suicide doors and whitewalls

Customer Service Review: Plus Expressways Berhad

2011-05-23T09:25:00.003+08:00

The Situation / Happening:

I've noticed lately that Plus Expressways Berhad goes above and beyond the call of duty, and I think they need to know that the efforts are appreciated. I've come across a few of their added services in my daily life, which probably aren't even all of it, but they're pretty great.

PLUS Ronda - PLUS Ronda cruises the PLUS highways in search of cars that have engine problems or have broken down by the side of the road. If the issue is minor and they are able to, they will help to fix it free of charge. If not, they also offer towing services, so that the cars and its occupants are able to get to safety. This service is 24/7, and I think must have prevent many more accidents from happening.
@plustrafik - Like many corporations, PLUS has taken to Twitter. The difference is that PLUS doesn't have to do it to get customers. They do it because they want their road users to be informed about the traffic on their highways, and to plan accordingly. As a road user, I've found this to be incredibly helpful.

The Verdict:

As a road user, I appreciate and love PLUS' efforts. As a Malaysian, I'm impressed with their innovation and dedication to safety and smooth traffic. See, guys? It's not always about the money; Malaysians do care; Malaysians can provide world class services.

Malaysian Mobile Telcos: The Real Situation

2011-05-19T16:03:00.014+08:00

A question that's been plaguing me is why aren't Malaysian telco providers providing better service than this? Think about it. How many conversations have you actually had lately that didn't involve the following phrases:

"Hello? Hello? Helloooooooooo... Hello?"
"Sorry, what? I can't hear you. Wait ah, let me find better service"
"You go straight, and then -Do-re-mi tone- hello? hello?"

I've always stood up for Malaysia when people said Malaysians are driving the country into the ground, and I was always adamant that Malaysia isn't as bad as people make it out to be. I'm on the verge of changing my mind.

During my 4 years in Australia, I barely had any problems with my mobile telco service provider. I barely even had to call them. Can't even think of any times I couldn't get through to someone, or had a dropped call.

When I bring that up, most say, "You can't compare us to Australia". I ask, "Why not? Many companies say their lack of infrastructure is due to low transaction volumes in Malaysia, but that doesn't apply to Australia. They have less people!"

Facts:

Malaysia has a larger population than Australia.
Australia is physically more than 25x the size of Malaysia.

Still, Australia is able to put up the infrastructure to cater to its widely-spread population, but Malaysians have trouble reaching the interiors of Sabah. Granted, their GDP is higher and that would affect how much they would have to invest in infra, but Malaysia has lower labour costs and is much closer to suppliers in China, reducing significant transportation and logistics costs, on top of being much, much smaller. In other words, logically, it should be cheaper to set up a network of cell towers in Malaysia.

With some research, I've found that I'm not the only person complaining about it.

Source: Industry Performance Report 2009, Suruhanjaya Komunikasi dan Multimedia Malaysia (MCMC)

NB: CAGR means Compounded Average Growth Rate, i.e. the effective growth rate each year for the time period in question

In 2009, 6,178 people filed complaints for fixed line and mobile phone services, up from 178 in 2002. This is an increase of over 64% annually.
Of the 6,178, 2,846 (46%) were complaints pertaining to poor service.
In 2009, there were 30.4 million mobile subscribers, up from 9.1 million in 2002. This is an increase of just 19% annually.

I'm pretty sure that if the number of subscribers is only growing at 19% YoY and the number of complaints are going up 64% YoY, something is wrong somewhere. I'm pretty sure the number is also not reflective of the true situation as most wouldn't bother to report a dropped call.

So what's going on? Haven't the telcos been investing in maintaining and adding on to their infrastructure to cater to increasing demand? Apparently they have.

Sources: Annual reports

*CAGR for Axiata is for 2005 to 2010 only

The table above shows the Net Book Value for Telecommunications Network Equipment for Malaysia's 3 largest mobile telco service providers. According to this, they have been continuously investing in infrastructure since 2002. In RM values, their investments have outstripped the growth of mobile subscribers to 2009.

Again, the question remains: What is going on? Telcos have apparently been investing in infrastructure, but the sheer volume of complaints coming in pertaining to poor service and public debates on the issue of poor network service indicate that it isn't enough.

So, what is the role of MCMC in the whole issue? Their mission includes:

Ensuring consumers enjoy choice and a satisfactory level of services at affordable prices;
Providing transparent regulatory processes to facilitate fair competition and efficiency in the industry;
Ensuring best use of spectrum and number resources

I'm not sure they are doing so, given the state of our telco mobile networks, but that is just my opinion.

I'll stop short of accusing people of things because, let's face it, I'm Malaysian and subject to tyrannical laws on freedom of speech, but take the time to educate yourselves. Don't accept sub-standard services.

You can find the General Consumer Code of Practice outlining our telco's responsibilities to its users here.
They've also released the Mandatory Standards for Quality of Services (MSQoS), which came into effect in 2003. The standards can be found here.

You'll note that the MSQoS rates each telco based on reports and complaints filed. Not to whinge, but there is a benefit to complaining.

Customer Service Review: DivX

2011-05-19T09:51:00.003+08:00

The Situation:

I installed DivX Pro, including DivX Plus Web Player on my desktop to watch videos in the comfort of my room. I soon discovered that it would stop working everytime my computer woke up from hibernation. Basically, the plug-in would fail and it would freeze my browser.

After some testing, much re-installing and a lot of Googling, it became apparent that it wasn't the fault of my computer, and the paging size is not the issue. Kind of weird, because my laptop has the same platform and has DivX Plus too, and it works fine.

The Happening:

I went on to try and navigate the giant maze of preventing-actual-help-ness that is the Customer Support service of software giants.

My submission:

My browser crashes everytime I try to play something on Web Player after the computer recovers from hibernate mode. Ive tested this on both Google Chrome v11.0 and Internet Explorer v9.0, and it happened to both.

Ive tried reinstalling it, and also increasing the paging file size (which is now set to 6GB - more than sufficient).

Please advise. Thank you.

Their answer:

We are aware of this issue, and we apologize that we are not able to offer you an immediate solution for you case.

If this is a critical issue for you, at this point I recommend you to stay with a solution that will be able to meet your needs in regards to watching or converting videos..

We apologize for any inconvenience that may have caused you.

The Verdict:

So basically, they've made a player that can't cope with the simple everyday task of hibernation. Which is borderline ridiculous. The only reason I don't actually call it ridiculous is because of my encounter with Celcom, which will be written up soon.

I'm Tired

2011-05-10T17:20:00.004+08:00

What happens when people get tired of fighting for something better; of fighting for principles, for rights, for chivalry? What happens when a society languishes and lets people take advantage of its apathy by feeding off its loopholes? Because that's what I'm dangerously close to.

I know what I sound like: a diva, one of those people who complain about everyone and expect people to jump when I complain. I'm fine with people thinking of me that way, because to me, I'm trying to create a world that I want to live in and be in.

Is it right for telcos to provide sub-par service? No. Is it right for office buildings to provide insufficient parking lots and close it all day to non-season parkers? No. Is it right for our Ministry of Tourism and whoever is in charge of our environment to sit quietly while our coral gardens are being irrepairably damaged? No.

But goddammit, I'm tired of being one of the few who are willing to do anything. Everyone else sits there and complains but is too lazy or can't be bothered to do anything. I want to make my little corner of the world a little bit better, but it's not easy doing it alone.

It's even worse when there's resistance and people look at you like you're crazy because you're asking for a safer parking location, or for pamphlets educating visitors and locals on how to care for corals, or for a telco that won't have dropped calls for every 2 out of 3 calls made. It's the worst when people won't even try to help you. They won't even try.

I'm tired. That's the gist of it. I'm tired. I want to be a better person in a better place, but I'm too goddamn tired.

I feel like your tweets are mocking me

2011-04-15T18:53:00.004+08:00

If only I thought you had the balls or the brains to do this.

Sponsor A Child Through PERTIWI

2011-03-16T17:11:00.003+08:00

I've recently become quite involved with PERTIWI's Soup Kitchen, and have been quite impressed by the ladies' values and dedication. While PERTIWI (Pertubuhan Tindakan Wanita Islam) is an Islamic association first, they provide assistance regardless of race and religion.

PERTIWI has a little known child sponsorship programme called Projek Anak Angkat (Orphan Project), which has been in operation since the 1970s. Graduates of the programme have gone on to attend university and begin their own careers. As a believer in child sponsorship, I'm surprised that I hadn't heard of the programme. I hope this blog entry will help others find it.

Projek Anak Angkat aims to ensure that needy children are able to have a proper education to give them a better chance of lifting themselves out of poverty. PERTIWI liaises directly with schools, who identify children in need. This ensures that the money donated is used solely for the sponsored child's educational needs.

Website: http://www.pertiwi.org

Sponsorship amount: RM40/month

For more information, please contact PERTIWI at 03-7874 4203.

How to Help Victims of Natural Disaster in Japan

2011-03-15T10:57:00.006+08:00

Many were devastated by the recent devastation in Japan, and the rest of the world mourns with them. What's brilliant is that so many want to help and do something to make a difference. Unfortunately, not many know how.

The following is a (short and in no way comprehensive) list of Malaysian aid organisations that will be assisting by sending aid. For non-Malaysians, I suggest you Google their international counterpart, or Google for your local aid organisations and contact them.

Red Crescent (www.redcrescent.org.my)
The Malaysian Red Crescent Society (MRCS) has set up an International Relief Fund account at Maybank to collect donations from the public to assist those affected by national disasters. Maybank account number: 5144 2210 2657. All donations are tax exempt. You can also find out how to volunteer.
Mercy Malaysia (www.mercy.org.my)
Mercy Malaysia is a well established Malaysian NGO, which has shown dedication in providing international relief efforts time and again. I'm continually impressed by their dedication and efforts. As with MRCS, there is further information for those who want to do more and volunteer their time.
World Vision Malaysia (www.worldvision.com.my)
World Vision is also accepting donations to help victims of the natural disasters in Japan.
Force of Nature Aid Foundation (www.forceofnature.org)
Force of Nature (FON) was set up to help rebuild communities affected by natural disasters. Their involvement is less in the aftermath, and more when things settle down. FON commits to funding projects initiated by local communities aimed at sustainably improving their living standards and situation. A worthy cause.

The things that victims of natural disasters are usually in need of the most are perishable necessities, i.e. food and water, diapers, baby formula. Some items that could help are flashlights, blankets, mosquito nets, basic first aid items.

Please bear in mind that some organisations don't like accepting donations in kind that have not been explicitly requested for. This is usually due to logistics reasons, and it may be more efficient to send money and purchase items at/near the site itself.

Customer Service Review: Domino's Pizza

2011-03-10T02:37:00.003+08:00

The Situation:
I had ordered Domino's Pizza for dinner, and when I sat down to eat, I discovered that it was the wrong pizza.

The Happening:
I called them. They apologised profusely and immediately sent me the correct pizza. I was a bit disappointed that I didn't get a free pizza voucher, but I was so impressed that they called me twice to find out what went wrong that I didn't care.

The Verdict:
Five star customer service. Other companies could learn from the way Domino's treats its customers. Kudos and thanks, Domino's, for making the effort.

Girl Runs Away To Avoid Arranged Marriage

2011-03-08T14:30:00.002+08:00

From Reuters: California girl fled to escape arranged marriage:

(Reuters) - A 13-year-old Southern California girl who ran away from home to escape an arranged marriage in Pakistan has been taken into protective custody by child welfare authorities, police said on Thursday.

Jessie Marie Bender, who vanished from her home in the early morning hours of February 22, was found on Wednesday at a motel in a nearby community, where she had been hiding with the help of an uncle, San Bernardino County Sheriff's spokeswoman Roxanne Walker said.

After an investigation turned up no evidence that Jessie had been kidnapped, Walker said, detectives discovered that an uncle had taken her to a motel in nearby Apple Valley out of fear that she would be taken to Pakistan for an arranged marriage.

Walker said Jessie and her mother were American but that the girl's stepfather was a Pakistani native. It was not immediately clear if the girl's mother and stepfather are married.

For one, it's pretty incredible that something like this could happen in America, for all they boast about personal freedom. For another, I applaud her bravery in running away from and risking everything she knows to stand up for her own rights. Apparently this 13-year-old girl has more balls than certain people.

This isn't the first incidence of American families sending girls to far-off lands like Pakistan to be married off, with or without their consent. I'm glad that the real situation has come to light, and perhaps this will raise more awareness on the issue globally. I sincerely hope things turn out for the best for her.

Phoenix Jones & The Rain City Superhero Movement

2011-03-02T17:23:00.005+08:00

So the last 1-year or so of my blog basically entails me whinging about not being loved, how the world hates me, being hurt, etc, and so on, and so forth. Not that there hasn't been damn good reason for it, but I think it's about time I stop feeling bloody sorry for myself and bring back this blog to what I do best: whinging about less personal stuff.

Don't get me wrong, there've been plenty of things that I've wanted to write about over the past year, but due to time constraints and sometimes just me being lazy and unmotivated, it's gone unnoticed.

Never fear, I have a doozy to start with: Superheroes. No. Seriously. Introducing Phoenix Jones and the Rain City Superhero Movement (not to be confused with the dance crew).

Phoenix Jones is a civilian who dresses up as a superhero at night to patrol the streets and keep the citizens of Seattle safe. His costume has a bulletproof vest, knife plates, etc.. They carry non-lethal weapons, and are all trained in combat or mixed martial arts (which, as someone who has trained in kickboxing for several years, I can tell you is no joke).

The Rain City Superhero Movement is apparently 9 people including Phoenix Jones. The other members are Thorn, Buster Doe, Green Reaper, Gemini, No Name, Catastrophe, Thunder 88 and Penelope. There's less information around on these 8 guys, but then again, I'm not a Facebook user and can't fully access their Facebook page. I am, however, heartened by the inclusion of at least 1 female persona (I think).

If you thought they were the only people in the world crazy enough to do something, you'd be wrong. Well, you'd probably be right if you said Americans (to my knowledge). There's a website for a community of Real Life SuperHeroes (www.reallifesuperheroes.org), detailing the exploits of other masked/unmasked caped/uncaped crusaders who choose to fight crime/injustice/homelessness/etc. There's even tips on what to/what not to do.

For further reading, Suite 101 has an interesting and informative article here. And then there's always Phoenix Jones and the Rain City Superhero Movement's Facebook page. And yes, the Seattle police are well aware of their existence, and can tell who is or isn't in the group (really).

Not An Elephant

2011-02-16T16:34:00.003+08:00

People have been telling me that to forgive and forget is a desirable trait since I can remember. Later on in life, it hasn't changed, but the "people" are inevitably the people that I'm supposed to forgive and what they did are what I'm supposed to forget about. Most things are easy to forgive and forget, but it's never about the easy ones, is it? It's always the big ones that matter and affect you more than you think it has.

For example, you can forgive someone for making a mistake and doing something that breaks your trust. The question then becomes, how do you forget that it happened? How is it so easy for everyone else to forget that the last time you depended on this person for something that mattered, it didn't happen?

What happens when the thing that's supposed to be forgotten is the complete breakdown of everything you've based your life on? There are some intangible things that you build your life on and around, take for granted, depend on, assume with an unshakable faith that it will be there when you need it. How do you forget the time that you reached for it and it wasn't?

I've learned to forgive the hurt, but how do you forget how much it hurt? How do you assume it wasn't just a lie?

The Myth of the High Standard

2011-02-14T17:03:00.002+08:00

It being Valentine's Day, I think it's only natural for the mind to turn to coupling. And, of course, the eternal question, "Where's your boyfriend?". The assumption by most is that I have high standards. Do I really? Honestly, I don't think so. I may talk the talk, but I don't really expect my boyfriends to spend lavishly on me or to take me jetsetting. I don't really expect very much. Yet, here I sit, boyfriend-less. Do I really have high standards?

The Standards:

My boyfriend won't lie to me (at least when it counts), because I wouldn't lie to him.
The girlfriend isn't outranked by anyone except family. Don't forget, we're talking about a long-term relationship here.
My boyfriend will remember my birthday. It's not that hard.
When I'm angry or upset, my boyfriend will hold me and tell me that he loves me. Same goes with when I'm insecure, hormonal, depressed, etc. It's a failsafe that works for all occasions. You know why? Because not one ex-boyfriend has ever done this for me.
My boyfriend wants me around.

When I tried to list that down, it was pretty hard to come up with 5, but there it is and I think the list is complete. I can't speak for other women, but I personally don't need anything more than these 5 things from my partner.

I don't think the standards are very high. They're not high expectations for anyone other than a child or a family pet, but still the only person I've ever met who hit all 5 wasn't even a boyfriend. Maybe that was my mistake.

A Flurry of White

2011-02-12T23:45:00.001+08:00

I'm so confused about growing up. It's as if growing up was always this secret mystical place far away, perfect in its ideals.

And then I arrive and find that the glow has dulled, the streets lay trodden and broken by those that had come before me, the wind is stale, and the sun doesn't shine quite as brightly as I'd thought. The stories I'd been told during the journey had been shined and polished more often than an army chief's boots.

What else is there to do, but to roll up my sleeves and try to make it better.

posted from Bloggeroid

What kind of people live in this world?

2011-01-17T17:57:00.005+08:00

This postcard was posted on Postsecret on 16 January 2011. I don't usually diss people's secrets because who am I to judge? But this really got to me. I've always wondered what kind of people would intentionally seduce someone else's partner and feel no remorse. What kind of men or women would put someone else's significant other through the pain and heartbreak of having their partners cheat on them?

And that's just the tip of the iceberg. It's even worse when it's a community secret - where everyone else knows except the family, and the rest of the world just looks at them pityingly and knowingly. This is such a common occurrence in Malaysia it's ridiculous.

But the fact that this person would think it's "weird" that her alleged good friend confided in her on something that would have taken a lot to discuss with someone else. That just disgusts me.

I've been in a position where some bitch completely disregarded the fact that my boyfriend was going out with me and continued to try to pursue him. Nevermind the fact that he said no. What kind of people live in this world? Women (and men alike) who do these things need to be made to feel the pain that they've inflicted on others, and to permanently wear a sign on their forehead telling the world the kind of people they are.

Maybe I'll Never Be

2011-01-10T17:34:00.002+08:00

Maybe, I'll never be perfect. Maybe, I'll never be the person who says exactly what needs to be said at exactly the right time. Maybe, I'll never just be content with what there is at that moment. Maybe, I'll always expect too much from other people. Maybe, I'll never be okay enough for you, or open enough for you, or trusting enough for you. Maybe.

But I am me, and as much as I try to grow when life calls for it, I'm still just me. A little weird, a little funny, a little aloof, a lot guarded. I can't change that. I can't change me. This is me. Leave me be.

Why is the Illegal Status of Child Marriages a Secret?

2010-12-24T11:08:00.002+08:00

A few weeks ago, a school teacher married a 14-year old girl (Source: The Star). Of course, the government and a female minister (heaven forbid it be a male minister) retaliated. More shockingly, earlier in the year, a man took an 11-year-old as his fourth wife (Source: The Star). The government promised to look into it (Source: The Star). And quite surprisingly, they actually did!

You know what the verdict was? It is this:

The marriage of an 11-year-old Muslim girl to a 41-year-old man has been ruled illegal in Malaysia. An Islamic court judge found the father of the child had had no intention of marrying her off, and that there were elements of threat and force involved.
(Source: BBC News)

You must be wondering what my damage is. Why am I getting uptight about this? Here's the thing.

The response from the Malaysian people was deplorable. The response from the government was from "the government". Nobody took ownership. The only one who did was a woman minister. Some have even come forward to support the marriage of the 14-year-old, and of course, it was a man (Source: The Malay Mail).

Malaysian men seem to not understand that girls at the age of 14 are just that: they're girls. When I was 14, I was young and impressionable, though I would never have admitted it. At that age, I wanted to impress people with how adult and mature I was, and I would have done plenty of things that I wouldn't do now to impress people. At the age of 14, you don't know when you're making a mistake.

When I was 14, I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life. I'm 26 now, and I'm still trying to figure it out. I know people in their mid-30s who still don't know it yet. You think a 14-year-old knows what she wants?

By no means am I belittling her intelligence. She could be very smart and actually ready for this, but she sets a dangerous precedent for other girls her age who are easily talked into things like this. If her parents are not on their guard, if her dad reacts the way Muzli Mohd Din did, who will save her? The Shari'ah court? Hah!

Of course, everybody remembers the case of Bung Mokhtar and Zizie. How they married illegally, and all they had to do was pay RM1,000 (Source: The Star). That was all. A slap on the wrist for putting Bung Mokhtar's family through the shame of finding out that their dad is an ass through the public media.

Men in Malaysia will never stand up for the rights of women in marriage. Our good Minister of Women, Family and Community Development, while she tries, will never overstep her bounds as a Minister of UMNO first and foremost, and the protector of women's rights second.

The result is that men can marry illegally with impunity. Nevermind that by Syari'ah law, they need the permission of their first wives. My damage is that. Exactly that. That men can marry illegally, and when they're brought to the public, the public says, "well, it's his right". It's not his right. It's his privilege. It's a privilege that must be earned, by being wise and caring and fair.

What about his family? What about his kids? If you think you have the balls to have 2 women, then why don't you have the balls to tell your family and kids about it? Why don't they have enough respect for their family to tell them face-to-face instead of having the rest of the world talking about it behind their backs? Why let them find out from the media or from other people? Why hide it? Hiding it means they know it's wrong.

So, of course, the decision of the Syari'ah court wasn't published in Malaysian newspapers. I had to find out about it through BBC News, because Malaysians wouldn't really care about that. Would they?

Some days, the memories remember you

2010-12-22T10:24:00.002+08:00

I don't think I think things through enough before I do or say things. I really should look at that in myself.

Most of the time you remember the memories. And just sometimes, some days, you can't control it and the memories remember you. Those memories for which you've worked so hard to say, "this is the past, and that coming up right there is the future".

The Flip Flop

2010-12-06T09:58:00.003+08:00

I think, that at the end of it all, I can trace the source of my renewed inspiration to my cousin-in-law, who is up at 5am running a security corporation 6 days a week and studying for his master's degree during whatever remaining time he has left, all the while also being a dutiful husband and father. I thought, if he can get up every Monday and say, "Productive week!" (no, seriously, that's actually what he tweets/FBs/emails/BBM status'), then I can be just as positive.

I've been told that my tweets lately have been really depressing, and I can't say that I disagree. The fact is, though, that I've always been the type of person who vocalises my displeasure or stress, and Twitter provides me with such an easy outlet to vent that I do it all the time without thinking. Throw in the week from hell at work and all the tweets you'll get from me are about me bitching.

I haven't been that bad, though. It's been a tough couple of weeks due to a few things, but it's also been good. I've managed to expunge a few things from my life that I don't want around, and I didn't realise how much has been cleaned up that I can only hope will help me in the new year. It's easier now, and soon I'll hopefully be able to get things where I want them. But if they don't get there, that's okay, too.

In between those things, I've actually had some pretty good times, and in rounding up 2011, I think I need to remember those and hang on to them so that they're not clouded over by the bad experiences.

I've learned (again, it took a long 3 years to learn this) that I need to let things go and be more flexible. I've revived an old phrase for 2011 and I'm using it as my mantra: love, peace and empathy. I always could relate to Cobain.

2010 Round Up

2010-12-01T16:55:00.002+08:00

Another year is coming to a close, and I will be spending it in what I hope will turn out to be a most spectacular way. Like a broken record, I'd like to say that this year was like totally ridiculous, and I'm just glad it's over. If I ever get around to printing that "I survived 2008" t-shirt, I'll have to amend that to "I survived 2008-2010".

I mean, is it just that those years were exceptional, or is adulthood really that hard? People around me seem to be happy and carefree. Is it just me? Am I expecting too much?

I do know that I've learned a lesson after 3 long years: Don't trust people so much that you end up being vulnerable. I ventured into the adult world with a certainty that people were inherently good and that if I gave them a chance, surely they would afford me the same respect. Needless to say, I got screwed over.

Now most of my time is spent being upset at the injustices and indignations that I and other people have to suffer, and I vowed to stand up for myself. Why? Because nice guys finish last. On the other hand, being happy go-lucky also means being jaded enough not to care. So either I finish last, or I'm jaded.

This is going around in circles. Let's just say that 2010 was a bitch. I don't expect much more from 2011, but at least I'll be prepared. And probably mostly jaded, so that'll help.

The Passage of Time

2010-11-09T17:14:00.003+08:00

Somebody watching Charlie Chaplin movies intently have found what they call proof of time travel - a person walking in the background while holding a hand to the ear and talking, as if it were a mobile phone.

Catch the video at http://bit.ly/hELzwR .

I've seen it. I still want to try and rent/buy the movie on DVD or something so that I can have a proper look myself, but it's entirely possible that the video is showing a person talking into a mobile phone during the 1920s.

Honestly, I'm really not sure what to make of it. I can't say that I don't believe in time travel, because we're advancing at accelerated speeds and are achieving things that couldn't even be dreamt of in the '20s.

I can say, however, that if time travel is possible, that nothing good will ever come from it. Changing history or the future is never a good thing, even if it prevents millions from dying, because you never know what will happen after that.

Customer Service Review: The Maybank Malfunction

2010-11-01T12:25:00.004+08:00

What Happened: On Monday (25th October 2010), Maybank experienced a nationwide system failure. All ATMs and Maybank2U ceased to function, and Maybank2e payroll functions were affected. Some got paid 2 months' salary (only for the extra 1 month to be taken away again, sadly), and some didn't get paid.

The Situation:

Mistake #1 - I went to the ATM to withdraw money, which I needed seeing as how I only had RM10 in my wallet. The ATMs were not working. I asked the concierge what other options I had to withdraw money. She sent me back to the ATMs to try again.
Mistake #2 - After I had tried 3 more times at the ATMs, I called the call centre and found out that I can withdraw money over-the-counter (which the concierge failed to mention to me), I waited in a growing line of people. Only 2 out of 6 counters were open. 1 person was served in 15 minutes.
Mistake #3 - After scanning headlines on Tuesday, I found no mention of the Maybank nationwide system failure. As if it were some kind of dirty secret and ignoring it will make it seem like it never happened.

The Result: I have no idea what happened on Monday. I don't know whose fault it was and what steps Maybank is going to take to stop it from happening again. I no longer have confidence in Maybank to safeguard my money and will have to place my money elsewhere. I can only imagine that other people feel the same way. I mean, we're trusting this system that failed epically to safeguard our money.

The Aftermath:

Number of complaints made - 3.

Follow ups - 2.

Maybank has promised to get their IT people to call me and explain. I think they've missed the point that I tried to make repeatedly, which was that they need to inform their customers or they're going to lose them. Nevertheless, I will be one of a small % of people who will have an explanation about what happened to their system, which I will post here in case people go online to look for it.

Just for fun, a lifetime of firsts

2010-10-23T17:45:00.004+08:00

The first time I

Walked into a new school, I hated it and spent every day pretending I was sick so I could go home.
Got a job, I was a barely 16, a bit nervous, and wondered if that was the start of the rest of my life.
Drank, I got absolutely wasted and had to be carried out of the bathroom by my sister and cousin. Fun times.
Found out my parents were human, a part of me died a little bit.
Drove a car with a valid driving license, I drove it like I drove a go-kart because that was the only thing I knew how to drive.
Walked into a university tutorial, I was intimidated. I made up for it by talking too much and making a fool of myself.
Had to live without my parents, I still knew they were taking care of me and that made me feel completely at home, regardless of where I was.
Fell in love, I knew it wasn't forever, but I loved every minute of it.
Felt the fear of possibly losing somebody close to me, it was almost too much to handle.
Was expecting a nephew, I spent the night on eggshells waiting for the call. When it came, it was incredible.
Graduated from university, I said goodbye to the only life I'd known and ventured into the new world not knowing what to expect.
Entered the corporate world, I vowed to be true to my pedigree, climb the corporate ladder quickly and make a name for myself.
Made friends with my colleagues, they became an integral part of my life.
Met him, I knew for absolute certain that I could spend the rest of my life with him. And it could have been a love story for the ages.
Switched jobs, I tried to be better at what I did. I'm still trying.
Really, truly opened myself up to those that cared about me, they shut me out and closed the door. And I made myself comfortable with what I had.
Had chicken after going vegetarian, it tasted like disgusting fat.
Felt really and truly alone, my family stepped up to the plate. They're still here.
Started this blog, I didn't know what it was going to be or what was going to be on it. Now I do.

The Day That Started Out Well

2010-10-23T12:54:00.003+08:00

You know what's incredible? I've discovered that most of the things that I thought were a weird thing that I do is actually something that many people do.

Par example, one day I told someone that I had this thing where if my mum reminded me to do something (this was a while back), I would put it off a bit longer even though I was just going to do it, just to prove that her reminding me wasn't what made me do it. Apparently that happens to other people too.

Then there's the other thing that hasn't changed since I was a kid: a small sign from God in the morning on the way to school/work that the day was going to be a good one. It could be anything, from a favourite song coming up on the radio to the light that's usually red being green to buying your favourite nasi lemak for breakfast. Just a small sign from God, and you start having high hopes for the rest of the day, thinking, "Yes, today is going to be a good one".

For me, though, more often than not the high hopes usually come crashing down. Probably because the expectation was too high, and the day that started out on a high note becomes, well, a day that ends with drinks. Guess I really need to stop expecting so much. But that's a part of life, right? The ups and downs. There's always another day tomorrow.

Introducing Ramadhan

2010-08-19T09:59:00.002+08:00

Ramadhan is the 9th month in the Muslim calendar, and to roughly 1.2 billion people, it's a very special and holy month. During this time, they devote themselves to abstinence, prayer and helping the community.

Why? Muslims fast for 3 reasons: (1) To commemorate Moses' and Jesus' 40 days of fasting as an act of cleansing in preparation for receiving the word of God (Source: http://sunatullah.com/puasa/asal-mula-puasasaum.html). (2) To cultivate compassion for others by undergoing the hardship of the poor. During the month, Muslims are encouraged to give and share generously with the community, including donating food for the poor. (3) To encourage patience and abstinence.

How? For Muslims, fasting isn't just about abstaining from food and drink. While fasting, Muslims must be patient and not lose their temper, abstain from intercourse, must not allow any object to enter any orifice of the body (activities for health reasons are exempted, e.g. brushing teeth, visiting the dentist, etc) and are encouraged to perform extra prayers. In doing so, Muslims devote themselves to each other and to God for a month and cleanse themselves of impurities.

Except Muslims are exempted from fasting for various reasons, the first and foremost is health. If, for any reason, fasting will affect your health, then you are forbidden from fasting. For example, pregnant women are not encouraged to fast as it may affect the health of the child. Muslims are also exempted from fasting during travel - as during this time they cannot follow the movements of the sun - and if their occupation is physically laborious. In these events, they will have to replace the days missed at any time before the next Ramadhan.

Effect Physically, psychologically and physiologically, people tend to feel better after fasting. Here's why: http://www.ediscoverislam.com/About-Islam/The-religion-of-Islam/why-do-muslims-fast. Personally, I find that after fasting, I feel much more cleansed and it takes much less to satisfy hunger. I feel lighter, healthier and better able to control my own body and myself. It is both a sense of achievement and a better understanding of myself that comes from more prayer, partial abstinence and patience during trying times.

Others Who Fast Fasting is not restricted to Muslims. Jews fast for 25 hours, and while Christians don't specifically have to fast, they must still abstain from something for 40 days during Lent. The Baha'is have a similar ritual of fasting for 28 days a year. Fasting is also an integral part of the Hindu religion, especially during religious festivals. In all mentioned religions, the aim of the exercise is similar: to commemorate the acts of their religious predecessors, and to purify themselves.

Tired feels different

2010-08-11T12:50:00.001+08:00

when you're a kid.

Weekend Epiphany

2010-07-21T11:20:00.002+08:00

I had an epiphany over the weekend. Yes, I'm only typing out the entry now because, well, I've just been that tied up.

The epiphany was that anything worth having will take some hardship getting. I.e. I may be going through a whole lot of shit right now (and the past oh, I don't know, 2 years?) but whatever is waiting for me at the end is going to be worth it.

I've always thought that anything worth having is worth fighting for, and that those people who say, "If it's meant to be, it'll happen" are idiots. Do you really think that things happen for a reason? That those kids starving in Africa are starving for a reason? The reason is because people think "things that are meant to be will be". I think it's easier for people to say, "If it's meant to be, it'll be" because then no one will expect them to actually grow a pair and fight for what they want.

But I digress. My point was that I'm not having the best time of my life right now, but that's alright because something better is meant to happen. I can't lose myself in this, and I can't depend on anyone else because obviously that didn't work out very well. Just wish whatever it is would hurry up already.

Drowning In Mediocrity

2010-07-14T11:56:00.004+08:00

Has anyone ever wondered what happens to the average and the mediocre? Think about it: movies, songs, books, stories are told about those who are the incredible, the outstanding. The bards spin stories of heroes and seemingly average people who go above and beyond expectations, overcome all odds and achieve their goals. They even tell stories of those who are outstanding because they're so deviant - those who murder in seemingly inhumane ways, those who are cunning in their arts.

What about the average? Those people who may never be considered anything other than "well read". Those who, rather than being "detail-oriented" are "absent-minded" or "careless". Those who, while not lazy, aren't driven enough to be called "married to their job". What about those who live their lives in the middle class, who never date anyone extraordinary and end up marrying another average person, who pop out a couple of kids and live in an average sized family home in an average neighborhood driving average cars? What about those who only go on holidays in average places on average tour packages, those who dream of becoming a millionaire by age 30 but in reality never come close, those who never make it past middle management?

The average and the mediocre will never make headlines. They will never be exceptionally popular. They're never really good enough at anything to be called "great at xxx" and they'll never be too outside of the norm that people will say, "(s)he's so xxx".

When they die, their graves will be frequented every so often - probably once a year - by those who love them. But there will never be too many. Over the years, probably in less than ten, people will stop visiting and bit by bit nature will reclaim the grave, growing weeds in the place of artificially cut and placed flowers, leaving no trace of them but their names in high school yearbooks or in somewhat visited websites on the internet where their comments on articles blend in with hundreds of others.

Egad, it's no wonder so many people commit suicide.

OMG-Fact?

2010-07-07T18:06:00.003+08:00

Found at OMG-Facts:

Lactose tolerance is a mutation. Lactose intolerance is the original form of the gene.

Scientists have looked into the human genome to find the precise genetic mutation that causes lactose tolerance. Lactose tolerance in humans always come from the same genetic mutation, regardless of whether they are of European, Asian, and African descent.
Most people in the world are lactose intolerant. People do not naturally have the ability to digest milk beyond infancy. The sugar, lactose, that is present in high levels in milk causes nausea and bloating in most adults. Europeans and Americans are much more likely to have the genetic mutation that allow them to digest lactose. Lactose intolerance is present in only 5% of Northern Europeans but nearly 100% of Southeast Asians.

Emailed to OMG-Facts:

OMG-Fact #2835:

Lactose tolerance is a mutation. Lactose intolerance is the original form of the gene.

Scientists have looked into the human genome to find the precise genetic mutation that causes lactose tolerance. Lactose tolerance in humans always come from the same genetic mutation, regardless of whether they are of European, Asian, and African descent.
Most people in the world are lactose intolerant. People do not naturally have the ability to digest milk beyond infancy. The sugar, lactose, that is present in high levels in milk causes nausea and bloating in most adults. Europeans and Americans are much more likely to have the genetic mutation that allow them to digest lactose. Lactose intolerance is present in only 5% of Northern Europeans but nearly 100% of Southeast Asians.

It's not true. I'm from Malaysia, i.e. Southeast Asia, and I can state for a fact that less than 1% of the people I know are lactose intolerant. Very few people I've met are lactose intolerant. Local food in this region frequently contains some dairy, such as curries and other types of food.

There is no source quoted in this so-called "fact". I request that either a source is quoted or the "fact" is taken down. It is in your best interests to maintain the credibility of your website.

Nuff said.

Why We Should Stop Drilling

2010-07-01T10:01:00.004+08:00

The BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has caused a whole range of reactions, from rage to indifference. Some have even come to BP and the oil industry's defence, saying that the spill shouldn't prevent others from drilling. Apparently it was a "freak accident". BP did everything right and it could never happen again, so there's no reason to stop other drilling activities.

Has the world lost its mind?

The oil spill has caused unforeseen ecological impact that mere humans could never have predicted, try as they might - and they did. The reason the drilling was approved by the government was because by their estimates, even if a spill did occur, it would be containable. All predictions were wrong.

This tells us that there's too much going on in the environment that we don't understand, and we shouldn't play with fire if we don't know how it's going to react. According to a survivor of the explosion on the rig, all procedures were followed through and the valve shouldn't have failed. But it did. According to others in the industry, there shouldn't have been that much gas build up in the reservoir. But there was.

The result is an unmitigated disaster. To make matters worse, Hurricane Alex has arrived on the scene, and in what I can only call a measure to allay fears or BP bribing people to help them manage the backlash, people have already come out to say that the hurricane may actually help cleanup efforts. And let's not forget, that 2 months and 10 days later, the well is still spilling oil, spewing out millions of gallons of oil into the ocean every single day. That's not an exaggeration. Here's the website: BBC News - Q&A: Why estimates of the BP oil spill keeps changing.

Let's face it. We don't know enough to say that we properly understand what's going on when people drill that deep. We don't know enough to properly predict what would happen in the event of a failure. As a result, we don't know enough to properly react when a failure occurs, and we don't even come close to understanding the long-term impact of the spill on the environment.

And people are saying there's no reason to stop the drilling?

Wouldn't it be more logical to stop the drilling temporarily in order to conduct studies and understand why the disaster happened, exactly how the disaster happened, and what can be done if it happens again? Sure, some already rich oil companies will take a hit to their profits, but chances are they won't even come close to making losses. Sure, some people will have to suspend their work for a while, but chances are they'll find a job again just as easily because there's a shortage of skilled workers in the oil and gas industry.

What we do know is that the world cannot take another BP/Transocean spill. What will we do if it happens again?

Men Have No Balls

2010-06-23T17:32:00.008+08:00

Yes, I know it's a generalisation. Yes, I know women have their own faults. I'm not talking about women, and I'm talking about men in general. I say, men have no balls.

Let's talk this through. Men go out, check out girls and when they spot a hot one they whoop/holler/make smoochey sounds/catcalls depending on where you are. What would happen if the girl actually went up the men and spoke to them? Think they'd bite? I doubt. And if they had the chance, would they actually work up the courage to talk to the girl? Sincere and pervasive doubt.

I say men have no ball because most men who take on more than 1 wife in Malaysia (it's legal, for those not in the know) keep them hidden from their first wives and their families. The fact that they hide them tells me that they think that what they're doing is wrong, immoral and unethical. The shit thing is, when they die, their families are left to deal with the tangled webs that they've woven. Suddenly finding out that there's another family at a time of loss isn't the best way to go about it. Also suddenly finding out that you have to share his assets isn't a great thing either. What's worse is finding out there isn't enough left for the wives to live on. You know what a man with balls would do? If you're capable of starting another family, have the balls to tell your current one. Face up to it.

I say men have no balls because unlike television and movies, men don't really know what love means. On screen, love means "I'll do anything for you. I'll fight for you and bleed for you and die just to be with you." In real life, it means, "I'm sorry, this is just getting terribly inconvenient. I'm facing pressure from some other parties, so I'm just gonna have to go ahead and let you go. All the best."

I say men have no balls because men would rather sit and wait for someone else to solve a problem than work it out, or if they tend to have 1 ball, then take the easiest way out. Unless of course, someone else tells "makes" them do something in which case they have someone to blame it on.

I say men have no balls because everyday I see men not stepping up to the challenge and just coasting their way through life. And in the sidelines, you see people getting hurt, people floundering and people just generally needing help.

----------

Notes:

Of course when I said "men" I didn't mean you. I meant other men! Sure!
As with all generalisations, there are exceptions to the rule. Of course you're the exception! Sure!
This is my blog, and I'll write what I want.
Flame on.

Always Single, Happy That Way: Shut Up About It! The Synopsis

2010-06-11T09:22:00.002+08:00

There have been several responses to my previous entry Always Single, Happy That Way: Shut Up About It! to the tune of, "that article is talking about 45 year old women and you're only 26 so you can't possibly be comparing yourself to 45 year olds, right?"

Wrong.

The point of the article, and since it clearly went way over most people's heads, are as follows:

I choose to be single
I choose to be single because I do not want a partner
Most people view single people as somehow less of a person or people who have less complete lives because they are single
My life is no less complete than yours just because I am single

In conclusion:

No, I don't want to be set up today or when I'm 45
No, just because I'm having a conversation with a male, it does not mean I have the hots for him
No, just because I'm the only single girl in the group it does not mean that I want to go out with the only single guy in the group

Get your heads out of your collective asses, society.

Always Single, Happy That Way: Shut Up About It!

2010-06-09T14:11:00.002+08:00

The following article should be read by the whole world, and should by all means be used to assume that I feel the same way.

From The Star: Always Single, Happy That Way: 'Shut Up About It!':

NEW YORK: Not all older single ladies want a ring on it, and they have a message for relatives, co-workers, neighbors, friends, acquaintances and life's random buttinskys who think they need one: Shut up already!
They have other messages: We are not all sad. We are not all divorced, unlucky in love or unlovable. We are not all gay (and even if we were, have we not evolved as a culture, even just a little, to stop making that assumption? Don't answer that.)
Singledom and a massive case of "singlism" are red hot right now as short hair, softball and being single at 50 swirl around Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan, and Samantha Jones cracks menopause jokes at 54 as she romps in the desert with her three fab friends in "Sex and the City 2."
For women, say 45 and up, who are living single and always have, it is a chronically sizzling subject as they face down the seemingly unstoppable tangle of stereotypes that has plagued them forEVER: Old Maid. Desperate. Quirky. Cougar. Incapable of committing. Workaholic. Bitter. Damaged goods.
"There always has to be something wrong," said Rose Clayton, 48, who works in the tasting room of a winery in Alexandria, Virginia, and always has been single. "It's always, ohhh, what's wrong? I always go, 'With me you mean? Or other people?"'
Imagine being happy and nobody believes you, she said. "I have plenty of friends, family. I go out and do things. I travel, go to dinner and parties, socialize."
Social psychologist Bella DePaulo is 56 and happily an always-single near Santa Barbara, California. She has been trying to turn off the stereotypes and end the stigma, first through a book, "Singled Out," and now a blog called Living Single for Psychologytoday.com.
Older, single women often are painted as what DePaulo called "quirkyalones" when really they're "singles at heart" and wouldn't have it any other way.
Even more important, perhaps, she asks why we're still desperately trying to suck them into the "Matrimania" vortex?
"The single at heart are not looking for long-term coupling, whereas quirkyalones still romanticise the quest for The One, and that makes the quirkyalone less threatening, easier to understand," DePaulo said.
Over-the-top hyping of marriage and coupling, including "wedding porn" that includes TV ads selling everything from muffins to motor oil, was not necessary back when everybody got married, when they divorced less and when women had little opportunity for financial security or having children outside of marriage.
In 1970, 28% of the U.S. population was divorced, widowed or never married.
By 2008, it was 45.2%, with single women 45 and older 27 million strong across those categories.
According to a 2009 census report, 11.5% of women between the ages of 45 and 49 had never been married, up from 10.7% in 2005. For women 50 to 54, it was 10%, compared with 8.7% four years earlier.
Negative assumptions about living single and older do not pack the wallop of other "isms," like racism, DePaulo said. "There's no consciousness raising. The stereotypes are so rarely challenged."
Betsy Robinson, 59, is madly in love with the single life she's always had.
"I remember really lighting into my grandmother when I was in my 20s for referring to a time when I was going to get married," said the writer in New York City.
"I told her never, and I think she went into shock. She was the sweetest person in the world, and I got really mad at her."
Not so much has changed in nearly four decades, said Robinson, who has been following media coverage and commentary on Kagan's single status and coded speculation about her sexual orientation.
Former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer (the one who resigned over hiring a high-priced hooker) is Kagan's friend from Princeton University. He went so far as to tell Politico, a Washington insider political newspaper: "I did not go out with her, but other guys did."
Living happily single without hunting for a mate, or living happily single while dating, especially outside one's age range, the stereotypes never end.
Take the cougar craze. Kim Cattrall, Samantha in the Sex and the City movies, recently questioned the term, for herself and her character in the movies.
"I think cougar has a negative connotation," she told Extra, a show biz television show.
"I was asked recently by a significant magazine for women over 40 to pose with a cougar, and I refused to do it because I felt it was insulting. They took away the cover because I refused to do so."
DePaulo said friends, family, colleagues and the world at large sometimes can more easily get their minds around an older single woman interested in younger men, or any man, than a woman who makes it clear she is not and really likes her life without that goal in mind.
"I think there's really a belief that if you get married you are actually a better person than a single person," she said.
Like Cattrall's Samantha, 45-year-old Lori Goodwine in Las Vegas, Nevada, has her own public relations firm.
She loves how her life is "really focused on me," but falls somewhere in the middle on the issue of a long-term relationship.
Ideally, she said, she would love to have "a great guy around," so long as he does not live with her.
"If I hear one more time, 'You're not married? You don't have a kid? Are you gay?' I'm going to scream," she said.
"My life is pretty fabulous, a 'Sex and the City' story with the occasional pair of $500 shoes that I get on sale. I feel great about my life."

Retail Therapy

2010-05-19T09:59:00.002+08:00

The first half of the year has been different, to say the least. I lost my grandmother whom I loved very much, my cat who we've had for 18 years, various things happened, etc. It may seem crude to some for me to list the loss of my cat with the loss of my grandmother. I can't really compare them, to be honest. The loss of my gma was pretty paradigm-altering, but also the loss of my cat was the loss of someone who sat with me when I was happy or sad, was (usually) always there for me, and just generally made me feel better.

Anyway, the past couple of months has been an exercise in clearing her things slowly, and there've been a couple of days of goods distribution so far. There will definitely be more. Sorting through the things that I've been bequeathed brings back so much of her to me. None of them are expensive - far from it. So far all I've got are some textiles and assorted kitchen items, but they so remind me of her that it becomes overwhelming sometimes.

Finding a cendol maker is like finding gold, and suddenly having her kitschy cat-decorated kitchen towel holder makes me feel like she's in the kitchen telling me exactly what to do and scolding me when I make too much noise. I suppose this is what makes me suddenly want to pay more attention to my surviving grandmother.

Oops!

2010-04-05T12:58:00.003+08:00

Excerpt from The Star: Constable seeks help from teen, gets beaten up by villagers instead:

KUALA TERENGGANU: A misunderstanding caused a police constable to sustain facial injuries after villagers at Kampung Alor Mak Bah in Dungun, about 98km from here, assaulted him for allegedly trying to solicit a bribe.

The 21-year-old policeman, who was part of a raiding team, was trailing 10 suspects who ran helter-skelter after police ambushed them while an illegal rooster fight was going on at the village.

When the constable lost sight of the suspects, he stopped to ask a 15-year-old villager whether he had seen any of the them.

However, the teenager thought the constable was asking him for money as he was riding a motorcycle without a helmet.

The teenager then told villagers about the attempted bribe, resulting in a group of them confronting the constable and beating him up.

I can see how "Have you seen a bunch of people running away?" can easily have been heard as "Hey, you're not wearing a helmet. If you give me some money, I'll look the other way."

No, totally. They sound so similar it's unbelievable that the mistake doesn't happen more often.

How Much Water Are We Actually Using?

2010-03-23T09:44:00.007+08:00

National Geographic has this awesome feature where it lets you see how much water it takes to produce 1lb of whatever food is on your table. It's terribly enlightening.

For example, did you know (and you clearly didn't) that it takes 1,799 gallons of water to make 0.5kg of beef? That's excluding the extras for feed and drinking water, by the way.

Think that's bad? That's nothing compared to how much water it takes to make chocolate.

Seriously. It's mind-blowing. Here's some single-glance tables of what National Geographic's done up nicely in graphics:

I know what you're thinking. 1 t-shirt? Really? And 1 sheet of paper translates to 10 litres of water. Not to mention the water:milk production ratio is 880:1. And it's 1,008:1 for water:wine. I wonder how Jesus did it.

Food for thought.

Power to the People

2010-03-20T13:01:00.003+08:00

Warning: This is a general blog post with no real point and so rambles on for a while. Don't complain if you decide to read it and go, "what the fuck was that?" at the end.

Has anyone noticed how smoking on TV has become persona non grata? Seriously, try to find a contemporary TV show with someone smoking and it's either a classic bad guy character or it's a main character with a guilty vice trying to hide it from his friends.

It just goes to show how powerful the media can be. They decided that smoking is bad for people. They decided to champion the cause. And look at what's happened. It's like the whole, what I like to call, 'Plastic Bag Incident'. Someone somewhere one day decided to go to war against plastic bags, and now everyone has to pay 10 cents for a bag.

Don't get me wrong - I'm all for these movements that help the world (I hope) and try to uphold values for impressionable young children. It's just scary how powerful the media can be when they're harping on an issue. They should support more causes like that.

Which brings me to my next issue - what the hell is up with these 'Community Service Ads' on the radio these days? It's ridiculous. They're out there saying things like, "Don't put your handbags in plain sight - it will get stolen" or "Don't put cushions in your car - thieves will target women's cars". Am I the only one who thinks this is retarded?

Why are women being blamed for having their handbags stolen? Why don't the ads say, "Don't steal. Stealing is wrong. Get a job."? What is wrong with these people? Yes, that's right, 104.9 Red FM. I'm talking about you. Get your head on straight.

All Woman

2010-03-09T10:54:00.002+08:00

I've decided to follow up on the I Am Woman blog post. After about 3 weeks of taking the prescribed treatment for my condition (which, by the way, is neither serious nor permanent - rather, it's dependent on conditions like stress, environment, etc), there's actually a difference.

I no longer feel (quite as) aggro when I'm driving (though I still call most people retards on the road). My skin feels and looks better, and though I don't feel the need to dress in pink, I definitely feel more settled. It's amazing the effect that hormones can have on people.

Actually, it's quite scary. I mean - you go through your whole life thinking, "This is me. This is who I am." Then you find out that you change a little bit after a bit of pills that aren't even prescription and there's a mindfuck right there. That's how much we are dictated by our physiology. Whoa.

On the Dangerous Topics of Islam and Translations

2010-03-05T16:01:00.011+08:00

Those whom I follow on Twitter can quite easily be categorised.

News sources: @reuterskl, @staronline
Humour and merriment: @ichcheezburger, @qdb, @aaronkaro
Entertainment: @thesuperficial, @junkonline, @klue
Hoping for good deals/freebies: @airasiadotcom, @digi_telco
Friends

And then there are those that even I don't know why I follow, like the subject of today's blog post: @EvilBibleQuotes. I want to say that it's a source of humour and merriment, so that I can laugh at those idiot heathens (j/k... or am I?) and their silly ways. Like in this tweet:

American Family Assoc.: Exodus21 demands executing whale and SeaWorld director after whale "murders" its trainer. http://bit.ly/954YOK

Pat Robertson: "Waving those [Gay Day] flags in God's face... will bring earthquakes, tornadoes and possibly a meteor." http://bit.ly/58vQry

The last one is fun because it reminds me that it's not only Malaysian dignitaries that make stupid comments.

But the fact is that @EvilBibleQuotes doesn't just quote the Bible. They (quite rightly, I might add) also quote the Koran, the Torah and I assume other bibles of other faiths.

It's actually a bit disturbing, some of the quotes that come up:

Men are in charge of women...for those women who you fear may rebel, admonish them and banish them to beds apart, and beat them. Sura 4:34

Gentiles who study the Torah deserve death, for it's written: Moses commanded us
a law for an inheritance-it's ours, not theirs. Sanhedrin59

And the last, the one that prompted this post:

O Muslim! There is a Jew hiding behind me, so kill him. Bukhari 52:256

That one set me thinking: it's unlikely that the Koran would have propagated such a thing, because in all technicality, Muslims are allowed to marry the people of the 4 bibles - the Koran, the Torah, the Zaboor and the Injil (the original Christian bible) without them converting because all are recognised to be people of God. In fact, in all technicality, a Muslim can marry Orthodox Christians and Orthodox Jews without them converting.

So how can it be that the Koran advocates the killing of Jews - the people of the same God? Could it be due to a mistranslation due to the current political headwinds of the time? Don't forget, up until a few hundred years ago, reading was not a right - it was a privilege and a hobby for the rich because books were difficult to print and thusly expensive. In fact, it was only in the 1400s that printing books became efficient enough to be cheap and done mechanically.

Most books printed before the invention of movable type were actually copied out by hand, slowly and painstakingly by scribes who played a very important role in civilisations. Obviously, mistakes were made sometimes, though scribes prided themselves on accuracy and speed. And just as obviously, it was easy to subject the translations to the interpretation of the times due to political/religious warfare. And we all know how that ends.

How is it, then, that the Koran advocates the killing of a Jew?

Various Disclaimers:
I've read the Koran in Arabic a few times but I don't speak Arabic so I don't pretend to know what it means. Also, this is pure speculation on the part of someone who's not educated in any of these fields other than everyday Islamic tenets. And also, if you flame illogically, I won't post your comment. And this post was not intended as a flame for @EvilBibleQuotes. I don't think they're doing anything wrong. They could actually be perpetuating mutual understanding.

BigMovies.com Login Information

2010-03-02T00:40:00.003+08:00

Some idiot by the name of Nicholas Johnson has decided to use my email address to sign up to BigMovies.com. Big mistake. This is obviously not the first time it's happened. The last time, someone used my old Hotmail address (yes, I still have it) to sign up for a dating service. I sent some people some very mean messages :)

Not to say that I quite unfairly leave them to figure out the situation. My modus operandi is to first inform the authorities of the issue (mistake or otherwise) and then to figure out what I want to do. At first I was quite excited. BigMovies.com sounded like a movie download site. Especially since the login email was followed up by a 'Thank You For Purchasing 1 Movie' email. I figured, "Hey, I could get some free movies here". Unfortunately, after visiting the site on my work laptop, I discovered it's a porn site -_-. I hope to god there's no spy software on this thing.

Anyway, I figure that by virtue of the following facts, this guy deserves to be punished for using my email address:

This is the internet, you idiot. There are fake emails galore, and even temporary email addresses to allow you to sign up to websites with fake emails that work for a while! Google could have told you that! It's your fault that you're too lazy.
BigMovies.com was stupid enough to provide me with all the login information that I could possibly require via an email address that they did not require you to verify. Not your fault, but hey.
Anything that comes to my email inbox without an express privacy warning, especially unsolicited emails, does not bind me to any confidentiality agreement. Meaning that I can make public whatever I see fit.

And without further ado, the following is the login information for BigMovies.com:

Username: nickyj5455
Password: lessee1
Subscription ID: 107810075

Also, according to the aforementioned 'Thank You' email, denying that he purchased the movie is illegal. So, Nicholas Johnson, your move :)

EDIT: I should probably mention that prior to any announcement, I already emailed the website support staff about the whole issue, so it's likely (hopefully) that they'll deactivate the account soon. Until then, enjoy :)

Tiger Temple, Kanchanaburi, Thailand

2010-02-27T16:31:00.005+08:00

I went to Kanchanaburi, Thailand over the Chinese New Year holidays to go and see the famed Tiger Temple that my parents discovered last year. Being animal (and especially cat) lovers, my sisters and I were totally up for it.

So off we went, other experiences totally aside (it was a hell of a trip!), and I was all ready to submit a review on TripAdvisor when I discovered some differing opinions of the temple. It's pretty intense what people are saying about the temple, so of course I just had to write up an entry on the allegations and some ridiculously asinine comments.

To start with, some had apparently accused the monks who run the temple of drugging the tigers to make them compliant, de-clawing them and only feeding them vegetarian food. These have been disproved and and are totally and absolutely not true.

The more serious accusations were that the tigers were being kept in cages and were being chained, not being allowed to roam free. Some say that the sole reason the tigers were being kept was to get money for the temple and not for the welfare of the tigers. Here's the thing. It is.

The big picture is that the abbot of the temple isn't just a tiger man. Sure, he cares for the animals and wants to ensure they don't become extinct - but he also cares for the community. He provides jobs for the local village people (hee hee, village people), built a school for local children, built a free clinic, promotes free education and free access to water and does so much more with the money as well.
Some on TripAdvisor commented that it's a tourist trap, and that he'd rather see the tigers in the wild. Well with less than 800 Indochinese tigers left in the world, I wonder just how he's going to swing that.
Some said that the surroundings were not clean and that the water was dirty. When I went, it wasn't. The area was very clean. The water bottles left around were due to dirty tourists who ignored trash cans. I can't verify or deny this because it's something that could change from week to week.
Others said that the tigers were beaten and chained and that means that they're not happy. The fact is that the temple has a very good reproduction rate - and cats who are not happy will not reproduce.
While some say that the Tiger Island that is being built with proceeds from daily activities is not actually being built, I've seen it with my own eyes. It's incomplete but it's almost there, and once it's done, the tigers will have a much more comfortable environment.

Here's the benefit of my own personal experience with cats: the tigers looked like very happy, very contented cats. While some don't like the way they're treated - they're chained and dragged around and etc - it's just like a big collar on a cat. A tiger has a thick hide so petting them or touching them gently does not result in anything other than them thinking you're an annoying fly. And you are. Because you're an idiot.

Yes, I would love to live in a world where the tigers roam free and are not confined. Unfortunately, we live in a world where people poach these gorgeous creatures, skin them, grind up their bones, and do god knows what else. With less than 800 Indochinese tigers in the world, we desperately need institutions like these to help replenish the population and safeguard their future. Once there are enough, we can hopefully slowly release them to the wild.

To that end, I will not submit my review to TripAdvisor, but will do so here.

Tiger Temple, Kanchanaburi

The Tiger Temple is awesome! You get to play with tiger cubs and hang with the big cats. It's an experience unlike any other. I recommend it for all cat lovers. Here's a few things to remember though:

The people at the tiger temple are not there to serve you. You are there because they let you be there. Show some respect.
Bring some Baht with you so that you can do what you want. Pictures with the tiger's head in your lap are THB1,000, whether individually or in a group. Feeding the cubs is THB1,000 as well and most definitely worth the money as you get to play with them for half an hour with some toys, then feed them a bottle of milk.
Listen to the advice of the monks, the workers and the volunteers. Don't forget, these are wild animals.

Don't forget that the big picture aim is to (1) replenish the cats' numbers in the world, (2) rehabilitate them for the wild, and (3) have a respectable number of big cats in the wild. This is my world, and that's how I'd like it. Please and thank you.

Customer Service Review: GMG Airlines

2010-02-26T17:51:00.002+08:00

Business: Budget airline
Location: Bangladesh
Website: Don't really care

The Situation:

2 weeks before Chinese New Year, my family decides to go to Bangkok for a quick holiday. Of course, because it's already so near to the holiday and it's peak season, flights were expensive. However, my dad excitedly told us one day that he'd found a cheap option: GMG Airlines, which offered return flights on our chosen days at just about RM800 per person all in.

To start with, we're not that fussy. I've been flying Air Asia since it started and had just a small fleet of propellor planes. We're no strangers to budget airlines, and I'm grateful for their existence since they mean I can fly to a whole lot of places for cheap. So we were equally happy that we'd got a good deal on flights.

KL to Bangkok

Our flight was supposed to be at 8am, meaning checking in at 6am, meaning leaving at 5am to get to the airport on time. You can imagine how unimpressed we were when we got there bleary-eyed and sleepless and discovered that the flight was delayed from 8am to 3pm. So we went home, got some more sleep and came back for the flight.

This time, there were no issues and the food was actually pretty good.

Bangkok to KL

So our flight back was supposed to be at 8.40pm. If all went according to plan, we figured I could get home by 12am and get a good night's rest for my first day on the new job the next day.

8.00pm - No gate had yet been assigned to the flight. Boarding was supposed to be at 8.10pm.
8.15pm - Notice comes up: Delayed until 9.30pm
9.30pm - No gate assigned to the flight yet. Dad calls GMG's airport manager in Malaysia (we got his number so that we could call ahead and make sure the flight was on schedule to leave).
9.45pm - Notice comes up: Delayed to 11pm. Airport staff have no idea what's going on. GMG's Thai airport manager calls my dad to explain that he has no idea what's going on. The plane left Dhaka for Bangkok but turns back. He's frustrated - wants to quit.
11.30pm - Against all odds, the plane actually leaves.

So what happened was - by the time I got home and got into bed, it was 5am. I had to go into my first day of work on 1 hour of sleep. Thanks a lot, GMG!

The verdict:

It doesn't matter how cheap a GMG flight is - they're not worth the money!

I Am Woman

2010-02-21T01:51:00.002+08:00

How much are we controlled by our physical bodies? If we have a tumour in the part of the brain that controls impulses, will that affect our decision-making ability?

I, according to a one of those personality tests I did a while back, apparently think more like a man than I do like a woman. I mean, it's not like these online tests are exactly believable, but it's something to think about. I like cars and for some reason I tend to prefer male wallets and laptop bags and stuff.

I ask the question because I've only just found out that I apparently have a condition that makes me have more testosterone than I should. It's not life threatening at all or anything and it doesn't really affect me very much, but I'm going to start taking these things that regulate it.

Will that change me? Will I suddenly feel an urge to wear bright pink? To wear makeup everyday? To want to find someone to marry and pop out a bunch of kids and stay home and cook? It begs the question...

1Malaysia Ain't Got Nothing On Me

2010-02-10T17:54:00.003+08:00

Despite what people*WHOREN* may think, just because I have a conversation with someone that doesn't mean I've got the hots for them. What I've noticed, and I think I can attribute this to MamaTina, is that if you're nice to people then for the most part, they're nice to you. This is why I actually have conversations with people. Of course, once they've proven that they're incompetent at customer service, all bets are off.

The easiest and fastest way to put people at ease - as I've noticed - is to say simple things in their language. Like when I tapau from the auntie at the cafe behind my house I say things like thank you in Cantonese. I try to order in Cantonese and stuff like that as well. The first time she saw a Malay girl (nevermind that I'm half Chinese - she don't know that) speak Chinese she got so impressed and was immediately smiley and conversational. When I tapau from Indian vegetarian restaurants, a simple manakem and nandre does wonders. It elicits an immediate smile and, "Oh, you speak Indian ah?" and then BAM! life is much easier and happier for everyone involved.

But seriously - think about it. How often have you been so impressed by a gwailo who speaks some Malay? I mean, learning simple words and phrases in the language of the other races that make up Malaysia is all about what Malaysia is. I personally get pretty put off by expats who've lived in Malaysia for xx number of years and never bothered to learn a word of Malay or try Malaysian street food. Nevermind learning French, Italian or Japanese. Learn to be Malaysian.

All The Wrong Choices

2010-02-09T12:15:00.003+08:00

I've just realised that I have this uncanny ability to make the wrong choices. Sure, most think that I have a great life and not much to complain about, which is essentially true - me complaining would be like ridiculous. I'm way too careful about the big decisions like career and stuff to make a mistake.

It's the other things that you think don't matter that get past you. Sure there's stuff like always choosing the wrong lane in traffic jams. And then there are the things like men and love, which TV and movies made me believe would "just happen" because "if it were meant to be, it's meant to be". That true love would never hurt and love means happily ever after. Bullshit.

In this case, my choices are always like getting caught in traffic. Whenever I switch lanes to one that I think will get me there faster, it stops moving. Whenever I stay my lane, people cut me off. I just want to stop and get off the road until there's no more traffic. And if it feels like home, then that's home.

Written on my Archos 5

Whaddup?

2010-02-08T14:17:00.003+08:00

So I've just found an unlocked wireless network in the area. Awesome. I suspect it belongs to my cousin so it's not stealing.

It's day 4 of my between jobs break and I've been positively unproductive. Innit grand? But seriously, I'm feeling really lethargic so the next few days will be devoted to housework, light exercise and recipe trials. I know. It's like I'm friggin Martha Stewart right?

I've also signed up to retake my CFA in December so I suppose I should get some studying done. Or something. Whatever. Back to the tai-tai life.

Boobs out.

Written on my Archos 5

That Little Difference

2010-01-27T17:27:00.016+08:00

There are still people in this world who wonder if that small change that they make will really make a difference. Will me forgoing this one plastic bag really help change the world? Will me using a sports bottle instead of buying a bottle at the gym really make that much of a difference? I've done some quick Googling and Excel-ling and calculating to come up with how you can quantify the difference you make (I bet you saw that coming).

I know a lot of the facts and figures used are very American-centric, but I can't help it. It's the easiest nation on earth to Google. Let's quantify how much you can save the world by.

1. How much of a difference does 1 bottle of water make?

A lot of people throw a lot of figures around as to how much of a difference a bottle of water makes. In truth, it takes 17 million barrels of crude oil to make the 29 billion bottles of water p.a. that America consumes (Source: National Geographic). Let's see how that works out:

Basically, recycling 1 bottle or using 1 bottle less than you already do will save 0.09 litres of oil. Assuming you have a small tank car, you would need to recycle just over 429 bottles to save enough for a full tank. For me, I'd have to save just under 676 bottles per tank.

That statistic can actually be quite depressing and discouraging. It's a bit like, "What, so I saved all these bottles to recycle and I forwent my mineral water for this?" Never fear. I won't leave you hanging. Let's look at it a different way.

According to RecycleSpot.org, the energy it takes to generate 1 plastic bottle can be used to power a 60W lightbulb for up to 6 hours, which means if the average 3-person household consumes 6,000 kWh per year (like the University of California says), then recycling 46 bottles a day or roughly 15 bottles per person will be enough to make up for your electricity consumption. That's a much more achievable target.

2. How much difference does a plastic bag make?

Plastic bags are tiny things - so useful and indispensable. Now that the whole world is against plastic bags, I always catch myself thinking, "What harm can it do if I use a plastic bag this time?" Apparently, quite a bit.

Apparently it takes more oil to make a plastic bag than it does to make a plastic bottle, which is a bit odd if you ask me. Nevertheless, if the statistic of 37 million barrels of oil to make 3 billion plastic bags is true, then saving 7 plastic bags will get you 1km of oil. It takes saving just 20 plastic bags to make up for a full tank of oil for the average-sized car. It's a bit shocking, isn't it, how much difference a plastic bag makes?

So the next time you forgo a plastic bag or a plastic bottle, you can keep count and figure out how many tanks of oil you've saved.

I'm Sorry, A Malaysian Habit

2010-01-25T13:44:00.005+08:00

There are those who say that apologising is a sign of weakness, or an admission of wrongdoing. Some people contend that they should never apologise to their wife or their kids or their staff because that would indicate that they're less than all-knowing, all-powerful.

Malaysians have a different way to go about it. Malaysians have a habit of apologising for anything and everything that they've done. When bidding farewell to somebody, a common habit is to say, "Maaf, ya, kalau saya bersalah" (translation: "I'm sorry for any wrongdoings, perceived or otherwise. I did not mean it"). When going around wishing Selamat Hari Raya to one another, Malaysians follow up with "Maaf zahir dan batin" (translation: "I'm sorry, from my body and my soul"). This particular practice is not a Muslim practice, but a cultural practice. The result is that people are forgiven at least once a year for their sins and their wrongdoings to one another.

I noticed during my stint with Raleigh International that some were baffled by this habit. They ask, "What if you did mean it? What if you really don't like them?"

The answer is that it's not the point of whether you meant it or not, or whether you didn't like them. I feel that if, even if it's by custom, you are forced to apologise to someone, then you are telling yourself to let it go - that if this is the last time you ever see this person, then let the parting be in good faith. And just like that, you feel a burden lifted if it is with someone you've been feuding with. The underlying assumption of the custom is that even though you have fought, that the fight was not because you are bad people or that you wished them ill, but due to circumstance or a difference of personality.

Some Malaysians have said that the phrases have been so overused and it's become such a habit that nobody means it anymore. I've heard that some people tell others, "Don't say that. It is not meaningful." While I agree that you should not say it if you don't mean it, my personal experience has been that I grew up being taught to recite it to others like a lifeline at particular occassions, and while it was just a practice at one point in my life, it has become more than that to me.

Every year, I wake up and dress and go see my parents, where I bend to salam and kiss their hands and say, "Maaf zahir dan batin", and every year, though they don't see it, I tear a little bit. Every year, I make the rounds and do the same with colleagues, friends and relatives with the same feeling of goodwill and the same understanding that, as I say it, I mean it from the bottom of my heart, and we start again from a solid foundation. There's no such thing as, "I accept your apology but not for this particular fight or that issue". It's a complete wipeout.

This habit of Malaysians is one I feel that if the rest of the world adopted, people would be far more understanding of one another.

NB: This does not apply to people who have been banished from my life because they don't want to belong to it, clearly because they never apologised to me. Just saying.

Arwah Tun Fatimah Hashim

2010-01-13T20:18:00.002+08:00

My grandmother, Tun Fatimah Hashim passed away at the age of 85 late Saturday night in her sleep at her home in the arms of her son, Datuk Ali Abdul Kadir, surrounded by her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

As word spread of her demise, despite the lateness of the hour, people began streaming to the house to pay their respects. By 9am the next day, as many as 100 people had come and gone. As the day wore in, we, her family, were to be astounded by the number of people who came and paid their respects to the great woman. We knew she was a respected national figure, but I don't think we really understood the magnitude of her contributions to the country.

She fought for the freedom of her people. She fought for the rights of women and children at a time when human rights was in its infancy. She fought for the rights and well-being of orphans and the poor. Most importantly, I think, she fought for the freedom and the rights of people. Not Malays. Not Bumiputras. People. And when these people came to be named as Malaysians, she fought for Malaysians. She never fought for herself or for money. She fought for what she believed in, and on behalf of those who couldn't fight for themselves. It's a shame that in just 2 generations, politicians have gone from admirable and respectable people to the joke that they are now.

It was for this woman that they came - of all ages, races and religions - to pay their final respects for a woman who fought for what they have today.

We were overwhelmed and overcome, and we thank everybody for having paid their respects and showing us just how amazing she was. To us, she was just Tok Mummy, the matron of our family, a loving and wise grandmother who gave us everything and asked for nothing in return but affection. To Malaysia, she was Tun Fatimah Hashim - a freedom fighter, an advocate of human rights, and a formidable force who contributed to helping to make Malaysia what it is today. Al Fatihah.

Hello, 2010!

2010-01-06T22:17:00.003+08:00

A little bit delayed, but as usual, here's the post-new year analysis of the previous year and an overview of how I'm going to tackle the next one.

What I'm glad for in 2009:

I didn't watch 2 girls, 1 cup
I discovered Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother and Andra & the Backbone
I got my house all set up and moved in
I got an awesome job offer
I got over you and you
I survived
I really bonded with my workmates and I can now call them my friends
I went from yellow belt to green belt in kickboxing
Syria

What I'm looking forward to in 2010:

An awesome house (thanks, Mom & Dad!)
Good food, good drinks, great friends
Starting a new job
Getting my motorcycle license

Here's to the night we felt alive.

Cat Burglar

2009-12-16T16:13:00.002+08:00

So I'm blogging in full view and full screen awesomeness in the office due to the fact that the whole office has gone for a 1.5 day offsite Business Review & Brainstorming Meeting. I'm not invited because I've already resigned and there are "confidentiality issues". Awesome!

Anyway, I took the opportunity to start moving today over an extended lunch period. Of course, the cats went nuts because there were strange men making lots of noise, and in the chaos, I couldn't find Speedy, the 1-year-old male. I almost freaked out. I thought it was going to be another Pinky: The Case of the Missing Bengal Kitten. And then the movers started to pick up a chunky bedframe and then BAM! he came running out of nowhere. He'd scratched a hole underneath the bedframe and had been hiding in there.

I related the story to my department secretary, a fellow cat lover, and she told me about her friend's cat who's a kleptomaniac. For serious. The cat collects anything - scrunchies, pieces of foil, bracelets, anklets - that's shiny, and squirrels them away in a tiny little hole. No shit. It's incredible. I'd heard of such behaviour from rats, but not cats. I'd love to see it for myself.

So that's that. Another entry will probably follow tomorrow, due to the lack of work and lack of people. Enjoying it while it lasts.

Things Worth Fighting For

2009-12-03T15:30:00.005+08:00

For those who are not in the know, whoren and I went to Koh Lipe, Thailand over Hari Raya Haji weekend and, dear god, was that an escapade.

It went like this. We didn't book ferry tickets for Langkawi - Koh Lipe in advance, so we shouldn't have been surprised when we got there and they were fully booked for the whole weekend. Deciding to wing it, we ran over to Kuah Jetty where we got tickets for Satun. From there, we hopped on a tuk-tuk which took us the 1 hour to reach Pak Barra, and then hopped on another ferry to get to Koh Lipe. It was about a 4 hour journey, I think.

By that time we felt pretty adventurous, winging it and all and figured that the worst was over. We chilled and illed by the beach, I went diving and got sick and got waited on hand and foot by men on the boat (I love being a girl), and had crazy awesome Thai food. We don't know what it is about Thai food but it's like they put something in it that makes it awesome. Also, we got super tanned. Basically it was just what both of us needed, despite the inherent Phuketness of the beach.

And then on Sunday, we left Koh Lipe on the 1.30pm boat back to Pak Barra hoping to catch the 5.00pm ferry from Satun to Langkawi. Unfortunately, we got the times wrong. The last ferry from Satun to Langkawi was 4.00pm, which we missed by 30 minutes.

Panic.

No buses out of Satun until the next morning, nearest airport was Had Yai to which taking a taxi would have been too expensive.

We begged and chartered a longtail (think sampan) to take us the 1 hour over to Kuala Perlis like illegal immigrants. From there, we ran to get tickets to the last ferry out to Langkawi leaving at 8.00pm which would have gotten us to Langkawi by 9.00pm in time to see if we could catch the last 10.40pm flight back to KL, all the while calling Air Asia's hotline (who refused to pick up, by the way). They told us the flight was fully booked.

Panic.
Pray.
Hope.

Ferry delayed by 45 minutes. Docked in Langkawi at 10pm. Reached airport at 10.20pm. Ran to counter. Begged guy to let us on the flight. He gave. Again, awesome being a girl :) Also, we were allowed to board because flight was delayed and the plane wasn't even there yet, and 4 people didn't show up, leaving 4 free seats.

We finally reached KL at 1 a.m. and home at 2 a.m. after 12 hours of travel and taking 3 different modes of transportation. What an escapade. Guess it just goes to show that good things aren't always easy, and things that you really need are worth fighting for. I wish more people realised that.

Pet Peeves

2009-11-22T00:44:00.000+08:00

Just for fun, here's a post on my pet peeves:

1) When people think I'm going out with a guy just because I happen to be out with a friend.
2) People who cut lines.
3) People who insist that I'll change my mind about getting married. Maybe it's not about marriage. Ever think of that?
4) People who don't look in their rearview mirrors.
5) People who think that there's only 1 correct way of doing things.
6) When people ask the obvious, like "so your pizza is here?" when I'm walking around with a box of pizza in my hand.
7) People who assume things about me.

March of the Penguins

2009-11-16T23:17:00.003+08:00

... warm up or cool down, Humboldt penguins seek the security and comfort of their nesting burrows. Humboldt penguins, like all penguins, are monogamous. Mated penguins can ... - Woodland Park Zoo

Something deep down in my soul said, ´Cry Girl´, when I saw you and that girl, walking out. I would rather, I would rather go blind boy, Than to see you, walk away from me chile. - Etta James

May 2009 Be Known As The Year I Celebrated My Birthday With Fireworks

2009-11-11T02:04:00.003+08:00

It appears that I mostly post videos of fireworks. This is what happened when I decided to celebrate my 25th birthday by setting off a bunch of fireworks. It drizzled all night, but we wouldn't be deterred!

We started the night with some easy ones - thunderclaps and dragon eggs. We managed to get off some trilogies. Couldn't do a 4some because there weren't enough lighters. Or players. Turns out my friends are scared of loud noises. I know.

After we got tired of waiting for the drizzles to stop, we brought out the 3 big boys: the KLCC boom booms. The first was easy - it's like a tube so you just set it on the floor, light it, and get 50m away (That's what the instructions said. For serious.) That was awesome but my cameraman was crap.

Then came the second - a big rocket-like thing that needs a firmly attached stick to hold it steady. We didn't have one so we settled for a not-so-firmly attached stick. Bad idea. It set off and went horizontal - right into the tree. A KLCC boom boom went off in my backyard. Literally, in. Fucking awesome. I will remember that sight for as long as I can. The following is the video that Kuntum took unsuccessfully. Pretty fucking funny la if you ask me.

Needless to say, we didn't try the third one.

I hate nights like these

2009-11-10T01:33:00.000+08:00

I wonder how my life would have turned out if I weren't so "strong" and so "capable". Maybe I wouldn't be tossed aside because "I'll be okay. I'm so strong. I can take care of myself." Maybe the people who I need to take care of me wouldn't have left me. Maybe I wouldn't be such a bitch or escape so much because every night I have to drown out the hurt. Maybe my life would've been so much easier.

Why Do You Do (Do You Do) The Things That You Do?

2009-10-22T00:07:00.003+08:00

Well hello. It's been a while. I suppose because I've been so busy doing other things like working on my house, working, being in Syria and not having internet at home. On the bright side, my house is totally on time! Unfortunately it's costing me super a lot more than I thought it would.

I've been wanting to write this entry for a while but I've only just gotten to it, so here it is. I'm pretty sure a lot of people I know wonder why it is I complain so much and why I seem to take so much pleasure in it. I guess it's because my reasoning is like this:

1) If someone doesn't know they're doing something wrong, they can't fix the problem.

2) If I tell someone they're doing something they're not supposed to, it gives them a chance to fix it.

Well that was basically one reason.

Anyway, that's why I take it upon myself to complain to companies when they've done something they're not supposed to. I do it so that others don't have to. It's totally a public service.

To be honest, I don't enjoy it. I hate getting stressed out and not letting it go because I have to follow up on it.

Sigh.

How Many Continents Are There?

2009-09-24T11:03:00.009+08:00

The whoren and I got uber-intellectual last night over at hapsap's place while she was packing. The question of the night was, "How many continents are there?" because someone asked me once, and I said 7, and then I couldn't name them.

So get this: it doesn't matter if you answer 5, 6 or 7. You're WRONG! (or right...). According to various sources, the answer to the question of the night could be 5, 6 or 7 depending on what you work as and where you are. For serious. From About.com: Seven Continents:

By most standards, there are a seven continents - Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America. Most students in the United States are taught that there are seven continents.
In Europe and other parts of the world, many students are taught of six continents, where North and South America are combined to form a single continent of America. Thus, these six continents are Africa, America, Antarctica, Asia, Australia, and Europe.

I'm not absolutely sure how "most students in the United States" count as "most standards" while the rest of the world are counted as less than "most standards", but there you go. I'm also not absolutely sure why North and South America are classified as different continents, seeing as how a continent is defined as a large landmass (Wikipedia) or a continuous tract or extent, as of land (Source: Dictionary.com). A quick check on Google Maps (pay attention, whoren) shows that North and South America are indeed connected by a little strip of land known as Panama.

But that's not the end of the story, oh no. You're probably thinking, "Well, if a continent is a land mass separated from other land masses, then Europe and Asia should also be classified as 1 continent because they are part of the same land mass". You'd be right. Apparently Russia, Eastern Europe and Japan, which are more "geographic-centric" (whatever that means) teach the 6 continent model where Eurasia are 1 continent while North and South America are separate (Source: Wikipedia).

Blows your mind, doesn't it?

Points to ponder:

If Australia is the world's biggest continent, why isn't Greenland (the world's biggest island) a continent too?
If Antartica is a continent, then what about the North Pole? We looked this one up but that'll be an update for another time.
Who the hell came up with this shit?

Once upon a time, I had a blog entry in mind

2009-09-18T13:11:00.002+08:00

And then I forgot it. That's what happens when you're internet-less for almost a month. Seriously. My Nokia E71 has been at the shop for 3 weeks, my internet at home has been cancelled to save money, and work has banned almost everything via internet filter. It's crazy. I feel so out of touch. I'm doing this from my client's office.

It's like, the other day everyone was talking about how Kanye sucks and I was like, what? What happened? If I had access to Twitter, I would've been like, "Pfft, that's so 20 minutes ago guys, come on". But no.

Hari Raya is 1.5 days away, today is Friday and the next 4 days are holidays. How super awesome is that? I'm counting down the hours till I get to home. 3.5 hours, FYI.

Oh, also, I will update my prizes won blog entry to include the 1.5 iPod Shuffles that I won in a work contest and the other stuff that I've won lately.

Another blog entry will come up if I can figure out something more meaningful to write about. In the meantime, this is it, so enjoy it, bitchez.

Big Thighs Are Better

2009-09-04T09:37:00.001+08:00

From BBC: Large thighs 'may protect heart':

Men and women with thighs over 60cm (23.6in) in circumference have a lower risk of heart disease and early death, a study of 3,000 people suggests.
The relationship remains even when body fat, smoking and blood cholesterol are taken into account, a Danish team says.
Those with narrow thighs may not have enough muscle mass to deal with insulin properly, raising the risk of diabetes and, in turn, heart disease, they say.
Experts cautioned that the research needed corroborating.
Some said it was too early to change current advice on eating and exercise for heart health, but the researchers said thigh size could be used as a marker for at-risk patients.
The study, published in the British Medical Journal, followed men and women in Denmark for more than 10 years.
They were measured for height, weight and thigh, hip and waist circumference and their overall percentage of body fat was calculated.
The thigh measurement was taken just below the gluteal fold, which is the crease caused by your buttocks.
Researchers also looked at the activity levels of the participants, whether they smoked, their blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
They then monitored incidence of heart disease over 10 years and death rates over 12-and-a-half years.

HAH! Take that, waif women! I will outlive yew!

A Furry Story

2009-09-02T11:46:00.004+08:00

Introducing The Players:

Jet - grumpy, black adult female
Pinky - playful, rapidly increasing in size female Bengal kitten
Lula - playful adult female
Speedy Gonzales - the only male in the house and definitely does not have the balls to prove it

Bath Day:

Jet has only recently been transferred from my parents' house to my apartment due to the recent disappearance of her sister, Ewok (hope she's okay :( ). Being the super grumpy hissy cat that she is, she was angry at everyone and everything and hated all the resident kitties.

Fast forward to bath day - the day of reckoning when all the cats hate me. Jet was hanging out in my bathroom when I brought Speedy in for a quick one. Now, whenever I bathe Speedy, it's as if I'm torturing him. I swear, I'm surprised nobody has called Animal Welfare on my ass yet.

So there I am bathing Speedy who's meowing his little head off as if I'm disembowelling him, and Jet starts meowing too. I pay no attention to this as she's quite the little attention-whore. Imagine my surprise when Jet jumps onto the side of the tub and bites me in a bid to protect Speedy from the evil water-wielding human.

It was only a superficial bite, which drew a bit of blood but I didn't really care about that. Cat owners tend to have such things every so often. What totally caught me by surprise was Jet's willingness to fight for a cat that she hates and hisses at every chance she gets.

This isn't the first time I've seen cats respond to another cats' call for help - everytime I bathe Speedy, I open the bathroom door to find the other cats standing outside waiting for him. Once, Lula even came to the bathtub and looked distinctly worried. I'm not kidding - brows furrowed and all.

There was also another incident when I took Lula out for a walk and left Speedy behind because he's terrified of the outside. When we came back, Speedy meowed his little head off at Lula and sniffed her all over to make sure she was okay.

I don't really have a point to this story. I think it's just interesting to note that there's more to animals than we give them credit for. Sure, they're just animals, but when they start displaying emotions?

Are you for serious?

2009-08-25T12:32:00.002+08:00

That previous blog entry just didn't seem like it was enough. I felt that this issue warranted its own entry by itself. Let us begin with, "WTF?" At least The Star made it clear what the appointees were allowed and not allowed to do. I'm in such disbelief that I don't know what to do.

Let's start with Step 1: Checking out our Internal Job Postings microsite. Nope. Nothing open outside of Malaysia. Step 2: Consider discussing potential secondment with boss. Well, yeah, but then what do I do with my newly renovated house in PJ? And I don't really want to move to Singapore. Oh woe is me.

Time To Run?

2009-08-24T10:52:00.004+08:00

Malaysia made it into Reuters again, and this time for the case on which I feel that my livelihood and future hangs in the balance. This was the case that was perpetually on my mind when I went to Singapore. I didn't plan the trip with the intention of deciding if I could live there, but that's certainly what ended up happening.

For those of you who are away and unaware, from Reuters: Woman wants public caning for drinking beer:

Kartika, a Malaysian citizen married to a Singaporean, is a Singapore resident. Religious authorities caught her drinking at a hotel in Kuantan, the state capital of the central Malaysian state of Pahang, on December 11, 2007.
Kartika said she had three glasses of beer before the hotel was raided in what she said was her second time drinking alcohol. She and the other patrons were asked to provide urine samples.
Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno will be the first Malaysian woman to be caned under Islamic laws applicable to Malaysia's Muslims, who account for 60 percent of the 27-million population.

No woman has ever been caned in Malaysia before, and no one ever thought they would. This woman not only refuses to appeal, which is a disservice to all Malay women, but also wants to do it in public. This woman has clearly never Googled a caning before or watched the videos on YouTube.

I think she's being selfish, because once it's done, there is a legal precedent set and the courts won't hesitate to cane another woman.

Yep, I think it's about time I have a backup plan. I never thought I'd have to, honestly, because I love KL so much and I've always had faith in Malaysians. I just don't know anymore.

Update (24 August, 12.11pm): From Reuters: Malaysia frees woman on caning charge:

SUNGAI SIPUT, Malaysia (Reuters) - Religious authorities in Malaysia on Monday freed a Muslim woman who had been sentenced to be caned for drinking beer, although she refused to leave a van taking her to jail when returned to her home.
And her father said the change of mind would ridicule Islam, which bans Muslims from consuming alcohol.
"The warrant cannot be executed," Sharafuddin Zainal Ariffin, head of enforcement for the state of Pahang's Islamic Affairs Department, told reporters after Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, 32, was returned to her house.
It was not immediately clear whether the sentence, the first time a woman has been sentenced to caning in this Southeast Asian country, had been overturned or merely postponed.
Both the woman, a Malaysian who has two children and who had worked as a nurse in Singapore, and her father had called for the sentence to be carried out quickly and in public.
Kartika was to have been taken to another state to be caned some time this week.
"I will not come out without a black and white document explaining the status of what has happened. I am surprised and speechless," Kartika told reporters.
Her father said the change of mind would bring "ridicule" on Islam. "We had already
accepted the punishment," Shukarnor Mutalib, told reporters.

Thank god, and also, what?

Update (25 August, 9.03am): From The Star: Mosque officials get power to nab Muslims drinking alcohol:

SHAH ALAM: Mosque officials in Selangor have now been empowered to arrest Muslims drinking alcohol in public places.
Also at risk of being arrested are Muslims selling, storing and displaying alcoholic drinks for sale.
Announcing this yesterday, Selangor executive councillor Datuk Dr Hassan Mohd Ali said the mosque officials empowered to carry out the arrest were the nazir, imam, bilal and siak.
Dr Hassan, who is also the Selangor PAS commissioner, said the officials were empowered to arrest without warrant under Section 18 of the Syariah Criminal Precedure (State of Selangor) Enactment 2003.
He said the officials would be required to adhere to procedures under the enactment.
“These officials have been appointed to assist the Selangor Islamic Religious Council and the Selangor Islamic Religious Department,” he told reporters after a briefing at Shah Alam mosque here.
The briefing was for the first batch of 300 mosque officials and was conducted by Selangor assistant Syariah legal adviser Mohamed Fouzi Mokhtar.
Dr Hassan said officials from 170 mosques throughout the state would be briefed on the arrest procedure.
Explaining the procedure, Dr Hassan said those who drank in public would not be immediately arrested.
“They will be issued with a notice and they can be fined, especially those who retaliate or are uncooperative,” he said.
He added that mosque officials could not detain the alleged offenders for more than 24 hours.
“They have to be surrendered to the police or religious authorities within that period,” he said.
Dr Hassan said that if convicted of consuming alcohol in public places, an offender could be fined RM3,000 or jailed not more than two years or both under Section 18 of the Syariah Criminal (State of Selangor) Enactment 1995.
Those caught selling, displaying for sale and storing or buying alcohol, could be charged under the same section and fined RM5,000 or jailed for not more than three years or both.
Dr Hassan also said that Muslims who commit offences such as eating, drinking, smoking and selling food to other Muslims during the Ramadan month could be charged and fined RM1,000 or jailed for not more than six months or both.
For subsequent offences, they could be fined RM2,000 or jailed for not more than one year or both.
Dr Hassan said the officers from the religious authorities could not arrest those who commit such offences.
He said the officers were only required to take down the alleged offenders’ particulars, offences and the exhibits.
Enforcement officers from the religious authorities would need the state head of Syariah prosecution’s approval before investigating.

Yep. Beginning of the end. Time to look for a job in Singapore.

Top 10 Funny Jokes Of The Year

2009-08-24T10:26:00.002+08:00

I like to start my days with things that make me happy, so here's one for you, too, from BBC: Hedgehog joke wins comedy:

Hedgehogs - why can't they just share the hedge?
I was watching the London Marathon and saw one runner dressed as a chicken and another runner dressed as an egg. I thought: 'This could be interesting'.
I had my boobs measured and bought a new bra. Now I call them Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes because they're up where they belong.
I went on a girls' night out recently. The invitation said 'dress to kill'. I went as Rose West.
I'm sure wherever my dad is; he's looking down on us. He's not dead, just very condescending.
Going to Starbucks for coffee is like going to prison for sex. You know you're going to get it, but it's going to be rough.
To the people who've got iPhones: you just bought one, you didn't invent it!
A spa hotel? It's like a normal hotel, only in reception there's a picture of a pebble.
I've been reading the news about there being a civil war in Madagascar. Well, I've seen it six times and there isn't.
I started so many fights at my school - I had that attention-deficit disorder. So I didn't finish a lot of them.

Lol. Personally, I liked numbers 5 and 7.

Why I Am Vegetarian

2009-08-17T18:41:00.002+08:00

See, I told you I'd do it. No, it's not because I'm on a diet. No, it's not because I'm watching my figure. No, it's not meant to be temporary. No, it's not even because I'm being compassionate about animals. I don't even believe that turning vegetarian will help the global food situation. As a matter of fact, I personally believe that turning vegetarian will make it worse. Please send flames and hate mail to go@away.com, thanks.

The reason I'm turning vegetarian is because I've been put off meat. A combination of things have resulted in me looking at a drumstick in a funny way. For example:

In Australia, whenever I bought chicken with the skin on, the stems of the feathers would still be stuck on the skin which would just totally put me off.
Several times, when I've cracked open an egg, there'd be "something" in it which, at first glance, would just look like a speck. Closer inspection would reveal otherwise.
Several comparisons between meat (both pork and beef) and human meat have made it so that whenever I eat meat, I have to think of something else to distract myself.

Why now? Well, I've always kind of wanted to go vegetarian. When I was about 11 years old, I actually told my parents that I wanted to, and was met with questions like, "Where are you going to get your protein? What about your calcium?" and because I was 11 and didn't actually like eating vegetables, it didn't work out. I've found that vegetables now, I guess through a combination of cheaper import costs and agricultural development taste much better than they used to, especially the leafy green stuff.

What changed? Well, to be honest, the only reason I never went vegetarian is because I didn't think I could. That's what changed. I'd tried it before for just a day and thought I couldn't do it because I'd get hungry too quickly. MisDeeds convinced me that I had to try it for more than a day before I could see what it was really like. I did, and quickly found out that it was much easier than I'd thought.

And now, after a 2-3 week trial run, I'm officially a full vegetarian.

A vegetarian's guide to being, well, vegetarian

2009-08-17T18:19:00.003+08:00

Yes, I know, it's been a while since my last post. Shut up. I've been very regular right up until now, and this time it's only because I thought my office content filter would ban Blogger. Fair assumption, right?

Anyway, since the last time I posted, I've officially turned vegetarian. No shit. For real. Hence, the following nutrition guide for beginner vegetarians:

Friedchillies on Twitter have also been very helpful after they found out I'm a n00bie vegetarian. I haven't told my parents yet. I suspect they're going to go, "Where did we go wrong? What did we do to deserve this?"

In other news, we had a Farewell Meat pot luck at my place where I spent a day pigging out on the carcasses of dead animals. But seriously, I bet your question now is, "What the hell? Why?" so I shall follow up this entry with another entitled, "Why I am vegetarian".

Oh No! Our Rocks!

2009-07-23T17:56:00.003+08:00

No seriously, they lost some rocks. And apparently these rocks cost AU$400. No seriously. From BBC: Theft dismays Australia curlers:

More than a third of Australia's total supply of stones for the winter sport of curling have been stolen from a refrigerated lorry in Melbourne.
Police say the thieves probably thought they were taking a lorry full of alcohol from a secure car park at an ice rink.
The loss of 58 expensive stones has disrupted training for both serious curlers and those new to the sport.
Officials are appealing to the thieves to return the stones.
"They are useless to anyone else except for us, apart from as a doorstop or propping up a coffee table," curler Paul Meissner told the Associated Press.
"They might be valuable... but that won't do you any good. They could sell them to the Canadians, but they've got their own rocks."
Australia has only about 150 granite rocks, which are each valued at about $400 (£242). The lost rocks will cost more than $23,000 (£14,000) to replace, officials say.
The rocks had been stored in the refrigerated trailer to keep them frozen as part of the Curling Federation's attempts to boost membership to the sport in Melbourne.
"We had a lot of fun introducing about 40 people to the sport every Tuesday night, who really enjoyed coming here, which is an important part of developing the sport," said Mr Meissner.
"It is a massive loss. We might have to explore options including a loan from the World Curling Federation."
Curling is an Olympic sport that involves four players on two teams who sweep ice in an attempt to slide the rock towards its target.

Wtf is curling? How the fuck is it an Olympic sport and car racing isn't? "Oh yes, I'm sliding rocks. I'm an athlete. You're not, Lewis Hamilton". Wtf? And AU$400 for a rock? Holy hell, the world really is confusing me.

I Wish I Were More Selfish

2009-07-12T00:49:00.002+08:00

It's a weird wish, but I wish I were more selfish. I'm not saying that I'm the world's most compassionate person, but the pressure that the world puts on people in general these days to care is incredible.

I can't walk around without feeling guilty about something or other, and it doesn't matter how much charity work I do, I'll always feel bad for not donating money to someone who I know prefers not to get a job because he makes more money begging.

I think it just got to a point where I felt enough was enough when I flicked a red ant, watched it die and then felt incredibly sorry because it had to go through the pain and suffering that I inflicted on it.

Really, I think there should be a switch when I should be able to switch it off.

List of Dreams to Fulfil

2009-07-09T12:05:00.002+08:00

Sometimes I feel as if life is pulling me in all directions. I'm so confused as to where I want to go. When I'm at work, I want to have a great career and have a respected opinion. When I'm diving, I want to be a Dive Master and work at a diveshop and hang out on a hammock in my spare time. I get so confused sometimes, and when that happens, lists usually help. So I'm doing a List of Dreams to Fulfil sepet-style.

List of Dreams to Fulfil:

Be a Dive Master
Work in a foreign country (ex-Australia, ex-Singapore)

To be honest, I think that's about it. Travel is a given, but that isn't really a dream since I do that quite a bit. There's also the new house, but that's also something that's actually happening. Gee, I guess life really can be that simple.

Sunglasses With Lightning Are Always Going To Be Better

2009-07-03T17:23:00.003+08:00

So after some ridiculous neglect of my blog what with work, TechMiso (shameless plug), Twitter and all that taking up so much of my time, I'm finally posting something. This could quite possibly (with the exception of August 2008 when I was in the interiors of Sabah) be the longest non-posting period on this blog. I don't know if that's something to be proud of or worried about.

Updates on my life (but everyone who reads this knows this already):

I'm a Rescue Diver now, certified by PADI as of 28 June 2009. Just one certification away from Dive Master.

I'm moving into my own house, and am going to commence renovations as soon as a contractor gets in touch with me.

I'm terribly excited about moving.

I have some money in PayPal now, and all I want for my house is a Marc Johns drawing. Sunglasses With Lightning Are Always Going To Be Better is awesome, but slightly (read: a lot) out of my budget. Cutlery Is Better With Lightning would've been oh-so-perfect for my dining area but it's sold already [Insert upside-down smiley face here]. Time to step up my monitoring of Marc Johns to make sure I don't miss anything anymore.

Dear Marc Johns, please draw slightly cheaper stuff to decor my house with. I oh-so-wanted the Deluxe Carrying Case For An Ampersand but alas it wasn't to be. Sigh.

Perez Who?

2009-06-23T09:49:00.002+08:00

So I've never liked Perez Hilton. I mean, I'm sure he's a nice person in real life and all that, but to be safer, let's say that I've never liked his public persona.

For starters, his real name is Mario Armando Lavandeira. To go with a name like Perez Hilton is a bit like, wtf? I shall call him Mario Armando. Because that's his name. Secondly, have you ever seen what he looks like? He's a fat and ugly mofo. There's no law against being a fat and ugly mofo, but there should be if you're making a living off making fun off celebrities. I don't have anything against gossip bloggers. I, myself, depend on The Superficial for my daily light reading at work, but I feel that once people start calling themselves 'celebrities' and joining reality shows with other pseudo-celebrities, that's where I draw the line. I've said all this before, and I'll definitely say it again if someone asks me.

The source of this rant is of course the ubiquitous news story about how Mario Armando was 'attacked' by Will.I.Am and his honchos. Apparently, the sequence of events went like this:

Will.I.Am sounded off on Mario Armando.
Mario Armando gets annoyed and says 'Why should I respect you? I don't respect you ... you're a fucking faggot'.
Skirmish.
Someone knocks out Mario Armando in the melee.

So, Mario Armando gets angry because he's a reporter (let's go out on a limb and call him a 'journalist') and the subject of his reporting becomes angry at, let's say 'alleged falsehoods claimed against him'. I may not actually be a journalist so I wouldn't really know, but isn't that (gee, I don't know) part and parcel of being a journalist? And then Mario Armando the genius also instead of saying "Hey, man, don't hate the playa, hate the game", goes on to say "you're a fucking faggot".

This is, to me, akin to someone bumping into me at clubs several times and then knocking over my drink. Ehem. They deserve it.

Oh, the fun continues. Mario Armando proceeds to tweet about it calling on his Twitter followers to call the police and ask them to go to his location. Yes, because the police have nothing better to do than answer hundreds of calls asking them to go save the life of a man who was punched in the face. Nope, no car accidents or emergency situations. None.

I felt a bit callous when I tweeted that it was stupid for someone to tweet about how badly they've been hurt and how they need the police rather than call the police and ambulance (since oh my god he's so badly hurt) themselves. And then, thanks to the lovely The Superficial and John Mayer, I felt validated.

Let's make this clear. This isn't a tirade against Mario Armando. I don't hate Mario Armando as a person, but I hate how he makes himself out to be a celebrity and acts in the dim limelight that casts upon him every so often.

Moving on up

2009-06-22T03:52:00.004+08:00

So I'm thinking of moving out. I know, I've already moved out of my parents' place. The difference is that this time, I'm thinking of moving somewhere to live alone. Well, the only real reason I'm going to be living alone is because I feel that I need to move away from my sisters and there are no close friends who are moving out now so no potential housemates. I mean, it's likely that my house will serve to be a weekend house for some, but no one permanent. No, that wasn't a hint at sexual activities.

Let's run through the reasons why I feel I need to move (again). This is just as much to sort through my thoughts as much as anything else, because I always feel a bit more organised and sure of myself when I list out reasons for doing things:

I can have my cats with me. The apartment my sisters and I are supposed to be moving to is owned by my parents and they refuse to let me bring my cats, regardless of my reasoning or begging.
I will have less frustration over irreconcilable differences with my sisters. I love them, but we each have little idiosyncracies that don't sit well with the others. They're small enough that it would seem silly to make a big deal of it, but after living with it for a while it builds up. You know?
I want to have a permanent place to hang my hat. Somewhere I can make cosy and really call my home. A place that I can make my own in my own style suited to the taste of my comforts.
I won't have to worry about rent, or moving out once the tenancy agreement is expired, or unnecessary wastage of electricity, or other things along those lines.
I can have as much alone time as I need.

There. That's sorted. Tomorrow, I break the news to dad because mum's away in Russia for a week or so. I've told no one in my family, so I hope my dad is as supportive as I need him to be.

Beware, call centre staff

2009-06-16T10:15:00.004+08:00

Today is the day that I catch up on all my 'calling up and sorting out' errands. Not to say that I don't have any work. Actually, I have quite a lot of work. I'm just procrastinating. Anyway, my point is, you'll probably see more than one entry like this today.

Call to Citibank

I lost my credit card sometime 2 weeks ago so I cancelled it and they issued a new one, which obviously has a new credit card number. I haven't got around to checking my mailbox quite yet, so I haven't received it or activated it. I did try to pay my credit card bill last week, however, by calling up the call centre, asking for the new number and Maybank2u-ing to them. Following is the conversation that occurred after I got an SMS from M2U telling me that my payment was rejected:

Me: Hi, can I find out why my payment got rejected?
Him: I'm not sure, ma'am, it might be because the card isn't activated yet.
Me: Well that's ridiculous, I called last week and the lady said it was fine if I made the payment. Who's going to pay me back my Interbank Giro fee of RM2?
Him: Oh, your card doesn't need to be activated to make payment. I'll activate your card for you now.
Me: What? You just said I don't need my card to be activated to make the payment, but I need to activate my card now?
Him: Yes.
Me: ... I don't understand.
Him: You need to activate your card.
Me: Why?
Him: Have you received your card?
Me: No, I don't have it yet.
Him: Oh, then it's better if you don't activate your card if you don't have it yet.
Me: I know. I'm not calling you to activate my card [fuckwit]. I just want to know why my payment was rejected. Let's not talk about activating cards anymore. Now will you tell me why my payment was rejected?
Him: Maybe it's because the account number is wrong. You'll have to check with them if the account number is correct.
Me: Can I check with you?
Him: Okay.
Me: Please read me the account number.
Him: xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx
Me: Okay, the account number was wrong. That was all I needed to know. Thank you.

Yep. Beware, call centre wallas. Today's the day of reckoning.

It's not what it looks like

2009-06-16T10:00:00.002+08:00

You know what's a shame? I'll tell you what's a shame. Obviously, otherwise this wouldn't be a blog entry.

It's a shame that people think it's weird for other people to want to be alone. It's a shame that they automatically think that there's something wrong with you. There doesn't have to be something wrong with you to want to be alone.

For example, I love my alone time. I cherish it. I especially love it when both my sisters are away. I love just kicking back and watching TV and generally just being alone. That's another reason why going home for lunch is so awesome for me.

As an extension of this, I love going out for Saturday/Sunday lunches/dinners alone with a good book (and my Archos and heavy duty headphones on Sundays, because that's family day). For a long time, it was IT by Stephen King, just because it was such a thick book. I swear the waiters at Nero Fico saw the progress as I made my way through the book week by week.

And then of course, there are the glances by people who generally think it's odd that I'm sitting there alone having dinner on Saturday night. That sucks, because honestly, I couldn't think of a better way for myself to spend Saturday night other than just chilling out, having a good dinner and a couple of drinks, with or without other people.

Airbus Boycott?

2009-06-09T17:35:00.010+08:00

I think most frequent flyers have noticed the unusually high number of aviation incidents lately. If you didn't, then take note. Most notable were:

May 2009: Air France's Airbus A330 disappeared off the face of the earth [Link].
Feb 2009: 50 people were killed when a small Colgan Air aircraft crashed into a house (Donnie? Donnie Darko?) [Link].
Oct 2008: Qantas' Airbus A330-300 suddenly dropped in altitude [Link].
Sept 2008: Boeing 737-300 crashes in Russia, killing all [Link].
Aug 2008: Spanair's MD82 aircraft catches fire, 153 dead [Link].
July 2008: Qantas' Boeing 747-400 developed a case of a hole in its fuselage while in mid-air [Link].
June 2008: Airbus 310 crashes in Sudan [Link].
Dec 2007: The year ended with another big crash in Turkey which killed all 57 people
on board [Link].
Sep 2007: Jetliner skids off the runway in Phuket [Link].
Aug 2007: Twin Otter DH6 Turboprop crashes in French Polynesia, killing 20 [Link].
July 2007: 191 died in Brazil as an Airbus A320 came in to land too fast in one of the country's worst aviation disasters [Link].
June 2007: Plane crashes in Cambodia. Toddler is sole survivor [Link].
May 2007: 114 dead as Kenyan plane crashes into swamp [Link].
Jan - Mar 2007: 2007 was a particularly bad year for Indonesian airlines, with 3 aviation accidents in the first quarter of the year alone, one in each month. Not kidding. Quite unfortunately for Boeing, they were all Boeing 737s [Link].

I started to compile the list of passenger plan incidents since 2007 but it got too depressing after I got this many. There was an accident in virtually every month of 2007. It's pretty ridiculous, and it really doesn't help my recently developed fear of flying. Wtf.

Ophidiophobe

2009-06-08T17:20:00.002+08:00

I have ophidiophobia. I don't think it's a secret to anyone who's known me for more than 2 days.

Main Entry: ophidiophobia
Part of Speech: n
Definition: a fear of snakes; also called ophiophobia
Etymology: Greek ophidion 'small snake'
From Dictionary.com

So now that you've learned a new word, my point is this: I hate when I tell people that I have a fear of snakes, that they decide to tell me things like, "But you should just go and touch one and it'll be fine and you won't be afraid anymore!" as if I live in a TV sitcom where all my insecurities, fears and problems can be solved in just one fun-filled, you'll laugh at this later, wholesome event that fits in a 30-minute or 60-minute time slot.

I am an ophidiophobe, and I stand by my fear. It's not an irrational fear. Snakes can kill you. Snakes can kill you in a very real and painful and sadistic manner. Seriously. Ever try looking at a python's teeth? Google Images it. Go on. I'll wait.

There you go. And the beauty of this beast is that they're indigenous to Malaysia, and no, not somewhere outside of KL, but in the very heart of it. Both family homes that I've lived in during my lifetime have had snake problems ranging from 6' pythons being found in the house to nests of King Cobras.

Again, I reiterate, my ophidiophobia is a rational fear and a fear based on the basic human instinct of survival and not being eaten alive. It's not an irrational fear of an animal that only lives in a country I'll never visit, or of inexistant monsters that go bump in the night, or of non-life threatening insects like spiders.

I have tried to deal with this fear in several ways. Well, just one way, really, which consisted of me going to the snake zoo-like place (whatever it's called) in Langkawi one fine day. I walked through it at a leisurely pace, I looked at the snakes, I kept getting mini heart attacks everytime my ponytail touched the back of my neck, and I got through the whole thing.

And yes, I'm still an ophidiophobe. And I'm proud of it. Leave me alone.

What? Complaints?

2009-06-03T12:47:00.007+08:00

From The Star: Actor flees Jais raid on fiancee's home without his clothes:

A TV actor tried to make a quick escape – minus his clothes – when Selangor Religious Department (Jais) officers raided his fiancee’s apartment in Petaling Jaya, reported Harian Metro.
The 20-something actor, who appears in a mystic and horror TV series, managed to climb to the next unit’s balcony on the fifth floor at 3am recently.
Five Jais officers raided the apartment after receiving complaints from neighbours that the actor and his fiancee would meet up frequently at her home.
The woman, also in her 20s and an assistant producer in the TV series, told the officers that she lived alone.
The woman, who was dressed in a sleeveless top and skimpy shorts, allowed officers into her room where they found a pair of men’s trousers and shirt.
Jais Special Force Unit chief Shahrom Maarop said: “Further inspection found signs that a person had exited through the balcony.”
The officers then went next door and found a few male foreigners living in the apartment.
One of the officers spotted a man who had wrapped himself with the curtains near the balcony.
“Officers questioned the actor who tried to pose as one of the foreigners. But the ruse did not work as his accent and skin colour were different from the occupants.
“The actor finally admitted that he had been sleeping at the woman’s home and that they were engaged,” Shahrom said.
They were detained for questioning and released on bail.

What? Who complained? And more specifically, apparently they complained that these 2 are always at her home. Methinks the chick pissed off one of her neighbours. That kind of makes people want to call Jais. Am I right, Bitcheline?

Accident? Ya, Right.

2009-05-31T00:56:00.003+08:00

From Reuters: Warship fires on village by accident:

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Russian navy said on Friday that one of its anti-submarine ships had fired artillery at a village by mistake, state RIA news agency reported.
The navy said no-one had been injured when a small anti-submarine ship on Thursday opened fire on a village in the Vyborg region of St Petersburg.
"On the 28 May, a small anti-submarine ship from the Baltic fleet was working on a host of exercises in the gulf of Finland including artillery fire at aerial targets," RIA quoted a navy spokesman as saying. "No-one was injured."
Russia's navy has been plagued by a series of mishaps since the collapse of the Soviet Union, including the Kursk submarine disaster in 2000 in which 118 sailors died.

More like sailors going, "Let's see who can get closest to hitting that church steeple!"

I will/I won't

2009-05-22T00:42:00.004+08:00

I felt the urge earlier to write a poem. That was a blast from the past. Haven't written anything in probably 4 years at least. Am I regressing? Am I wishing for a time long gone?

Probably, yes. I think I'm longing for a time when I was still bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, when I was still the 'ice queen', could keep myself protected in my little fortress of solitude and all was right with the world.

Now I find myself longing to tell people,

'No, I don't want to hang out with you because you will make me want things that I don't want, you will make me long for things that I don't want to long for, you will make me step outside my fortress and make me long for a life that will destroy me.

'I will schmooze when I need to, I will be the social butterfly when it is required of me, I will conform to that fit that people-shaped hole in your mind that you think I belong in when it is called for.

'I will be the cool aunt, the crazy cat lady, the girl with standards that were too high so she didn't get married, the woman who's too independent and couldn't find a man. I will do this for as long as it takes until I can carve my own little cave out of life and fill it with the love that I need.

You have what you want of me. Let me be.

What would a woman have said?

2009-05-18T14:02:00.003+08:00

I saw the following caption on Reuters' Weird News, Odd News, Funny News Stories page:

Man tried to hire prostitute for his son, 14
LONDON (Reuters) - A man who tried to hire a prostitute to take his 14-year-old son's virginity as a present was spared jail by a court on Friday.

And I thought, the judge has to be a man. And guess what? It was! From Reuters: Man tried to hire prostitute for his son, 14:

LONDON (Reuters) - A man who tried to hire a prostitute to take his 14-year-old son's virginity as a present was spared jail by a court on Friday.
The Polish national took the boy out in his car and allowed him to pick out the prostitute, who was standing at the side of the road in the red-light district of Nottingham.
But the 42-year-old father was arrested because the teenager had chosen an undercover police officer, Nottingham Crown Court heard.
The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was handed a 10-month prison sentence, suspended for a year, after he admitted a charge of trying to solicit a woman to have sex with a child, the Press Association reported.
The court heard that the father, who came to Britain eight years ago, was arrested last July during an undercover operation by the city's vice squad.
Prosecutor Adrian Harris said the man and his son had approached the undercover officer whose code name was Sarah and beckoned her over .
He asked "Sarah" how much it would cost for her to have sex with his son and they agreed on a 20 pound fee. However, when the car pulled over, the man was arrested by plainclothes police officers.
"The boy said that they had driven past the girl and his dad pointed to her and said 'will she do?'" Harris said.
"He said 'yes' and they had turned round. He said his dad did this because he was still a virgin and he was taking care of that for him."
Judge Jonathan Teare said he would spare the father jail because of his excellent character and that he believed he did not mean any harm to his son.
"You have a duty of care to your son and that is to look after his moral welfare, not as you might think to break him in to the ways of sex through a prostitute," he said.
The court was told the boy would continue to live with his father.

I'm guessing that a female judge would have ruled in a completely different manner. The ruling would probably have included such words as 'depraved', 'sexual maniac', 'irrepairable psychological damage', 'unfit parent' and 'propagating sexual deviance and human trafficking'. But no, the guy lucked out and got a male judge and a slap on the wrist. Hmm.

10 most dangerous foods

2009-05-12T16:36:00.002+08:00

Following is a list of the '10 most dangerous foods to eat', whether the danger is to your personal health or to the environment. Be aware that some of the claims are contentious, but it's good to bear in mind, anyway.

1. Farmed Salmon
Tim Fitzgerald, a scientist with the Oceans Program of the Environmental Defense Fund, says, "Salmon is the third most popular seafood in the US, so people are eating a lot of it and most of what they're eating is farmed. As a result of the feed salmon are given, they are very high in PCBs and environmental contaminants. For reasons of health, the environment, and popularity with consumers, farmed salmon is at the top of the list of seafood to avoid." The average dioxin level in farmed-raised salmon is 11 times higher than that in wild salmon.

2. Conventionally Grown Bell Peppers
Even though pesticides are present in most food at very small trace levels, their negative impact on health is well documented, and certain produce carries a greater risk. According to a report done by the Environmental Working Group, sweet bell peppers are the vegetable with the most pesticides detected on a single sample (as many as 11 were found on one sample). In addition, bell peppers are the vegetable with the most pesticides overall with 64 different pesticides found on samples. Better to buy organic and eliminate this risk.

3. Non-Organic Strawberries
In order to increase sweetness, some growers of non-organic strawberries are said to irrigate the plants with water laced with the artificial sweetener NutraSweet. And that luscious red color is caused by the fungicide captan, recognized by the EPA as aprobable human carcinogen. Do you really want to eat something bathed in a chemical sweetener and doused with a likely cancer-causer? Probably not.

4. Chilean Sea Bass
Chilean sea bass, otherwise known as Patagonian toothfish, lives for a very long time and grows to a large size; both are automatic warning bells for being high in mercury. Fitzgerald says, "We have some pretty comprehensive data that Chilean sea bass are extraordinarily high in mercury and not something you want to eat very often. When you factor in the very serious environmental issues with illegal fishing and bycatch, it's definitely a double whammy for us." "That said, we don't want to give the impression that if you eat one piece of fish with mercury, you're going to get mercury poisoning. But if you continually eat fish with a lot of mercury over an extended period of time, that's when you're going to see more serious issues like unexplainable fatigue, memory problems, and tingling or numbness in your extremities," Fitzgerald says.

5. Non-Organic Peaches
Peaches aren't just juicy and delicious, they're magnets for pesticides, often topping the Organic Center's consumer's pocket guide for pesticide-riddled produce. The Center's chief scientist Charles Benbrook says, "Peaches top the list because their skins get soft at the end of their season on the tree and the last pesticide spray can move right through that skin and get into the tissue of the fruit in a matter of hours. That's why it's easy to find peaches with ten different pesticide residues in them." Benbrook adds, "The last thing that we want to do is scrooge people from eating fresh fruits and vegetables. If anything, we want people to eat two to three more servings of produce a day. But the science is irrefutable. If the average family sought out organic versions of the top four fruits and vegetables they eat the most often, they could eliminate 90% of their overall pesticide exposure."

6. Genetically Modified Corn
If you read Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma, one of the more shocking truths is the amount of corn found in the American diet. Corn is in everything from frozen yogurt to ketchup, from mayonnaise and mustard to hot dogs and vitamins. Unless specified as organic, the corn you're ingesting is likely genetically modified. Genetically modified organisms have not been tested thoroughly enough for long-term consequences, but a series of studies has found significant health risks in animals tested, and an increase in certain allergies for humans.

7. Bluefin Tuna
Maybe it's a good thing that not everyone has the luxury of eating a lot of toro at the sushi bar, because bluefin tuna is in grave danger from a population perspective. It's also one of the more dangerous fish for mercury consumption, making it both a bad eco choice and a health risk for mercury exposure. Fitzgerald says, "The bluefin tuna is in such horrible shape right now. There are some populations that may go commercially extinct in the near future if we don't ease up on the fishing."

8. Industrially Farmed Chicken
While there has been much debate over chickens and hormones, there exists a great deal of misinformation. Poultry is not allowed to be given hormones in the United States, so while reports have existed for years that schoolchildren are experiencing early puberty due to excess hormones traced to chicken, there have not been enough studies done to prove this conclusively . What we do know is that tests done by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy found arsenic in conventional chickens. Arsenic has been linked to cancer and contributes to other diseases including heart disease, diabetes and deterioration of mental faculties. In addition, a study conducted in 2002 for the Sierra Club and the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy found multiple antibiotic-resistant bacteria in brand-name poultry products . Scientists believe antibiotic use in animals raised for food contributes to antibiotic-resistant bacteria transferred to humans, mainly through contaminated food, resulting in drug-resistant infections. In order to avoid poultry that's been dosed with antibiotics or given feed laced with arsenic, better to opt for an organic chicken at the grocery store.

9. Non-Organic Apples
"Apples come with a red flag based on the sheer amount of apples in our diet and the reliance of pesticides in humid parts of the country," says Benbrook. Apple skins contain higher pesticide residues. Higher risk apples are grown in the humid mid-Atlantic states and Michigan: They use more pesticides than California, Oregon or Washington state. A lot of those pesticides seep into the skin of the apple, so it's always good to peel it. Unfortunately, approximately 1/3 of the nutrients come off with the peel, according to Benbrook.

10. Cattle Treated With rBGH
The use of genetically engineered drug rBGH (recombinant bovine growth hormone) is widespread among the cattle industry in the United States. Banned by all European nations and Canada, U.S. dairy farmers continue to use the synthetic hormone which escalates production of the cow's own hormone ICF-1 (insulin-like growth factor 1). This hormone does not break down when humans consume milk from those cows and has been traced to higher risks of certain cancers, including breast cancer, and hormonal disorders. The only guarantee against ingesting these dangerous excess hormones is to buy milk labeled "no rBGH."

Incidently, there's a breed of corn that is being grown in Cameron Highlands which are so sweet that you can eat them raw. They're awesome. I wonder if they're genetically modified. Will I spout a tail or an extra head if I continue eating them? Hmmm...

Source: Sprig.com

Calorie Demons: White rice vs brown rice

2009-05-12T09:32:00.002+08:00

Carbo breakdown. Nothing surprising, just FYI.

Source: Calorie count

You know what I hate?

2009-05-11T10:46:00.004+08:00

I absolutely hate (among other things, of course) being pigeon-holed within seconds of meeting someone new. I hate when the second I say, par example une, "I work in a bank" and BAM! they go "oh yeah, you won't be able to talk to my bosses because all you'll be able to talk about is accounting and business". It's annoying because there are so many adjectives that define me other than Banker that they don't bother to find out about, e.g. diver.

Also, the following (summarised) conversation took place:

I took 2 degrees, one in Economics and one in Sociology.

What does Sociology do? Is there a practical application?

No, not really, but it was great to learn about.

Why would you study it if there's no practical application?

For fun. I didn't want to go to uni and miss out on the chance to learn something new that I wouldn't get anywhere else.

Isn't that a waste of money?

I don't think education is a waste of money. There's no practical application, but it really helped me open my mind to other things.

What? That's bullshit. I don't believe that.

Is it just me, or does that conversation worry you about the future of mankind too?

What are we? Chopped liver?

2009-05-08T11:03:00.003+08:00

From BBC: Jacob Zuma's three first ladies:

The question that has South Africa's media all of a twitter is: "Who amongst Jacob Zuma's three wives will be the country's next first lady?"
It was hoped the inauguration ceremony of South Africa's first polygamous president this Saturday would be some indication, but it has been reported he will be accompanied by all three women.
Polygamy is still common in rural KwaZulu Natal, where Mr Zuma is from.
According to political analyst Protas Madlala, many Zulus who are Christian have turned away from the practice, but it persists in rural areas because of the low standard of education and enduring poverty there.

The BBC has just called just under 2 billion people uneducated and poor. I'm having such mixed reactions to this. On the one hand, my religion allows polygamy (under very specific circumstances, which includes permission from existing wives, gentlemen), and on the other, I'm so against polygamy that it hurts. And then there's the argument that it's better that you're aware of the husband's antics rather than he have secret mistresses, which too me is a moot point.

But anyway, the fact is that there are incidences of polygamy in upper-middle-income countries too, and there is likely a higher incidence among the wealthier and more educated than one would think (which is evident in Malaysian society). Arguably, in these countries, polygamy is a 'luxury good' as higher income means you can afford more wives.

Either way, any data collected on the issue is biased because polygamy is illegal in all but a few countries in the world. I declare, therefore, that this statement was unsubstantiated.

Take that, BBC!

2009-05-08T09:36:00.002+08:00

From The Star: Don: Malaysia needs to be high-income economy:

DUH! What did he think, that we chose to be middle-income? That we went, "oh that's ok, we're pretty comfortable down here, we don't really need high-income"?

Why does someone have to die for the world to take notice?

2009-05-07T09:34:00.002+08:00

From The Star: Group to fight snatch thieves and Mat Rempit menace:

BATU PAHAT: The Home Ministry will set up a joint committee to come up with a plan to fight snatch thieves and Mat Rempit in the wake of the tragedies that claimed the lives of two pregnant women.
Deputy Minister Jelaing Mersat said the committee would involve other ministries and departments, such as the Transport Ministry, Puspakom, the Road Transport Department and local authorities.
Jelaing said snatch thieves and Mat Rempit had become serious problems.
“We aim to come up with a big effort to solve these problems,” he told pressmen after visiting Razali Ahmad, 41, at his home in Ayer Hitam here yesterday.
Razali lost his wife Jamilah Selamat, 31, who was two months’ pregnant, following a snatch theft in Taman Ayer Hitam on Sunday.
She fell off her motorcycle, hit her head on a pavement and went into a coma.
Yesterday, another snatch theft in Kota Baru claimed the life of Saripah Mohd Nor, 34, who was four months’ pregnant.
Jelaing said the ministry and police had to step up their crime-fighting efforts, adding that the perpetrators must be caught as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, Johor police chief Deputy Comm Datuk Mohd Mokhtar Mohd Shariff, who was also present, said a task force led by state CID chief Senior Asst Comm (II) Datuk Amer Awal would carry out investigations into Jamilah’s death.
He said police were still waiting for the post-mortem report and results of Puspakom’s examination of the victim’s motorcycle.
DCP Mohd Mokhtar said he had ordered Batu Pahat OCPD Asst Comm Ibrahim Aris to set up community policing and neighbourhood watches in Taman Ayer Hitam and Taman Mekar here.
He also urged witnesses to come forward to assist police with investigations.
Those with information can call the police hotline at 07-221 2999 or go to the nearest police station.

Why does someone have to die before people sit up and take notice? If you follow the 'most read' tab on the news websites, it always has to be a tragedy or a sex-related crime for people to find it interesting. It's deplorable.

In this case, 2 pregnant women didn't have to die for the police to take action. The signs were everywhere. All the police had to do was go out for a drive in a plain car to know the extent to which motorcyclists are getting out of hand. They should try to change lanes in slow-moving traffic, and just generally drive around and notice the motorcyclists going the wrong way, using the sidewalk as their own personal lane, and generally being ridiculously crazy.

So why did it take the loss of 4 lives for them to sit up and take notice?

Customer Service Review: Flickr

2009-05-01T21:42:00.005+08:00

Business: Photo website

Location: n/a

Website: http://www.flickr.com

The Situation:

I signed up with Flickr forever ago, back when I had 6 email addresses and was still in a different country. And then it lay dormant for a couple of years while I whittled my email addresses down to just 3 or so.

Come 2009, and for some inexplicable reason, I find the need to reclaim my Flickr account, but *gasp* it's linked to one of my dormant email addresses that no longer exists! Shock! Horror! You'd think that, that's it, my Flickr account is gone and unreclaimable, but you'd be wrong.

I emailed Flickr's Helpdesk, and in less than 2 days, someone had emailed me with a solution. It didn't work, but they tried. When it didn't work, it was escalated to someone with more power, and BAM! in less than 5 days, I have my Flickr account up and running again. How awesome is that?

The Verdict:

If only Malaysians were this efficient. You'd never think that a website with so many users could be so efficient, but they are. The CFA people could learn a thing or two from them.

5 Stars, Flickr! Also, tried to reply to the email to say muchos gracias, but it was a donotreply, so THANKS FLICKR. Hearts.

Calorie Demons: Chilli's Grill & Bar

2009-04-30T16:54:00.000+08:00

Depressing, isn't it?

Source: Chilli's

2009-04-30T16:42:00.001+08:00

http://icanhascheezburger.com/

May Day

2009-04-30T11:11:00.002+08:00

Tomorrow's Labour Day. Awesome. I really need the break. I bet most Malaysian workers are thinking the exact same thing, "Another meaningless public holiday. Life is good."

So what are we actually celebrating/observing on Labour Day, a.k.a. May Day? According to Wikipedia, there's all kinds of reasons, ranging from what I suspect Malaysia thinks it is, i.e. a day of celebration for the achievements of its labourers, to pagan celebrations of fertility (which, as we all know, is always the underlying reason for holidays), to an olden-times version of St Patrick's Day involving a lot of dancing around poles and stealing them from other villages. It's even been attributed to the Virgin Mary.

And yet, Malaysians make a big fuss over cultural holidays. I think it's a whole issue of what the media decides to make a big fuss of. Power to the people, not the media. Take the initiative and read. Find things out for yourself. Don't be sheep.

I think I've lost the point of this blog entry.

Echo Park fashion show @ Megamall

2009-04-29T00:00:00.004+08:00

Props to KL Drumline Corp, ECX and the other b-boy group whose name I forgot (sorry). It was a pretty entertaining show. My Poh-Poh was rockin out to the music and the beat.

Man cuts off finger, eats it

2009-04-28T10:05:00.005+08:00

Seriously. From Reuters: Man cut off finger to protest overdue wages:

BELGRADE (Reuters) - A Serbian union official who chopped off his finger and ate it in a protest over wages that in some cases have not been paid in years, said Monday he did it to show how desperate he and other workers were.
"We, the workers have nothing to eat, we had to seek some sort of alternative food and I gave them an example," Zoran Bulatovic told Reuters. "It hurt like hell."
Bulatovic, a union leader at the Raska Holding textile factory in Novi Pazar in southwest Serbia, used a hacksaw to cut off most of his left-hand little finger Friday.
Bulatovic said he decided to act after his deputy, "a single mother of three, was the first to say she would cut off her finger. I could not allow her to do that," he said.
State-owned Raska Holding was a major textile producer in the late 1980s with a workforce of 4,000. It suffered during the collapse of the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s and a loss of markets and mismanagement during a decade of wars and sanctions led to massive job cuts, leaving the company with just 100 workers.
Some employees have not been paid for years, only collecting social benefits, like free medical care.
About two dozen workers went on a 19-day hunger strike last year. They want the company's debt to be swapped for state-held equity and a welfare program for those nearing retirement.
Bulatovic said his comrades will not back down from their demands, but they will postpone planned self-mutilations at least until talks with government officials in Belgrade expected Tuesday.

First of all, WTF?! Secondly, gross.

And finally, this brings up a point that I've been thinking about lately. One day I was driving home at night and stopped at a light and I saw a homeless man sleeping on a shopfront. I sat there deciding if there was enough time for me to run out and give him RM5, and if it was a good idea, and if I'd get robbed/kidnapped in the process, and a multitude of other things. And then the light turned green, and that was the end of that.

But it begs the question of why I was more willing to give money to this person who did nothing and would probably continue doing nothing as opposed to the good people who walk around Bangsar trying to sell stuff.

I think because we sympathise more with the helpless (or faux-helpless) that we're willing to help them, but the second they look semi-presentable, they're ignored, and the outcome is that those who manage to drag themselves over the poverty line by fighting tooth and nail are then neglected when they're in real need. And now that we're in a recession, the poorest of the poor suffer, but so do they, and yet they're still neglected.

So what are we supposed to do? Keep giving money to the poorest of the poor, where giving $1 means you'll have to keep giving $1 for them to live; or give money to the marginal, where giving $1 means there could be a point where they can live on their own?

I hate the gray areas of life.

Really? It was that good?

2009-04-28T09:38:00.000+08:00

From BBC: Woman held for noisy sex 'breach':

A woman has been remanded in custody accused of breaching an Asbo banning her from being noisy during sex.
Neighbours complained of hearing Caroline Cartwright, 48, groaning and her bed banging against the wall at her home in Washington, Wearside.
Earlier this month she was given a four-year Asbo banning her from making excessive noise anywhere in England.
But she appeared in court on Monday, charged with three breaches of her Asbo in just 10 days.
She was remanded in custody until 5 May.
Cartwright was convicted of five breaches of a noise abatement notice on 17 April and fined £515.
But Houghton le Spring Magistrates' Court heard police arrested her on 18 April, on 22 April and again on 26 April, after reports from neighbours she was flouting the ban with her husband Steve.
Prosecutor Claire Ward said neighbours complained to police about early morning noises including shouting and groaning coming from the Cartwrights' home in Hall Road, Concord, Washington.
Cartwright elected to be tried by jury and the case will be transferred to Newcastle Crown Court at a later date.

They should also prosecute her for wasting taxpayers' money on frivolous cases.

Customer Service Review: Borders Bookstore

2009-04-27T16:12:00.003+08:00

Business: Bookstore
Location: Berjaya Times Square; The Curve
Website: http://www.berjaya.com/berjayabooks.htm

The Situation:

I'm looking for The Biggest Loser Cookbook, because I'm going to be on study leave for 1.5 weeks and I thought I'd cook at home. I'd heard that the book has simple recipes with simple ingredients as opposed to those ingredients where most people go "... what?"

So of course I go to the website of my favorite bookstores, in order of preference: MPH, Times and Borders. MPH and Times are pretty easy, with simple and user friendly websites that allow searches of the stores' inventories online by Title, Author, etc. Now comes Borders.

Borders doesn't really have a website. Not only that, the crap website that it does have doesn't give you the phone numbers of all the two stores that they have, which as I understand is way too difficult to put down two phone numbers. So nevermind, I call the number that they do have and ask for the number of their other branch which isn't situated in such a ridiculously inconvenient spot, and I get it easy enough.

So get this: not only do they have a crap website and only 1 phone number, they also have a phone system that doesn't put you on hold when the customer service officers are busy. If you happen to call and the lines are engaged, you just have to call back and try your luck!

That's ridiculous!

Verdict:

I know that Berjaya Group has a history of low levels of customer service, but just once I'd like to be surprised. The verdict is a 1 star customer service level for a purportedly 5 star brand name and outlet.

To data plan, or not to data plan?

2009-04-27T11:55:00.001+08:00

My Nokia E71 (white, so pretty) has opened up whole new worlds to me. Things I've done with it so far:

Hooked up my 3 Gmail accounts to update whenever I'm around my home network.
Installed MSN.
Installed mIRC.
Installed the 'Go To' function on Nokia Maps.
Pimped it out with themes.

So now I'm deciding on the pros and cons of going with a data plan. Last month, my bill came to about RM10 less than it would have been if I signed up with a data plan. So I'm thinking, "isn't RM10 worth it to pay for unlimited access?"

Pros:

Unlimited internet access.
Realtime tweets.
Unlimited internet access.
Realtime emails.
Unlimited internet access.

Cons:

Unlimited internet access.
Realtime emails.
--- productivity

Sigh.

Good old fashioned disfunctional families

2009-04-27T10:04:00.002+08:00

From The Star: Sex affair just to spite parents:

KUALA LUMPUR: More underage girls are having sex to get back at their parents for neglecting them.
This startling information was revealed by police who said that the girls had initially claimed they were raped but later admitted to have consented to sex with their boyfriends.
Statistics compiled since 2005 showed that the number of girls below 16 years old who are sexually active has been increasing every year.
The study also revealed that an alarming 60% of girls between the ages of 13 and 15 had sex because they “wanted revenge” on their parents. Sex with a girl aged under 16 is classified as statutory rape under the Penal Code.
The girls, largely from urban areas, confessed that they had befriended men as they were angry with their parents for subjecting them to emotional and physical “abuse”.
While some had sex with men just to get back at their parents, others were coerced into it by the very men they had turned to for solace, said Asst Comm Suguram Bibi Munshi Deen, head of the Sexual Abuse and Children’s Division at Bukit Aman.
Noting that teen rape had risen since 2005, she said that the victims – mostly from cities and major towns in Selangor, Johor and Kedah – usually ended up pregnant.
“We are not pointing a finger or exposing the private lives of families but the public must realise what is happening,” said ACP Suguram Bibi.
“Children, teenagers and youths are our future leaders and we as adults, parents or guardians must guide and instil in them right and proper values.”
Statistics from 2005 to 2008 showed 75% of the rape victims were below 18 years old and at least 60% of the girls were below 16. Boys below 18 made up between 8.4% and 13.6% of the “rapists”.
The study also showed that teenagers got bored easily, craved attention or wanted the freedom to express themselves.
ACP Suguram Bibi said parents should educate sons to respect the opposite sex and not take advantage of them.
“We also found that some boys were challenged by their peers and forced to commit sex acts to prove that he was one of the gang and to stop being ridiculed.”

Yep. There's nothing like a few orgasms to get back at your parents.

That said, kudos to the Assistant Commissioner for coming out and addressing a 'taboo' issue so that Malaysians are hopefully more aware.

Twittered

2009-04-27T01:18:00.001+08:00

FYI: I'm officially on twitter. http://twitter.com/[my full name, no spaces].

I've found a new love, and his name is

2009-04-24T17:02:00.003+08:00

marc johns. Exactly like that, no caps. He's awesome. I found him through my love of Savage Chickens. But back to marc johns.

I love his simplistic style of drawing, his simple intellectual humour (as opposed to complicated pseudo-intellectual humour), his way of poking fun at society and its idiosyncrasies. If I lived by the beach and had a simple little beach shack and a simple little car (that's a big 'if'), this is the kind of thing I'd buy to fill the walls and make it home:

Photoshopped goodness

2009-04-23T16:22:00.003+08:00

Above is the new ad by Audrina Patridge for PETA. Firstly, she is not that hot. That's ridiculous. Secondly, just look at the extent to which she has been photoshopped. She has no knees! The only way she could have knees that smooth is if she were a Barbie doll. And we all know she's more skank than doll.

Dwell not upon thy weariness,

2009-04-22T18:46:00.002+08:00

thy strength shall be according to the measure of thy desire. -Arab Proverb

As you may or may not know or care, I toyed with the idea of walking to work after I moved. As the bird flies, the distance between my home and my office is so near it's scary. The problem lies in the distance that I'd have to walk, and given the rising crime rate, snatch thefts and rape cases, it's always a worry for safety.

So that plan was scrapped.

The other day, I suddenly thought, 'Why not cycle?'. For some reason, it never cross my mind before. How odd is that?

Anyway, I'm now considering cycling to work. I've scoped out the route there and worked out that there is a sidewalk that goes most of the way. The only issue lies in U-turning, meaning I have to make my way across a busy, 4-lane highway. Suicide? Maybe not.

Issues to be considered:

I'll be sweaty from cycling due to the uphill and downhill-ness of it all.
I have to find a spot to U-turn without killing myself.
Safety.
I'd have to bring my office clothes in a bag, as well as my handbag. Where do these things go?

I'm seriously leaning towards this. Come help me solve my issues and help me become greener.

Calorie Demons 3: Alcohol

2009-04-21T09:46:00.004+08:00

It hurts me to do this one.

Source: BBC