Bye 2006, Bye Saddam

Lots of things happened in 2006.

Personally, I started my blog site. What a way to end the year, too. It's Aidil Adha tomorrow, when my parents wont be around as they're performing the haj.

Another sad story to close the year - Saddam Hussein was hang today.

It was reported that he was clutching a Quran and refusing a hood before being executed by vengeful countrymen. It was quoted, before the rope was put around his neck, Saddam shouted: "God is great. The nation will be victorious and Palestine is Arab."

In a farewell message to Iraqis posted Wednesday on the Internet, Saddam said he was giving his life for his country as part of the struggle against the U.S. "Here, I offer my soul to God as a sacrifice, and if he wants, he will send it to heaven with the martyrs," he said.

"The president, the leader Saddam Hussein is a martyr and God will put him along with other martyrs. Do not be sad nor complain because he has died the death of a holy warrior," said Sheik Yahya al-Attawi, a cleric at the Saddam Big Mosque.

Reason for Not Blogging

Often, its hard to find reasons for not blogging. And most of the time, the reasons are not strong enough, like not much time but we spend hours playing solitaire or nothing to write about but we could spend hours talking with friends in 'mamak'.

Anyway, bloggers couldn't find reason as strong, as valid and as solid as this one for now being able to update their blogs...

The 7.1-magnitude earthquake that strucked southern Taiwan on the night of 26th December (2 years after the tsunami disaster) damaged submarine cables that form part of the region-wide Asia Pacific Cable Network 2 (APCN 2), disrupting voice and Internet communications over much of Asia. APCN 2 is a 19,000km-long fibre-optic cable network linking Japan, South Korea, China, Malaysia, Singapore, US, Europe and Australia.

Silent Hours - It's So Unproductive

For those who has spent some time of your life in boarding school, you must be familiar with 'silent hours'. It's not just applied in library, but also in classroom during afternoon or night prep hours, and worst still it's also applied in dormitories.

What an unproductive mean to discipline students - by making them to zip their mouths?! I remember it was so boring that I could not talk to my friends, even scratching my 'balls' would have produced the loudest sound. I ended up sleeping - what an unproductive way to spend your time growing up. I still couldn't find any logic to have 'silent hours' in schools or in hostels.

No wonder why Malaysian students always keep mum in classroom, no questions asked, no debating on issues. We're all well trained and disciplined by the 'silent hours'!!

Eragon - Keep Holding On

I went to watch Eragon on the weekend and I can say it's one of the best movies (from just the handful movies - of course I'm being very selective about going to cinema to watch movies) I've watched this year. The story line was good, no boring part anywhere in the movie, just that the fight scene at the end between Eragon and Durza was a bit 'easy' for Eragon. From the review I read from Yellow Post, I think there'll be prequels to the movie, just like Star Wars.

So, enjoy the clip and Avril Lavigne's Keep Holding On.

You're not alone : together we stand : I'll be by your side : you know I'll take your hands : When it gets cold : and it feels like the end : there's no place to go you know I won't give in : Keep holding on : 'cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through : Just stay strong : cause you know I'm here for you, I'm here for you : There's nothing you can say, nothing you can do : there's no other way when it comes to the truth : So keep holding on : cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through : So far away I wish you were here : before it's too late this could all disappear : before the doors close : and it comes to an end : but with you by my side I will fight and defend : I'll fight and defend, yeah yeah : Hear me when I say, when I say : I believe nothing's gonna change : nothing's gonna change destiny : what ever is meant to be : will work out perfectly yeah yeah yeah yeah...

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To parents, dont worry to bring your kids to watch the movie as there's no kissing scene at all. After all, I think Princess Arya is too old for Eragon. And dont be surprised if your kids would like to have a dragon for Christmas or their birthdays!! I would like to have one for me, too!

A 'Perfect' New Year Gift.. and A Perfect Lie

New toll rates for 5 highways around Klang Valley. This could be the most-posted topic for Malaysian bloggers today.

Well, what can we say? The Government or rather the Minister/Ministry has every reason to hike up the rate. Just swallow it and dig deeper into our pockets to look for the extra cents to pay the toll. Or probably, open the car door and look below (or maybe step out from the car and look underneath the car), in case people in front of us dropped few cents while paying their tolls. :-)

Just what make me sad is the statement made by the Minister. He said (quoted from NST) despite the hike, local toll rates were among the lowest in the world. The average toll rate for Malaysia is 13.6 sen per km compared with 14.8 sen per km in Indonesia, Thailand (22.76 sen per km), China (27.62 sen per km) and the Philippines (35.57 sen per km). He's not even comparing the world, just the Region. I'm not so dumb Geographically to figure this out!

Read this from Jeff Ooi's http://www.jeffooi.com, "a Thailand-based reader wrote me this: I've been staying in Thailand for 9 years and there are NO tolls on Thai HIGHWAYS. The tolls are only in Bangkok metropolitan areas and there-abouts. You can drive from Bukit Kayu Hitam to Bangkok without paying one Baht, so Samy Vellu making a comparison with Thailand is telling only half of the story."

That's not all... the Minister also said "concessionaires would have to improve their services such as traffic flow." F*#k you, Minister! What has KESAS done to improve traffic near the Cheras/Bkt Jalil area even after the rate was revised from RM1.20 to RM1.50 two years ago? What about the limited toll gate for Smart Tag lane in KESAS which makes paying using cash relatively faster than using Smart Tag? What with the jam in Federal Highway caused by the improper plan of the Motorola Exit of the LDP and the narrow 2-lane highways, which practically impossible to overtake a slow motorcycle on the highway?

A great gift and yet, great lies by the trusted-men of the Imam Hadhari.

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From Sadao/Bukit Kayu Hitam to Bangkok = 1,299 km and you pay 0 Baht. From Johor Bahru to Bukit Kayu Hitam = 734km and you pay RM107.60 (class 1 rate) - that's equivalent to around 1,000 Baht!! I'm not too dumb financially, either, unlike some people (Oxbridge graduates, perhaps) who sold MV Agusta for 1 Euro.

You Scratch My Back, I Corat-Coret Your Back

Coming towards the end of the year words like personal competency assessment, performance evaluation, bla bla bla pop-up again in our life. Like it or not, they could be the most important things in our life, to determine how much bonus or increment and promotion we deserved.

In my company there is this thing called 360-degree feedback. Its a "HR tool that gives the individual a clear view of their performance at work. Opinions are gathered from the person being assessed, people that report to them, their peers and their supervisors and also their internal customers". Or in other words, your superior, selected peers and subordinates will provide feedback on your competencies. And I've 15 colleagues whom I've to provide feedback on their competencies.

I don't know how effective the tool is to "help the organization in planning the career development, succession planning, reinforce the current assessment practice and the assessment of future talents?"

Are you familiar with the terms.. "You scratch my back and I'll scratch your back..." They should put this sign in office or at least in bosses' rooms. :-)


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Lucky in corporate world, 'corat-coret' people's back not happen all the time, usually towards end of the year only. Unlike in politics, it happens all year long even ones could 'corat-coret' someone's back while he/she is sleeping.. ooppsss hopely just 'corat-coret' the top part of the body!

TGIF

Thank God It's Friday!!!

But sometimes, especially towards the end of the year, people become more worried on Friday, as the bosses might appear right in front of us just before the clock strikes 5pm and ask us to come back to office on Saturday...

There goes all the plan for picnic, shopping, dating, partying all night and wake up just right before the next party, hindustan movie, watering plants, gardening, exercising (duhhhh), bla bla bla... Its just like the end of the world and there'll be no other weekends that we could do all the above!!!

Here's what to say to your boss...

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To my friends in TM Net Brands, Events and A&P, please don't do this. You just have to work on weekends. What is TM Net without you. Hehehehe...

Piece From YK: Roti Bakar Bandung

You'll never want to miss roti bakar or some people call it roti bandung, if you visit Jakarta or Yogya or Bandung or Surabaya or Malang. It's the most famous supper dish around.

There are few flavors, I could only remember cheese, chocolate and vanilla. And it has peanuts inside, just like our 'apam balik' but with flavor.

Excerpt from one article...
"Di Yogyakarta roti bakar biasanya disajikan dengan wedang jahe, susu jahe, atau kopi jahe. Bagi yang menyukai minuman hangat, masih bisa menyantap roti bakar sambil minum teh manis hangat, jeruk panas, atau susu cokelat hangat. Bagi yang gemar minum dingin, roti bakar juga enak dimakan sambil minum es teh lemon, es kapucino, dan aneka jus, maupun teh dingin dalam kemasan" *note = jahe is ginger, I dont know what is wedang.. :-(

"Roti bakar memang paling cocok dimakan malam hari. Biasanya roti bakar dicari orang yang masih merasa lapar pada malam hari, namun tidak ingin terlalu menjadi kenyang."

It's just delicious, and most importantly not too heavy for a supper, unlike Malaysian's favorite roti canai...

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Memang paling cocok dimakan malam hari sebelum mencocok. Because it's not too heavy, you can just continue whatever activity you want to do at night. ;-)

3 Decades On Earth

Yesterday marked the 30th year I'm on earth. One friend said, some people face mid-life crisis even as early as they turn 30.

At first, I just couldn't believe that because it's just another day, nothing to worry. And, probably you'll get to live for another 30 years and still lots of time to get to do things you've not done or accomplished.

Somehow, the feeling of being 30s crept inside me and instead of having a jolly mood, I was a bit down on my birthday. I walked differenty - a bit slower pace than the normal fast pace and long stride, I just smile without reasons to people - you know like pakcik-pakcik and makcik-makcik.. but luckily, I'm back to myself today, it's just the same me, like a year before.

Thanks to all who send birthday wish to me - mostly with welcome to the 30s group message. Duhhh....

Piece From YK: C'mon Be Gen X?

This is a pair of one of the most fancy shoes I've ever own. In fact, probably, this could be the only pair! :-) Although the shoes might not be so fancy to some people, it's just fancy enough for me... I bought it before my trip to YK, no specific reason why I bought it. Maybe it was my first leisure trip abroad that I need to be more casual or maybe I just want to feel younger especially when I turn 30 tomorrow... :-( Or I just want to be part of the Generation X!!!

However, in Jogyakarta, how fancy your clothes are or your hair style is, or how many nose rings you have, you still can't declare yourself as Gen X until you visit the famous bakery store in Plaza Ambarrukmo. Cant remember the name but surely you can notice it by looking at the long queue at the cashier or when you can find signs like this...

Gue gaul, dong!!!

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Gaul means (if I'm not mistaken) trendy, up-to-date in terms of fashion and lifestyle

Piece From YK: Siapa Punya Selera?

It was a really great trip to Jogya despite the hot hot weather. It was raining heavily the day I arrived and my friends there said I brought 'rahmat' from KL. :-)

YK (YK is the official code for Jogyakarta) is a nice city, so peaceful, no stress, cheap food, cheap clothes, cheap everything and the people there love to hang out, not just on weekends but also on week nights.

So, if you ask me if I would visit YK again.. the answer is a definite Yes! YK, the town, the life, the people, the food, the purchasing power, the traffic (a little bit)... they're just my taste. Like the cigarette ad says.. Pria Punya Selera!!


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Thanks Om for inviting me to YK and for the accommodation, foods, transport. Never did I spend just RM210 during my oversea trip. :-)