A Lucky Bastard

Not many people will call themselves a bastard, it is a mean word any way. But Sir Richard Branson just did it, when he told reporters his feeling after the surprise victory of Brawn GP in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix. Apparently, Branson’s Virgin Group signed a sponsorship with Ross Brawn just hours before he flew over to Melbourne to be with the Brawn GP team in the paddock to witness their debut race.

But I feel it is not solely luck that contributed to Branson’s maiden success in Formula 1 which is predominated by big budget teams such as Ferrari and McLaren Mercedes. Victory is so difficult to come by even with the huge investments over many years for teams such as Toyota, Honda and BMW or for that matter, our PETRONAS. That could be the reason why Honda is pulling out from Formula 1 as their investment never close enough to bring in its equivalent success as anticipated. But for Branson, it is a shrewd business deal made at a right time with the right people. Perhaps Branson has the gifted talent to be able to anticipate success in his business ventures.

As he wrote in his autobiography, “My interest in life comes from setting myself huge, apparently unachievable challenges and trying to rise above them...from the perspective of wanting to live life to the full, I felt that I had to attempt it”. Well said, Branson, it could be his passion that drives him towards unparalleled success time and again.

What a Race, Jenson

What an amazing season-opening Australian Grand Prix. Who could have expected that the defunct Honda, bought over by its former boss Ross Brawn at the very last minutes, securing Jenson and Barrichello their driving seats, defying all odds, finishing first and second. World champion Hamilton was just lucky to secure a third place although he didn’t make it to the podium as Jarno Trulli was initially classified third but later stripped off his third place by the marshals due to illegal overtaking behind the safety car. And both the Ferraris didn’t even finish the race. It was also a good race for Vettel and Kubica who were fighting for the second place until they both collided with just 3 laps to go and out of the race without any point, hard luck.

It was certainly a wonderful start of a new season for Jenson, once deemed a British talent to become a world champion but never lucky enough to race in a competitive car to challenge for the championship. Unlike Kimi, Alonso or Hamilton, Jenson was never lucky enough to race for strong teams like Ferrari, McLaren or Renault. But at least this year, a person who may not even be able to race due to the withdrawal of Honda as a consequence of the global financial crisis, taking the pole and leading right from the start, barely challenged by any other drivers and finished comfortably in the first place, his second career victory. His faith in F1 racing is paying off.

If the race is going on like this, it will be extremely exciting for the 2009 season and certainly a new life for Formula 1 which was dominated by Ferrari, McLaren and Renault for too long, making it dull and too predictable for the fans. Well done Jenson. It was a wonderful start for Brawn GP, a shot in the arm for Jenson and Barrichello and Honda can kick their own ass for the last minute pull out.

Singing Magpies

I’m quite fortunate actually, not many people office can be as nice as mine. There is nothing so fantastic about my office. A wooden colonial styled single storey building which has been in existence for more than 60 years since 1940s. This place certainly has its glory days, when there were a select team of scientists and agriculturalists working here in the fifties when the country was diversifying into the cultivation of rubber and oil palm. Those olden boys have been contributing to some of the great achievements in rubber and oil palm research and the plantation industry as a whole. But now, most of the buildings are vacant, the people working here were mostly transferred elsewhere following the merger of Sime Darby, Golden Hope and Guthrie two years ago. All the beautiful history and sweet memory of those who have been working in Guthrie Research Chemara before will eventually come to an end. This place is out for sale and I will be the last one to move out from here latest by end of the year.

Time flies. It has been a good ten years since I started working here. Along the way, there are opportunities cropped out but somehow, this place seems so homely to me. An office located at a hilltop in the hustle and bustle of Seremban. No traffic jam, a ten minutes drive from my house and a ten minutes drive to Jusco Seremban. I can even go to Jusco to have lunch without going back late to the office. But above all, the most adoring part is the song birds magpie entertaining me with their beautiful song every morning, afternoon and evening. This bird likes to sing, some people say they are noisy. Our office is surrounded by fruit trees like rambutan, durian and other big trees. This place surely is a haven for birds and monkey in Seremban. More so there are less people working here now and the monkeys were happily running on our roof making hell lot of noise.

But of late, there are lesser monkey in our compound, probably due to less foods as it is not a season for rambutan. But what I truly treasure is the magpies. It is relaxing listening to these lovely birds, reminding me of those olden days when I was a small boy living in a kampong in Arau. My late mother likes the singing magpie very much. She said they are lucky birds. I remember on the morning before I went to school to pick up my STPM results, she saw that I was so worried and thus tried to calm me down. She told me that my examination result would be fine, so don’t worry. I asked why. She said that morning there were plentiful of magpies singing aloud at our backyard, surely it was going to be a lucky day for me. But my examination result came up so so only. I went home with a dejected face and I told my mom, whether it is a lucky day or bad day, magpies will sing, even the sky is going to fall, they will still sing, so don’t ever think that it has anything to do with luck.

Somehow, I miss my mom, just like I’m going to miss this place and the singing magpies.

A Bitter Pill to Swallow

A 4.5% dividend payout by EPF for 2008 is within expectation amid the global financial turmoil. However, it is still a bitter pill to swallow for millions of EPF contributors as low dividend would adversely affect their retirement funds in a long run. Just about a couple of years ago EPF allowed its members to withdraw periodically to invest in Unit Thrusts as probably EPF also realized their low dividend payout for the past 10 years would certainly not satisfy its members’ expectations. Hence, allowing its members to invest portion of their EPF savings on higher risk Unit Thrust, hoping to generate more decent returns is a logical move. I have invested quite a fair bit in the Unit Thrusts and the investment was also badly affected by the sharp decline in global share markets. The Unit Thrusts used to generate a decent 15 to 20 % return per year during good times but also went kaput amid the current financial crisis. It looks like EPF is still a safer mean for retirement saving.

EPF should realize that the responsibility they shoulder is too big for them to take any high risk portfolios as millions of people are depending on them for their retirement. What we can hope is that EPF remains professional and transparent in their dealings and should put the interests of its members at the first priority. To manage 300 over billions is by no mean easy, but if the interest of its member is put at the utmost importance, at least EPF contributors can be assured of a decent retirement. Moreover, the dividend payout should be above the inflation rate or otherwise, the growth of the retirement funds for millions of the contributors will also be at stake.

Bravo, Chong Wei, Bravo

Exactly a week ago I was watching live telecast of All England Badminton final between Chong Wei and Lin Dan and ended up disappointed with the failure of Chong Wei to exert a revenge on Lin Dan. But, bravo Chong Wei, he has reverted a second best to be the best, living up to the expectation as the world number one, tamely defeated Lin Dan in the final of Swiss Open. Well done, a brilliant game indeed. He was full of confident, determination and most importantly, the never-say-die spirit.

I am a fan of Chong Wei, wherever he plays, I will watch and support him wholeheartedly in front on my TV, but too often than not, ended up with disappointments especially when he played against the mighty Lin Dan. The most heart breaking encounter being the 2008 Olympic final. Tonight, at least I enjoyed the thrill of watching a highly competitive match where both players exchanged long rallies as both were equally determined to outdo the other. A win on Lin Dan is not easy to come by, especially on foreign soils. Keep it up Chong Wei, if your mind is as firm as a rock, you can only get better and better, then Lin Dan would not be a hurdle anymore.

Second best.............again?

Watching Lee Chong Wei playing Lin Dan in any badminton tournament I always have a bad predicament for Chong Wei. Not that I'm not patriotic, not supporting of our own player, but high expectations have always turned into big disappointment, times and again, it was proven to be like that. Chong Wei playing Lin Dan in the All England final, similarly, I'm watching with high spirit hoping our player will out do the cocky and arrogant Chinese player, but to my disappointment, Chong Wei did improve his game but far from enough to match Lin Dan's consistency and pace. Lin Dan's smashes were so deadly and his net plays were accurate too.

But at least, Chong Wei's performance in the final of All England was better than his worst ever encounter against Lin Dan in the Olympic, at least he was more spirited. Chong Wei is not only facing Lin Dan but the whole army of Chinese players, look at how Chen Jin conceded a walk-over to Lin Dan in the semi final so that Lin Dan will have a better stamina to play in the final. But what ever reason it is, a second best is still a second best.

Education and politics......

It does not take a genius to understand there are many who against the idea of teaching science and maths in English at the primary school. The recent demonstration initiated by the likes of A Samad Said goes to show the growing concerns on this matter. But I'm saddened by the police who used force and tear gas to disperse the crowd gathered at Masjid Negara marching to Istana Negara to hand over a memorandum to the King. Of late, there are more and more demonstrations going on the road, and the government is quick to make use of police to restore peace by force, so to speak, but is that what should the government do? Police is under the Home Ministry, and if some parties intend to put up a demonstration for what so ever reason, you think police will grant the permission?

The government have themselves to blame. The education policies are inconsistent and without a long term objectives thus, when the graduates are so poor in English and can't get a job because they can't speak or write proper English, who to blame. Rest assured, please blame the government, because they are the one who make the policy and in the way shaping up the current generation of graduates who are poor in English.

I'm against the teaching of Science and Maths in English at the primary school. That is totally a bad move by the government, a fire-fighting reaction. I'm from a Chinese school, when I entered secondary school where everything were taught in Bahasa Malaysia, I suffered a cultural shock, I couldn't follow what the teachers were teaching in Bahasa Malaysia. I went back home, my mom was unable to help me as she was not fluent in Bahasa Malaysia. My interest on study soon deteriorated as I couldn't understand what the teachers were teaching us in Bahasa Malaysia. It took me two to three years to catch up, to be able to follow what the teachers taught us in the class. But I can tell you one thing, my classmates who were doing well in Chinese primary school who couldn't tune themselves into the Bahasa Malaysia eventually lost interest in their studies.

I can understand why the famous academician like Prof Dr Khoo who fully support the idea of teaching science and maths in English in primary school. These people speak from their own experience, they are from English-speaking families, from young they communiciate in English, thus no problem for them. In fact, English is their mother tongue anyway even they are Chinese, Malay or Indian. Some Chinese are so proud in telling others that they are not shameful even if they can't speak their mother tongue. To them, to be able to talk in English is like a class above of other race. But do you notice one thing, even they can speak well, they may not be able to write well in English.

The deteriorating of English among the younger generation is something to worry about. But we may have to tackle it differently, not by the teaching science and maths in the primary school. Don't let the young kids lose interest in maths and science simply because they are not good in English. The education is meant for all people, not only for those English speaking families, those young kids in the kampung or those from lower income families are not likely to benefit from this move by the education ministry. On the other hand, just look at the ministers or deputy ministers or other high officers in the government, some of them speak shit English.

Flood Again

The government spend hundred of million for flood mitigation such as smart tunnel and other desilting projects. Guess what? All these measures didn't work, floods happen again and again during raining season. Worst still as it has become too often that places like Putra World Trade Center also get flooded as high as 2 m resulting in hundred of cars submerged under water and a massive traffic congestion yesterday.

I really do not know who to blame. To blame the government of half-past-six measures taken? Or the sky simply pour too much? Or the people for throwing too much rubbish into the river causing it to get silted up? Or global warming? Or we have simply cut down far too many trees?

One thing is for sure, don't ever go to Kuala Lumpur, our capital city when it is raining. The risk is too high, if you are lucky, you may just stuck in a traffic jam for a couple of hours. If not, you could have your car submerged under water and get ready a few thousands dollars for a repair.

Bumi Minang

Just came back from Padang, Sumatera Barat, after a week long of routine visit to an oil palm estate located about 200 over km from the place infamous of Nasi Padang. That 200 over km took us about 8 hours by road from Padang. The flight by AirAsia from LCCT took merely an hour but the road journey was the one which was really killing us. The driver who drove us in was a young Indonesian in his mid twenties, driving like a daredevil on a narrow and winding road across the main range of Sumatera south ward to Solok Selatan. We stopped for a few time for coffee so as to keep the chauffeur alert, otherwise we might end up in the ravine somewhere if this driver felt asleep while driving. In one instance, this guy overtook 4 or 5 slow moving lorries climbing up a steep and narrow road at one go, that really make my balls shrunk.

But despite of the horrible driving style of the Indonesian drivers and also narrow road conditions, hardly I see any major occurrence of road accident when I was there. Perhaps these people are more considerate and let the faster vehicles to overtake them. Or perhaps the roads were too bad and always full of slow moving lorries that actually prevent passenger cars from going too fast. I remember an old planter told me a dirty joke many years ago. He said if you are in Indonesia, you see 'Jalan berlubang-lubang', literally means road filled with potholes. But if you are in Thailand, you will see 'Lubang berjalan-jalan', meaning holes are walking around. That old cheeky fellow sure frequenting those walking-holes when he was in Thailand.

When I was back in Padang town a night before flying back here, I went to Matahari departmental store to look see. It was a medium size shopping center but full of people. I managed to buy two pieces of blouse for my wife which kept her happy over the past weekend.