My PC Is Out Again.

My computer are at it again. Need to be sent to the hospital after a virus attack. No matter how much precaution we take but this attacks always happened. The last time I've sent my computer for reformatting was six months ago. One session will costs me RM90.00.

It's almost impossible to post anything from a cybercafe (where I am right now). It is just too noisy in here. The kids over here are not interested in Internet but games, games and more games. If they are not into games then they downloading songs or surfing Friendster. The kids next to me is playing the Warcraft and kept cursing and used those curse words you never imagine a kid will use.

Felt like giving him a good slap.

P/S : I should start saving and get a Blackberry soon.

KIller Mix.

Surfed and browsed the Internet on the look-out for some interesting stories and this is what I managed to find.

The article originated from our neighbour Indonesia. Reading the article in Bahasa Indonesia however need some getting used to from our own Bahasa Malaysia/Melayu. We may be serumpun in many ways but we can still get lost over some language barriers.

"Durian Maut" Cabut Tiga Nyawa

Tiga orang tewas dan dua lainnya dalam kondisi kritis pada hari Rabu karena diduga keracunan durian campur minuman keras (Miras) di Kabupaten Bungo, 310 km dari Kota Jambi.

Read more ...

Source: Antara

Note: It is a common knowledge over here that to eat durian and down it with any type of liquor is a big no-no.

Another thing that I have noticed so far is that the Indonesians like to have everything in short form.

In fact they have a short form name for almost anything.

For example, Jawa Timur is Jatim, Jawa Tengah is Jateng and in the above article, minuman keras becomes miras.

Aid for Gaza Goes Nowhere

At a Border Crossing, Drivers and Truckloads of Aid for Gaza Go Nowhere

By MICHAEL SLACKMAN

Published: January 27, 2009

(THE NEW YORK TIMES) - EL AUJA BORDER CROSSING, Egypt — France sent technical equipment to help Gazans draw water from the ground. The Swiss sent blankets and plastic tarps. Mercy Corps, a relief agency, sent 12 truckloads of food. And on Tuesday all of it, including dozens of other trucks carrying sugar, rice, flour, juice and baby formula, sat in the hot sun here going nowhere.


Read more ...

All those assistance will mean to nothing if it cannot reach the Gazans. What a shame.

Tapping Pressure Points to Address All Ailments.

Tapping pressure points to address all ailments

The Jakarta Post - Tue, 01/27/2009 A man sat inhaling the fresh air, holding a cigarette butt in his hand. "I don't like this anymore," he claimed.

Read more ...

Interesting. Wonder when will we be able to the same over here.

Snippet.

Came across this article about one of the many victims of the present world economics crunch. I am saddened by the fact of not being strong spiritually, his world around him had to suffers his same sad fate.

LA man upset over job kills wife, 5 kids, himself

Source : AOLnews

Chinese New Year - 2nd. Day.

Visited one house only today. I think that's about wrapped up my celebration for this year. Why only one house? Well this particular visit alone took half day to complete. Mana tidak. Talk, eat, talk, eat and hehehee a few cards game to past the time by while chit-hatting away.

At home I surfed the Net looking for this particular band whose name I have forgotten and not one song title that I can remember. Well it's been almost 20 years but I always hummed one particular tune. Strange no? You remembered the melody but not the title.

Anyway, I remembered the producer's name and so with a powerful tool as the Internet, I finally found not only that song but other songs by the same band. I have downloaded one song for everyone's listening pleasure. Hope you all will like it.

If you would like to listen uninterrupted, press 'PLAY' first and then paused. Let the buffering complete itself then press 'PLAY'. Meanwhile as you awaits for the whole process to complete, you may eat some kuaci if you have them. :)

Enjoy!

Love Welcome Home - Giant

Chinese New Year - 1st Day

Managed to visit only two of my friends today. Maybe tomorrow I will be able to visit more.

Out of curiosity, I drove through Kota Kinabalu late in the afternoon and I was right. Except for certain area, the rest are almost deserted.

Areas which were not affected much during this type of holiday are areas where concentration of the foreigners are quite high.

Section of the famous and almost deserted Gaya Street.

Another section Gaya Street. Unlike the previous years, no trace of burnt fire crackers were to be found or maybe I've missed it.

The Latest About Smoking.

Hmm... was surfing the web to get updated on the latest news and events when I came accross these two articles. Wonder when their counterparts over here will do the same. ( about the edict)


First, it was about the issuance of the edict.

Indonesia Bans Smoking For Certain Muslims

By Mohd Nasir Yusoff - JAKARTA, Jan 26 (Bernama) -- The Indonesian Ulamas Council (MUI) has issued an edict, forbidding children, pregnant women and MUI members from smoking.

The edict, which was issued in a meeting here on Sunday, also bans smoking in public places.

Antara News Agency quoted the council's Edict Commission chairman Amin Suma in West Sumatera today, as saying that MUI decided in the meeting that smoking for Muslims was between `haram` (forbidden) and `makruh` (objectionable).

Read More ...

Source : Bernama

Then the next article about the usual challenge and counter arguments that normally will follow suit. (A similar reaction over here when an edict about Yoga was issued recently.) Must be the serumpun thing.

Don't get me wrong. Smoking is bad and as a former smoker myself, I can safely vouch that to stop smoking is not an easy thing to do. Maybe for the Muslims, with edict such as this might be of help.

Islamic scholars challenge MUI edicts on smoking and yoga

The Jakarta Post - 01/26/2009 - Hasyim Muzadi, chairman of the country’s largest Islamic organization, challenged an edict by the country’s highest Islamic authority, The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), which bans smoking by children and pregnant women.

Hasyim, himself a smoker, said Monday that the Nahdlatul Ulama, which he chairs, has long declared smoking as “mukruh” (allowed but discouraged), and therefore, had never banned smoking.

Read More ...

Source : The Jakarta Post

Kong Hee Fatt Choi!

Myspace Christmas Comments

Tonight and like the years before, the clan will again be gathering for the anual dinner in conjunction with the arrival of the new lunar month in the Chinese calendar which will also usher in the Chinese New Year. It's fun and I am looking forward to it. We will be having our dinner in one of the restaurants here in Kota Kianabalu. Although being a Muslim (a mualaf) I make it a point never to miss if possible, this once a year occasion.

Kong Hee Fatt Choi!

Only English Could Invent These Words….

As the CNY holiday starts tomorrow, I will post something different for the readers of this blog.

It is an e-mail sent to me by an associate. It's a poem about the paradoxes of the English language but at the same time, fun to read. My guess is that most of you have already came across this poem but for those who have not then enjoy.

Credit should go to the original write named below.

I would also like to take the opportunity to wish the readers of this blog a Happy Chinese New Year.

Only English could invent these words….

We’ll begin with a box, and the plural is boxes,

But the plural of ox becomes oxen, not oxes.

One fowl is a goose, but two are called geese,

Yet the plural of moose should never be meese.

You may find a lone mouse or a nest full of mice,

Yet the plural of house is houses, not hice.

If the plural of man is always called men,

Then shouldn’t the plural of pan be called pen?

If I speak of my foot and show you my feet,

And I give you a boot, would a pair be called beet?

If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth,

Why shouldn’t the plural of booth be called beeth?

Then one may be that, and three would be those,

Yet hat in the plural would never be hose,

And the plural of cat is cats, not cose.

We speak of a brother and also of brethren,

But though we say mother, we never say methren.

Then the masculine pronouns are he, his and him,

But imagine the feminine: she, shis and shim!

Let’s face it - English is a crazy language.

There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger;

neither apple nor pine in pineapple.

English muffins weren’t invented in England .

We take English for granted, but if we explore its paradoxes,

we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square,

and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

And why is it that writers write but fingers don’t fing,

grocers don’t groce and hammers don’t ham?

Doesn’t it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend.

If you have a bunch of odds and ends

and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?

If teachers taught, why didn’t preachers praught?

If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?

Sometimes I think all the folks who grew up speaking English

should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane.

In what other language do people recite at a play and play at a recital?

We ship by truck but send cargo by ship.

We have noses that run and feet that smell.

We park in a driveway and drive in a parkway.

And how can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same,

while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites?

You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language

in which your house can burn up as it burns down,

in which you fill in a form by filling it out,

and in which an alarm goes off by going on.

And, in closing, if Father is Pop, how come Mother’s not Mop?

AND IF PEOPLE FROM POLAND ARE CALLED POLES THEN

PEOPLE FROM HOLLAND SHOULD BE HOLES

AND THE GERMANS, GERMS

Cool eh?

Contributed by : yatchmin yatchmin26@yahoo.co.uk

Another Malaysian Girl Caught For Drug Smuggling.

MELBOURNE, Jan 23 — Australia has charged a Malaysian woman with attempting to smuggle heroin into Melbourne by hiding the drug in her bra.

Read more ...

Hiding the drug in her bra is a sure sign of her intention to smuggle but why? Why do it? It is really not worth it. Wonder how much she's being paid to be a drug 'mule'.

Caught - Filipina tries to pass off as Indon.

Filipina tries to pass off as Indon

Daily Express - Kota Kinabalu: A Filipina tried to get her papers posing as an Indonesian during the on-going Indonesian regularisation exercise offered by the Consulate here.

The exercise is open to all Indonesians working illegally in Sabah so as to legalise them.

Acting Consul-General Rudhito Widagdo said the woman who is working as a maid produced all the necessary documents to Consulate officials that showed she has Indonesian nationality.

Read more ...

Well it is not really that hard to differentiate between the two nationalities if you know how. After mixing with them for so long, there are a few tricks which could be used (not 100% reliable) to distinguish between those two.

One such method is by asking them to pronounce some of these few words below. It is effective for those new arrivals or had been here in less than a year. The words marked in bold are heavily accented and are what normally said. Just like an old AhPek will say the word tidur as titun. :p

For Indonesian especially those from Sulawesi or Timorese these are the few words:

makan (makang), surat (sura), rumput (rumpu), jalan (jalang), poket (pokhe), kerja (karaya).

For Philipinos, these are some of the words they found it hard to pronounce as we Malaysians do:

thirty (torlti), fourty (forlti), taxi (taksi), back (bak), cuti (siuti), besar (bassal)

Sometimes I wonder why they are willing to go trough all that hassles. Maybe things are just so hard for them back there that crossing dangerous seas just to be here is like strolling in the park for them.

Then again there are limits to our hospitality and patience. There will come the time when they will have to go back. Till then and if they do get caught they do deserved the right to be treated fairly.

Sugar: Sweet Yet Unhealthy.

I was listening to the popular radio programme Hot FM, while on my way home after sending the kids to their respective schools this morning.

Then the Djs were discussing something about how the average Malaysians consumed 24 teaspoons of sugar daily and how this affect their health. Well I think it is way too much and very unhealthy. However, here is one Malaysian who won't cry if there's no sugar in his beverage or most of the food he takes as he don't really fancy the taste sweet. :p

Fellow blogger, Hishamuddin Rais of Tukar Tiub is not far from the mark either, when he predicted campaigns to discredit sugar will happen once the Government had announced the proposed increase of this essential commodity after the Chinese New Year holiday.

Hmm.. poor us. With the economic downturn would mean less subsidies.

Income Tax Forms.

Alamak! Dia sudah mari. Cepatnya sampai tahun ni.

The Government must be in need of fund. They never send me any return forms for so many years and all these while I have to do the chasing instead. Now suddenly it's there in the mail box. Hmm.. how did they know about my new address anyway when I have not even inform them yet. Is that a Sign of desperation or efficiency?

And to some people, this is a sure way to spoil their mood for the upcoming holiday.

Cops Ready For Crime Rise.

Sabah cops ready for any crime rise during slump

Daily Express - (20.01.2009) - Kota Kinabalu: Sabah police are bracing for a rise in crime in light of the global economic downturn. Although there are no signs of that at the moment, Sabah Commissioner of Police, Datuk Noor Rashid Ibrahim assured they have made plans to tackle the problem should it crop up.

"In theory it (rise in crime because of downturn) might happen but so far there are no indications of that happening yet," he said, in a telephone interview, Monday.

Read more ...

It would be advisable therefore, to be on extra vigilance in the coming months unless of course things changed for the better. Under the circumstances, looking normal and poor is good for one's health besides exercising and dieting.

Smile.

Yeah, smile. Smile can make our worries go away. There is a saying that smile is good for your health.

Understandably, some people may find it hard to smile nowadays with the gloomy prospects due to the global economic downturn.

Worry not for I have just what is needed to put a smile back on your face.





Soucre: whyatt.com.au

Snippet. (Turban vs. Helmet )

KOTA BAHARU, Jan 19 (Bernama) -- A religious school student from Pondok Pasir Tumboh here Monday opted to serve two days behind bars for riding a motorcycle wearing not a helmet but a turban two years ago.

Read more ...

He's entitled to his conviction but I guess the law is blind on this matter. He's being the unlucky one too. There's lots of riders and pillions out there on their bikes daily without helmets but still lucky enough of not being caught.

Updated 7.47 pm : The police respond.

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 20 (Bernama) -- Police are expected to discuss and review the rule on motorcyclists wearing the turban and serban, with the Attorney-General's Office soon.

Inspector General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan said currently Sikhs (turban) and Muslim Scholars (Ulama) who wear a serban (Muslim headgear) are exempted from wearing crash helmets while riding a motorcycle.

Read more ...

Quite tricky eh?

Updated: 21.01.2009 - 2.21pm

Below is a response from one reader of which I accidentally deleted. Sorry bro' and below is his original comment:

Rationally speaking, it is not about who should be more deserving of wearing turban and be exempted from law. It is about safety of the rider/pillion. In the event of crash, be it Sikh or Muslim, the brain is going to be splattered all over. It's ugly.

Being pious (respect/uphold/commitment to one's religion) is one thing. I just hope those opted for Turban know the consequences of their own action.

When that law came in force in 70/80s, many Sikh were exempted with turban, but remember, back then, motorcycle were 65cc, 70cc. You rarely seen and "cub-chai" that is above 100cc, today, almost all bike on the road are well above 90cc, heavier, more power, faster speed too. Even for Sikh,my sincere advice is, riding at 60-80km/h, the turban do not stand a chance, pls opt for helmet.

When we look into helmet, we see the face of our love ones, yes, that thing will give us better chance of survival should anything happen and still let us be home to be with our love ones, instead of having them coming to mortuary looking for us . Simple as that.
-woody @ Truth

GAZA

While waiting for our lecturer this afternoon, those of us in the hall were having some light conversation among ourselves. There was the occasional laughter and jokes when one of the fellow students reminded us that while we can laugh and talk freely, those who in Gaza right now are not as lucky. There was a sudden hush as we offered our prayers for the Gaza people in silence.

Yes, he is right. Although we are thousands of miles away from the carnage, we must not however forget our unlucky brothers and sisters over there. So upon reaching home, I went about searching on the Net for the latest news and updates about Gaza. I did not search through the main stream media but more on the blogs as sometimes these blogs will tell you more that what these main stream media will care to report.

I finally found one such blog from the many which may be accessed by logging here. However, I must warn you some of the images therein are not for those with the faint heart.

May God end their suffering soonest.

The Reality May Hit Us Sooner Than We Realise.

Excerpts taken from a Bernama article :

45,000 Workers Out Of Job By Chinese New Year - KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 18 (Bernama) - Some 45,000 workers in the manufacturing sector may temporarily be out of job soon with most factories in the country to cease operations for the Chinese New Year celebration.

Read more ...

Are our leaders still adamant in their insistence that Malaysia is not going to be affected by the present world economic downturn and that there is not going to be any recession?

While the factories may claimed what they are doing is only temporary in nature, I still think this is only the beginning before the real impact slowly hit upon us.

By the way, is there such thing as temporary termination? Is there any guarantee that temporary will be three weeks as claimed?

(Announcement like this is not helping and confusing. No wonder they lost in KT.)

Congratulations!

Congratulation to Abdul Wahid Endut for winning the PRK KT. As for the loser, try again next time.

Still, after saying that, I hope your (PAS) party will not be making any significant inroad here in Sabah. Nothing personal, I only wish to see a strong local party representing us in the future.

MPs Warned To Behave.

It is good if he really mean it. I am referring of course the statement made by Datuk Nazri here.

I always changed channels whenever they are about to show the recorded sessions of debates held in the parliament. Or for that matter, anything to do with MPs while they are inside the Dewan. I cringed and cringed and even had goose bumps when I first saw the antics of our MPs. Especially those newbies. Even watching scary movies does not have that effect on me (goose bumps).

However, I still hope those MPs who had already intended to call it a day and serve their last term and happened to as perverted as can be, will not sought to melepas habis-habisan.

If that scenario is to happen, then I think the Speakers of the Dewan will have to be ready with ample supply of Panadols or better still, heart attack pills for any eventualities. :p

IS THIS FOR REAL?

WARNING: RECEIVED THIS IN MY E-MAIL YESTERDAY. COULD NOT VERIFIED WHETHER THE CONTENT IS TRUE OR OTHERWISE. ANYWAY, IT HELPS FOR US TO BE VIGILANT WITH WHAT MATTERS TO US MOST: SAVINGS FOR OUR OLD AGE/RETIREMENT.

Dear all,

FYI....anyone with first hand info/ experience for confirmation??

This is another method for KWSP to steal our money!

Remember during Budget 2008 announcement last yr, our Finance Minister (cum PM) announced that in order to assist KWSP members to reduce the burden in housing load repayment, KWSP will allow monthly withdrawal from members' A/C II for the purpose?

Sounds like a nice goodies! When you apply for the monthly withdrawal, you only need to provide KWSP yr housing loan & instalment details from yr bank and the bank a/c # you like KWSP to bank the monthly withdrawal into it.

KWSP will approve yr application based on the available amt in yr A/C II and compute the withdrawal period by dividing the approved amt with the monthly instalment amt.

Application process takes about a month and you will receive the monthly payout promptly into yr bank a/c! Well everything appear to be nice and good. It was indeed a noble plan until you take to close look at yr KWSP Statement!

The withdrawal plan is actually a SCAM!

This is how the KWSP SCAM works.......

Assuming you have RM100,000 in yr A/C II and yr housing loan's monthly instalment is RM2000/mth.

KWSP will approve yr application of withdrawal from yr A/C II of RM100,000 and pay you RM2000/mth for the next 50mths.
Everything appears to be in order BUT.......

What KWSP didn't highlight to you is that when the application was approved, the TOTAL AMT (RM100,000) is removed from yr A/C II! It appears to be transfered to an unknown a/c to effect the monthly payment from therein.

The impact to the member are as follows :-

1. You just lost RM100,000 from yr A/C II. Assuming the KWSP Dividend is 5%, you will lose >RM4,000 in dividend during the 1st year. Based on the above example you will will lose >RM10,000 over the 50 mths period!

2. There is no statement to account for the amt approved vs amt paid, hence you would need to keep the monthly payment voucher to reconcile against the approved amt over the 50mths period to ensure there is no missing amt!

Assuming there are 100,000 members who innocently fell prey to this SCAM, based on the above example, KWSP would have cheated the members of 100,000 X RM10,000 = RM1,000,000,000 (that's RM1 BILLION) over the period!


Furthermore, if you discovered this SCAM early and intend to stop the plan, KWSP would not allow any cancellation of the plan until at least 1 year. That would mean, once the application is approved, based on the above example, you would have lost >RM4,000. 100,000 members would have lost 100,000 X RM4,000 = RM400,000,000 (RM400 MILLION) in One Year!!!

If you're a victim of this KWSP SCAM, would suggest you call yr MP to raise hell in Parliament! (BN MPs won't do it)

For others who have not fallen into this SCAM, pls continue to watch out and alert yr family & friends about this.

HOW COULD THE GOVERNMENT ALLOW ITS AGENCY TASKED WITH SAFEGUARDING ITS CITIZEN'S HARD EARNED MONEY TO CHEAT ITS MEMBERS IN THIS MANNER???

Pls spread this message around.

Maybe It's For Real After All.

I have nothing against the Sabah Development Corridor (SDC). In fact I am for anything that brings progress and development to the State, provided of course that in the zest of it all, that we do not have to give too much away that in the end we are made fools in our own backyard.

Reading this article here, brought some sigh of relief as people have been joking around that the proposed SDC may actually turns out only to be a very expensive b******t!

Related article : Bill passed to help make Sabah Corridor a reality. The StarOnline. 15-01-2009

Harga Minyak.

Harga minyak mentah dunia kini berlegar sekitar USD 37.63. Nampaknya tindakan oleh OPEC dan perang di Gaza tidak memberi kesan langsung pada harga dunia setakat ini. Jika harga minyak mentah dunia terus bertahan sekitar tahap ini, agaknya sempat tak harga minyak tempatan akan turun lagi sebelum Tahun Baru Cina ini?

Stolen Identity.

I used to be shocked or surprised in the past upon reading news report such as the one below. Well that was then but not anymore. In fact I can assure you that most of us here in Sabah considered such cases of stolen identity as common as the common cold. It will come and caused you discomfort regardless of the rituals on personal hygiene that you rigorously observed.

I pity the poor fellow though. That the authorities had failed to solve his problem after so long shows the callousness and unsymphatetic attitude they have towards his predicament. Now that this has been publicised nationwide and through the Net, hopefully his problem will be settled expediently.

It should be remembered that we are already in the ninth year of the 21st century and should by now have in our disposal, a workable and systematic methods in curbing the usage of stolen and forged identity cards.

Below are excerpts the news article I am referring about.

Sabahan plagued by peninsula traffic fines.
By Muguntan Vanar
January 12, 2009

KOTA KINABALU: Amzari Sapoh, 25, does not own or know how to ride a motorcycle but he has been slapped with arrest warrants for failing to settle his traffic summonses for the last three years.

Curiously, the summonses were all issued to him “for riding without a licence” in various states in Peninsular Malaysia when the Sabahan is a full-time clerk in a company here.

Read more ...

Source :The StarOnline

Related Link: IC Palsu

A New Chapter For A New Year.

The economic downturn has already reached our shores. Maybe the effect is not yet as obvious as one needs to be affected by it to be able to know. In so saying yes, I am affected by it.

I will soon be joining the rank of the unemployed. My employer have yet to inform me officially but being in the construction line long enough, one can safely predict of what bound to happen before this month ends.

With cutbacks from the Government, funds are insufficient to proceed with new projects. Most of the less urgent or "can wait" projects had to be put on hold. Thus, suddenly the Company found itself to be over staffed. So cost saving measures had to be implemented and the rest will be history. If you are in this line of work, then you will know that your term of employment are based on contract basis. No new project, no job. No construction company will retain excess staff over a long period.

Ah well, had been expecting this to happen anyway. Still I see this turn of event on the positive side. Been wanting to go on my own or be "self-employed" for so long now. And at so early in the new year, maybe just maybe somebody is telling me that now is the right time. If the "aliens" can do it why not me.

With my experience and the contacts I have, Insyallah I will be alright. Anyway, being my own boss do have its advantages. I will have more free time completing my studies assignments. Perhaps more time to blog. :p

Snippet.

This acts as my response after reading this article here.

It is ethical to politicise the sufferings of others to one's own advantage? By the way, I half suspected that no permit was obtained for this gatherings ...

Who Is Lying Here?

I came across this article here about the Association of the Computer and Multimedia Industry of Malaysia (Pikom) hoping for the EPF computer purchase scheme to be revived again this year. Among the reasons given by them were :

“It would be good to re look at EPF’s ‘One Home, One Computer’ campaign, It will allow people to have the flexibility to purchase a PC using their EPF funds,” he added.

Wong said PC penetration in Malaysia is still below 50%. “A lot of money is being poured into broadband infrastructure but PC penetration is still 44%. More people need to own a PC to leverage on all this infrastructure.

Source: Return of the EPF computer scheme? The Star Online. 6 January 2009

However another article I've read, says otherwise:

When it comes to consuming digital media, Malaysians rank fifth out of the 52 countries and ninth where downloading entertainment content from the Internet is concerned.

According to the Nielsen report, 53 per cent of Malaysians have streamed or played content such as full-length movies, video clips, TV shows and music videos while 41 per cent have downloaded the same variety of content from the Internet over the last month.

The survey has also found 89 per cent of Malaysian own at least a TV set while 87 percent had at least one personal computer.

Source : Survey finds Malaysians are entertainment, media junkies. The New Sabah Times. 08 January 2009.

I am confused. Who is telling the truth and who is lying here?

Snippet About Bailout In The US.

So you think you are the only one having problem. I was really amused upon reading this article. Help to brighten up my somewhat mundane day. Something to make us temporarily forget our problems and the madness all around us.

Excerpts from the article....

"It's time for Congress to rejuvenate the sexual appetite of America. The only way they can do this is by supporting the adult industry and doing it quickly."

Mr Flynt said people were "too depressed to be sexually active."

"This is very unhealthy as a nation. Americans can do without cars and such, but they cannot do without sex."

Larry Flynt, founder of Hustler Magazine

Read More ...

Source : Americans 'too depressed' for sex, porn barons seek US bailout. ABC News, o8 January 2009

Sufferings In Gaza - #3.

An article worth reading :

Hamas and the Arab States

January 7, 2009
By Kamran Bokhari and Reva Bhalla

Israel is now in the 12th day of carrying out Operation Cast Lead against the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip, where Hamas has been the de facto ruler ever since it seized control of the territory in a June 2007 coup. The Israeli campaign, whose primary military aim is to neutralize Hamas’ ability to carry out rocket attacks against Israel, has led to the reported deaths of more than 560 Palestinians; the number of wounded is approaching the 3,000 mark.

The reaction from the Arab world has been mixed. On the one hand, a look at the so-called Arab street will reveal an angry scene of chanting protesters, burning flags and embassy attacks in protest of Israel’s actions. The principal Arab regimes, however, have either kept quiet or publicly condemned Hamas for the crisis — while privately often expressing their support for Israel’s bid to weaken the radical Palestinian group.

Despite the much-hyped Arab nationalist solidarity often cited in the name of Palestine, most Arab regimes actually have little love for the Palestinians. While these countries like keeping the Palestinian issue alive for domestic consumption and as a tool to pressure Israel and the West when the need arises, in actuality, they tend to view Palestinian refugees — and more Palestinian radical groups like Hamas — as a threat to the stability of their regimes.

Read more ...

Source: Stratfor.com

Suffering in Gaza - # 2.

My prayers goes to the innocent Palestinian people of Gaza whom are caught in between the deadly on going conflict. Such a wasteful and terrible tragedy.

Image : The Peoples Voice

Man Guilty Raping A 62 Year Old.

It is only the seventh day of 2009 and already we are fed with is kind of story on the local front. This ***hole of a man deserved the maximum of any punishment there is. He is either a real bastard, drunk or high on drugs to commit such crime. A normal man would not do such thing.

Guilty of raping granny, 62

(Daily Express) -Kota Kinabalu: A 42-year-old farmer pleaded guilty in the Sessions Court here Tuesday to raping a 62-year-old grandmother last month.

Jundan Hairal, a Filipino, admitted before Judge Supang Lian to committing the offence to the elderly woman at 10.30pm at Lot 14, Third Floor, Block 9, Taman Jaya Diri, Menggatal, here.

Read More ...

(Heran bin ajaib. Macam mana itu barang boleh jadi keras.)

Dark Clouds On The Horizon.

Received this article in my e-mail today. Now if giant like Micrososft can be greatly affected by the current economy downturn, then we may be witnessing a bleak year indeed for 2009.

Microsoft Rumored to Lay Off Thousands Worldwide

by Brandon Dimmel

It seems not even Microsoft is impervious to the effects of this increasingly painful recession. According to reports, the Redmond-based company is preparing to lay off about 17 per cent of its entire workforce in the coming months.

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Source : infopackets.com

Back To School Blues.

I have prepared a summary that will tell you just how much parents with children enrolling in form one this year will need to pay for this particular school.

Mind you this is a sekolah kerajaan and not those sekolah bantuan or jenis kebangsaan type.I believe for these other schools, the cost could be much higher. For the present form two and up to form five students, they are charged RM110.00 each.

It is quite fortunate however, that the Headmaster of this particular school is a considerate soul and parents are allowed to settle the amount in two instalments. For those very productive parents, aye' they will be feeling the pinch alright.

PTA fee and activities = RM 104.00
Compulsory payments for students (materials and others) = RM 100.00
Total Amount (Male) = RM204.00
(Female)* = RM194.00

*RM10.00 are waived as female student are exempted from wearing necktie.

Back To School But Not To Some.

Today was quite a hectic day as I went about arranging the necessary things for the kids whose schooling life started anew this year. One of boys actually tasted his first day today as a form one student.

Everything went on quite well. No serious problem encountered on my part. However, the same cannot be said to some unlucky parents at the school where my son enrolled.

Their problem started when the Pejabat Pendidikan Daerah, whom had earlier assigned their children just before their Year Six final semester ended, to school A to continue with their secondary education. Somehow for unknown reasons, school A did not to accept some of them and was reassigned to school B.

Since these reassigned names did not appear in the master list provided by the Education Department for school B, most of them and especially those with poor academic results were declined and unceremoniously rejected. One really upset and exasperated parent asked me for an opinion of which I replied by asking him to refer his grievances back to the Education Department.

What I would like to know is, can a school (in this case, School A) simply reject students assigned by the Education Department just because these poor students did meet certain pre-set criteria? Are schools allowed to do these? I believe this problem are faced by lots of parents today.

Snippet.

I always find it disturbing and sad having to read article like the one below. Being in the construction line for so long, I am forever thankful to God that all these years, no serious or fatal accident ever happen under my watch.

Filipino labourer crushed to death - Daily Express - Kota Kinabalu: A Filipino labourer was killed after being crushed by a one-tonne iron bucket while working at a construction site in Sepanggar, near here, Saturday. AbdBasir Jalaun, 40, died on the spot after the iron bucket used for pouring cement fell on him at about 5pm when he and several other workers were mixing cement.

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Snippet.

Excerpts of an article in The Malaysian Insider which caught my attention:

Tee Keat strengthens grip on MCA with changes at The Star.

By Leslie Lau

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 2 – The end is near for Datuk Steven Tan, the man who turned The Star into a local media giant, after it was announced today that he would relinquish in six months his position as executive deputy chairman of the newspaper group.

Tan’s retirement was announced in a filing to Bursa Malaysia today, in what will be seen as a move by MCA president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat to strengthen his grip on the party, which controls The Star.

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It is not surprising. To be effective all round, a political party will need a sort of voice piece where they can control and inseminates distorted news to the public. What better instrument than a daily newspaper. Hey, if other political parties can do it with their own dailies or other mass media method, why should MCA be left out anyway? Freedom of the press? Come on, in today's world, that may only exists in our imagination.

But don't give up hope just yet. If we feel we are being short-changed or taken as fools by these type of people, we can always boycott them of course. And if I were to do such thing, I will be saving RM2.00 a day and it is still a lot you know.

Frequent Visits Possible to NS Trainees. Talk Only Ma ...

Excerpts of an article from The Star dated 3 January 2009, about National Service Training Department director-general Datuk Abdul Hadi Awang Kechil, when he said:

Parents can visit NS trainees more often

Parents can now visit their children undergoing national service training at the 81 camps nationwide every weekend instead of fortnightly..

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Well now that was so easy for him to say isn't it? What about us the parents from Sabah or parents whose children were sent far away from their home states, where in my case, to Selangor D. E. Can the Government at least foot in the ticket fare for 1 visit during those 3 months training period? I don't think so.

I was quite perplexed initially upon finding out that my son was to be sent over there. Why so far away when there are many training camps here in Sabah alone? Then I have to more or less accept this move as one of those "integration" thing they are trying so hard to instill in us. Hope they are successful in this. Or maybe our kids can show them over there a thing or two about integration.

Finally to the Director General, please don't go talking like we can just drop everything and took the next flight out and go over there. Those well to do parents can afford it but not all parents are as lucky. I am just wondering the type of trainees they are producing when the Director General himself can't think before he speaks.

Poll For Malaysian of the Year By Malaysian Insider.

Presently a poll is being conducted by the Malaysian Insider for its readers to choose whom they think most eligible to be named Malaysian of the Year. Among those shortlisted candidates are Tun Dr. Mahathir, Raja petra Kamaruddin and Datuk Seri Anwar.

As I am writting this article, RPK is leading followed by The Rakyat while tentatively in third placing is DSAI.

I have no question for the first two candidates. But DSAI? Other than winning the Permatang Pauh by-election, his claim of PR taking over the Goverment last September did not see the light. Presently his own PKR is facing its worst internal problem so far.

What about Tok Guru Nik Aziz or Lim Guan Eng? They have done and performed quite well this year for their respective states.

News On Windows 7.

Came upon this piece about Windows 7, the successor of the Vista operating system which is available for download, although illegally, on the net but limited to a testing period of 30 days.

Some claimed that Microsoft had deliberately leaked it as 'Marketing gimmick' for testing and feed backs. Strange tactic if you asked me but a smart move all the same. Why? Because people still haven't been able to crack the key to the 30 days trial period. After 30 days, poof! It will be gone and you will have to buy the original version if you really liked it and they claimed that Windows 7 operates really well indeed.

Hmm.. I am still using the aging XP operating system and they already have another new version coming out. I am so ketinggalan zaman. I am also wondering how much would it cost once it hits the market. I didn't change to Vista last time for the reason it was so damn expensive.

Now that Microsoft is releasing another new version soon and during this gloomy period, one thing that I am sure of is that it will punch a big hole in our budget.

For more more info, go here.

Musa Aman : Less politicking please.

Excerpts from a Daily Express article about Datuk Musa Aman calling for less politicking this year:

(Daily Express) - Kota Kinabalu : Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Haji Aman has expressed optimism that Sabah would continue to forge ahead in the implementation of development programmes amid less political bickering in 2009.

"I also hope that politicking will stop so that we can move ahead and bring more development to the people.

"Let us close ranks so that Sabah will progress further and refrain from getting duped by the opposition which is good at empty talk and empty promises," he said, in his New Year message.

In this respect, Malaysians in Sabah must work with the Government towards increasing the State's competitiveness in a globalised world and towards remaining united in putting strategies and plans to work into the next phase of development, he added.

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Source : CM hopes for less politicking next year, Daily Express, 1 January 2009

How many political leaders had made similar calls? I have lost count but still a good call indeed by Musa. Hopefully though that it will not fall on deaf ears.