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April 24 The 12 Golden Rules for MPsThe elections have come and gone and we now have 222 MPs to represent us in Parliament. This time round, we have a lot of new faces who are first time MPs while there is also a good number of MPs who have served several terms (including those who have served too many terms). Irrespective of whether they are old or new faces, what these 222 people do or don't do will affect the future of the country and all Malaysians. While, they as MPs, should know how to play their proper role (otherwise, they're not fit for the position), it is nevertheless worthwhile highlighting to them what the Rakyat expects of them, just to make sure that we are all on the same page. I've listed down here my expectations which I've called the "The 12 Golden Rules for MPs" Here's my list of the "Golden Rules" :
April 16 Why Nice Guys Finish Last!I’ll give it to you straight up! Here’s my
view on why nice guys finish last….sure you’ll finish some day but its
not what most of you want today! So for my friends (you know who you
are), this is for you….. Integrity & Confidence: Girls like the chase just as much as we do! Friend Zone - don’t waste your time Don’t be too picky July 19 Football: Self-inflicted fall from graceCommercialization and politicization cause of
decline
Malaysians in general and football fans in particular are deeply disappointed with the dismal performance of the national team in the on-going Asian Cup, which the country is co-hosting. We have been thrashed by teams like China and Uzbekistan who are rather new comers in international soccer scene. The FAM should take collective responsibility for the debacle in the current Asian Cup . The whole committee should follow Tengku Abdullah’s footsteps and make way for new people to take over so that they can bring necessary new changes for the good of football in the country. There is no doubt that the standard of football has been deteriorating over these years. From being an Asian power in the sixties we have been reduced, or rather reduced ourselves, to a shameful position in the most popular sport in the world. Countries which were unknown entities then have overtaken us to levels beyond our reach. We are now far behind Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia. Where have we gone wrong? The two main causes of our continuing failure are politicization and commercialization of football and sports in general. Like in all the fields sports too is being seen as money spinning enterprise where professionalism, quality, national pride and ethics of the game take a back stage compared to monetary gains. Politicization of football has resulted in favoritism rather than merit being the more important criteria in the selection of players and officials. There is general skepticism on whether the best get selected to represent the nation. We have been focusing on the building of sophisticated sports complexes to host the various international tournaments. In fact we have gained a reputation internationally as good and efficient organizers of these tournaments. In that enthusiasm we have missed the main target that is to develop the sport among our own youth who have likewise become good spectators. Despite its popularity, football in one of the cheapest games, that is affordable by the masses even in poor countries. All that is needed is a field that is a permanent one time investment, a ball and a pair of boots. Unfortunately playing fields which were easily and freely available to our youth during the sixties and seventies when we were an Asian football giant are hard to come by these days. Development has taken heavy toll on football by eliminating all available fields. They have been replaced with magnificent mega structures, shopping complexes and stadiums especially in the major towns and cities. This in turn has transformed our youth from being active players to active spectators of football being hosted in the various modern stadiums. In the final outcome it is the organizers who stand to be the gainers, reaping huge profits from hosting the various tournaments. Commercialization of the sport had dealt a great blow to its development. We do not need sophisticated and high-tech sports complexes as they are beyond the means of the vast majority of our youths. The single most important means of developing football is to take the game to the masses all over the country. Playing fields must be made available to them freely in schools and districts all over. Selection of the players must be solely on merit not on favoritism. Officials well qualified in the game should be selected and
given the freedom to manage the teams more professionally without undue
interference. We have the money and the talent, all we need is the will to get dedicated and loyal officials, managers and coaches who are genuinely interested to bring honor and glory, not for them but, for the nation. Until we find these leaders, which appears to be a formidable task, we have to be contended being mere spectators, at the most organizers, of international football tournaments. In the meantime our aspirations of qualifying for the FIFA World Cup finals will only be a dream. May 20 Is Life Fair?Yes - Coz its what you make of it No - Coz fairness is not always (if ever) rewarded.... Life is not fair..... - if you see young children losing their innocent lives daily in Iraq (or anywhere else in the world) - when you have to deal with corporate bullshit & politics - if you-know-who dives to win a penalty in an EPL soccer match... - if the corrupted rich gets richer the dirty way... So yeah, if you look around..you'll find that life is probably not fair..people get away with vicious crime all the time...... Life is fair..... - if you focus on what you can control..... - to me..if I focus on my own goals and the people close to me Its fair if you focus on your own life...but to do that you have to be a selfish prick. Am I? No, but I do try to focus on the things I can control. In life shit happens....often there's nothing you can do about it. As I reach (or am in) my mid 20's, I've learned to distinguish between what is important and what's not important to worry about. I worry about.... - my health - my family and the people I love - my career (whats within my control) - my relationship with God I don't worry about... - corporate bullshit - pleasing the world - what others are doing - what others have - misfortunes (they just happen) It sickens me to see people getting away with crime but I find peace knowing that one sweet day....justice will prevail! :D My advice is to focus and worry about the things that you care about and can control! Try to "ignore" what's out of your control unless you need to face them. February 23 Chinese New Year Celebration -- A PoemThe breeze is carrying a message, A message that you and I have been waiting for to hear again, A message that will unite you and I, A message of happiness and joy. The streets in the town are slowly changing, Slowly changing into new faces, New faces that are so red, So red that they look cheerfully happy and blessed. The plane is flying across continents, The train is speeding through countries, The bus is crossing over cities, And they meet at one agreed destination. The house is not quiet anymore, There are whispering and talking everywhere, There are giggling and laughing everywhere, The house is not empty anymore. The cheers echo through the air, And the breeze is carrying a message, A message saying you and I have reunited, A message of happiness and joy. No matter how far or unknown...Chinese New Year brings to mind lots of food, relatives, ang pows, merry-making, and gambling sessions. Oh and of course, lots of sweating and eating like a pig (It is the year of the pig, after all. Excuse the lame joke :P). A part of me has always dreaded the thought of Chinese New Year. Sure, ang pows were great, but the thought of going through the yearly act of paying respect to my elders and endless scrutiny from uncles and aunties would make me cringe inwardly. I’m sure all of us know an aunt or uncle who has the knack for comparing something with their children in the most insensitive way possible. “Where you working now? My xx son/daughter is now working in xx, earning RMxx a month. They just bought a new xx car and condo. How about you? Last year how many months bonus?”. *speechless*. These aunts and uncles will then proceed to fire a volley of other questions at you, mostly having to do with either height or weight: “Wahhh, so tall already ah?” “Wahhh, big boy already ah. Handsome already wor”, keke, its really what they said k! *blush* And if I am not mistaken, guys stop growing in height at the age of 21. So like as if I've grown taller compared to last year lah.. geez.. This year, however, the annual round of one-sided interrogation has evolved to make room for one new question that has been particularly aimed at yours truly: “SO YOU GOT GIRLFRIEND OR NOT?? Big boy already, sure got one la!” (To which I would smile and reply, “Uh huh..”) Hmmm. I seem to have come of age in my relatives’ eyes, which is a good sign. Perhaps its a default question that comes when they know that you are already working. Duh, don't they know that we can start to pak tor while still studying too? :P Prosperous! I am becoming prosperous, in more than one sense of the word. After a three-day-long visitation marathon both in KL and Malacca, and many “Hello aunty/uncle, Happy Chinese New Year, I have amassed a decent amount of financial prosperity. Furthermore, I have been living on a steady stream of mandarin oranges, leung yuk, tapioca chips, pineapple tarts, and cookies for the past three days. After all, it’s only polite to eat whatever is offered to you. (And my body loves me for the prosperity I am putting into it, since I don't seem to put on much weight no matter how much I eat). But perhaps one of the things I have especially become prosperous in this year is in my understanding and appreciation of family ties. This year especially my family and I visited more relatives than usual. And although it was draggy and boring at times, something was different this year. Perhaps I’m growing up (tee hee) but I’ve developed an appreciation for the strangers I call my extended family. (With sixteen siblings on my mom’s side and five on my dad’s, when I say strangers I mean strangers. I’ve lost count of how many cousins I have, how many are married, how many are overseas and so on. I’ve even lost count of how many nephews and nieces I have, because of both sides of the family cousins keep getting married and popping kids!) I got the opportunity to see one of my newest nephews and he’s simply so adorable! I also got the opportunity to see two cousins (currently studying in Singapore but back for the new year) I haven’t seen in ages and one I don’t think I’ve ever seen in my life. She was, I discovered, my mom’s bridesmaid and stays in London with her British-born-Chinese husband. I don’t know exactly what she’s doing but it’s something in the field of medicine (my mom would always tell us that she cuts up bodies for a living). I never knew I had such a cool cousin! Then there are my uncle and aunties. Although some of the things they talked about leaned towards boring, much of it was actually interesting. So this is what heritage is all about The more relatives we visited, the more I started to feel, strangely, something I’d never felt before - pride in my heritage. I DO have an interesting family. How could I not have seen that before? How many people have so many married cousins that they can’t count their nephews and nieces on two hands? How many people have a cousin who claims he’s as manly as Mel Gibson (that’s his latest - last year he claimed he was too good for Malaysian Idol that’s why they didn’t accept him but offered him a contract elsewhere)? How many people have an uncle who’s been knighted by Queen Elizabeth, How many people have cousins living all over the world, from England to South Africa to who knows where? Listening to my parents catching up and reminiscing about the “good old days”, laughing at golden memories, and agreeing with my aunts and uncles on “how fast time flies” has only made me more fond of this thing called family. From the cousin who “cuts people up for a living” to the cousin studying in Cambridge to the young, married cousin whose husband looks like a VCD/DVD seller, to the one who claims he’s like Mel Gibson to even the fierce, scary aunties and uncles and the bimbo, anorexic-like cousins, I’ve come to realize that all these different individuals represent where I come from. From the small town aunts and uncles to the relatives living in England to the ones in Australia, from the taxi driver to the doctor to the businessman to the chef, they all represent family, no matter how far they may be or how little I may know them. They represent my heritage. And it is in coming to terms with my heritage that I can learn to appreciate who I am and where I come from. January 21 Debit affluence, credit conscienceOf all the things we’ve learnt in varsity, I think most, if not all of us have forgotten a big chuck of what we have learnt. Many of us will term it as ‘returned them to the textbooks’. Find that pretty true. For those who’ve been working for a while will surely agree when I say, we hardly use the knowledge we gained during our tertiary programme. True? Nevertheless, one thing I clearly remember while I was in college was this lecturer who said that the whole world is like an account. What goes up, must come down, if there’s an input, there will be an output, when there’ a debit (inflow), there will be a credit (outflow). This notion is so true, unless something falls from the sky, we cannot expect to gain something without losing something in return. We will all agree that our KL society is improving at all, well, almost all aspects as the years go by. People are getting more educated, we are more aware of our needs and have a much increased desire for luxury. As such, the motivation to succeed has been heighten tremendously. The competition to make it big and to be somebody, has reached a level no one has ever imagined before. In our quest to be successful, amidst our desire to increase our wealth, to debit our affluence, have we ever wondered what is it that we are giving away to gain what we want? Just like assessing the performance of a company, we can also assess the progress of our society by doing a historical comparison. Generally, a company is said to be heading towards the right direction if revenue is increasing (obviously), better still if taxes are reduced at the same time. This is often accompanied by increase in cost but so long as the profit margin remains healthy, it’s fine. What about our society? We are certainly increasing our ‘revenue’. The average income per capita for KL folks has never been higher. We are certainly moving ahead with our way of life, just look at the amount of shopping malls and if one has been reading the papers, the purchase of motor vehicle, once considered a luxury, has reached such a high level that I can conclude that owning 1 car is almost a necessity. What then is the ‘cost’ for the progress of our society? I think one way of looking at our cost is again to do a historical comparison? Things that have been on the rise since the old days… well, you’re right, crime rate! Day after day our media reports cases of fraud, theft, robbery, murder, rape, exploitation, con-job, bribery and all sorts of other creative crime. Even cases of snatch theft resulted in death for some! We may not be directly involved in such things, but can we say our hands are really clean? Just look at our daily lives, in our normal course of work, how many times have we, in the name of convenience, ignored our conscience? I don’t even dare to think about it myself. Just because our discreet deeds did not result in any lost of life (or money), doesn’t really mean we are not guilty. Perhaps guilty is a heavy word but, are we crediting our conscience to debit our affluence? In the corporate world, agreements are so perfectly drafted for the controlling party to gain the best out of it. In the world of employment, employers squeeze the very last bit from the work force in return for a puny salary. If an employee is well paid, he or she will probably needs to work through his/her ass for it, making one reconsider the meaning of ‘well paid’. In debiting our affluence, have we lost of conscience? It will be a noble act for some of us to actually put our foot down. However, such individual will only be branded as stupid. Let’s face the fact, our hands are tied, we’ve all been hand cuffed to something we cannot live without. We all want to be affluent, and we will do almost anything to achieve that. In our mission to gain our 1st million, we don’t care if the million is going to come from a million people who probably need RM1 to survive. That’s the direction of our lives. Can we do anything about it? I doubt it. Looking at our history and our foreseeable future, the account is definitely going to balance. As we continue to debit our affluence, we probably must continue to credit our conscience. In a developed country like America, they have kids who go around shooting people. That is their cost of their progress. In achieving an affluent society, it has lost its humanity. I once heard that conscience is the only thing that hurts when everything else feel so good. I couldn’t agree more. In fact, I will admit my tolerance to his ‘pain’ has been increasing day by day and many will probably be developing the same immune system. So the account will continue to balance. As we continue to debit our affluence, we will continue to credit our conscience. It is already quite apparent as the effects slowly reveal themselves. But I am terrified at the thought of the account running into overdraft, are you? December 23 The True Meaning Of a Relationship...What good is a relationship without sacrifice? Can a strong bond be forged without a price? The word ‘relationship’ would cease to exist, If there were no boundaries & no limits. Without obligations & responsibilities at hand, Where on earth does a relationship stand? To built a tower of trust between two souls, No relationship can be unconditional. Mundane duties & chores should be carried out willingly, For they are sunlight to the germinating seed of sincerity, Unwavering loyalty & gratitude showered from above, Will cause the ‘relationship’ tree to blossom with love. Like a kite that is attached to an endless string, Ties in relationships are for guiding & directing, If these were broken we would float on aimlessly, Without the sense of peace & security. A relationship must be one that gives & takes, Forgiving past grievances & mistakes, If it existed purely for mutual gratification, It is fragile, lasting only but a moment. A true relationship will withstand the test of fire, It is not built solely on short-lived desires, It is purified through the trials of life, Strengthened through suffering & strife. A relationship is not all happiness & bliss, It has its turns & unexpected twists, In the end, it takes both love & maturity, To build one that lasts for eternity. One should not shrink from terms & conditions, Or desire only to satisfy one’s fiery passion, A love relationship survives the harshest of winters, And blossoms in the warmest of summers! © WaiWai 2006 December 10 Respect the Malaysian driversMuch has been said about us Malaysian drivers. Many perceive us as rude, bullies and totally inconsiderate. But I tend to disagree, I think we should be given a break for we deserve much respect if only you can see beyond the negative surface. First and foremost, we deserve much respect due to their excellent financial planning ability. We all know how most of us are paid peanuts for our hard labour. But no matter how low our salary is, we can somehow afford a car. You will be amazed, some of us may be earning as low as RM1,300 a month, and yet we can still afford a car, albeit a Proton. If that is not excellent financial planning, then what? We Malaysian drivers also possess a strong sense of patriotism. High fuel cost? Increase in toll? Not a problem at all. We truly understand the need of the nation to save costs in terms of subsidy and compensation to toll concessionaires so that money can be spent to construct a new palace and a sports complex in London. Do we need to be concerned that we need to battle inflation with our puny income? Of course not! After all, we have excellent financial planning and it is all about how patriotic we are. Who said we Malaysian drivers are stubborn? We are certainly a flexible bunch, just look at the way we refuse to be bound by the rigidity of law. Whether the light is green, yellow or red, we can and will step on it. Whether it is double line or dotted line, we can always switch lanes. Just because it is known as the emergency lane does not mean we should only use it during our emergency. After all, we paid our road tax and it covers the emergency lanes too. Our flexibility and ability to think outside the box in order to be the first at a junction or cross-road deserves much admiration. So what if our flexibility fails us, and we somehow got pulled over by the police? Fear not, we are a resourceful bunch. With our impeccable negotiation skills, somehow, we will be able to get out of it without a summon most of the time. Of course, there may or may not be a slight cost to it. But having performed a quick cost vs benefit analysis, it is always better to opt for immediate cash settlement as it always come with a discount. Again, good financial planning can be seen here. Who said we Malaysian drivers are selfish? We are actually quite kind and warm towards each other. Just look at the way we try our very best to squeeze into the yellow box, all goes to show that we want to be closely knitted to each other. We will try to be as close to the car in front of us so that the car behind can also make it into the yellow box, a true demonstration of selflessness. I mean, we also do not want to be seen as aloof and distant from each other, right? This is why no matter what speed we are travelling, we always tail each other closely. Courage is also a very significant characteristic of a Malaysian driver. People always say the roads are not safe, and that is so true! Just look at the amount of ‘land-mines’ present on our roads which appear in the form of pot-holes. Try running through it at high speed, and you will realise that the sound effect mirrors that of a minor explosion. Besides such ‘land-mines’, there is also the presence of ‘dark-beings’ on the road, in the form of Mat Rempits. If one has a weak heart, one may not be able to take it when 20-30 of such dark-beings riding next to you. Worst, sometimes, they may even be heading towards you from the opposite direction. Indeed, we Malaysian drivers are a courageous bunch. Last but not least, we Malaysian drivers are probably the most patient people in the world. Just look at the way we brace through the jam. Day in day out, we continuously spend at an average of 1-2 hours in the jam, testing our patience to our limit. Do we take the public transport as an alternative? Of course not! We must always put our patience to the test. So what if we waste hours on the road and reach home late. “Biar lambat, asalkan selamat”, did we not learn this during our primary school days? So there you have it. The true nature of us Malaysian drivers. Look beyond us, and you shall see how much effort we put in to bring the best out of us. If only people will understand us, then we will never be stereotyped as rude, bullies and inconsiderate. *hint of sarcasm*  November 20 All Hail to the 80's BabiesSigns that you are a 80s' baby
Let's see, the majority of students in universities today were born circa 1987 / 88.... They are called "youth". For them:
Let's check if we're getting old...
Hahaha!.... Yes! We are getting old too...........Brings back the old memories huh? Cheers to the 80s babies!!! October 16 Reducing speed limit not the solutionIts festive season again. This time with Hari Raya and Deepavali around the corner, we can expect heavy traffic along the highways as many Malaysians will be taking time off from the long holiday break. The police want to reduce the speed limits for federal and state roads for the coming festive season of Deepavalli and Hari Raya. Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan says this is to reduce the road accidents and the fatalities associated with it. Since its announcement there have been number of opinions expressed by various quarters. Will reducing the speed limit on such roads by 10km/hr effectively reduce the road fatalities during this festive season? To my mind I do not see how it can reduce the fatal accidents when speed is not the main cause of these mishaps. The two main causes of fatal accidents are firstly an exceptionally high number of cars and motorcycles on the roads and secondly the inconsiderate and selfish attitude of our motorists. With the present volume of traffic,cars, buses, lorries, other huge vehicles and motor cycles, coking our roads, especially the trunk roads, we would need supernatural powers to avoid accidents. There is simply too many vehicles on the roads resulting in chaos especially during peak hours. Whatever measures we take will not be effective with the huge volume of traffic suffocating our roads. Some of these vehicles are so old that they are not at all roadworthy. They too are plying our roads at fantastic speeds. The motor cyclists zigzag between cars and lorries posing great danger not only to themselves but to other innocent road users as well. The inconsiderate and selfish attitude of Malaysians in general is reflected by the high number of unhealthy incidents on the roads. There are blatant disregard traffic laws and those who abuse them often go scot-free while a careful law abiding driver, who occasionally exceed the speed limit on a clear stretch of the road, is quickly pounced upon by the enforcing authorities and slapped with a heavy fine. To Malaysians life has become so materialistic that even roads accidents are also being commercialized. Every accident, even those fatal ones, are business opportunities for many, the tow truck operators, insurance agents, medical treatment providers, legal agents and even hearse operators. Injuries and death seem to be the least concern. We have to take drastic measures to educate the public to change the mindset and attitude towards life. At the same time genuine efforts must be made to reduce the number of vehicles on the roads. It is worthwhile considering separate lanes for motor cyclists wherever possible. These may be formidable tasks but we must start now, otherwise many more lives will continue to be lost on our roads, the Malaysia’s killing fields. October 13 Hey Boss, oil price dropping!We poor Malaysians were trembling in fear as oil price surge to more then US$70 per barrel in the commodity market in the last few months. There was a speculation that crude oil may surge to as high as US$100 per barrel due to increasing demand. Prices of almost all goods soared due to increase in petrol price as businesses took advantage of the so-called “increase in cost” to conveniently pass the burden to consumers. Worse, some just increase the price of their goods just to make a quick buck. All these have resulted in escalating cost of living for us poor Malaysians. But guess what, US crude oil traded with a session low of US$57.24 per barrel yesterday (Thursday). There has been a wind of change as OPEC confirmed that production is in excess of 1 million barrel per day. With brimming inventories, analysts are saying that prices are expected to fall further in the near future. So my question is, what is our government going to do now? Is the imminent increase in petrol price that we all anticipated not going to happen? Will it be too wishful a thinking to actually consider the possibility of a reduction in petrol price if crude oil prices continue to plunge? Is the government going to say lower crude oil prices means lesser revenue to Petronas and as such, the overall nation’s well being has been affected? The minister of Energy, Water and Communications recently made a statement about a possible increase in price of gas sold to Tenaga Nasional which may or may not lead to an increase in electricity tariff in the future. Is this a hint towards another hole to our pocket? I am very sure all us poor Malaysians are waiting for a statement by the government on what is going to happen. If the government truly intends to improve the well being of the rakyat, the time is now. The family-wheel....They do not don red capes, fancy costumes emblazoned with alphabets or have the ability to see through walls or lift things 300 times their weight but hey, let's get this straight, good parents are capable of performing amazing feats. Let's take super-dad, for instance. He holds down a nine to five job, comes home, plays with the kids, fixes the 'unfixable' items around the house, does the heavy lifting around the house etc. He is the bread-winner, loving husband, fun dad, & repair-man all rolled up in one. Let's move over to wonder-mum. Like most 21st century women of today, she has a career of her own, contributing to the family finance. She still manages to cook, clean & nurture the 'babies' in the family. ( children & husband included!) Now, where else can you look for to find a woman endowed with the 'super powers' of multi-tasking? Most of us aspire to be 'just like our dads or our mums' They are the ones we look up to. Who we turn out to be usually reflects our parents' parenting-skills. At the end of the day, when we are grown-up, successful & living the ideal life, do we even look back & remember the sacrifices they have made, the tears of sorrow they shed with us when we were down & out as well as the proud smile across their faces when we have done them proud? Good parents support their children through thick & thin, thorugh the up's & down's of life. How many of us children today can say that we will do the same for them? We have the habit of complaining about our parents' short-comings so much so that we fail to see all the good they have done in our lives. Without them, my friend, we might not be where we are today. Infact, all our parents ask of us is that we make the best of our lives. They do not keep score with us of the things that we owe them. Believe me, if they did, all the paper in the world would not be enough to list down all the IOU's. We could spend a lifetime trying to repay them, & still fail to do so by the end of it. The most amazing thing good parents do, is rasing up kids who will in turn be good parents to their own children. The wheel of good-parenting keeps spinning, & as long as as it doesn't stop, we can safely say, one good parent raises another! Is the World Going Faster?Are you one of many who say… so fast, it’s already a year. Are you? The last few years sort of ran past you without you knowing it. Do you still remember your younger days? When a day seems to have lots to offer, a week is rather eventful, a month is a long journey and a year, eternity… well, almost eternity. Now, on the other hand, 24 hours is certainly not enough to make up a day, how we wish a month has got 50 days (even for some salary earner) and a year should have perhaps, 15 months, particular for those who’re growing… more mature. How so? Have you ever sit down and think why time seems to be going faster and faster? Some say, a child will find time slower, because they have no deadlines, while we adults, require more time to accomplish our tasks. Having spoken to a few children, that seems to be just a myth. A few of those who are under the age of 10 told me that they don’t have enough time to finish off the last computer games or completing a level before the day is over. I recalled someone was telling me about this book called “McWorld”. No idea who wrote it but it’s about how we are trying to beat time in almost everything. It talks about how we are trying to make the world goes faster, turning our globe into McWorld, just like how McD is trying to deliver their products faster. To a certain extend, it’s true. Day after day, we are striving to make cars go faster, planes fly faster, computers function faster, banking much faster, internet connection faster, make our first million faster, retire faster, be a ‘tai-tai’ faster (for girls), get a girl faster (for guys), etc. I am sure we all agree that there are times, in the midst of this fast moving world, that we do find time crawling. Such situation can happen anytime, anywhere. Such situation is called “WAITING”. When was the last time we have to wait for the day to be over? I can’t recall really, we have so much to do… TV, internet, sms-es, shopping malls and if all fails… sleep! Because almost every single human lacks sleep nowadays and therefore, sleeping seems to make time accelerates. The waiting game seems to be facing extinction. With the chances of us waiting for stuff slowly depreciating, so goes our opportunity to appreciate the motion of time. I think it is relatively crucial for us to feel the presence of an hour, a day, a week, a month, a year, time basically and not let it slip away from our grasp because time… is in a way… our life! Is the world going faster? Well, I think it is, simply because we made it faster. October 07 HAZE !! HAZE !! ... How Long More??The infamous "South East Asian Haze" has return to our shore, after a short break last month. This time we blame it on the Indonesian and also the typhoon. Actually we blame it on the Indonesians almost annually. HAZE by time is NOT a new problem. Malaysian have been suffering from another ignorant neighbour on this problem. It's like a yearly monsoon or rainy season for Malaysia for sometime now. I can't remember reading anything about substances contain in those smog but I believe it should not be anything less than what is contained in the smoke emitted by a cigarette. They both come out of burning stuff. Saying this, I think I can safely say that all of us Malaysian (male, female, young or old) have turn into a smoker one way or another. Why not if the substances that we inhale or exhale are the same as those of a smoker. Luckily none of us get addicted to it yet. :P I wonder if any study (medical or clinical) has been conducted regarding the effects of this annual phenomenon (since 1998 when the Commonwealth Games was held in Kuala Lumpur) on our health. Are we more prone to lung cancer (or other smoking related illness) or by how much has our life been shorten? However, suggestions to conduct such study might not be a good idea afterall as those findings might cause us to pay more for our medical insurance premiums. I'm sure if the haze level goes beyond 150 at Putrajaya, KL golden triangle or KLIA, then we would raise the alarm. But then again, after the haze clears, it's all well & forgotten. Hopefully those responsible for providing us a clean environment would take notice of this and do whatever is necessary. Otherwise, maybe those responsible for providing healthcare would need to budget for the possible increase in healthcare expenditure in the future. Prevention is ALWAYS better than cure. The most loving thing....Howdy ppl!
I'm back after taking a short hiatus from this blog. Been pretty busy over the last months with work and also some personal issues. Glad that workload is getting lighter for now...
Felt a bit inspirational today, after taking a study break for my coming certification exam, so thought I'll write something on LOVE... hahaha
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'Love' is a word we use very often. It is often misintepreted & it's value greatly diminished by those who claim to have it. For instance, certain folks are believers in the theory, 'Love at first sight'. While it is true that 2 individuals can be attracted & even develop an instant infatuation with each other when they first meet, this cannot be termed as love.Even in a relationship, love is often associated with pleasing the other person. Some parents will meet their childrens' every whim & fancy in hope to 'buy' their love.
A husband may give his wife an unlimited amount of cash to spend at her leisure. But can these acts really be termed as showing love? If you knew that a love one was doing something that he enjoyed but would be ultimately detrimental to himself, would you close a blind eye & tolerate his actions because you love him? If a love one was doing something that is outrightly wrong, would you take up the responsibility to correct him or rather let him continue to do as he pleases?
Sometimes, the most loving actions are not the gentlest or even the most pleasant ones. One must fall back on the Genuine love principle, that is to do the right thing, with the person's well being in mind. Acting out of love may be costly, even painful sometimes. But if we profess to love that individual, it may require us to make very difficult decisions. This may even lead to misunderstandings & strains in relationships.
However, ultimately if the love we share is genuine, it can withstand the trials of life. Love also opens our hearts to correction & acceptance of those who are dear to us. Love inspires us to go beyond the call of duty. It gives us strength to walk the extra mile & make sacrifices for the good of those we cherish. It does not keep score of the good deeds done or expect repayment. Truly, love breeds selflessness in one's soul.
Love is also cultivated over time. It takes years to build a solid & stable love relationship. Love can stand the test of time. Love can overcome difficulties, pain & suffering. Most importantly, we can forgive & forget the wrong-doings of the people we truly love. As cliche as this may sound, I truly believe in the power of love, that is, genuine love. It conquers all.
August 17 Take A Break!In our modern day society, many of us are subjected to pressure in
every aspect of our lives, be it our personal or work life. As the
stress level in us escalates, we do not seek to lessen it but instead
continue to push ourselves to the brink until we finally reach the
breaking point where everything falls to pieces.When that happens, alot
of us have trouble pulling ourselves back together again. Some may even
resort to extreme measures such as suicide or crime that will
ultimately bring us to ruin. Stress affects all levels of society. In these competitive times, students are required to excel in academics & co-curriculum while working adults are required to meet high expectations & targets that has been set for them in their work place. As such, we need to develop an effective way to cope with stress. Once in a while, taking a short break can help alleviate our stress. It doesn't mean that we have to go on a long vacation to clear our heads. A short stroll in the neighbourhood park may help us to 'walk' off the stressful feelings. Listening to soothing or relaxing music in between your work time can help you relax your senses as music has a therapeutic effect. Watching a light-hearted comedy can help you laugh off some of the pressure you have coped up inside as well. Never ever isolate yourself when you are feeling blue. Seek out the company of a friend or a group of friends that you can share your feelings with. Take turns to listen to each others problems & try coming up with helpful suggestions to each others problems. You can also ask any of your loved ones to lend a listening ear to you. Sometimes, all you need is just a word of comfort & a shoulder to cry on to help you get over that stressful period in your life. Learn to recognize when you've had enough with work. Trying to continue ploughing on when your brain's engine is on the verge of breaking down will not do you any good. You may waste alot of effort as well as energy & yet end up achieving very little. At this point, it's time to hit the brakes & rest for a while. You will be surprised at how much better you can feel after a 30 minute nap! Lastly, seek to strengthen yourself spiritually so that you will be able to face the challenges life throws at you. It is important to know that a heart at rest gives life to the body. Prayer & meditation can help you stay calm & collected. Choose to live your life one day at a time. Do not worry or fret too much about the distant future. The human mind can never fanthom what lies far ahead in the future. August 15 Balancing Up Our LifeWe often get too busy and enter into the timeless zone where we could even forget about fulfilling our basic needs.
In this digital and wireless world, we often fall into the “busy zone”. The common factor for most us is due to our job. We often get carried away with our tasks given to us by the organization. However in order to prosper and secure the future well, most of us tend to go for the “extra mile” in our job scope.
The attitude of giving more than what our job scope requires is something to be praised. However when we do this constantly for a long period, we will lose the “balance” in our life and it is certainly deceiving the purpose. There are people who work extra 6-8 hours daily than the required hours. It is true that in order to achieve certain goals, we must sacrifice our time and energy but when sacrifice becomes too frequent and rigid, we might achieve our materialistic goals but at the same time we could lose most of the important elements in our life.
This unbalanced life could lead to so many negative outcomes. Mainly we might be leading to an unhealthy lifestyle because we do not have the time for exercise since most of the time is spent on the job. Secondly we will lose our valuable friends, family and our loved ones because again we do not have the time to spend with them.
Besides that, our growth in the aspect of learning and development outside our field of work may get diminished due to insufficient time. This insufficiency of time occurs because most of the time is spent on our job till some of us do not even have the time to read the newspapers. The above mentioned issues are the some of the contributing factors that is leading most of our life to an unbalanced life.
Most of us have the “mentality” saying that “we must work hard to the maximum now but relax and have a good happy time with our family, friends and loved ones one day probably in five or ten years time when we have the all the money, time and status. At this juncture I have recalled a true story of a business seminar I attended which was organized by a local psychologist cum business trainer. During the seminar, the psychologist requested all the participants to point down techniques and methods they would take to become a multi-millionaire in ten years time. As requested all the participant wrote down their methods but the methods brought down by one particular businessman at that time caught the attention of the psychologist. This particular participant said that “In order for me to become a multi-millionaire, I would work hard day and night for the next ten years. In this period I would not spend time with my family, friends and relatives. I would not go for any vacation or get indulged in any type of entertainment. Basically I will only work, work and work in order for me to become a multi-millionaire.
After ten years of hard work, I will become a multi millionaire. Therefore I will spend all the time with my family, friends and I will take my time off just to happily enjoy my life.”
After listening to the businessman, the psychologist only asked him one question. ”Sir, can you give me a guarantee letter saying that you will be alive when you wake every morning for the next ten years and I would also like to follow your plan.” The question triggered the participant to realise so many things. Later the psychologist explained to him that if he is just going to work without a stop for the next ten years, first he would lose his family, friends and relatives. Second he might get ill both mentally and physically. What is the point if you have all the money status, success and time but there is no value for it? In fact, it will be a failure because the reason which is to attain happiness through the ten years of non- stop hard work will be impossible.
The truth is not many have realised that there is no guarantee for even the next minute of our life. Our life in this world may end at anytime and this is an inevitable issue.
Therefore work hard in any job you might be working at but always remember to balance up your life because overtime spent on any aspect of our life will lead to deterioration in the balance cycle. Lastly, we should keep in our mind that “happiness is a journey, not destination” and cherish every second of your life. -Cheers-. August 13 How do you feel about yourself?As a man thinks, so he is. How do you feel about yourself? Ask anyone
that question & you would probably be getting alot of negative
feedback. In today's materialistic & competitive society, almost
everyone strives to out do one another. Caught up in the rat-race of
life, most end up being dissatisfied with themselves. Once in awhile, we should take the time to get to know ourselves better. To appreciate the abilities & talents we have been blessed with. Instead of being eaten up by envy & jealousy, we should learn to be contented with the qualities we possess. We should realized that each individual is unique & special. We all exist for a specific purpose in this life, be it great or small. Therefore, no one on this earth can be considered insignificant or unimportant. If we choose to view life as a glass half-full, we may actually feel better about ourselves. Instead of comparing ourselves to others, we should learn to be thankful for what we have. Sure, there is no harm in self-improvement, but not to the extent that we forget who we truly are inside. We may never be as rich, successful or influential as some are & the grass may appear to be greener on the other side. But at the end of the day, we should be glad that we have been given a chance to live, & live each day to the fullest. What makes a true friend?Nowadays, the word 'friend' is often spoken lightly & it's value
has diminished. Many of us will have the opportunity of making many
friends throughout our lifetime but, how can we tell a true friend from
a false/superficial one? Allow me to express my personal view regarding this
matter. A true friend always does the following: 1. F-orgives as well as forgets mistakes made in the past. He does not bring up or harp on certain issues that may have cropped up throughout the course of our friendship. A true friend does not harbor any ill-feeling or resentment towards us. He is also willing to overlook our weaknesses & accepts us for who we are. 2. R-espects us as well as our opinions. A good companion will never seek to belittle or embarass us. A true friend will also respect our point of view & is never rude or conceited whenever he associates with us. We will always feel accepted by a him. 3. I-nspires & motivates us to better ourselves in all our endevours. A good friend will always provide us with support & encouragement whenever we face challenges in life. A true fellow comrade will bring out the best in us, cheering us on in all of our pursuits & ambitions. 4. E-mpathizes with us in the face of hardship & sorrow. He is willing to share our unhappiness & avails help to us in any possible way. A true friend shows understanding & support in times of difficulty. He will lend a listening ear & a shoulder to cry on at all times. 5.N-otices our moods & temperament. A true friend will always know when to say the right thing at the right time. He knows or at least takes the trouble to find out how we are getting along & is sensitive towards our needs & feelings. 6. D-efends us in the face of persecution & accusations. Remember, a true friend is always on our side. He will never betray us in any way or join in spreading notorious gossips about us behind our back. He sticks by us through thick & thin. A good friend will never backstab us. A friend in need is a friend indeed! A friend who is dependable & trustworthy is one who: F-orgives R-espects I-nspires E-mpathizes N-otices D-efends Disclaimer: I used the word "HE" as a general guideline only. Good true friends can be a "HER" too...  |
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