Saturday, 1 September 2012
Thursday, 30 August 2012
Friday, 24 August 2012
Friday, 10 August 2012
Syabas! Anak Bangsa Malaysia!
Apart from Gold medallist Chen Ruolin of China who was in a master class of her own the competition between the rest of the finalists was very keen for Silver and Bronze. Rather than undervalue Pamg's achievement, I believe this scenario speaks volumes for her competitive spirit and grit. At one stage, Pamg was in 10th position and she never gave up.
Thank you Pamg. Malaysia salutes you for giving us hope.
Sunday, 5 August 2012
Lee Chong Wei Apology
Following the previous post on Deepak Chopra's apology comes an apology from Lee Chong Wei for having failed to win the 2012 Olympics Men's Singles Badminton Gold medal for Malaysia. Try as Chong Wei did, Lin Dan was and still is the better player of the two; apologies not needed for having given his all. The stats between the two are obvious enough.
The pressure on Chong Wei to even qualify for the final must have been immense let alone win against Lin Dan. The whole nation was united behind him as we followed his progress through each round but I think our FLOM should have been there from the start instead of rushing to London for the final game. Her intentions may be honorable but I think most Malaysians would have preferred that she stayed home. A BBM or SMS would have been more effective.
The pressure on Chong Wei to even qualify for the final must have been immense let alone win against Lin Dan. The whole nation was united behind him as we followed his progress through each round but I think our FLOM should have been there from the start instead of rushing to London for the final game. Her intentions may be honorable but I think most Malaysians would have preferred that she stayed home. A BBM or SMS would have been more effective.
Many would have noticed Lin Dan drew inspiration from someone among the spectators. Every time he pulled off a difficult point, he gazed in the same direction. Some of us are fortunate enough to be able to recognize that look he gave the person. Fortunately, the Games cameras were kind enough to show us who it was; his wife. Xie Xingfang was a former badminton World Champion herself.
Don't know about others but I noticed Chong Wei too had a certain gaze at someone in the crowd but it was a gaze of despair every time he lost a difficult rally. The games cameras did not show anything.
However, the cameras did show on one occasion Lin Dan's coach Li Yongbo spur his player on with words that include, "zhong guo ren". I wonder what his complete sentence was, but I am sure this will not be last time we in Malaysia hear reference to Yongbo's words.
Don't know about others but I noticed Chong Wei too had a certain gaze at someone in the crowd but it was a gaze of despair every time he lost a difficult rally. The games cameras did not show anything.
However, the cameras did show on one occasion Lin Dan's coach Li Yongbo spur his player on with words that include, "zhong guo ren". I wonder what his complete sentence was, but I am sure this will not be last time we in Malaysia hear reference to Yongbo's words.
Wednesday, 25 July 2012
Deepak Chopra Apology
Have always thought Deepak Chopra preyed on Western fixation with Oriental mysticism and esoteric spiritualism using his own interpretations to make money from the kuai lohs.
The apology:
Dawkins vs Cardinal George Pell on Q&A (10-4-2012)
It appears that the Roman Catholic Church needs to evolve...or face extinction.
Monday, 23 July 2012
Missing You
On numerous occasions during that time, I have woken up to find my wedding ring missing from my finger and on the bed (sometimes on the floor!).
I would have unconsciously (subconsciously?) taken it off during the night and it has happened a few times even when I was in Jakarta where I have had to go rather often recently. Luckily, I have always been conscious quite immediately that the ring was not on my finger and recovered it before some stranger found it. Was I trying to tell myself something or is it Jeannie? I don't think I will ever know the real answer but to be safe, I now keep the ring in a secure place just in case.Saturday, 21 July 2012
Wither Post Production Studios?
Is the world of social media marketing hastening the twilight of large post production houses by heralding the dawn of a new breed of service providers armed with talent, digital technology and lightweight equipment? The days of charging premium rates and maintaining a stable of full-time audio/video engineers are as numbered as the relevance of those aging engineers who are unable to compete with the adaptability and energy of the new breed of younger counterparts who seem able to do more with less.
Has the death knell for such conventional studios been sounded and the fate of a whole generation of audio/video engineers sealed? Will they soon find that their once cushy jobs have disappeared with the new paradigm and they would be forced to hunt for their own work?
But how can parasites become hunters when they have made careers out of sucking marrow off the bones of carcasses? The "carcasses" being same old, same old ad agency clientele brought in by self-glorified "account managers" who in turn succeed only by being sycophantic to specific ad agency bosses... till as it has, the gravy train grinds to a halt of course. Time to call a spade a spade and scroungers will always be scroungers. Or is it about coming down from one's high horse?
Is this,
being replaced by this?
Has the death knell for such conventional studios been sounded and the fate of a whole generation of audio/video engineers sealed? Will they soon find that their once cushy jobs have disappeared with the new paradigm and they would be forced to hunt for their own work?
But how can parasites become hunters when they have made careers out of sucking marrow off the bones of carcasses? The "carcasses" being same old, same old ad agency clientele brought in by self-glorified "account managers" who in turn succeed only by being sycophantic to specific ad agency bosses... till as it has, the gravy train grinds to a halt of course. Time to call a spade a spade and scroungers will always be scroungers. Or is it about coming down from one's high horse?
Is this,
being replaced by this?
Monday, 9 July 2012
R.I.P. Paul Ponnudurai
Used to know him when he played at a pub called "Online" in Damansara Kim and as a guest performer at Melawati Club in the 90s with Albert Sirimal and Vijay David. A good man and a great talent.
LGE - CSL Debate (8th July 2012) Part 3
A strategic mistake by CSL to take on LGE at this time. Too much baggage.
LGE - CSL Debate (8th July 2012) Part 2
With this kind of performance, CSL not even worthy to be on the same stage...not answering the questions directly.
Now it is obvious why the son of CSL is the way he is showing himself to be.
Wednesday, 4 July 2012
Wednesday, 20 June 2012
Irshad Manji on PopTeeVee
Irshad Manji calls out moderate muslims..."in times of moral crisis, moderation is an excuse to do nothing"
Tuesday, 19 June 2012
"Stupid Is What Stupid Does", Says Stupid
Kayveas made a statement in the Malaysian Insider about BERSIH 3.0 which is designed to draw flak. A knee jerk by Dr Wong Chin Huat in the same online news media demanding evidence is already playing into Kayveas' hands. Kayveas was surely talking through his rear end and being a lawyer to boot, his 99% figure was obviously not evidence based. So what is he trying to do with this tirade against BERSIH 3.0?
With GE13 not too far away, the usual jostling for seats has begun in BN. UMNO looks prepared to go it alone and claim all Malay majority areas for its own candidates. Even MCA and MIC are being squeezed so what about mosquito component parties like the predominantly Indian PPP.
After years of tantrums in trying to get its political master UMNO to allocate it a seat, Kayveas (PPP) was eventually given a chance by Bodohwi in 2004 and he swept to victory riding on the latter's proposed post-Mahathir reform agenda. His wipe-out in the 2008 GE12 needs no further elaboration.
GE13 will be upon us soon so the running-dogs are barking again. MCA and MIC are being ambivalent and tentative about the BERSIH hot potato that could see them lose all their remaining non-Malay support. Would PPP see this as a slight opening for it to show solidarity with UMNO?
So Kayveas' ludicrous statement about BERSIH must only be replied with SILENCE. Anything more will only serve his end while he is trying to kiss someone else's.
This is what Kayveas was reported to have said in the Malaysian Insider:
Children, paid supporters, made up Bersih 3.0’s crowd, says Kayveas By Clara Chooi June 18, 2012
KUALA LUMPUR, June 18 — Schoolchildren, “blind” anti-Barisan Nasional (BN) supporters and paid participants had marched for Bersih 3.0, Datuk M. Kayveas has said, adding that 99 per cent of the thousands who gathered did not know what they were rallying for on April 28.
Kayveas, who leads the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), raged that many of the participants were those who have “shut their eyes to BN’s goodness” and were intent on blaming the ruling pact for their own failures in life.
He pointed out that he had come from a very poor family and had lived among squatters for some 25 years but still supports BN for what it has done for the country.
“It was because of what BN has done for the past 50 years that I can be what I am today. But there are those who grew up with me, who are still there... they never moved out of it.
“These people who are now supporting the opposition you see, they are forever making complaints or giving excuses for whatever failure of theirs to change themselves. They want to blame others, or find someone to blame,” he told The Malaysian Insider during a recent interview at his office here.
“But I always say — to be born poor is not a sin but to remain poor is.”
These “blind” supporters, added Kayveas, were the ones willing to spread discord on the streets and break the law as they knew their political leaders would later argue in their defence in Parliament.
The former deputy minister and Taiping MP said these supporters were even willing to “beat up policemen” and “damage police cars”, referring to the violent incidents that occurred during the thick of Bersih 3.0 when police rained down tear gas canisters and chemical-laced water to disperse protesters from the city.
But Kayveas accused the opposition for promoting such blind condemnation of BN and for allegedly instigating their supporters to break the law and to spread falsehoods through the use of social media tools.
“They have created groups to blindly support them with herd mentality, without realising what is the truth and what is not,” he said.
“The opposition teaches you that. Wake up in the morning and run people down on the Internet. If you cannot succeed in running people down, then you run to the streets.
“Ninety-nine per cent of those who marched with Bersih did not know why they were there. Give a yellow T-shirt, a few hundred ringgit and they are there.
“Some schoolchildren were there... when I asked them, they said their parents asked them to go,” he said.
Kayveas also lashed out at the electoral reform movement Bersih 2.0 for deviating from its original and “noble” cause to fight for clean and fair elections, which he said he supports.
“The issue is fair and clean elections. The issue was not about Dataran Merdeka. But you insisted on Dataran Merdeka so it clearly shows that you had diverted from the original, noble, idea into a now opposition-backed, daft, arrogant, stubborn, thinking of defying everything that is right by saying it is wrong,” he said.
Tens of thousands had thronged the city’s streets on April 28 for the Bersih 3.0 rally for free and fair elections, the election watchdog’s third such event since 2007.
The opposition-backed protest had kicked off peacefully but turned chaotic shortly after 3pm when protesters breached the three-tiered barricades surrounding Dataran Merdeka, which had been blocked off to them via a court order obtained by the police.
With GE13 not too far away, the usual jostling for seats has begun in BN. UMNO looks prepared to go it alone and claim all Malay majority areas for its own candidates. Even MCA and MIC are being squeezed so what about mosquito component parties like the predominantly Indian PPP.
After years of tantrums in trying to get its political master UMNO to allocate it a seat, Kayveas (PPP) was eventually given a chance by Bodohwi in 2004 and he swept to victory riding on the latter's proposed post-Mahathir reform agenda. His wipe-out in the 2008 GE12 needs no further elaboration.
GE13 will be upon us soon so the running-dogs are barking again. MCA and MIC are being ambivalent and tentative about the BERSIH hot potato that could see them lose all their remaining non-Malay support. Would PPP see this as a slight opening for it to show solidarity with UMNO?
So Kayveas' ludicrous statement about BERSIH must only be replied with SILENCE. Anything more will only serve his end while he is trying to kiss someone else's.
This is what Kayveas was reported to have said in the Malaysian Insider:
Children, paid supporters, made up Bersih 3.0’s crowd, says Kayveas By Clara Chooi June 18, 2012
KUALA LUMPUR, June 18 — Schoolchildren, “blind” anti-Barisan Nasional (BN) supporters and paid participants had marched for Bersih 3.0, Datuk M. Kayveas has said, adding that 99 per cent of the thousands who gathered did not know what they were rallying for on April 28.
Kayveas, who leads the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), raged that many of the participants were those who have “shut their eyes to BN’s goodness” and were intent on blaming the ruling pact for their own failures in life.He pointed out that he had come from a very poor family and had lived among squatters for some 25 years but still supports BN for what it has done for the country.
“It was because of what BN has done for the past 50 years that I can be what I am today. But there are those who grew up with me, who are still there... they never moved out of it.
“These people who are now supporting the opposition you see, they are forever making complaints or giving excuses for whatever failure of theirs to change themselves. They want to blame others, or find someone to blame,” he told The Malaysian Insider during a recent interview at his office here.
“But I always say — to be born poor is not a sin but to remain poor is.”
These “blind” supporters, added Kayveas, were the ones willing to spread discord on the streets and break the law as they knew their political leaders would later argue in their defence in Parliament.
The former deputy minister and Taiping MP said these supporters were even willing to “beat up policemen” and “damage police cars”, referring to the violent incidents that occurred during the thick of Bersih 3.0 when police rained down tear gas canisters and chemical-laced water to disperse protesters from the city.
But Kayveas accused the opposition for promoting such blind condemnation of BN and for allegedly instigating their supporters to break the law and to spread falsehoods through the use of social media tools.
“They have created groups to blindly support them with herd mentality, without realising what is the truth and what is not,” he said.
“The opposition teaches you that. Wake up in the morning and run people down on the Internet. If you cannot succeed in running people down, then you run to the streets.
“Ninety-nine per cent of those who marched with Bersih did not know why they were there. Give a yellow T-shirt, a few hundred ringgit and they are there.
“Some schoolchildren were there... when I asked them, they said their parents asked them to go,” he said.
Kayveas also lashed out at the electoral reform movement Bersih 2.0 for deviating from its original and “noble” cause to fight for clean and fair elections, which he said he supports.
“The issue is fair and clean elections. The issue was not about Dataran Merdeka. But you insisted on Dataran Merdeka so it clearly shows that you had diverted from the original, noble, idea into a now opposition-backed, daft, arrogant, stubborn, thinking of defying everything that is right by saying it is wrong,” he said.
Tens of thousands had thronged the city’s streets on April 28 for the Bersih 3.0 rally for free and fair elections, the election watchdog’s third such event since 2007.
The opposition-backed protest had kicked off peacefully but turned chaotic shortly after 3pm when protesters breached the three-tiered barricades surrounding Dataran Merdeka, which had been blocked off to them via a court order obtained by the police.
Sunday, 3 June 2012
Aberration?
This was the PAS Himpunan Hijau in Alor Star a few days ago. The sheer numbers will scare the shit out of some people who are probably hoping "photoshopped". There was heavy rain to boot!
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Apparition or Aberration
A retired senior government official whom I believe to be a no-nonsense guy shared this photo. It was taken by his nephew at their kampung home in Kelantan about 10 days ago. What gives? It appears to be between the fan and the ceiling. Magnification of the image shows consistent pixelation, an indication that the picture is authentic? Anyone who knows how to, please feel free to download and analyse is photo.
My resident spirit expert says they do manifest like this sometimes. Top clear, bottom wispy.
My resident spirit expert says they do manifest like this sometimes. Top clear, bottom wispy.
Sunday, 20 May 2012
BlackBerry 9900 Dakota
I was given this phone recently. Not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth but its kind of silly for a smart phone. The slim and touch-screen Dakota is currently the top range BlackBerry. It is the BlackBerry Messaging (BBM) that is keeping the brand alive as push email can be a pain.
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