My cousin-in-law, Jek Kin has started a new blog on Mathematics. He was formerly a maths teacher in a secondary school in Sungai Petani.
Thought of posting an interesting math question I've seen many years ago. The solution is quite easy, but only if you can figure out how to start.
I'm amazed with Australia's new Prime Minister's ability to speak Chinese perfectly. He even has a Chinese name 陆克文. His son-in-law is a Chinese-Australian. All his children studied Chinese in their schooling days. Hope he will improve the ties between China and Australia as the previous government has been trying to distance itself from Asia.
I have not been able to use my Thunderbird to send out e-mails for quite a few days.
Only until today I know the reason why.
My webhost e-mailed to inform me that TM has blocked port 25 from dynamic addresses. All outgoing mail will be directed to smtp.streamyx.com or smtp.tm.net.my.
I've tried out the above and they didn't work.
However, the alternative solution was provided by my webhost - simply change the port from the default (25) to 26, without having to change the SMTP server.
It's a lot of hassle to inform all my clients.
Also, the changes have also caused a lot of unhappiness among TM's customers, who need to spend a lot of man-hours to change the settings. Please read here for more information.
The world is full of ironies...
Take these two headlines today for example:
Carbon emissions growth - we're world's No 1
Malaysia's carbon emissions have spiralled since 1990, increasing faster than any country on earth, a United Nations report released today said.
The UN Human Development Report on fighting climate change showed Malaysia's carbon emissions grew by 221 percent from 1990 to 2004, placing it in 26th place on a global league table of emitters...
IN MANY ways Penny Wong's is a very Australian story.
The woman who can trace her family back to 1836 and one of South Australia's original settlers was born in Malaysia and moved to Australia as a seven-year-old .
Yesterday the 39-year-old former lawyer was catapulted from relative obscurity to one of the most important jobs in the Rudd administration as minister for climate change and water...
The PM and some cabinet ministers have been hitting out at those who participated in a few 'illegal' rallies earlier this month. No one will be surprised that the Police was not willing to issue permits for these rallies since the police and the government are bedfellows in this country. Instead of protecting the majority, the police often protect those who are in power from being prosecuted for corruption, crimes, etc.
The irony is, certain people in this country have no problems getting permits for rallies to 'express' themselves - Su Qiu, British Embassy, US Embassy, etc.
Doesn't take a genius to spot the double standard. Too bad not many rakyat get to see the whole picture as the mainstream media is yet another bedfellow of the government.
Right next to Albert Park... Wish it's March now.
View Larger Map
Johanna and I landed in Melbourne this morning - the beginning of our new life in Australia, for at least the next two years. BNM has approved my 2-year unpaid leave just in time for me to accompany Johanna to do her PhD in Australia.
I'll be looking for a job soon. Hope it won't be too difficult.
Finally registered as a voter at the Damansara Jaya post office. Looking forward to vote in the next GE. Hope you've registered yourselves too!
I'm going to put this ad in the Star tomorrow or the day after.
TAMAN SEA SS23 Room w aircond for Single Executive. Quiet, clean and furnished house. Parking avl. Available 11/11/07. Pls call JY 012-3796898.
Time surely flies. It feels like Johanna and I have just set foot in London not long ago, but now we're back in Malaysia again.
For me, it was a mixed feeling. As for Johanna, she didn't quite like London initially, but slowly grew fond of it. But the crowd and hussle bussle of this metropolitan city is still too much for her. It was good that we stayed in zone 2. We're going to miss our nice one bedroom flat a lot.
It's great to be back home too, especially for the food. Not forgetting our parents and relatives.
However, we've noticed that the prices of many things have increased a lot, e.g. Highway toll by around 60% (with more increases expected next January) and groceries. E.g. my favourite Nescafe Kenjara, Cape Colombie or Alta Rica is only GBP2.50 in Tesco London but costs nearly RM20 in Giant. The same with the small bottle of Pantene shampoo - around GBP1 in London but costs more than RM9 in Giant.
Still need some time to get rid of the fatigue from travelling and rushing for my dissertation few weeks prior to our return from London.
It's great to be home again, though I would like to admit that I miss London greatly, for the second time in my life.
Even though I was still rushing to complete my dissertation, Johanna & I kept our promise to visit Brian & Cherlyn in Swindon.
For the first time in my life, we missed our bus as I worked until very late at night and failed to wake up on time. We ended up going by train instead - definitely a smoother and faster journey.
Upon arrival, Brian & Cherlyn picked us up from the train station and brought us to our hotel - the Marriot.
We've decided to visit an old English heritage town called Castle Combe. When I first saw the town, I thought of my sister. It's the kind of town she had wished to visit during our summer trip together. Too bad I didn't know about all these small towns at that point in time.
The next day, we visited another English heritage - Lacock Abbey. Once again we were greeted by very traditional english houses and churches. The most interesting part is the walkway used in the filming of Harry Potter.
Despite feeling very tired due to my round the clock push for my dissertation in the past few weeks, I've managed to enjoy the trip very much. It is also our last trip before we leave London for Kuala Lumpur.
Thank you to Brian & Cherlyn for bringing us around and for the dinner and lunch too!
Can't decide whether to feel proud or not after reading this article on the BBC.
On one hand it's great to know that someone from our homeland has finally made it to the space. On the other hand, all the political exploitation of this expedition is quite embarrassing. And also knowing that this expedition is a 'free' gift for buying Russian jets. Also about the initial suggestions by some politicians on some 'experiments' to be carried out.
The following quotes are so 'Malaysian'... How the politicians trying to create the 'feel good' factor.
...Reports said the rocket was adorned with a Malaysian flag as it lifted off.
...Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi joined 1,000 schoolchildren at a ceremony in Kuala Lumpur to mark Malaysia's entry into space.
They clapped and cheered as a giant TV screen showed scenes of Sheikh Muszaphar smiling inside the spacecraft minutes after the lift-off, the Associated Press reported.
Landmark lift-off for space crew
A Russian spacecraft heading to the International Space Station (ISS) has blasted off from Baikonur, Kazakhstan.
The Soyuz rocket propelled Malaysia's first astronaut into space alongside the first female astronaut to become commander of the space station.
Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor and American Peggy Whitson were accompanied by Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko.
Ms Whitson and Mr Malenchenko will remain on the ISS for six months, replacing two other astronauts.
Mr Shukor will spend nine days on the space station before returning to Earth with the outgoing crew.
Malaysians proud
The Soyuz-FG rocket was launched on schedule at 1752 Moscow time (1322 GMT), topped with a spacecraft containing the three crew members.
Reports said the rocket was adorned with a Malaysian flag as it lifted off.
The launch has been eagerly anticipated in Malaysia, where it has been hailed as a landmark for the Asian nation.
Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi joined 1,000 schoolchildren at a ceremony in Kuala Lumpur to mark Malaysia's entry into space.
They clapped and cheered as a giant TV screen showed scenes of Sheikh Muszaphar smiling inside the spacecraft minutes after the lift-off, the Associated Press reported.
Ramadan rules
Mr Shukor will be the first Muslim to fly in space during the holy month of Ramadan and will be there for the Eid festival, when he will treat his crewmates to a celebratory meal.
For the rest of the time he will try and observe the dawn-to-dusk fasting rules of Ramadan.
Muslim clerics in Malaysia have prepared special guidelines for him on observing religious rules while on the ISS.
He will use a wet towel rather than water to clean himself before praying, and is not obliged to kneel in zero gravity or face Mecca while praying.
To avoid confusion about when to pray, Mr Shukor will follow the time at the launch site in Kazakhstan.
The crew are expected to dock at the space station on Friday.
The ConnectU lawsuit turned out to be free publicity for Facebook.
Some funny videos on Facebook, on how it has affected our lives.
259 BC ~ Birth
246 BC ~ Becomes King of Qin at age of 13
240 BC ~ Construction of his tomb begins
230 - 221 BC ~ Conquers 6 other states
221 BC ~ Becomes the first Emperor of China (Qin Dynasty)
210 BC ~ Death and burial in tomb
It was a great experience visiting the British Museum yesterday with Johanna. She has been very excited about visiting this exhibition. We were quite worried that we wouldn't be able to get any tickets by the time we fly back to Malaysia as the online tickets have been sold out for the next many months due to overwhelming response. So we've decided to try our luck by getting 2 of the 500 tickets to be sold early every morning.
We were shocked to see the long queue around 9.15am. There were definitely more than 500 people in the queue by then. But we've decided to try our luck and was lucky enough to get hold of two tickets for 4.10pm entry.
We were back at the British Museum at 4.10pm. Unfortunately no photography is allowed for the exhibition.
So the story started... how the Qin (pronounced "chin") kingdom came about and how an ambitious young man born Ying Zheng, installed as the King of Qin at the age of 13, managed to conquer 6 other warring states within a decade, to form the first unified China empire.
He carried out many major reforms aimed at cementing the unification - language script, legal system, weights and measurements and currency. He also built the Great Wall of China to fend of attacks from enemies from the north and the west, at the expense of many human lives. He outlawed Confucianism, by banning his books, in order to cement his oppressive rule.
He is perhaps most well-known for his intention to govern forever, and tried many ways to prolong his life. He also spent 30 years building his tomb complex, a 57 km sq palace where he could rule forever in his afterlife. This palace was only unearthed by a farmer in 1974.
Around 7,000 terracotta soldiers have been found burried in a few pits outside the tomb, standing guard. Other items from the excavation include statue of entertainers, government officers, horses and chariots, cranes, pottery, etc.
The main part of the tomb itself has been left unopened. Historical text mentioned that it contains rivers of mercury. Traces of mercury has been found around the tomb thus far. It will be interesting to know what treasures are inside... For a man who has so much attention to detail, I dare to imagine anything.
We're both amazed by his attention to detail. The swords for his army has to be made to specification, with the names of the labour and his supervisor engraved to ensure quality. Each terracotta army statue also has the stamp of the workshop for the same purpose. His palaces in various regions were also built consistently. The list goes on for many other things...
I've known some of the history relating to Qin Shi Huang. But the exhibition was truly an eye opener. Will definitely visit Xi An one day to look at the real tomb itself.
The war and occupation on Iraq has been planned way before 911...
Saddam Hussein has been 'convicted' few days into Bush's inauguration.
OIL and NATION BUILDING are the objectives.
Revealed by Paul O'Neill, Bush's Secretary Treasurer 2001 - 2003
I was very delighted to have my Bapak and Mak over for dinner last night.
After attending a number of Christmas parties organised by the McWilliams over the years, it's only fair that I make them a dinner in return.
It's great to see them back in the UK, after retiring from their teaching roles in KTJ after a whopping 12 years.
So here is the photo of the dinner, not including the dessert - Tarte Tatin. Can't remember how Clare pronounced the name of this French dessert.
Gerakan Youth chief Mah Siew Kong today called for the merger of all 14 parties in the ruling BN coalition in order to achieve national unity.
"The time has now come for us to be one single party, the BN Party," he said in his opening speech at the youth wing’s annual meeting which started today at the party’s headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.
I agree that this may be the best way forward for the nation. However, this idea is unlikely to get any buy-in, especially from UMNO.
Some facts on Mid-Autumn Festival, pronounced as zhong qui jie.
Johanna & I invited Suk Yi and Christine over for lunch yesterday.
I've known Suk Yi since primary school years through a competition where we represented Perak State. Christine is her housemate. We actually knew Christine during Rachel's son, Ethan's birthday party. Christine is one of Rachel's friends and we were surprised to learn that she and Suk Yi are housemates during our conversation. I have learnt to get used to all these coincidence and 'what a small world' thingy... after so many similar incidents.
...by mutual consent, according to BBC Sports.
Not special enough for Roman Abramovich.
I was stunned to see the headlines moments ago. But looking back at the relationship between Jose Mourinho and Roman Abramovich in the past one year, perhaps it's not too surprising. But still, despite not a Blues supporter, I have to admit that he is a great manager.
His unbeaten home record in the EPL for 3 years will be hard to emulate.
His presence, his charisma and his combustible, unpredictable, impulsive, arrogant and irritating (to non-Blues fans) character will be sorely missed by the EPL. You really can't help loving and hating him at the same time.
My bet is Abramovich has probably made a terrible mistake. Chelsea's dominance may come to an end, together with his millions.
As for non-Chelski supporters:
Sheva 1 - 0 Mourinho. Let's keep it that way.
Famous Quotes from Jose
Police confirmed the DNA test on the body of a girl found stuffed in a sports bag at a shophouse in Petaling Jaya Utama on Monday is that of Nurin Jazlin Jazimin who was missing since a month ago.
Petaling Jaya OCPD ACP Arjunaidi Mohamed said blood tests on the body and Nurin’s parents confirmed their blood ties.
He said Nurin’s parents were informed of the DNA finding this afternoon.
Nurin Jazlin, 8, a Standard Two pupil of Sekolah Rendah Kebangsaan Desa Setapak, was reported missing on Aug 20 after going alone to a night market near her house at Section 1 in Wangsa Maju.
The body of a naked girl, believed to have been sexually abused, was found by a shophouse owner at Jalan PJS 1 on Monday morning.In KUALA LUMPUR, Nurin’s father, Jazimin Abdul Jalil, 33, refused to accept the DNA result that the girl’s body was his daughter’s.
“I am Nurin’s father...I know my daughter better than anyone else. My heart is saying the body is not my daughter.
“If police ask me to take the body, I will accept, I will perform the funeral rites and bury it. But I want the police to pursue the search for Nurin because I know Nurin is still safe out there,” the taxi driver told reporters outside the Kuala Lumpur Hospital mortuary.
Jazimin said he was sure the body was not his daughter’s based on her teeth and the scar.
He said Nurin had no gaps in her teeth and had a scar on her thigh.
Jazimin said he was informed of the DNA test result at 12.30pm by the Petaling Jaya police who summoned him to the Kuala Lumpur Hospital mortuary to identify the body.
Jazimin and his wife, Norazian Bistaman, 35, who were called to the hospital for identification on Monday did not accept that the body was their daughter based on the physical condition of the girl’s body.
A distraught Norazian told reporters she would accept the authorities’ decision.
“What else can I say. The DNA test shows she is my daughter. I will accept the will of God.
“As a mother, I still hope the body is not my daughter’s. Who is the mother will accept the reality that her daughter was raped and killed brutally.
“Only God will know the extent of my sadness and grief,” she said in tears.
Norazian said this year’s Hari Raya Aidil Fitri celebrations would be the most joyous and meaningful in her life in the event Nurin was found safe and sound.
“In fact, we’ve already bought Nurin’s Hari Raya dress and I will patiently wait for her return,” she added.
If this video is true, every Malaysian deserves to know the inethical conduct of our Chief Justice (then the Chief Judge of Malaya) in "fixing" the appointments of Senior Judges with a prominent lawyer.
The latest video confirms many well-informed Malaysians' suspicion on the independence, impartiality, integrity and the professionalism of our judiaciary system. Our Prime Minister has a lot to do to restore public confidence. If we can't trust the mainstream media, the police and the judiciary system, who else is left to defend the rakyat? Harapkan pagar, pagar makan padi. No wonder quite a number of people have turned to the Malay Rulers for help recently. Perhaps that is why Raja Nazrin and Sultan Sharafuddin has been quite vocal in the public domain lately.
"The CJ said he is relative to now Agong, so he wants to stay on to 68, so, Tengku Adnan, I told Tengku Adnan, yesterday I had a meeting with him.
He said PM is already very angry with him, he said no problem he is going to make you acting err.. confirm your position as PCA, working very hard then working very hard to get Tan Sri Mokhtar as CJM.
Ah, we just keep it confidential. I am working very hard on it. Then there is a letter, according to Tengku, I am going to see him tomorrow, there is a letter sent to CJ, I mean Tan Sri Dzaiddin, that Datuk Heliliah, Datuk Ramli, Datuk Ramli and Datuk Ma’roop be made judges, and he rejected Dr Andrew Chui and apa itu Zainuddin Ismail lah. Because Zainuddin Ismail condemned your appointment and Tan Sri Mokhtar’s appointment.
And then you also, you seems to wrote a letter for the remaining five be confirmed as judges. As per our memo I discuss with Tun Eusoff Chin and we sent the same memo to PM.
I just want to get a copy letter that that has been done.
And then Tan Sri Dzaiddin said he is going to recommend six people for the court of appeal, but until today the letter hasn’t come to PM. He never discuss, but neither he has sent the letter to PM. Yes he has not sent. I know it is under the constitution for judges all that is your job Datuk to send, but we don’t want to make it an issue now.
Ah. Ok Actually I told Tengku Adnan to inform PM, PM to call you for a meeting. I organize it so that Tengku Adnan will call you directly. And then I got your number, I will tell him to call you directly to for you to meet PM lah. So should be ok, then ar.. correct correct, it is very important that the key players must be there.
Correct, correct, correct, correct, correct. You know that the same problem that Tun Eusoff Chin has. He tried to do all this and yet he has run out of soldiers. He couldn’t do it because many are from the other camp. Last time was unfortunate because Tun Daim was doing everything sabotaging, otherwise how are things with you - everything is ok?. No, don’t worry.
You know sometimes Tan Sri Vincent that half the time they are talking about judiciary rather than doing the work. But if I don’t do this part my work will be useless.
Ha ha ha. Ah yes.Correct,correct,correct,correct,correct,correct. Right, right, right, correct. Ah right susah. You see he has now up for six court of appeal judges, so that he can put his men before he retires.
Correct, correct, correct, ah and then ah, correct. But never-mind, I will do this, I will get Tengku Adnan to arrange for PM to call you and Tan Sri Vincent Tan for PM to call you. And you know why, actually, I am very grateful with Tan Sri Vincent Tan you know why, I brainwash you so much even I quarrel with him.
One day I went to Vincent Tan house, I fire him at the night in his house. I said bloody hell if you don’t do this who will do it?
All these people Tun Eusoff Chin, Datuk Ahmad Fairuz, Tan Sri Zainon all fought for that. Then he called Tengku Adnan. Tengku Adnan he said, saya bukan Perdana Menteri Malaysia lah, you know. If the old man doesn’t want to listen to me, go to hell.
He quarreled with me. I said never mind, never mind, you talk to PM again tomorrow morning to put Datuk Ahmad Fairuz to CJM. So next day morning he went and he called me back 9.30 that he said PM has already agreed.
So I said never mind, we hope for the best. So I said no harm trying, the worst that it can happen is that you lose. Being the old man, he is 76 years old, he gets whispers everywhere, and then you don’t whisper, he get taken away by the other side. But, now PM is very alert because every time he gets letters from Tan Sri Dzaiddin, he called Tengku Adnan, he said discuss with Vincent, come and discuss.
Yes yes, ya. Correct, correct, ya, but you see although I know PM, I am a lawyer in practice my views are.. I go through them, I go through them lah. Ah, ah, ah, ah.
And then Dzaiddin will call them telling that you went saw PM and you make a big issue out of it. Oh ya, I think so, I think so.
Ok, fine, fine, fine, fine. Ok, ok, ok, ok.
Ah, ah. Correct, correct. Now I heard Raja Aziz, Raja Aziz two weeks ago spoke to my lawyer Thayalan, and another lawyer Ailan, in the high court, they have a case each other. So, Thayalan and Ailan asked Raja Aziz, how is Tan Sri Wan Adnan?
He said he is on his way down. But you know what is the shocking thing he said? Datuk Fairuz became CJM. He overruled everybody, in three months time, he is going be made PCA, and six months time he is going to be CJ. He said he can’t think, he’s shocked. He told us.
Ha, it seems that they are going to organize a campaign to run you down. But you just keep quite, don’t say anything. Even the press asked, you said I leave it to God, that’s all. Don’t say. I really like your message. You said you work very hard, what can I do? I leave it to God.
That’s the best answer Datuk that you can ever be.
Ah… I will also get Tan Sri to remind PM to put a Tan Sri-ship this year lah. This will elevate you, you know.
Oh yes, yes, yes, yes. Ha. Steve Shim got so fast, Tan Sri Chong waited for whole year to get Tan Sri-ship.
Ah.. My god that’s why, ah. Correct, correct, correct, correct. Ya, ya, ya, ya. Right, right, right. Correct, correct.
Don’t worry, we organize this. If Tan Sri Vincent and Tengku Adnan want to meet you privately, they will, I will call you. We organize in a private arrangement, in a very neutral place.
No don’t worry, Datuk, I know how much you suffer for Tun Eusoff Chin. And Tun said Datuk Ahmad Fairuz 110% loyalty. We want to make sure our friends are there for the sake of the PM and the sake of the country.
Not for our own interest, not for our own interest. We want to make sure the country come first. Well, you suffered so well, so much you have done. For the election, Wee Choo Keong, everything. How much, no body would have done all these.
Yes, you know. Good lah. Don’t worry. I am constantly working on this.
Ya ya, don’t worry, don't worry. We work hard on this. And Datuk, and then if Tan Sri Vincent and Tengku Adnan want to see you, I will organize it in such a confidential place.
Ok Datuk very best. God bless you and your family.
Ok. Thank you thank you. Bye."
The Red Devils opened their Champions League account with a 1 - 0 away victory at Sporting Lisbon. But overall, the performance of United is still frustrating compared to last season. Things might have been different if not for two great saves by Edwin van der Sar. The only encouraging fact is that we're the only team which have won away in tonight's fixture while other away teams have all suffered defeats. Arsenal, on the other hand has played very well against Sevilla at the Emirates.
Next up, Chelsea at home on Sunday. Hope we can take advantage of the Blues' injuries.
I'm sure most East Malaysians will not feel very happy with this statement.
Our country is only together as one on 16 September, not 31 August as 31 August 1957 is the independence of Malaya, which excludes Sabah and Sarawak, while 16 September 1963 is the formation of MALAYSIA as a nation.
As for the celebration - the RM100 million spent this year is too much in my opinion. There are better ways to spend this large amount of money. Furthermore, many of us felt less like a nation lately. The worst part is the celebration was more like a Barisan Nasional celebration than a Malaysian celebration, based on numerous reports and opinion of friends and family back home.
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 17 (Bernama) — The government has decided that the celebration of nationhood is only on Aug 31 to show that the country is together as a nation, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said today.
However, this does not mean that Malaysia Day, which falls on Sept 16, is not important, the deputy prime minister said.
“Malaysia Day is an important day but we have decided that there should be only one day of independence because that is to show that we are together as a nation,” he said when asked to comment on Penang Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon’s statement yesterday regarding Malaysia Day.
The Gerakan acting president had called for more recognition to be given to Malaysia Day to celebrate the founding of the federation of Malaysia.
Dr Koh had said that while there had always been emphasis on celebrating Merdeka Day on Aug 31, the celebration of nationhood should also cover Malaysia Day.
“There is no harm in remembering Malaysia Day but the apex of our celebration will still be 31 August,” said Najib.
Najib told reporters this after launching the environment-friendly rehabilitation of the Taman Beringin landfill and its leachate treatment plant in Jinjang.
As a Malaysian who loves my country, I disagree with many points raised by Syed Hamid Albar and I'm aware many of my peers feel that way too. It's either he's in denial or he's totally detached from the real Malaysian society.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Today is the 44th anniversary of the formation of MALAYSIA.
However, most Malaysians do not celebrate this event and many, especially in Peninsular Malaysia are not aware of such event in 1963 at all.
I won't be surprised if East Malaysians always feel left out when we only celebrate 31 August 1957 and neglect 16 September 1963. 31 August 1957 has nothing to do with MALAYSIA as MALAYSIA did not exist at that point in time. 16 September is probably a more appropriate date to celebrate our nationhood as all Malaysians can celebrate it together.
Finally I'm able to use this new MacBook of Johanna's to access the Internet. There has been some network setting issues for the past few days and it was frustrating.
As for the Mac experience, it's great! A lot smoother than Windows even though the graphics are a lot more sophisticated. In preparation for the MacBook, I've modified the Windows XP on my Dell laptop to look like a Mac Tiger OS X. But the system is struggling to cope with the extra graphical requirements and hence it really slows down my Windows XP.
This MacBook is my first purchase from ebay. It was shipped from Chicago. Very good bargain indeed.
Instead of organising a competition to catch stray dogs, perhaps it's better to channel public funds to catch corrupted politicians and government servants, or maybe stray cats?
It beats me why more and more English words are being introduced into the Malay language when there are already existing words in Malay. Bajet for belanjawan (introduced in 2004 budget)? Ambisi for cita-cita? Aktress instead of pelakon? Emosi, propisi, kondisi, kontroversi...
There is nothing wrong in borrowing words from other languages. English is one great example. However, it is quite unecessary to borrow words when there are already words with the same meaning in the language. C'mon politicians and Dewan Bahasa, please be proud of our national language.
The latest Malaysian Budget promised the Malaysians free schooling, including providing free textbooks to all.
After reading the report that the Government has paid RM224 for a set of screwdrivers (market price RM40), 10 technical books for more than RM10k (market price RM417), with a total expenditure of nearly RM800 million, I can't help feeling that the free textbooks proposals are not solely intended to help the rakyat. Instead, there will be another huge 'leakage' created to be used to buy the support from certain parties in the coming general elections. For years we've known that this is a common business model for our Government projects. The worst thing is no one will be brought to justice in the end. The list goes on... RM4.6 billion bailout on the Port Klang Free Zone scandal which has been filtered from mass media, the RM1.4 billion hole found in a deal to build 6 offshore patrol vessels...
As for the Government's excuse to restrict press freedom in the name of preserving harmony, appalling to say that it has been badly abused to distort the truth, the latest involving the police firing the shots at a Bersih gathering. Bersih is the non-governmental organisation concerned with ensuring the cleanliness and integrity of the electoral process in Malaysia. The mainstream media could not even get the name of the organisers right. Not surprisingly they named PAS, DAP and PKR as the organisers. There was little or no mention of the people who were injured by gunshots fired by the police. Everything is lopsidedly reported with the intention to demonise the opposition parties.
Counting down to my departure from London... Time really flies.
Many outstanding tasks before I leave.
There has been a lot of focus on US subprime sector lately. I think the more worrying trend is the US current account deficit which is growing substantially over the years. the Americans are having great lives at the expense of the whole world, and the good times may be coming to an end soon.
Excerpts from The McKinsey Quarterly...
At $857 billion and still growing
This post will be up here until 31st August. For other updates please read below this post.
4 days immersed in the grandeur of Paris - the museums, palaces, monuments and boulevards... The only thing lacking is the matching blue sky for good photography. The only difficulty (a big one) is to communicate with the Parisians. Paris is more beautiful than London due to its straight and wide boulevards and grand buildings and monuments, not forgetting the unique Eiffel Tower. From the Louvre to Paris Opera to the Pantheon, everything is built to perfection, to the finest detail. The Parisian cafès provide a very relaxing feel to this City of Light.
All these, of course will not be complete without the company of Johanna.
Britain was shocked to learn that there has been serious breaches in TV phone-ins competition. "Editorial breaches" has been found in at least 6 shows, which includes Comic Relief and Children in Need. On numerous occassions prizes for the phone-ins have been awarded to members of the production teams. On other occassions, fictitious winners have been created.
To repair the damages to its reputation, BBC has suspended all its radio and TV phone-ins competition.
It will take a while for BBC to regain our trust on how it is using our TV license money.
Knowing the culture of this country, some heads will definitely roll in the next few days.
Nat was arrested under OSA for 4 days. The following is the excerpt of his statement on his detention.
From the moment I was arrested until about 11 pm, I was not allowed to speak to anyone I knew, or inform anybody of my whereabouts.
I later learnt that this caused an immense and completely avoidable amount of stress and anxiety amongst my loved ones.
...
I was eventually made to understand that I was arrested in connection to accusations made on the internet regarding Datuk Johari Baharum.
The connection to me was based on a comment made on my blog that was made by an anonymous commentor on the 10th of Februrary, 2007.
It was prepostorous of the police to suspect me of publishing these accusations based on documents protected by the Official Secrets Act that were supposedly in my posessesion. There is absolutely nothing even remotely resembling proof to substantiate such claims.
...
Throughout my detention, the police employed various questioning strategies in what struck me strongly as a concerted attempt to make me admit to things that I had not done.
One of the officers questioning me that evening who refused to identify himself threatened to slap me and throw me across the room.
...
Despite my repeated appeals to the police officers accompanying me to court to be produced before the magistrate for the remand hearing, they absolutely refused to notify my family or, more importantly, my lawyers that I was to be produced in court.
This caused in me a great deal of undue stress because I feared that I would be forced to face the magistrate without any legal representation.
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On Saturday itself, a senior officer employed physical means in an attempt to intimidate me into answering their questions. This included shoving me into a chair while I was standing handcuffed.
All other attempts to pressure and coerce me into providing information under adverse conditions failed. Finally, on Monday, I was allowed to see my family, who conveyed to me fresh advice from my lawyer regarding what information I could provide.
After weeks of disappointing weather, finally there was enough sun for our first picnic outing in the park.
We've chosen Green Park as I've yet to set foot on this park. Many Londeners had the same idea too. We brought some food and drinks (including hot coffee from home), right after watching Harry Potter - The Order of the Phoenix. The film was quite disappointing. I'm no big Potter fan and only read the first book out of the six so far, yet I could sense that the storyline has been cut short a lot. Some plots had been altered slightly too. Cho Chang was never part of the film even though there is a lot more of her in the books.
Anyway, back to the picnic. We brought along a rug too, so that we could lie down comfortably. Would be great if we had brought along things like frisbee, tennis balls so that we could play games. But perhaps games will be more fun if there are more participants. Perhaps another picnic friends. Anyway, having a picnic in the park is really relaxing and it's probably the cheapest way to spend the weekend.
After picnic we visited the new O2 - formerly known as Millennium Dome. It's full of restaurants and cafés. There's a big O2 Arena right in the middle of the Dome which can play host to concerts, boxing matches, etc. The event last night was World Championship Boxing between Amir Khan and Willie Limond. There is also a Vue Cineplex which occupies 2 floors, with 11 screens, with screen 11 the biggest in London. Judging from the number of visitors, it seems like the Dome's fortune has finally changed for the better.
Nathaniel Tan (aka Nat), an information bereau staff of KeAdilan has been remanded yesterday without proper justification by the police. His family and friends failed to locate him initially as the police initially refused to provide information about his arrest.
I am not a supporter of KeAdilan. But the way that he was arrested is too fishy. Imagine that could be you or me.
Johanna and I made a trip to Plymouth last weekend. It has been raining for the past 3 weeks in London. We hope to get some sun there.
We took off on Friday night on a National Express coach and arrived at 6am in the morning.
After checking in to Holiday Inn, we managed few hours of sleep before making a start. It was sunny indeed. We found out from the locals that the weather there has not been any better than London's for the past few weeks, so we were very lucky to be there on a sunny day.
