Sunday, March 29, 2009

'Earth Hour'


Although the savings on electricity is not that significant for city dwellers like me, but I think a small move from everyone can create some sort of awareness on saving our mother earth.
I didn't turn off all the lights in my house as there were others in there. I would do so if I am alone at home. I just try to switch off 50% of the lights before I left my house at night.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

“同班同学”

Try n see if you can find me in the photo, I was 10 y/o when the photo is taken.

最近在电台听到一首叫“同班同学”的歌曲,不知道哪位四,五线歌星唱的,听不清楚他的名字,想白度一下也只能找到金城武和梁咏琪的“同班同学”。
为什么我突然提起这首歌? 唉,原因是这首歌的填词真TMD够烂!听了不禁要让我吐口水,向把写歌的人捉出去枪毙。什么“近水楼台先得月”啦,什么“最近烫了头发啦”,简直是不知所谓,一点中文造诣和水准都没有。除了词和曲不相称之外,歌词又TMD语无伦次!这几天我在车里听收音机时还听过了整三次了,也不知道是不是有人在背后给了钱,要DJ增加这首歌的播放率,希望可以来个像“老鼠爱大米“般的奇迹,来个一炮而红。问题是歌词都填不好,曲又难听,怎么又可能会红呢?
只能说,做歌星的,看到烂词烂曲的,如果本身没有天分自己作曲写歌,又没有好的歌让你发挥,那还是不唱比较好;做演员的,如果没有好身材,没有天使般的脸孔,没有遇好的剧本,可以的话,也尽量不要去拍。以免折磨别人。
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终于知道谁主唱,谁填词了。主唱是咬字不清的泰国组合Golf & Mike, 填词的是马来的黄维尔。一个字来形容 - 烂!

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Movie Review: ‘The Reader‘

昨天看了Kate Winslet得奖之作,The Reader. 觉得这部电影其实拍得还不错,特别是它的故事内容,难怪能够被提名为奥斯卡最佳影片,虽然没得奖,但我觉得它绝对值得一看。或许这部片子可能对一些人说会比较沉闷,但我倒不觉得。有一幕我还觉得蛮感人的。可能是我比较多愁善感吧。The Reader可以说是一部悲伤的爱情故事。男主角在故事的后半部,终于鼓起勇气去面对与他曾有一段情的Hannah时,很可惜,他让Hannah看见他勉强的表情...是我觉得比较感人的一幕。有一点我也不明白,为什么Hannah把她不识字的秘密,看得如此重,可能这让她带来强烈的自卑感,她宁愿不顾一切,也不让其他人知道她的秘密。
Kate Winslet 因为这部电影拿了最佳女主角奖项,说真的,我也没觉得她在电影里面有很特出的演出,因为她的演技一向来都不错。她演出过许多的电影,演技肯定也非常成熟,可能奖项也算是对她多年来得认可吧。 三十多岁的她,还是风韵忧存,据娱乐版报导,麦当那非常喜欢她在电影里面的造型,特地花了两万马币去拉脸皮,头发也弄得和她一模一样。:)

Movie Rating: B+

Monday, March 23, 2009

Interesting Gifts

Posting some old pics, just to share some interesting gifts that I received this year. The towel is from my sister-in-law, very pratical stuff, somemore the towel is sewed with my name on it. I have no idea how she manage to do it. :) (she said it was done by sewing machine)
This is a Chritmas Gift from my department regional director. The book is really a good stuff, it is a hardcover "Hot, Flat and Crowded", a book that is written by Thomas L. Friedman after the best seller - "The World is Flat", which I have recommended a lot of friends to read the book.
I find that this book is not as interested as the previous one after I went through like 20 pages, but for sure you can read it if you crave for his work.

The book also comes with a personalized note from our director. Each person under him get the same book with a personalized note from him. I think it is really a good way to motivate your subordinates at the same time broaden their knowledge. Honest, I am very happy with the gift, I wrote him a email thanking him right after I receive the gift.


2009 年阿妹演唱会




朋友拿到了几张免费的张惠妹演唱会票,邀请我一齐去,实在是太荣幸了。那是Rm238的票,所以不至于坐在很后面,位置算很好了,自己也不舍得买那么贵的票。
说真的,阿妹的演唱会还真值得,一共唱了三个小时的歌。实力派的她,一点也不走音,棒极了! 她唱了许多动听的歌曲,有的我还不知道是她唱的,虽然曾经听过。

Sunday, March 22, 2009

A letter to Subway

Wrote a letter of complain to Subway.

"I need to make a complain on the above mentioned stall. Your shop stated that it will open at 10am on Sunday and Public Holiday, so I waited until 10:05am, the shop is still closed. So I ask the Subway staff over there when the shop will open. He told me they will open at "ten something", so I waited until 10:25am despite the business hour is 10am-10pm (correct me if I am wrong), then only the staff there 'officially open' the gate. So I am ready to order my Subway sandwich... Well, some interesting answer I got from your staff:" the bread was finished yesterday, it is still 'baking'. He asked me to wait for another 35 minutes. Seriously, I am quite angry and disappointed but to walk away from your store.I mean come on, you guys open the store at 10am without the bread ready? If that is the case, why not change the opening time to 11am? I don't know what is going on with Subway, may be your staff just have a good weekend so they come in at 10am which is obviously late to work. Aren't the shop suppose to get everything ready by 10am? Or this is just a norm in Subway restaurant, that the 'full menu' will be ready one hour after the shop opens? Please, if you are reading this, relate my message to the chain store owner, do something! I believe I am not the only one who is complaining here."

Monday, March 16, 2009

Do you "BaiGooHoo"?


Read it on newspaper today, the search engine is lame la... Hahhaahha.. "BaiGooHoo"?! Do check it out at http://www.baigoohoo.com/. There are more imitations like this on the web.
I doubt BaiGooHoo can take off, reason? Very simple, baidu, google, yahoo, all have not more than 6 characters, it is very fast and easy to go to their page. I feel annoyed to type 9 characters to do a 'tri-search' which is really redundant.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Ah Mei's concert

An old school mate of mine told me she got some free tickets for Ah Mei for next Friday, ask me if I want to join? My answer of course is "Yes lah!". I won't pay RM200 for the tickets, but if is free, I don't have to think too much, for sure will attend. Last time she also offered me free Sarah Brightman's concert tickets, too bad I already bought it. :(
Now I wonder how come she can get all these tickets? Why so good one? She said her customer gave it to her... Look forward to hear some good songs from Ah Mei, such as “剪爱”,“听海” and some other nice old songs but I can't recall the names.
Going to attend two concerts in one month, I think this really break my record!

Tyre craze

Hankook V8RS Ventus
Ok. After constantly measuring my tires's thread for the past one month. I finally went to and change my tyres this morning after I found that the tyres have less than 5mm depth of thread. Found one article on the net that supported my idea. When the thread fell below 5mm, the chances of aquaplanning increased. Due to it has been raining everyday, I think I need to get a new tires so I can drive around 100km/h in rain confidently. So I change all 4 tyres today in one shot as I rotate my tires regularly so the threads are pretty even. Mileage was recorded: 65,100km.
I was hoping to change it to Hankook V12EVO, the one that I posted earlier, I was quoted with the price of RM286. But when the mechanic brought out all the tires, I found out that the tires are old! It reads '1308', which means the 13th week of 2008 when they manufactured, so I said I don't want it. Finally I am settled with Hankook V8RS that is dated '3208', which sell for RM245 each. You see, after my 'extensive' research on tires, I started to check on this kind of things, or else I might end up installing older rubber to my car. Aged tires' rubber tends to harden earlier than the newly made tires. By the way, both Hankooks were from Korea.

Anyway, my first impression on this V8RS is: The thread design is not as agressive as V12EVO, the rubber on V8RS are much softer than V12EVO; also the side walls are not as solid as V12EVO. It is very obvious that this V8RS is meant for comfort like Yokohama's A Drive. These Hankook tires are very quiet, one thing of course is due to the tires are still new. I was driving my mom today and I am driving 110km/h per hours on Federal Highway, my mom didn't notice that I am driving at 110km/h, usually she will ask me to slow down when my speed is 90-100km/h. Due to the tires are very quiet, she reads some catelogue calmly and didn't even notice how fast I am driving. Later on she asked me if I have changed the tires, I smiled and said, 'Yes!'.

I will test out the tires' road holding next week when I travel to Cyberjaya. There are some slightly curvy two-lanes-road when most people are speeding 80-110km/h. Will find out how the tires perform on wet road and dry pavement. Frankly speaking, RM245 per pcs is a steal! I paid RM1050 in total which include the cost of alignment + tire valves + camber adjustment. Damn... changing tires are costly, especially if you do it every year! I think I should consider changing two by two next time so I won't feel the pinch.

More about tires:
"Tyres below a tread depth of 3mm are also affected by an increased risk of Aquaplaning when driving on wet roads. This is when a wedge of water is formed between the road and the tyre and means that the tyre loses contact completely with the road surface, so that neither the car's steering or brakes can be properly applied. "

Tread depth remaining
Wear rate %
8mm
0% worn

7mm
15% worn

6mm
31% worn

5mm
47% worn

4mm
62% worn

3mm
78% worn

2mm
94% worn

1.6mm
100% worn

Monday, March 09, 2009

Product Review: Delsey Insect vs High Sierra backpack

Today I bought the French designed 'Delsey Insect backpack' after I saw the very-tempting price tag, it is only RM250, down from the retail price of RM375. Last time I almost buy it in Singapore when they give away 20% discount, but still the bag will cost around Rm300. There were only 2 bags left on the shelf, so I just grab one of it after inspecting the two. I gave myself an excuse that I will use the Delsey for working purpose, and my High Sierra backpack which I bought last year for gym purpose. (Sigh, everytime when I buy things, I always need an excuse)

The smaller Delsey insect on the shelf cost RM335 and it only gives away 10% discount, so getting the Rm250 is a better deal which only give away for the first 25 or 30 units.
So let us look at the bag... I am going to compare it with my High Sierra (USA) backpack, which I bought around RM140-150 after discount at KLCC. I will start with High Sierra bag.


The compartment strap is very simple and practical, one strap on the laptop compartment will stop the laptop falling off.

Frankly speaking, I love the little pouches on the left and right, it is so practical! I used it to store some little things which is cheap and I need easy access to, I can also put a deck of playing cards, sun block, cotton buds, etc inside the pouch during my trip to Cambodia.

The High Sierra bagpack comes with some "Suspension Strap System", it is not registered with trade mark. So there is nothing to shout about. But one thing I would say is the High Sierra strap system is quite comfortable when you carry the bag.

Look at the 3 spots padding on the back of the backpack. It defintely gives you enough cushioning for your laptop. Also, the bag is very comfortable when you carry it. Now, we look at the Delsey Insect backpack, which the design was inspired by Insect, you can see the backpack looks like a beetle's shell.

The Insect backpack is expandable. The design of the zip is to expand the capacity of the bag, take a close look at the zip, the design might not be something new but it is brilliant.

The bigger RM375 Delsey definitely not meant for a laptop with 12.1 inch screen. I think a 15.4 inch laptop will suit the bag perfectly. The compartment comes with 3 confusing straps. Personally, I think it is redundant, I believe those who buy this kind of bag with laptop compartment very obvious they are not going to bring the laptop and backpack with them for mountain climbing. You don't need 3 straps to increase the stability. Removing the two extra straps perhaps can reduce the price to RM365? RM10 extra labor and material saved from there.

The rear part of the backpack. Here is another redundancy. Look at the wrist strap padding. Everytime when I carry the bag, I need to remove the padding so it can face outside protecting my 'love handle'. They could have just put a simple strap there like High Sierra, or make use of the room and create a pouch there. No doubt, the material used is very good!

I am not sure if this is related with workmanship or the design issue, to me is a bit on workmanship. The rear part tends to 'sink', leaving the structure looks deformed in a way. So when you carry the bag, you feel that your back doesn't feel that comfortable compare to High Sierra due to u back is touching the frame instead of the padding.
Verdict:
Delsey Insect
Design: *****
Branding: ****
Comfort: ***
Material: ****1/2
Workmanship: ***1/2
Practicality: ****
Value: ***
Total: 27
High Sierra
Design: ****
Branding: ***
Comfort: ****1/2
Material: ****
Workmanship: ****
Practicality: ****1/2
Value: *****
Total: 29
The winner is definitely High Sierra backpack, Delsey scores well in design, as the backpack really stand out from the crowd, it is so clear if you look at the first picture. But I am a person that looks at the practicality and features. Some more, the Delsey bags cost almost Rm100 more than High Sierra after discount. If is more than RM300, I would say it is not worth your hard earn money unless you just want to go for 'design' only.
Actually my aunt who is living in US for years once brought back a High Sierra for me when I was in Standard 5 if I am not mistaken or may be during high school. If you ask me why I remember it so well about this brand. This is because the backpack is so durable and it lasted for more than 2-3 years even though I am carrying all the heavy books behind my back. So if you are hunting for a good and durable backpack, please don't overlooked High Sierra. I bought the backpack at KLCC last time because my Northface backpack is just too damn small and it has started to 'fall apart' after a few years. High Sierra design is defintely better than Jansport.

Sunday, March 08, 2009

KL became Venice again

When two weeks of rain was poured in two hours time, here is what happened!


Look at the two units of 5 series, if the new 5 series is mine, I 'cry also no tears'(cantonese) if my RM400k car soaked in mud water like that.


Hmmm.. Let me guess, Myvi?






Sarah Brightman's concert

I took the above shot with my i-Phone before the concert start. I think the hall is only 60% full. Those who paid for RM253 tickets later on filled up the seats in RM300-600 range. Sigh... I think the turnout could be better if the ticket is not too expensive and the economy is not that bad.
Frankly speaking, this is the concert where I did enjoy all the songs and music, this include 蔡琴。 Both of them got terrific voices but in different league I would say. There are a few moments that my mind had wander around and I almost fell asleep, not because it is not good, it soothe my heart.
I think my only disappointment is the concert last for less than 1 and half hour. Perhaps this kind of songs you can't sing for too long. The coolest part is I get to hear her sing 'the Phantom of the Opera' in Live.
By the way, I also bought a CD from her - 'Time to say goodbye'.

Monday, March 02, 2009

如何整顿经济

小弟不是什么经济专才,不过对于如何整顿咱们的经济,阁下想提出几点建议:

1。 砍废材,节约开支

拜托政府把公务员人数降一降,把一些‘废材’砍掉,把人才留住。我们国家没有比人大,但是公务员人数比人多。一年到头养那么多废材,不知道干嘛。政府部门不是善堂,部门不是建来解决失业问题的。没有效率的流程要检讨。

2。 降公司税!废除30%土著固打

你们正在考虑降公司为员工缴交12%公积金是愚蠢的做法,他妈的也不知道哪一位蠢蛋想这种方法出来,要知道有很多低收入的一群每月工资都花得精光,没有积蓄,如果公积金的钱少,难道你们这些宦官养他们吗?与其降低员工公积金,不如考虑降公司税,要知道我们的公司税比香港,新加坡来得高。来这里经商除了要缴二十几%的税,还要抽出30%股份给一些等着坐享其成的“土著“分一杯羹,哪里有那么好的事?人家新加坡公司为雇员缴的公积金多过12%,几乎接近20%,工资又高很多,不见得人家吸引不到外资?

3。降所得税!

你想我们多花钱,那么就别抽太重的税。 许多人都把多余的钱投在七到九年的汽车贷款,其实已经是变相抽税了。当他们把1/3的收入花在供车,有者月入3千就去买七万块钱的车,服了!因为这样disposable income有限,惟有减税才能让他们有更多闲钱消费。

4。杜绝贪污!
严打贪污,贪污得来的财富应该给于充公!大马很好搞笑,睡觉时被偷拍裸睡,受害者被一些狭溢人士轰“不道德“,但是贪污受贿的道德标准却可以被接受。如果这个问题不杜绝,一切发展只能会增加成本,事倍功半。

5。政策透明化
太多的暗箱作业造成政府不知道是装傻,还是没有人才在内阁。签下许多不合理的大道合约。任何大数目的工程应该公平招标!

6。投资在基建,推动经济
其实这种时候推动一些大型计划有利于推动经济,制造内需。但是这也有赖于第4,和第5点。大型计划包括省级公共交通设施和网络,升级网络设施(研究指出网络速度越快,国家生产总值也随着增加。

7。建立和提升人力资本
失业的员工可以提供再培训,提升技能。当然大学也扮演着重要角色。入学固打制因该废除,应该以成绩和学术资格作为入学标准,而不是按种族比例分配。现在是个讲究竞争能力的时代。如果进去的是烂苹果,勉强毕业出来后,还是会面对失业问题。这个可以向德国取经,不能念书的是可以进入技术学校,学习一技之长,将来不至于饿死。

就下到这里,也不用说太多。只要能做到以上几点,五年内必定看到家园改善
许多,不过说容易,执行起来很困难。只能祝大马好运!

The State with two Menteri Besar (Head of State government)

State capitol building was 'locked out'? What a joke!
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com.my/index.php/malaysia/19449-perak-assembly-lock-out
I think the best solution is have a fresh election for Perak state, let the people there decides which government they want.