Frugality

What is frugality all about? I remember reading about the ex Iranian president Mohammed Khatami who gives all his money to his wife. He never keeps any money with him. His rational is that he leads a simple life and he works for the people and the country.

IKEA founder also lives humbly. Ingvar Kamprad, ranked 4th richest man in the world, drives a 15-year-old car and always flies economy class. Given his status, I bet he can own a few more newer cars. He also dines in low budget restaurants. How about Wipro chairman, Azim Premji? He drives a Toyota Corrola. He flies by economy class and uses company guest houses rather than hotels . We all know Warren Buffett, one of the smartest wealthiest investor in our time. When the Omaha of Oracle speaks, we listen. He has been staying in the same house in the central Dundee neighborhood of Omaha, Nebraska that he bought in 1958.

Lets take a look at Manmohan Singh's house. Who is he? India's current Prime Minister. When I was in India a few months back, I read in the papers he is just renting a small flat close to the office. Did some research. He actually owns a small flat inside a triple-storey building, nestled on a small hillock in Sarumataria, near Dispur. But if you look at the picture its kinda unkept if you know what I mean.

Closer to home, we have Tok Guru Nik Aziz Nik Mat, the Chief Minister of Kelantan.Known for his frugality, heard that he doesnt stay in the official Menteri Besar home. Instead he stays in his current residential home.

If leaders of today or our would be leaders of tomorrow in Malaysia has that mental aptitude to do so, then we are half way there to solve the many ills we're facing today.

Zokka!!

Does cultural sensitivity matters when we market a product or service in uncharted territories?I believe it does matter and every marketeer will agree on this as well.

Take for instance this harmless looking product. A liquid detergent with a brand name Zokka. You can find this product in your friendly neighourhood store in Singapore. No big deal.

But I doubt you'll find it in South Korea. Why? Believe it or not, its a swear word!! Dont believe me? Try mentioning this word aloud when you're in South Korea. Do let me know if you get out of the country in one piece....hahahahaha.

Chilli Life

2 weeks ago I had a thought of planting my own plants. Thought of planting plants which can be of some use to me such as mint or curry leafs, lemongrass......etc. So what beter way than to start off with a chilli plant. Heard that its a no brainer to plant a chilli plant.

All I need to do is to get some chillies and spread it into the soil. Asked around and found out that volcanic soil will be just nice.Then just give it some decent sunlight and water and just wait.

So bought the volcanic soil and pot from Cold Storage. Started my pet project by putting it just by the window. Finally last night, my girlfriend asked me to have a look at the chilli plant. Hurray!! Its finally showing sign of life. Its kinda weird seeing the empty pot having some sign of life now. A nice positive feel though I must say.

Hopefully in due time, we can taste the fruit of our labour.

My Mouse

Well today felt like changing my old mouse with a new one From blue to brown.Out the old, comes in the new

Hmm....let me have a feel on this mouse. Click click. Yes it works well. Should be using this mouse for a long time to come. Oh boy, feeling hungry now. Let me see what I can eat. Hmm....this is nice....munch munch munch.......didnt know that a mouse can taste so good. Delicious.Damn! I've eaten my new mouse.

Oh well, its back to the old mouse again. Kids, if you're reading this, dont try this at home. Only professional magicians like me will dare to attempt the impossible...hahahaha.

Pedra and Batu Puteh pictures

Two identical pictures. The 7x picture was presented by Malaysia team in The Hague. The picture was lifted from this blog http://leuchtturm3.blogspot.com. Leuchtturm means lighthouse in German.

Although Malaysia didnt argued using the picture saying explicitly that the island is shown to be near Malaysia territory, but we all know how this can influence the mind of readers subconsciously. Thats why conformity is such a norm in society today and "group think" has always been a curse. Those that interested in psychology will know what "group think" is.This concept was made famous by psychologist Irving Janis. So lets say we put this picture in front of 10 like minded people. And everyone shares the same view, then a decision might be flawed.

Anyway, this so called blog was created only in Oct, and the posting was made like about 4 days before the trial.

Then again its kinda strange as well that our Tourism Minister did made this statement before that bloggers are liars not too long ago. Then why our Malaysia team lifted this picture from this obscure blog to fight its case in The Hague? We are talking about a high profile case here. Usually your ammunitions will be made up of legal documents, maps, recorded statements...etc. A picture from an obscure blog? It just doesnt fit the bill here.

Charity Drive

A snapshot of the park just at the centre of the building

Sat was charity day for me. Decided to give something back to society. Apart from donating $50 to Rainbow's Club every month, thought that maybe I can do something more without sacrificing too much of my personal time.

So I joined Citibank Charity Drive to Christalite Methodist Home. Joined the singing group. Not much of a singer myself, but other roles for activities such as murral painting and gardening has been snapped out. So I donned a Citibank t shirt with my girlfriend, went up stage with about 20 others and sang our hearts out. The list of songs are as below.

All I Have To Do is Dream

Puff The Magic Dragon

Rhythm Of The Rain

Yue Liang Dai Biao Wo De Xin

Top Of The World

Given the fact that we didnt trained together as a group prior to this, think we did okay. Got some applauses from the old folks.

Then later we proceed with serving food to the elderly folks. Chatted with some of them. Left the place with a warm feeling. Not sure how I will face the twilight years of my life one day. But for now, I just try to live life the best that I can.

Halo Again

Not too long ago, I blogged on the release of Halo 3. Last night, my friend reserved 1 Halo 3 t shirt for me. Since they are managing the call center, they had pre ordered some t shirts from US. And so happen some of the support staffs had left, they had some extra T shirts to go around.

Thanks Vic. Will make Halo gamers proud, although I am not a gamer myself...hahahaha...

Breakout

Talk about a hole in our ozone layer......hahahaha. See what happened to my pants!! I knew something was terribly wrong when my ass felt a chill when I was sitting on the bench. I knew it. My pants were torn. Damn! Red alert!

I was on my way to yet another curry buffet on Sunday. Need to make a detour. Decided to go to Tiong Bahru Plaza to grab any pants I can find. Emergency case warrants an emergency action plan if you know what I mean.

Anyway for a male, what can the worst happen? Its either you forgot to zipped it up or your pants decided to break free just like mine......

Well.....at least I have a brand new pair of pants now......bye bye Puma pants. Will miss you for serving me well for the past years.

Meetup - 13 Nov 07

Tues night, Kulim kias had our mini gathering again, this time with Jenny and her bf from Aus. Both of them are on a 3 week whirwind holiday trip.

Food and crappy stories do mixed well together. Have not seen Jenny for ages. She is in Aus now a certified pharmacist. Still remember those days when we studied with her during secondary school.

Time past, but friendship remains. I am glad that our ties among our Kulim friends are still as strong as ever.

P/S: Dinner was at Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao @ Suntec City

Flashback - Slipknot @ 2005

Talk about better be late than never. I finally got my Slipknot concert pic we took in 16-Aug-2005. Who would have thought Slipknot, this crazy metal freaks in masks that used to piss onto the crowd, clobbering each other up on stage, vomitting and singing to the anthem People = Shit will be here in Fort Canning Park just adjacent to the Parliment House....hahahaha.

Yes, it happened and the crowd looks gothic. I must say, we are the odd ones out, seriously. Anyway here we are, posing with the devil horns and a middle finger.

Next concert for me? My Chemical Romance, Black Parade concert. I have been waiting for this guys to come here and explode. However will be missing tonight's Linkin Park's concert. Been to their concert twice before in KL and Spore. And trust me, Linkin Park concert is worth every single cents you paid for.

Thurs Steamboat

Before you know it, its time again for our friends to meet again for good food. This time we head our way down to Ting Yuan that specializes in authentic steamboat Chongqing style.

11 of us munched our way through the food. The herbal mala soup is super spicy. We were given a choice to choose for the less spicy, or the more spicy one. Not to take any risks, we opted for the less spicy one. Even the less spicy soup will set you on fire. I can only imagine what would have happened if we were to try the more spicy version of the soup. However the base of the soup is the same with the chicken broth soup. So I reckoned they add the chilli separately into the soup and its not boiled together.

Another attraction is the unusual dipping sauce which is made of crushed peanuts, sesame seed, coriander and salted vegetables. It goes down well with anything that you dipped it in. A bit salty, but overall it appeals to me.The amount of food you see in the picture, you can safely multiply that by 4 times. Thats how much we ate.

We ate non stop basically we started at about 7.30pm, and all the way to about 10pm. Being unable to move after that, decided to take a cab home...hahahaha....

What pisses me off

Provocative statement so far from UMNO assembly

'These people, they come to a Malay area and they tell me that our country is not doing well and people are still suffering. Well, I will tell you - you can apply for citizenship in Singapore"

Selangor delegate Ismail Ahmad

Ismail, who helms the Youth wing of the Gombak division, was referring to an opposition claim that the economic pie is not shared equitably with all races.

For this I have one thing to say to you. Screw you and the people that supported your statement. You tak layak to even apply for citizenship for any First Class countries in this world simply because you have a low class mentality and judging from what came out from your mouth, not a cerdik person as well.

Plus keris was brandished yet again this year by Kerismuddin.

Jewel in a Palace

Yesterday was my birthday. A perfect day to be King for a day. So I hanged up my apron yesterday and my "jagiya" was the "orrisa" for the day.

She worked her way non stop in the kitchen to feed 5 hungry souls. Much time and effort were put and the result?

All single handedly prepared by her from scratch after a hard day's work. Except for 1 dish and the soup made by my friend's wife, the rest were whipped up by my jagiya.

Excluding the cake of course. Thats from the bakery. Another milestone has passed in my life. Hopefully the years to come will be better and I'm looking forward to greet it with much vigour and enthusiasm.

After the meal, we were all full and delighted since we were pampered with so many good food. She spent more than 2hrs cooking and she told me luckily birthday only happens once in a year. But cant agree with her on that. I dont mind being served with sumptuous meal everyday in my life...hahahaha.

Malaysia vs Singapore.....prize?Islands........

Starting 6th-Nov-2007, Malaysia and Singapore will appear before ICJ (International COurt of Justice) to fight for their claims on Pulau Batu Puteh or Pedra Branca, South Ledge and Middle Rocks - which are located in waters off Johor. The 18-day hearings will take place at the Peace Palace in The Hague.

Singapore team comprises of Prof Jayakumar (DPM and Law Minister), Prof Tommy Koh (Ambassador At Large), Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong and Attorney-General Chao Hick Tin. On the other side,

Malaysia team will be represented by Tan Sri Abdul Kadir Mohamad (Advisor to PM on Foreign Affairs), Datuk Noor Farida Ariffin (Ambasaddor in Netherlands) and Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail (Attorney General). Of course both sides will bring along their team of legal experts to fight the case.

This is how it goes:

i) Proceedings will commence with an opening address by both countries at the Peace Palace in The Haque in the Netherlands.

ii)This will be followed by Singapore which will have up till Nov 9 to have their say

iii)Malaysia presents its case from Nov 13 to 16, in the first round of arguments.

iv)The second round is scheduled to last two days - Nov 19 and 20 for Singapore, and Malaysia on Nov 22 and 23.

It will be interesting to see who will successfully lay its claim to this string of islands. However the decision is expected to be made before next June. So its not like we're gonna get to see who wins till then.

So who will you bet on to win? Maybe this excerpts below will help you make a decision.

"We are well prepared and our team has all the documents and evidence to win the dispute," Attorney General Abdul Gani Patail, who is already in the Hague, told the state news agency Bernama.

"Everyone is in high spirit... especially myself. This is one of the most anticipated disputes after Malaysia won the tussle over the Ligitan and Sipadan islands in 2002," Abdul Gani told Bernama.

A confident chap huh I will say. By the way, Mr Patail, you're best remembered as the leading prosecutor in Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim. And to me, with your name on that, it just tainted my impression of you.

By the way, this is not the first time Malaysia and Singapore are having a go at each other.5 September 2003, Malaysia applied separately to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) for an order on provisional measures, seeking to put an immediate stop to Singapore's reclamation works pending the setting up of the arbitration panel. The hearing took place between 25 and 27 Sep 03 in Hamburg, Germany. To sum it up, 8 Oct 2003, ITLOS unanimously decided that Singapore could continue its land reclamation activities

The Fan

Today attended my friend's daughter's wedding lunch reception. Got myself a standing fan. Hahaha how does this all came about.

To my suprise, didnt know that nowadays, kenduri functions have teka teki (quiz) session in their itenary. A teka teki challenge was poised to the audience. Suprisingly many of them are not giving the right answers. After a short break having some karaoke enthusiasts belting out their songs, still no one managed to answer. MC was saying, okay seems like the crowd dont have the answer, we'll be taking the prize back to our office with a glee in his smile.

No way man. Me to the rescue. Being able to understand Bahasa Malaysia, I was able to provide the answer. Went on stage, gave the right answer and brought back a standing fan. I needed one anyway. The one in my room is giving out this loud noise as if I'm on a speedboat.

Got some congratulations cheers from the crowd for being able to answer and some of my ex Malay colleagues walked over and congratulated me. Well, the question wasnt that hard anyway.....guess I was plain lucky.....

Sex on Air

There is this interesting poll on AsiaOne website. As of 9.30am, this is the results of the polls. Think readers out there will know what I vote for. I have always wanted to know what is like to have sex up there in the air.

Not sure if its easier to conceive if you're way up there in the sky. Mating, doing the hump, shagging.....whatever you call it. On telly, the bed seems big enough for couple to roll and stroll and do whatever that needs to be done.

We are not talking about having a quick romp in the small toilet in the airplane. We are talking about having a bed to perform.

I believe the only thing SIA now needs to consider is creating some sort of soundproof mechanism. Once thats out of the way, there is no stopping the 44% of us saying Yes to this idea.For the rest, dont be a party pooper and just join in the fun.

A Close Call

Whats a close call? Its when you drive your car into the parking lot and not hitting the front divider with only about a few centimetres to spare.

We were out having lunch in Ikea Tampines. My colleague drove and when we got out of the car, we could see his new car just missing the divider by just a few centimetres.

Talk about close call. Whatever it is see it for yourself.