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…

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…

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.

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

About two years back, we noticed this giant tap near Tesco Setia Alam. It’s actually a signboard for Puncak Niaga, a water supply concessionaire “operating, managing and maintaining 29 water treatment plants with a combined capacity of 1,942 million litres per day.”

About two weeks back, we saw…

Malaysians know that water supply coming from the mains can be very dirty and murky. Almost every residential home in Malaysia has got at least one water filter. So, it’s a surprised for me to see such an honest ‘advertisement’ since most of the time, advertisements tend to ‘exaggerate’ facts.

We need more advertisements like this!

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…

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?

My list narrowed down to just Philips and Panasonic (anyone can suggest something else?). Since I know there’s a Panashop near my parent’s place, I decided to drop by the shop yesterday evening on my way home.

While in the shop, I asked for a few models. Unfortunately, Tong Kong SS3 only had one out of the three I am interested in The salesperson checked their system and told me that the Tong Kong in SS2 has got the other two models I asked about. He told me I could check that shop and even gave me the indicative price.

So this evening, I went over to Tong Kong SS2. I asked for the model. I asked the salesperson about the price and told him what I had been told earlier — the indicative price given by the salesperson in Tong Kong SS3. Salesperson in the shop said its not possible. He can’t sell it to me at this price. He told me I should go back to Tong Kong SS3 and ask them to order for me instead. I told the salesperson I might just do that…

Since Tong Kong SS2 has a display model, I told the salesperson I wanted to try it out first before I go back to Tong Kong SS3 and get them to order it for me. I wanted to be sure it has all the features I want — playback from USB.

And guess what? The salesperson just walked away.

I was not sure if the display set was hooked up or not. Back in Tong Kong SS3, they had to connect the power, etc before I could test out another unit I was looking at.

At first I thought the salesperson was going to the counter to get some cables or something… I waited. But I realised after a minute or so that he’s not ‘servicing’ me anymore. He was entertaining another customer. After that, he just waited at the counter.

WTF?!?

I decided I can DIY — flicked the switch and was lucky that the unit is hooked up. The set powered up. I hooked my USB harddisk to the unit and waited… Waited some more… Nothing. I guess it does not work.

After 5 minutes, I walked out of the shop. The guy didn’t even bother to look at me, etc… So much for “Customer is King”. With Panasonic (or at least this shop and this salesperson), it seems more like “Customer is 5hit”.

This reminds me of another incident I had with the Panasonic brand.

A few months ago, I got my company to buy a Panasonic microwave. It came with the steamer function. Unfortunately, someone in the office accidentally threw away a component that is used by the steamer — the ceramic cover. I called the shop we had purchased the microwave from and they said they will try to place a spare part order for us. After a few weeks, we got the bad news — the salesperson who covers the outlet we purchased the microwave from had resigned. They had no idea who from Panasonic will be covering them and advised me to directly contact Panasonic.

That’s when I thought of Tong Kong SS3. I asked my mum to drop by the shop (since she lived nearby) and find out how much the ceramic cover would cost. My mum called me back and told me that the guy in Tong Kong SS3 says there is no such thing. In fact, he asked my mum if I meant the ceramic tray — FYI, this new microwave does not have a ceramic tray that turns inside the microwave. It seems the new technology employed in this microwave does not require the food to be rotated.

Anyway, it took me a bit of explaining on the phone to the salesperson, including asking him to walk to his display set, open the cover, look inside, etc to finally get him to understand what I wanted. Even then, it was his colleague who actually understood what I was asking for.

Well, all I can say from my two experience (in less than 1 year) is… I’m staying away from Panasonic products. If trying to buy a Panasonic product is going to be such a painful experience, I wonder what after sales service is going to be like!

And you know what is ironic? The Panasonic booklet which I got from the shop had one page explaining why we should visit and buy from Panashop. It listed something like 8 or 9 points including (get this) — friendly service and sales people who know their product. What a laugh!

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?

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….???