Money changes everyone, changes everything.... is it so? Well for sure Love Changes Everything according to Climie Fisher.. here I go again digressing, must be the influence of those 90s songs I am listening to now...
Back to money and honesty, a seemingly ordinary non-event incident recently made me think about the effect of money on the level of our honesty. Over the years I am sure some, many of us had come across money lying on the pavement, floor. What do we do with it? I remember when I was still a kid, came across two dollars lying on the jambatan or bridge, it felt like durian runtuh (windfall). Did I bother to ask around? No way. I just took the money and headed to the nearest KK. Not Kota Kinabalu but the nearest Indian Shop better known as Kadai Kaling. Kadai si Kadir to be exact. Two dollars worth a lot those days, even more so to a little kid. Errands such as buying “tong gas” or gas cylinders only earned little boys 50 cents, one dollar if we were lucky. That was rolling the cylinders along the bridge, not an easy feat, very tricky indeed. So two dollars was like winning a lottery. If tikam-tikaman (I wonder if any of the current generation know this game, or was it gambling?), to get 50 cents was very hard especially with low probability, let alone one or two dollars.
Recently while walking about around the third best airport in the world, contemplating to get the iPod docking alarm clock or not, a ritual whenever I am at this particular airport, I almost stepped on some money, obviously not mine, must have dropped by somebody. Upon further inspection, it was only seventeen dollars from a GST refund. First thing on my mind, what do I do with it? Take it? Run away with it? If I am a little kid, maybe I would have done that. Being a good civic minded person (angkat bakul eh), I went to the nearest information counter, reported it and left the money with the ladies there. As I walked away I was feeling happy and proud as I have done the right thing again. I remembered I did the same thing when I found a communicator handphone at one of the eating places in the same airport.
Not giving the incident much thought, boarded the plane and tried to get some sleep. Then a thought start to nag me. What if the money on that floor was a lot? What if it was hundreds of dollars? What would have I done? Would it be silly to leave it at the information counter not knowing if the money will ever get back to the rightful owner? Would I start thinking that it was rezeki for me to get the iPod Docking alarm radio? Many questions ran through my head. May be I would still do the same thing but was it a certainty I would do that? May be yes, maybe not....
Despite most, a lot of us, if not all, knowing honesty is the best policy, the right thing to do at all times, when it comes to money, it is not a certainty we will do the right thing. The amount, the situation, the scenario may lead to different outcomes. Temptations, cobaan as Bujang Lapok called it will always be there. Many cases over the years of people fallen to the lure and temptation of the dollar signs. May be we can ask Climie Fisher to rewrite the lyrics to their hit song and titled it “Money Changes Everything” .... may be...
PS:
Finally bought the iPod Docking Alarm Clock after four rounds of ritualistic pondering contemplation stretched over a period of many months. Well it was worth it. Booming bass sound from such a small box is just marvellous. Fergie of Black Eyed Peas would be shouting .... Fabulous!
Monday, June 29, 2009
Paybill Day ....
It’s Sunday, a day after payday for all Government servants. A friend joked its PAYBILL day... maybe he is right. For a lot of people, immediately after the salary dollars entered their bank accounts, big portion of it will either be withdrawn or blocked by the banks to pay for liabilities such as car loans, credit cards, all sorts of personal loans etc etc. As Bruneians call it, panas pun alum punggung....... the money is gone in no time after waiting for it for over four weeks....
After the monthly ritual of paybill, a lot of people wonder if they have anything left of their hard earned salary to be saved. It is a well known fact, everyone should try to save 10% to 30% of their salary. Do we? Can we? Chances are, many will not. Too much debt to pay, desire not balance with need, consumerism and useless stuff are among the common reasons cited for this. The following tips taken from a website may help us save a bit:
• Pay out/clear all the credit cards or any invoices. Don’t debt. Don’t pay minimum payment, it's just increasing the debt from its interest.
• Minimize the desires/wishes of things. Desire is not the same with need. Sometime, when we think that I need a car, think twice, do we REALLY need a car? Can I drive just a motorcycle to my workplace or just a bicycle?
• STOP spoiling eyes and brain for what we see, we touch. You don’t have to wear luxurious satin gown to the party if you can modify your cotton gown.
• No more than 2 credit/debit cards in wallet. Use it wisely, don’t push the limit.
• Investment, investment, investment. You can apply insurance for keeping your money, of life insurance, or any insurance that fit with your condition. OR.. you can apply for bank deposit which has annual withdrawal, which give us penalty if we withdraw before the time limit.
• CUT OFF 10-30% from salary immediately after we received and save it to your bank account. Make it as "dead account", don’t make withdrawal history from this account unless you really really really need it. Make this account without any card facility, low interest is fine, the important is it's safe.
May be then we can really earned the rich tag Bruneians tend to get overseas especially in this region.
Talking about tags and reputations, at the beginning of the week I was in a modern city state founded by Sang Nila Utama and once was saved from attacks of the swordfish by the genius of a 7 year old boy, Hang Nadim. To the people in this city state, Bruneians are well off rich people. Therefore it is understandable, whenever we are getting any service at any hotels, for the hotel staff especially the bell boys to expect big tip from us. Admittedly some deserve it. For sure all will try to please you 247. To cut a long story short, over the period of five days I was there, I have gone from being called Tuan when I arrived, to Dato, Pengiran and Pehin in the space of just five days. That must be in a world record time! The price? Only $10 of tip ......
I wonder what the bellboy will call me if I stay a day longer .......
After the monthly ritual of paybill, a lot of people wonder if they have anything left of their hard earned salary to be saved. It is a well known fact, everyone should try to save 10% to 30% of their salary. Do we? Can we? Chances are, many will not. Too much debt to pay, desire not balance with need, consumerism and useless stuff are among the common reasons cited for this. The following tips taken from a website may help us save a bit:
• Pay out/clear all the credit cards or any invoices. Don’t debt. Don’t pay minimum payment, it's just increasing the debt from its interest.
• Minimize the desires/wishes of things. Desire is not the same with need. Sometime, when we think that I need a car, think twice, do we REALLY need a car? Can I drive just a motorcycle to my workplace or just a bicycle?
• STOP spoiling eyes and brain for what we see, we touch. You don’t have to wear luxurious satin gown to the party if you can modify your cotton gown.
• No more than 2 credit/debit cards in wallet. Use it wisely, don’t push the limit.
• Investment, investment, investment. You can apply insurance for keeping your money, of life insurance, or any insurance that fit with your condition. OR.. you can apply for bank deposit which has annual withdrawal, which give us penalty if we withdraw before the time limit.
• CUT OFF 10-30% from salary immediately after we received and save it to your bank account. Make it as "dead account", don’t make withdrawal history from this account unless you really really really need it. Make this account without any card facility, low interest is fine, the important is it's safe.
May be then we can really earned the rich tag Bruneians tend to get overseas especially in this region.
Talking about tags and reputations, at the beginning of the week I was in a modern city state founded by Sang Nila Utama and once was saved from attacks of the swordfish by the genius of a 7 year old boy, Hang Nadim. To the people in this city state, Bruneians are well off rich people. Therefore it is understandable, whenever we are getting any service at any hotels, for the hotel staff especially the bell boys to expect big tip from us. Admittedly some deserve it. For sure all will try to please you 247. To cut a long story short, over the period of five days I was there, I have gone from being called Tuan when I arrived, to Dato, Pengiran and Pehin in the space of just five days. That must be in a world record time! The price? Only $10 of tip ......
I wonder what the bellboy will call me if I stay a day longer .......
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Scarce Resource ...
Today and the last couple of days were spent listening to diverse views from diverse group of people on water. But one common understanding they all have is “water is a scarce resource”. What does it mean? In short, water is a priceless resource. Some people, in fact a lot of people, says water is life. Life needs water....
That’s the global perception. How about our own local perception? First let us all be thankful, our country is blessed with abundance (but not limitless for sure) of water. We live in a country where we have among the lowest, if not the lowest water tariff in the world (yet we still have people complaining about it and a significant number of “none paying mau free saja user”). We also have the “honour” of among the highest user of water per capita per day, 450 litres per day. That’s around 300 big bottles of those sehat water. Well, if I sound bibiran about this as this was in my earlier entry, so be it.
With the above basic facts, a question that needs to be answered is how we, as a nation, value water? To answer it, let’s look at simple and basic things in our life in Brunei. The answer lies in there somewhere. When we got up in d morning, how do we brush our teeth, how do we shower, how do we wash? A large number of us have the habit of letting the water run and run and run, throwing away water. If we value something, are we willing to throw it away? NO! Most if not all will say... In fact a lot will want to collect and keep the valuable thing. Conclusion? We do not value water... simple!
But for sure everyone realises how important water is in our lives. For people who has not realise this, do imagine that you are doing your “big business” in the toilet at night. Suddenly, the electricity and water were cut off. What do wish for? If you were asked to choose either electricity or water, which one will you choose? 100% of you will ask for water to be restored. See how important water is?
The above are the normal basic things most if not all has experienced. It points to two extremes, one where we do not value water and another where we know water is important in our lives.
Let’s look it at from another perspective. All of us, it is in Bruneians’ nature, to think to the future and do our best to secure our children’s and their children’s future especially education and harta. If water is important to us and it is not limitless, don’t we want to leave some for our children and their children? I am sure, many if not all will say YES....
The question now is HOW? Everyone has a role to play. The government, thankfully, has and will continue to invest and pour millions into new water infrastructure projects and maintaining and upgrading existing water infrastructure to meet the demand for water. But the demand will always increase with increase in population. As demand increase, more and more investment will be required. The government will always play catch up. We will never be able to stop the increase. It is a lost hope it seems but there must be something we can do to slow down and reduce the increase. How? Each of us, every day, reduce our water usage. Slowly but surely, the rate of increase in water demand will slow down ...
Let’s play our role, be thankful that we have abundant of water, and value our water MORE..... after all, our children and their children deserve to live like us...
VALUE WATER ..... SAVE WATER!
That’s the global perception. How about our own local perception? First let us all be thankful, our country is blessed with abundance (but not limitless for sure) of water. We live in a country where we have among the lowest, if not the lowest water tariff in the world (yet we still have people complaining about it and a significant number of “none paying mau free saja user”). We also have the “honour” of among the highest user of water per capita per day, 450 litres per day. That’s around 300 big bottles of those sehat water. Well, if I sound bibiran about this as this was in my earlier entry, so be it.
With the above basic facts, a question that needs to be answered is how we, as a nation, value water? To answer it, let’s look at simple and basic things in our life in Brunei. The answer lies in there somewhere. When we got up in d morning, how do we brush our teeth, how do we shower, how do we wash? A large number of us have the habit of letting the water run and run and run, throwing away water. If we value something, are we willing to throw it away? NO! Most if not all will say... In fact a lot will want to collect and keep the valuable thing. Conclusion? We do not value water... simple!
But for sure everyone realises how important water is in our lives. For people who has not realise this, do imagine that you are doing your “big business” in the toilet at night. Suddenly, the electricity and water were cut off. What do wish for? If you were asked to choose either electricity or water, which one will you choose? 100% of you will ask for water to be restored. See how important water is?
The above are the normal basic things most if not all has experienced. It points to two extremes, one where we do not value water and another where we know water is important in our lives.
Let’s look it at from another perspective. All of us, it is in Bruneians’ nature, to think to the future and do our best to secure our children’s and their children’s future especially education and harta. If water is important to us and it is not limitless, don’t we want to leave some for our children and their children? I am sure, many if not all will say YES....
The question now is HOW? Everyone has a role to play. The government, thankfully, has and will continue to invest and pour millions into new water infrastructure projects and maintaining and upgrading existing water infrastructure to meet the demand for water. But the demand will always increase with increase in population. As demand increase, more and more investment will be required. The government will always play catch up. We will never be able to stop the increase. It is a lost hope it seems but there must be something we can do to slow down and reduce the increase. How? Each of us, every day, reduce our water usage. Slowly but surely, the rate of increase in water demand will slow down ...
Let’s play our role, be thankful that we have abundant of water, and value our water MORE..... after all, our children and their children deserve to live like us...
VALUE WATER ..... SAVE WATER!
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Champions....
Congratulations! Bravo! Well done! Tahniah! to DPMM FC for winning the Singapore League Cup 2009. An achievement the whole country is definitely very proud of. This is no small feat. Only admitted to the S-League two weeks before the start of the season, here we are few months on, the Champions of the League Cup, the first foreign team to win any silverware in Singapore domestic competitions. Next is the League title ............
Most TVs in Brunei were glued to RTB watching the match unfold. Full time score 1-1, the match went into extra time. Thirty minutes of torture as the Singapore Armed Forces FC (SAFFC) mounted attack after attack. Then came the penalties. Pacing around trying to keep calm. What a relief, it ended up 4-3 to DPMM FC. Phew!
Sitting there watching the match on TV, memories of one Saturday night in December 1999 came flooding back. There we were, thousands of Brunei hardcore supporters at the Merdeka Stadium in Kuala Lumpur gathered to watch an historic moment, witnessing the first and only time Brunei won the Malaysia Cup. Those days, we had Patron Akakpo, Brian Bothwell, Rosli Leman (wonder what happened to the Toyota he won), Liew, Azmanuddin, Irwan, Ibrahim and many more including Ak Sallehudin who is one of the key players of the current DPMM FC team.
At the beginning of 1999, it did not look like we will be winning anything! Being the year Brunei was hosting the 20th SEA Games, the focus of the country was on the SEA Games. Preparation for it became top priority. The M-League matches had to move to Padang Kebajikan as the Stadium was under renovation. Well over the years Brunei had played their matches in lesser padangs. It started at Padang Besar (now Taman SOAS) in 1979, then the KBRC (I remembered this fondly, the match against Sarawak where Pg Tajuddin scored through a thunderbolt freekick), the Police Stadium in Gadong and the Padang Puaka aka Padang JKR at Airport Lama (Brunei remained undefeated in one season here!). So what’s wrong with Padang Kebajikan? May be it was bad luck, Brunei fared badly in almost every match there. Not until after Brunei had done with the hosting of the SEA Games (a memorable sporting event we hosted brilliantly with the most gold medal haul ever for Brunei), the matches moved back to the National Stadium, the Brunei Team aka the Wasps got into gear and started winning match after match.
After failing at the semi final and quarter final stages the previous years, Brunei was not going to be denied. The couple of weeks before the final got thousands scrambling for air tickets. By hook or by crook, a lot of people wanted to be at the Final. Luckily extra flights were arranged. Kuala Lumpur was flooded with thousands of Bruneians. Some even arrived on the day of the final and immediately returned after the match.
On that Saturday night, 4 December 1999, as soon as the final whistle blew, thousands of us were ecstatic. Tears flowing. Hugging. Shouting “Brunei Yakin!”. Jumping up and down! Who cares how silly we all looked like. All we care was after 20 years, we finally won the Cup! Few of us managed to celebrate with the players at the team hotel (after soup ekor session to regain some energy drained during the match). What a night! Hairs on the back of my neck stood and tears in my eyes every time I recalled that night!
Now, 10 years on, we won the League Cup. Hopefully this will be a good sign for the future of football in Brunei. Better things to come unlike the downhill spiral the local football scene took after winning the Malaysia Cup in 1999. First thing first, the most important step is to sort out the BAFA/FFBD quandary ...
Brunei Yakin!
Most TVs in Brunei were glued to RTB watching the match unfold. Full time score 1-1, the match went into extra time. Thirty minutes of torture as the Singapore Armed Forces FC (SAFFC) mounted attack after attack. Then came the penalties. Pacing around trying to keep calm. What a relief, it ended up 4-3 to DPMM FC. Phew!
Sitting there watching the match on TV, memories of one Saturday night in December 1999 came flooding back. There we were, thousands of Brunei hardcore supporters at the Merdeka Stadium in Kuala Lumpur gathered to watch an historic moment, witnessing the first and only time Brunei won the Malaysia Cup. Those days, we had Patron Akakpo, Brian Bothwell, Rosli Leman (wonder what happened to the Toyota he won), Liew, Azmanuddin, Irwan, Ibrahim and many more including Ak Sallehudin who is one of the key players of the current DPMM FC team.
At the beginning of 1999, it did not look like we will be winning anything! Being the year Brunei was hosting the 20th SEA Games, the focus of the country was on the SEA Games. Preparation for it became top priority. The M-League matches had to move to Padang Kebajikan as the Stadium was under renovation. Well over the years Brunei had played their matches in lesser padangs. It started at Padang Besar (now Taman SOAS) in 1979, then the KBRC (I remembered this fondly, the match against Sarawak where Pg Tajuddin scored through a thunderbolt freekick), the Police Stadium in Gadong and the Padang Puaka aka Padang JKR at Airport Lama (Brunei remained undefeated in one season here!). So what’s wrong with Padang Kebajikan? May be it was bad luck, Brunei fared badly in almost every match there. Not until after Brunei had done with the hosting of the SEA Games (a memorable sporting event we hosted brilliantly with the most gold medal haul ever for Brunei), the matches moved back to the National Stadium, the Brunei Team aka the Wasps got into gear and started winning match after match.
After failing at the semi final and quarter final stages the previous years, Brunei was not going to be denied. The couple of weeks before the final got thousands scrambling for air tickets. By hook or by crook, a lot of people wanted to be at the Final. Luckily extra flights were arranged. Kuala Lumpur was flooded with thousands of Bruneians. Some even arrived on the day of the final and immediately returned after the match.
On that Saturday night, 4 December 1999, as soon as the final whistle blew, thousands of us were ecstatic. Tears flowing. Hugging. Shouting “Brunei Yakin!”. Jumping up and down! Who cares how silly we all looked like. All we care was after 20 years, we finally won the Cup! Few of us managed to celebrate with the players at the team hotel (after soup ekor session to regain some energy drained during the match). What a night! Hairs on the back of my neck stood and tears in my eyes every time I recalled that night!
Now, 10 years on, we won the League Cup. Hopefully this will be a good sign for the future of football in Brunei. Better things to come unlike the downhill spiral the local football scene took after winning the Malaysia Cup in 1999. First thing first, the most important step is to sort out the BAFA/FFBD quandary ...
Brunei Yakin!
Thursday, June 18, 2009
the Internet 247 .....
Internet is part and parcel of most people’s lives now. Being online and connected 247 is a very big deal to a lot of people. Loss of internet connection is treated the same way as loss of water or electricity supply. More and more ways to stay in contact with family and friends are available. E-mails, internet messengers, Facebook, Windows Space, Twitter to name a few.
As in all things in this world, internet has its positives and negatives. Focussing on the positives, advancement in the internet means we now can get real time news. A good example was a few days ago there was some disturbances at the Malaysian Parliament. Faster than TV news can do it, we can read real time hot from the oven reports direct from the Parliament. Guess who the reporters were? The members of parliament themselves through the Twitter service.
Not just through the computers, we now have access through our mobile phones. Even the not so smart models come with internet access as a standard. Facebook users, twitter subscribers and even the MSN users can now use their mobile phones and update their status, made comments and the most useless of all ... poked their friends. If we observe carefully people around us, we can see more than 50% will be holding and staring at their mobile phones. More and more of these people are actually accessing the internet. Some even take their phones everywhere ... I know a few who updates their status while doing their business in the toilet. Lucky for us, internet so far only comes with sight and sound effect. Imagine if it comes with smell effect!
One aspect of the internet world is E-Govt. Everyone has heard of e-govt and many understands it provides access to government services online, from the comfort of our homes or offices, in fact from anywhere, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We in Brunei are also not left behind on this development. Recently, we had the e-govt expo at the Mall. Admittedly I did not go to see it. Not so much for lack of interest, but more because of the hassle of finding a parking spot which is almost impossible in the area at weekends. How I wish I could have parked online and go on a cyber tour of the exhibition.
Today I came across a very interesting speech from a Senior Minister of our neighbour. He is of the opinion good governance is the foundation for successful e-government which in turn enables us to improve the effectiveness of Government. He stated three features of good governance that are critical to successful e-Government: Transparency, Accountability and Incorruptibility; Continuous Regulatory Review and Working together as One Government. You can read the full text here.
What is interesting in the text is the focus on good governance. I am no expert, but from what I know good governance is basically conducting public affairs, managing public resources in a manner essentially free of abuse and corruption, and with due regard for the rule of law. Participatory, consensus oriented, accountable, transparent, responsive, effective and efficient, equitable and inclusive and follows the rule of law are among the characteristics of good governance. Based on this, may be, as we go down the e-govt road, we as a country will improve in this aspect. It is well known some procedures are convoluted and confusing. Even the “Ease of Doing Business Report 2009” painted a not too good picture. Ranked 88 out of 181 economies.
Well there is always hope. We must always have hope. May be, just maybe, the current e-govt initiatives will bring about positive changes, making our processes and procedures less complicated, more straight forward and most importantly not open to abuse.
With access from anywhere to government services online and other services from private providers locally and internationally 247, we will be a truly well connected people.... even beyond the imagination of the “connecting people“ at Nokia.............
As in all things in this world, internet has its positives and negatives. Focussing on the positives, advancement in the internet means we now can get real time news. A good example was a few days ago there was some disturbances at the Malaysian Parliament. Faster than TV news can do it, we can read real time hot from the oven reports direct from the Parliament. Guess who the reporters were? The members of parliament themselves through the Twitter service.
Not just through the computers, we now have access through our mobile phones. Even the not so smart models come with internet access as a standard. Facebook users, twitter subscribers and even the MSN users can now use their mobile phones and update their status, made comments and the most useless of all ... poked their friends. If we observe carefully people around us, we can see more than 50% will be holding and staring at their mobile phones. More and more of these people are actually accessing the internet. Some even take their phones everywhere ... I know a few who updates their status while doing their business in the toilet. Lucky for us, internet so far only comes with sight and sound effect. Imagine if it comes with smell effect!
One aspect of the internet world is E-Govt. Everyone has heard of e-govt and many understands it provides access to government services online, from the comfort of our homes or offices, in fact from anywhere, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We in Brunei are also not left behind on this development. Recently, we had the e-govt expo at the Mall. Admittedly I did not go to see it. Not so much for lack of interest, but more because of the hassle of finding a parking spot which is almost impossible in the area at weekends. How I wish I could have parked online and go on a cyber tour of the exhibition.
Today I came across a very interesting speech from a Senior Minister of our neighbour. He is of the opinion good governance is the foundation for successful e-government which in turn enables us to improve the effectiveness of Government. He stated three features of good governance that are critical to successful e-Government: Transparency, Accountability and Incorruptibility; Continuous Regulatory Review and Working together as One Government. You can read the full text here.
What is interesting in the text is the focus on good governance. I am no expert, but from what I know good governance is basically conducting public affairs, managing public resources in a manner essentially free of abuse and corruption, and with due regard for the rule of law. Participatory, consensus oriented, accountable, transparent, responsive, effective and efficient, equitable and inclusive and follows the rule of law are among the characteristics of good governance. Based on this, may be, as we go down the e-govt road, we as a country will improve in this aspect. It is well known some procedures are convoluted and confusing. Even the “Ease of Doing Business Report 2009” painted a not too good picture. Ranked 88 out of 181 economies.
Well there is always hope. We must always have hope. May be, just maybe, the current e-govt initiatives will bring about positive changes, making our processes and procedures less complicated, more straight forward and most importantly not open to abuse.
With access from anywhere to government services online and other services from private providers locally and internationally 247, we will be a truly well connected people.... even beyond the imagination of the “connecting people“ at Nokia.............
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
El-Nino ... La-Nina
The driest we will experience in 30 years.. one paper said yesterday. Various agencies here and in the neighbouring countries released numerous warning. Yes.. these agencies announced, ladies and gentlemen ... El-Nino is here.
All and behold... it was pouring rain yesterday afternoon. And last night too! Not just light rain.. but heavy one! Is it really El-Nino? Or is the brother, La-Nina here? It made some of the agencies looked silly.....
If there is anything we can learn from this is how unpredictable the weather is nowadays. Is this the effect of the so called Climate Change everyone fears? May be ... no one can tell for sure...
No matter if it rains or if it is hot and dry, we all have a responsibility.. responsibility to reduce or even stop activities that is harming the environment... open burning, wasting energy, wasting water, uncontrolled development, cutting down the forest, high volume of rubbish, and many more ..... together we can do it ... no need to think too much, no need to ponder a lot, no need to talk too much... as Nike says it ... JUST DO IT!
The driest we will experience in 30 years.. one paper said yesterday. Various agencies here and in the neighbouring countries released numerous warning. Yes.. these agencies announced, ladies and gentlemen ... El-Nino is here.
All and behold... it was pouring rain yesterday afternoon. And last night too! Not just light rain.. but heavy one! Is it really El-Nino? Or is the brother, La-Nina here? It made some of the agencies looked silly.....
If there is anything we can learn from this is how unpredictable the weather is nowadays. Is this the effect of the so called Climate Change everyone fears? May be ... no one can tell for sure...
No matter if it rains or if it is hot and dry, we all have a responsibility.. responsibility to reduce or even stop activities that is harming the environment... open burning, wasting energy, wasting water, uncontrolled development, cutting down the forest, high volume of rubbish, and many more ..... together we can do it ... no need to think too much, no need to ponder a lot, no need to talk too much... as Nike says it ... JUST DO IT!
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Exam fever....
A fever hit Brunei the last few days. But no need to worry, no need to report to the WHO or the health authorities. No health screening, no scary injections required. It was just the exam fever ....
Over the last few days, over a thousand Government officers sat for the compulsory if you want to be promoted exams. The subjects should not be something new, strange or even alien to the officers. It should be basic knowledge for the officers to be a government servant. After all, to do your job you must know what are your responsibilities, your authority, what you can do and cannot do... all the basic rules and regulations. General Orders better known as GO and Financial Regulations known as FR are these. So should be peanuts to all of them.
Is it really kacang? No, many will say. Yes, some will say as in any other tests or exams. To most government officers, taking the exams is to get promoted. It is true, for those who fail, the chance of being promoted are slim (I do not believe it is nil as many does). May be this is where the fault is. Learning something just for the sake of passing the exams ( I have plenty of experience in this). It is nothing compared to learning something to be a good civil servant. We will end up with the situation of “masuk telinga kiri, keluar telinga kanan”, not much difference in the level of knowledge before and after the exam (during the exams, off course it is high). Surely there are those with the right attitude, learning the GO & FR so they will be better civil servants. May be, I do hope, the numbers for this group is increasing. (may be we can do on the spot surprise tests he he he) Realising that we need to know, understand, get a feeling, appreciate these rules in order to be a good civil servant must be the ultimate goal... not just to get promotion.....
Talking about exams, in the news yesterday, some cheats were caught using concealed electronic devices (transmitters) in university entrance exams in China. Most people know you can get cheap electronic gadgets in China, I am sure these people have easy access to these devices. I wonder if this will catch on here as more and more careers relied on them passing the exams. The market is there. Over one thousand people sitting for the exams. Wherever there is a market, I am sure there will be ready suppliers. May be some are already writing up their business plans for this. May be the day will come where thorough checks will have to be made on all the candidates. I do hope NOT....
As I have said before in my earlier entries, trust is very important. Even more so in being a civil servant. We trust, all our civil servants are trustworthy and will not resort to what they are up to in the Chinese university entrance exams...... Good luck guys....
PS:
I wonder if there any tuition classes opened for the GO & FR exams? Any online help available? Very good business opportunities but do not forget to apply for permission to set up a business .....
Over the last few days, over a thousand Government officers sat for the compulsory if you want to be promoted exams. The subjects should not be something new, strange or even alien to the officers. It should be basic knowledge for the officers to be a government servant. After all, to do your job you must know what are your responsibilities, your authority, what you can do and cannot do... all the basic rules and regulations. General Orders better known as GO and Financial Regulations known as FR are these. So should be peanuts to all of them.
Is it really kacang? No, many will say. Yes, some will say as in any other tests or exams. To most government officers, taking the exams is to get promoted. It is true, for those who fail, the chance of being promoted are slim (I do not believe it is nil as many does). May be this is where the fault is. Learning something just for the sake of passing the exams ( I have plenty of experience in this). It is nothing compared to learning something to be a good civil servant. We will end up with the situation of “masuk telinga kiri, keluar telinga kanan”, not much difference in the level of knowledge before and after the exam (during the exams, off course it is high). Surely there are those with the right attitude, learning the GO & FR so they will be better civil servants. May be, I do hope, the numbers for this group is increasing. (may be we can do on the spot surprise tests he he he) Realising that we need to know, understand, get a feeling, appreciate these rules in order to be a good civil servant must be the ultimate goal... not just to get promotion.....
Talking about exams, in the news yesterday, some cheats were caught using concealed electronic devices (transmitters) in university entrance exams in China. Most people know you can get cheap electronic gadgets in China, I am sure these people have easy access to these devices. I wonder if this will catch on here as more and more careers relied on them passing the exams. The market is there. Over one thousand people sitting for the exams. Wherever there is a market, I am sure there will be ready suppliers. May be some are already writing up their business plans for this. May be the day will come where thorough checks will have to be made on all the candidates. I do hope NOT....
As I have said before in my earlier entries, trust is very important. Even more so in being a civil servant. We trust, all our civil servants are trustworthy and will not resort to what they are up to in the Chinese university entrance exams...... Good luck guys....
PS:
I wonder if there any tuition classes opened for the GO & FR exams? Any online help available? Very good business opportunities but do not forget to apply for permission to set up a business .....
Saturday, June 13, 2009
1000th .... a thousand apologies
A milestone reached, a threshold passed, a target accomplished. Sometime today, this blog got its 1000th hit. This is based on the low tech counter put up on the sidebar. Being a not computer savvy person, with almost zero knowledge of how to design a website, putting a more sophisticated counter or a tracker is not possible right now. Not that no effort had been put to learn, the learning process is very slow. The Kids’ Guide to HTML is the current lesson level. Its lower then beginners or even the famous range of guides better known as the Idiot’s Guide. Definitely regretting missing those extra IT classes I was supposed to be in many years ago. HTML was on the lesson list for sure. Who knows those lessons would have changed the layout, instead of polka dots blue based page, may be the layout would have evolved to a multicoloured full of graphics belingkaran here and there. Well, keeping things simple is my motto. May be it’s for the best that I missed those classes hehehe.... (sekadar kan menyamankan hati...)
To the person who clicked the 1000th hit on this blog, as the character in Mind Your Language, Ranjeet, famously says, A THOUSAND APOLOGIES! No prizes for being the 1000th hit. There is no way of telling who you are. Being, or trying to be an anonymous no comment allowed blog made it even harder! On this, once again, A THOUSAND APOLOGIES, this status quo will remain for the foreseeable future.
The 1000 figure, to me, is a bit misleading. Sure, it is a significant number but the counter does not differentiate on where or from whom the hits came from. In fact if someone was to sit in front of the computer with this blog opened and click refresh or reload nonstop, I am sure 1000 hit can be reached in no time. Quite why someone would do that is beyond me. Using logic and simple deduction, almost half of the hits must have come from the author. A significant portion may be from the closest person to me, checking if I am saying anything bad (I am definitly going to be in trouble for this!). One thing for sure, the 1000th hit is not the author’s.
Whatever it is, this is indeed a good marker to pause and look back. In fact, it would have been a double milestone, double celebration of 1000th hit and 50 posts or entries. But sadly, 7 of those entries did not count, there were unpublished drafts. Pity ....
My “Minister of Home Affairs” cums “the finance minister” cums “the Lord of the Dominion” remarked recently this blog has no particular theme. Well known, more popular and more advanced blogs have certain angles. From helping to foster a better informed Brunei Society (A thousand apologies sir!), to the Brunei’s No1 Social News to photography, food, hobbies, all categories are covered. As I have mentioned in the earlier entry, this is my way to let out what I think of some of the things I see, hear, touch, smell and taste . So no restrictions on subjects, categories and angles. But will always remain responsible albeit sometimes panyaluru.
Coming back to the 1000th hit, I recalled fondly a wall sticker about statistics I put up in my previous offices, at the back of the door so my boss would not notice it. On it, a tall voluptuous beautiful lady in yellow bikini, with the caption “Statistics are like a bikini. What they reveal is suggestive, but what they conceal is vital.” How very true ......
To the person who clicked the 1000th hit on this blog, as the character in Mind Your Language, Ranjeet, famously says, A THOUSAND APOLOGIES! No prizes for being the 1000th hit. There is no way of telling who you are. Being, or trying to be an anonymous no comment allowed blog made it even harder! On this, once again, A THOUSAND APOLOGIES, this status quo will remain for the foreseeable future.
The 1000 figure, to me, is a bit misleading. Sure, it is a significant number but the counter does not differentiate on where or from whom the hits came from. In fact if someone was to sit in front of the computer with this blog opened and click refresh or reload nonstop, I am sure 1000 hit can be reached in no time. Quite why someone would do that is beyond me. Using logic and simple deduction, almost half of the hits must have come from the author. A significant portion may be from the closest person to me, checking if I am saying anything bad (I am definitly going to be in trouble for this!). One thing for sure, the 1000th hit is not the author’s.
Whatever it is, this is indeed a good marker to pause and look back. In fact, it would have been a double milestone, double celebration of 1000th hit and 50 posts or entries. But sadly, 7 of those entries did not count, there were unpublished drafts. Pity ....
My “Minister of Home Affairs” cums “the finance minister” cums “the Lord of the Dominion” remarked recently this blog has no particular theme. Well known, more popular and more advanced blogs have certain angles. From helping to foster a better informed Brunei Society (A thousand apologies sir!), to the Brunei’s No1 Social News to photography, food, hobbies, all categories are covered. As I have mentioned in the earlier entry, this is my way to let out what I think of some of the things I see, hear, touch, smell and taste . So no restrictions on subjects, categories and angles. But will always remain responsible albeit sometimes panyaluru.
Coming back to the 1000th hit, I recalled fondly a wall sticker about statistics I put up in my previous offices, at the back of the door so my boss would not notice it. On it, a tall voluptuous beautiful lady in yellow bikini, with the caption “Statistics are like a bikini. What they reveal is suggestive, but what they conceal is vital.” How very true ......
Friday, June 12, 2009
Mahal... Kita ..
Lately, more and more people are complaining how things are getting more and more expansive. Our purchasing power seemed to have dropped. Is it really that expansive?
If you follow the news, in a recent survey done by human resources firm ECA International on the most expensive city in the world for foreign workers, you cannot see Bandar Seri Begawan. But to my surprise, I am sure to a lot of other people too, the most expansive city in the world is Luanda in Angola. According to the report, a meal in Luanda can cost over US$100 and a "decent" apartment can cost as much as US$15,000 a month, despite the fact that most Angolans live in poverty, with over 60% of the Angolan population live on less than $2 a day.
The cheapest place? Maseru, the capital of the African state of Lesotho! To put things into perspective, Tokyo, the most expansive city in Asia is the world’s second most expansive city. Singapore, our neighbour, in the top 10 of the most expansive cities in Asia, is ranked 72. Kuala Lumpur is ranked 38 in Asia, 210 in the world.
Personally, one way for me to compare cities is the price of meal per person. Surf the net you can get a very good picture. In Bangkok, US$1 can buy you a good meal. Other countries and cities? In South Korea, US$5 to US$10; Tokyo similar to South Korea, Hong Kong is around US$5; in India about US$1; in Shanghai between US$1 to US$5; Jakarta around US$2 and Manila about US$5..... No need to say much about Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. Most Bruneians know the prices. Just be careful not to end up like the Americans in Singapore charged S$30 per prawn!
Coming back to Brunei, a meal can cost as low as B$1 ... nasi katok or roti kosong with aing sajuk. Pay a bit more, you can have the delicious Roti Talor Bawang. Go to the pasar malam, you can get lots of B$1 food. Is that expansive? I don’t think so.... No wonder Bandar Seri Begawan in ranked 13th in Asia as the best place to live in ..........
PS: you can use the cost of a meal as a guide when giving tips in a foreign country!
If you follow the news, in a recent survey done by human resources firm ECA International on the most expensive city in the world for foreign workers, you cannot see Bandar Seri Begawan. But to my surprise, I am sure to a lot of other people too, the most expansive city in the world is Luanda in Angola. According to the report, a meal in Luanda can cost over US$100 and a "decent" apartment can cost as much as US$15,000 a month, despite the fact that most Angolans live in poverty, with over 60% of the Angolan population live on less than $2 a day.
The cheapest place? Maseru, the capital of the African state of Lesotho! To put things into perspective, Tokyo, the most expansive city in Asia is the world’s second most expansive city. Singapore, our neighbour, in the top 10 of the most expansive cities in Asia, is ranked 72. Kuala Lumpur is ranked 38 in Asia, 210 in the world.
Personally, one way for me to compare cities is the price of meal per person. Surf the net you can get a very good picture. In Bangkok, US$1 can buy you a good meal. Other countries and cities? In South Korea, US$5 to US$10; Tokyo similar to South Korea, Hong Kong is around US$5; in India about US$1; in Shanghai between US$1 to US$5; Jakarta around US$2 and Manila about US$5..... No need to say much about Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. Most Bruneians know the prices. Just be careful not to end up like the Americans in Singapore charged S$30 per prawn!
Coming back to Brunei, a meal can cost as low as B$1 ... nasi katok or roti kosong with aing sajuk. Pay a bit more, you can have the delicious Roti Talor Bawang. Go to the pasar malam, you can get lots of B$1 food. Is that expansive? I don’t think so.... No wonder Bandar Seri Begawan in ranked 13th in Asia as the best place to live in ..........
PS: you can use the cost of a meal as a guide when giving tips in a foreign country!
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
El-Nino ........
El-Nino is coming! Liverpool fans, do not rush to the airport, to the hotels or even the stadium. We are not talking about El-Nino, the Kid, Fernando Torres, the No.9 prolific Liverpool striker. The El-Nino we are talking here is the global climatic phenomenon we experienced a few years back.
Scientifically, El-Nino is .... “El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO; commonly referred to as simply El Niño) is a global coupled ocean-atmosphere phenomenon. The Pacific Ocean signatures, El Niño and La Niña are important temperature fluctuations in surface waters of the tropical Eastern Pacific Ocean. El Niño and La Niña are officially defined as sustained sea surface temperature anomalies of magnitude greater than 0.5°C across the central tropical Pacific Ocean. When the condition is met for a period of less than five months, it is classified as El Niño or La Niña conditions; if the anomaly persists for five months or longer, it is classified as an El Niño or La Niña episode. Historically, it has occurred at irregular intervals of 2-7 years and has usually lasted one or two years.” ... so says the Wikipedia.
Basically, El-Nino will bring in hotter and drier weather. The current episode is estimated to last until September at least. Hotter and drier weather means possible increase in the number of hot spots. Do not be too happy and start to take out your notebooks thinking and hoping for increase access to the cyber world. The kind of hotspots here will more likely burn your notebooks! These hotspots are actually occurrences of forest fires. More hotspots mean higher chance of the dreaded haze (jerebu) coming up.
What can we do to help? Stop open burning! That simple..........
PS:
Apple unveiled it’s new iPhone, so called the iPHONE 3G S, with the S standing for speed. It’s the same phone as the current iPhone 3G but faster... twice as fast. Very likely will be available in Singapore in July or early August. In Brunei? I am willing to bet it will be available here as early as June 20...a day after it is available in the US Market!
Scientifically, El-Nino is .... “El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO; commonly referred to as simply El Niño) is a global coupled ocean-atmosphere phenomenon. The Pacific Ocean signatures, El Niño and La Niña are important temperature fluctuations in surface waters of the tropical Eastern Pacific Ocean. El Niño and La Niña are officially defined as sustained sea surface temperature anomalies of magnitude greater than 0.5°C across the central tropical Pacific Ocean. When the condition is met for a period of less than five months, it is classified as El Niño or La Niña conditions; if the anomaly persists for five months or longer, it is classified as an El Niño or La Niña episode. Historically, it has occurred at irregular intervals of 2-7 years and has usually lasted one or two years.” ... so says the Wikipedia.
Basically, El-Nino will bring in hotter and drier weather. The current episode is estimated to last until September at least. Hotter and drier weather means possible increase in the number of hot spots. Do not be too happy and start to take out your notebooks thinking and hoping for increase access to the cyber world. The kind of hotspots here will more likely burn your notebooks! These hotspots are actually occurrences of forest fires. More hotspots mean higher chance of the dreaded haze (jerebu) coming up.
What can we do to help? Stop open burning! That simple..........
PS:
Apple unveiled it’s new iPhone, so called the iPHONE 3G S, with the S standing for speed. It’s the same phone as the current iPhone 3G but faster... twice as fast. Very likely will be available in Singapore in July or early August. In Brunei? I am willing to bet it will be available here as early as June 20...a day after it is available in the US Market!
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
Dikir .....
It’s been a long and tiring day. Lately, by the end of the day, feeling drained, exhausted, tired, you name it, it’s all there. Today is no exception. May be I should start taking those multivitamins especially Vitamin B complex again. Don’t dare to take any other energy boosting supplements. Excessive energy has its own problems too.
Despite being a long day, today brought back a lot of childhood memories. Sitting and listening to Dikir Brunei brought those memories back. Years ago, when I was still a kid, alum besunat as my nini always referred to me and my cousins those days, bedikir sessions were common, almost nightly. Led by my late great grandfather, a group of us, young and old gathered at his house and practice the dikir. It was fun. Those days we did not have much else to do, no distractions, no video games, no computers let alone internet, no mobile phones and only limited TV channels.
As I grow older, some say wiser but I may beg to differ in this particular case, the ability to do Dikir Brunei just disappeared like that. Only a few phrases remained in this head now full of other supposed to be more interesting things in life. Then one day, in London, a group of us, the so called Surau Boys, were told by Ustaz we will be performing the dikir at one of prominent Bruneians’ house. We thought we had a few days to practice but in reality we had only one night to practice. There we were this group of “dikir rookies” at the centre of the majlis looking like the real deal. Lucky there were dikir pros amongst us and the whole thing went well, at least the dikir sounded alright to us, the rookies, despite some of us were clearly miming ala Milli Vanilli.
Nowadays, many people, many organisations, either in the Government or privately, put a lot of efforts to keep Dikir Brunei alive not just among the older generations but also the young. Well done to these people. They have done a great job and I am sure they will continue to do so.
But one thing still puzzled me, among the various names given to the “lagus” they used, there is one or two titled with the word kopi in it. An example is “Badat Kopi”. Why kopi? What is the significance of kopi here? I jokingly theorised that may be it took a cup of kopi for the whole thing to be completed, which is shorter than normal dikir. When I asked a friend, a veteran of Dikir Brunei, he replied may be because “teh abis” he he he. Anybody who knows the real answer, please help me out of this misery, and make it one less question running around my head....
Despite being a long day, today brought back a lot of childhood memories. Sitting and listening to Dikir Brunei brought those memories back. Years ago, when I was still a kid, alum besunat as my nini always referred to me and my cousins those days, bedikir sessions were common, almost nightly. Led by my late great grandfather, a group of us, young and old gathered at his house and practice the dikir. It was fun. Those days we did not have much else to do, no distractions, no video games, no computers let alone internet, no mobile phones and only limited TV channels.
As I grow older, some say wiser but I may beg to differ in this particular case, the ability to do Dikir Brunei just disappeared like that. Only a few phrases remained in this head now full of other supposed to be more interesting things in life. Then one day, in London, a group of us, the so called Surau Boys, were told by Ustaz we will be performing the dikir at one of prominent Bruneians’ house. We thought we had a few days to practice but in reality we had only one night to practice. There we were this group of “dikir rookies” at the centre of the majlis looking like the real deal. Lucky there were dikir pros amongst us and the whole thing went well, at least the dikir sounded alright to us, the rookies, despite some of us were clearly miming ala Milli Vanilli.
Nowadays, many people, many organisations, either in the Government or privately, put a lot of efforts to keep Dikir Brunei alive not just among the older generations but also the young. Well done to these people. They have done a great job and I am sure they will continue to do so.
But one thing still puzzled me, among the various names given to the “lagus” they used, there is one or two titled with the word kopi in it. An example is “Badat Kopi”. Why kopi? What is the significance of kopi here? I jokingly theorised that may be it took a cup of kopi for the whole thing to be completed, which is shorter than normal dikir. When I asked a friend, a veteran of Dikir Brunei, he replied may be because “teh abis” he he he. Anybody who knows the real answer, please help me out of this misery, and make it one less question running around my head....
Monday, June 08, 2009
Fever Free ....
Fever Free....
Since H1N1 made the headlines, everyone seems to take extra care and be extra aware of their body temperature. A trip to any health premises, be ready with your forehead, at least your ears. Previously, during normal times, only the person seeking treatment will be checked for their body temperature. Nowadays, no one is spared. Lucky they just use the ears and the nose. Imagine if they resort to other areas where they can measure your body temperature.
Fortunately, as mentioned in the news today, they are introducing thermal scanners the kind they uses at the airports at some health premises. At least it will speed things up and make it a bit more comfortable for the visitors.
At the end of the temperature check, everyone will get a “Fever Free” sticker. Sounds like you have won a prize. You are now certified free from fever. Lucky the sticker does not say “Free Fever”. On one particular visit, the kids seemed to be so excited to get those stickers. The adults just went through the motion. On another visit, a foreign man who just arrived from outside Brunei had a body temperature of 39C. A few of us there were suddenly terrified. What if the guy got the swine flu? Allhamdulillah, things turned out ok.
Returning from overseas trips, especially from affected countries brings along some worries. Kept checking the body temperature. I bet the thermometer at home got tired of checking. Any fever signs, the mind suddenly went overdrive. What will I do if I am going to be quarantined?
We must be thankful that our beloved country, so far, is free from H1N1. Some of our neighbours are not that lucky. To this, we must besyukur and laud the efforts of the Health authorities here. We hope and pray our country will remain H1N1 free.
P.S.
In my last entry I put out some ideas for song titles, CINCAU and CENDOL. Well for those who wants to use this title, CINCAU can be Cinta Ini Cinta Akhirku; CENDOL can be Cinta Engkau Dan Orang Lain .... Just make sure you attribute these titles to me. I will not ask for any royalties he he he .....
Sunday, June 07, 2009
Sunday Snippets.....
Another Sunday, another day for taking things easy ... as the Lionel Richie says.. Ooh,that's why I'm easy, I'm easy like Sunday morning, That's why I'm easy, I'm easy like Sunday morning...
Well it wasn’t quite early morning when I opened my eyes. It was only a few months ago, a Sunday morning is like any other mornings, time to look at my work. Not that I am rajin, may be I was very bad at time and work management. A friend once said if someone has to take work home or work on the holidays, he or she is poor in managing his or her time and work. So, with this and other reasoning in mind, subconsciously I started to treat Sundays as they are suppose to be.. a day to take things easy. Well, if required, I will still turn up to work (just in case my bosses are reading this he..he..he).
So what is my typical easy Sunday? I suppose the things we do on Sundays are similar. Wakes up, shower (I do hope everyone showers despite our effort to reduce our water usage!), have breakfast, watch TV, surf the Net including reading e-mails, updating Facebook, read the papers, have lunch, watch TV again, take afternoon nap. To some lucky ones (lucky? Not!), they have invitations to attend, be it wedding and other family and non family functions. (To anyone who is interested, I may write about things we can do to avoid attending any invitation in the future.) Before we know it, it’s Sunday evening and we need to get ready for another manic Monday.
Today, had homemade cucur udangs for breakfast. May be it was brunch as it was almost lunch time. Top that with nasi goreng, definitely no need to have anything for lunch. I used to make “mean cucur udangs” in my student days. After a few trial and errors, especially the first time when my cucur udang was very “karup-karup” and so nipis they looked more like crisps with prawns here and there, I can consider my cucur udangs as good as any I have tasted bar my nini’s. Now, happily I am a retired self proclaimed chef. The day ended with a nice, delicious roti talor bawang (RTB) session. Lately, been having a lot of RTBs. Bawangs, as a friend used to say, good for your health but bad for your sex life (even worse is garlic!).
That was my easy Sunday......
PS:
I have the CD of a popular group, ST12 for some time. Listened to it today after a long time. When I first heard the PUSPA song, I was wondering what does the title got to do with the story of the song. Story of a guy falling for a girl and asking her to leave her boyfriend. Is it the lucky girl’s name? Or is it referring to the Puspa drink? (very unlikely!). Rupa-rupanya, PUSPA is short for “PUTUSKANLAH SAJA PACARMU” as in the lyrics...
.... jangan jangan kau tak terima cintaku, jangan jangan kau hiraukan pacarmu, putuskanlah saja pacarmu, lalu bilang I LOVE U padaku .....
Songs are definitely getting stranger and stranger.... what’s next for the title? CINCAU? CENDOL? I leave it to you all to work out what they mean he he he ....
Well it wasn’t quite early morning when I opened my eyes. It was only a few months ago, a Sunday morning is like any other mornings, time to look at my work. Not that I am rajin, may be I was very bad at time and work management. A friend once said if someone has to take work home or work on the holidays, he or she is poor in managing his or her time and work. So, with this and other reasoning in mind, subconsciously I started to treat Sundays as they are suppose to be.. a day to take things easy. Well, if required, I will still turn up to work (just in case my bosses are reading this he..he..he).
So what is my typical easy Sunday? I suppose the things we do on Sundays are similar. Wakes up, shower (I do hope everyone showers despite our effort to reduce our water usage!), have breakfast, watch TV, surf the Net including reading e-mails, updating Facebook, read the papers, have lunch, watch TV again, take afternoon nap. To some lucky ones (lucky? Not!), they have invitations to attend, be it wedding and other family and non family functions. (To anyone who is interested, I may write about things we can do to avoid attending any invitation in the future.) Before we know it, it’s Sunday evening and we need to get ready for another manic Monday.
Today, had homemade cucur udangs for breakfast. May be it was brunch as it was almost lunch time. Top that with nasi goreng, definitely no need to have anything for lunch. I used to make “mean cucur udangs” in my student days. After a few trial and errors, especially the first time when my cucur udang was very “karup-karup” and so nipis they looked more like crisps with prawns here and there, I can consider my cucur udangs as good as any I have tasted bar my nini’s. Now, happily I am a retired self proclaimed chef. The day ended with a nice, delicious roti talor bawang (RTB) session. Lately, been having a lot of RTBs. Bawangs, as a friend used to say, good for your health but bad for your sex life (even worse is garlic!).
That was my easy Sunday......
PS:
I have the CD of a popular group, ST12 for some time. Listened to it today after a long time. When I first heard the PUSPA song, I was wondering what does the title got to do with the story of the song. Story of a guy falling for a girl and asking her to leave her boyfriend. Is it the lucky girl’s name? Or is it referring to the Puspa drink? (very unlikely!). Rupa-rupanya, PUSPA is short for “PUTUSKANLAH SAJA PACARMU” as in the lyrics...
.... jangan jangan kau tak terima cintaku, jangan jangan kau hiraukan pacarmu, putuskanlah saja pacarmu, lalu bilang I LOVE U padaku .....
Songs are definitely getting stranger and stranger.... what’s next for the title? CINCAU? CENDOL? I leave it to you all to work out what they mean he he he ....
Nothing to write about .....
Lately, these last few days, updating this blog has been harder than usual. It is not because I have lost interest. There is plenty to write about but I do not want to write anything about my work. Not just because some things are not meant to be shared (call it confidential, sulit, rahsia etc), it is boring to talk about work. Enough about work from morning to early evening.
Talking about confidential stuff, it seems everything confidential in the office will be chopped “SULIT” on the envelope or on the piece of document or placed in a folder with big “X” at the front. Humans being humans has curiosity as their nature. More often than not, documents marked “SULIT” attract attention than others. What does this mean? There is a higher likelihood these documents “kana subuk” or peeked into. I wonder if a study has been done on this. If none, we should do a study or even run some dummy tests. The results, I am sure, will make an interesting reading.
Every employee aspires to move up the career ladder (naik pangkat = naik gaji = better life?), hoping to go as high as they can. I suppose I am no different. Many books I have read on how to go up this ladder, how to develop as we go higher. But the important question, to me at least, what do you do when you get there? Today, I heard two very important characteristics or qualities you must have when you are up there. One is leadership, another is altruist. (I will add a third which I believe strongly).
So what is leadership? Kacang question! Everyone knows what leadership is. In simple terms, it is the act of leading a group. Personally, in reality, it is not just to lead but to have the ability to lead. To have the vision, to see the incoming problems, to make decisions and able to defend them, to advice and many more.
What is altruist? Or what is altruism? Basically, being an altruist is being unselfish, concern for the welfare of others, showing selflessness. Being an altruist will bring more significant outcome to everyone and everything.
A third, a more important quality to have, at least to me is “trusting”. You must have trust 360 degrees. Without trust, there will be distrust (isn’t that obvious?). With distrust or is it mistrust, you will end up having to check every single thing and end up with nothing gets done. With trust, working relationship will be better, morale will increase and I am sure productivity will head north.
In short, as we go up our career ladder, ability as a leader, being an altruist and more trusting will help us a lot. (At least I think so!)
Here I go again, talking about work..... how boring ...
PS:
Now the English Football season has ended, Saturday and Sunday nights are quieter. A friend remarked, he has nothing to look forward to except for endless football repeats or siaran ulangans. The weekend has gone flat. But to some parents, it is a welcome break. Now their football crazy kids can focus on their studies. Then, there is always DPMM FC matches to go to now their participation in the S-League is no longer under threat.......
Talking about confidential stuff, it seems everything confidential in the office will be chopped “SULIT” on the envelope or on the piece of document or placed in a folder with big “X” at the front. Humans being humans has curiosity as their nature. More often than not, documents marked “SULIT” attract attention than others. What does this mean? There is a higher likelihood these documents “kana subuk” or peeked into. I wonder if a study has been done on this. If none, we should do a study or even run some dummy tests. The results, I am sure, will make an interesting reading.
Every employee aspires to move up the career ladder (naik pangkat = naik gaji = better life?), hoping to go as high as they can. I suppose I am no different. Many books I have read on how to go up this ladder, how to develop as we go higher. But the important question, to me at least, what do you do when you get there? Today, I heard two very important characteristics or qualities you must have when you are up there. One is leadership, another is altruist. (I will add a third which I believe strongly).
So what is leadership? Kacang question! Everyone knows what leadership is. In simple terms, it is the act of leading a group. Personally, in reality, it is not just to lead but to have the ability to lead. To have the vision, to see the incoming problems, to make decisions and able to defend them, to advice and many more.
What is altruist? Or what is altruism? Basically, being an altruist is being unselfish, concern for the welfare of others, showing selflessness. Being an altruist will bring more significant outcome to everyone and everything.
A third, a more important quality to have, at least to me is “trusting”. You must have trust 360 degrees. Without trust, there will be distrust (isn’t that obvious?). With distrust or is it mistrust, you will end up having to check every single thing and end up with nothing gets done. With trust, working relationship will be better, morale will increase and I am sure productivity will head north.
In short, as we go up our career ladder, ability as a leader, being an altruist and more trusting will help us a lot. (At least I think so!)
Here I go again, talking about work..... how boring ...
PS:
Now the English Football season has ended, Saturday and Sunday nights are quieter. A friend remarked, he has nothing to look forward to except for endless football repeats or siaran ulangans. The weekend has gone flat. But to some parents, it is a welcome break. Now their football crazy kids can focus on their studies. Then, there is always DPMM FC matches to go to now their participation in the S-League is no longer under threat.......
Friday, June 05, 2009
Save our World ......
Today is World Environment Day (WED). The theme for WED 2009 is 'Your Planet Needs You-UNite to Combat Climate Change'. It reflects the urgency for nations to agree on a new deal at the crucial climate convention meeting in Copenhagen some 180 days later in the year, and the links with overcoming poverty and improved management of forests.
I do not blame you if the above statement about Copenhagen, climate change convention etc etc is a bit puzzling. Even veterans of climate change may find the whole climate change thingy bewildering. For beginners like me, we can read the beginners guide to Climate Change here.
For the impatient ones, basically us humans with our activities are contributing towards the warming up of the earth. If nothing is done to reduce this, the world will end up with more famines and catastrophes. We have seen how the climate has changed by the skewered monsoon and dry seasons worldwide. Whether we are among the believers or not in this theory of Climate Change, we can see the impacts. Are we willing to take a chance with the lives of our future generations? If not, let’s do something. The scientists have recommended a long list of things we can do.
But let’s make it simple, let’s do the little things... less burning, use less water, use less petrol, , use less energy, less electricity, less paper... walk more, cycle more... maybe we can help in our own little way. As our local saying says, sikit-sikit lama-lama jadi bukit ....... We can save our world...
I do not blame you if the above statement about Copenhagen, climate change convention etc etc is a bit puzzling. Even veterans of climate change may find the whole climate change thingy bewildering. For beginners like me, we can read the beginners guide to Climate Change here.
For the impatient ones, basically us humans with our activities are contributing towards the warming up of the earth. If nothing is done to reduce this, the world will end up with more famines and catastrophes. We have seen how the climate has changed by the skewered monsoon and dry seasons worldwide. Whether we are among the believers or not in this theory of Climate Change, we can see the impacts. Are we willing to take a chance with the lives of our future generations? If not, let’s do something. The scientists have recommended a long list of things we can do.
But let’s make it simple, let’s do the little things... less burning, use less water, use less petrol, , use less energy, less electricity, less paper... walk more, cycle more... maybe we can help in our own little way. As our local saying says, sikit-sikit lama-lama jadi bukit ....... We can save our world...
Thursday, June 04, 2009
Al-Fatihah
Still feeling shocked, sad and a great loss.....
Yesterday morning, a trustworthy, reliable and professional colleague, a very good friend passed away. I will remember him fondly as a great colleague, an even greater friend. Al-Fatihah .....
Life goes on some people says. True as it may seem, it is not easy. In no mood to do any work. But go on we must ......
Yesterday morning, a trustworthy, reliable and professional colleague, a very good friend passed away. I will remember him fondly as a great colleague, an even greater friend. Al-Fatihah .....
Life goes on some people says. True as it may seem, it is not easy. In no mood to do any work. But go on we must ......
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
Spesel Dates.....
“9 orang anak damit dilahirkan sempena Hari Ulang Tahun ABDB Ke-48” .....
That’s one of the headlines in the news. Before this I never thought somebody would give birth to commemorate (well that’s what sempena means to me in English) any particular date. At least now we know. Obviously there are people out there setting targets when they want to give birth, to coincide with major public holidays and historical dates.
Or is it a case of something not right with the reporting? Something gone wrong with the standard of our language expertise? I admit I am not an expert; in fact Bahasa Melayu or even English is one of my poorer subjects. Even now, I am still confused between verbs, adjectives, proverbs etc etc etc. Lucky I have my kids’ school text books I can refer to. But, with a very high degree of confidence, I am sure there are people out there who sees this headline as “a bit funny” to say the least. To some serious ones (I hope I do not fall into this category), it can be seen as a sign of decline in our linguistics ability. Well, someone out there knows the answer better than me.
The next magic date is 9th September 2009 i.e. 090909. I wonder if there is any couple out there working very hard on 31st December 2008 to have their babies born on this date. If you missed it, well, there is always 10th October 2010 to aim for........... or 11th November 2011... or 12th December 2012 .... pick your date ... I am sure you can count backwards!
That’s one of the headlines in the news. Before this I never thought somebody would give birth to commemorate (well that’s what sempena means to me in English) any particular date. At least now we know. Obviously there are people out there setting targets when they want to give birth, to coincide with major public holidays and historical dates.
Or is it a case of something not right with the reporting? Something gone wrong with the standard of our language expertise? I admit I am not an expert; in fact Bahasa Melayu or even English is one of my poorer subjects. Even now, I am still confused between verbs, adjectives, proverbs etc etc etc. Lucky I have my kids’ school text books I can refer to. But, with a very high degree of confidence, I am sure there are people out there who sees this headline as “a bit funny” to say the least. To some serious ones (I hope I do not fall into this category), it can be seen as a sign of decline in our linguistics ability. Well, someone out there knows the answer better than me.
The next magic date is 9th September 2009 i.e. 090909. I wonder if there is any couple out there working very hard on 31st December 2008 to have their babies born on this date. If you missed it, well, there is always 10th October 2010 to aim for........... or 11th November 2011... or 12th December 2012 .... pick your date ... I am sure you can count backwards!
Monday, June 01, 2009
Neighbours... everybody needs good neighbours...
It’s good to be home, so good to wake up on your own bed despite the so called “heavenly bed”, the “warm you up” toilet seat and the jumbo shower head of a top class hotel. Talking about heavenly beds and jumbo shower heads, a friend said we must make full use of them. Having that in mind, I had the most number of showers in less than 12 hours.... 4 times! The bad thing was worrying about the Swine Flu, even after going through all the screening especially the infrared scanners mindful not to “urap any minyak panas”, any signs such as coughing and body aches caused you curious glances from people around knowing you have been to an affected (in our case two!) countries. Even checked my body temperature few times since I woke up.
Talking about health, as soon as we reached Brunei, we were greeted by the sad and shocking news about a very close friend in critical condition after what seemed to be a sudden heart attack. If this can happen to someone who to my knowledge is a very fit and healthy person, what about us who has been neglecting `our health? Sobering news indeed. I can only pray for his well being and full recovery. Amin....
Apart from health, family and friends are among the important things in our lives. I fondly remembers my childhood time at Kampong Aing where people are surrounded by extended family and friends. In fact the whole kampong knows each other. Despite sometimes having no blood relations, your neighbours were very close to you. It’s no longer like that now. Living in a perpindahan area, may be through my own fault, I hardly know any of my neighbours apart from the ones next to my house. Forget about names and jobs, their faces I also do not recognise. How I miss those days where you know all your neighbours.
Last night, I got an invitation from one of my neighbours. I was a bit hesitant to go not just because I was feeling tired after all the travelling; partly it was also because I did not know most of the people there. So there I was sitting in my neighbour’s living room among some of my neighbour’s, 90% of whom I did not know and recognise. Some of the conversation took my interest especially when a few of them started talking about the surrounding houses and their occupants. I had my ears on full radar mode waiting for them to say something about me and my house, praying they will not say anything about me. To me relief, I was spared from hearing anything about me! I told myself, from today onwards, I must make the extra effort to get to know these people more. After all they are my neighbours, the people who I will be living next to, the rest of my life.
Just like the lyrics to the TV soap Neighbours (my favourite TV soap in my student days) says....
Neighbours, everybody needs good neighbours,
Just a friendly wave each morning, helps to make a better day.
Neighbours, need to get to know each other, next day is only a footstep away.
Neighbours, everybody needs good neighbours,
With a little understanding, you can find a perfect plan.
Neighbours, should be there for one another.
That's when good neighbours become good friends.
Neighbours, need to get to know each other, next door is only a foot step away.
Neighbours, everybody needs good neighbours,
With a little understanding, you can find the perfect plan.
Neighbours, should be there for one another,
That's when good neighbours become good friends.
Finally to everyone who celebrates Gawai, I wish them Selamat Hari Gawai, Gaya Guru, Gerai Nyamai....
Talking about health, as soon as we reached Brunei, we were greeted by the sad and shocking news about a very close friend in critical condition after what seemed to be a sudden heart attack. If this can happen to someone who to my knowledge is a very fit and healthy person, what about us who has been neglecting `our health? Sobering news indeed. I can only pray for his well being and full recovery. Amin....
Apart from health, family and friends are among the important things in our lives. I fondly remembers my childhood time at Kampong Aing where people are surrounded by extended family and friends. In fact the whole kampong knows each other. Despite sometimes having no blood relations, your neighbours were very close to you. It’s no longer like that now. Living in a perpindahan area, may be through my own fault, I hardly know any of my neighbours apart from the ones next to my house. Forget about names and jobs, their faces I also do not recognise. How I miss those days where you know all your neighbours.
Last night, I got an invitation from one of my neighbours. I was a bit hesitant to go not just because I was feeling tired after all the travelling; partly it was also because I did not know most of the people there. So there I was sitting in my neighbour’s living room among some of my neighbour’s, 90% of whom I did not know and recognise. Some of the conversation took my interest especially when a few of them started talking about the surrounding houses and their occupants. I had my ears on full radar mode waiting for them to say something about me and my house, praying they will not say anything about me. To me relief, I was spared from hearing anything about me! I told myself, from today onwards, I must make the extra effort to get to know these people more. After all they are my neighbours, the people who I will be living next to, the rest of my life.
Just like the lyrics to the TV soap Neighbours (my favourite TV soap in my student days) says....
Neighbours, everybody needs good neighbours,
Just a friendly wave each morning, helps to make a better day.
Neighbours, need to get to know each other, next day is only a footstep away.
Neighbours, everybody needs good neighbours,
With a little understanding, you can find a perfect plan.
Neighbours, should be there for one another.
That's when good neighbours become good friends.
Neighbours, need to get to know each other, next door is only a foot step away.
Neighbours, everybody needs good neighbours,
With a little understanding, you can find the perfect plan.
Neighbours, should be there for one another,
That's when good neighbours become good friends.
Finally to everyone who celebrates Gawai, I wish them Selamat Hari Gawai, Gaya Guru, Gerai Nyamai....
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