*Event Credits*

As I have posted previously and also by our fellow bloggers Pok Ku, Shuq, Wanos and Binx, I have recently ended my “bujang” days and am now well into the next phase of my life. One thing is for sure, the road was interesting but at the same time challenging also. Ask anyone on this and they’ll tell you their story with no qualms.

There are so many people to thank and my only fear is if I accidentally missed anyone. I’m dedicating this post to all that had played a big part on my special day and I do apologize if I have missed out anyone. As film credits go, here are the key men and women who played a huge part that I owe so much gratitude for:

Executive Producer: Mumsie
Associate Producer: Kaks and BIL
Event Director: Kak Shiela
Bestest Man: Shuqster
Best Men: Tsen Khiong and Alexander
Master of Ceremony: Marhaini
Clothing Designer: Man Kajang
Photography: Danial and Alan of cubicfoto and Qory
Video: Tsen Khiong
F&B: Sri Mayang Catering
Music Director: Shuqster
Crew:
Mak Anjang
Mak Lang and Family
Pak Chaq, Mak Chaq Leha and Family
Pak Chaq, Mak Chaq and Family
Tok Teh and Family
Kak Anita and Abg Kamil
Tok Su
Pak Abu, Mak Uda and Family
Pak Su, Mak Su and Family
Aunty Norain and Family
Mak Chik and Husband

Wedding Cake: Aunty Pishah
“Runners”: Tony and Anang
“Flag” Bearers : Shahril and Ainal


I’m pretty sure there are more people who played a huge part in making the whole event a success. Again I extend my most heartfelt apologies if I have missed out on anyone who has graciously assisted my family in making the entire event a success.

My next few posts will all be about weddings, not my wedding per say but the different types of weddings in Malaysia. I’ll hope to be covering preparations for a Malay wedding, Chinese, Indian, Christian and maybe one or two more depending on the time and resource available.

Stay tune for Malaysian Weddings Part 1 – Malay wedding ya ;)

Cheers!!! :D

*Big Up To All*

Sometimes life has a way to even itself out from time to time. Bad news will always be followed with good news and vice versa, that’s just how life is that’s all. You don’t need the stars or the Feng Shui master to tell you that, life’s just a wheel that rotates for everyone. There are many people that I would like to extent my best wishes to so let’s get it started then.

Firstly, I would like to wish Mr. Nelson Kong and his lovely wife all the best after the latter’s recent operations. It must’ve been hard, very hard for you to see what your wife went through and I can only pray that He will give me the strength to get through such an ordeal should heaven forbid, I have to go through something like that. I’ll always pray for you and you wife’s continued happiness and good health.

Secondly, let me extend the biggest and heartiest congratulations to En. Ungku Haniff who will be joining the gang and finally close his “bujang” lifestyle in the coming weeks in June and July of 2008. As much as he tried to keep it all under wraps, the wonderful world of social networking on the web finally exposed his good deeds when he got engaged last year. Big up to you and your future wife and I wish the both of you happiness till the very end. We should meet up for dinner more often at the Chinese Muslim restaurant in Taman Tuh eh bro ;)

Thirdly, I would like to wish all the best to Pn. Hafizza for her coming addition to her wonderful family. If all goes well, she will be giving birth to a healthy baby on Friday, the 20th of June 2008. She’s hoping for a “puteri” for her 2 sons to take care of although the likely thing is she gets bullied up by them would be the norm. I had earlier pleaded that she gave birth on my birthday in July (as if I could ask such a thing); I wish that you and your newborn “puteri” will be safe and that everything will go well for you and your entire family.

A rather belated congratulations to one of my team mates too, Mr. Sivaganesh. He should be honeymooning somewhere in Australia right now and I hope he’s having a good one. To you and your new wife too I wish all the happiness and good health from now till the end of time.

Congratulation also goes to my sifu En. Khairom on your recent “naik pangkat dan gaji” at your new organization. Being recognized by an international MNC corporation in just months of service (after previously years of good work and sacrifices being neglected by what is a bumiputra conglomerate) is indeed nothing more than what you deserved. It is indeed His way in repaying you with life’s riches lately and I for one share in the happiness and joy of it.

Yes ladies and gentlemen, despite all the rubbish that’s going on around us, there is life after all. Such things always make me feel good and happy in fact as I’m writing this post, I have a big smile on my face. I admit my last few posts have been “influenced” by the current shambles going on in Malaysia but I’m glad that this one isn’t.

Best wishes to all and to anyone who might just happen to read this humble blog of mine ;)

Cheers!!! :D


Translations:

Bujang: Malay word for bachelor
Puteri: Malay word for princess
Sifu: Chinese term for master or teacher

Naik Pangkat dan Gaji: Job increment and pay raise

Bumiputra: Malay term for Malaysian Malays

*Open Letter to Mr. Eric E. Schmidt*

Dear Mr. Eric E. Schmidt,

If you have been paying enough attention to this side of the world from the mammoth organization that is Google then you might want to open up a data center here. You may have not realized this but Malaysia might just be the country with the highest uptake in your Blogger business for Q2 of 2008.

Why if you may ask? Well because almost every Ali, Ah Kow and Raju now has a blog to voice their “views” (highly subjective as very few have their own) on this country that is Malaysia. They have all been sucked into the whole idea that blogging is the current fad which one must hop onto so yes it’s time to reap the benefits of a “tsunami” that is blogging in this country.

Your blogs have not only been taken up by the “Rakyat” but also politicians who suddenly have the sense that blogging IS the only way to defend themselves or launch political attacks on their enemies. Imagine that if you can, the amount of revenue your Google Ads can make. I’m already envisioning ads along the lines of “Setup your own blog here! We have sample of posts and ideas for all your political needs because you don’t have your own”.

While the longevity of such Blogger accounts cannot be fully ascertained, it is however easy to forecast that for the near future (between now and the next Malaysian GE), your Blogger accounts will just continue to grow and grow. Add to that the internet deprived people still living in Malaysia who are also catching on the bandwagon, it’s worth the investment for sure.

Yes although I miss the days where blogging was really about the blogger and not someone else’s comment/article/clippings/post and I would LOVE to have it back but we’re talking about business here so no time to get all teary eyed and sentimental just yet. Imagine all the personal details that one gives up when signing up or the traffic/surfing behavior to your sites is just the honey pot that would fill information to the hungry marketers.

You have numerous options to setup a data center here. You can choose between the 2 “Gajah Putih” technology parks in Bukit Jalil or Cyber Jaya. Thanks to the government’s recent initiative to “ease” the process of foreigners setting up businesses in Malaysia (foreigners selling flowers in run-down stalls not included), you would be able to setup your data center in little or no time depending on how much you pay… I mean invest.

Our communication’s infrastructure here in Malaysia is monopolized…I mean supplied by one of the many rescued GLC’s here so you need not worry about stability or performance of the infrastructure. Don’t have the people to run your operations? Fret not for Malaysia have enough foreign workers to take over jobs from the many lazy and choosy Malaysians.

So I again call on you Mr. Schmidt to not let this opportunity go. I guarantee you on your ROI before the next Malaysian GE and depending on the outcome of that, your business here in Malaysia might just grow even exponentially bigger. We have a term here that says Malaysia Boleh so yes Mr. Schmidt, Google Juga Boleh!

Yours truly,

Hyelbaine

Ps>> I am more than willing to join your great organization if given the opportunity ;)


Rakyat: Malay term used to describe Malaysian Citizens

Malaysian GE: Malaysian General Election. Next one due in the next 4 years

Gajah Putih: White Elephant

GLC: Government Linked Companies

ROI: Return on Investment

Malaysia/Google Boleh: Can do/achieve anything mantra

*If You*

If you asked why to each question, would you find the answer?

If you asked where continuously would you find your way?

If you asked what would you understand what things are made of?

If you asked how to everything would you know how to make everything?

If you always received answers every time you asked when, would you know the timing of everything?

If you know the real truth, would you really share it with everyone?

If you could change the world, would you really be fair in your changes?

If you have everything, would you really be happy?

If you could live forever, would you really want to?

If you were perfect, would you be happy?

If you have no fear, would you risk it all?

If time stopped would you do more or just idle too?

If you were talented would you work hard?

If you were strong would you help all those that are weak?

If you weren’t bored, would you have read this blog?

Cheers!!! :D

*We’re All Guilty of Being Spineless*

So what happens now? Life has to go on irregardless what happens. Yes what ever that has happened in the past few days has really dented if not crushed the lives of many Malaysians. There has and will continue to be uproar among the folks but really, life still must go on right?

As the blame game continues to rumble along, depending on which politician’s blog that one reads, that’s where one’s belief is in. It’s sad really that despite being mature adults, our belief system revolves around which blog, newspaper, tv channel, radio station or which coffee shop that one frequents to.

Where did it all go wrong for so many that we’ve become so spineless that we cannot make our own decisions nor have our own beliefs anymore? Why do we have to follow the whole mob rule idea? Maybe it’s because we want to “belong” to something or because we don’t want to feel left out among the majority or minority. Where did we lose our strength to have a spine that supports our own belief system?

Irregardless of faith that you practice, each religion teaches to make use the God given gift of intelligence wisely. Of everything that exists in this world of ours, we are the only one with this God given gift and yet so many of us do not have the courage to have our own opinions. So many follow blindly and would jump of a cliff without a second thought to question the rationale behind something.

People say that today’s young adults or old youths (between late 20’s to mid 30’s) stand for nothing. We do stand for a lot as it us who will inherit this country and world when most of the today’s politicians are 6 feet under. We’re the one’s who is going to be here when all the oil in this country that people are politicking today runs out. Although it is granted that some of these people are just as spineless as the rest, most are quietly confident in their OWN beliefs.

This generation is not pampered as the current kids and teens are due to the wealth obtained by their parents while the parents of today’s young adults or old youths have instilled the values of life in them because they of all people know how hard it was for this country to be where it is today. Well, most of us anyways.

We know how life was back then for our family and it’s an experience that will never leave us. Our belief system was built on respect, honesty, intelligence and most importantly courage. We were nurtured not to blindly believe everything our senses showed us but to use our intelligence and wisdom to shed light on a murky world.

Arwah Abah once told me, “Life is not going to get any easier for you just because of my name, your religion or the color of your skin. You will have to make your own choices and will have to live with the consequences. If you make a mistake there’s no one else to blame but you. Knowing that, would you want to make decisions based on what other people say or do or believe? I won’t.”

I think I was 10 or 12 when he said that to me and I have never forgotten those words since. Quite something to digest at such an age one would think but important none the less. Case in point is my profile description on this blog.

Times like this people are calling for heroes or saviors to come and rescue them. I’m not wishing for that, what I’m wishing for is that all of us to have a spine to support our own belief system. OUR belief system, not someone else’s, not a group’s nor a political party’s but our OWN belief system.

Cheers!!! :D

PS>> Let the hate mail begin….

*Tujuh Ratus Tiga Puluh Tiga Dan Lima Belas Sahaja*

Ladies and gentlemen, the above translates to 733.15. That my friend is the amount of shringgit I “donated” my hard earned money in May making the likes of Shell and Petronas richer than they deserve.

Now I’m not going to post on the imminent price hike (enough whining, the fact of life is just that) but something else really. That amount of shringgit does translate to a lot of driving on our so called “excellent” tolled highways doesn’t it? In May I went up north all the way to Alor Setar twice, down to JB, up to Cameron Highlands and went through the infamous Bukit Putus road to get to Kuala Pilah.

I’m pretty sure I covered at least 2000 kilometers if not more which means I’ve come into contact with our “champion” drivers enough to last me 3 lifetimes. Really, our Malaysian drivers are really “champion” drivers, most graduating from the exclusive “lesen terbang” or “lesen kopi” school of driving. In all honesty I’ve blogged about this topic before and even had suggestion as to how to weed out these “champion” drivers in the post here.

Now the Malaysian public and the government have to accept one fact. We do we somewhat 1st world road facilities (please, it was hard enough for me to even write that sentence) but most, not all but most definitely the majority of our drivers would fail driving tests in other foreign countries. So, expanding our so called road infrastructure does help but not a lot. The ROI just doesn’t compute.

We can have 8 lanes on the PLUS highway but it’s not going to help if we do not fine or punish the road “siput”. Really, of all of our entire “champion” driver attributes this one really peeves me off. Our “champion” drivers either seem to have very little or no spatial abilities to judge distances or understand the limitations of their vehicle’s acceleration capabilities. If you’re practicing the hypermilling driving methods, do stick to the left lane please.

Next, 110km/h for a speed limit is a joke. Wake up please, this is not 1969 ok? Most cars today comfortably reach those speeds and I for one (and many would agree) is more alert driving at 140km/h that at 110km/h. Most cars today don’t turn into Ogawa massage chairs anymore at highway speeds and this can induce boredom/sleepiness which causes accidents. While allowing faster speeds on the road can be a double-edged blade, it has to be accepted that even most K-Car’s today can drive above 110km/h.

The reason for accidents is not speed but drivers. Our “champion” drivers are not good enough to weave in and out of lanes to overtake the road “siput” so when ignorant “champions” decide to occupy the right most lane, mistakes are bound to happen either due to lost of control or poor reaction times. It is also simple logic, allow people to spend more time on the roads significantly increases the risk of accidents. So, increase the speed limit, punish the slow drivers and reduce the time on the roads to decrease the probability of accidents.

Our “champions” are also blind don’t you think. When someone behind you turns on his right indicators on, it means he or she is trying to politely say to you “you’re slow, please move aside”. After minutes of you driving blindly oblivious to the indicator, people WILL highlight or even honk at you. You, our “champion” driver DO NOT have the right to “stare cock” back at the person overtaking you. You were ignorant driving with your blinkers shut so just accept it.

I could go on really but I’ve realized that my last few posts have been a tad bit too long so I’ll leave it at that. Enforce the rules and law, punish the slow “siput” (on purpose) and ignorant drivers, increase the speed limit and things should get a wee bit better on the roads.

Cheers!!! :D

Translations:

Siput: Snail
Lesen Kopi/Terbang: Driving licenses obtained by bribing the transport department

*The Devil Is In The Plastic*

Some say that it's a necessary evil while others say that the previous statement is just an excuse. Credit cards are everywhere now and almost everyone has at least one while in some extreme cases, some have up to 6 or 7 of them.

So much depends on plastics these days and one can use it almost anywhere. Lately fast food chains such as KFC have begun accepting credit card for payments and some sundry shops have also begin placing POS (Point of Sales) terminals at their corner convenience store. Read past the other “noise” and “junk” in our current dailies, tv, blog, etc… and you’ll find the issue of how KL’ites and Malaysians in general struggle with their mounting credit card debts.

I had originally drafted this post to be going in one direction but after reading this article the other day, had me change my mind completely. I had planned to write about the trend of buying groceries at your Tesco or Jusco using credit cards but this really takes the cake. I mean what on EARTH that you need a credit card for when shopping at 7-Eleven?! I don’t recall the store selling anything expensive like liquor while the gums and condoms (which always seem to be placed side by side) that one normally associates with credit card transactions to be bought using the credit card would be a joke.

I have never, EVER seen anyone spend more than 50 shringgit at the 7-Eleven stores. What’s scaring me is that have we KL’ites become so plastic dependant that we start using credit cards to buy newspapers or chewing gum? Granted that the unfortunate lady may have not have enough cash at that time (she did ask for the nearest ATM) but the thought of using her credit card at a convenience store really irks me somewhat.

Sadly though, I know of so many people who literally live on credit cards because they don’t even see the wages that comes in through their monthly pay cheques. These are the people who have been forced to use credit cards for their daily expenses. It has become no longer a convenience but a definite necessity to survive. Maybe that’s why your local sundry shops have begun to accept credit card transactions, an upgrade indeed from the old 555 book.

I still believe that the credit card is a convenience and not a financial substitute for real cash money. I use my card (notice the plural lingo) primarily for petrol and bill payments with the occasional fine dining with my significant other. My family firmly believes in paying for our monthly groceries with cash as this helps to ensure that we’re within our budget. Credit card gives people the false sense of buying or purchasing power that they may not necessarily have.

One of the main drivers for the popularity of the AKPK agency lately is our inability to practice prudent financial management. Visit the website and read the real case studies and you’ll see the recurring theme instantly. KL has a nasty side to it. It sucks you into the whole glamour of the city lifestyle and before you know it, you’re spending more than what you earn and begin depending on the plastics to maintain your so called status.

There are good loans and then there are bad loans. Obviously a house is an example of a good or necessary loan while the examples of bad loans can be limitless. No one can live without borrowing, not anymore these days but having said that, it isn’t an excuse to loan poorly. Prudent financial management isn’t the current fad or in thing being banded around lately, it’s a fact of life. Manage your finances or it will manage you.

The people that I shared the paper clipping had little or no sympathy for the lady what so ever. To them, the fact that she even CONSIDERED paying her 7-Eleven purchases using the credit card is astonishing enough to outweigh the rude clerks manning the 24 hour convenience store.

Theoretically, could one go through an entire day without spending cash at all? Let’s imagine the following scenario.

- Morning breakfast, newspaper or ciggies at 7-Eleven using a credit card (new to me for sure)
- Drive through toll using Touch’n’Go automatically reloaded using a credit card
- Parking at the office paid using money deducted automatically from your salary
- Lunch at KFC paid using a credit card
- Using your other credit card to pay the minimum payment on this credit card to get the bank to stop bugging, temporarily
- Re-fill the car’s petrol on your way back home using a credit card
- Eat your home cooked dinner from groceries bought using a credit card

Hey, it’s not entirely impossible to through a day without using cash indeed!

Even as I’m about to end this post, I can’t help but still be perplexed at someone actually going to a convenience store with the thought of paying using a credit card. Ssshhheeessshhhhh…..

Cheers!!! :D