I can’t really agree with everything that Wee Meng Chee aka Namewee has done. But I can’t totally disagree either. Some say he’s arrogant. Some say he’s rude. Some say he’s artistic and expressive. Whatever it is, I have to say that he can be quite witty…

I had a good laugh when I saw what The Malaysian Insider quoted him as saying when he was ‘invited’ by the police (in three police cars) to assist in an investigation (or was it to have his statement recorded?)…

“I am mentally healthy, I have no injuries and I will not commit suicide,” he said.

I’m quite sure that was a jab at the MACC…

It’s Merdeka Day and I thought what better way to spend the public holiday than to remind myself about the history of Malaysia. At this age and time, where else but Wikipedia for a quick read…

There are some interesting links listed in Hari Merdeka entry in Wikipedia, under the heading of History of Malaysia. There is also an interesting section called Prehistoric Malaysia.

According to Wikipedia, the first muslim state in Malaysia is very likely to have been the Kedah Sultanate:

Kedah Kingdom (630-1136) was founded by Maharaja Derbar Raja of Gemeron around 630 CE and the Hinduism dynasty ended with Phra Ong Mahawangsa converted to Islam.

and

Around 170 CE a group of native refugees of Hindu faith arrived at Kedah, joining them soon were peoples from nearby islands and from the northern Mon-Khmer region. Ancient Kedah covered the areas of Kuala Bahang, Kuala Bara, Kuala Pila and Merpah, and the inhabitants of Kedah appointed Tun Derma Dewa and Tun Perkasa as their village chiefs.

As for the famous Malacca Sultanate, there is this entry:

Paduka Sri Maharaja Parameswara founded Malacca around 1400. According to Sejarah Melayu, he was the last king of Singapura and a member of the royal family of Srivijaya. He laid claims of being descended from Iskandar Zulkarnain (Alexander the Great).

It is amazing how 20 years can change one’s perception of history. I still remember back in school, I really, really disliked the history lessons. But now, they make for such an interesting read. I guess when one gets older, one becomes more sentimental and starts to appreciate all things new and old. And in this sense, internet really does making reading and researching fun. With just a click or two, we get to see more and more…

…one wrong wiring and we may cease to exist in this world.

So treasure life. Smell the roses. Appreciate the people around us.

Sorry if the topic sounds a bit sexist. It is just a personal observation plus some ‘admission’ from female colleagues and friends…

I drive to work everyday. At certain points in my journey, traffic slows down… So when traffic slows (or stops) and one gets bored, naturally one looks to the left, right, front and back (actually, as a safe driver, one should periodically do this to be aware of one’s surroundings). And out of 10 times when I spot a traffic offender, I can say 7 of it are committed by female drivers.

Some examples:

• In a car park that’s supposed to be a one-way traffic, I can sometimes see drivers taking a shortcut to the exit, even if its going against the traffic.
• Emergency lane abuse. I’m not really sure what is the purpose of emergency lane in Malaysia (is it used when you have an emergency like car breakdown OR is it means for emergency vehicles), but when there’s a jam, there will be many cars on this lane. Emergency lane becomes the ‘express lane’ at such times.
• Illegal turns. Double-line. No entry sign. These don’t deter the drivers from going in or making an illegal turn.
• Chatting on the mobile phone while driving WITHOUT hands-free kit. This is mainly committed by female drivers. Most guys I see will have some kind of bluetooth gadget — you can tell because they look like they are talking to themselves in the car.

The list never ends, but you get my point… And really, 7 out of 10 times, I see female drivers. Why?

Over lunch today, I asked a female colleague and she ‘proudly’ admitted to doing some of the items I mentioned above. Her excuse?

“I know these roads well enough…”

Errr….???

About 9 months back, one of my post had the title Lunch at Sri Ananda Bhavan (SAB), Bangsar.

After 9 months, most of my colleagues (myself included) are not planning to go back to this place. Food quality has dropped. The price of your food goes up and down each day… Worse than KLSE. For the same thing, they can charge you rm1-rm2 more! And if you think maybe they are reflecting the daily prices of vegetables, how to explain this incident that happened 2 months back when a few friends of mine came over for lunch.

One guy ordered a naan set. Another guy came late, saw what first guy was eating and said he wanted the same set. Receipt issued… Second guy looked at first guy’s receipt. Hey, second guy is being charged more! He calls the waiter and complains. Waiter takes the receipt and corrects it. Now he pays less than the first guy! Hah!

So, where do we go for lunch these days? Well, there’s Quick Bites Cafe a few shops away from SAB. There’s also HSBC & Gaja. Plus, we’re more adventurous these days and would sometimes have our lunch at Bangsar. It’s not that far and quite convenient since we can park near HSBC (the restaurant and not the bank) and just walk across.

Recently, USA’s Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced that they are redefining the term ‘broadband’. Now, broadband in USA means 4 Mbits/s downstream % 1 Mbits/s upstream. That’s 4Mbps download & 1Mbps upload.

Malaysia’s equivalent of the FCC, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) defines broadband in Malaysia as “any service beyond the scope of existing PSTN/ISDN and 2G cellular networks & with data rates that exceed the normal voice-related speed (56 kbit/s for PSTN and 64 kbit/s for ISDN)”.

56kbps is about 0.056Mbps.

Wikipedia has this entry:

In general, any connection to the customer of 256 kbit/s (0.256 Mbit/s) or greater is more concisely considered broadband Internet access.

Amazed?

No words can really describe the feeling one gets when one reaches home to find one’s puppy waiting in front of the gate, jumping up and down when it sees you coming out of the car…

It gets even better when one looks inside the house and sees one’s baby looking at you… Eyes go all BIG with a happy expression on the face when he sees you… And quickly crawls towards the door, laughing all the way…

That’s how I feel everyday when I get home. I am so happy when I get home everyday…

Oh, of course there’s also Mrs Tai waiting quietly behind the puppy and the baby…

This promo is on everyday… Not sure if it is for all outlets or for how long… But I do know this promo is available at the San Francisco coffee outlet near my office…

Wouldn’t it be nice if Starbucks Setia Alam have this…?

From wikipedia:

Constipation also known as costiveness, dyschezia, and dyssynergic defaecation is a symptom of infrequent hard to pass bowel movements.

Constipation in children usually occurs at three distinct points: after starting formula or processed foods (while an infant), during toilet training in toddlerhood, and soon after starting school (as in a kindergartner).

It’s just amazing how much willpower a baby can have just trying to hold it in for sooooOOOOoooo many days… But it’s NOT funny.

For constipation, lactulose can help…

In the treatment of chronic constipation, the metabolites of lactulose draw water into the bowel, causing a cathartic effect through osmotic action. Unlike other laxatives that are recommended for temporary relief, lactulose can be taken daily for decades. It is safe for people of all ages, except for those in a very small percentage of the population that are galactose intolerant. Dosage may have to be adjusted over time to produce the desired effect because the laxative effect can reduce somewhat with daily treatment.

In treating constipation lactulose works by increasing the water content and volume of the stools in the bowel, making them softer and easier to pass. Lactulose is made up of sugar molecules and is broken down by the bacteria that live in the lower part of the gut. This leads to the contents of the gut becoming more acidic because of the accumulation of ammonia, and that in turn causes water to be drawn into the lower bowel. This increases the amount of water in the stools, softening them and making them easier to pass. The added volume of gas and flatulence caused by fermentation of the lactulose adds to the volume of the fecal material, and makes it easier to expel. The slightly acidic condition of the colon caused by the presence of ammonia causes active peristalsis. The combined effect of all of these process relieves constipation in a very effective manner.

I have been eyeing this Samsung LCD TV for quite a while now… The LA40C530 is a 40″ LCD TV that is capable of playing media files directly from USB drive — Yup, no need for another player like Western Digital’s WDTV. I don’t plan to get any disc players anymore.

Mrs Tai knows that I’ve been itching to get a TV for the past few weeks. Each time we’re near an electrical shop, I would drop in and look at the TVs. After comparing a few, I believe this TV is good enough for me. Mrs Tai has also seen this TV in action and she’s also impressed (but then again, she’s easily impressed).

But each time we look at the bank account… It’s “Let’s postpone this purchase for another month…”

This month is no different. I thought we could finally get the TV, but as they say… Money is never enough.