read through the stuff that comes pouring out of my brain. Haha…

Well my day began early yesterday, 8/11/2007. After a really good seafood dinner with a few of my colleagues and lots of coconut flower ‘wine’ mixed with Guinness stout to go around, I finally got a chance to go home and started packing my stuff to catch my 7am flight from the Low Cost Carrier Terminal in KL back to Penang. From all the exhaustion and too much booze, I retired to bed early at around 11:30pm. At 2am I awoke into a situation too awkward for my own comprehension. Rain water was dripping down to where I was sleeping from the window above. Now I did mention that I just moved into a new room where the window was too high for its own good and if it’s open, I have to go through some sort of grueling task just to close it. The windows are located close to the ceiling of the room and the walls are twice the height of the room. The room in its odd configuration reminds me of my aunt’s place many years ago where it was the same design, dubbed an air well, which they decided to make some sort of a double storey room out of.

So, with the rainwater quickly ‘flooding’ my bed, floor and the scarce furniture I have, I had to think of something fast, not easy a task for someone who had too much to drink and had only slept for the past 2 and a half hours. I moved the bed aside, pushed the computer table into its place, placed a plastic stool on top of the table, tied the vacuum cleaner rod to the broom, mop and dustpan rods together with masking tape frantically like a mad dude and climbed on top of the table + stool and tried to push the window lever to shut it. Out of the 3 windows I only managed 2, cos the last one I had the electrician push the air con ducting into so I didn’t have to answer to the landlord about all the holes I drilled into his lovely house. However I managed to close it halfway so that the next time it rained, I don’t have to put up with a flooded room!

After that little incident, I made a mental note to myself to be more cautious in choosing a place to rent the next time around. I mean, every rental lodgings has its own disadvantages doesn’t it? Its just up to you to use your better judgment to analyze whether you want to put up with such things or not. In the long run I reckon it’s all about what you want out of the experience you are going through or decide to put yourself through. As for me, the reason why I chose this place is because it’s convenient. Located near 2 lrt stations, food stalls within a walking distance, 2 hypermarkets literally next to where I stay, bus service literally at my doorstep to every major shopping centre within a 50km radius of me and convenient access in and out of the house. I dread staying in apartments or condominiums, although it’s fun to have all the facilities included and also a view to complement if you are living in a high rise somewhere in a higher altitude. With a house, I simply park my car outside and within 2-3 seconds I have already made my way from my bedroom to it.

But the biggest convenience which I derive out of it is the fact that it’s nearer to where my new office is going to be located in KL.

Ok, back to my story. After the little incident at 2am, I was left too hyperactive to go back to sleep, so I popped a vcd into the player and watched a bit, went out and fixed the broken window at the rear part of the house, took a bath and got ready to leave for the airport. I left the house at 4.30am, it was still raining quite heavily then and all dark. Arrived at Desmond’s house at around 5am, picked him up and left for the airport.

At the airport there were so many people, I’d only imagine a scene out of a Schindler’s list movie or the likes of it. There were people everywhere and the check-in counters at the terminal were jammed pack with people as if every single person was trying to leave KL in a hurry. There were flights scheduled to every single destination where Air Asia flew to that morning. I managed to check in rather fast after standing in line for around 15 mins.

After the check-in counter queue, I proceeded to the MacDonald's queue, which was more irritating cos the space to queue was smaller and every single table was taken up with rubbish not cleared. Feeling quite annoyed, I went outside for a smoke deciding whether I should continue standing in line or go on board with a stomach growling so badly that the cabin crew might think I brought a dog on board.

Just when I was about to light up I heard a familiar voice. It was Susan. “What da heck r u doing at the airport at 6am in the morning?”, she said she was here to drop her brother and his wife off for their trip to Kota Kinabalu. Great! I got a ciggy partner as well as someone to accompany me for breakfast. She said, “Hey I saw your boss just now” “Oh Really? Here? At the airport as well?” hm… I wonder where she’s off to. Anyway, after we had our Sausage MacMuffin and Big Breakfast together with her bro and his wife, I headed to the gate where my plane was already boarding. Everyone was already up in the plane where me and a handful of passengers were still queuing up at the gate waiting to go walk the runway to the plane. From all the exhaustion, once I took my seat in the plane and put on my seat belt, I dozed off till the chief steward announced on the PA that we had landed safely at Penang International Airport. Dad was already waiting in the arrival hall for me and it felt so relaxed to finally come home, even for only 4 days.

Ok, I guess I have written too much this time around. The sadness of not being able to celebrate Deepavali at anyone’s house this year really gets to me. But it’s all good I guess. In place of that, I get to be closer to my family and spend more time with them. Something I really cherish.

Welcome to a world of convenience!

2007-11-05T09:17:00.000-08:00

Its 1:20 am in the morning and I'm lying on my best, it's my 2nd night in my new place at Seri Petaling and although I'm tired as heck, I still couldn't sleep. Maybe it's because I have been moving house for the last 3 days non stop everyday or because the air-con guy hasn't come and installed my air-con yet. With the ceiling fan at top speed and another standing fan also at top speed, i'm sweating like a piggy here. Now I'm starting to regret buying the comforter set.

But with Radja's Jujur blaring out of the television speakers and me getting to punch in some words into my fav blog site, I guess all that hard work is all worth it.

Moving from a place where I have came to enjoy living in, it was kind of ackward at first, especially the first night. I couldn't sleep at all. Maybe it's the latex smell of the new mattress, or the bad experience having to sleep on the mattress on the floor, I dunno. But the nice thing is getting up in the morning and being able to take my time driving to work. Guess what? It used to take 30 mins to get from my place to the LRT station where we have to gather to board the company's bus kilang. Now it only takes 5 mins. Hows that for near (and convenient?)

With food stores nearby and 2 hypermarts within walking distance, I begin to ask myself... why didn't I think of this earlier? Maybe after all that searching high and low for a place to stay, this could be the most right choice I have ever made. So far so good, cos I haven't regretted my decision yet.

Besides the exuberance about how convenient this location is, I also rejoice in the fact that, finally there are people to come home and talk with. How nice. But all is not rainbows and butterflies here tho. Parking is a nightmare. With a 66 feet wide road, people seem to be parking everywhere! omigosh! I had to park my car at the end of the road. This place is a cul-de-sac (or deadend for the not so language savvy) BUt at least its ok lah, since it's 66 feet wide, people get to go to the end and make a u-turn back to go out. Its only sometimes some moron will double park their vehicle till its unpassable. Luckily none of that occured when I was driving the 4x4 pickup truck earlier, if not.. hmm.. wonder how an urban demolition derby would look like. (lol)

Anyhow, hope its all good. The air-con guy promised to come at 7am sharp tomorrow. Hope he comes, give me a good solution to my aircon problems and help give me better sleep in a colder climate. its starting to feel like the african sahara at this weather.

My eyes are getting smaller and I'm starting to yawn like a cow. I think i'll stop here for now and maybe continue tomorrow or so. This entry is so shot, so unlike me, but I promise, I would definitely write more soon. Ciao amigos!

Everything will work itself out in the end

2007-10-29T08:48:00.000-07:00

I was in the internet chat room the other day as usual, so called 'socializing' in a way I would never do in the real world. In this day and age, the new generation would ask, why would you need the real world for when all you need is right here in cyberspace? You get to experience whatever thrills you want, whenever you want it.

Well, the story I wanted to tell isn't about getting whatever you want from cyberspace whenever you want it. I'm happy... why? Because people actually read my blog postings! Oh my gosh! All I can say is, I'm touched! To me, blogs are a place where you get to thrash out whatever feelings and emotions, thoughts and suggestions whenever you need to, more like a virtual 'toilet'. Spill it all out and flush it all down. Isn't that the way its supposed to be done? I personally reckon that, if everyone were to write a blog entry a day, then there would be less stressed out people, less nutcases, less mental patients and less hatred in the world. It's like a movie I watched many years back, I can't recall what it's called, but I think it's Futureball (or the likes of it)

The objective of futureball is for countries to fight it out in a ball game rather than wage wars against each other. Therefore, I reckon that the same theory would work itself out well in instance of blogs, but not neglecting the importance of self restraint. In other words, write stuff in blogs that don't piss people off or get people to drag your ass to court and sue it off then drag it screaming and kicking off to the slammer.

In my 30 years (soon 31), I can say with confidence that I have never really been a rebel without a cause. I don't have a single traffic ticket to my name, I drive within speed limits, I don't DUI, I don't rape, kill or steal and I try my best to be a role model for others whom may want to emulate me. In other words, I do my best every single day to blend in (to society) I am not saying that the next person who is 180 degrees different from the likes of me, who is rough, obnoxious, who (contemplates) rape, kills (insects...hehe) and steals (from old ladies) doesn't try his best to blend in to society, it's just their way of expressing their uniqueness and individual character.

You know, I never understood why some people need to show off with their modified rides, strange sounds when they reverse their vehicles or when they slam on the brakes, drive like they're on the set of Tokyo Drift, cuss and swear in public, wear ackward looking colors and hairstyles, clothes too large or too small for their own good, tattoos all over their bodies, bits and pieces of metal, gold and silver on their face, pierce their belly buttons and tongues, gamble and drink till it puts a strain on their pockets and health.

I guess I would have to go back to college to get a degree in psychology or probably even a PhD before I can really get a grasp on what goes on in peoples' heads. I reckon I wouldn't want or need to. All I need to do is, learn from the mistakes of mankind and apply it to make myself a more effective, efficient and useful person. In other words, use these metaphors, examples and case studies to 'evolve' and become a better human being. Isn't that what we all would like or want for ourselves? To evolve and become better?

After all being said and done, I guess in conclusion, all I can say is that, either you're a villian, a saint, a prince, a pauper, a liar, a pastor, a conman, a governor, a millionaire, a bankrupt. Whatever or whoever you choose to become or live as, whatever choice you make, either you die poor and happy, rich and remorseful, lived a fulfilled life or one full of what ifs and regrets, everything will work itself out in the end.

Goodbye Uncle Lim

2007-10-27T02:44:00.000-07:00

It never crossed my mind to write a blog entry about a deceased person but this individual is so special that I am compelled to write a few last words describing my admiration for him.

It's 27/10/2007 and I woke up bright and early this morning to catch the 8:45am shuttle bus our company arranged for us to go up to Gohtong Villa to pay our last respects to our boss, Tan Sri Dato' Seri (Dr) Lim Goh Tong, which we have came to fondly know as Uncle Lim. When I reached our pickup point, all my colleagues we there already, dressed solemnly in either black or white. They passed me a black ribbon which I was to wear on my left arm before going for the wake.

The journey up took around 1 hour from our pick up point, and when we reached Genting Skyway around 10+, there was already a few hundred people there. Genting had arranged many vans, limousines, private cars etc to ferry people from the skyway to Gohtong Villa located on an exclusive hill in Gohtong Jaya to pay their last respects to Uncle Lim, someone who truly touched the hearts of every Malaysian and possibly every living person who knows him.

We got down from the bus and hopped on the vans which took us up Gohtong Villa. The walk from Gohtong Villa's main entrance to his house was another 100m or so. Lining the walkway was wreathes from almost every company in Malaysia, Singapore, Hongkong, Japan, Macau etc. We had to line up to go in to pay our last respects to him, all around his house the memorial service provider had set up canopies and tents. We couldn't really see how big the house was but judging from the size of the compound, it was really huge! After waiting for around 15mins, we finally got a chance to go into the area where his coffin was placed. As we entered 1 by 1, a taoist monk dressed in black robe instructed each person to put their hands together and take 1 bow, as a show of respect to the deceased, after taking 1 bow, we walked 1 round his coffin and proceeded to the exit.

Uncle Lim was smartly dressed in a black suit with all his medals pinned neatly on it. I dun have any idea what medals he got but I reckon he had his Tan Sri medal and his Dato' Seri medal. He looked so peaceful. Its quite odd, all the way up, I didn't feel any sorrowful or sad emotions until I entered the room where his coffin was. Perhaps it was the sum of collective sadness and sorrow which immediately bounced off me and almost instantly I actually felt sadness for his demise, in that very room.

That feeling wore off the second I walked out of the room down to the basement carpark area where they served food and refreshments. When we were having our drinks, there were still people lining up to go in to pay their last respects to him. It was truly an amazing experience, I had never attended the funeral for a vip before and I really must say it is an experience I will never forget.

I have worked in Star Cruises for a little over 3 months only but really feel inspired and motivated by Uncle Lim, much so after reading bits and pieces of his biography on the internet. I'm not sure if I can still get his book 'My Story - Lim Goh Tong in the bookstores anymore, but if I can, I'm gonna rush out and snap up a copy.

My closing words is, Good bye Uncle Lim, your success is an inspiration to all of us to become successful in face of obstacles, the legacy you have left us in form of Genting resort etc enables us to enjoy our holidays and bring our families together. Last but not least, because of your effort, I have a job and a chance of a long term career in the company you founded. You are our leader, our motivation. Cheers to such a great man!

Just another day in paradise...?

2007-10-16T17:35:00.000-07:00

It really gets me wondering, who sits at my desk to work everyday after I go back at 6pm. The reason for saying this is that, every morning when I come to work, my chair is extremely high, feels like someone not so tall sits at my desk and works during the night when everyone else goes home. Is there a possibility? Well, I will never know for sure.

Who in their right mind would want to come to this office after dark? I know I for one would not, it's simply crazy. I work in a purpose converted island. I wouldn't say man made, cos the island was here before the development started, they just enhanced the use of it. There is a township here but with only a handful of people stay here. It's 25km from the nearest town and hardly anyone gives a crap to come here, especially at night, it's a shipping terminal for god sakes.

Well the reason for me to let out steam here at 8:30 in the am isn't about some phantom model employee clocking in extra time on my desk. I just felt like it's time for me to catch up on my blog postings.. hehe...

A new day a new challenge, thats what they all say right? I appreciate new days and I appreciate new challenges. I just wish I was strong enough to face them all when it gets stuffed down my throat all at once or one at a time.

Well just another day in paradise has always been my favorite crooning song at the karaoke joint back in the day. Its the first song I will look for in the song books whenever I escape to 'idol boot camp' singing sessions at the OK. Songs are a reflection of life, right? And if it is, I guess today is just another day in paradise. As it was yesterday, still, I choose to be happy!

Back to work Tuesday

2007-10-15T17:33:00.000-07:00

I just got in to the office after a 3 day long weekend which I had spent mostly in my rented apartment in the city rather than back in Penang, my hometown. Much that I don't want to dwell in the sorrow of that, I'm pretty much glad that this morning I get to go back to work bright and early in time to type out this blog entry.

I spent the most part of last night watching Evan Almighty on DVD, which I find really hilarious and would like to congratulate the producers and directors for successfully making me laugh inspite of the strong religious 'hidden message' behind that movie.

Besides watching Evan Almighty on DVD, I also managed to chat up a few new friends on the online chatroom which I frequently visit. Now let me recall, there's Joyce, who looked like a Ribena Berry replica which keeps going Wew! Tsu from Penang who thought I was a gal from my chatroom nickname and Hui Ting, which pretty much impressed me (and I must say inspired me at the same time to get up and chase the goals which I have pretty much given up on a long time ago).

Can you imagine this, a 22 year old Insurance sales agent who drives a 2003 BMW 318i she bought brand new. We were chatting about cars and she was trying to decide between keeping her car and a brand new Volvo S80. I wonder how many 22 year olds have the luxury of that kind of decisions at that age. Well, in fact for a 32 yr old and 42 year old for that matter. After successfully landing my cushy job here in genting, I toy around with a decision on which Proton to change next.

Which got me a thinking. It's in the decision that we make on a daily basis. Its the decisions we make in life which determine what kind of life we end up living. Its the decision we make which determines if we eat instant noodles for dinner everynight or dine on lobsters at the JW Marriotts. God, (whoever it may be for you) gives each and every one of us equal opportunities to be either rich, poor, middle class, upper class, lower class and homeless. Its up to us to choose what we want ourselves to be without prejudice I suppose.

As I wake up today at 5am, I thank the almighty for giving me the opportunity of a brand new day and another chance to make a choice to be who I want to be today. To choose to be happy, rich, loved, lucky and enjoy everything that God has created for me to enjoy around me.

Thank you for the opportunity, thank you for letting me choose. I choose to be Happy!

Season Greetings for the Holidays! Lets all enjoy our 3 day weekend!

2007-10-14T12:54:00.000-07:00

Selamat hari raya to all! the long raya weekend, i was dreading this day because it meant i was stuck here in kl for 3 whole days with nothing better to do and also i don't get to go back to Penang. Nevertheless, last night was quite fun. I went out and bought myself 2 pirated dvds (of course), Bourne Ultimatum and Evan Almighty. I didn't get around to watching Evan Almighthy yet, cos i popped Bourne Ultimatum into the dvd player and was amazed that i didn't get ripped off buying a lousy pirated copy. the quality and sound was superb and excellent!

After that i logged online to the chatroom to kill off my boredom. it was around midnight already. the first few people i tried chatting up was either sleeping already or too boring. Normally I only chat with people who put their names or names of real humans as their nicknames (not that i do myself), but it shows a degree of sincerity). i should start reconsidering my own for my degree of sincerity sake.

I clicked on this 'hello_nurse' nickname not expecting anything much more than an inviter bot or porn site advertisement bot. To my surprise, it was a real person.. and a real nurse to top it off. Although i'm not too sure the pictures she sent me during our ym chat session was hers, I reckon i shouldn't have anything to doubt about this one. 38 year old staff nurse somewhere in Malaysia with more provocative chat styles and topics that I could come up with in that short period of time. An experienced chatter i presume. The type of person I have been longing to chat wif for the past 12 yrs i am in the online chatroom.

Well, the chemistry was there, the topics were flowing nicely and get ice was breaking well. Too bad she had to go to bed after a short chat (it was almost 4am already). Well not that I expect anyone to read this silly posting. Nonetheless, if I browse through here in a couple of months time, it might bring back some happy memories of my chatting days.

I was feeling pretty much under the weather a couple of hours ago, between now, typing out this blog and after i turned off the Bourne Ultimatum dvd. Its about someone who called and asked if I was just playing around with peoples feelings and not being serious.

Cmon, I wanna be as serious as I can, given the right circumstances. However, psychologically I push people who want to enter into my world and be part of it away when i feel my 'comfort zone', my feelings are at risk of being hurt badly in the future. Probably it's what I have been through that I subconsciously do so. I don't intend to push people away. I love to be loved and cared for. I loved to be the centre of attention and show love. Please don't get me wrong. Its just that I can't take it when i get hurt over and over again. I rather be alone surrounded by myself in my 'comfort zone'.

I'm not an emotional train wreck. I dun have mood swings or will take you on a roller coaster ride with my mood. If you ask me, i will tell you i'm perfectly fine. I too like to be surrounded by my friends and know that people around me acknowledge my existence. A hermit is what I'm not. When I don't want to see you, you need to understand that I got my own 'stuff' to sort out.

I am capable of loving and being loved too. Its just that i want to make my choice one I won't regret later on in life. After seeing relationships break down, lives of people i know and some even care for change around me, of cos if given a choice i want my storybook to be different right? why go through life with the hassle of communication/relationship breakdowns when you know you can do something about it? When the power to change things is clearly in your hands, of course you set out to find the best possible solution, the best possible ending to your fairy tale.

Don't come and accuse me and ask me to go on fearing the fact that i am afraid to get hurt and push people away. I didn't ask you to pity me. I don't need it.

I reckon we as humans have a tendancy to complicate life. It could be simple and straightforward. I read a forwarded email on Friday. It went something like this:

A man was sleeping at night in his cabin when suddenlyhis room filled with light, and the Lord appeared The Lord told the man he had work for him to do,and showed him a large rock in front of his cabin. The Lord explained:that the man was to push against the rock with all his might.This the man did, Day after day. For many years he toiled from sunup to sundown,his shoulders set squarely against the cold, massive surface of the unmoving rock,Pushing with all his might.

Each night the man returned to his cabin sore,and worn out, feeling that his whole day had been spent in vain.Since the man was showing signs of discouragement,the devil decided to enter the picture by placing thoughts into the man's weary mind:"You have been pushing against that rock for a longtime, and it hasn't budged.Why kill yourself over this? You are never going to move it."Thus, giving the man the impression that the task was impossibleand that he was a failure.These thoughts discouraged and disheartened the man."Why kill myself over this?" he thought. "I'll just put in my time,giving just the minimum effort; and that will be good enough."And that is what he planned to do, until one day hedecided to make it a matter of prayer and take his troubled thoughts to the Lord. "Lord," he said, "I have labored long and hard inyour service, putting all my strength to do that which you have asked.Yet, after all this time, I have not even budged that rock by half a millimeter.What is wrong? Why am I failing?"

The Lord responded compassionately,"My friend, when I asked you to serve meand you accepted, I told you that your task was to push against the rockwith all your strength, which you have done.Never once did I mention to you that I expected you to move it.Your task was to push.And now you come to me with your strength spent,thinking that you have failed.But is that really so? Look at yourself.Your arms are strong and muscled, your back is sinewy and brown,your hands are callused from constant pressure,and your legs have become massive and hard.Through opposition you have grown much,and your abilities now surpass that which you used to have.Yet you haven't moved the rock.But your calling was to be obedient and to push and to exercise your faithand trust in My wisdom. This you have done.I, my friend, will now move the rock."

At times, when we hear a word from the Lord, we tend to use our own intellect to decipher what He wants,when actually what the Lord wants is just simple obedience and faith in Him....By all means, exercise the faith that moves mountains, but know that it is still the Lord who moves the mountains.For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes ... Romans 1:16When everything seems to go wrong ... just P.U.S.H.!When the job gets you down ... just P.U.S.H.!When people don't react the way you think they should just P.U.S.H.!When your money looks "gone" and the bills are due ... just P.U.S.H.!When people just don't understand you ... just P.U.S.H.!

P.U.S.H. = Pray Until Something Happens!!!!!

Now i'm not a christian. Nor do i encourage stories like this to be told to me by people promoting their faith targeted at me. Nonetheless this story, I can say, inspired and uplifted me. The effect was the same as the Footprints story which I heard some time back, which some people mock for having religious promoting elements inside. when it comes to these things i guess im alittle sensitive. Look, I won't say I'm not religious. I am! I have a faith I believe in don't I? I'm a buddhist, or so I confess to be. But I rather it be I'm spiritual. When you're spiritual, you go beyond the boundries of defending your own religion and building a brick wall between you and the person next to you. When you are spiritual, you will always think that there is a supreme being, or can plug into the infinite intelligence of the universe (or things along that line) rather than say that there is God, or Jesus, or Buddha. When you are spiritual, you do not differentiate between your God and my God. God becomes... God, it belongs to nobody, it is the universe and not the creator of it. I dunno if any of this makes sense. Haha... Well it does to me, at least now.

Gosh! Look at home much I have written. I just want to look back at this posting some time later in the future with a smile on my face remembering how eventful today has been, one which started out lousy, turned worst, made me feel good and happy, then crappy then good and happy again to the state i am in right now.

Good night (or rather morning!)

Spitfire Grill

2007-09-15T18:43:00.000-07:00

Came home all shagged up today and decided to plop right in front of the telly to catch up on some tv time. for the 1st 2 hours all there was were bad movies and sad sitcoms until i flipped to Star movies (i think) and came across this movie which was just starting, i flipped the info button on the remote and it said "Spitfire Grill" as the title.

This is how the story goes... according to the movie description in yahoo movies:

Percy Talbott, a recently released inmate from a Maine prison, relocates to the small, waning, town of Gilead, whose remaining residents seem to have long since grown numb to the commanding countryside that encloses them. Soon the skeptical citizens of Gilead begin to speculate about her background and criminal past and Percy becomes hard pressed to find a room and work. Finally, Percy finds a job with Hannah, the indomitable owner of the Spitfire Grill, and begins to develop a strong connection with she and her niece-in-law, Shelby. Through their deepening friendship, each woman experiences a personal redemption and, through their solidarity, the narrow-minded citizens of the community are reawakened and reunified.

In my humble opinion, no doubt the show comes on as slow paced and somewhat boring, with predictable plots and storylines, I must admit that I somehow got drawn to watching the movie till the end.

The reason? Maybe because this movie touched on a few subjects which I held close to heart and some of my personal values on humanity and the way people should be treated.

When the main character, Percy Talbott finally spoke about the reason why she was in prisoned at the age of 16 (for manslaughter), it actually became clearer that the system they had there, or more like the system we have everywhere actually punishes the victim of a crime after the crime has been committed to that person and no amount of empathy or pity for that person can save them out of it.

Well, what amazed me out of that movie was the the clear good intention of one person's heart no matter how obscure, will prevail even in face of all injustice, queer eyes, bad intentions, deframation and misperception of everybody around you. The movie has taught me, like they sayings of old, if your heart is pure, then fear not, because it will help you shine through, no matter how dark it may be. (This is not a phrase taken out of the bible, trust me because I'm not a christian.)

It also showed of a person who proved herself brave, in coming 1 step closer to the truth and was not afraid to go all out in search of it.

watching a good movie is like reading a good book i guess. I checked out the title of the movie and found out that it was made in 1996, 11 years ago, but the timelessness of the story and how it touched the very core of people's values was what made it stand out even till today.

It also taught me something, which I had actually known about long before I watched this movie. Perhaps you who are reading my blog would like to know about it and get some idea about it.

The person that the main character worked for in the movie had wanted to sell off her diner for a very long time, but since that place which the movie portraying was a small, waning town, nobody had any money to buy it, let alone want to run it.

Then Percy Talbott suggested that they run an essay writing contest, the participant had to write in an essay stating why Hannah should give the diner to him/her, send a $100 note with the essay and post it to them. The winner would get to diner for free.

Percy got to calling her old prison mates who works on the telephone on some Customer Service job at the prison to do some PR work on the essay contest to be published in the papers in the big towns in the states, like Chicago, Detriot, New York to get people to sign up for the contest.

Then a first letter came, then another and another and 1 day the post master (or rather mistress) came in to their diner with 2 gunny sacks full of mail. They spent the whole night reading all the letters, had a good laugh or 2 and counted the money, $200,000 in all. which meant 2000 people participated in the contest all over America.

How's that for an idea? Cool huh?

To Nano or not to Nano

2007-09-15T18:41:00.000-07:00

Perhaps the most overused word today is Nano. Every single advertisement you see on the tube, on billboards, in magazines and in the newspaper, every second new product which hits the market has a Nano technology attached to it or begins and ends with it. It’s at the tip of everybody’s lips!

A few years back when Apple launched its very first portable mp3 player, I remembered it being one of the coolest gadgets that ever hit the market. A small portable device no bigger than your average mobile phone and yet you could store a few thousand songs in it. Before it came along, you would need to carry around your trusty old portable cd player or if you were one who resisted change, a portable cassette player!

And just when I was getting comfortable with these cool looking white IPODs with its roundish dials, Apple shocked the world with yet another first in the market, the IPOD Nano.

Then LG came along and introduced a flip phone with some NANO technology that prevents bacteria from sticking to the surface of the mobile phone so that you can pass your mobile around for all your buddies to use without contracting some kind of unexplainable skin disease one of your buds may have passed to you from borrowing your mobile phone to call his mom.

The South Korean appliance manufacturer hit it off pretty well with the term NANO that their closest rival from the same country even started to introduce washing machines that wash better thanks to NANO.

Shortly after that the market was flooded with something NANO that promises to improve your life, make you live healthier, prettier or a combination of both. NANO cleans your air, NANO purifies your water. Now you can even wash your face with NANO to make your skin so white that you can go on photo shoots feeling more confident. The list goes on and on. Can you imagine your life in the world today if it wasn’t for NANO? Now you wouldn’t want to sound outdated or unfashionable to be caught red handed using some product that didn’t scream NANO would you? And when I thought the worst was over, last week a television advertisement screamed out NANO toothpaste!

Back in the day, I remember my first encounter with the word NANO. It was a sour throat drop that came complete with its very own catchy jingle and animated advertisement. Come to think of it, wasn’t NANO a candy? How could a term that started its life as a humble food item catch on to become something so popular?

I’m no nuclear scientist or bio chemist but thanks to Google, I pretty much got a chance to understand a little about what the NANO technology.

With my new found knowledge, I reckon it would be profitable for me to come up with a NANO something that would make me a rich fellow and I would have to work again for the rest of my life. Now, what it would be, I wonder. Looks like I got to get cracking soon. I wouldn’t want to let the big corporations earn all that money with NANO would i?

Let me see, what other words that began their lives oh so humbly and grew up tol become superstars in the marketing. What about BIO? Yeah, that’s classic isn’t it? Others include PLASMA, OLED, ION, Platinum, Titanium.

What an accident it was

2007-09-13T08:36:00.000-07:00

About half an hour ago, while returning from the gym at around 11pm, there was an abnormal crawl along the Grand Saga highway right after the Batu 9 toll plaza. I thanked my lucky stars I didn't drive and was on my motorcycle. Whisking past the jam, further up front there it was, drink containers, cups, plates strewn everywhere right in the middle of the highway. Apparently the driver of the van, returning from it's pasar ramadhan stint somewhere in KL was too eager to get home. With a broken windscreen, 2 flat tyres and a smashed front, I guess it must have hit something hard but the best part was, I didn't even see what it hit. A kancil perhaps.

Funny to say that, that was the exact area where an accident occurred just a few hours ago and the vehicle involved in that earlier accident was still there, a motorcycle. Leads me to think that that area is really 'black' for motorist. Maybe it's the landscape or feng shui of that area. I dunno. But it seems like accidents tend to happen there very often. Or the reason why accidents like this happen so often this month is because of the chinese 7th month Hungry Ghost festival.

I dunno why I am musing about this, but I just felt like I should share with someone about it. It might save someone's life.

Power Tornado Aluminium Air Intake Turbine

2007-06-24T23:48:00.000-07:00

The first thing that comes to everyone's mind when thinking of modifying their car with the lowest possible cost is to change the 'bullet' in the car exhaust system. After that comes the grounding cable, the monster spark plug cable, extractor, muffler etc and the list goes on.

Downgrading from a 2000cc V6 DOHC Twin cam EFi to a 1600cc SOHC EFi vehicle, naturally, the reduce in power and pick up is extremely evident and has caused much discomfort to me, especially going uphill or taking of from standstill at a traffic light intersection. However I make up for the reduce in power by revving hard. This causes the engine to wear out faster and also burn more petrol.

During a routine service at my trusted mechanic in Penang, I found out that the old engine oil drained out from engine was only 2L as compared to 4L that went in 5000km ago. Talk about wear and tear. I consulted my mechanic and he told me something that didn't really make sense to me at first. A small device to be fitted inside the air intake system that didn't require any complex installation, screws, wires, electronics or hours of work putting it in place.

I did some googling and saw a write up on the product I just installed in my Proton Waja.

Introducing the Power Tornado air intake turbine, sold in Japanese market it is a very successful product. This will allow you to burn fuel more efficiently resulting on better MPG in addition the turbine will increase air flow and should provide additional HP power and torque.

Made entirely of aircraft grade aluminum, this turbine is machined to perfection, the blades spin freely and smoothly its shaft being supported by a ball bearing.

The Power Tornado has a 2.5 inch diameter, easy mounting, it installs inside the intake hose going to the throttle body from air filter. A clamp is included as well to secure the Power Tornado inside the intake hose, the Power Tornado also includes a rubber coupler that will allow for a tight fit inside the intake hose. If your hose has a diameter greater then 2.5” you must custom fit it therefore please ask your qualified mechanic to install it.

This is Universal and will fit any vehicle, SUV, pickup etc….

I'm not advertising this product or directing you to where you can buy it. Quite frankly I felt that I had paid too much for it anyways, since our good friends in ebay and lelong were selling it for between RM150 to 200. I bought it for RM250, but it was professionally installed by my mechanic.

Right after I had it fitted in my car, I went out and tested my car on a straight road and the difference in power was incredible! I would say around 20%. Even the gear can drag a little longer before changing. The power kicks in around 4000-5000rpm and one of the gears drag till 7000rpm like how a VTEC kicks in for a Honda City or Civic case.

I noticed that even dragging my gears like this, the fuel meter didn't drop much. I'm yet to test it in the long run to see how good the fuel economy is as claimed by my mechanic.

This is what is being claimed by www.australianauto.com.au:

"Everyone's looking to save money on petrol nowadays.

The Tornado is an aluminium air channeling tool that adds spin to the incoming air charge allowing it to whirl around bends faster and more efficiently.Atomizes fuel better resulting in more complete ignition.

You will enjoy better petrol mileage plus an increase of horsepower. Installs behind the mass air sensor, only takes minutes to install, requires no maintenance and it will pay for itself in a few months..."

Have anyone of you tried this product before? Do give me some feedback on how good or lousy it is.

Cheers!

Spiderman 3 vs my Little Self

2007-05-15T00:43:00.000-07:00

Last night I went to Gurney Plaza to watch Spiderman 3. It felt abit funny because I went alone and it was the first time I went to the movies alone. So, sitting there alone on seat F03, I went through almost 2 and a half hours of the movie. The ackward part was, I always had someone beside me to discuss about the show every now and then but last night, whenever I turn right to share an opinion, it was an empty seat.

Well what can I remember about the movie. Critics aside, I think the movie was fantastic. Having watched Part 1 and 2, this serves as a continuation of the earlier 2 parts. However, what I feel is that, in this episode, as compared to the earlier 2, the comical or fictional side of the whole Spiderman thingy really screams out loud. Somehow every event or person seem to link itself back to Peter Parker. Coincidence or a boring predictable story line? I dunno, I leave it up to you to decide.

However I do like the fact that there are new villians as well as villian turn friend in part 3. If part 1 and 2 tells a more serious story line, I reckon part 3 tries to portray a more humorous side of the whole Spiderman episode. However with an ending like what it had, we are sure to expect more and more new episodes of the Spiderman saga.

Well, after the movie, I quietly walked out of the cineplex alone watching all the families and couples scurrying by to get out of the complex as fast as they could (it was past 12). I strolled casually to the game arcade and had a few rounds of car racing and target practice.

After the 10 days that I spent in KL running up and down like a headless chicken looking for a job and coming back to an all too familiar and comfortable place, you might say that there is no place like home. On one hand I do appreciate home, with all the comforts and convenience and luxury. On the other hand, I am a 30 year old guy chasing a career, looking forward to a family and trying to become somebody someday.

Do I think that this island is too small for its own good or for my own good? I try not to think of it as so. But what about the constant disappointments and setbacks which I have been facing here before I finally decide to throw in the towel and try my luck in KL or Singapore for that matter to secure my career?

So whenever someone tells me that Penang is a nice place to live. I will be the first to agree with them. But... For retirees and if you're a professional (engineer, doctor, lawyer especially).

The week that was...

2007-04-28T12:22:00.000-07:00

It's 3:20am, 29 April, 2007 now and finally I am back in my room, after a trip to Singapore and KL which started on wednesday. Tired? Yes, I am. But also quite glad as I am one step closer to what I had set out to do for the past 2 weeks.

The interview in Singtel on 26 April, 2007 was good. It was a wet thursday morning. I had just sat thru a 10-hour bus ride to get there. The bus ride wasn't that bad. It couldn't be, I paid RM70 for the 'snoozer seat' with individual LCD TV screen in front of each of the 18 seats in the bus. Imagine a first class flight seat and you will know what I am talking about.

After 2 movies and dozens of mp3 songs, the bus finally arrived at Tuas checkpoint instead of the normal Woodlands. It was a very welcome surprise if you know what it's like at 8am in the morning at the JB customs and Woodlands checkpoint in Singapore.

When we arrived at the Golden Mile Complex in Beach Road, it was still raining, or rather drizzling. From there I went on to hunt for breakfast and later took the mrt to Raffles City. After a quick change of clothes there, I took the mrt again to Somerset station. I reached the Comcentre where the walk-in interview was being conducted around 9am. Waited in the lobby for almost an hour before the interview was scheduled to start at 10. Talk about being kia-su. hahaha..

Anyway, all that paid off because I was the first one to be interviewed for that position. Not bad after all. After that I went back to Raffles City, got the daily paper and started flipping thru the recruitment section when I bumped into Ken Chee. I can't remember when was the last time I met him, but he could recognise and remember who I was. Maybe it was cos i wrote nice things about him in his friendster testi. (Hehe). Justin Timberlake, you're right, what goes around comes around.

After a few disappointments and encounters with so called 'con' multinational companies seeking to recruit people who can 'start immediately', I decided enough was enough and took the mrt to Bugis station to go to the Malaysian bus terminal to take the SJE back to JB.

That was the jist of my 'business trip' to Singapore.

Reflection of the trip: The position which I walked-in to interview for was a Performance Management Executive position in the Contact Centre of Singtel. What made me take the step to go to the interview was that, I was really confident that my experience was relevant to the job which they advertised for. My 2-year Mobileone stint and my 1 year manegement experience was in line with what they wanted in the candidate.

Another thing was that, I was attracted to working for such a big and well known organization coming out from Singapore, which can be considered among the stars like SIA, Creative Technologies, ST Engineering etc. Singtel is up there among the top. After all, I wanted something which is more long term and gives me the motivation to stay on for the next 25 years maybe? In 25 years time, when it's time to retire, I can't boast that I had worked in a certain industry for the past 35 years like my parents did, but at least if I got in to a good reputable company, I could at least boast that I had worked in Singtel for the past 25 years. Now how's that for staying power?

This was the first time I had gone for an interview with my resume and all my documents in tact and I believe that I was well prepared to handle all the questions being directed at me. Although there were 3 of them inside the room interviewing me, the other 2, were merely observers, because they hardly spoke a word. Maybe it was a tag team in their marathon interview run for the whole day. Being the 2nd one in there I couldn't judge the effectiveness of the system they put in place because the day was still fresh and 3 people conducting an interview is quite a waste of resources.

Right now I am building up my faith and hope that the position is already mine and they are drafting the offer letter to me now. Time shall tell what the result may be.

MAD (Make a Difference) in Sales

2007-04-11T20:48:00.000-07:00

2 days ago I was hanging out in my friend's office having a chat with one of his colleague about what he had in common. You see we were both in the training arena for quite a while and while he could be considered an industry veteran, I can be considered an on/off veteran since 2001. Nevertheless, we both had something in common, which was our passion for all things that had Training & Development and Education written on it.

Before I got up to leave to beat the evening rush hour home, he pulled out a brochure and said to me, "Dave, if you know of anyone who would be interested, I've got a public program in Sales coming up and we've still got a couple of seats left." I said I'll try my best to help him fill those seats up so that the program would be a roaring success.

So, here's a little bit about the program, there are only 20 seats lefts and they are going really fast. First come first serve. Give yourself a reason to come to Penang! The training is on from Friday to Saturday, then stay another day to enjoy Penang's famous food like Char Koey Teow, Assam Laksa, Hokkien Prawn Noodles, Nasi Kandar etc. Give your sales team a treat they deserve, with a little 'tour of duty' vacation to Penang for this program. They'll thank you for it. After all it's 100% claimable under the PSMB SBL Scheme.

Also Good news for Real Estate Agents and Registered Negotiators. This program gives you 10 CPD hours! So what are you waiting for?! You'll be nuts to miss this program. Now, another thing to note is, if you are familiar with the training industry, programs by Zubedy (M) Sdn Bhd in KL normally goes for over RM1k per pax. Check out how much we are offering it for?

2-days Intensive Workshop Titled:

MAKING A DIFFERENCE (MAD) IN SALES
Putting the will in place, an experiential learning experience program for the sales force

This workshop is conducted by:
Zubedy (M) Sdn Bhd

and facilitated in Penang by:
Sunflower Training & Consultancy - (Together Towards Excellence)

Workshop Details:

Date: 20 & 21 April 2007 (Friday & Saturday)
Time: 9.00am to 5.00pm
Venue: Sunway Georgetown Hotel, Penang
Fees (Per Pax): RM730, Group Rate (3 pax above): RM650.
(Fees inclusive of Study & Training Materials, Certificate, Folder and Meals

The MAD in Sales program is designed to help Sales-forces understand how their own internal state of condition will affect sales, how the surrounding environment or the product itself is secondary to their internal influence towards their performance. This will help provide them knowledge in discovering their maximum potential and to perform at their level best, breaking free from status qio. In short, MAD in Sales helps sales professionals manage change and challenges better, by rediscovering the threshold of true potential within each individual.

MAD is a practical down-to-earth skills training that changes participants from within. Through its simple yet unique methods, participants will be able to immediately apply the teachings at work as well as at home. In short it:-

Brings out the best of each individual participant with the goal of assisting them achieve maximum potential in their respective sales profession.
Assist participants in changing their mindset to take initiative and channel their energy towards achieving their "real potential" in sales.
Equip the participants with the ability to take actions in any given situation, thus making them more tolerant to stress.

Training Methodology

Experiential learning through games, exercises and group dynamics that are skewed towards self and group realization.
Involvement from participants to evaluate themselves and what they have learned in groups.
The methods used are fun, exciting and purposeful but serious in the subject matters, each participant will learn differently from his or her own experiences. Such learning is powerful as the impact is strong and will plant within participants the desire to achieve even greater heights.

About the Trainer

Anas Zubedy is one of the leading Training Consultants in Malaysia today. He is the principal consultant for Zubedy (M) Sdn Bhd.

He was exposed to sales, sales promotion and brand management during his work in Nestle Malaysia. His sales experience provided him with hands-on knowledge in working with large sales and customer service teams in the multinational, both in the day-to-day operations, as well as the organizing of motivational training workshops, conventions, conferences and trips. He was also involved in the training and coordination of the Nescafe Service Unit and with the Sales Promotion Executives for Grocery Two Business Unit nationwide.

As Brand person, he was responsible for launching new products as well as creating new markets for the coffee groups, "Nescafe and Coffee-mate". As such, Anas has extensive and in-depth exposure in marketing research, advertising, branding and promotions spanning from the conceptual stage to strategy and implementation. Moreover after Nestle, he spent 2 years writing advertisement copies and campaigns. After Nestle, Anas embarked on his own business in the area of training and consulting. Since then he has trained more than a thousand participants from top-level management right down to clerks and dispatchers from many different industries. Among those who have attended his training are technical and general management staff, trainers and non-technical staff from IT based companies, securities companies, financial institutions etc.

Outside work he is also an active speaker at local universities and colleges. From 1993 till 1995, he was an external fellow in one of the colleges of University Malaya. Currently Anas consults in the area of change and marketing, helping organizations set directions and change for the better as well as advice on strategy. He acted as a marketing and branding consultant to a local bank. He was also Resident Consultant to a local financial institution. As a facilitator and trainer, he consults and teaches soft skills especially in the area of change, marketing, presentation and self-improvement.

Activities Overview:

Day 1
Exercise 1 - The Watch

The basic principles of change management and undergoing the 'transition period' successfully.

Exercise 2 - Moving the Chair

Participants realize their true potential and be achievement oriented

Exercise 3 - C.A.R (Commitment, Action and Results)

Participants discover that commitment is the key to achieving results

Exercise 4 - Understanding the concepts of Motivation (P1, P2 & P3)

What motivates you?

Exercise 5 - Applying P1, P2, P3

Help participants translate the motivating forces P1 & P2 to P3 and make things happen.

Exercise 6 - Understanding the needs that motivates us and others

Use Situational Analysis and SWOT analysis to define reality

Exercise 7 - Phases of change (the watch)

Transform the uncontrollable push and pull into a controllable force

Day2
Exercise 1 - D.E.A.R Method

Drawing concrete goals that are within reach, goals that are clear, specific, and easy to measure

Exercise 2 - The 3 Skills

Discover the three major skills needed in an organization

Exercise 3 - Land Your Spaceship

To help participants break free from limitations and mental blocks

Exercise 4 - Careless Whisper

Be conscious of, and work at, clear and effective communication

Exercise 5 - This is a Stick-Up

To help participants discover what governs our daily interaction
Be aware that positive interaction brings positive results

Exercise 6 - Learning from Your Future

Use visualization techniques to achieve the level of success they desire
Positively visualized success - Roadmap to success

Contact me, David Geh at +6012-3868613 or email davegeh@gmail.com to book your seat! You can write out your cheque to Sunflower Training & Consultancy. Remember to indicate that you were referred by me to enjoy the special rate published above.

RV?

2007-03-11T18:09:00.001-07:00

Last year, multiple Grammy award winner Robin Williams starred alongside teen pop/r&b singer JoJo in RV, a movie about an overworked dad, his wife and 2 teenage kids going on a road trip in a RV (recreational vehicle) to Colorado.

This morning when I woke up, somehow the word RV was stuck in my head like a tune or jingle from a commercial you can't seem to get out of your head. Subconsciously I was forced to ponder upon alternatives the word 'RV' could possibly mean, so my hyperactive brain came up with a few alternatives (which might or might not go well with some of the readers).

RV, even in the movie it doubles as Runaway Vacation and Recreational Vehicle. Could it also be Runaway Vehicle or Ruined Vehicle? The RV did roll into the lake. (sorry for spoiling it for you guys who haven't watched the movie yet). Not enough with merely that, my brain kept on processing... RV...RV...RV...

Rape virgins? Omigosh... now where is this going? It's 9:22am on a monday morning and the best first output my brain could process is this. I wonder... whatever happened to IOIOIOIOIO? how about politically correct terms? Like Rape victims maybe? or right down to the mundane Regular Visits... to the doc?

What I'm going to do to get the word RV out of my head is, list out a whole string of possible words or meanings this acronym could possible generate. And oh yeah, I enlisted the help of google 2 mins ago. I typed in 'acronym' and it displayed a couple of sites with 'acronym' in their website name and one of them was acronymfinder.com

This website is pretty cool! It has none of the fancy graphics or scripts, just plain old html. So, I typed 'RV' into the search box and it gave me 3 pages of possible meaning to it. Let's see...

Review, Rendezvous, Right Ventrical, Random Variable, Revised version, Retrovirus, Relief Valve, Residual volume (lung), Reverberation, Rabies virus??!!, Reactor vessel, revalidation, reconnaissance vehicle, research vessel, remote valley, ring volume, rented vehicle, reference voltage, rated voltage, release valve, radar view, receipt voucher, routine verification, radius of vulnerability, recombination velocity, resident visit...

wa wa wee wa! me borat!! hehe... thats so many combinations! I reckon it would be enough for me to finally lay it to rest and get it out of my head! cool! next time you get an acronym stuck in your head in the morning, give the site a try!

Cheers!

What's Pantang? Feng-shui? Astrology?

2007-01-30T00:02:00.000-08:00

Today I suddenly had a thought. Raised in a traditional ethnic chinese family and a second (or third) generation Malaysian chinese, from a very young age my siblings and I were largely exposed to the 'traditions' and norms of being a chinese. From the normal stuff like its bad luck to walk under a ladder, never cross the path of a black cat or bad fortune will befall you to the extreme ones like a dead person will return to its dwelling place in 7 days after its death, we have grown up to believing that these things are actually our reality of life and if we do not conform in a certain way, then we are somewhat not normal.

As I grew older, things like chinese fortune telling and feng shui started to fascinate me, I tried my best to learn up the most I could in this area and found it more and more interesting. The one thing that really bothered me was, some of my family members who believed in a certain religion, had tried to impart upon me that it wasn't being a true believer (of that certain religion) if for example, we observe a certain chinese tradition or refrain to do something for a certain reason.

We Malaysians call this 'Pantang' which translates to the word taboo. Its pantang for example, to whistle at night, cos if we do so, we would attract snakes. Or its pantang to look at a funeral wake or procession if you do not know the deceased. Some of these pantang which us chinese observe sometimes can't be logically or scientifically explained and dissected but yet we observe it nonetheless to avoid misfortune upon ourselves.

One of the pantang which I clearly remember as a kid was that, during the hungry ghost festival when people are burning hell bank notes to appease spirits of the deceased, try, if you can, not to step on the spot where these hell bank notes are burnt for fear that the spirits will come and hunt you down for stepping on their new found stash of wealth.

Do not look into a mirror which has just been broken as your spirit will be divided into several different pieces and it would take 7 lifetimes to be put together. Another 1 which I remember clearly was, when you sit down, its pantang to shake your leg or you will be shaking away all the luck which you may have on you.

The night before chinese new year, as a kid I remember rushing off to the bathroom to wash my hair a few hours before midnight because if you wash it during chinese new year, you will be washing away all your 'ong' or luck. The same goes for sweeping the floor during chinese new year.

There's another one about doing something bad and your new born child will be born without his or her backside.

What do you think about pantang and taboos? Do you have any to share? Email me at davegeh@gmail.com and maybe we can discuss about it.

Green bananas

2006-06-07T20:59:00.000-07:00

I heard this story at a Toastmasters meeting I went to as a guest yesterday.

It was told by another Insurance Agent. He told us stories about when he started selling life insurance, he would sell to just about anyone he saw on the street, young and old.

Then 1 day he came across an 82 year old granny, cornered her and started his sales pitch about a savings plan. Before he could end his pitch, the granny looked at while starting to get annyoed and remarked... "Insurance??? Young man, at my age, I don't even buy GREEN BANANAS!"

Moral of the story

2006-05-29T22:37:00.000-07:00

Ah... May, the month that was... However this month is coming to an end soon, how was the month forall of u?

Did any1 manage to catch the KL International Motor Show?I wanted to but had to give it a miss because throughout theweekend, my car was giving me heck of alot of problems.

It actually started on Friday night when the car couldn't start, I suspected it was the starter motor that was giving me problems, then the very next day I called up my mechanic to come pick it up and getthe starter motor fixed.

200 bucks and a day later I got the car back and it was perfectagain, then Sunday came and I had to deliver a merchandise to acustomer and again the car wouldn't start.

On monday, I called up asecond mechanic to come take a look at the car, I 'fired' the first1!And so... another 200 bucks later, I finally got my car back, with abrand new battery and a starter motor which I didn't need in thefirst place.

Moral of the story: Don't drive an 11 year old car ~sigh~

Chicken Soup for the Soul?

2006-05-26T02:06:00.000-07:00

I stayed up the whole night yesterday reading an ebook called 'Chicken Soup for the Soul'. I remember seeing it in bookshops years ago but I never really picked it up bcause at that time, I was only interested in Business and Marketing books.

After reading 1 or 2 stories, I found that the stuff inside were all very inspirational and to a certain extent, touched my heart.

I started to realize that, many of us in our daily lives, we crave, strive and fight for affection, recognition, love, attention and so forth but in our everyday battles, we are losing focus on the things that we set out to do in the first place. Every now and then we should stop for a while, and look back on our lives as well as count our blessings.

I believe this is why we are put on this planet by the great spirit, I believe there is a purpose. And it doesn't serve the purpose if we keep on thinking about ourselves all the time, living in our own world.

I challenge anyone reading this post, try this today or tomorrow morning when you get up and go to work, smile and acknowledge everybody you meet and see what difference that would make, to the other person and to yourself. I'm sure you will find tremendous value in that, besides, I believe, it's part of our 'mission' on earth, to make a difference in people's lives, one at a time.

Dave - www.netclickster.com

This is it! The defining moment of my life

2006-05-18T05:24:00.000-07:00

This is it, the defining moment of my life. I had planned to do it for the longest time but had been procrastinating and putting it off because of 'urgent' matters that were just pure unimportant. Thanks to a few ebooks and focused effort, I finally put it together.

Quite frankly I was quite impressed with myself, having on programming knowledge whatsoever, created, from scratch, a website that I can finally call my own. World, welcome to www.netclickster.com now i know that it does look like the work of a 8 year old kid, but I will keep updating and making it better with scripts and stuff as I learn them.

In the meantime, I will take 1-2 days off to rest my aching head. NHA invited me to a whole day seminar tomorrow and I am really thrilled about it. Next week, GSL also invited me to a 3 day seminar as their logistics team. I'm sure it's gonna be an exciting week, much better than what I had for the past 4-5 months.

With focused effort and persistency, what seems like an eternity to achieve, I am slowly achieving it on my own.

Visit : www.netclickster.com and tell me what you think!

Cheers

coming soon... NETCLICKSTER

2006-04-25T10:07:00.000-07:00

wow wow wow! my first blog on blogspot! coincidentally, today was the first day i registered for my first .com, it's called www.netclickster.com sounds catchy right? i was thinking with all the napster and friendster, i wanna cash in on the craze as well. HAH! so when my site is up and running, which is gonna be about a week's time, i'm gonna put up lots of freebies to be downloaded. What I was thinking of was something similar to www.jokeaday.com, which is, to get people to register at my site, then my autoresponder will send them naughty, steamy and sleazy stories, jokes, pics etc everyday. The REAL cash I will be making from there will be from advertising banners. I don't know, still need to get more feedback from others on its effectiveness.