Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Pretty Maids All Having A Row

BADMINTON had never seen its game played with such fervor and anxiety. Even the Chinese players were confused at the unsolicited support from the fans at Indonesian Badminton Open yesterday. One wouldn't believe, unless seeing it with its own eyes, how the Indonesians had booed and seriously hampered the confidence of our Malaysian players. It seems that the recent political and social conflict between Malaysia and Indonesia have reached another record high.

Everything points towards the upcoming Indonesian presidential election on July 8. The candidates are on turbo-search regarding issues and sentiments that will help to infuriate voters and thus aligning themselves on a nationalistic platform. And our beloved nation is kind enough to provide the necessary ingredient to make their ends meet.

Taking the headstart is the royal scandal between a venerated Kelantanese prince and a young and rebellious teenage beauty queen. All over the Indonesian archipelago now sympathizes the unfortunate marriage of the teenager. Tabloids are being overran with stories of how she had been victimized and how helpless she was then within the walls of Kelantanese royal court. Never had I seen such boldness and courageous so completely possessed by a rape victim who had chosen to go high-profile in turning things against the perps.

Then again we have resurrected the idealism of a common Malay territory- Melayu Raya. After losing Batu Putih to the Singaporeans, the Malaysian waters is once being contested of its rightfulness by foreign aggressors. This time around is the Ambalat sea block which is located between Sabah and Indonesia. One should not be entirely concerned about losing our territories, not especially during the presidential campaign. It is widely believed that once the president is chosen, then the issue will subside accordingly since the elected leader will then need to maintain common prosperity with Malaysia.

With peasants from both countries cracking their heads out in the face of economic meltdown, the modern bourgeois in Malaysia had decided to prove Marxism right, at the wrong time, by exploiting and abusing the working class of the Indonesians. It is of utmost despicable mindset for somebody to abuse the maids with such brutality. How much more could we tolerate such reprehensible act like putting on iron onto the maid? There has to be a serious crackdown on the lunatics in Malaysia!

Nonetheless, the Malaysian government shoud not give in into the demands of the republic. The compulsory one day off for domestic maid is a total absurd way to appease the Indonesians. Where do you expect those maids to go during the day? Are we so naive to believe that they will come knocking on our doors the next day? Or should I ask, are our interests as a Malaysian, in the eyes of the government, being superceded by the demands of alien countries? Is our government a Malaysian government for all Malaysians? We will know that in the next general election.

Kudos to our national badminton players who had silenced the crowd by bringing home two championships under such terrible condition. Not so good a job for our government, yet again.

Bubar, Bubar !! Keluar, Keluar !! - June 16

I guess, I am not entirely impressed. Moreover, I've somehow expected such thing to happen. To me, it was just 2 sides of amateurs having child's play.

But one thing for certain, Nizar will be treated as hero for championing the rights of the people. And this was exactly what the Perak DAP had in mind yesterday. And this is exactly what I don't like about DAP. They always have the tendency to spice things up, creating commotion that is impossible to be missed out by the media. I can't believe I'm saying this, but DAP should just let Perak go. After all, it was the ADUN from your side who make ends meet for BN. And DAP in Penang seems to learn nothing from this. You are in a coalition, not total domination! And PAS is getting frustrated by you too! And what happened yesterday, again, reassuring us that the March 8 political saga is not going to end any sooner.

And for the poor Dewan Speaker, it was a hasty decision to boot those MPs out. Couldn't he see that this was a trap? He should had just let Nizar shout for as long as he wanted, he couldn't stand long anyway. Making Nizar a hero is symbolic in a sense that BN has been inhumane and anti-freedom. And Pandikar the Speaker had truly forgotten to prepare how to contain the issue yesterday!

If Pakatan continue to create such headlines, it will be very difficult for them when they take over the government. They will have no reason to stop the oppositions from emulating them. Stop all these nonsense and get back to work!

Decoding Angels And Demons - June 15

I hate myself for doing this. Each time, after some years, I will be criticizing my own work, for the deficiency of information or shallowness of the analysis. And I know very well that I will. But looking from another way, wouldn't it show how much have I been progressing? It's really a tormenting angels and demons to me.

How long should I pretend that I have not already fallen in love with the story? A nice dialogue anyway. God, for as long as mankind remembers, is seen as a power, as an explanation to all the beautiful and magnificent creation that our eyes behold. And science, who works to explain and take the further attempt to prove scientifically the creation of God, is dubbed by God believers as demons. So which side should we represent ourselves? The one who explains the rainfall as Angel's tears to wash away our sins? or the one who indignantly explains with scientific discoveries and evidence of creation that has been in existence before us, before the birth of living things? Are we angels or demons?

Science does not create all discoveries that it had found. Nor attempts to recreation grant them the right to assume the power of god. The message is clear, science is just too young to understand god. Discovering how thunder works, after the first in billions of years ago, doesn't make science god. But, I would say that god is the most knowledgeable scientist. For it uses science to create things. We can prove things with science just because things itself are being created with science!

We've proven that blood carries oxygen throughout the body just because God creates it that way. We've proven that the world is not flat just because planets are round in shape. Issac Newton proved the existence of gravity just because God doesn't want us to keep afloat!

Man needs faith, hope and divine support. But man altogether also need science to understand god!

I always have a distasteful appetite towards how Chinese movie makers or novelists depicted taoism and tibetan "lama", especially in martial arts genre. Not trying to criticize Buddhism, but didn't they, in the past, confined their wisdom and teachings within the wall of Shaolin Temple and watched motionless on the sufferings and turbulence the people had to go through everyday? Didn't their falsified understanding of fate indirectly forced people who was gravely in need of divine support to search for alternative relievers?

The true demons are the one who attempt to reject god with science, and also the one who attempt to reinforce the existence of god by rejecting science. God has no laws and regulations for us. Religion, clearly encoded in the book, is just how man interpret god. Churches, temples and mosques are just institutions to reinforce the existence of God. Religious traditions and rules are just symbolic as to how much we worship god. It is the stupidity of us, not the god, for all the sufferings we have to witness everyday in the modern world. It is a war of vain and most despicable for human killings in the name of religion. It is the demon of us for forgetting god, the ultimate power, for not understanding why we are here, living then die, after the march of scientific progression all these while. By asking all these, I should have known by now, I've been very far, far away from God.

P/S: I used to ask my mum, why do we need to fill the red container (a religious tool for worshiping) with rice? My mum said, this is as an offering for god. And I will ask again, does God require us to offer rice? Did the people in the past, who had not had enough to eat, came out with rice for God? Now, we could use with just sand. And we have not being punished yet!

Of Apple And Phone - June 11

IT is so common, unfortunately, for commentators and reviewers to left out Microsoft and its Windows smart-phones nowadays. Once a leader of the market, Microsoft now teeters towards falling profit and shrinking market share. Rubbing salt into the wound, it is watching, quite helplessly, how arch rival Apple Inc. and its hordes of Apple Church adherents are thriving. And certainly, after slashing iPhone's price to $ 99, it has quite some time to endure the embarrassment and conceding at the end. Perhaps, the media should start worrying the absence of Bill Gates and how Microsoft, tacitly, misses him.

Again, on the 8th of June, the pilgrimage of Apple worshipers to California had been filled with surprises and renewed excitement. Apple iPhone 3G-S (peed) had been proudly brought onto stage to the exhilaration of over billions of Apple enthusiasts. This latest addition serves to fortify Apple's grip as the leading innovation centre. Even with the rare disappearance of techno-wizard Steve Jobs, it seems that Apple Inc. is determined to seal the championship and leaving rivals Blackberry and Palm in misery.

The key towards Apple's success is the existence of network effect, something that Steve Job had bitterly missed out during the hey-days of Silicon Valley. The economics of networking could well be characterized into 3 ascending degree. First, it is vital for Apple and others to gain critical mass at the first place. Getting minimum number of users, as a start, to launch the product is more of a problem in Eastern countries. Apple enthusiasts are well dispersed throughout North America and Europe, creating the demand necessary to form a network of smartphone users. There, people are ready to use iPhone to substitute for mobile phones. This is easier, compared to the next degree where users form a network which it utilizes most frequently or having most closely-connected people using them. This is harder, as network "lobbying" occurs where peers or business contacts constantly influence and override the purchasing decision of an individual.

The Douglas consumer or in lay-man term- conspicuous consumption, tend to lead towards group of friends using the same brand of smart phones. iPhone has been particularly successful with its Apps Store where people download and share interesting application software among its peers. Compared to Blackberry, iPhone has more than 100 times more of its collection of applications. Sharing, quite self-explanatory, describes the gist of the networking value.

With people around the world using apps from iPhone, it is only natural for software programmers to "lock-in" into Apple's format. These programmers who find salvation in designing great software will only continue to generate better apps. The self-achievement is not an incentive managers would want to miss of its programmers. So, this virtuous circle will continue and Apple looks set to dominate the network.

Marketers will know better as in the case of smart phones, application and networking value has been the real consideration, rather than the performance and cost. And Steve is still watching over Apple. There's more than meet the eyes.

My Days As Public Servant - June 3

A market failure. That's all that I can describe. The nature of the government agency is so different that one needs to constantly remind of themselves. No doubt, the pay and benefits, relative to its work load, are high enough that it makes General Motor parsimonious. Nevertheless, one also has to be reminded that government is NOT substitutable. The politicians could be changed, but never the government body. That alone, legalizes the liberty for misallocation of resources- an issue all economist worries.

I've been tormented, just in 3 days, not by the over-pumping of adrenaline or being suffocated from the minutes ever closing-in. I've been tortured by the guilt of not contributing enough that the paycheck that I'm about to receive end of this month-- weighty. Where the hell should I make disposal of my youthfulness? Never in my life that I've been told, in my best interest, not to run into superior's knob with completed work in hand. For a moment I've been thinking, then why the heck we are told to be efficient? It doesn't take long before I realize, I'm working in the public agency.

I have to learn. So tomorrow, I'll be reading Angels and Demons right here! And maybe, I could be inspired. Maybe there's a marker, leading from one to another. And maybe I will discover some top-secrets! Great! If not, then where do you suppose I should do here?

How To Continue This Road? - May 20

Have been thinking quite a lot about this recently, especially during exam time. How will I actually continue this long and winding road? What am i gonna do after this? What kind of job I will do? How to make myself, at least, not being regretful 40 years from now?

Looking back at myself, there were many many things, that I wish I could have done, or , undone in the past. At that point of time, I wouldn't know how much I've missed, until it's all over, until I could only see from here, at the ending post. I don't wanna repeat the same mistake. The next post, will most probably decades from now, and by the time, everything is too late, too old to change.

It's been my dream to be in political field. From young, I've been influenced that way, indirectly being educated that way. History, epic stories and great legend had been my preoccupation, my past time. Could you imagine a six year old kid, walking into Speedy, asking for World War II documentary, rather than Thunder Cats or Transformer? I don't know how, it's just me..

As time goes by, experience in life has developed myself, getting me to know myself better. But, at the same time, confuses me ever more. On one hand, life tells me that one should go for your dreams, achieving ambition, becoming a great person. Leadership has taught me to be strong, critical and being audacious. Believing in yourself.

On the other hand, life teaches me how fragile it could be. We are living, just for simple reasons: food, family and fun. I've a junior, 2 years younger, already get married with a 7-month baby boy. While I'm busy with studies and assignments, she's been struggling to get a job. Money to support the family, raising the child. Nothing is more important than money for food. What about her dream? her ambition? Is that all? Is that everything? Is that the answer for the mystery of life? Is that what all we have?

As I was answering survey by GradMalaysia regarding opinions on future employers and companies, there was a real clutch deep in my heart. I was so unsure, so uncertain, not about answering the questions, but to the real reflection of how insecure I am to my confidence, dream and life, once breaking myself away to this long and winding road.

Random Craziness - April 10

Been very random lately. Talk like crazy, act like crazy, doing crazy stuffs. It feels so good to break your discipline, feels great to be wild.

Have been very responsible and intense all these while. Living every minute of the day, preparing myself for big chances, big opportunities that come knocking on my doors without prior knowledge.

Really scared that I might stick to current randomness. Afraid that I lost myself to the very thing I wish to avoid. It’s yet another day without sleep. Wonder how long I could stay like this.
Where’s my enthusiasm, passion in studies? I used to record lectures, and play it almost everyday. To keep and store every points I possibly could. But now… I just can’t wait to graduate, can’t wait to break free, begin a whole new chapter in the real world and not piles of books filled with dust, rotten and most importantly, repetitive teachings. Wonder if one could really finish the whole degree in a year, of course, by taking away useless modules

Year 1 (Sem 1)
Business Econs A & B
Economics of Pricing & Decision Making
Marketing Strategy
Economics of Business Decisions
Introductory Econometrics

Year 1 (Sem 2)
Macroeconomics (CEP)
Financial Economics
Industrial Economics
Economics of Innovation

I think it could really work. If we prolong the academic weeks. QM stuff is really foundation level, throw away management stuffs, and what’s that?? business ethics?? what the fuck is that?
seriously, we are spending too much time on useless modules. Why not cut short and maybe study something more in-depth? what again?? Strategic Mgmt?? another fucking subject, waiting to be fuck up.. Mohan’s modules are all useless shit

Knocking On My Head - March 27

It’s 2.45am now, and i’ve stopped writing on my assignments. Stumbled upon somebody’s notes on facebook. It gave me a moment of genuine chuckles, but in split seconds, bringing me back to my troubled reality.

By looking at the stats and data, i’ve tough time believing in, how much Malaysia has left behind South Korea and Taiwan, those who were at the same standard as us in 1960s. Probably even worse, crushed by our footballers.

Again, I’ve picked a tough module, knowing that I will complain when getting results, but still, I am studying what I’m interested, what I’m supposed to study. Economic and social development of countries. Better than spending RM 75 k to learn that one will be “guilty” if he/she gives low score to others in evaluation scheme. What the heck??? You need a degree to tell that??

Really being knocked hard on my head today. Somebody actually telling me she “hates” those who got scholarship. Of course, it surprises me when a bear actually talked his way to get scholarship. What happened to others? Are they mute or what? (just joking)

I need scholarship to complete my degree. But, not the degree I’ve wanted. It reminds me of what the McKinsey people said today. Do what it passions u. It always sound easy to the white barbarians. Do they know sometimes we don’t have a choice? Do they know we need to make sacrifices? Do what you are passionate at. bull shit la. What dream here dream there, if you want to dream, go America dream la.

Looking back at my assignment data. Malaysia’s GDP is only a bit higher than Samsung’s annual revenue. What the fuck? Really knocking my head now. Not because Malaysia performs badly. It’s because I’ve taken a fake econs degree and feeling helpless looking at it. But where else can i go?

PS: I saw someone’s name - Varaporn. What the heck? How does it feel to have the word “porn” in your name? Lau porn, porn Lau, Porn zheng, Zhou Porn.