World's Shortest Couple

Of late, the people from the central kingdom have been flooding the Guinness World Records with applications for inclusion into the list of highest, shortest, longest, etc. With their insatiation to be recognized as unique, and with more than 1 billion people in mainland China, sooner or later the Guinness World Record book will have to be rewritten in Chinese language.

Now, here is the latest application to Guiness World Record for “shortest couple to get married". Chen Guilan (the bride) is 0.7 m (2.3 ft) tall. Li Tangyong (the groom) is 1.1 m (3.6 ft) tall. They were married in Shunde, Guangdong Province, China on Thursday, Sept. 27, 2007. Read HERE for further details.

Maybe China as a country should also apply to the Guinness World Record for inclusion as “the country that continued to back the military government of Burma”.

Rasa Sayng eh ?

“rasa sayang eh..... rasa sayang sayang eh....... eh lihat nona jauh..... rasa sayang sayang eh..... buah cempedak di luar pagar.... ambil galah tolong jolokkan...... saya budak baru belajar..... kalau salah tolong tunjukkan...... “

Remember this familiar song ? All these while I thought it is a authentic local Malay song. But according to lawmakers of Indonesia, Malaysia's Rasa Sayang is a pirated version of Indonesia's “Rasa Sayange”. Rasa Sayange is originated from the Indonesia's island of Maluku, where the song has been sung for generations. The lawmakers are seeking the Indonesian government to sue Malaysia for royalty payment. The Indonesia's lawmakers also also said Batik and Wayang Kulit are Indonesia's cultural heritage. Read HERE for further details.

According to Malaysia Culture, Arts, and Heritage Minister, Wayang Kulit originated from Hinduism. Ahhh... now I see the reasons why the Islamic party, PAS, has been very vocal to ban Wayang Kulit in Malaysia. With regards to the song “Rasa Sayang”, I guess the song has been brought in by immigrants from Pulau Maluku, and along the way, the descendants of the immigrants who later became Malaysians adapted the song to become traditional Malay's cultural songs.

Malaysia is basically a land where our ancestors are from various parts of Asia. With the exception of the Orang Asli, majority of our grand fathers and grand grand fathers are immigrants who made Malaysia their home away from home. So, a lot of our foods and cultural heritage are adapted from other countries in Asia. For example, our Nasi Lemak are actually brought in by the Sri Lankan, Roti Canai are brought in by the Indian, Noodle is from China, Assam Pedas is from Thailand, Batik is originated from Indonesia, Balacan is from Portugal, etc. For Indonesia to sue Malaysia claiming that the songs and certain cultural heritage belong to them is like having the Japanese suing every country in the world claiming they own the proprietary rights to see the sun rises from the East.

There is a popular Chinese saying that “When you drink the water, please remember the source”, we should be proud of our cultural diversities and our abilities to integrate these diverse differences into a harmonized national identity. The important thing for Malaysia to do is, we must acknowledge, appreciate, and be grateful to, the source of our cultural heritage. People who are ignorance and disrespectful of the past are incapable to progress into the future. Stupid prides only demostrate our ungratefulness, and will bring us no where.

Saya budak baru belajar..... kalau salah tolong tunjukkan......

Back into the future.......

Hypothetically speaking, if you need to invest now for future income, what business is safe for you to bet your money on ? I am no oracle, but looking at current technology development, I would be probably be financially safer if I avoid investing in the following type of businesses :

1. Telephone company : Traditionally, telephone company makes profits from long distant and oversea calls. But with the internet and voice over internet protocols, we can now unlimited free calls to anywhere in the world. Looking back the past one year, ALL my long distant call are made through Yahoo messenger or Skype. So, investing in telephone company for future income doen't sound quite right for me.
2. TV Station and Pay TV – At the moment, how many households actually tuned into RTM 1, RTM2, TV 3, etc. ? I presumed probably more than 90% of the TV are tuned into Astro. Assuming that in 10 years time, which is quite likely, the bandwidth of broadband internet connection will hit 1 gigabit as compared to the present 1 megabit per second. Who would want to pay RM100 per month to Astro to subscribe to the TV program when one can have free streaming of TV program from all over the world via internet ? Hmmm... should I invest in this businesses that promised future extinctions ?
3. Local Newspapers – Would you still pay to get a hardcopy news when you can get much more credible and varieties of news from the internet ? Would you still advertise in the newspapers when the circulations is limited as compared to global coverage of internet 7/24 ? So, why bother investing in a dying industry ?
4. IT Companies – Globally and locally, most of the big IT companies are downsizing due to competitions and significantly reduced profit margins. What used to be highly priced value added services are now becoming low price commodity. Computers nowadays don't need high paid “IT professionals” to operate anymore. A primary school students can operate the computer as good as those IT professionals. An MRP or ERP software used to costs more than RM 1 million, but now, for RM 25K, you can get an equally impressive MRP or ERP system. So, for all those Mesdaq based IT companies, it is Game Over !

In 10 years time, I do hope some genius can invent a portable and cheap gadget for us to convert energy from the sun or magnetic forces of the earth into electricity for residential and commercial premises. When that happened, we will be free from paying through our nose to the national electricity company. I still confidently believe this miracle will happen in my life time. So, investing my hard earned money in Tenaga Nasional Bhd is, for the time being, not my favorite yet.

Let's also hope those short fellas from the land of the rising sun can come up with automobiles fully powered by hydrogen derived from water. Honestly, I still naively believe this innovation can also come about in my life time. So, investing in companies with petroleum related businesses are still considered high risks for me.

Now, in term of which country to invest in, I think it would be probably safer to invest my money in country like China rather than businesses in Malaysia. We are now in the 21st century, and don't put those political slogan of “Don't ask what the country can do for you, ask what you can do for the country” to question my patriotism. As far as I am concern, these sort of slogans are meant to favour the politicians seeking popularity. It has nothing to do with average men like me. If I am going to invest my hard earned money into the country, I think I have every rights to question what the country can do for me rather then riding the political slogan of the few selected elitist politicians.

What should I invest in to ensure better future incomes to sustain my retirement age ? I think the safest bet for me is, to invest in gambling, vice, and entertainment related businesses. The oldest profession and earliest “sinful” businesses of mankind still exist today, and they are all profitable. Aren't they ? So, is it sinful to derive income from these businesses ? Come on, give me a break. Taxes from this sinful businesses such as your favorite empat ekor, lotteries, cigarettes, liquors, etc. actually do contribute to the building of infrastructure and the comforts of your homes. In fact, some of the favorite sport telecasts are actually sponsored by tobacco companies ! Ask the lawyers whether it is sinful accept fees from criminals in the name of defending the criminals' constitution rights. Aren't you either directly or indirectly enjoying the fruits of other people's sins ? So, let's not be hypocrites but be practical.

Whatever it is, once I have enough assurances of future income for my retirement age, I will quit all my jobs. I will probably rent a small stall in a coffee shop selling wanton mee. I figured, selling 20 bowls of wanton mee will probably keep me busy for in the morning and healthy for the rest of my life.

Looking East with stiff neck......

For more than 2 decades, the previous administration policy is to “Look EAST”. In another word, conducting more business with the Japanese and “learn” from the Japanese culture. With my limited encounters with the Japanese, I do noticed that the Japanese are very loyal to the organization they worked for, punctual for meeting, detailed and meticulate in planning. They are also very good at process reengineering, adding values, and making thing better than before.

But as a nation, what had we learned from the Japanese ? And, what are the positive traits of the Japanese that we imparted into our culture and business practises ? I believe, the single and most fundamental aspect we should learn from the Japanese is, how do we deal with corruption culturally. Eradicating corruptions remained a wish list of the common people. The Director General of Anti Corruption Agency sum it all by saying “there is corruption in society but we are not a corrupted society”. Well, when convincing a customer to buy a product, would it be acceptable to say that there is a minor defect in the product but it does not mean the product is defective ? In order to eliminate corruption, there must be zero tolerances to corrupt practises. As far as the general public is concern, if there is corruption in the society, then morally, we should perceived the whole society as corrupted.

I am not saying that, there are no corruptions in Japan. Corruptions exist in every countries in the world. But when a corrupt practice is detected, how do we deal with the issue shall differentiate us from the rest. Do we allow political decadence and arrogance to continue to redefine morality into accepting corruption as an unavoidable part and parcel of life ?

In Japan, I was told, when a person is implicated or indirectly linked with corruptions, he or she resign, and in some cases, commit suicides to show remorse and shame. Recently in China, corruption is punishable by death. I am not advocating suicides or death sentence. I sincerely believe that life is sacred, and nobody except God is allowed to determine life and death. What I am highlighting here is, the Japanese culture treat corruption as a great shame, and the seriousness of the Chinese government is wanting to eradicate corruptions. Sometimes, I do wonder if we practice the Japanese culture, how many more politicians will be left standing tall in front of our parliament building ? If we will to follow the foot steps of the Chinese government, maybe we might run the risks of shortage of bullets.

As long as the sun continues to rise from the east, there will always be politicians out there seeking ways to carry on with the illegal tradition of corruptions. To these politicians, there is no point shouting prayers to God seeking forgiveness when satiation for illegal wealth and power continue to contaminate the hearts and souls. Some politicians seemed to think that they can fool God and lesser mortal beings with their regular shouting of insincere prayers. But, let's hope God can grace the heart of these corrupt politicians to repent and resign gracefully.

I am sicked and tired of the constant bombarment of political slogans of corrupted politicians in the name of reglion and race to hoodlum their immorality. Would their actions be consistent with their words of righteousness ? Well, what else can I say, no more tears but thorns in my heart. I do sincerely hope that the illegal wealth and power acquired are enough to pay for their future medical treaments, and that of their family members.

Good deed attracts good karma. Om Mani pedme hum....

A dizzy sunday...

Sunday, as usual, is an uneventful day of my life. I started the morning with Bak-Kut-Teh ( Pork stewed in Herbal Soup ). Bought take-away breakfast for my son, and came back home to do some light house chores to keep the home tidy and habitable. As for lunch, I had porridge with stewed duck, fried groundnuts, and deep fried ikan billis.

I felt a bit uncomfortable towards later part of the afternoon, took a nab in an attempt to calm down the sudden bout of palpitations. I did manage to dozed off for the nab, wake up an hour or so later, probably due to some minor stomach discomfort. So, I got up to have a glass of water to quench my thirst, proceeded to the bathroom to conduct my guerilla warfare.

I walked into the bathroom feeling a bit drowsy and dizzy, probable due to the effect of earlier bouts of palpitations. When I was sitting on the toilet bowl, the strange thing is, I got disoriented, thinking that I am in the driver seat of my car ! As a creature of habit, I thought I started the ignition, and instantaneously tried to reach for the car safety belt. After a few attempts failing to locate the seat belt, I got frustrated. I got out and tried to get out of the “Car”. I fell on the floor with my leg caught in my dropped pants. Ahhh... lucky I did not hit my head, and I suddenly became aware and back to reality that I am still in bathroom trying conduct an unfinished business. Hmmm... growing old does have its fair share of senility.

Well, what can I say ? Life, sometimes, is a parallel illusions of what seemingly real and yet realistically unreal. Whatever it is, life does go on......