Iran - not everything is bad about it.....

"We don't want to fight addicts; we want to fight addiction."

Those were the words of MUHAMMAD-REZA JAHANI, vice president for the Committee Combating Drugs in Iran — the only Islamic country, according to the UN, that has coordinated efforts to fight drug addiction and trafficking (TIME, 2008).

On a daily basis, the Iran nuclear debacle captures the international headlines on virtually every newspaper and news channel. I clearly was not aware that Iran has a special task force to combat drug addiction. Even Malaysia does not have a special drug task force given the increasing number of drug addicts and AIDS cases from needle sharing.

Globally, drug addiction and drug trafficking has been increasing throughout the years. It is inherently becoming a huge problem given that the organisations behind these drug activities are organised crime groups that are well managed and are able to cover their tracks and keep their noses clean in the eyes of the public.

Coming back to the quote above, it is truly a surprise that it was never highlighted that Iran is the only Islamic country with a special drug task force. This clearly proves one point - global media are mainly interest in pointing out faults and negative points to provide interesting stories (i.e. focus is on maintaining viewers and Internet hits).

This really brings about a point that what is being protrayed or told by a third party may not necessarily be the only truth about something. Take a step deeper into a situation, person or place and you might find out other truths that may be positive. As for the Iranian drug task force, I believe it should be followed by Malaysia and other countries as well. Drug addiction is not a national problem, it is a global problem. If every country can put their hands together and tighten their guards on drug trafficking, drug addiction and truly be eridicated!

Bill Gates retiring from Microsoft.....

Bill Gates, known mainly for his title as being the richest man in the world few years ago before he gave up a portion of his wealth for philanthropic endeavours has official retired from executive duties from Microsoft.


Many recognise Bill Gates for his wealth, to me Bill Gates is more than just the richest man in the world. Bill Gates revolutionised how we work; he is the epitome of strategic intent; he was a man of ideas and persistence; he was a genius!

A computer geek like myself can find no one better to worship besides him. Despite the fact that many call him an opportunist and so on and so forth, those are the very characteristics I admire in him. After all, we have to accept the fact that business is a world of "I-kill-you-before-you-kill-me". Microsoft started as a software house and now it has turned into a multinational business covering more than just software. Heck, even my desktop keyboard is Microsoft!

We earn money in terms of months, Gates earned his money in the minutes some say. Not surprising considering every minute, somewhere in this world some business or person is buying a computer fitted with Microsoft software.

Bill Gates leaves a very high benchmark for any human to reach. Forward thinking, innovative and constantly challenging the current mindset to take things to the next level - those are the benchmarks that would truly be a feat for the next revolutionary person to beat.

Ocean a new source of drinking water?

I am sure we are all well aware that our earth is sorrounded my water. Sadly, about 97% of it is too salty for human consumption. Earth's growing population, drought, rising temperatures and increasing industrial demand are straining the available water sources globally. According to the United Nations, more than 1 billion people live in water scarce areas and that figure will probably hit 1.8 billion by the 2025.

With this growing threat, many are turning to desalination - i.e. get fresh water from salt water. Salt water is plentiful from the ocean and can be deemed a limitless and drought-proof supply of water. Globally, there are an estimated 13,080 desalination plants producing about 55.6 million cubic metres of drinkable water (sounds like a lot right? But that is only about 0.5% of the global water use).

Desalination does sound like a very viable and lucrative solution to our water scarcity problem. However, some issues do arise from the use of desalination plants:-

• Plants mean more energy consumption - a large desalination plant can use up enough electricity in one year to power more than 30,000 homes;
• Greenhouse gases produced by the plants;

Fortunately, there is a brighter side to the above problems - advanced technology and continuous research being done are making cost and energy requirements lower. Although it does not eliminate the problem, at least it allows more time for more research to be done to promote sustainability.

Desalination may well be the way forward to meet our growing water needs but to first control our growing water need, I believe we should all start saving water.....

Further reading: The Economist June 7th 2008

Movie at Cineleisure Platinum Premier class....

Today was one really hot day, and I just didn't feel like wanting to stay home and endure the heat. Feeling a little adventurous, why not try a new movie experience. Personally I have tried all the normal cinemas, GSC's Signature and Gold Class seats except for Cineleisure's Platinum Premier class. Because of the price difference there was really no need to book any seats since many would prefer normal seats.

Walking into the Premier class area, I was first greeted by this wonderfully litted corridor with pictures of famous actors and actresses. Very nicely carpeted and there were 3 computers sponsored by AMD for patrons to surf the Internet while waiting for the show to start.

Waiting lounge is wifi enabled (check out the sign on the table), fitted with wonderful sofas for some really good comfort sitting, plasma tv playing out latest movie advertisement with full music videos in between advertisments! :) No more waiting around the common launch and crowding with the general public at large.

On top of the plasma tv, there is a projector too for those who find the plasma tv too small! There's more!!!! There are two Ogawa massage chairs at our disposal too! Massage any waiting aches away :P There's still more - soft drinks are FREE FLOW!!!!!! :D

That's not all, going into the cinema, you are greeted by friendly and courteous cinema attendants. Its a waste there was no form of photo taking within the cinema. The seats were HUGE!!! Each row had a pair of seats with a small table in between them for viewers to put their drinks and stuff. Tables were button enabled for me to call the attendant to attend to my needs - blankets, pillow, drinks. Before and after the show, we were given warm disposal face wipes to freshen up too. The chairs can be declined and reclined with feet rest........

I walked out a satisfied man watching the movie with absolute comfort! Wouldn't mind revisiting the experience again. Before I forget, one ticket is RM40 though....

new experience, new learning curve and getting a new perspective~

Today was my first day at a new department as a secondee. Things are very much different as compared to the department I was working in before. Surprising to note that despite being within the same firm; the shared culture, routines and symbols that form the department's paradigm differ vastly.

One thing's for sure, I definitely have to try to fit in and managed myself with this change. Change is notoriously never easy especially when one is used to a different department's paradigm. Quite obvious is the fact that change introduces a substantial amount of uncertainty; my very bad habit of self questioning tends to kick in, finding myself wondering over questions like:

1. Will I ever fit in?

2. Am I in the wrong field?

3. What if I mess up along the way?

4. Am I sure about this?

5. Am I up to the task?

At the end of the day, I wouldn't really know unless I try. But at least one thing is clear - I have a lot of catching up to do, due to the fact that I missed out the junior levels. Difference between then and now is that I have to learn to pace myself so I will not end up pushing myself too hard too soon like what I did earlier. I have come to realised, setting personal goals to meet is a good way to progress but the moment it becomes something I think about too often, I then end up running towards an endless horizon.......

Exam aftermath~

First of all, my thanks to all my friends, colleagues and superiors who gave me their best wishes before I sat for the paper today. Definitely helped a lot in giving me the confidence for the paper.

Thanks to those who took the time to pray for me as well. :) 

Where should I start? Let me see........... Opening the page of the question paper was like hitting the ignite switch of a bomb. I for one was not expecting a lengthy 4-page case study. Despite the given 15 minutes reading time, I spent a good 10 minutes digesting the case study. Not to mention, there was only 5 minutes left to look at the other remaining questions. 

15 minutes up announces the head invigilator; time to start penning my answers. Since it was 50 marks for the first question and 25 marks for the last two questions respectively, that means 1 1/2 hours for the first questions and 45 minutes each for the last two questions. 

Naturally, most of us would expect a lot of information in the case study (4 pages!!!!!). Either I wasn't catching the information effectively or the examiner hid the information very well. I got slapped with bounded rationality with so much details in the case study making it extremely difficult to pinpoint what details were important and what details were not. :S

A lot of time was wasted trying to think of how to tackle the case study question. I ended up taking 2 hours to write out the answer and that was after skipping certain parts in between. 45 minutes was the time taken for the second question as allocated but the last question had to completed in 30 minutes. By the time I got to the last question, I think I was writing as fast and as much as I can without really thinking thoroughly but just throwing whatever relevant information I could to answer the question. 

By the time the head invigilator announced time's up and stop writing, I continued writing until my answer script was pretty much was snatched from my table. I might have left a pretty nice long line on the last page since I was still writing when the answer script was taken away from me. 

I have done what I can throughout the 6 months semester, attending classes, doing tutorials, constant revision. Whether I pass is entirely out of my control....... let's just see what God decides for me. :)

All said and done, have to thank God for keeping me calm and focused throughout the paper. There were short periods of time I just felt like giving up but I found the strength to push through. Thank You very much!!!!!!! 

Durian feast!!! :D

Check out the size of the durian!!! You are looking at a 100% made in Malaysia durian. :D Forget Thailand ones.

Too good to resist and having had a good half a year durian drought, I went berserk when I tasted the first piece of durian. I had 3 whopping durians because of its richness in taste and wonderful soft texture......

I had the durians around 3:30 in the afternoon and now I think I am going to have to skip dinner. I am currently bloated with all the durians inside me!!

Talk about creativity!

Not sure about you guys out there, but as a child I always loved playing Lego! I could build houses, robots and heaps with it. I always knew we could build lots of things with Lego but I never expected a life size Formula 1 car out of Lego!!!! I mean look at that!

The only thing on the model that's not Lego are the tyres; those are Bridgestone tyres!! 

Looking at the full scale model tells us one thing. The creativity of the human brain once unleashed can bring about a myriad of ideas and imaginative solutions......

When are we going to start banning plastic bags in Malaysia?

Early April this year San Francisco became the first and only U.S. city to ban the use of plastic bags. Now, the rest of the country seems to be following in its footsteps. 

Kudos!!! Plastic bags after all endanger wildlife and can take up to a whopping thousand years to decompose.

Surveys done across the U.S. show that up to 54% of Americans believe that plastic, non-compostable shopping bags should be banned. In addition, a survey done on a population of 1,080 Americans showed that at least one-third of Americans take reusable shopping bags to food stores. 

Globally, many countries are following this move to promote sustainability and to make our planet a greener place for future generations. Those countries include Bangladesh and China. How about Malaysia?

Photos: Reuters

Malaysia petrol price hike ~ the good, the bad and the ugly

The Malaysian government finally made a decision to decrease petrol subsidies, thus affecting us directly since petrol prices will effectively increase by about 40% from the old RM1.92 per liter to RM2.70 per liter. The announcement literally caused a petrol pumping frenzy throughout the town. Petrol stations were packed with people trying to fill up their petrol tanks.

Most of us are probably hating the decision and complaining. Cannot deny the fact that we are all going to have tie our tummies and spend less. But lets face it, the decision to cut back on fuel subsidies is way overdue and should have been decided years ago. Call me crazy but, the money saved from cutting fuel subsidies can be used for the development of the country.

Basic economics theory, government spending contributes substantially to GDP growth. Subsidies are good in the short term to get the economy going but otherwise the money should and must be used for other development. 

For instance, with the growing rice prices, the money can be used to push agricultural projects. Economic growth does not only mean focusing on industrialization. Besides the agriculture sector, there are many bright and talented Malaysian individuals who cannot venture into businesses despite having wonderful viable business models due to lack of funds. The money saved from cutting subsidies can be used to finance these people for say, a lower interest rate in repayments. 

Many of us complain, it is the government's duty to subsidies our fuel for the betterment of the people. Quite frankly, I think that way of thinking is very naive and short sighted. If cutting back on fuel subsidies can bring back the times when Malaysia was getting a good 8 to 9% GDP growth, that will definitely be for the betterment of everyone. 

Besides, comparatively across other countries in the Asia Pacific we are still paying for cheaper fuel. In addition, with the planned discriminative fuel charges for foreigners, we stand to gain more. Across the asia pacific, Malaysia is slowly losing out in terms of economic growth and attracting foreign direct investments. If cutting back in fuel subsidies means growth and more development, I am in for it! Its a long shot, but its worth a try!

Early morning breakfast at a mamak store!

Morning breakfast looks like this from the table. A quiet spot just outside the restaurant, cooling and comfortable. :) Mornings are a good time to have quiet time to just reflect on things and just let the mind relax before starting it off.

Like any other Malaysian, food is of imperative importance!

After all, can't let the mind work on an empty stomach now can we? Thosai Masala is definitely the way to go to start one's day off! Healthy food and plenty carbohydrate from the potato mix inside it. Hmmmmmm.......... mix your mouth all wait eh? 

Wonder if diabetes and revision go hand-in-hand?

See all those sweets on my lecture notes?? That is what I consume every time I start feeling the pinch from studying and nearing to the date of my exams. Actually, that's like only half of what I consumed like an hour ago..... hehehehehehehe

Hmmmm, makes me wonder if diabetes, obesity and revision go hand-in-hand? After all, it is a known fact that sugar consumption does help reduce stress levels. :) 

Approximately one hour after I snapped a shot of all those sweets, I finished them! Feeling a bit sick of chocolate and sweets now to be honest but can't deny I enjoyed every bit of it.

Hopefully the sweets help me absorb the information I reading (can't recall sweets being classified as brain food though). :P

My new workstation!

Months of saving and surveying for the right workstation, I finally landed myself a new laptop and an LCD screen for an extended desktop. 

Its a Dell Vostro 1200. But I increased the RAM to 2.5Gb to get more from it. This sure goes well with my new side project for ~Path of Time~. This side project involves me and my camera cellphone, documenting pictures of what I see interesting on my walk on the Path of Time. :)

Tea at The Curve

I was free for the night, a friend mine was free for the night; why not have tea? Most of the time I am used to going to places like Starbucks, Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. He introduced me to this place at The Curve but I kind of forgot the name of the place after we had a good chat over tea. Apparently, it was a variety of tea that helps sleep. :)

We reached about 10 pm the place was still buzzing with people..... figured I tried to capture the atmosphere with my camera phone.

I couldn't really zoom all the way since my camera phone is pretty limited, but I am definitely trying to learn to take better photos with my limited 1.3 mega pixel camera phone. :D

Sunday study @ Starbucks~

Its a Sunday, exam's coming and I had plenty to read up. After lunch, full and comfortable why not spend the time reading up my lecture notes. The best way is studying in a relatively quiet atmosphere over some good ole' hot chocolate! Hmmmmm.... hmmmmmm....

Thank God I ordered hot chocolate because it got cold after while when the rain started. The gloomy clouds and chill........

Guess my cellphone camera couldn't get the rain drops since I couldn't adjust for slow shuttle speed. But, if you look closely, realllllyyy closely; you might just see the rain falls! Hehehe