This is my 3rd year working, and I could feel that as I progress in career and life, as my workload and other responsibilities increase, it is increasingly difficult to feel prepared for festivals such as Chinese New Year. In fact my mind is still not prepared to balik kampung tomorrow morning.
Anyway, Happy Chinese New Year to you all. Take time to relax and enjoy family relationships.
Manchester United did it again!
Two years back it was Arsenal's 52-match unbeaten run, few months back it was Chelsea's 40-match run, and last night it was Liverpool's 12-match run. Rio Ferdinand powered in a header from a Ryan Giggs free kick in injury-time to complete this memorable hat-trick.
United started with Giggs and O'Shea in midfield following a string of injuries and the departure of Keane. The partnership never quite gelled as Liverpool continued to press forward and dominated most of the play. Gerrard provided the played the pass of the match, bending the ball with the outside of his right foot to release Cisse, who managed miserably with the great opportunity, to my delight. Cisse then blasted over with the goal at his mercy, despite being unmarked from six yards out. This came after a goal line clearance by Ferdinand.
Yesterday's goal was also Ferdinand's third in three weeks, after a 140-match drought. Scoring a goal and clearing one off the line marked an overall exceptional performance from the £29.1million defender. He even looked great playing in the midfield against Burton in the FA Cup tie.
Rooney also had a few brilliant run during the game and was unlucky to get his powerful shot inches wide from more than twenty-yards out. Rooney was everywhere during the game - left back, right back, central midfield and up front. This was a stark contrast to Van Nistelrooy who was hardly in the game.
Despite the win, United's midfield will still be Fergie's headache as the midfield was mostly controlled by Alonso, Gerrard and Sissoko. United also owe the victory to Cisse for his unforgivable miss. Perhaps Fergie can try out Giggs and Rooney in the middle to bring out the best of what United has at the moment.
Nevertheless, a win over Liverpool is always sweet, no matter how it happened. Chelsea's draw with Charlton made the victory even sweeter.
I was quite amused to read the headlines in the Star - 'Shortcut' to licence yesterday.
Some excerpts from the article.
An undercover investigation by The Star reveals that some driving schools offer learners an easy passage to obtaining a licence by paying under-table money.
JPJ has, meanwhile, denied such claims and asked for reports and evidence.
Said JPJ director-general Datuk Emran Kadir: “It is illegal to ask for duit kopi. I’ve said it so many times already. These are all cases of cheating.
“Give me the names of these driving schools. I will take action.”
I'm amused that the Star only found out this ongoing practice now. I'm even more amused when JPJ Director denied everything and instead of investigating his own staff, chose to take action against driving schools involved. As usual the wrong people will be responsible - just like the nude ear squat case where the editor who brought this issue public resigned instead of the police chief.
Coming back to the 'common' practice to obtain driving licence. Majority of Malaysians who has obtained driving licence are fully aware of this giving 'duit kopi' practice which comes in all sort of forms. I've some friends who claimed that in certain JPJ branches, one will never pass one's driving test without giving bribe. Some honest citizens have tried to stay clean only to give up in the end after finding out that money and not skill is the only way to obtain driving licence. During my schooling days, everyone in my class are well aware of this practice in certain JPJ branch near our district. Even the illiterate can pass the 'undang-undang' test.
The cycle continues - Corruption within government agencies gets reported, party involved will be in denial, bloggers like me blog about it, MPs promise to investigate, the results will never be known and things will be back as it is and everyone will forget about it until the next discovery/complaint/incident.
Ever since I saw the advertisements of Proton Chancellor in the newsprint, I've been wondering which group of consumers is Proton targeting. Businessmen who own SME perhaps?
Anyway, I chanced upon an entry in Brand New Malaysian and Screenshots respectively today. It was published in a Chinese daily that Chancellor could be translated into Chinese as something which resonates 惨死了- died tragically.
Just to share my own experience on car naming. I've been given some translation work in London to ensure the lists of names thought up by auto companies are suitable for the Malaysian market. Among the criteria I used was to make sure the names do not sound like something negative in either Malay of Chinese. I don't speak Tamil, so I wouldn't be able to provide my input there. I was paid GBP20 for screening through each list which comprised of roughly 50 names. A small price to pay to ensure car models sound right especially in the region it would be sold.
Wonder what went wrong in the process of naming Chancellor? Have they overlooked the fact that many ethnic Chinese in this country have likings and phobia over homonyms?
The Chancellor is not an interesting model anyway. It's just a stretched Waja at double the price tag. I doubt that Proton will be able to sell that many. Another flop on the way.
Looks like the series of blunders have not ended for Proton...
In the latest news, Volkswagon (VW) AG has scrapped plans to cooperate with Proton Holdings Bhd to build and sell VW brand cars for the local market, after the two companies have started talks since 2004.
This came just after the controversial sale of MV Augusta for a mere 1 Euro few weeks back.
"Unfortunately the Malaysian government, Khazanah (Nasional Bhd) and Proton had different ideas, " VW Chief Executive told investors gathered in Michigan.
Arising from this adverse development, Proton share price fell as much as RM1.25 to RM5.10 in early trade before it ended the morning session at RM5.65, down 70 sen.
The future looks bleak for our first national car maker... How will this impact on our National Auto Policy?
Quote from a member of Paul Tan's auto blog.
"National Car Policy killed National Auto Policy
Congrats to Malaysia! The first country to close down a bakery for a loaf of bread. "
I was very excited with my new ASTRO subscription since last Friday. Finally I will get to watch Man Utd matches on tele!
Anyway, managed my first match early this morning. Quite unfortunately the game was a late one - 4am! On the other hand it's Arsenal hosting Man Utd...
In order not to over stretch myself, I decided only to watch the second half, but I did manage to capture the last few minutes of the first half. Still ruing for that miss by Ronaldo. He should have produced a better finishing.
The second half saw United creating many chances but unfortunately none of them translated into goals. In the end both arch rivals had to settle for a goalless draw. This game could have been a crucial match two years back. But now it seems more like an ordinary one as the both teams no longer pose a threat to Chelsea's 13 point lead at the top of the table.
Back to my ASTRO subscription. I am subscribing to 3 mini packages - News, Sports and Documentary, plus Dynasty, for Johanna to watch her favourite soaps. This also means a monthly commitment of RM85... sob sob... extra burden to our monthly expenditure.
We are also getting a new 29 inch Philips TV for our bedroom, on top of the bed and mirror we have just purchased last week, together with a splash of new paint for the bedroom walls. Many things have been going on in the house, same goes to our $$$. Hope 2006 will bring better fortune.
