NEWS FLaSH! RESULTS OF IAFG Squash tournament Ernst & Young vs. PWC

Yesterday at the Jalan Duta squash courts was the semi-finals for the IAFG squash tournament. It was Ernst & Young going up against PWC. How did it go? It was a good challenge and we turned out to win the event. We won 4 to 1, losing one men's event to PWC but winning the rest.

The atmosphere was really good with many of my workmates turning up to cheer us on. Not letting anything distract me, I walked into the court trying to calm myself down and just focus on the game. I shut out all sounds from the outside and only allowed myself to look at the ball, myself, my opponent and the referee. The sound of the squash ball bouncing off the front wall was the closest thing to heaven for me at that point in time.

A more intense period came when our third player was up. The first set showed both players trying to get ahead of each other. When the pressure was starting to build up for both sides, unforced errors were starting to come around and it kept everyone on their toes. Eventually, we came out on top winning all the first three match.

As for the fourth player, the disparity in ability was quite clear as PWC had a stronger player (they placed their players the other way round starting with the weakest as first). He did lose the match but we are still glad since he tried his best during the match.

Leaving the women's event, we took it we a close match between the both of them.

Kudos to team EY!

Next event - FINALS --> EY vs KPMG 3rd September 2007, 6pm Jalan Duta squash centre.

Elucidate - a DJ, a producer

I caught my eye on Elucidate some time around last year during Voices of Trance guest DJs for DJ GT and Project C's anniversary in June. That's when I heard the mix of Elucidate, which I was immediately blown away! Listening to that mix told me two very important things - 1. intelligent track selections, 2. top notch mixing skills. I was so surprised because Elucidate up to that point as far as I know has hardly received any publicity unlike the likes of DJ Pi, DJ Doboy or DJ GT. From that day onwards, I knew I had to look him up.

My search paid off easily with the help of Google. Elucidate can be visited @ http://elucidatemusic.com/intro.html

Elucidate has been around since 1999 until today. His mixes are gaining quite a following and you can listen to his mixes being aired on Digitally Imported Radio and Last FM. I love his mixes and I have downloaded all of his mixes from his official website. Simply stunning!

Mika Nakashima - LIFE

Always into Japanese songs, I got the latest release of Mika Nakashima's LIFE single. Her songs have always been respectable in her own sense - very deep and emotionally driven. Having quit
studies to pursue her passion for song writing and singing at a young age really isn't something easy to go through considering the music industry is an industry that is not easy to penetrate.

What can I comment? This time, the song is unlike her usual jazzy and slow paced style, this one is more upbeat but more fusion. As for her voice, those accustom to her voice will definitely recognise the unique low and captivating voice the moment she starts to sing. The flow to this song makes it easy to grasp and to feel the emotion she has for the song. For me, although the song is quite upbeat, it still gives me a feel of somber to the song. After all, her songs have always sounded matured to me. Don't be fooled by her voice because she's only 24 years old. Not many can write and sing songs like how she does it!

Since the single is really new, there still isn't any translation yet for the song.

More information here - http://www.mikanakashima.com/

Mika Nakashima - LIFE tracklist:

1. LIFE
2. LIFE (Ballad)
3. IT'S TOO LATE
4. LIFE (Instrumental)
5. IT'S TOO LATE (Instrumental)

Inter-Accounting Firm Games - EY beats Delloitte in the first round of squash!

Yesterday evening was the preliminary round for the squash event. Format is like this, 5 players each team comprising of four guys and one girl. Each player playing best of 5 sets. So out of the 5 players, each team has to accumulate at least 3 wins.

First round, my team, EY was up against Delloitte. It was a pretty good game and I had some fun. There were some serious parts too but its all about the competition. We beat Delloitte 5-0 having all our players won their individual matches. It was a really good result for both me and the firm. After the matches, we adjourned for dinner and a post match briefing to talk about how we faired and how we could improve.

Next up - EY vs. PWC this coming Wednesday 29th August 2007 @ Jalan Duta squash courts.

We are coming for you Price! Better watch out! HAHAHAHAHA!

I did it! I did it!

After all the trauma, waiting and suspense the wait was finally over. At about 4:45pm yesterday my email account finally received my results from ACCA. How did I feel when I saw the email? I was worried and I was actually shivering with part excitement and part fear. I didn't know what to expect.

So I took a long and deep breath, and I clicked to access the email. Then I slowly scrolled down the email and slowly read the results. First subject - passed, second subject -passed, third subject - passed and the fourth subject - passed. Which means I CLEARED all the four exam papers I took during the June sitting! The magnificent satisfaction I felt within was simply wonderful, especially when I really didn't expect to pass all the papers I sat for.

For this, I must first thank all the people that made this possible:

1. Alan, for the Law notes and Information Systems notes, and the prayers.

2. Sze Wei, my colleague, my 'tai lo' at work for the kind support and the notes for Information Systems notes.

3. Hamster, for all the prayers, for the Information Systems notes as well.

4. David Tan, my colleague for the kind support.

5. My managers for the kind support.

6. Both my lecturers for Malaysian Tax, Mr. Simon Kok and Audit, Ms. Kiran.

7. Jasmine, now ex-colleague for the Law text book for without the textbooks I would not have made it through the paper.

8. Yin Yin, my colleague for the kind support.

9. Zo and family for the prayers and support.

10. My old friend, close friend, and business-partner-to-be, Max for the prayers and kind support.

11. My parents of course.

However, I am disappointed in some ways. First and foremost, I expected to do the best for the Audit paper considering I am in that line. Sadly, it turned out Audit was the lowest scoring paper out of the four. I scored the best for Information Systems, which I self studied. I am not too surprised since that was the easiest paper considering my familiarity with IT systems and the flow of IT processes (don't ask me how I ended up in accounting). How I passed the Law paper, which I thought I was going fail? Don't ask me either. As for the Tax paper, I have always scored within the bandwidth of the results, so it was no surprise.

One thing's for sure - how I did better for the papers I self-studied will always remain a mystery to me. But I have learned something from this painful but satisfying experience. Determination and hard work can take a person a long way even if you do not have the brains for it. At times, when people think you are in way over your head, that may not be the case but you are merely pushing yourself in hope to reach a higher level. When times get tough, no point giving up, by attempting something is in itself an achievement already. As for now, I need to look ahead and concentrate on my current 2 papers, which are FAR from easy, and my work as well since the auditing peak period will be starting in these few months to come.

Lastly, I want to thank the Heavenly Father that blessed me. I have always believed, and will continue to believe, it was He who gave me this opportunity and blessed me with this results.

It's now or never..........

One day till the release of my results for the four papers I took early June this year. Will I fail, will I pass? God only knows, God only knows. Am I worried? Can't say I am, since what is done is done and no point crying over spilled milk right?

The consolation I get is that at least my career promotion does not get affected yet. So I still have some form of buffer time for me to clear the required papers to get into Senior Associate which is not until at least another year. For those who want to know, here is how the progression works from the position I am into a Senior Associate:

Senior Associate 1 (1 year)

.

.

.

Senior Associate 2 (1 year)

.

.

.

Associate 1 (normally 1 year from Associate 2)

.

.

.

Associate 2 [my position now]

For me to move up into Senior Associate 2, I will need to pass all Level 2 papers of ACCA, which I will find out tomorrow whether I do or not. But as I am supposed to move into Associate 1 this September, I still have 2 sittings to do it (although I really don't intend to retake any papers). I still have a chance for the December 2007 sitting and June 2008 sitting.

Although I do get 2 chances to retake those papers, it is highly unadvisable for one very good reason - as I rise up the ranks I get more responsibilities and more demanding tasks to do. Hence, less time to study; not to mention I am already having trouble trying to work out a proper schedule for work and play.

This then brings about another problem. I once read a statement made by Jack Welch (he is the former CEO of GE, and a very, very successful CEO at that), and he said "what makes successful people successful is their innate ability to manage their time properly". Disappointing part is, I don't seem to be able to manage my time properly, which then makes me feel horrible because here I am trying to be someONE, but I can't even get the fundamentals right. So here I am stuck trying to get myself back together, because demotivation creeps in.

P.S. - the career progression I chart I drew up there? That's assuming I don't make any boo boos along the way.

Art of Greg Martin - a recommendation

I have always been a fan of wallpapers. Wallpapers I am referring to are the background pictures we put on our computers. I surf around looking for different wallpapers to brighten up my Windows desktop. I look into anime wallpapers to abstract wallpapers, I do not in any way restrict my choices of wallpapers.

One site in particular I really admire is called Art of Greg Martin. This site basically showcases the artist's portfolio. From the name of the website I am sure you would already know the artist's name - Greg Martin. Every month he will showcase a new wallpaper for downloads. Visit the website at http://gallery.artofgregmartin.com.com/ .

All his arts are drawn, vectored and coloured digitally. All this is done from scratch, rock bottom. Really impressive is all I can say. He also does photography. So it is a really good mix.

Happy viewing!

Malaysian uncivilised attitude at its finest!

This morning I was posted into an engagement to scrutineer a listed company's extraordinary general meeting (EGM). Most of us would presumably think that shareholders would be attending the meeting with the intention to use their voting rights; since they are essentially the owners of the company. But..... apparently not.

You see, I was in charged of the registration process whereby the shareholders or proxies elected would come present their identity card and I had to make sure that they are representing the correct shareholder with the correct amount of shareholding. Most of us would have thought shareholders are probably business people who want to enhance their wealth. Apparently not.

This is what I observed:

1. They don't know the meaning of 'line-up'.

2. When asked to present their identity card, they toss it as if we like looking at their photos.

3. When asked to sign the attendance list, they don't have a pen (makes you wonder why bother turning for a meeting without a pen?).

4. Lend them a pen, they toss it rudely on to the table, like we owe them a duty to lend the a pen.

5. I don't recall hearing anyone saying, 'thank you'.

6. They were more concern about getting the RM10 voucher for Kentucky Fried Chicken.

7. Business ettiquete. What's that?


Then, while taking a break from the work, which happened to be tea break of the meeting, the shareholders were invited to have food and some drinks. I was shocked to see what was going on.

My findings:

1. They were never interested about the meeting from the beginning.

2. Many actually brought their own plastic bags to take home the food that was there.

3. They take a substantial amount of food without considering the fact that there were others waiting to eat as well.


In a nutshell, it is pretty safe to say people buy shares in Malaysia purely based on unsound foundation and based on hear-say. In addition, they would do anything to get anything that is free and they are greedy too! Oh yea, there were some of them taking heaps of prospectus and quarterly reports back so they could sell it to the paper recycling centre. How's that for being civilised?

Michael Crichton - NEXT

A few months ago, I managed to get my parents to buy this book from Australia, where it was released earlier than Malaysia. Being a Michael Crichton and a sci-fic fan I could not wait for it to be distributed in Malaysia to get it.

Reading the reviews on Amazon and Barnes & Noble, it was difficult to gauge how good this book would be, because it somehow attracted a variety of opinions. Two things came to my mind - either this book was very confusing or it was a book that simply wasn't a cup of tea for the masses.

However, before reading the book I had absolutely no idea what was waiting for me. I was in fact assuming it was a fiction novel, but it was actually part fiction and part non-fiction.

This book talks about the modern world of gene therapy, and how some conglomerates abuse the patenting of genes. It also features experiments that led to certain impressive yet quite disturbing results - like transgenic parrot name Gerrard that qoutes movies and do math, a talking chimpanzee name Dave and a bounty hunter chasing after human tissues which a company claims to have patented.

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How the author started into this book:

In 2005, Michael returned to the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, where he had done postdoctoral work, to attend a conference on Genetics and Law sponsored by the Jefferson Institute. He was surprised and outraged by what he learned about the current laws regarding a range of issues in genetics. He immediately put aside what he had been working on, and began research for the book that became NEXT. He modeled the structure after the genome itself, incorporating fragments of popular culture, and writing a series of stories that sometimes interconnected, and sometimes didn't.

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Real facts qouted in the book, with references:

1. Taking cells by eminent domain. Although some attorneys have found this idea far-fetched, in fact lawyers for University of California, Los Angeles threatened to do exactly that in the famous case of John Moore (1980.)
2. Humans and Chimps Interbred Until Recently. Research reported accurately in the novel.
3. Stem Cell Debate Rages. A straightforward summary of the state of research, and the scandal involving Korean researcher Hwang.
4. Human chimeras. More than fifty have been discovered in the last decade, initially as a result of a paternity dispute.
5. Theft of cadaver bones and body parts. Thefts described in the book have been reported around the world.
6. Blondes becoming extinct. A fabricated story reported by the BBC, debunked by the Washington Post and more thoroughly by the excellent site snopes.com. Eventually the World Health Organization felt compelled to issue a press release. That didn't prevent the Times of London from repeating the story a couple of years later. (Best debunking headline: "Blondes Extinction Report Is Pigment of Imagination," from the Times of India.)
7. Cytokine storms. A well-known cause of death from gene replacement therapy.
8. Scientists Grow Miniature Ear In Lab. As reported by MIT.
9. Sociability gene. Identification of several such behavioral genes has been claimed, invariably with fanfare. However (as the novel says) nobody has ever proven that a single gene causes a single human behavioral trait.
10. Transgenic cactus. Created by artist Laura Cinti, as described. A subject of ongoing controversy.
11. Glowing transgenic rabbit. Created by Eduardo Kac, as described. The French lab that made the rabbit would not turn it over to Kac, however.
12. Pig wings. Created as described.
13. Transgenic zeba fish. Created and marketed as described.
14. Talking transgenic parrot. There is at least one gray parrot with a claimed vocabulary of more than 950 words, but it is not transgenic.
15. Gene for gayness, violence, sleep, alcoholism. All have been reported, none have been subsequently verified.
16. Neanderthals were first blondes. Reported by Times of London.
17. Canavan gene litigation ends. Reported accurately.
18. Professors and academics are "strikingly immature." Report of work of Dr. Bruce Charlton. Quotes are accurate.
19. Genetic Savings & Clone. A real business (now bankrupt) that offered to clone dead pet cats.
20. Girls take fertility drugs, sell their eggs for big money. World-wide phenomenon, began several years ago.
21. Anonymous sperm donor traced by offspring. Happens all the time.
22. Doctors claim patient deaths from gene therapy needn't be reported because they are proprietary information. So claimed at more than one university.
23. Major universities have been caught not giving informed consent to patients. The named universities have indeed been caught.
24. Giant cockroaches as GM pets. Proposed by an artist, who put photographs on the Internet.
25. Prime Minister's Fat Sold. A Swiss artist created, and sold, a bar of soap from what he claimed was Berlusconi's liposuctioned fat.
26. Speedboat Racer Bums Around. Peter Bethune built a speedboat powered by fat, obtained in part from his own buttocks.
27. Artist Cooks, Eats Own Body Fat. Marco Evaristti made meatballs from his own liposuctioned fat, ate some of them, and said he would sell the rest. It's not known whether he did so.
28. Cavemen preferred blondes. Published research of anthropologist Peter Frost accurately reported.

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Reading this book at first makes you think you are reading an ordinary fiction book. But once you get into it, and realise the quotes and references you will come to realise there is a meaning to this book.

The author arrived at the following conclusions at the end of his research for this book:

1. Stop patenting genes
2. Establish clear guidelines for the use of human tissues
3. Pass laws to ensure that data about gene testing is made public
4. Avoid bans on research
5. Rescind the Bayh-Dole Act

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For me, this book was a big eye opener to the world of genetics and how many use it as an object to reap financial benefits for personal and selfish interests. However, it may not be a book that is easy to understand because of the many plots you will encounter throughout the book. Those plots, however will eventually gell together I the reader would come to understand how the author reach the conclusions above.

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BUY THE BOOK ONLINE HERE

Maybe adults really don't grow up?

Every Fridays and Saturdays I attend classes. The classes are for a very important subject in the ACCA course, therefore many people attend the classes during those two days. So every time I attend the class I get a great deal of discomfort and I feel really irritated. Here's why - the class is always packed like a tin of sardines, and the air-con cannot really cool the place down thoroughly. By now, I am sure you can already imagine how the condition is like having a stuffy lecture hall packed with people that keep on yakking.

The lecturer is there trying to convey her materials and the class is hardly ever focused on her. Yelling from the front so that the ones at the back can catch what she is saying is already a pain for her. Students then conveniently make matters worse by talking. Is there really so much to talk about?

Time and again, the lecturer has expressed how much she detests students making so much noise and disrupting the class. She was very, very close from leaving the class the night before as a matter of fact. Sadly, students do not really learn from the experience, and the students' lack of respect and discipline simply keep repeating itself over and over again every week!

The surprising part is this - at least 90% of the students are students aged 19 years old and above, and some already working like myself. As far as I know, people at the age SHOULD already be matured enough to behave themselves. Note that I use the word, 'should' because I do not seem to see any maturity in these bunch of people. Personally, I really cannot see why it is so difficult to just keep quiet and listen to what the lecturer has to say for 3 hours on Fridays nights and 6 hours on Saturdays. Considering the fact that most of them come from work on Fridays I am pretty sure they have already done a fair bit of talking for the better half of the day. 6 hours in a Saturday isn't too long of a time for someone to keep quiet and listen attentively, considering all of us have 24 hours in a day.

Writing this reminds me of my previous post 'ADULTS DON'T GROW UP ANYMORE' because from what I see, people that are supposed to behave like adults are acting far from what an adult should be.
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Maybe adults really don't grow up?

Back from my first oustation job!

Three days ago, I went for my first outstation job. Not overseas, but in a different state. Surprisingly I was sent to Ipoh - place of good food at reasonable prices and for a reasonably good quantity! Ipoh is also my parent's hometown, which I visit every now and then so I wasn't really in a foreign place altogether.

The experience was interesting. For my case, I am going to consider myself really lucky because the client provided us with transportation and lodging. In a team of four, we set off for Ipoh with me on the wheel. Once again, luckily for us traffic was surprisingly clear on the way up and no speed traps. Despite not having speed traps I was disciplined and kept to the speed limit like chewing gum on a shoe.

Compared to toll plazas in KL, tolls over at that region were considered a lot more quieter with less traffic. However to my surprise, controls and discipline in these small tolls were just as good as busy tolls. With luck on our side, the personnels in every toll with worked with have been very friendly and gave us utmost co-operation. It has really helped us in getting our job done quicker and more effective. Kudos to all of them, who we have worked with so far!

Towards the end of the first day after all the hard work at the toll, we decided to reward ourselves by going around Ipoh and tasting food reknown in Ipoh. To give you a rough idea of how good the food is - we had 8 meals on the first day. After all the food and work during the day, I knocked off the moment I lied down on the bed in the hotel after bathing despite having my colleague watching the television. That was how knackered I was!

ADULTS DON'T GROW UP ANYMORE

Psychology News

Disclaimer: what I have written below is paraphrased from books, and not my direct findings. I am merely, conveying it through this blog because I think it is noteworthy.

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If you believe the adults around you are acting like children, you are probably right. In technical terms, it is called "psychological neoteny" - in which ever-more people retain for ever-longer the characteristic behaviours and attitudes of earlier developmental stages. In a psychological sense, some contemporary individuals never actually become adults. And it's on the rise.

According to Dr. Bruce Charlton (Bruce G Charlton MD, Editor-in-Chief, Medical Hypotheses, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK. e-mail address: bruce.charlton@ncl.ac.uk.), evolutionary psychiatrist at Newcastle upon Tyne, human beings now take longer to reach mental maturity - and many never do so at all.

Charlton believes this is an accidental by-product of formal education that lasts well into the twenties. "Formal education requires a child-like stance of receptivity," which "counteracts the attainment of psychological maturity" that would normally occur in the late teens or early twenties.

He notes that "academics, teachers, scientists and many other professionals are often strikingly immature." He calls them "unpredictable, unbalanced in priorities, and tending to overreact."

Earlier human societies, such as hunter-gatherers, were more stable and thus adulthood was attained in the teen years. Now, however, with rapid social change and less reliance on physical strength, maturity is more often postponed. He notes that markers of maturity such as graduation from college, marriage, and first child formerly occurred at fixed ages, but now may happen over a span of decades.

Thus, he says, "in an important psychological sense, some modern people never actually become adults."

Charlton thinks this may be adaptive. "A child-like flexibility of attitudes, behaviours and knowledge" may be useful in navigating the increased instability of the modern world, he says, where people are more likely to change jobs, learn new skills, move to new places. But this comes at the cost of "short attention span, frenetic novelty-seeking, ever shorter cycles of arbitrary fashion, and ... a pervasive emotional and spiritual shallowness." He added that modern people "lack a profundity (i.e. depth of intellect, feeling, or meaning) of character which seemed commoner in the past."

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(Crichton, M., 2006, "Next", HarperCollins Publishers , Inc., New York.)

A different working experience for me, and a game of squash!

Recently being assigned to a new engagement, my eyes are definitely opened up a lot more now! Bet no one can guess what this new engagement is about. It is auditing toll plazas (yup, toll plazas as in tolls that collect money from you and I when we drive our cars on highways). It is tedious, very tedious for really busy tolls; especially the ones around Kuala Lumpur! So, what do me and my team do? For starters, tolls deal with heaps of cash, and I mean HEAPS of CASH. So the company sets a range of procedures to ensure the safety and accuracy of the cash, and of course to maintain the smooth running for the toll plazas. Contrary to popular beliefs that toll plaza supervisors just sit in the air conditioned room and count cash, that is not the case at all. Their responsibility level is far higher than most supervisors in different industries.

So what is my job? Me and my team observe their activities in a day to ensure those procedures are adhered to, and to make sure every single documentation as prescribed by their company is followed. It is definitely tedious (it's audit!! What do you expect?).

For today, I made it back from the toll visit for squash. Believe it or not, I drove about 45 minutes from the toll plaza to get back in time for squash. Was it worth it? Every bit! I made it into the firm's squash team this year. So inter-firm squash games, watch out!

But I still need to work out on my cardiovascular strength. Probably due to irregular squash games and lack of sleep, I run out of gas pretty easily. I have about 3 weeks left before the games, so I better work on my cardio because having good strokes and technique simply will not do me any good if I run out of gas too early in the match!