Crouching Tiger of Jelutong

When there is a piece of barren soil left abandoned, it attracts nobody but once it is being cultivated, then many will be competing to have a share in it. That’s what a Chinese saying “瘦田无人耕，耕开有人争” literally means. And it seems that it was the root cause of the “Warlord vs. Godfather” drama currently putting up on stage by some frictions of DAP. Warlord refers to Dr Ramasamy, the deputy Chief Minister of Penang while the Godfather is none other than the crouching tiger of Jelutong, Karpal Singh. 

Karpal is no stranger to Malaysians, whether you like politics or hate it, Karpal has earned his reputation both as a lawyer and politician. To his millions’ of admirer, Karpal is the true voice of the people and a brave enough politician to even go after the “big shots” such as the prime minister, the sultans or even the yang Pertuan Agong. He is a highly controversial politician, DAP staunch leader and along with Lim Kit Siang, were frequently labeled as racists by some people, government people especially. But this time around, Karpal is at loggerhead with a person from his own camp, Dr Ramasamy, which is the deputy Chief Minister of Penang but a political novice as compared to Karpal who has been a member of DAP since 1970, and in and out of Parliament for many times since he joined politics.

The tussle between Karpal and Ramasamy was mainly due to the fight on candidacy for the upcoming general election. Since causing a political tsunami in 2008 general election which for the first time in the history denying the BN two third majority, some of the politicians from the Pakatan Rakyat are started to see the “good side” of politics; the “dollar sign” of politics as the portfolios that come along after forming a state government are something that opposition parties such as DAP could never have dreamt for. 2008 political tsunami was a game changer for DAP as together with PAS and Keadilan, they captured Pulau Pinang, Selangor, Kelantan and then the Perak which was later fallen into BN again due to some crossovers and backstabbing. 

The politicians from the opposition camp are even thinking of taking over Putrajaya for the upcoming general election and although such thing was unthinkable in the past but time has changed and all unthinkable is now possible with the change in the mindset of the voters. But too bad that infighting in DAP is occurring at a time when unification is more crucial than any other moments in the past as if we can’t ride on the present momentum to completely overhaul the present government system, then that’s it, everything back to square one.    

A fading hope.................

There were two disappointments in the Super Series Masters Final which was curtain-dropping event for 2011. First there was no Lee Chong Wei-Lin Dan showdown and second, Chen Long who fought so hard to defeat Lee in the semifinal was not even his usual self with such defensive play that hardly posed a threat to Lin Dan. The badminton fans around the world would have expected for a fiercely fought match between Lee and Lin but the way Chen Long lost to Lin Dan was just in the way showing that he had no interest in the match, not really the cocky and aggressive Chen Long that defeated Lee Chong Wei fair and square in the semifinal.

Could it be team order by the coaches to allow Lin Dan winning his first ever Masters Finals title that resulted in Chen Long playing so half-heartedly? Or was it because he was really exhausted after a tough battle with Lee Chong Wei in the semifinal? In my mind, it was the team order rather than anything else as Chen Long had not showing any great interest in the match. If he were playing as aggressive as when he was playing Lee in the semi, then, it would be a different scenario all together.

Chen Long has never beaten Lin Dan on any tournament before except for walkover conceded by Lin Dan. But from the way Chen Long defeated Lee a couple of time before, he really has the ability and skill to defeat his more illustrious teammate, Lin Dan but whenever Chen Long playing against Lin Dan, it is very clear that he lacks the fire and desire. He was so suppressed and easily went down to Lin Dan. But when playing Lee Chong Wei, the lanky Chen long will be jumping high in making one after another deadly smashes and diving low to save tricky shots by Lee Chong Wei. He was so arrogant on the court and showing a lot of emotions. But when he was playing against Lin Dan, very tame, I must say.

As the 2012 Olympics is coming ever nearer, we know that the first ever gold for Malaysia is nothing but a fading hope. I am not saying that Lee is completely ruled out for gold with his recent below par performances but China now have two capable players standing in his way. The Super Dan is already a tough opponent to beat, and now there is another one standing in the way. Even if he can defeat one of them in the semi, he will be exhausted already and China will ensure that Lee’s opponent in the final will be as fresh and fit as he possibly can be to compete in the final.

Raining days, drive slowly....

While travelling back from Kuala Terengganu yesterday, there were scattered rains along the way but the sky was clearly much darker towards Kuala Lumpur as we travelled along East-West Expressway. Sure enough, there was thunderstorm as we passed the exit road to Genting Highlands and all the cars were slowing down due to poor visibility and also slippery road. It can be dangerous if you go on too high a speed especially on the winding road near Genting.

As we were travelling on the Middle Ring Road near Ampang, the rains became heavier and the traffic was slow moving. After a long hour travelling from Kuala Terengganu, such crawling traffic was certainly tiring for the driver and passengers alike. But in KL, if it is raining, you can surely expect a traffic congestion as the vehicles moving slowly but there will be some daredevils, despite of the traffic congestion, trying very hard to overtake dangerously. Such silly and very irresponsible drivers are nothing more than brainless monkeys emulating the rain master Michael Schumacher. Worst still, some lorries were also driven by mad drivers recklessly fast and some time causing the water from the ground to spill on our car windscreen further worsening the visibility under torrential rains.

Some of the drivers of the huge commercial vehicles are simply care less about the rest of the road users simply because they are big, I mean their vehicles are big, so other passenger cars must give way to them by virtue of their size. It was reported in the Star that an empty school bus crashed into an ambulance from the opposite direction while trying to overtake a few days ago. The accident caused a 10-vehicle pile-up and although it was the reckless driving of one driver but many other unfortunate people were suffering from injuries or car damage. It was so fortunate that the bus was not loaded with pupils otherwise, it will be a big disaster.

Raining days, drive slowly-lar, slow a bit can still reach home safely and that’s the most important thing after all.

That's life

Aging and sickness are the norm in life but it is still sad when you discover some of your friends are suffering from chronic sickness, and it is frightening of late that many such incidents are happening. I was told by a friend not too long ago that our colleague was undergoing treatment in Singapore for colon cancer and this morning again a friend told me that our colleague’s wife was undergoing cancer treatment. Not too long ago, a colleague of mine was diagnosed with a tumor growing in her brain and as she was recuperating from the illness after going in and out from the hospital, her husband was out of the sudden passed away due to stroke. Sometimes, come to think about it, we are at the mercy of the Almighty and nothing we can to avoid sickness. That’s life; you’re born, growing old, affected by illness, then die.

A Chinese actor from the mainland China used to say this; “when you close your eyes and open again, that’s a day, but when you close your eyes and never open again, that’s your whole life”. Like it or not, this world that we are living in, comprise of people from all sorts of thought, some value life some not. Some are brave to face all sorts of adversity but some are slowly killing themselves dwelling in life threatening activities, drugs and all sorts of other criminal things and so on. Some even murder their own babies upon delivered and disposed them just like chucking a dead animal. Some committed suicide for all sorts of funny reasons only known to them.

I have traveled a lot to poor countryside in Indonesia, Laos, China and sometime you look at those poor people struggling to make ends meet, it makes me wonder where the hell they gain the strength to carry on in spite of all those adversity and hardship? Maybe, the strength lies in their believe that by virtual of being alive, is already a winner. 

Why................?

We can’t read a person’s mind. Sometimes we can’t even read our own. Therefore millions of fans simply couldn’t understand why Gary Speed, a seemingly cherish, happy-go-lucky person with a promising coaching career, a happy family and no history of mental illnesses or whatsoever, out of the sudden, committed suicide. 

When Leslie Leong did the same thing many years ago, many fans of him also couldn’t comprehend the reason behind the pop singer took his own life. I mean he had everything that an ordinary person like us could only dream for; fame, money, talent and everything else. If he was deeply depressed, with his money he could have the best medical expert to treat him or just let go everything and simply enjoying a luxurious life flying here and there seeing all the beautiful scenery around the world. Why did he kill himself? 

Speed’s death remains the greatest mystery to his family and fans alike. But it shows us that depression could virtually affect anyone. Whether you’re weak or strong, your appearance or behaviors certainly do not tell the rest of the people everything. All these inner feelings can be hidden somewhere whether intentionally or not. 

RIP Gary Speed, may you find peace in another world.

Harimaus Spirit

If you walk in the street or sitting at a mamak store, you will notice that our victory in SEA game football event has become the most talk-about thing. I met up with an elderly Malay gentleman at a luncheon yesterday who was suffering from toothache and having difficulty in eating, so I asked him what caused his toothache and he told me that he was too excited watching the SEA game match between Malaysia and Indonesia the night before and when our last penalty taker netted a goal in such a “dramatic” way, he was overjoyed and his teeth started to ache. I thought of laughing at him but when I thought it over again, hey, I was also having the moments of palpitation before our brave goal keeper saved the fifth penalty by the Indonesian and we netted our last one to bring us a gold medal with such a close of a margin, 4-3 on penalty kick-off.

It was such a heart-pumping game to watch, not so technically beautiful as both sides made countless errors but very spirited one indeed. Players from both camps were fighting hard; the young Indonesians were attacking since the very beginning and netted a goal so early at about 5 minutes from the start. I was thinking that it probably was the end for the Malaysian team but a few counter attacks by the highly spirited harimau muda yielded an equalizer not too long after that and the fist half ended on even hand at 1-1. Second half was also not less exciting as both camps exchanged attacks after attacks and missed ample of opportunities probably due to physical fatigue and the extra-time also ended without a goal.

It was the spirits and the never-say-die attitude of the young harimaus, in my opinion, that edging the Indonesians in the end. May be the hostility of the Indonesian fans also posed a mental-wearing effect on the players as the burdens on their shoulders were probably holding them back. 2 out of 5 Indonesian players missed the penalty while only one from our side missed it.


Well done Harimaus, even some may have regarded that you all are simply a big fish in a small pond but to me and probably millions and millions of fans country wide, you gave us a truly memorable night and your guts demonstrated to us that even in adverse circumstances, we can still continue to fight for a victory.

Go go Harimaus

If you ask me what is the most important thing about sports, I will say that it is none other than the opponent/s as if there is no opponent; you can’t even start up a game or whatsoever. Computer games may be, you can fight with the computer but in sporting events, you need opponent. So it is a pre-requisite of any game to shake hands with your opponents in showing of respect to each other. Your opponents may be weaker or stronger than you are but without him or her, there will be no competition.

I was a bit amused when our young harimaus were ferried in and out of the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in armoured vehicles when they were playing Indonesians at the group state which they emerged with a slim 1-0 victory. And more likely than not, it will be the same thing happening tonight as for safety reasons, our players will probably have to squeeze themselves into the Barracudas again just like what they did at the group stage. There will be some 100,000 hostile Indonesian fans flocking into the stadium and even the Indonesian authority is worrying of the eruption of untoward incident during the final.

Some of our players were complaining of the bad experience of having a suffocating trip in the Barracudas during the group stage but if they look at the bright side, it was a good experience anyway, how many of us have the experience of cramping into the armoured vehicles? Barracudas are meant for war zone anyway, and because of the intensity of the game to the fans, their emotions could run rally high that some of them might do some really stupid things which could even lead to injuries or deaths. It happened before and too often in the past that some notorious football fans were barred from entering other countries because of their unacceptable behaviours and stupid conducts.

It is a long awaited match for the Malaysian football fans since we won the Suzuki Cup but if our young harimaus are capable of coping with the pressure and playing with character and grit, just like how they did in the group stage against the same opponents, they will emerge champions once again and that will send across a strong message to the unsporting fans of Indonesian that they should indeed give equal respects to their own players and the opponents. Without a well worthy opponent, there would not be an exciting match for us to watch.

Go go harimaus....................

Day 3 in Yuntai Shan (云台山)

It took us almost 2 and a half hours from Kaifeng to Jiaozou (焦作）where Yuntai Shan (云台山) is located. Before signing up for this tour, my wife and I actually checked around with some other tour agencies but the main difference was NZ Nangfang included Yuntai Shan in their itinerary, while other agencies were not covering this AAAAA mountainous scenic area which was among the first included as World Geological Park.

Entrance of Yuntai Shan

5A national tourist attraction

Ladies cleaning up maize

Prior to signing up to this tour many told us that the tour to Xian was mainly visiting temples apart from the famous Terracotta Warriors. Quite true, if you are going to visit the ancient cities such as Xi-an, Louyang, Kaifeng, which inherent rich history of more than 5,000 years, places of worshiping such as temples surely will be the major attractions as these are the places that were well preserved over time. So including a scenic mountain in the itinerary will be a good idea, breaking the monotonous of seeing temples.

Beautiful waterfalls aplenty

Yuntai Shan didn’t disappoint me but some of the elderly tour mates of us were not able to withstand the approximately 2 hours of walking cum climbing the stairs just to cover the most popular scenic area namely Red Stone Gorge (红石峡). This alone required us to walk up and down for almost 2 hours on a narrow path and steep stairs over-crowded by tourists. Taking photos will be a great challenge as the scenic areas were so crowded that strangers could be blocking you before you could snap a nice view. My friend said that it didn’t worth the effort to walk for so long but for those who do not mind walking; it will be a good experience. Three of our tour mates including one 80-year old auntie and her daughter and one lady who injured her leg didn’t join us and they were sent back to the entrance where there were some souvenir shops.

I would say that the scenery there was splendid, mountain and water combined so naturally and it was so different with the waterfalls that can be seen in our country where we do not have such crystal clear water falling from high cliffs.

There are many other scenic areas in Yuntai Shan such as Tanpu Gorge (潭瀑峡), Quanpu Gorge (泉瀑峡), Cornel Peak (圣顶), Wanshan Temple (万善寺), Baijia Cliff (百家岩), Zifang Lake (子房湖), Macaque Valley (猕猴自然保护区), Qinglong Gorge (青龙峡) and Diecai Cave (叠彩洞), each has its own unique features and beauty but alas because of time factor we only allowed to cover the most popular one and that alone required us to walk for 2 hours. By the way, the ticket allows you to cover all the scenic areas once for the 2 days period and there are busses that ferrying the tourists from one to another scenic areas. If you were to cover all areas, you need a minimum of two days, putting up a night at the resort on the mountain.

Climbing the steep steps

Red cliff

Day 2 in Kaifeng

Touring China, the first thing in the morning is to get up early so that you could avoid the big crowds for breakfast. Some of my friends were jokingly saying that it was like going to the battle field and if you are late for breakfast, there would not be enough food and there would not be any seat for you. The thing is, the local tourists from mainland China are always too big a crowd and you could forget about enjoy seeping your coffee or tea and slowly and leisurely getting your stomach filled. It is China, my friends, unless you go to very expensive 5 or 6 stars hotel otherwise, be a bit early for your breakfast to avoid an empty stomach.

On the second day, we first went to the Henan Geological Museum (河南地质博物馆) in Zhengzhou where there were the fossils of many types of dinosaur and other ancient creatures found in Henan on display. There were also a lot of rare stones which were indigenous to mainland China. The museum is interesting if you like ancient stuff especially dinosaur but some of our elderly tour mates found that it was quite boring. It was fairly interesting for me though, I like dinosaur.

Henan Geological Museum

Skeleton of Dinasour

Fossils

Skeletons of Dinasour

After visiting the museum, we then proceed to Kaifeng (开封), where the ancient office (包公祠) of the famous Justice Bao (包青天) located. We also went to the Iron Pagoda (开封铁塔) and YuHuangTai Millennium Ancient Park (禹王台千年古苑). 包公祠 was built about a thousand year ago to commemorate Justice Bao, the honest and upright official, qingguan (清官) who served during the Northern Song Dynasty. A set of guillotine which Justice Bao used to execute the criminals were also on display (狗頭鍘, 虎頭鍘, 龍頭鍘). If you like the dramas of Justice Bao, you will like this place as there were some pictorial presentations of a few famous cases handled without fear and favor by him.

Drawing of Justice Bao

Statue of Justice Bao

A set of guillotine comprises of 狗頭鍘, 虎頭鍘, 龍頭鍘

The iron Pagoda which is also known as "天下第一塔" which literally means the world’s first pagoda was built with clay bricks and traditional Chinese wood structure but as the bricks used given the reddish appearance reminiscent of iron, it is also called Iron Pagoda. This pagoda was built about a thousand year ago and you will be surprise how could it survived the natural disasters such as earthquakes over such a long time.

Iron Pagoda "天下第一塔"

The YuHuangTai Millennium Ancient Park was built to commemorate Da Yu (大禹), the ancient emperor famous for his efforts to alleviate floods caused by the Yellow River.

After visiting the destinations, we put up a night at Kaifeng.    

Tour to the ancient cities of Zhengzhou (郑州), Kaifeng (开封), Luoyang （洛阳）, Jiaozou （焦作）, Dengfeng （登封） and Xi-an （西安）

Day 1 at Zhengzhou (12 October, 2011)

We were lucky, I guess, the first day we reached Zhengzhou (郑州) and cruising the Yellow River on a hovercraft, it was very hazy and gloomy but the weather improved the next day onwards and we had all the way clear sky until flying back to KL via Shanghai on 18 October, 2011. Our local tour guide Siow Lee, vividly told us that we were the Fu-Xing (lucky stars) as before we came, it was hazy and raining but upon our arrival, the sun shined so in time.

Hovercraft

I guess we must be very lucky indeed as during our Yellow River Cruise, it was so misty and gloomy and it was so cold in the early spring but when the sun risen the next day, the weather became so likeable, not so cool and not so hot hovering around 15 to 20^o C and some of our tour mates, those elderly gentlemen especially were not even putting up their jackets, wearing short sleeves and enjoying the chill but not cold weather.

Our local tour guide was well aware of our tiring flight which started at 2.00 a.m on 12 October and after a 5-hour flight, we had to rush for a connecting flight to Zhengzhou and there were very long queue to clear the immigration as foreigners not only from Asian countries but also the Europeans were flocking into the ancient city of Xi-an for the well known Terracotta warriors, so it was only the yellow river cruise and visiting the YanHuang （炎黄） statue and YanHuang square on the first day. After the early dinner, we were then checking in a hotel in Zhengzhou. I went to bed early at 9 p.m. So tiring as I was not able to sleep on the plane from KL to Shanghai as there were loud snoring from the front and back of my seat.

  

Boarding a hovercraft

Hovercraft speeding on the river bank 

Hovercraft approaching the river bank

YanHuang Statue - Yan Huang (炎黄）

 the ancestors of Chinese inhabiting at the river basin of Yellow River   

Zhengzhou railway station

Retirement age

Frankly speaking, if I have the money I would probably retire tomorrow.

I think most of the wage earners will share my view. Working life is a rigid one, you wake up early, going back late, reaching home with a tired body and exhausted mind, hardly have any time to spend with your family and you started to get sleepy, you then go to bed and wake up the next morning following the same routine again. I like my present job as it is on a 5-day week and therefore not as stressful as there are 2 days off in a week. The worst part is that after getting use to waking up early on working days, even on your rest days also your biological clock will remind you to wake up early. That’s why I always chose to sleep late on weekend so that the next day can enjoy the good feeling of waking up late a bit.

If you’re businessman maybe your schedule will be busier as compared to a wage earner but the satisfaction is higher, you work harder, you earn more. For wage earner, you work harder but your are only getting the same amount of money at the end of the month until your boss give you a pay rise perhaps a year later. Sometime such routine make you wonder what’s the meaning of life but we simply can’t help it as if you stop working, nobody is going to feed you.

The government in its 2012 budget had risen the retirement age of the government servant to 60 and now our retirement age for the public sector is on par with the rest of the Asian countries. Nevertheless, there was no mention on the private sector. Not denying, such move is logical in tandem with the higher life expectancy of the people in the country. Retiring at 55 will be too young for the people with better health conditions as compared to 20 or 30 years ago but the main reason is that with higher life expectancy and early retirement at 55 or 56 years, then money will be a problem.

Civil servants will get their pension until they die but for private sector, the employees will have to make sure that they know how to preserve their retirement fund carefully or else may end up become poor men or women at the old ages, and that will be such a pitiful thing to happen. Imagine when you’re old and your children are all on their own struggling to feed their own families and you the one who raised them up are running short of money to treat your ailing body? That will be a disaster. The EPF had done the study for many years and discovered that most of its members exhausted their EPF funds within 10 years after withdrawal and thus risking the possibility of slipping into poverty at old age. Most of us do not know how to manage money I must say especially if you have a huge sum of it.

So the private sector should also follow suit the government to extend the retirement age to at least 58 if not 60. At the same time, flexibility should also be given to those with sufficient retirement savings which may opt for an early retirement to enjoy life. 


Come on, life is short; why not make it a win-win for all.

Shit....income tax

End of last month I received my bonus. It was significantly higher than the previous financial year but somehow many of my colleagues were still disappointed after getting theirs. Perhaps the expectations of staff were too high as the management had painted a picture that it would be a very good year as the company recorded a whooping increase in revenue. I was not too disappointed as I know my rating wasn’t that good, so I didn’t habour high expectation prior to getting it.

Some of the plantation companies were giving a higher range of 6 to 8 months bonus as it was a windfall year as cruel palm oil was at very good price last year. But as a GLC, it is not so possible. Perhaps for big bosses, it was quite possible but for ordinary staff, with their meager income, the bonus is normally not so impressive. So after a year-long waiting, you can’t blame them if they voice out their grievances especially if their colleagues are getting much higher than them. It all goes down to your appraisal rating after all, if you score high rating, then your bonus will be higher than the rest. That’s the norm for most of the company.

The question is how good can a company appraise its employee? Of course some will use key performance indexes as the yardsticks but even then there will be a lot of disappointments as some companies are adopting the “Normal Distribution Curve” whereby only small percentage of the employee will be scoring excellent rating and majority of the employee will be sitting in the moderate ratings while small percentage will be very low rating. In other word, not many people will be getting high bonus or increments, and majority of people have to endure with average bonus.

Of course we know that bonus is discretion of the company unless it is a contractual one. Nevertheless, it is a morale booster for the staff especially the lower income one. If a company is sticking with the concept of strictly following the curve or the pyramid system whereby only small percentage of the employee will get the excellent rating, than most of the employees would not contribute wholeheartedly, after all if they know that they are only average materials, getting average bonus while their bosses are enjoying all the perks, high pay, big bonus, big company car and so on. But if the company is only rewarding the top management which comprises of probably 10-15% of the workforce, I can tell you that such company would not develop a “sense of belonging” if 80% of the people are not happy. Such company would not be functioning at a full gear as the workforce is dissatisfied.

Well, it is a happy thing to get the bonus letter. When you look at the amount probably you can smile all the way but don’t forget there is a clause saying that it is subject to deductions, of course we don’t mind the EPF because it is the saving for our old days but the sickening tax will cut short your happiness. After checking your bank statement, then you realize that the government had deducted your hard earned money, and bloody shit, that is a hell lot of it….xoxoxoxoxox.

Great loss to Apple fans

As usual, I drove along the winding road of Jalan Labu this morning, switched on the radio while I was stopping at a traffic light in front of a primary school, and it was the time I heard the sad news of Steve Jobs’ death. I must confess that I do not own any of his products, but remain the admirer of his brilliant innovations and inventions such as iPhones, iPad and Mac computers. To me, the Apple products are too pricey as compared to those cheaper alternatives from Taiwan. I use Acer notebooks, HTC phones and these things serve me well. I like iPhones and Mac, but they are too luxurious for my need.

Bill Gates released a statement in relation to Steve Jobs’ death; "I'm truly saddened to learn of Steve Jobs' death. Melinda and I extend our sincere condolences to his family and friends, and to everyone Steve has touched through his work. Steve and I first met nearly 30 years ago, and have been colleagues, competitors and friends over the course of more than half our lives. The world rarely sees someone who has had the profound impact Steve has had, the effects of which will be felt for many generations to come. For those of us lucky enough to get to work with him, it's been an insanely great honor. I will miss Steve immensely.

Steve Jobs was a genius no doubt, but many people were also highly critical of his aggressive and demanding personality and also temperamental style. Perhaps it was his perfectionist attitude that was instrumental in churning out one after another surprise of his it gadgets that have millions and millions of followers around the world. It takes a genius to compliment another genius and as what Bill Gates put it, the world rarely sees someone who has had the profound impact Steve has had and his demise at such an early year of his life will be a great loss to the countless fans of Apple.

Sales have weakened Arsenal

Watching Spurs playing Arsenal last Sunday and I got my prediction just right as Arsenal went down 1-2 to the much spirited Spurs in front of their stadium-packed fans at White Hart Lane. After the defeat, Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has thrown in the towel, conceding that the title is all over, and saying that the team is fighting for a better position instead. It sounds more realistic judging from the current position of the team which is far below the newcomers like Swansea and QPR. Arsene Wenger could still pull all the resources available to him to add in a few more quality players in order to have any chance of fighting for the Champions League positions.

However, if they continue playing with schoolboy errors at the defence, conceded 16 goals in just 7 games, then needless to say, Champions League position is also out of reach. Arsenal are too frail in the defense this season and the confidence level of the current bunch of young players is no way near the time when Fabregas was the captain. And I must say that their current captain Robin Van Persi is still fighting as hard as before but without the talented Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri, Robin is not getting the support he needed, and it is simply frustrating to see that happen on such a talented player. It will be a disaster if Arsene fails to keep Robin in his squad.

The sales of Fabregas and Nasri have weakened Arsenal, there is no doubt about it. They need to dig it really deep to get more world class players or else, Arsenal, once the sure top 4 team, once hailed by many for their youth policy, will be gone forever.

Big eats small

Like it or not, this kind of things happens every now and then. In the wild, big animals are preying on the small ones for their survival and in the sea the big fish are eating small fish. The same thing is also happening in the corporate world. Some brilliant businessmen slogged it hard to build up a business empire from scratch and when the empire is big enough, strong enough, attractive enough, lucrative enough, other big corporations which are funded by government start eyeing for a takeover or merger.

A takeover doesn’t mean bad, it can be good sometime. It is a free market after all and as an investor, you can buy over any public listed companies so long that you have the money; you can take over the control of a company as long as you acquire enough shares to be the major shareholder. It is just like some people have to start from scratch to build the business but those with a lot of money can skip that entire long and winding paths and hijack an instant successfully-run company simply because they have the money. Proton for instance, bought over Lotus in order to have access to the advanced technology owned by one of the renowned company with such a rich motor sport pedigree.

The question is, you can take over the company but can you helm it as successful as its original management team which had gone through the thick and thin together, which had a strong sense of brotherhood instead of just the “employer-employee” sort of relationship, which are so committed that they are on call 24/7?

So whether it is in the wild or in the business world, Charles was just right to put up the famous phase of “survivor of the fittest”. But the fittest must also capable of withstanding the challenge of time and only time will prove that whether it is fit or weak.

1 against 3

It seemed that Lee Chong Wei was still haunted by the defeat to Lin Dan in the World Championships and he was visibly not himself and lacking his usual supremacy and confident playing against another Chinese player Chen Long in the final of Japan Open. It was already a disappointment not seeing a re-match between Chong Wei and Lin Dan as the later conceded a walk-over to his younger compatriot, Chen Long in the semifinal. The fact is that China has 3 excellent players namely Lin Dan, Chen Jin and Chen Long that are capable of winning tournaments, and as such their head coach could put up some un-sportsman tricks to manipulate the outcome.

This is not the first time Lin Dan conceded a walkover to his compatriots in helping them to gain more tournament points for qualifying into next year Olympics. But there is nothing the rest of the world can do about it. They have the most number of competitive badminton players, men and women alike, and with the aging of Peter-Gade, Taufik and Lee Chow Wei and the budding new players around the world are in no way close to the Chinese, we can expect the Chinese players continue with the walkover trick to favor the best chance of winning or to help up the players to score more qualifying points. Fair or not fair, that’s not the issue as the winner takes it all. We can say that the defeat of Chow Wei wasn’t fair as his opponent Chen Long had a rest day courtesy of his compatriot Lin Dan conceded a walkover to him in the semifinal. But whatever tricks your opponents play, the winner is a winner and likewise a loser is a loser.

Despite his defeat to Chen Long, Chong Wei could still walk tall as he is the most consistent player this season, successfully reaching all the finals in the nine tournaments he participated this year. But he has to quickly get out of the blue of losing to Lin Dan in the World Championships as without the confident, he simply could not bring out the best of his game and Olympics is just not far away.

李宗伟，加油！

Draconian

Last Thursday, a day before the Malaysia Day, I read in the Star that the Prime Minister would make an important announcement at his speech for the Malaysia Day celebration. And according to some insiders, the announcement was so significant that it would give a great impact on the people of Malaysia. Well, I didn't really pay any particular attention to such piece of news, what could it possibly be, how could it change our lives?

That evening, I was rushing to PJ to fetch my wife after work thinking of saving some time. My normal practice would have been going back to Seremban first after work and then going to fetch her at around 8 pm to avoid traffic jam. I left Banting at 5.30 pm sharp and guess what? It took me about 3 hours to reach PJ as there were massive jams all over, at Kesas highway and along Federal Highway. Under normal traffic condition, despite some congestion, I would still be able to make it in an hour from my office in Banting to PJ but I needed triple the time to be there that night, probably because the following day was a holiday.

So I had save some mileage for sure but had to endure such a crazy traffic jam and we only managed to reach home at about 11 pm after a nice dinner taken at Section 17. As I was driving back to Seremban, I recalled that piece of news on PM making important announcement on his Malaysia Day speech. I tuned on the radio and the PM was already addressing and the so called important announcement was none other than the abolishment of ISA.

To an ordinary person, what is the impact of the abolishment of ISA which was regarded as draconian to some politicians, opposition especially who were crucified by such act. But to an ordinary person, the bread and butter issues will perhaps be more important than the ISA per se, or perhaps minimizing the traffic congestion is more important to us than the abolishment of ISA?

Will the abolishment of ISA give more freedom to the people then? That we have to wait until the passing of new laws in place of the ISA, but one thing is for sure, with or without ISA, there are still plentiful of laws that could be used with ill-intention to undermine the opposition. Mat Sabu for instance, was charged in a session court today with criminal defamation on the policemen and their families on his alleged remarks that communist guerillas who attacked a police station in Bukit Kepong in 1950 were the true freedom fighters.

Whether Mat Sabu will be convicted or not only time will tell but it goes to show that with or without ISA, the politicians, opposition especially better think before they speak.

Can history be rewritten?

A few weeks ago I was having lunch with a gentleman who was my former colleague that I have never worked with, he retired long before I joined the company. He was such a friendly chap that willing to share his views on a wide range of issues, from politic, history to even the origin of the human race on this planet. Well, depending on what religion you are believing in, the origin of mankind is always a mystery as no one has live long enough to be able to tell you the truth.

He then told us the theory of inter-planetary war that had resulted in our ancestors, originally alien to this planet, lost the battle and seeking asylum on earth which was then occupied by prehistoric creatures such as dinosaurs. These ancestors which were highly intelligent probably realized that their intelligent was destroying their entire race and chose to not transmitting their intelligent genes to their future generations and as a result, they were designing a new path for their decedents, sharing the common ancestor with apes, making their decedents, our ancestor, dumb so that they would not create weapons to kill each other and could live peacefully on the earth for a long long time. With their advanced technologies at that time, they could easily kill all dinosaur to make the earth safer place to live.

His argument was that our ancestors were smarter than us, because in the ancient time when there was no machinery, the people then were capable of doing wonders such as building the pyramids and so forth. The cavemen, according to him, without modern technologies, could go deep inside the caves, crafting amazing artworks without proper light and so on.

Of course his story sounds fictional, but there are too many things which are until today not explainable, still so mysterious. The fact is that even the historians cannot tell you what was happening in the past. No one will live that long to be able to tell you what happened hundreds or thousands or millions of years ago. We can only apprehend the past by studying the literature written by historians but then again, it was the interpretations of the person who wrote the literature that we are now reading to comprehend.

So when Mat Sabu got himself into trouble by saying that Mat Indera, the communist who attacked the Bukit Kepong in the 1950 was freedom fighter who fought against the colonial British, a knee-jerk reaction by a few local historians shocked us by saying that this land was never ruled by the British. In other words, what we have learned so far from the history books was all rubbish. In that case, we should not even celebrate the 8-31 Merdeka Day.

Mat Sabu has no doubt stirring up shit, as a result, aplenty of flies were quick to be attracted to it, until such stage that prominent politicians and historians alike, were bombarding us for the past few days with their own interpretations of history, which are making us so confuse as to what is true or otherwise.