My reading day

I decided that this Merdeka Day to be my reading days. I've few months' edition of 'Off The Edge' magazines that I subscribed which I haven't read. And I also have few day's edition of 1957's NST which I haven't read. I believe all those should be enough to fill up my Merdeka day.

To start with, I read all the English and BM newspapers available online (except for Kosmo! tak tau why I don't like to read it). And I came across all the beautiful Merdeka advertisements sponsored by our country's responsible corporate citizen.

But, I didn't see any ad from Proton. What happened, my friends? Maybe all the budget for adex money have gone to the Persona ads. Or yeah, I forgot they just announced an 'improved loss' for Q1 2007 at RM46.75 million, from RM58.65 million in the same period last year. And there none from TNB too...

Anyway, my vote for the best ad this year should go to Perodua which portrays one of Malaysia's greatest laureate and his words of wisdom...

Kita mencari hanya yang tulen dan jati,
sekata hidup, mengerti dan berbudi,
dan bumi akan subur, makmur dan mewah
jika kita bekerja dan berikrar hidup bersama.

Tanah air memberi banyak, mesra mendakap kita;
kemerdekaan mendorong kita berdiri dan berbakti.
Dan dalam alaf baru semangat kita wajar padu,
berjalan kita atas nama tanah air dan bangsa,
bangga kerana merdeka, megah kerana bahagia.

Joyeux anniversaire, Malaisie

Feel like a French after the scrumptious French loaf and luscious french kiss Oppss it's time to take another round of oath...

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 berikut:

KEPERCAYAAN KEPADA TUHAN
KESETIAAN KEPADA RAJA DAN NEGARA
KELUHURAN PERLEMBAGAAN
KEDAULATAN UNDANG-UNDANG
KESOPANAN DAN KESUSILAAN

Happy birthday, Malaysiakuku

Tonight... I celebrate

Many have planned for some sort of celebrations tonight, 50th Merdeka eve. Some have started celebrating last night after the U-23 football team won the Merdeka Cup after 14 years, beating Myanmar 3-1.

Not sure if I'd go to Dataran Merdeka since a train ride from office is just an RM1.60 away. Or if I'd just head straight to the comfy of my apartment, which is just an RM1.10-toll away, as what I did last year and the years before - watch Merdeka concerts live on tv, watching the fireworks from the balcony of my apartment at the strike of midnight and watch porns.

To those planning to go out and celebrate, take a good care, don't drink and drive and be safe. Or I shouldn't remind that since FRUs or Special Branch, they're everywhere and we live is a country so damn safe! The JB thing is just a rumor, right?! Nothing like the 13th May or Kg Medan incidents will happen again. Ok, we're safe!

So, enjoy and have a wonderful Merdeka eve... drop dead tonight and sleep the whole day tomorrow. That sounds so Merdeka!!! :-)



Well I guess it's a brand new day after all...
Every time we hear the curtain call...
Tonight, la la la la la la tonight.....
La la la la la la tonight....

==
Happy birthday, my friend Luq Perry for the last time as a bachelor, insya Allah, amien..
One less lonely people in the world and it's gonna be fine...
In my life where everything was wrong, something finally went right

I just call to say...

One missed call received

One return call but wasn't answered

One phone call from the same number

One sms received with an email address

One resume updated

One email sent out

One wait for the next phone call

...will I 'merdeka' soon?

Another birthday gift

The traffic jam has gone from bad to worse for the past two days, thanks to the closure of roads around KL for the dress rehearsal for the upcoming Merdeka day parade.

This is another 50th birthday gift to Malaysian citizen, especially to those who leave their kampungs to work in KL, as they think they don't get as much as they earn in KL, if they work in their kampungs or not much jobs available or being offered or suitable to Malaysians who has become more and more educated (just look at the number of new universities and private colleges, or even tuition centers which caters students as early as 7 year old, that has been growing like mushrooms).

All point to the imbalance development of towns or cities in Malaysia, e.g. the cancellation of Rawang-Ipoh double tracking and electrification project under this new government sebab available tenders semua dah dapat kat cronies of old government has put stop to the dream or possibility of people working in KL while living in Ipoh, which at the same time could develop Ipoh or nearby towns.

Back to the traffic jam.

We're expected to be in office on time, we're expected to perform and deliver our job as required. Yet, we're presented with this unnecessary stress, having to endure the nightmare of traffic jams, just because the country is preparing to celebrate its 50th year of independence. WTF?! What's the meaning of independence?!

Yes, some people would advise to take the public transport. Ok, noted but there's no public transport serving my area, except for taxi. And I don't want to drive to Subang Jaya komuter station, pay toll and park my car there, then take the Komuter to KL Sentral and then queue up to take the LRT to Kerinchi station and then walk to my office. You think I want to do all that? I'm not paying my car installment to do all that. Neither I pay road tax to RTD* just to keep my car at home. And I want to maximize the usage of my car before it turns 15 when I've to send it to scrap.

Do they really plan and have contingecy plans before they close any road? I don't think so because every year we're facing the same problem. And what's so great about having this Merdeka parade every year that you need to have dress rehearsal that causes road closure and make the citizens (who will stimulate the economy by spending and paying taxes at the end of the year) suffer from this unnecessary stress.

What the meaning or Merdeka folks? Is the celebration really matters? Or the stress that counts?

Anyway, I already know what my 50th Merdeka celebration like. Stay at home and have a good night sleep on Merdeka eve. And on the Merdeka day itself, I'll dress up in my buttoned-up baju melayu, with sarong and my 5-inch tall songkok and go to mosque for Friday prayer. How's that? aku punya suka laa aku nak buat apa pun It's independence day for me.

==
When you think back, what does RTD gives to us in return of the road tax and license renewal we pay every year? Besides giving the permission for us to drive and for our vehicles to be on the street and issuing summonses, they don't maintain our roads, they don't do the road signage, they don't repair faulty traffic lights or man the streets/junctions in the event of the traffic lights black-out, they don't provide emergency services if our vehicles breakdown, they don't help ease traffic congestion, bla bla bla...

Trip to Raub

Hanya satu baris soalan saje yang membawa aku ke Raub kelmarin. Malam Jumaat lepas, di Jazz Festival, Abg Usop tanya sama aku "Nak gi makan buah tak kat Raub?" dan sebelum aku dapat bertanya lebih dia sound, "Jangan tanya kampung sape, esok 8.30am amik abang kat rumah kita gi sekali..."

And on that cold, rainy Saturday morning I forced myself out of bed eventhough I just had 3 1/2 hours of sleep to drive to Taman Permata before heading to Raub. I brought along my swimsuit (seluar pendek je) in case we may stop at any waterfall along the way and some fresh clothes in case we may end up staying over night somewhere.

We made our move at around 10am from Taman Permta and made our first stop at Restoran Farhan in Raub for lunch. While having nasi with masak lemak pucuk paku and ikan keli masak cili, Bro Usop received a call from the host asking what time we'll be arriving since they already prepared lunch that includes gulai tempoyak ikan patin. Menyesal berenti makan and we stopped eating our lunch right away.

Walaupun perut aku dah agak kekenyangan dan mungkin aku tak dapat nak belasah tempoyak ikan patin tu, ada hikmah berenti di Restoran Farhan tu. At least I get to know another way to express my love to someone... by treating her to this roti "I love you", which I don't think I could find anywhere else. It's just a roti telur + susu + kaya. When I asked one makcik who works there, she said it's quite sweet and liked by kids.

Then, with perut half full, we drove to Kg Jeruas, Raub to the host's house. And our welcome treat includes durian (kopek sendiri), rambutan, dokong, manggis and buah bidara <-- I just knew buah bidara is buah mata kucing yang buah2 lain, orang kopek kan. Tak sempat bukak kasut lagi, aku dah belasah 2 biji durian, tanpa segan silu macam dah lama kenal. I don't think I'd behave like yesterday even if it's my in-law's house. :-)

Many people would ask, dusun siapa or kampung siapa? Ok, get a piece of paper and draw a family tree. You know Bro Usop (from previous entry), dia pangkat abang angkat aku. Then, Bro Usop has a friend, Abg Lan but he passed away two months ago. Bro Mazlan had a girlriend, Cik Melati (nama hiasan) and Cik Melati has an office mate, Cik Wati (nama sebenar). And this is Cik Wati's mother's house and the dusun belongs to Cik Wati's mother.

Memang takde kena mengena atau talian kekeluargaan pun. But, since Cik Wati knew Bro Mazlan and since he passed away, she keeps contact with Bro Usop. So, if Bro Usop know her, I also know her lah.. and best part, Cik Wati's mother pun satu kepala whom can get into our kepala yang 1/4 from all screws dah tercabut ni (Cik Wati pun sama) and we can get into her kepala yang keep on thanking God and "berserah kepada Allah". Memang best makcik ni, she's 67.

So, after our welcome treat my perut is already 3/4 full and I could only eat nasi a little, tak dapat nak belasah tempoyak ikan patin tu. And there's another menu I just knew, this is one of Pahang delicacies, they said. Sambal terung (it's black) with ikan bilis. Ya salaaaammm sedaaappp siap aku bungkus sepaket nak makan dgn roti breakfast on Monday. Again, to remind all of you, memang takde talian persaudaraan antara aku and the host :-)

Then, we proceed to dusun somewhere in Kg Budu in Raub. Armed with parang in one hand one inside seluar and my camera in another hand, we managed to bring back 25 durians (there was another car from KL, Cik Wati's colleague - so have to share lah), no dokong or manggis because none of us want to climb up the trees. And best part, Cik Wati and her mother were in our car going to the dusun. When Bro Usop and myself ask for direction or details about the dusun, we keep on refering it as 'dusun kita'. Again, to remind all of you, memang takde talian persaudaraan antara aku and the host :-)

And on the way home, like asking his sons, Cik Wati's mother asked us to make a detour to go to pekan sehari Raub to buy some foods or veges or lauks. And like obedient sons, we just followed. Very funny. And Bro Usop and I didn't have much to see at the pekan sehari so we just lepak in one shop having teh while waiting for Cik Wati and her mother to do their shopping. Oh yeah, Bro Usop bought some petai.

Before we head back to KL, we had another round of foods and fruits and siap mandi air kolah, no water heater included!

Jazz Festival at Plaza Mont Kiara

I noticed about the Festival since last week and wanted to watch Zainal last week. But having the fear of traffic jam going to Mont Kiara and the trouble to find parking space, especially on Friday and Saturday nights, I finally spent my time quietly at home.

Since I was on leave on Friday I've applied but my boss hasn't approved which I had a deserved break at home and after spending almost entire day in front of computer, I feel energized and energetic (or kalau orang Melayu kata menggeletik-geletik) to drive to Mont Kiara and watch Sheila Majid performing last night. I don't care if I'm going to be alone there, I'm still going.

So, last night I watched Sheila Majid at the Sunrise-DiGi Jazz Festival in Plaza Mont Kiara. She performed for almost two hours and surprisingly everyone, of any race, can sing along all her songs. I never thought Chinese friends know the song Lagenda or Indian friends to know the song Pengemis Muda. Anyway, everyone had a great time dining and being entertained by the Jazz Queen.

I had good time too and I was not alone, ok! I managed to get my Bro Usop to come with his friend and Badin, who came all the way from JB actually dia ada kerja kat KL to come to Plaza Mont Kiara, although Bro Usop prefers rock and he chatted more with his friend than listening to Sheila Majid. And I met Jazzmatazz too, reban's tagger (she was with her friends - nasib tak duk dgn aku, kalau tak habis laaa... hehehehehe).

And this is for you who can't afford to watch Sheila Majid show. It's free dude!! And also for Adi in Jakarta who claimed he grow up listening to Sheila Majid songs until he lost his virginity when he switched to Siti Nurhaliza... :-)

...and I'm not proud of you

I just don't know why I should be proud with this guy? This guy, which the RAHMAN theory points him to be the next Prime Minister of Malaysia. This guy, who is the son of Malaysia's second Prime Minister. It doesn't seem to be enough for me to be proud with this guy, even as the country's 6th Prime Minister.

Or maybe, like I said before, that N isn't for him but for another N, obviously not my Nenek laa...

Remember when your parents always say something like this, if you want people to do good things to you, you must do good things to other people, too. If you want people to respect you, you must respect others too.

I don't want this N guy to respect me so why should I respect him?! Especially when he's proud of the wrong feat achieved by the wrong citizen...

That guy who cycled across US?! He still has not completed his studies in UiTM, too busy doing all these nonsense thing... what semangat juang taik kucing he has, Mr Deputy Prime Minister? Obviously he failed to 'berjuang' for his degree after so many years!

Did he (while cycling) promote the country and bring foreign investment to the country, or at least promoting the Vis(h)it Malaysia Year 2007?! I don't think he brought along brochures or pamphlets to promote the country.

Or how much he spent (in US) that stimulate our country's economy. I could go on, like how much tax he paid to the country, how much petrol he put on the bicycle, how much toll he paid, how much foods he bought, how much toilet entrant fees he paid, while cycling across US?

Ooo okay, maybe he think there's too many unemployeed graduates in the country and that's why he choose to do all these shits. I think Namewee deserves a better respect because he's finishing his study with a hope that one day he'll return to serve the country.

And I'm paying tax, Mr Deputy Prime Minister. Directly via personal income tax and indirectly via corporate tax from the company whose PBT last year was more than RM3 billion.

So, I deserve a respect... for me to respect you!

By the way, we're still in the year 2007, Mr Deputy Prime Minister, in case you forget the date or just can't wait too long to be the next Prime Minister. It's the year when you should be holidaying in the country.

Go gurl...

I just don't know what to blog about?

And, it's not just me. Our media lately also seems like they have not much to report on, except on express bus things. Everyday, in the newspapers or primetime media, the headlines would be mishaps with express buses. Oh ya, I forgot, our government is so efficient that we don't have much problems to dwell about in this country.

Anyway, what's best to talk about, when you have nothing to talk about, than talking about girls!

In this world of multimedia, these are type of girls which would delay my marriage probably until men write on rocks again...

HARD DISK GIRLS: She remembers everything, forever. I couldn't even remember birthdays without the help of my PDA.

RAM GIRLS: She forgets about you the moment you turn her off. Err... I'm trying to save my electricity bills here, deerdear..

WINDOW GIRLS: Everyone knows that she can't do a thing ringht, but no one can live without her. Hmm... I've SI swimsuit calendar on my wall but I still keep on forgetting what date is today?!

SCREENSAVER GIRLS: She is good for nothing but at least she is fun. Let's take her to karaoke and see if she's good with microphone, at least, either the cordless or the 'attached' one...

INTERNET GIRLS: Difficult to access. You need to find the right 'button' to push, dude...

SERVER GIRLS: Always busy when you need her. How could she be busy, she don't even cook at home? But, at least she holds the laddle well...

MULTIMEDIA GIRLS: She makes horrible things look beautiful. Well, lots of discoveries happened the night a couple got married, after the make-ups were removed...

CD-ROM GIRLS: She is always faster and faster. Ohhh.. that explains why she could 'do' it more than once at night.

E-MAIL GIRLS: For every ten things she says, eight are nonsense. Did I hear, her ex treated her much better than the way I treat her?

VIRUS GIRLS: Also known as "wife" when you are not expecting her, she comes, uninstall herself and uses all your resources. If you try to uninstall her, you'll lose something, if you don't try to uninstall her, you'll lose everything. No comment!

The tale of two Henrys

Last June, this Henry divorced his wife Claire.

And Claire has vowed to "take him to the cleaners" in a bitter divorce battle, demanding a massive 10-million pound.

Now Henry, who left Claire and their daughter Tea, is reportedly seeing a 31-year old Spanish actress, Paz Vega, whom he met while shooting a Reebok commercial together. Ironically, Henry married Claire after they starred together in the Va Va Va Voom Renault ads.

Last December, this Henry lost his wife to dengue fever.

And he's not facing any legal battle with anyone.

Now this Henry, who takes care of her two daughters by himself for the past 10 months, is reportedly seeing a 31-year old Kelantan girl two actually or did I hear three whom he would settle down with later this year or early next year.

I told you, there's so much similarities between these two Henrys.

On a calm Monday morning last week, I received a call, a rather surprising one as usually he'd only sms. As usual with all my friends now my mom get tired already he asked me when I'll get married. And as if I've been trained to twist the question, he ended up telling me his story about him getting married.

Congrats to you, bro. Looking forward to receive the invitation from you.

The best Merdeka gift

Forget the ViShit Malaysia Year 2007, especially when one minister after another (which includes the Prime Minister and his deputy) goes oversea for holiday.

Forget the promise that petrol and toll prices will not increase further this year as they'll go up again at the stroke of midnight on 1st January 2008.

Forget about flying cheap Jalur Gemilang donated by various corporations just because the leaders said, we show our patriotism by flying our flags but we still drive recklessly, cutting queues, or taking lots of time off during office hours to smoke, browsing the internet or even blogging.

Forget about a better government after the next election, as they'll do whatever it takes and in whatever way to win big in the next general election, leaving no room or representation for opposition parties to challenge them in Parliament or Zoo?

Forget about a better or more transparent way in awarding government contracts, as will see more and more leaking roofs in the government buildings. Oh, don't forget that they'll replace the Nuri choppers later and we shall see who's benefitting from it.

This year should be a big, meaningful year of PIG for every citizen of Malaysia including the one who's still studying in Taiwan. Yet, I'm losing hope of having anything great from the country. Anyway, there's a famous quote, "Don't ask what the country can do for you but ask what you can do to the country."

But, this give me some ray of hope...

My quote of the day or the week or the month or the year...

"The system of governance must encourage the free flow of and easy access to information as the well-informed are in a better position to make informed decisions. Conversely, those who are badly informed will rely on half-truths and lies. They will have to depend on non-credible sources of information or they may have to regain ignorant."

- Raja Dr Nazrin Shah, Raja Muda Perak

You may remember the R.A.H.M.A.N theory of Malaysia's Prime Minister. It was Rahman (Tunku Abdul), Abdul Razak, Hussein Onn, Mahathir, Abdullah and who would thought that the N belongs to Nazrin and not Najib?!

That could be the best Merdeka gift to all citizens.

Kalah ada kelass

I think, this only applies in Malaysia. As we hardly win anything to do with football, we come out with different level of losses, whether you lose with dignity or respect or you lost disgracefully. In the CYC tournament, the Malaysian U19 team bowed out of the tournament with respect and ray of hope.

This is also how to sum up Proton participation in the inaugural National Futsal Tournament. Being invitation teams, the women's team, especially, have drawn a deserved respect and eye-opener to other participation teams, especially the state teams.

In the 1/8 round, the team lost 0-1 on penalty to TV3, a team that played the entire second half defending Proton's relentless attacks. Thanks to their national women's hockey goalkeeper, TV3 managed to bring the game over to the decisive penalty kicks which Proton players failed in all their three attempts. Anyway, it was a considerably fruitful outing in the first ever tournament for Proton's women futsal team as they defeated three state teams (Pulau Pinang, Kuala Lumpur and Sabah) en route to the quarter final, which also include winning against the eventual champion, Maksak 2-0 in the preliminary round. As a record, the pre-tournament favorite, Selangor, also lost in the 1/8 round.

While for the men's team, they only made it to the 1/16 round after narrowly defeated by the runner-up, Maksak, 0-1.

And after coming home empty-handed, the coaches have started planning for their future :-) anyway, good job coaches Rome, Des and Cheng.

To all my brothers in Proton, thanks for calling calling me, it's a wonderful 4-day break from work. Next year, I'll be around again and don't forget my t-shirt size is M and my shoe size is 6.

Jangan salahkan lantai tak rata

Habis tu, dah memang lantai tak rata?!

Remember this proverb? "Jika tidak pandai menari, jangan salahkan lantai tidak rata" or in this particular situation... "if you lose a futsal match, don't blame the uneven court", which is not up to the acceptable and playable condition or standard.

Yes, this happened at the highest and most expensive futsal tournament in the country where best of players are around, including ex-international Azman Adnan and Mubin Mokhtar who played for RTM, which lost 1-11 to PDRM :-)

I don't blame Felda as the main co-organizer because they're the one who just fork out the money for the event. Advises on technical aspects like format, rules, type of courts should be decided by another main co-organizer, which is the FAM or Football Association (run by) Monkeys.

The 2 outdoor courts were made of one-layer pieces of rubber plywood which were joined by staples. After one and a half match, the staples came out of places. The Proton-Felda match was stopped halfway, for the contractor and the officials (those Monkeys from FAM) to do something with the court.

They ended up applying masking tape to join together the torn pieces of plywoood. I think the monkeys thought pieces of plywood are just the same as pieces of cardboard. The match was continued at the same court but was played a more cautious pace. No matches were held on the two outdoor courts after that.

The contractors took the rest of afternoon to fix the courts by applying more staples and sealant. Evening matches resume on the courts but only for women, as they think women don't play as aggressive as men again, a very stupid assumption by the Monkeys. I was told that Sabah goalkeeper got a long bruise on her arm which scratched with the sharp edge of the tilted piece of plywood before they decided to abandon matches on the courts.

It took a bloody incident to make the Monkeys really think. And scheduling went hairwire since then and matches ended at 1am yesterday. And you expect world-class players to emerge from all this world-class stupidities?

-----------------------------------------------------------

Anyway, I was with my old friends who represent Proton in the National Futsal tournament. We have both men and women team in the tournament.

Men's team results (Group F):
Lost to Felda A, 1-3
Lost to PDRM, 1-2
Won against RTM 8-2
The team qualifies to play in 2nd round as one of the best third place finishers and will play against Maksak tonight.

While the men's team have to wait until every game in the preliminary round ended to know if they qualifies or not, the women's team surprisingly (given three state teams in the group) had more proud moments, qualifying to quarter final as group champion.

Women's team results (Group B):
Won against Pulau Pinang, 5-2
Won against Melaka, 3-0
Won against Kuala Lumpur, 1-0
Won against Maksak, 2-0

will update later with updated results, win or lose and if there's anymore FAM's stupidity

Wazata Zain

Updated...

I thought it was Wazata Zain and many of my chat friends thought so but few others say it wasn't Wazata Zain. I remember Wazata Zain is specky, with little beard underneath his lip (don't know what it's called), and the ventriloquist was tall and lean, curly hair, if I'm not mistaken. A search in the internet, mentioned the name Mahadi. No one can confirm this.

No wonder every year when the veterans were awarded with lifetime achievement award or such, they keep on saying in their speech, "Saya sungguh terharu kerana setelah berpuluh tahun saya di dalam bidang seni, ini lah kali pertama saya mendapat pengiktirafan sebegini..."

So sad...

------------------------------------------

Came across this comic and it reminds me of our famous ventriloquist circa 1985, Wazata Zain. I remember enjoying everytime he appears on tv and instead of looking at the doll, I was staring at Wazata's mouth most of the time, to see whether his lips move or not. Such a thrill!

Will update later if I find anything about Wazata Zain from the web.


==
From The Simpson Movie, President Schwarzenegger said, "I was elected to lead, not to read..." Now we know why our leaders make false alarm calls on bloggers, we elect them to lead, not to read...

When cute is not cute

Was slouching on my couch last night while watching The Simpsons Movie last night.

My favorite part is when Homer was trying to climb up the dome. After failing the first attempt, he went inside the Supplies store and, instead of taking the jet pack, he settled for glue.


And today, this song stuck on my head, "Spider pig, spider pig, does whatever spider pig does..."

Anyway, it's just a cute movie which is fun and cute.

But wait! Not everything cute is cute and fun. Some can be shameful... Thai police officers who break rules will be forced to wear the hot pink armband featuring the Japanese icon of cute as a mark of shame.

So, what would the Malaysia police wear if they break rules? Perhaps, Malaysian football jersey, as a symbol of shame and disgrace?! Ooo... we already have this, as a symbol of disgrace. Why need this badge when bribery shouldn't even be in their vocabs. Read hafeedzboulevard

Sayang is rugi

Sayang = love
Rugi = waste, or lose out
Two different meanings...
But, they mean the same, at least in one usage in the context of Bahasa Melayu Malaysia.
And do remember, 'sayang' is also used widely as reference to your loved ones (in place of you or I).

In one context, we may use the word 'sayang' in expressing the feeling that we will lose out (or it's such a waste) for not doing somethin. As an example, one may say, "Sayang (kalau) tak sambung belajar sementara masih muda." (It's such a waste for not furthering our studies while we're still young).

Unfortunately, one may misinterpret the sentence, which would then read, "My loved one (he/she) doesn't further his/her studies while he/she is still young."

I always make fun of this whenever joeperantau, while chatting, uses 'sayang' (as in it's such a waste) because I'd rather use 'rugi' which makes more sense, "Rugi (kalau) tak sambung belajar sementara masih muda."

Example of a dialogue between joeperantau and myself:
Location - joeperantau was in a hotel room in New York while I was at home in Shah Alam.
deoughtred: Joe, kau tak tidur lagi ke dah lewat ni?
joeperantau: Dah sampai New York ni. Sayang aku nak tidur ni.
deoughtred: Sayang? Kau bawak awek balik hotel ke Joe?
(he didn't answer my question, instead he gave me a middle finger via webcam)
deoughtred: Ooo... maksud kau, rugi nak tidur (alang-alang dah sampai New York)

Whether it makes sense or not, 'sayang' is acceptable as an alternative to 'rugi'.

So, if you're tired of calling your loved one honey or darling or sweet-pea or cutie-pie, why don't consider calling him/her 'rugi'.

Imagine this, when you just came back from work and you open the house door and say.... "Rugi, I'm home!" or translated as "It's such a waste (that) I'm (back at) home!" And expect your spouse/partner won't let you sleep in the bedroom for the night.

Kuman di seberang laut tampak

Gwen Stefani is coming to Malaysia for a concert on August 21 banyak sungguh konsert artis barat sempena menyambut bulan kemerdekaan ke-50 Malaysia. Even before she came, and true to our culture when we like to prejudge people or judging a book by its cover, the National Union of Malaysian Muslim Students objected to Stefani's saucy attire and bombshell image.

And earlier this week, through its president Mohamad Hilmi Ramli, they threatened to ask the authorities to intervene if Maxis didn't cancel the show as they feel that the video clips promoting the red-lipped, platinum-blonde's concert as "too obscene."

Okay, let's admit that the organizer should be more careful in selecting video clips to promote her concert here, if there's any :-)

Points I want to raise here are that:

1) I never heard this guy's name before. I never seen him on tv discussing religious issues or policy or being invited as panelist in Forum Perdana. And suddenly, he's talking something related to entertainment.

2) What is actually the role of this organization? And from sources on internet, they have around 10,000 members in a country of which 60% of the 26 million population are Muslim. Is this a cheap way to make them become more glamorous and one of cheap tactics to rope in more members?

3) This organization is judging Gwen Stefani's based on her appearance outside Malaysia and in her video clips. She's not even here yet. Oooo ok, maybe prevention is better than cure. Maybe they don't want what happened during PCD concert happens again. Ok, I'm fine with this argument. But, someone from the organization is actually watching and keeping close eyes on the sexy Stefani, then. Interesting!

4) Kudos to Gwen Stefani, she has vowed that she won't wear any revealing costumes when she takes the stage and the organizer has assured that Stefani "will abide by the Malaysian authorities' guidelines to ensure that her show will not be offensive to local sensitivities."

5) Well, we always feel the country has no flaws. The Government always make us feel this way. We're the 'best' in the world, the rest of the world sucks. So does what those narrow minded organizations or associations or political parties in Malaysia feel.

Kuman di seberang laut tampak di mata. Gajah (yang dah bohsia/bohjan, rosak akhlak, life porak peranda) di pelupuk mata tak tampak. What about this 'Haru Biru' movie poster?! It appears in newspapers and being displayed in public places or at least in cinemas. I think Que Haidar is 'too sexy' here sampai nak nampak batang kote dah. Isn't it too obscene? Or maybe that Hilmi guy has forgotten that the aurat for a guy is between his belly button and his knee. or maybe he's afraid people would accuse him as being gay if he talks about the sexy Que Haidar

And where is the officers from Malaysia's Culture, Arts and Heritage Ministry? After the PCD incident the ministry has said that (their) officers will be on hand to enforce the country's code of cultural ethics—a female artist not sure if there's a guide for male artist must be covered from the top of her chest to her knees; no jumping, shouting, hugging or kissing onstage; no clothing depicting offensive messages or images (drugs, sex, etc.); and no throwing things at the audience.

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Or maybe Malaysian authorities think women in this country have reached their menopause and they wont get aroused when they see guys dressing down to just covering their penis. Or they already knew Malaysians just don't care and don't even notice anything to do with local movies.

Secrets of hiring

I graduated with degree in Economics and my first interview with Proton was for an executive post in IT department. With some jargons from Computer in Business 101 course presented in American slang, I managed to go through to the next stage but it was for a more suitable Corporate Planning post. I still don't know which part of my resume that gave them (HR in Proton) the impression that I was qualified for an IT position.

Screening for interview candidates and finally potential employee is a very risky and costly - time, money, effort, saliva and energy; especially to impress candidates that you know everything about the company and the job control macho or cas terrer laaa.

Well, to save all the resources and efforts, let's try this assessment method...

Take the prospective employees and put them in a room with only a table and two chairs. Leave them alone for two hours, without any instruction well, everyone knows that HR is good in not giving proper instruction :-). At the end of that time, go back and see what they are doing.

If they have taken the table apart in that time, put them in Engineering.

If they are counting the butts in the ashtray, assign them to Finance.

If they are screaming and waving their arms, send them off to Manufacturing.

If they are talking to the chairs, Personnel is a good spot for them.

If they are sleeping, they are Management material.

If they are writing up the experience, send them to Technical Publications.

If they don't even look up when you enter the room, assign them to Security.

If they try to tell you it's not as bad as it looks, send them to Marketing.

And if they have left early, put them in Sales.

I made this up: If they hide under the table, just hire them temporarily as Intern in CEO's office. :-)

They call this invention

Can't believe my first post of the month came only after the 4th day. Anyway, I've found interesting article from Forbes. They interviewed 95 CEOs and other executives, asking each person to name the one device they wish somebody would invent.

And here are the 15 things they wish someone would invent.

1) Teleporter which could help everyone to get where they're going, faster, with less time in airplanes and security lines; 2) A Go-Anywhere Phone - A phone that works everywhere, no more dropped calls, lack of network coverage or incompatible systems from country to country; 3) Electronic Paper, as light, readable and flexible as regular paper, but with the capabilities of a computer.

4) A Household Chores Robot - No one wants to clean house these days; 5) The Universal Gadget - to avoid carrying too many gadgets in our pocket. Apple's new iPhone, for one, carries the functions of music and video player, e-mailer, telephone, Web browser and camera into one; 6) Smart Head Implants, to support our creative brains with the power and speed of computers.

7) The Bubble - Travel in a protective bubble that helps avoid the noise, dirt and hassle of daily life; 8) A Universal Language Translator; 9) A Convenient And Inexpensive Water Desalinator - which could turn the oceans into clean drinking water using desalination techniques.

10) Advanced Autopilot For Cars which take us to the destination while we nap, read or answer e-mails; 11) A Physical Search Engine - to find stuff we lose or misplaced; 12) A Time Machine - so that we could go back in time and redo the day we made an egregious mistake.

13) Automatic Weight-Loss Belt while we watch tv or work; 14) Perfect Vision Correction - to restore our eyes to 20/20 vision and no. 15) Youth Pill - just take a pill and stay young forever.

And if I were to become a CEO, two things I'd like someone to invent:
1) The household chores robot to help me, especially in folding clothes and putting them back into the wardrobe and to iron my clothes on Sunday night which I believe getting married would not solve these two problems for me, and
2) Inflatable girlfriend which/who I could inflate when I want to use it/her and which I could keep it/her tight in my laptop bag if I don't need it/her :-)