Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Merdeka!


A minister recently told the "urban chinese to raise the national flag" as the urban chinese are falling behind the rural chinese when it comes to this practise, giving the impression that they are less patriotic.

As an urban Chinese, I'm making my point here by raising the Malaysian flag on my blog.

But Dear Minister, once again I wish to highlight that sticking small flags on cars, drapping flags on car bonnet or on nude models do not translate into higher patriotism. In fact some drivers have attached big flags on their cars which are dangerous to other road users. There is a risk of the plastic flag poles breaking. The parts could hit other motorists and lives could be lost.

You should also commend the Chinese press for its extensive coverage on Merdeka celebration tick off non-chinese press for preferring sensational news on certain wedding, break ups or divorces to Merdeka Day celebrations. Even the King and Prime Minister do not get as much coverage. However, there is exception for certain son-in-law who never fails to appear in the press everyday, either by demonstrating or making racial remarks.

As our country is approaching 49, I hope that the majority will realise that we need to work hard for a better tomorrow. In a globalised world, our competition comes from the outside. Let us not fight within ourselves for the ever shrinking pie. Let us enlarge the pie so that everyone gets a bigger share. We should realise that our non-competitive policies will slow us down and eventually all of us will suffer. Tun Dr. Mahathir has conceded in his New Malay Dilemma that these policies have not achieved their objectives. In fact it has created a new generation of people who take handouts for granted. They view their crutches as a symbol of superiority in the country. The sad thing is that they are not even using the crutches properly. The intention of these policies may be noble, but the implementation and the mindset of the people at the receiving end are disappointing.

If we are not daring enough to admit our mistakes, we will surely lose our competitiveness in the international arena. Let us think for our future generations, as Malaysians, not as Malays, Chinese, Indians, etc.

Happy Birthday Malaysia! In the midst of celebration, let us not forget about our vision to be a developed nation. The only way is through equitable policies.

Yale Shmale


Lakehead University, a small university in Canada, is using this advertisement for its recruitment drive.

Definitely a good way of getting attention. Whether it is appropriate or not is debatable even though the statement may be factually accurate.

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

New system to collect toll next March

From my observations of related news articles since last year, whenever this new technology is mentioned, our kiasu neighbour will be left out from the list of countries adopting this system. Now, who is more kiasu?

There are so many things that we could learn from our nearest neighbour instead of spending huge amount of tax payers' money making 'study visits' to Australia, Europe or America. Let us start with public transport. Singapore's MRT system may be more than one decade older than our [LRT + monorail + KTM Komuter] systems (sigh), but many times more efficient and integrated than ours. Even London has adopted the Oysters from Singapore not too long ago.

A pilot project to ensure smooth traffic flow along tolled highways is expected to be implemented in March next year.

Under the multi-lane free flow (MLFF) electronic toll collection system, the toll charges will be deducted electronically as vehicles bearing transponders pass the tollbooths.

However, the area where the project is to be implemented has
yet to be determined.

A committee comprising officials from the Works Ministry,
Malaysia Highway Authority (MHA), toll concessionaires and Rangkaian Segar, the
operator of the Touch ’n Go electronic payment system and SmartTAG, have been
meeting since May last year to work out the finer details.

In a paper presented at a recent seminar on intelligent
transport system in road network operations, MHA’s Ismail Md Salleh said the
MLFF was expected to reduce congestion at toll plazas, be environmentally
friendly and increase road safety.

The system is extensively used in Australia, United
States, Chile and Canada.

Customs gagged

The Finance Ministry has ordered the Customs Department to stop issuing
statements regarding Jasin MP Datuk Mohd Said Yusof.

Whenever issues crop up, we tend to focus on technicalities and ignore wrongdoings or good principles.

In our beloved Bolehland, when things go wrong, sweep it under the carpet. Close one eyelah!

Friday, August 25, 2006

Goodbye Pluto

Pluto has enjoyed its status as a planet all these years despite many controversies.

This status has come to an end yesterday when astronomers have voted to strip Pluto of its status as a planet.

About 2,500 scientists meeting in Prague have adopted historic new guidelines that see the small, distant world demoted to a secondary category.

The researchers said Pluto failed to dominate its orbit around the Sun in the same way as the other planets.

The International Astronomical Union's (IAU) decision means textbooks will now have to describe a Solar System with just eight major planetary bodies.

I wonder whether this decision will have any impact on astrology. It will be interesting to see the response from astrologers if Pluto has been regarded as a planet all this while.

Will textbooks be updated soon enough? I guess majority of students wouldn't care anyway.

New home for babies

Our babies (3 red ear sliders and 1 golden striped turtle) will have a new home soon.

Johnson is very kind to give away his aquarium to me after he has decided to stop his fish hobby.

I haven't decided which of the babies to be put in this new home. Chances are not all will have the opportunity as there might be dominance issue if too many of them are in the same tank.

I've located the aquarium in the living room. One problem is insufficient sunlight. I'm considering buying UV light to compensate for this.

Feeling excited to decorate the aquarium.

Once again, big thanks to Johnson. I'll post the photos of the new setup once it's ready.

Saturday, August 19, 2006

Not a single Malaysian university is of world standard

Isn't it time to concede that our universities are just substandard? After failing to be in the list of top universities in any university academic ranking for years, some of our politicians and citizens still prefer to live in a state of denial.

In the 50s and 60s, UM is one of the top universities in this region, on par with top Australian universities at that point in time. What led to its downfall is years of policies that rejects meritocracy in place of a quota system. This policies have produced tonnes of unemployed graduates, since many of those who were enrolled were simply not 'qualified' in the first place, akin to the 'garbage in garbage' out analogy.

I still have vivid memory of JPA's rejection to my scholarship application to pursue architecture many years ago. Out of the 6 choices submitted to UPU, I've made it my second choice. Being the son of a former civil servant and obtaining near perfect results, I thought I would at least be given an interview. But to my horror, I was rejected. Unsatisfied, I went to JPA in KL to clarify the matter, only to be told that since I'm not a BUMIPUTERA, putting JPA as my second choice will automatically disqualify me from the selection. I was still a simple minded student at that point in time and hence quietly accepted the decision. But the words from the officer will forever remain in my memory - the confirmation of my status as a second class citizen despite being born in this country, despite being a proud and patriotic Malaysian all my life. It was the same time that many of my friends felt the same in the process of applying for local universities. Some failed to obtain the courses they had chosen because they would need significantly better results to succeed compared to bumiputera students, due to the quota system.

Hence it is not too difficult to imagine that after years of such discriminatory policies, the quality of our universities have gone down the drain. Lecturers need to lower down the standard so that these group of students could pass their exams, some of these graduates will end up as lecturers in universities as the corporate world would not accept them due to their many inadequacies. Brilliant students on the other hand, will end up being average graduates since their potential will not be developed. Slowly, UM's ranking slipped out of the list of top universities and may never be back again until such discriminatory policies are abolished. The same applies to few other once reputable local universities such as USM.

Many in this country, including politicians prefer to live in their own state of denial, using our own rulers to measure ourselves, such accrediting developed status to cities and states based on our own criteria. We even have our own Malaysian Book of Records to hold records such as the most eggs boiled in hot spring or the biggest national flag.

As a patriotic citizen, I can't help feeling sad for my beloved nation. In this ever competitive world, many less developed nations around us have worked hard and improved and have overtaken us. In this globalised world, our survival will depend on our competitiveness and yet we are not addressing the root of the problem. It is difficult to imagine where we would be in year 2020. At the rate we are going now, it is nearly impossible to see this vision achieved.

Wake up Malaysians! We really need to progress as a nation!

Happy Birthday my dear Sis

Dearest Ah Hoay,

Happy birthday to you!

The next few months may be challenging for you. But I hope you will take the challenge confidently. Take one step at a time. Sometimes we need small steps before making a big one.

All the best to you!


Love,
Koko

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

Touching article

My wife sent me this touching article.

When You Divorce Me, Carry Me Out in Your Arms

On my wedding day, I carried my wife in my arms. The bridal car stopped in front of our one-room flat. My buddies insisted that I carry her out of the car in my arms. So I carried her into our home. She was then plump and shy.I was a strong and happy bridegroom. This was the scene ten years ago.

The following days were as simple as a cup of pure water: we had a kid; I went into business and tried to make more money. When the assets were steadily increasing, the affection between us seemed to ebb. She was a civil servant. Every morning we left home together and got home almost at the same time. Our kid was studying in a boarding school.

Our marriage life seemed to be enviably happy. But the calm life was more likely to be affected by unpredictable changes.

Dew came into my life.

It was a sunny day. I stood on a spacious balcony. Dew hugged me from behind. My heart once again was immersed in her stream of love. This was the apartment I bought for her.

Dew said, you are the kind of man who best draws girls' eyeballs. Her words suddenly reminded me of my wife. When we were just married, my wife said, Men like you, once successful, will be very attractive to girls.

Thinking of this, I became somewhat hesitant. I knew I had betrayed my wife. But I couldn't help doing so.

I moved Dew's hands aside and said you go to select some furniture, O.K.? I've got something to do in the company. Obviously she was unhappy, because I had promised to do it together with her. At the moment, the idea of divorce became clearer in my mind although it used to be something impossible to me.

However, I found it rather difficult to tell my wife about it. No matter how mildly I mentioned it to her, she would be deeply hurt.

Honestly, she was a good wife. Every evening she was busy preparing dinner.

I was sitting in front of the TV. The dinner was ready soon. Then we watched TV together. Or, I was lounging before the computer, visualizing Dew's body. This was the means of my entertainment.

One day I said to her in a slightly joking way, suppose we divorce, what will you do? She stared at me for a few seconds without a word. Apparently she believed that divorce was something too far away from her. I couldn't imagine how she would react once she got to know I was serious.

When my wife went to my office, Dew had just stepped out. Almost all the staff looked at my wife with a sympathetic eye and tried to hide something while talking to her. She seemed to have got some hint. She gently smiled at my subordinates. But I read some hurt in her eyes.

Once again, Dew said to me, He Ning, divorce her, O.K.? Then we live together. I nodded. I knew I could not hesitate any more.

When my wife served the last dish, I held her hand. I've got something to tell you, I said. She sat down and ate quietly. Again I observed the hurt in her eyes. Suddenly I didn't know how to open my mouth. But I had to let her know what I was thinking. I want a divorce. I raised the serious topic calmly. She didn't seem to be annoyed by my words, instead she asked me softly, why? I'm serious. I avoided her question. This so-called answer made her angry. She threw away the chopsticks and shouted at me, you are not a man!

That night, we didn't talk to each other. She was weeping. I knew she wanted to find out what had happened to our marriage. But I could hardly give her a satisfactory answer, because my heart had gone to Dew.

With a deep sense of guilt, I drafted a divorce agreement which stated that she could own our house, our car, and 30% stake of my company. She glanced at it and then tore it into pieces. I felt a pain in my heart. The woman who had been living ten years with me would become a stranger one day. But I could not take back what I had said.

Finally she cried loudly in front of me, which was what I had expected to see. To me her cry was actually a kind of release. The idea of divorce which had obsessed me for several weeks seemed to be firmer and clearer.

Late that night, I came back home after entertaining my clients. I saw her writing something at the table. I fall asleep fast. When I woke up, I found she was still there. I turned over and was asleep again.

She brought up her divorce conditions: she didn't want anything from me, but I was supposed to give her one month s time before divorce, and in the month's time we must live as normal a life as possible. Her reason was simple: our son would finish his summer vacation a month later and she didn't want him to see our marriage was broken.

She passed me the agreement she drafted, and then asked me, He Ning, do you still remember how I entered our bridal room on the wedding day? This question suddenly brought back all those wonderful memories to me. I nodded and said, I remember. You carried me in your arms, she continued, so, I have a requirement, that is, you carry me out in your arms on the day when we divorce. From now to the end of this month, you must carry me out from the bedroom to the door every morning.

I accepted with a smile. I knew she missed those sweet days and wished to end her marriage romantically.

I told Dew about my wife s divorce conditions. She laughed loudly and thought it was absurd. No matter what tricks she does, she has to face the result of divorce, she said scornfully. Her words more or less made me feel uncomfortable.

My wife and I hadn't had any body contact since my divorce intention was explicitly expressed. We even treated each other as a stranger. So when I carried her out on the first day, we both appeared clumsy. Our son clapped behind us, daddy is holding mummy in his arms. His words brought me a sense of pain. From the bedroom to the sitting room, then to the door, I walked over ten meters with her in my arms. She closed her eyes and said softly, Let us start from today, don't tell our son. I nodded, feeling somewhat upset. I put her down outside the door. She went to wait for a bus, I drove to the office.

On the second day, both of us acted much more easily. She leaned on my chest. We were so close that I could smell the fragrance of her blouse. I realized that I hadn't looked at this intimate woman carefully for a long time. I found she was not young any more. There were some fine wrinkles on her face.

On the third day, she whispered to me, the outside garden is being demolished. Be careful when you pass there.

On the fourth day, when I lifted her up, I seemed to feel that we were still an intimate couple and I was holding my sweetheart in my arms. The visualization of Dew became vague.

On the fifth and sixth day, she kept reminding me something, such as, where she put the ironed shirts, I should be careful while cooking, etc. I nodded. The sense of intimacy was even stronger.

I didn't tell Dew about this.

I felt it was easier to carry her. Perhaps the everyday workout made me stronger. I said to her,

It seems not difficult to carry you now. She was picking her dresses. I was waiting to carry her out. She tried quite a few but could not find a suitable one. Then she sighed, all my dresses have grown bigger. I smiled. But I suddenly realized that it was because she was thinner that I could carry her more easily, not because I was stronger. I knew she had buried all the bitterness in her heart. Again, I felt a sense of pain. Subconsciously I reached out a hand to touch her head.

Our son came in at the moment. Dad, it's time to carry mum out. He said. To him, seeing his father carrying his mother out had been an essential part of his life. She gestured our son to come closer and hugged him tightly. I turned my face because I was afraid I would change my mind at the last minute. I held her in my arms, walking from the bedroom, through the sitting room, to the hallway. Her hand surrounded my neck softly and naturally. I held her body tightly, as if we came back to our wedding day. But her much lighter weight made me sad.

On the last day, when I held her in my arms I could hardly move a step.

Our son had gone to school. She said, actually I hope you will hold me in your arms until we are old.

I held her tightly and said, both you and I didn't notice that our life lacked intimacy.

I jumped out of the car swiftly without locking the door. I was afraid any delay would make me change my decision. I walked upstairs. Dew opened the door. I said to her, Sorry, Dew, I won't divorce. I'm serious.

She looked at me, astonished. The she touched my forehead. You got no fever. She said. I moved her hand off my head. Sorry, Dew, I said, I can only say sorry to you, I won't divorce. My marriage life was boring probably because she and I didn't value the details of life, not because we didn't love each other any more. Now I understand that since I carried her into the home, she gave birth to our child, I am supposed to hold her until I am old. So I have to say sorry to you.

Dew seemed to suddenly wake up. She gave me a loud slap and then slammed the door and burst into tears. I walked downstairs and drove to the office.

When I passed the floral shop on the way, I ordered a bouquet for my wife which was her favorite. The salesgirl asked me what to write on the card.

I smiled and wrote, I'll carry you out every morning until we are old.

Take two...