As I reeled with disbelief, Nisha announced her departure from Red Fm at the end of August. First, it was Nell and David. Next it was Nisha. Looks like Red Fm is undergoing some major shakedown. Sadly, it started promisingly but now it's again undergoing major "renovation" I am sure it's for the good of the station but listeners who are loyal to the station will definitely change their radio frequencies with the new crew coming on board.
After Nisha announced her departure, we then were told that JD and Will will be in the morning show. Hei Hei Hei...that is cool...talk about suspense and drama!!!!

Iraq  is now the new Asian Cup champions. Celebrations all over Iraq rang out after the last whistle was blown in Indonesia. Even CNN gave a "breaking news" item for this result. Just when the rest of the world celebrated together with Iraq and its people, I am sure many will agree that Malaysia really needs to "tabik dada and tanya selera" about the future state of its own soccer programme. I mean our beloved national soccer team.

I am not sure where and how the FAM will drive this but again, my concerns. Involvement of politicians as well as dignitaries may have done more harm than good. Leave FAM alone. Let it have a major shakeout and probably something good may come out of it.

Read this latest Bernama news....many Malaysians probably support their National team. However, isn't it time to get some professionals to do something about it. Good show polticians...but the game requires professionals...time to start looking for some and leave the game alone!

July 30, 2007 23:16 PM

'Give Me Deputy One, Khairy Deputy Two' - Shahidan

KANGAR, July 30 (Bernama) -- Perlis Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim said he was willing to shoulder the responsibility to restore the dignity of national football.
He added: "No need for contest. Just give deputy president one post to me and Khairy Jamaluddin deputy two because we can do the work."
He told Bernama this after Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi launched the Perlis-level Northern Corridor Economic Region here today.
Shahidan, who is Perlis Football Association president, said he and Khairy were a suitable match and had no problems in working together for national football.
Recently, the Tengku Mahkota of Pahang Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah stepped down from being Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) deputy president. Following this, Khairy relinquished his position as an independent member of the FAM Council.
The other FAM deputy president is Datuk Redzuan Sheikh Ahmad.
-- BERNAMA

The story continues. The latest news of Jeff Ooi setting his move into politics is clear and compeling. This could be a start of many professionals and well-known individuals moving into politics. So, I am quite interested to see how many new politicians will come out of this exercise. Of course, I am a believer of democracy. Not Western-styled democracy but one that allows me to speak and discuss issues practically and professionally.

Guess what, Monkeys and Gobloks are now running around the country. I guess these name calling should stop. Ringgit has started to slide. Good for exports but I sense trouble. The spin doctors are clearly spinning more news on development in the North and South Seriously, we are now in August and we have 4 more months before Christmas comes round the corner. Will our beloved PM get the inspiration to call for an election? Will PPP join the opposition front? Will DSAI make a difference in the next general election? Will PAS lose its base in Kelantan like it did in Terengganu?

The chapters are unfolding. The swords are drawn. The battlelines are being charted. The election is close at hand.

Finally, welcome Jeff Ooi. May you change make a difference to the course of Malaysian politics. ...

Botanical Gardens in Penang is full of monkeys. These are monkeys that are somewhat domesticated. Nevetheless, "bad" bloggers are now being called "monkeys". Gosh ....... what an anology...what a comparison. After all, monkeys are genetically connected to us. So - everyone is somewhat a monkey.

Bloggers Who Slander Must Be Brought To Book, Says Khairy

KIMANIS (Sabah), July 28 (Bernama) -- Umno wants bloggers who resort to slander to be brought to book, said Umno Youth deputy chief Khairy Jamaluddin.

He said these bloggers did not think about the sensitivities of others and the repercussions their writings can cause.

"There are no laws in the cyberworld except for the law of the jungle. As such, action must be taken so that the "monkeys" behave," he told reporters after opening the Papar, Kimanis and Sipitang Umno Youth annual delegates conference here today.

Khairy said there were some bloggers who thought they were above the law.

He said this when asked about Malaysia-Today webmaster Raja Petra Kamaruddin being called by the police for alleged seditious comments posted on it.

Khairy added that he too had been slandered on websites but had yet to take legal action because the case might take a long time to be settled.

-- BERNAMA

Much has been said about this Northern Corridor Economic Region(NCER). Seriously, it's still in the blueprint and one should look into this plan in more depth and understanding. The Star has been running various articles pertaining to this project. Nevertheless, to many skeptics, it should have been done long ago. Rather than isolation of growth within Kedah and Penang as well as Perlis and Northern Perak, the administration should have planned this years ago to tap into the potential of these states.

In fact, one of the most important element that will propel the success of this initiative is the "follow through" concept of state governments to see this true. Remember PenangNet? Initiatives to link up the entire Penang with high speed internet connectivity back then was seen as the catalyst of driving growth in the state of Penang. Unfortunately, with the tussle between different providers as well as insufficient infrastructure providers, this project became silent.

I believe the NCER is very important for all states up North. However, one clear important element that needs focus is the ability to convey this message to current and potential investors. As India and Vietnam continues to gain momentum, the shift to make Penang into a Logistics hub is clearly important. Otherwise, we will still be trying to attract high volume, labor intensive businesses into Penang whilst Vietnam offers better cost advantage than our core competencies.

What is Penang's core competencies? Highly skilled labour with good education background as well as experience to work in a global multinational companies. Nevertheless, what is also missing is this. The initiative to make Penang into an education hub has now fallen through. We are not seeing growth in the education sector which I personally believe will help to attract more investors to set up companies in the Northern region. But then again, different campuses are sprouting up all across Malaysia offering tertiary education from the local point of view. However, is this good? We will know after 4 years when new batches of students enter the job market and from there, we will then be able to see how effective this initiative is.

For now, Penang continues to labor on to find its identity and niche. Will NCER be the tipping point for the state of Penang as well as the other Northern region states? Time will tell. The clock is ticking for the next election. Clearly, it's quite evident that the Federal Government is really focusing its efforts to gain more credibility in helping other states within Malaysia to grow. Penang is obviously one the states in this initiative. However, is it a little too late for the other states like Perak, Kedah or Perlis?

Again, time will tell.

These are nostalgic public statements made by "dead" IT Companies.  Collected a few that made me laughed....while waiting for Nightline on TV3.

1. "There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in his home." -Ken Olsen, 1977 (hahahahhahhahah!)
2. "If this Microsoft Windows thing doesn't pan out, the Poqet will rule the world... -PC Magazine
3. "A computer will not make a good manager out of a bad manager. It makes a good manager better faster and a bad manager worse faster." -Ed Esber, president, Ashton-Tate, 1986
4. Two good reasons for not going public: "We don't have to tell everybody our mistakes, and we can make decisions quickly." -Pete Peterson, president, WordPerfect Corp., 1992

Caught an interesting article just a min ago. Just could not resist not mentioning it but seriously, this cat has precise accuracy in predicting death. I am sure many cat lovers would agree that this cat is indeed a special cat. I guess that is how it's being known now - Oscar - the death predictor.

Sounds like a scene from a scary movie? Well at the site of the cat in this article, Oscar looks like any other ordinary cat - cute and adorable. Strangely, the hospital alow Oscar to move around the hospital. When he decides to curl up next to a patient, times up for that person....gosh....his predictions have been measured - surprisingly....it is very accurate!

Bah...his, poh! All I can say is this. Our local government talks endlessly about recycling. Seriously, I have a sense of dissapointment when I see no returns of any nature to the welfare of the community.

 I live in an apartment and our committee here strives to encourage residents to do their bit to this effort. Recycling is great effort but what is missing is this. Each year our assessment rate is escalating and somehow our local govt. tends to overlook the basic things of how to make things easier to the community. They cite reasons such as escalation of cost of maintaining roads, etc etc for not considering lowering assessment rates for houses or apartments.

I feel that each time when I get a copy of the bill from the local authority, I feel that they are a bunch of disjointed politicians who only look out for "kang tau" (opportunities) that benefit their own pockets. Wild accusations but to put it simply - why can't recycling be used as a measurement to see how active the community is in the efforts of keeping the environment clean to justify no rate hike in the assessment?

I challenge the local authorities to address this. Even a simple convex mirror that helps residents keep an eye out on blind corners are not being funded at our apartment area. We have to pay on our own! How pathetic can it get?

Somehow, I am in the committee of the resident's council at my apartment. I talked to the committee last night about the importance of doing our role and the local authorities do theirs. Nevertheless, it's always a "disbelief" that they will ever do anything.

Hence, I will write to the Star today. One of which is to challenge the sincerity of the government in asking us not to throw rubbish indiscriminately but to recycle. I will ask them to respond on the following points:

1. Why can't residential areas get reprieve if they participate in this programme with proper recording of the amount of waste they dispose?

2. Why has it got to be this - residents you do your part. Local authorities - we just manage your area for you? Why can't there be a consensus whereby the authorities work closely with apartments owners and give the owners targets such as recycling per ton and at the end of the year, they get discounts for their efforts?

I guess it's time we stand up and say important things like this.

Who says they can't do it? Who claims that South Korea is a major player in the Asian football arena? Iraq considered an underdog in the Asian Cup tournament took the world by storm. They defeated South Korea 4-3 via penalties. While Iraq continues to be ravaged by civil disturbances from within, the country is simple overjoyed with the latest results.

While many Iraqis were celebrating, many of these poor souls died when bombers targeted them. I guess the terrorists are a bunch of losers. Can't bear to see Iraqis rallying around their fellow countrymen at Bukit Jalil Stadium celebrating their victory against South Korea.

Seriously, there is indeed a theory that goes around politics. Soccer is indeed a major unifying game that can bring people together. Many terrorists and politicians tend to use this game as their platform to gain support.......this is my theory. Case in point, Thailand.

Manchester City - The former deposed PM of Thailand is now the owner of this Premier League team. He is now saying that he will draft 2 Thai National players to play in the English team he owns. Imagine this. Thailand has a love affair with soccer. What better ways to distract the citizens to rise up against the military junta by using soccer as a "weapon"? Things that make you go...hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Case in point, Malaysia... 

Think I will skip this one. Why? Well, one thing for sure - FAM (Football Association of Malaysia) is now in turmoil. Hence, the best way now is to get non-politicians to run it. After all, our ranking is not even near the top 100....I think I better don't go down that path. Politicians wanting to make a name from soccer in Malaysia are now staying away from it. It's quite a liability to many of them now. Some even chose to eat the humble pie and leave. You know who should run the team now? Serbie Singh, Soh Chin Aun...to name a few. They could bring back glory to this game called soccer.

Iraq doesn't have World Class stadiums like Bukit Jalil. But guess what, they kicked ass and I predict they will beat Saudi Arabia 2-1. That is a force to be reckon with. So for those in FAM, take a hard look into this. Get a coach. Suggest someone of the likes of Dunga....pay a little bit more. Players get inspired and change the bloody Premier League of Malaysia. It's getting very pathetic.

I think we can learn a thing or two from the Americans or the Aussies. I don't play ball but I can definitely cheer for my favorite team - SS Quah - eat your heart out - Chelsea is gonna kick ass this season...

I met Wong Hon Wai by accident 9 years ago during a political campaign. Since then, we kind of lost touch with one another but obviously, I have always remembered Hon Wai as the quiet guy. Nevertheless, on the 21 July 2007, he was called to the Bar. Hon Wai graduated with a degree from UKM in Computer Science. Somehow, his love for the legal profession has brought him into a 5 year's study in Law.

I am very sure for those who know him will probably agree that this gentleman is indeed charting his course towards a career in politics and the legal profession. I am sure he deserves lots of recognition as he was able to juggle his work, studies and family at the same time. I never knew that Hon Wai had 3 kids. What a feat since both husband and wife are actually working.

If he is running in my area, I will definitely vote for him. In fact, I am very sure that this young man is indeed a people's choice. Why? His convinctions to live up his dreams (not many politicians wannabe have that nowadays) and his belief in the struggle to make things better. I am sure you will agree after reading this tribute by a MP for Tanjong , Mr Chow and of course Hon's Wai's own blog.

Hon Wai, your journey has just started. I know mine has and I truly believe you will make a difference. I am very proud you have achieved your dreams.

We finally decided to do what is right - report to the police. I guess it's always better to face the issue - head on. We have been rather lenient for almost a year. Finally, we decided to make a police report after Carol was physically abused by the neighbour.

We went over to the police last nite and decided to make a simple report. Lets see what happens tonite. The Investigating Officer is coming over. According to him, it is a simple gesture of the police to resolve the matter. I am sure it will be done well but it's a good end to a long ending fued between the us and that family.

 Litt le Cornelius got his first medal in his first ever Sports Day in school. I am sure he is delighted with this....As usual, he is camera shy...and not wanting to be in the picture as usual, he turned away immediately after receiving his bronze medal.