No Calendar? Hello, It is 2009

In the past, I would have received plentiful of calendars and diaries before the year end. Worst still, I would normally find out that some of the past year dairies were still not being used when I was doing year-end cleaning work in my office. This year, I have yet to get one diary or calendar as at the last day of 2008. What exactly happen? I really don't know. Is it that bad coming into 2009?

I talked to some of my friends of late and there seemed to be too much of pessimism coming into 2009. Stock market is bad, business is bad, everything else seems to be bad. There is no one with optimism, everyone is saying that next year will only get worse.

Well, good or bad, life must go on. Worse come to worse, tie up your belt, cut your expenditure, save more money, and let see what will happen. Perhaps this is a good time to give us a wake up call. Look, maybe we have overspent in the past, or maybe we are over-dependent on credit cards or maybe we don't really need a new car or new house anyway, the old one is still in good condition just that it may look a bit old. Perhaps we should cut down on smoking, beer session, buying 4-D. Or maybe it is a time for us to realise that we are not so forcible and not that resilient anyway.

If winter comes, can spring be far behind? I really hope that we can see some light at the end of tunnel. But if next year is indeed a tough one, I wish all my friends to be blessed with good health so that they can be strong enough to fight the worse ever financial tsunami. No free diary or calendar never mind, I'm going to buy one for myself tomorrow.

Beware of CyberCrime and Identity Theft

Recently, a woman from Kota Damansara was implicated in the weblog insulting Prophet Muhammad and being investigated by the police under Sedition Act. I pity the woman for the stressful conditions that she has to go through and also being a victim by irresponsible people with malicious intent against her.

So happen, I received an "very urgent" e-mail from my wife today, saying that she was stranded in 135 Peckham High Street, London, UK as she lost all her money, cellphone and other documents and valuable things and thus unable to contact anyone except that using e-mail from a state library. Oh my god, what a mess isn't. The funny part is my wife is back home in Sitiawan, not in UK. Apart from me, all her other friends also receiving the same e-mail asking for help. The e-mail was asking the potential victims to transfer a whopping USD 2800 through Western Union money transfer so that she could get the money quickly and could leave there as soon as possible. My wife is having a busy day because of that bloody e-mail, getting calls from all her pathetic friends to verify the validity of the e-mail. I suppose no one has bank in the money for her as USD 2800 is a lot of money.

Anyway, I asked her to terminate her hotmail account which was invaded by the crook and also to inform all her friends on that incident so that they are not too worry receiving the fake e-mail. The trouble that my wife has gone through may seem small as compared to the woman which was implicated in the weblog insulting Hindu and also Prophet Muhammad. But cybercrime and identity theft are everywhere nowadays, if you are not careful, you could be the next victim.

A Shy Dog

2008 is ending fast and 2009 is coming soon. Frankly, I don't really feel the excitement of celebrating a new year. Getting older it is, but am I getting wiser, healthier, richer, stronger? I can't really feel any optimism as the newspapers only reporting negative news on economy downturn, big corporations going into bankruptcy, retrenchment, increasing crime rates. All these bad news don't make you a happy man isn't it.

Of late, the crime rates in my neighbourhood seem to be increasing at an alarming pace. A taman close to the place I stay is facing the problems of break-ins, vehicles got stolen almost everyday. My neighbour decided to rear a dog to protect his house in view of the increased incidents of break-ins. Good idea, I hope that the dog will protect my house as well because I often go out-station. That bloody dog however, was not well trained. It is less than a year and will bark on any damn things approaching its house. The worst thing is that the dog seems to like my house very much and always try its level best to sneak into my house and leave its marks here (shit on my small garden & urine on my car tyre).

I notice that the dog will bark every single morning at around 7 am. At first I thought that it could be barking on the newspaper guy. Then later I notice that it was not the case. The dog is barking as my neighbour is leaving his house for work. It seems that idiot is feeling nervous staying home alone and thus pleading its owner to bring him along.

Nowadays, even dogs can not be entrusted to protect your home, they are simply too tame to do the job.

e-Payslip & Environment Protection

Our company recently introduce the use of e-payslip to replace the normal paper-printing payslip. I find it a bit amuse as the reason given was it will reduce the usage of paper thus more environment friendly so to speak. Not only that, the company seems to be converting everything using papers such as office memos, circulars, appraisal, progress reports and what not into electronic forms by e-mails or other on-line forms. That would reduce the cutting down of trees for making papers thus protecting environment.

Ironically, this company that I'm working with is the largest plantation company in the world. The company have been cutting down countless number of tress since the fifties or sixties in the effort to build up a mammoth hectaraege of 600,000 ha rubber and oil palm plantation.

Just a few day ago while visiting estate in Lahad Datu, Sabah, I was caught in an argument with a estate manager on the issue of global warming and environment conservation. He sort of blasted on the NGOs for their accusations on plantation companies being responsible for the degradation of environment and causing the extinction of wildlife such as orangutan, elephant, tiger and others. He followed by saying that the livelihood of the people is more important than environment protection. He stressed that the survival of the people is more important than the survival of Orang utan. To some degree I agreed with him, as the opening up of plantation does indeed improving the social economy for rural areas, but I told him that when the big plantation companies in Malaysia and Indonesia cutting down ten of thousand of jungle trees to convert into millions of hectare of plantation, It was not purely for the livelihood of the people. It provides plentiful of job opportunities no doubt, but it actually in the way creating more wealth for the capitalists. It is the urge to create more wealth that lead to the destroy of the jungle and the social economy aspects only come later. Apart from higher rank executive and staff which comprise mainly of Malaysian, the larger population of work force is actually comprising of foreign labours from Indonesia.

I then told him that our company is no longer printing payslips for the employees in order save the planet by reducing the cutting down of trees for papers. He then asked me to propose to our CEO that the employees should wear banana leaves instead to work so that we can save the planet even more. Both of us then laughed profusely.

Tough Life, Anywhere.

While in Nanning, China last week, we had some free time to go shopping. We were told by the tour guide that the most famous shopping centre in town was Parkson/Walmart which is a few km away from the hotel that we stayed. The taxi fare was about 8 yuan (or about RM 4). It was not very far but we were advised to take a cab as the roads could be a bit of confusing.

My wife and I decided to walk, as we could see more things by walking. We checked for directions from the receptionist at the hotel who gave us a clear direction. It took us about half an hour to reach Parkson. As usual, a lot of cars and a lot of people on the road. I actually quite worry of not being able to go back to the hotel as it was turning dark quite early at the evening and the roads were full with fast walking people, I might get confused on which way to go.

Things were not cheap in Parkson. But people in Nanning seemed to be so happily shopping despite of high prices. My wife managed to buy two pieces of jacket which were discounted for 50%. The shopping complex was full of people, I wonder how the Chinese youngsters not worry of recession or economic slowdown as they were still spending like no body business.

After tired of window-shopping, we decided to walk back to the hotel. It was damned cold outside the shopping complex. I told my wife we might not be able to find the way back as it was dark then. We then saw a motorcycled-trishaw parked at the roadside with a handicapped lady shivering, waiting for customer. I told my wife to take the trishaw as it was too cold to walk back. We asked the lady how much was the fare to go back to the hotel. She said 4 yuan. We then sat in the hooded cab and the lady drove us slowly zigzagging through very busy roads in Nanning. It was quite scary sitting in the hooded cab watching cars and motocycles passing by speedily. It took about 10 minutes to reach the hotel. We were shivering in the tiny hooded cab as the winds blowing on our face were unbearable.

Upon reaching the hotel, my wife asked me to pay her a bit more, sympathizing with the handicapped lady working hard to earn a living in such a difficult condition. Business was so competitive as there were so many similar trishaws parking outside the shopping complex waiting for customers. I paid the lady 10 yuan and told her to keep the change. I could see that she was so appreciative, thanking us many times before we went inside the hotel. Life is tough nowadays, but there are those underprivileged people still brave enough to weather through the hardship of life.

Enjoyable Trip to Guilin

Just came back from holidaying in Guilin, China. A wonderful trip covering a few cities in GuangXi province. It was so happen that GuangXi Zhong autonomous region is celebrating their 50 years anniversary. The city of Nanning and Guilin were decorated with beautiful flowers everywhere, so eye-catching. The weather was cold, averaging below 10C, damn cold, I couldn't take it, but fortunately, both my wife and me were not sick. Unlike our first visit to China last year also during end of autumn, both of us were down with stomach upset and diarrhea. It was a big letdown when you are supposedly happy going on sightseeing but your ass just couldn't co-operate and thus instead of fascinating on beautiful scenery, you end up frequenting W.C., and knowing the cleanliness of toilets in China, the less time you go to the loo the better.

This year's visit to Guilin is a memorable one. Perhaps we were better prepared for cold weather by putting up more clothes. Or perhaps the foods were more to our stomach's liking as compared to very oily and salty stuffs in Shanghai a year ago. Li river cruise was my favourite, beautiful mountains and crystal-clear river water that you can even see the bottom of the river. The best thrill was certainly seeing two pandas, Ying-ying and Yang-yang in Sevenstar Scenic Area.

We also went to see the terrace field in YangShou and experiencing the unique customs of ethnic minorities. It was enjoyable and cheap touring China. But of course the package also included the fixed itinerary of visiting tea, silk, Chinese medicine outlets that were made compulsory by the tourism department of China. Whatever it is, you can't complain for a 8 days 7 nights tour which inclusive of airfare, hotel, food and etc that only cost slightly more than RM2300.

Amazing Guitarist Tony Melendez

Have you heard about Tony Melendez? Neither do I until a good friend of mine FT Fun emailed me a video clip featuring an incredible guitarist singing "Let It Be", strumming guitar with his feet. I was so moved by Tony, who was born without arms as his mother took Thalidomide while pregnant causing him the disability.

Tony began to learn guitar at the age of 16. His friends told him that it was impossible for him to play guitar without his arms. He succeeded with steel-like determination. As a lousy guitar player, I know that it is not easy playing guitar, more so without both arms.

On September 15, 1987, Tony sang "Never be the same" while playing guitar with his feet in a special performance for Pope John Paul II. The Pope was visibily moved by Tony's performance, he embraced Tony and told him that, "My wish for you is that you continue to give hope to others and continue in what you are doing", which had inspired Tony. Since then, he tours as a full time musician, delivering what the Pope called " a gift of hope".

Friends, take a look at the video clip, listen to this amazing guy singing "let it be" and playing guitar with his feet, so calmly as though whatever misfortune or bad luck that fall on him he would just take it as it is. When you are down for whatever reasons, you can't be worst than Tony who was born without arms, so why not just let it be.

A bumper crop but low price

Since my younger days I know that a farmer would not be a rich man even though he works very hard to raise up whatever he plants. Simple, you may have a bountiful harvest but the price of your produce may not be good depending on demands and other unforseeable factors. My father was a padi farmer cultivating a few acres of padi in Arau, Perlis way back in the sixties and seventies and becoming a fishmonger in the eighties as it was difficult to earn a living planting padi. Sometime, the whole padi field could be flooded just before harvest rendering huge damages and alas, wasted effort for the past 3,4 months with a dismal return. Such is a life of a padi farmer.

Knowing the difficulty and hardship of those people raising their families by farming, naturally I would not want to associate myself with anything to do with farming as I grow up. But then I went to university studying plant breeding and ended up working as an oil palm agronomist since 1995. I remember I attended an interview with IOI Corporation way back in 1995 when the human resource manager Mr. T.M.B Krishnan asked me can I work in a plantation with a doubtful-look as I was thin and skinny at that point in time. I told him I was raised up in a padi planting family in a small kampung and he nodded instantly seemingly agreeing that a young man coming from a padi planting family should have no problem working in an estate.

Of late many smallholders crying foul as they are unable to sell their oil palm fruits to the millers as the millers limiting their intake due to poor CPO price. Despite the bumper crops, some smallholders are desperately seeing their crops rotting on the trees as the price was too low for them to make a decent profit should they harvest. The cost of production for smallholders is always on the higher side as compared to plantation companies as they need to pay higher harvesting and transportation cost. Smallholders normally depend on FFB collectors to buy their fruits as they do not have transport to deliver their crops directly to the mills.

Time changes, technology advances, but the hardship and grievances of farmers seem uncontainable.

Lousy move by PLUS to reduce toll rate after midnight

I wonder how many people will stay right up till mid night or waking up early so that they could exist the highway before 7am just to enjoy the 10% offer given by PLUS. This is the lousiest offer I have ever come across for years. I suppose PLUS is doing it half heartedly for the sake of their corporate social responsibility where not many people will benefit from it. Only Mat Rempit stand to benefit from this offer as they are nocturnal who are active at night as opposed to the diurnal human lifestyle. But then again, Mat Rempit will not normally pay tolls.

PLUS said that mid-night till 7am is the off-peak hours. Of course it is off-peak as most of us will be asleep during that periods. And I wonder how effective is this programme to distribute traffic volume so as to improve traffic flow. The Work Minister hailed PLUS for its " historic move", as he thought that it would bring relief to millions of highway users. Historic offer indeed, but the lousiest one. And our Work Minister is anticipating people will wake up early to enjoy the sickening 10% discount and start to work longer hours to increase productivity. Good luck, Malaysians, me included.

Crude oil, oh crude oil

I was in Padang, Indonesia the whole last week. While working in an remote area in Pangian, there were nothing to do at night except for TV watching. In Indonesia you can get a big parabola that can receive almost all TV channels around the world. Such is a way of life in a vast country like Indonesia, no matter rich or poor, the house surely has a big parabola for their TV watching. All these channels come for free, unlike in Malaysia you have to pay Astro to watch other more interesting channels apart from what available for free.

We followed Bloomberg closely every night seeing crude oil going up and down. When crude oil was down, Dow Jones was down and the next day KLCI will follow suit. This friend of mine that I was staying with throughout my visit in Pangian is an active investor, so naturally he keep close track on the performance of share markets and also derivatives. When crude oil breached the US58 a barrel mark, my friend was very anxious, because according to him, crude palm oil will follow suit and there gone our bonus and increment for this year.

I joked with him that we were in such a paradox, when the crude oil prices go skyrocketing, everyone complained aloud, fearing for high inflation and what not. When the crude oil going down and down, we are also complaining, fearing for recession and low palm oil price and what not. I then asked him to switch to Fashion TV ( a French channel) that were showing a fashion show by the name of Mid-Night Hot. The show was show casting the sexy, voluptuous and half-naked models featuring with the latest lingerie. We watched until our eyes almost dropping and our saliva coming out.

Taffic police going after errant motorists

Be careful folks, the traffic police will be knocking on your doors in a nationwide crackdown for traffic offenders who failed to pay their summons. The police call it Ops Warta VII. They do it every year so that the errant motorists will pay their summons. The police may even go to your office to arrest you.

Traffic summons especially those of speeding are very common for motorists. Not that I'm driving like Lewis Hamilton on the roads but still I have received many speeding tickets over the past few years. The highest record was two years ago when I got the summons worth a total of RM1500. Painful experience isn't it, but what to do, it is hard to keep a constant speed below 110 km/hour on the highway especially if you are rushing for meeting or sort.

But if the police can send so many traffic police to look out for the errant motorists, why not they spend more time to patrol crime prone areas in Penang, PJ, KL, JB so that criminal activities can be prevented. If you flip through newspapers everyday, all sort of crime will scare you to hell. Gang rape, mat rempit robbing people at the petrol station, break-ins, assassinations by hired killers, bank robbing, what else? Simple, the IGP will wash his hands by saying that they are under staff. Well, I suppose it is easier to go after the traffic offenders than nailing down the more sophisticated criminals that would exhaust their investigating skills.

Global recession affecting the livelihood of kampung folks

I was in Padang, Indonesia for the past one week, visiting my clients' oil palm estates for fertiliser recommendations. One of the estates that I visited was facing the problem of estate workers staging a demonstration. Around 300 workers who were suspended from work due to cost cutting exercise taken by the estate gathered at the estate's office to demand that they be reinstated for work. These workers were considered non-productive general workers who carried out odd jobs such as manual applications of empty bunches in the fields, loose-fruits collection, fertiliser applications and so no. Some of them are already very old but still clock in everyday to earn some money. In the past, the management kept an close-eye on these general workers as the profits were good and thus they won't want to terminate the so-called unproductive workers comprising kampung folks so as not to create any unrest or chaos in the estate. Most of the productive workers such as those involved in harvesting are trans-migrated from Java, they work hard and thus earn a better living than the local kampung folks who are more keen in odd-job. Now, palm oil price is bad and the management is forced to take drastic cost cutting exercise to maintain profit.

Demonstrations like this is very common in Indonesia. In town, urban or even in a remote oil palm estate that the one I'm visiting, the people frequently gather themselves in order to protest or to voice out their grievances. Normally, negotiations will be carried out to look for a win-win situation. However, too often that not, there will be some sort of damage such as the demonstrators went amok and set the office or factory on fire.

It seems that the global recession is not only affecting the businessman or big corporations, it goes to impact the livelihood of the commoners like you and me. Our government should therefore pre-emptive any probable occurrence of retrenchment or sort so that a mutual agreement can be reached so that there would be win-win for both employers and employees should retrenchment could not be avoided.

Anyone can be PM of Malaysia?

And now Pak Lah said that anyone can be the Prime Minister of Malaysia after Senator Obama won the 2008 USA President election. Unfortunately in Malaysia, the Prime Minister is not elected by its people but by the out-going prime minister. Isn't it not true. Pak Lah was hand-picked by Mahathir, then Pak Lah picked Najib to be his successor. Do the people have the right to pick the prime minister? No, they can only vote for their member of parliament and state assembly.Traditionally, the Prime Minister of Malaysia is the president of UMNO.

In Malaysia, it is sad to say that people are still largely segregated not by race or religion, but by the narrow-mindedness that propelling race supremacy. PAS spiritual adviser Datuk Nik Aziz said that Islam did not differentiate between race and creed. He hailed the victory of Obama was a victory of sorts for Islam as reported in the Star on 6 Nov, 2008.

Judging from the constant politicking on race issues of late, our mindsets are still far from that of the American, whom most people here see them as devils.

A Black President for America

American have spoken. Senator Obama is elected as the first African-American president. Many of my friends, colleagues or people that I know hate American. They said American are just a bunch of capitalist victimising people from developing countries or third world countries. American are the biggest bullies in the world. They produce weapons and sold them to third world countries like Latin American or African countries causing major unrest and chaos here and there so that they can reap abundance profits.

But this time around the majority of American supported a black man of a mix origin to become their president. American trusted Senator Obama's capability to steer the country out of the current financial turmoil. They believe in him because of his credibility and capability,hence, skin color is of no influence on their choice of candidate. The American want a good President, regardless of his origin and his past. Obama had admitted that he used marijuana, cocaine and alcohol during his high school days. But does this make him a bad president?

The former leader of the People Republic of China, Deng Xiaoping said, whether it is a black cat of a white cat, a good cat is the one catches rats. Malaysia is blessed with the diversity of multi races and heritage. Whether we can turn diversity into prosperity hinges upon the mindset of the people.

Motion to discuss multilingual signs in Parliament

Speaker of the House Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia did the right thing in rejecting a motion by MP Ibrahim Ali to discuss the decision of DAP-led Penang state government to put up road signs in multilingual. What a big deal about putting up road signs in different languages? Apparently Ibrahim Ali thought that it is an insult to the status of national language if road signs are in languages other than Bahasa Malaysia.

Road sign is just a road sign, as long as the main ones are written in national language, what so wrong about having similar road signs with other commonly used languages such as Mandarin, English, Jawi or Tamil. Doesn't it reflect the diversification of a multi-cultural society? Tourism hot spots like Penang, Melaka etc should in fact put up multilingual road signs so that it would reflect our multi racial and cultural heritage. Only people with narrow mind would think that multilingual road sign is an insult to national language as they do not treasure the beauty of multicultural society. Or put in another way, some politicians are simply politicising patty issues like this to get attention. Why not these MPs take a trip to big towns in Sarawak like Kuching or Miri where road signs are well presented in multilingual since years ago.

Investor friend getting excited again

A friend of mine just rang me up and very excitedly asked me have I bought any shares recently as the KLCI seems to be clawing back again. I said no. He asked why not, he continued to say that Barrack Obama is going to be the next President of America and the American economy is going to recover and thus global equity market will surely going up again.

I caution him not to be over optimistic as many financial experts still see the global economy in very uncertain condition. He said never mind, no pain no gain and asked me to buy some shares as he is going to buy more shares so that when the market actually rebounded, he could recoup some heavy losses he suffered last year till now. I said good luck to him and told him that I would rather stay at the sideline waiting to see either he is going to make money or suffering more losses. My friend was then very angry with me as my pessimism spoilt his mood to increase his portfolio.

Such is the way of investing nowadays, people get over excited upon slight optimism and also become very fearful for minor negativity. Someone say equity market is a zero-sum game, some make money and some lose. But then again, majority of the retail investors are those scape-goats suffering the most as they are easy pray to the abundance financial information available on the media where the genuineness of the information is a question mark. The smart investors who are carefully examining and verifying the available information and then make a long term decision will probably last the distance. The too many small fries who prone to knee-jerk reaction and follow the herd would most likely lost their way in the highly sophisticated and volatile equity market.

Razak walked out a free man

Abdul Razak Bangida was freed by High Court today as judge Mohd Zaki ruled that the prosecution had failed to make out a prima facie case against him. With the acquittance of Razak Baginda, the murder case of Atantuya becomes more complicated. Who is the person behind the gruesome murder of Atantuya is everyone guess, but certainly the two UKT guys will not very likely to have any motive to kill her.

Police and public prosecutors take two years going around the bush, getting 84 witnesses to testify, in between the private investigator Bala made a statutory declaration, then retracted it then went into hiding. After such dramatic episode of high profile trial, and yet Razak Baginda walked out a free man, as the prosecutors failed to even provide prima facie evidence to get Razak Baginda to enter defence. What the hack is the public prosecutors doing? Is the whole prosecution team influenced by 'some powerful people' until the prosecution becomes so sloppy and haphazard?

The murder of the Mongolian lady has tarnished the image of this country. The police force and prosecution team need to put in concerted efforts to gather sufficient evidence so that the real murderers can be brought to justice. With the acquittance of Razak Baginda, the people at large have lost confidence in the police and the credibility of our public prosecutors is also at doubt. They are either prosecuting the wrong guys or could not even prove beyond reasonable doubt that defendants are guilty.

Crude Oil Prices - Highest Vs Lowest

Crude oil reached its historical high at around US147 a barrel in June 2008. Remember at that time when our cabinet ministers urged the people to accept the fact that we had entered a new era of high energy costs especially high crude oil prices and also urged the people to change their life styles in order to better coupe with a more challenging time.

In a short spell of not more than 4 months, crude oil prices start nosediving to the current levels of close to US60 a barrel. I wonder why the demands of oil can drop so drastically in less than 4 months even though a global recession or economic slowdown is imminent. The second finance minister said recently that the declining crude oil prices spell gloom for our economy as petroleum based products account for 40% of the government's projected revenue. Now, shall we be happy or not for a low crude oil price?

The question is; can the fundamentals change so drastically over such a short period of time with the anticipated global recession? Could the global energy demands decline so significantly just because of the fear factors rather than actual fundamental changes? Or the crude oil prices were skyrocketing since last year mainly due to the speculative ventures by certain parties and not because of actual surge in demands?

Speculative actions by big tycoons around the world have too often led to misery to civilians like you and me. Perhaps, economic slowdown like what we are currently facing is the time for those speculators to pay the price for their greed.

A live stunt on the road

While on my way to Banting yesterday to attend my boss' open house, I witnessed a horrible motorcycle accident. I was awaiting at a traffic light at a cross road to turn right towards North-South highway. As the light turned green, I turned right, a kancil was at my back but the car responded very slowly.

As I was turning, I saw a motorcycle speeding from 12 0'clock directions where all vehicles were supposed to stop for a red light. I wonder whether the dare devil rider wanted to commit suicide or he was a colour blind. He disobeyed the red light and sped through, and collided head-on with the slow moving kancil.

I suppose I was dammed lucky as I went past faster, otherwise It could have been me that was hit by the motorcycle. I could see the rider flew airborne like a stuntman from my back mirror. I think the rider must have been seriously injured or could have been dead. I didn't stop, as there was no place for me to do so. While my wife and I stopped at a nearby food stall to have some light meal before going to the open house, we heard the siren of an ambulance rushing towards the direction where the accident took place

There are so many die hard motorcyclists and mat rempit on the road, sometime even we are careful but could still end up in an accident as there are so many irresponsible drivers who simply do not obey traffic rules.

Low CPO Price

Many clients of mine have called to request that their fertiliser requirement for next year be reduced by 30 to 40%. Understandable, the CPO price has dropped drastically from a record high of RM4700 a tonne to the recent low of RM1565 a tonne. With the steep increase in fertiliser prices, the plantation companies are affected by higher cost of production thus, cutting down their profit significantly.

In my 14 years working as an oil palm agronomist, such cyclical changes in palm oil prices have occurred a few times. When the CPO is high, the estates are pushing for higher crop thus request the agronomist to recommend higher rates of fertilisers, some even topping up the fertiliser rates on their own. When the CPO price is low like now, they will start to cut this and that in order to save cost. In my view, the application of fertilisers should not be driven by the price of CPO but rather the yield potential and also the nutritional status of the palms. Palm oil price goes up and down. If the estates cut down on their fertiliser input this year, that will adversely affect the yield production the following year. Now, who know what's going to be the CPO price the following year. What happen if the price is skyrocketing again but the estates which cut down on the fertilisers suffer low yield.

Plantation investment is for long term. Similarly, application of fertilisers is also for long term. Hence, it requires a long term strategy in order to ensure success and sustainable profitability. Short term adjustment on the capital expenditure in the light of low CPO price is unavoidable but should be done discreetly under the advise of qualified professional. Knee-jerk reaction or fire-fighting approach would not do any good for long term profitability and sustainability.

What a "Kangkung"

The recently concluded MCA election has caught many by surprise. Chua Soi Lek has defied all odds to win the contest for No 2 post. Many could have wondered why MCA delegates still voted for Chua despite of his sex scandal which forced him to resign from his party post and cabinet minister.

In my view, It is not difficult to understand the choice of the majority of the MCA delegates. Since the political tsunami in 08-March, 2008, the mindsets of the people have changed. It can been seen that the grassroots want their leaders to be more vocal and assertive. The center committee of MCA also realise the need to move away from the traditional modus operandi of so called consultation or "closed-door discussion". Perhaps, that's why Chua Soi Lek is chosen as he is deemed more vocal and assertive as compared to Ong Ka Chuan, the preferred candidate by the party's leadership, who subscribes to "speaking behind closed-door".

Can "Tiger" Chua cooperate with his new-elected president remains to be seen as both are of equally strong character. Ong Tee Kiat is all along regarded as a "lone ranger", out-spoken yes he is, but can he get strong supports from his party members especially the loyal followers of Ong Ka Ting or Chan Kwong Choi and the likes? Tiger Chua will only become more fearless as no part of his body has not been seen by the public. But can he be accepted by other BN leaders should he be proposed by MCA to be a cabinet minister? One thing is for sure, the KANGKUNG combination of Ong and Chua should put down all their differences and work together as one as MCA can not afford to have another slip up again. The Chinese majority had already spoken loud and clear during the last general election, they would rather vote for the opposition if MCA continue to be "blind obedience".

Be greedy when others are fearful

The Sage of Omaha has spoken. He wrote in a commentary article in the New York Times that he is now buying US stocks and predicted that shares would substantially outperform cash over the next decade. As the world richest man and the world's most successful investor, Mr. Buffett's views and opinions are highly regarded by the investor community worldwide. Small investors may take lead from his optimism and start to buy in equities again. In the midst of the current financial crisis where stock markets worldwide have plummeted to the historical low, what Warren Buffett had written in the New York Times should provide a ray of hope to the panicky investors.

It is the time to be greedy when others are fearful, said Mr. Buffett. True indeed Mr Buffett, but most of the investors have no more "bullets" to be greedy. Most of the "bullets" had been miss-fired at stray targets when KLCI was approaching historical high last year when everyone was greedy and nobody was fearful. I just pray hard that KLCI will slowly recover so that my losses could be minimised.

Not safe to put up a police beat base

What the hack? In a written reply to Titiwangsa MP, the Home Minister said that the police beat base located in Chow Kit was closed down as the place is not safe due to the "presence of criminals which is unsafe for police officers". Of thousands of excuses that he can think of, he pick this one, too bad.

Isn't it the responsibility of police force to protect the civilians from criminal activities. If the place is unsafe, there are more reasons for them to intensify patrolling so as to reduce crime. Now, a police beat base is being closed down because the place is not safe? Policemen are trained to fight crime, surely they are capable of handling the criminals. I suppose the Home Minister is putting priority on the safety of police force on top of the civilians. No wonder the crime rates have not been contained for years as the police is running away from crime prone areas.

This is like asking the soldiers not to go the battlefield as it is too dangerous. Who will protect us then? What kind of logic is this??

Hardship in Ease

In a short period of 4 months, the crude oil has declined drastically from the peak of US 147 a barrel in July to the low of US 73 a barrel. What a turn of event that caught everyone by surprise. When the price was at its historical high, we worried that it would go up even higher, everyone seemed to worry about inflation. Now, when the oil prices declined to below US 80 a barrel, we worry that a recession is unavoidable despite multi billion bail-out measures taken by American, British and also EU countries. Similarly, the KLCI was at the historical high of 1500 points just a couple of months ago, now, most of the investors start panicking and thus liquidating their equities sending KLCI to a two-year low close to 900 points.

The volatility of crude oil prices or share market for that matter is an complicating issue. But one thing is for sure, investors at large have pressed panic button due to fear of the collapse of the global financial system. Even the congressional bailout plan by US don't seem to be able to contain investors' fear. In the pressing time like this, what can common people do to ease the hardship?

In the younger days in school, we were taught to always save for a raining day. We were taught to think about the past hardship when at ease and think otherwise during a hardship. Unfortunately, we don't think about the hardship when we are at ease, instead we are driven by greed. History always repeats itself, but the fools keep on falling into the same trap as they never learn from the past mistakes.

Rocky's bru Under Fire

Rocky's bru was under fire for his recent posting in defence of Utusan Malaysia which was sued by MP Teresa Kok for defamation. Rocky may have a soft spot for journalists and thus sympathising with Utusan' journalists for being sued by Teresa Kok. However, most of the readers/bloggers obviously thought otherwise and opined that Utusan was indeed responsible for inaccurate reporting which had resulted in the detention of Teresa Kok under ISA. Some even suggested that Rocky has shifted camp and thus speaking on behalf of UMNO.

I respect Rocky for having the gut to publish all the sarcastic remarks. The article had attracted some 300 over comments when I was reading it.Too bad that most of the criticizers are hiding under the skirts of anonymous and firing him rigorously as perhaps they too, are worried of getting sued.

Whose Head Will Roll?

Recent posting by SimeDarbyWatch and Rocky's Bru highlighted yet again, another trading losses incurred by Sime Darby amounting to RM 80 million following the previous incident of RM120 million trading losses incurred by Golden Hope prior to merger which had resulted in 4 top executives being sacked.

Trading losses is quite common for companies dealing with commodities such as crude oil and palm oil due to market volatility. Despite of stringent standard operating procedures and guidelines, the best analysts or traders in the world could still suffer losses due to varying circumstances and market volatility. For instance, when the government decided to increase the petrol price by 40 % a few months ago when the crude oil reached its historical high at about USD 150 a barrel, who could have predicted that crude oil price would nosedive below USD 80 a barrel just a few months later.

Hence, trading losses like what incurred by Sime Darby should be investigated thoroughly so as to determine the contributing factors rather than every time there is a trading loss, some body's head will roll. Even the best analyst in the world could not precisely predict the price trend of commodities due to complexity of the supply-demand chain. Let's be fair to those traders who work under very stressful conditions, they are not fortune tellers, neither are they a Warren Buffet or George Soros.

Malaysia Unlikely to Enter Recession???

The second Finance Minister commented today that Malaysia is unlikely to enter recession. Reason given was that our banking system is still intact despite the banking crisis affecting US and Europe. Nor Mohamad said that the government is still optimistic of achieving economic growth of 5.7% this year and 5.4% next year.

I hope the Second Finance Minister's optimism would not disappoint us. No doubt Malaysian economy is diversified, but which are the sectors performing well at this point in time? Plantation industry is affected by low CPO price, construction and manufacturing businesses are not moving as well. So despite of the diversification of our economy, can we be resilient enough to sail through this worldwide financial turbulence safe and sound?

I hope all politicians do not create any more chaotic conditions. As it is now, the livelihood of commoners have already been badly affected by the current uncertainties due to a possible recession in US. The sharp declines in major share markets around the world for the past few days is already scary enough.

During a crisis period like this, the common people are those affected the most. The rich people and big business tycoons may see their wealth reduce substantially, but they can still continue enjoying luxurious life. The common people could be out of jobs, and thus the livelihood of the whole family is affected. The people who are running small business such as hawkers, taxi drivers, restaurant owners will tell you how bad is their business being affected now. Hopefully the smooth transition of power to Najib would ensure political stability in the country as instability in politic would not do any good to our economy.

Penan Peril

All along we know that the livelihood of the natives in Malaysia be it Penan or other aborigine groups in East and West Malaysia has been neglected by the authority. As the political parties are campaigning in the town or urban during elections, they often forget the minority native communities that are in the dire needs for help. It is not difficult to understand, political parties are campaigning for votes, ruling parties or oppositions alike, so it is only logical for them to go campaigning at places where they think they can get more votes.

The alleged abuse on Penan girls as reported by NGO Bruno Manser Foundation of late is nothing new. It has been in existence for a long time. It is not merely a criminal problem but more towards a socioeconomic problem. Young native girls become easy prey for errant loggers mainly because of the strained and reduced circumstances and poor living environment. Instead of blaming the NGO for tarnishing the image of our country by reporting issues like this, we should be appreciative as without them, our politicians will never step their feet on the barren land of remote countryside.

I often visit remote areas in Sabah, Sarawak and Pahang during the course of work. Sometime, I met up with some young native children studying in the primary schools located in the oil palm estates where I was visiting. These schools are mostly financed or operated by the plantation companies with limited resources or support from the government. Some native families are reluctant to send their children to the school as it is too far away from their home.

Sometime, I do come across some young native kids who look notably like Chinese. My friend in the estate always joked that they could be the offspring of one of the planters. Joking aside, if the alleged victimization of young Penan girls reported by BMF is true, then not only the culprits is guilty, the government is equally responsible for not being able to bring up the livelihood of the native minority.

Different Fate of Two Chinese

Many years ago I was assigned to guide a China man from Laos on how to establish an oil palm nursery. This man by the name of Liang originated from Jilin, China and working for a timber company joint ventured with a Malaysian businessman extracting timber at Paksan, Laos. The government of Laos wanted the Malaysian businessman to plant up the logged areas with oil palm. Liang was sent by his boss to Malaysia to learn what oil palm cultivation is all about. He was here only for about two weeks. I suppose he can learn some basic skills and knowledge on oil palm but it would be extremely difficult to learn from A to Z.

After a few days staying in Seremban, Liang started to ask how are we Malaysian Chinese doing in Malaysia. He was amazed and admired as to how well Chinese in Malaysia living happily and successfully as compared to him who was suffering in his home state in Jilin, China as jobs are rare and difficult to earn a living. His wife left him for another man and left behind a 12-year old son living with Liang's parents. That's why he left Jilin and worked as a logger in Laos, following a timber contractor also from his home town to earn about 200 to 300 US dollars a month.

While he was telling his story over the many dinners we had together, I often saw tears in his eyes. Liang said that I was lucky as my grand father had travelled long ago to Tanah Melayu and that's how I ended up here but unfortunate for him that his grand parents had not been courageous enough to find a better living elsewhere. We both laughed in agreement of Liang's theory of our different fates due to the actions of our grand parents. Before he went back to Laos after his 2-week stay in Seremban, Liang went to do some shopping and apparently, I saw him bought a gold ring and some ladies clothing. I asked him what was that for. He told me he was going to marry a lady he met in Laos after returning to Paksan. I was curious as to how Liang communicate with his lover as he didn't even know how to speak Laos. He told me they communicate through sign language and he was trying hard to learn Laos. I couldn't stop laughing at him and warned him that the lady might be cheating on him.

I went to Laos a few months after Liang went back. I met him there. He was so excited to see me as he could not remember a single thing that I taught him during his two-week stay in Malaysia. The oil palm nursery was in a mess. I pity Liang as the working environment in Laos was far from satisfactory. He was staying in a small hut at the nursery site far away from the logging camp without proper food and water and don't even talk about other basic facilities like electricity.

I was equally delighted to see him and asked him how was his married life going on. To my surprise, Liang turned on a sour face and started to curse his "to-be wife". Liang said the woman cheated on him. The lady had already married with three kids. As much as I sympathized Liang, I wanted to laugh, I warned him before that the lady might be cheating him as both of them can't even communicate. Liang then said he was so angry that he went to the lady's house and took back all the good that he bought for her including a ring, ladies clothing, bed sheet, cooking utensils and all others. I couldn't stop laughing at him, despite of his misery, Liang could still recoup whatever gifts he had given to the lady.

China's Paradox

China have recently flexing their muscle and strength by upstaging an amazing Olympic 2008 and sending three astronauts to the space. That would exert both their financial capabilities and technological advancements to the admiration of the world.

But how could they allow the contamination of melamine becomes so widespread until it kills 4 infants and causing mass terror among millions of parents in China who feed their children with contaminated milk. This is not the first catastrophe, remember the Sichuan earthquake not too long ago which claimed thousands of young lives merely due to substandard construction work especially the schools. Too bad that all these corrupted acts of certain people only surface when a disaster struck and many lives scarified. Remember the outbreak of bird flu many years ago which whacked havoc not only in China but also horrifying air travellers around the world?

Can you see the paradox? On one hand, they are busy showcasing brilliant ideas and technological advancements to the world, on the other hand, poor enforcement of local authorities and improper handling on critical issues such as Melamine contamination, bird flu etc resulting in ten of thousands of its people suffering, what an irony.

Night Race-A thumb-up to Singapore

What a wonderful night race held by Singapore on the last weekend. A dramatic race eventually won by Fernando Alonso after so many twists and turns , clashes and collisions, satefy cars in and out and one after another pitstop blunders. Many who suspected the ability of Singapore to host the first ever night race in the history of F1 would now be admiring their ability to put up so many floodlights to lit the Marina Bay in such a eye-catching way. Ron Dennis gave his thumps-up unreservedly, so did other F1 drivers and team principles.

The world have witnessed how Singapore, a small city state with little natural resources put up such an extraordinary race agaisnt all odds, in the way spending much lesser money as compared to Sepang or Shanghai as they do not even need to built a race track. It is indeed the human capital of Singapore that make the different. How they think outside the box is the way they survive in this ever challenging world.

Dog Food

MP Teresa Kok claimed that she was served with meals as good as "dog food" during her detention under ISA. Now, deputy minister in the PM's Department wants to investigate whether it is true that only RM5.80 per day was allocated for each detainee for their whole day meals. I suppose RM5.80 can buy you a reasonably good plate of nasi campur in KL, but certainly not enough for breakfast and dinner. My mother in law's dog is fed every day with dog meal much more than RM5.80 a day. I pity what Teresa Kok had to go thru during her detention under ISA. She was not a prisoner, she is a Member of Parliament arrested under ISA that deserves a better treatment than a prisoner.

No body expects the government to provide luxurious meals to the prisoners or other detainees. At least don't humiliate them by providing sub-standard or poor meals. While government servants, the ministers can go on the extravagance trips overseas spending millions of tax payers' money, I suppose it would not cost a bomb to provide a decent meal to those behind the bars.

KLCI at two-year low

What a disaster? KLCI dropped almost 40 points at noon, what a roller coaster ride from historical high of 1500 points just at beginning of the year to such a dismal stage now. I lost almost 70% of my investment which I initiated about a year ago. Such is the way of life I suppose, expectation and result seem never agree with each other.

Last night I re-read a bit of Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham, a book that I bought quite sometime ago. Although the book was written many decades ago, the principles are still very relevant. As Graham said, investment is not only buying stocks and expects it to raise fast. Investment should involve very detailed analysis to find out the stocks that are cheaper than their intrinsic values to give a comfortable margin of safety. Buying good stocks and keep them for long terms and disregarding their fluctuations in prices should be the proper way of investment.

I guess I have to wait for a long long time before I can recover my initial capital.

September 16 an Anticlimax

As many could have predicted, September 16 is an anti-climax, a dramatic start but nothing happens at the end. DSAI still insists that Pakatan Rakyat have more than 31 MPs to crossover from BN so that they could form a new government. But Pak Lah just said it was a bluff. Whatever it is, Malaysian at large have to continue their life with this sort of politicking maybe until the next general election. Or the government will arrest DSAI under ISA so as to keep his mouth shut so that BN will have a smooth sailing until the next election.

Pakatan Rakyat on the other hand should enhance their administration on the 5 states under their control. If they can better BN, I would say more people will support them in the coming general election. If Pakatan Rakyat continue with the current strategies of overthrowing the government by pinching the BN's MPs, that will exhaust their resources and thus they would not be able to focus on improving the livelihood of the people.

As it is now, there seems to be a global economic turbulent on the way due to the economic crisis in US. Why not we join hands in strengthening our economy and ensuring the people are more resilient in facing economic crisis should it really happen.

Prisoner of Conscience

Sin Chew reporter was released after 18 hours of detention, what a relief. But RPK and Teresa Kok were still imprisoned under ISA. There are increasing voices to call for the release of RPK and Teresa Kok, civilians and those in the government alike. The de facto minister of law has since tendered his resignation as he was also in disagreement with the government misusing ISA for detention not related to terrorism. Can Prime Minister turn a deaf ear to the people?

ISA is against peace and democracy. We can see that it is so conveniently used to detain someone that in the view of government had threatened national security. Are those people really terrorists? Or are they prisoner of conscience. Why ISA? IS the government incapable of acting against the lawbreakers with the laws that we are having now? Or, simply, the ISA is being used as it is so convenient? Can't our law enforcers find enough evidence to charge the ISA detainees in open court?

Unjust arrest of Sin Chew reporter

The credibility of Home Ministry is again in doubt with the arrests of Raja Petra, Teresa Kok and Sin Chew reporter Tan Hoon Cheng under ISA. I wonder press freedom is alive in this country. Are these people really a threats to the country or ISA is conveniently used to solve the problems faced by the home ministry.

This is a trick so often played by the government. OK, you people are angry with Ahmad Ismail, actions have been taken against him. Now is the time to go for the rest who are also involving in spicing out the issue. So, don't you people complain, it is fair to everybody.

This is democracy in this country; the person who allegedly given racist remarks was suspended for 3 years from all his party posts and still acts like a big hero, the person who reported the issue was arrested and investigated under ISA.

2 Days 1 Night in Penang

My wife and I went to Penang for vacation over the past weekend. It has been many years since the last time we visited Penang. It was quite fortunate for us as we managed to cover a few interesting places even though the weather was not promising. It was pouring while we were driving from Sitiawan to Penang. We went to Bukit Bendera but the train service was suspended due to maintenance. We then went to Kek Lok Si Temple and it started to rain again upon reaching there. After the rains stopped, we went to Botanical Garden just quick enough to have some brief walks and it was drizzling again. The cannon ball trees planted along the path way at the main entrance were beautiful.

We put up a night at Tanjung Bungah Beach Hotel. It was the cheapest 3-star hotel I can find near Batu Ferringhi. I prefer the sea view but my wife wanted to save some money therefore we opted for hill view. It ended up street view as all you can see from the room was busy streets but for about RM128 per night, it is still value for money. That night we went to the famous night market at Batu Ferringhi. There were not many stalls opened probably due to rainy weather. So we went to Gurney Drive for shopping.

The next day we managed to visit Butterfly Farm before the heavy showers started at around noon causing massive jam on our way out to Penang bridge. I was swearing all the way until coming out from the Penang bridge when the traffic eased slightly. In Malaysia, every where you go is the same. When it rains heavily, some low lying places sure get flooded. What happen to the millions of ringgit spent on flood mitigation? When it comes to monsoon periods, the kampung folks in the northern states like Kedah and Perlis sure suffer. Padi fields damage, houses flooded, unfortunate life casualties again and again. Those big shots living comfortably in big bungalows in Putra Jaya sure can not understand the pains the people suffered due to floods. Malaysia is blessed as there are far lesser natural disasters as compared with our neighbouring countries such as Indonesia, Thailand and Philippines. Even then, some quarters can just blame the mother nature for causing the havoc but not themselves for not putting in sufficient efforts to mitigate floods.

Arrogant Racist

Deputy Prime Minister had apologized on behalf of UMNO on the seditious remark made by Ahmad Ismail on calling Chinese as immigrant. Prime minister had also felt sorry for the incident and warned all BN component parties to be more sensitive on race issues. But this guy Ahmad Ismail is too proud and arrogant to deny that he had conducted any wrong doings and thus, no need to apologize to anybody. He was basically implied that what he had said is a fact, Chinese and Indian in this country are all immigrants thus do not deserve equal rights as what entitle for bumiputera.

This is a typical low class politician, running out of ideas on how to improve the livelihood of the people thus sensationalising race issue to get support from his own race. Or try to become a hero, like someone many years ago repeatedly kissed the Kris as though he wants to slaughter enemies in a battlefield. Where are we heading to if we have this kind of people to become our leaders?

Racism - No 1 Enemy to National Unity

As Malaysia is celebrating the 51st Merdeka, there are still racist everywhere cooking up seditious remarks for their own political agenda. Bukit Bendera UMNO division chief Ahmad Ismail is one such example. He had allegedly called Chinese pendatang (immigrant) at a ceramah in front of his number 2 boss Najib Razak. Well, Chinese community surely can not take it. After 51 years achieving independent, there is this moron labelling them as immigrant and literally questioning the genuineness of their citizenship.

Chinese politicians naturally condemning such irresponsible act of their counterpart in Barisan National. Demanding apology and some even ask this guy to be sacked by UMNO. Of course the PM will always play his Tai-chi, explaining that that chap didn't mean what he had said. Never mind, we know there is always double standards. If someone else not from UMNO giving such controversial remarks, they will surely be arrested under ISA.

So MCA and Gerakan, let's see the so called politics of consultation work or not. We will find out very soon should any disciplinary actions be taken on this chap.

Anwar's Victory = People Victory?

The voters of Permatang Pauh may not represent the whole nation. However, a higher majority for Anwar Ibrahim despite accusations of sodomy means a lot. It is a bold step taken by Permatang Pauh's voters to express theirs disappointment on the government. The skyrocketing petrol price, highest ever inflation, increased crime rates and constant politicking have made our lives miserable. Perhaps that is why most people put theirs hopes on Anwar, as they are fed up with empty promises put up by the ruling coalition for so many decades. It is timely for the government to bring about effective measures to lighten the burden of the rakyat. Priorities should be given to curb inflation and to ensure a safer living environment by reducing crime. On the issue of fighting crime, It looks as though the police are more interested in high profile cases such as Anwar's sodomy, while the safety of the people is given lesser priority.

Anwar may or may not become the next prime minister. But is that important? What is important to the people is that they can live happily without have to worry about inflation, unemployment, safety issues and also unstable politic situation. If the government can put the interest of the people in the first place, our politic scenario may not come to the current chaotic condition anyway.

Petrol Lower by 15 cents

Good news, the government has lowered the retail petrol price by RM 0.15 to RM 2.55 a liter. Although the decrease is only 15 cents, this should at least help to curb inflationary pressure on commoner. However, it is also the responsibility of the relevant authorities to ensure the CPI index is also coming down accordingly. With the implementation of floating mechanism of fuel price, the government must also put in place sufficient measures to check on the prices of consumer items not been manipulated by irresponsible parties.

Ultimately, the government will still have to improve public transportation. Pak Lah himself experienced how bad was our komuter and LRT. If Pak Lah was so annoyed about the poor services of our public transport after one day he went undercover, he should indeed understand the feeling of the people who use the public transport day in and out.

20-08-2008

20-08-2008, wow today sure is a prosperous day which only happens once in a life time. Chinese sure like it very much as it pronounces as easy to get rich in Cantonese. Wishing all bloggers double happiness, good fortune and a wonderful day.

Double Disappointment

My two dreams for Beijing 2008 Olympics were first, to see Malaysian win the first gold medal and second, to witness Liu Xiang fight against the best of the world in the 110 m hurdle at the bird nest. Unfortunately, both dreams shattered. Lee Chong Wei failed against Lin Dan. Liu Xiang pulled out due to injury. Sometimes, expectations and realities always seem to be on the different directions of the path of life. Despite his pulling out, Liu Xiang is still supported by the people of China, commoner and country leaders alike. With the support of 1.3 billion of his fellow-countryman, Liu Xiang will surely find new motivation to get well and fight again. Perhaps for Chong Wei and other athletes representing Malaysia, we need to extend our undivided supports and encouragements for them to succeed in the sports.

Proud of Chong Wei Despite Defeat

Well, you can see that Malaysians are pouring theirs words of encouragement and strong supports to Chong Wei despite his defeat to Lin Dan in the men's single final in Beijing Olympic. Many cheered his determination to come this far. I was disappointed of course not for him not winning the first ever Olympic gold medal but more on his inability to fight against super Lin Dan which had strong partisan supports. Perhaps most of us are too eager to see a Malaysian winning a gold medal and not knowing how huge was the burden on Chong Wei's shoulders. You may have sleepless nights after this defeat but most important is to stand up again, train harder and become mentally stronger. Fight for a gold in London.

Only Silver for Malaysia

Well, perhap Lin Dan was too good or Chong Wei was under too much pressure. He was clearly not playing his normal game, making far too many unforced errors, giving away a golden oppurtunity to be our first olmypic gold medalist and winning himself a million riggit. Too bad. Whatever it is, he has done his level best but may be too much of pressure had affected his game. Keep it up, Chong Wei, I hope you will find new inspirations to become stronger, four years later there is still a battle field awaiting you.

Anwar-Shabery Open Debate on Fuel Price

Without doubt, Anwar Ibrahim remains among the best orator in the country. The fuel price debate carried out live is good for the people. It goes to show that both the opposition and the government are trying their level best to gain public support on their respective agendas. Anwar had promised to reduce the fuel price by RM0.50 per litre if Pakatan Rakyat formed the government. He had put up seemingly workable proposal in reducing TNB stand-by capacity from 40% to 20% which will generate RM 2 billion. Anwar also mentioned that another RM 3 billion will be sourced from Petronas to bring down the fuel price to RM2.20 per litre. Too bad that Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek focused more time on personal attacks on his opponent and did not take the opportunity to elaborate on how the government going to device measures to reduce the burden of the people due to escalating fuel price. At the end, both orators were truly gentlemen by shaking each other's hands. However, how effective is such open debate in addressing the pressing issue of escalating fuel price or to soften the unhappiness of the general public remain to be seen

ISA Detainee and His Dying Daughter

It was sad indeed reading on the news of a ISA detainee who could not make it on time to see his dying daughter just because of delaying of getting the signature of home minister. I remember reading the sad story of Said Zahari who was detained under Lee Kuaw Lee administration due to the allegation of his involvement in the communist movement.

I read Said Zahari political memoir with a deep heart, many years ago.I have no idea who this man was until I met him on the launching of his political memoir at Kinokuniya in KLCC. I bought his book and had his signature on it which wrote "happy reading". Pak Said, how could I be happy reading a sad story of a courage man being crucified by Lee Kuaw Yew administration for political reasons.

And after so many years later, we still heard about the sad story of people being detained without trials under ISA.

Work,Work,Work........

My job requires me to travel a lot. Mostly to plantations or estates located in remote areas in Sabah, Sarawak and Indonesia. My wife always complains that we hardly spent time together due to the nature of my job that require me to travel frequently. What to do? That's my job.

Like it or not, everyone need to earn his or her living. Like everyone else , I have to work hard for a living. Life is especially tough nowadays, everything seems so expensive. To own a car is so expensive, to buy a house is even more expensive.

I have friends who are working in Indonesia that always suggesting me to work in Indonesia to earn more money. There are plentiful of jobs available there as oil palm industry is growing so rapidly. I was told that Indonesia companies would pay double or triple our pay over here to attract more expertise.

I remember my former boss used to tell me that life is a package, our job is just part of it. Come to think of it, would it really worth it to stay far away from your family to earn extra money? Would it be better to earn decently but with your family around you? I suppose that is individual choice.

Sick of All These Nonsense

These days, you don't see that many happy faces on the the street. I suppose people are not happy for too many pressing issues like uncertainties in politic development in the country, escalating fuel prices and cost of living, declining share market or simply too many statutory declarations of late?? I am confused why are there so many shameful incidents happening in the past few years. Altantuya's murder, sodomy allegation, what's next?

I don't think we can live in peace should these things keep on happening. Every morning, I flip through the newspapers and immediately getting sick. How can a person made a statutory declaration just to withdraw it a day later? Eating your own words?

We have to stop all these nonsense to move forward. But the politicians and related parties will keep on sensationalising such issues to achieve theirs agendas. I guess we have to wise-up, and just ignore all these nonsense so that we can live happily without our soul and mind being polluted.