According to Wikipedia:

Secret society is a term used to describe clubs or organizations in which the activities and inner functioning of those societies are concealed from non-members. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence.

When non-members (or general public) do not know much about the activities or how the ‘organisation’ work, it is only natural that the non-members will have some distrust and misconception of the organisation. Sometimes there is even ‘fear’…

And can these ‘secret societies’ blame the general public for the misconception and distrust? If an organisation wants to be respected and correctly understood by the general public, one good way is to be open about the organisation. Show people through actions and not lack of it. If the organisation has ‘good’ intentions, it will eventually be well received.

From Wikipedia:

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) (Malay: Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia, (SPRM)) (formerly Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) or Badan Pencegah Rasuah (BPR)) is a government agency in Malaysia that investigates and persecutes corruption in the public and private sectors. The MACC was modeled after top anti-corruption agencies, such as the Independent Commission on Anti-Corruption (ICAC) in Hong Kong and the Independent Commission Against Corruption in New South Wales, Australia.

Personally, I think it’s an insult to Hong Kong’s ICAC when it is said that MACC is modelled after it. I don’t think MACC is anywhere near the prestige and level of ICAC, especially with all the recent ‘publicity’ they are getting. One would think the MACC is on a suicide path.

MACC seems to be ineffective in trying to investigate & take action against BIG cases like the PKFZ and MAS scandal. I think most of the time, I only read about some success in arresting cops taking bribes (probably those rm100 bribes).

MACC is also going to be a laughing stock after the latest Teoh Beng Hock inquest… Quoting The Star Online:
There were tense moments between Thai forensic pathologist Dr Pornthip Rojanasunand and Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) counsel Datuk Abdul Razak Musa during cross-examination in the inquest into political aide Teoh Beng Hock’s death.

At one juncture, Dr Pornthip asked Abdul Razak if he was really a lawyer.

But when Abdul Razak asked Dr Pornthip if she had ever jumped out of a window, counsel representing the Selangor Government Malik Imtiaz Sarwar said: “With questions like these, we would all want to jump out.”

I’m quite sure Dr Pornthip is probably thinking that Malaysians are morons if this is what we have as lawyer representing the government agency modeled after ICAC.

I think we should just disband MACC…

We all know anything related to (recreational) DRUGS is BAD.

Drug is bad. Drug traffickers are bad. Drug addicts are bad. So it is no surprise that the penalty for drug trafficking in Malaysia and Singapore is mandatory death sentence.

Today, while reading an online article, I somehow ended up reading about Yong Vui Kong.

Who is Yong Vui Kong?!? (Ya, that was my first reaction.)

When I found out what he did, I went… “Oh, drug trafficker. Serves him right.”

But I got curious and read further. Here are some of the sites I visited:

• Vui Kong @ Blogspot (recommended reading)
• The Online Citizen
• The Star Online

What I read made me think… Nothing in this world is just either Black OR White.

We can argue it is. We can argue it isn’t. We can argue drug traffickers deserve death sentence. But after reading about Vui Kong, I realise… It is still a human life.

We know it is bad to take away a life (like murder). So, is it right to take away life as a punishment?

Dunno if the I should put ‘professional’ in inverted commas or ‘leaders’. But since I don’t view the person as a leader, I guess I’ll put the inverted commas on ‘leader’.

Screenshot from The Star Online

When friends ask me for advise, I always tell them to be ‘smart’ about what you post on the internet — be it a reply in forums, FB posts or even tweets on Twitter. What more if you are a public figure. We should always be mindful of what we speak or write.

As a leader, is it necessary to keep everyone in ‘suspense’ over the stupid OMG remark? Do you need to tweet about the movie you are watching halfway? Would a responsible person tweet something that leaves it open to interpretation?

What if we see someone tweet “Running away from the psycho stalker”? Naturally we’d think the person is in such a situation and needs assistance. Then one week later, the person says… “Oh, its just a movie I was watching.”

You’d be wondering if it’s April Fool’s day or the person is just trying to be a clown, right?

No doubt every individual is unique. No two person in the world is the same. And so, we have different attitudes, different characteristics, different beliefs, different ideologies, different looks, etc…

In a planet filled with diversity, we need to respect each other. Not run them down or chase them out.

We also need to understand some are born less smart than others… Hence the “empty vessels” and their remarks appearing in papers, blogs, etc… In such cases, its always better to just ignore such remarks. After all, when a madman on the street starts talking nonsense or when a mad dog at the road side starts barking, we just cautiously walk away, right?

From The Star Online:

Thus, effective today, prices of petrol, diesel, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and sugar have increased following a reduction of the subsidy.

Sugar is revised to an additional 25 sen per kg to RM1.90. LPG is up 10 sen per kg to RM1.85.

Petrol RON 95, RON 97 and diesel have gone up by five sen per liter. For RON 97, the Government has decided to withdraw the subsidy later and subject it to a managed float, where the price will be determined by an automatic pricing mechanism.

I’m all for the removal of government subsidies… But I’m wondering if many employers are ready.

Current salary scales used by most employers probably calculate an employee’s expenses based on the artificial prices of items such as petrol which is subsidies by the government. If we remove it and the price of petrol doubles, will employers adjust our salary accordingly?

Government wants Malaysia to remain competitive. But when expenses starts to go up, will foreign investors still be attracted to Malaysia? Will companies relocate their operations to a ‘cheaper’ country?

And what does the government do with the money it ‘saved’ from not having to subsidies the citizens? Spend it on useless corporate bailouts? What a waste of money… And that’s why I’m happy and not happy at the same time…

Just the past one month or so, I have had to lower Gabriel’s cot twice. This evening, had to lower it again as we noticed that Gabriel is trying to stand up now. We saw him holding on to the top of the side railings (while he was kneeling) and trying to pull himself up. At the new level, he should not be able to even touch the top of the railing now…

A few months from now… He’s going to be ‘everywhere’… But nar… I am not worried or upset. In fact, looking forward to it though many have told me that when they start to move about, it’s going to be one heck of a time for the parents.

We’ve also removed the mobile from his cot as he’s now able to reach it (and almost pulling it down in the process).

Time just flies by… I’m just glad I have a good work-life balance at my current work place. Nothing beats being able to spend time playing with Gabriel each evening and watching him grow up…

Indah Water Konsortium Sdn Bhd, a national sewerage company, wholly-owned by the Minister of Finance Incorporated, is responsible for providing sewerage services, operating and maintaining over 5,750 public sewage treatment plants and 13,000km networks of sewerage pipelines since April 1994.

We got our first Indah Water bill about two weeks back and it came as a surprise to me. I know that quite sometime back, there were people making a fuss about the charges but I never paid any attention to it. After all, that was many years back and I wasn’t the one paying the bills.

Indah Water has been advertising in the papers, explaining and rationalising the charges. You would have probably seen it in the papers and even on their website.

I find this advertisement to be a bit ‘misleading’, especially for the pipe water portion, which is, in a way, related to Indah Water. I mean, waste water and sewarage — They come from either piped water to the house or the piped water is required to flush our toilets.

Now the thing is… I don’t pay anything for my water. The first 20m3 usage per month, which is equivalent to rm11.40 since piped water is charged at rm0.57/m3, is subsidised by the state government (Thank you, PR!). We don’t abuse this free water subsidy. We only use what we need and usually, its only about 10m3 per month.

Back to Indah Water… I am being slapped with a charge of rm8 per month (that is about rm0.80 to treat every 1m3 of water I use in my house)! I think rm8 per month is a lot of money to charge per household!

And how did Indah Water come up with the rm40 average use? That is almost 70m3 of water and I think that’s a lot since my 10m3 usage includes daily use of the washing machine (a lot to wash when you have a baby at home), water filter backwash, cooking, cleaning, bathing, etc for a family of 3.

If we look at 80m3 usage per month (for ease of calculation but roughly based on Indah Water’s advertised average use of rm40 — which I feel, is very misleading), then the rm8 charge by Indah Water seems reasonable — it’s about 0.10 to treat every 1m3 of water used in the house. But if you don’t use that much of water… Then I think the rm8 charge is ridiculous!

Personally, I think Indah Water should have its billing merged or tied to our water bill instead. Charge for what we use (or how much water Indah Water needs to treat). Imagine a household using only 1m3 and having to pay rm8 monthly for the supposed ‘water treatment service’. Yeah, I know some will say there’s the cost of building up the treatment plant, etc… But common, that should already be included in the monthly charge when they did their calculations, etc… Right?

*sigh*

Nope, this is not a post bashing the Polis DiRaja Malaysia (PDRM). If anything, I do think PDRM is trying their best to do their job. I feel for them and have referred to them before as the underpaid heroes.

But are they getting a bit trigger happy?

Clerk files RM2mil suit against police, govt over shooting incident

Frightened, the couple sped off and a car chase ensued, during which, the policemen fired several shots at Siti Nasrinda and Mohd Fauzi.

One of the shots grazed Siti Nasrinda’s back and waist. The statement of claim added that a bullet also went through the edge of her headscarf.

The plaintiffs claimed the policemen fired a hail of bullets at them, which destroyed the windscreen as well as damaged the car.

Shooting of teen: Only one cop fired shots (Updated)

Only one policeman fired shots during the incident in Shah Alam that took the life of 15-year-old Aminulrasyid Amzah, Selangor police chief Deputy Comm Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar said.

Cop shoots alleged ‘Mat Rempit’

A 17-year-old youth believed to be a Mat Rempit was shot at by police who were chasing his motorcycle.

My question would be: Does the situation really warranty the use of the gun? Would that mean that next time there’s an armed robbery, we’re to expect grenade launchers, machine guns, etc?

I enjoy cooking… I like to share what I cook. I like to see people enjoy healthy vegetarian meals…

And lately, things are slowly coming into place. I’m not sure how things will go… But if the opportunity arises, should I risk going into a ‘new’ world of F&B and leave IT behind? Oh well… One step at a time. When I come to that crossroad, I’ll think and decide…