Mid-year Review

Here's my so-called mid-year achievements. They are nothing to shout about but at least, I am making some progress.

Year 2011 Resolution List

1. Write my Ph D proposal and submit for admission into the program - Sigh, not yet!
2. Publish three academic papers - I am determined to start July.
3. Achieve Toastmasters' recognitions ALB & ALS - Achieved ALB in April 2011; 50% achieved.
4. Charter Sunway University Toastmasters Club - On hold.
5. Start my second Masters - Decided on Northumbria University but checking on fees, etc.
6. Write two short stories and get them published - Work in progress.
7. Yield 39,000 pageviews for my blog - I have already surpassed the target; as at June 30, 2011, I have 46,380 pageviews, having achieved a commendable 118.9%.

The next six months are important.

Bersih T-shirts Outlawed

Only in Malaysia! Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein announced today that the Bersih T-shirts have been outlawed. He told reporters: "The Bersih T-shirt is related to an illegal assembly, then whatever they are wearing is illegal". It is a bizarre situation. The Bersih movement is not outlawed. The Bersih word is not outlawed. The Bersih T-shirts are! Maybe the color "yellow" has got something to do with it? I dunno. Do you?

The Malaysian Insider carried this report yesterday that MCA members are forbidden from marching in the Bersih 2.0 rally and Chua Soi Lek threatened to take disciplinary action against those arrested at the rally. As he declared: "We cannot accept the objective of this illegal rally". Of course he cannot support fair and free elections lah! If there were fair and free elections, then we wouldn't need Bersih 2.0, right? Besides, it is not a question of whether the rally is legal or illegal, but whether it is right or wrong.

Another thought just crossed my mind. If MCA will not support Bersih, this can only mean that they are supporting Perkasa! It's simple really - you either subscribe to Bersih for fair and free elections or you endorse dirty politics! MCA members must choose.

The Real Hong Kong

We see Hong Kong through rose-tinted glasses. The Cantonese drama serials on telly and Astro give us insights into the lives of the people there, even though we know that these represent the celluloid version only. And because the city has an enviable reputation as an international financial center, we seem to be under the impression that Hong Kong is affluent and prosperous.

But there is also the gritty side of Hong Kong which is not often seen; some say carefully hidden. The following pictures of urbanites living in confined and cramped spaces present us with another look at the real Hong Kong:

Najib's PR Extravaganzas

Najib Razak is embarking on a massive public relations exercise to win Malaysian hearts and votes! Nothing new except that these events promoting him and his BN government are costing tax payers a lot of money, whether directly or indirectly.

Putrajaya spent a humongous RM27 million to mobilize one million youths (that is, if you believe the numbers that were generously being bandied about) for the three-day National Youth Day celebrations - eighteen times the initial RM1.5 million budget (Webpage http://themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/rm27m-spent-on-million-youths-meet/, posted June 13, 2011). Also to promote the Government Transformation Program (GTP) and Economic Transformation Program (ETP), Putrajaya's media spending was another sizeable RM7.2 million (Webpage http://themalaysianinsider.com/print/malaysia/government-spent-rm7.2m-to-promote-najibs-gtp-etp/, posted June 28, 2011.

Najib's intentions to buy popularity are not cheap at all. When will we stop bankrolling him for these extravaganzas?

Parti Sosialis Malaysia claims that the party is being made a scapegoat by the authorities to prevent the Bersih 2.0 street rally from taking place on July 09. Their secretary-general S Arutchelvan said the use of Section 122 of the Penal Code (for waging war against the King) against the thirty PSM members who were arrested in Penang on Saturday was an underhanded move by the police to justify this. He added that the arrest was planned to create a situation where police would have reason to carry out more arrests.

And communism became the bogeyman just because police found red T-shirts bearing past socialist leaders (i.e. Chin Peng, Abdullah CD, Rashid Maidin and Suraini Abdullah) on the group (Star, June 28, 2011, p 08). Preposterous, isn't it? Ibrahim Ali and Utusan can make all the seditious remarks they wish and still get away with it but it is treason if you wear the wrong T-shirt!

Champion of Champions

Thirty-one others joined me at the Taman Indrahana Toastmasters meeting this evening. 

Five speakers had lined up to impress us and although all delivered good speeches, I particularly liked the second speech because it introduced me to this fascinating country called Mongolia. The speaker, Undarmaa Gansukh – a student at Sunway University – even showed pictures of her home country and I vowed to visit the country one fine day. Alice Ong, her evaluator even remarked that Mongolian men are good-looking and my self-worth scurried away to hide. 

I also took on the role of evaluating Lim Thian Seng's speech but this time, I wasn't voted Best Evaluator. Instead, Chan Siew Peng deservedly received the said recognition and the ribbon. 

A great meeting was had by Toastmasters and non-Toastmasters alike and I know this meeting scored an 8 out of a ten. A superb evening.

I read about Tan Eow Chong’s durians which are of the Raja Kunyit variety (also referred to as “Mao San Wong”) that were adjudged the “Champion of Champions” in a durian competition held in conjunction with the Penang Fruits Festival 2011. According to Tan, the durian comes from a tree that is 20 years old. Each fruit costs RM70 (Star, June 27, 2011, p 24).

This type of durian is recognized by durian lovers as the best-of-the best in the durian line-up. This is a highly-priced fruit which has flesh that is a golden yellowish in color with a creamy texture and a bittersweet taste. 

All of a sudden, I feel like gorging durians. Anybody care to join me?

Christians Agitate

I drove to the Tropicana Golf & Country Resort Clubhouse to attend the Crystal Toastmasters Club meeting this evening. The last time I paid them a visit was in January 2010 and so, I reckoned it was about time I paid another visit. I took on the role of the grammarian and it was a pleasant surprise to see fellow Indrahanians, Ho Fong Ming and Dr Devi Menon there too. As always the meetings were educational and enjoyable, and this meeting was no exception. I would give this meeting an 8 out of a 10 and yes, I enjoyed myself very much!

On May 07, 2011, Utusan Malaysia front-paged the Christian plot to install a Christian Prime Minister and make Christianity the official religion. And today Utusan Malaysia had alleged (again) that Christian funds are financing the Bersih rally! Hmmm, let me see if I can understand the convoluted story so far. Christians are up to their evil mischief and they are seeking to overthrow the government through demands of fair and free elections! Wow! This malefic group is going all out to take over the country and they are abetted by a sinister rainbow coalition of activists (i.e. NGOs, e.g. Saya Anak Bangsa Malaysia, Lawyers for Liberty, Angkatan Warga Aman Malaysia), Islamists (PAS), communists (PSM supposedly), lawyers (Ambiga and the Bar Council) and the opposition (the Pakatan Rakyat clique). If we are to believe Utusan, this will be a second attempt at Christianizing the country.

It does sound like a tall tale, does it not? In fact, the Malaysian Insider’s Jahabar Sadiq even suggested: “Can Putrajaya please cut subsidies for laughing gas? I can laugh without further state help”! At least, he could see the lighter side of things – but how many Malaysians have his intelligence? Or his sensibilities?

Whether it is a a laughing matter or not – the fact remains that Utusan has an aberrant fixation, even perverse obsession with Christians – the former seemingly painting the latter as maleficent villains, ever-ready to pounce on this unsuspecting country to proselytize the non-Christian population.

My concern is that Malaysians are generally not serious readers. Therefore, they will continue to turn to Utusan for their entertainment pleasure. I have to admit that these guys helming the newspaper are better than James Cameron – what is Avatar compared to Utusan?! Imagination runs riot at Utusan, a chimera of a place where the truth is stretched and manipulated until it becomes a falsehood that is then cleverly presented as a.believable fact.

I have no wish to see Christians being on the receiving end. But Iike it or not, they are Utusan's whipping boys. Surely, their readers are not so stupid as to swallow all the poppycock dished out by this racist and religious-bigoted newspaper? With all the trashy news that we are exposed to daily – whether they are from Utusan, New Straits Times, The Star and others – is it any wonder newspaper circulation in this country is declining? Are you surprised? Well, I'm not!

Bersih 2.0 Rally

Bersih 2.0 issued a statement last night: "As a movement, we have no interest whatsoever in the political momentum of any political party - our goal is to make the electoral system truly free and fair so that all political parties in Malaysia, bar none, can contest on a level playing field, where the rakyat can freely choose whoever they think is best to lead them".

Doesn't the above make sense? Every Malaysian should be united in wanting free and fair elections! In fact, the rally presents the best opportunity for Najib to show the progressive views he has espoused. "He can conclusively do so simply by allowing the July 09 rally to proceed unhindered and by directing all government agencies to cooperate fully with all involved to ensure that each and every Malaysian wishing to exercise their constitutional right may do so...".

Bersih added: "As the final authority in the government, any crackdown on civil society, refusal to guarantee the safety of Malaysians on July 09, or rhetoric that unfairly demonizes patriotic, peace-loving citizens will be a tragic reflection of the failure of the prime minister to live up to their promises and the responsibilities entrusted to them by the Malaysian people".

Image credit: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/6/27/nation/8979534&sec=nation

But, alas, this plea has fallen on deaf ears. The powers-that-be are in the strangling grip of Bersih hysteria! Police have already said they are not issuing any permit for the rally. They have started arresting people over the weekend. Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein even mentioned that the ISA was being considered. The general idea is to strike fear amongst Malaysians so that they will shy away from participating in the Bersih rally. Woe betide this country if we cannot even assemble peacefully!

Have the authorities not learnt anything at all? Recall that when police used high-handed tactics to subdue fifty thousand demonstrators in 2007, BN lost five states and the two-thirds majority in Parliament. if police persist in this same stunt - come GE13, who knows, it may be all over for BN. Stop being the tyrant. Listen to the people. For the country's sake!

Lady Gaga in Japan

Lady Gaga gave an epic ten-minute performance at the MTV Video Music Aid Japan concert on Saturday to benefit the Japanese Red Cross and help the people suffering from the massive earthquake-tsunami that hit the country earlier this year. For the 30 million households on MTV Japan, MTV Korea, MTV SEA and MTV China that got to see the concert live on television, I am told it was a performance to remember. Lady Gaga has already donated more than $2.3 million, most of it out of her own pocket, to aid victims.

I came across this really cute "art piece" of Broccoli House by Brock Davis on webpage http://laughingsquid.com/broccoli-house/ughingsquid.com/broccoli-house/, posted June 25, 2011.

Zombies Ahead

 

Image credit: http://nky.cincinnati.com/article/AB/20110623/NEWS0103/306230041/

Zombies have invaded America – if you believe this electronic road sign that was spotted on Thursday on southbound Interstate 71/75 warning of "Zombies Ahead". 

[FYI, Interstate 71 (I-71) is a north–south Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes/Midwestern and Southeastern region of the United States. Its southern terminus is at an interchange with I-64 and I-65 (the Kennedy Interchange) in Louisville, Kentucky, and its northern terminus at an interchange with I-90 in Cleveland, Ohio].  

The boingboing.net posting mentioned that the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet thought it to be a practical joke! Police there did confirmed that there were no reports of zombies.

It is believed that hacking electronic highway signs with zombie warnings is apparently a popular pastime across the US of A. 

Hackers have been blamed for posting zombie alerts in at least six states. In March, hackers cautioned drivers at the North Carolina/South Carolina line of zombies ahead. Hackers posted the same message in Boulder, Colorado earlier that month. Zombie messages have also been posted in Indiana, Texas and Illinois.

But you can never be too sure about these things, can you? Haven't you watched Resident Evil? 

And is anybody tracking if drivers are disappearing? Just because you don't come across any roaming zombies, doesn't mean there are no zombies in the vicinity, right?

I presented a CC speech # 5: Your Body Speaks at the MIHRM Toastmasters meeting yesterday. It was titled 'The Day My Father Died". 

Although the verdict was that I had presented a good speech – I couldn't agree with the evaluation because I believed it was a below-average effort. 

Even if it was an impromptu speech but I was not very eloquent. Maybe because I was tired. Or I had been trapped in long meetings since 12:30 PM. Sure, my speech had organization, vocal variety and importantly, body language – but compared to my previous speeches, this one was admittedly, just not-good-enough! I know I could have done much better than this! 

Anyway, this was a low-key meeting and I would confer it a 5 out of a 10.

Price Escalation

Have you noticed how prices are just shooting up? I am griping and grumbling and I am sure there are others out there who are feeling the pinch and also complaining loudly.

I read in The Malaysian Insider that the price increases reflect a 2.9 percent hike in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the first four months of 2011 but more since June when Putrajaya cut diesel subsidies for hauliers and trawlers, adding to the price of basic food items and other goods.

Skyrocketing prices will surely fuel anger. Putrajaya had said that the June 01 subsidy cuts would save RM659.30 million but we were kept in the dark as to where the savings went to. All we hear are wasteful web campaigns, jet-setting cabinet ministers and their groupies, over-priced buildings that nobody wants, rail systems that cost more and do less, suspect military hardware and the list goes on. So, PKR is right to target the working class votes because Malaysians’ disenchantment is growing by the day.

Alexander Munk's 'Magic Carpet" is really a clever and versatile piece of furniture that goes from sleepmat to lounger to cocoon with the assistance of straps threaded through the forks running down its edges. You may wish to check out webpage http://www.alexandermunk.com/index.php?/product/sasan--flexible-furniture/ - it's in German though.

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A VIsionary

Yesterday, I drove to Damansara Uptown where I was scheduled to deliver CC speech # 4 titled "Pain" at the Deloitte KassimChan Toastmasters meeting. Time-keeping was virtually non-existent for the meeting started late and even the special presentation by Daniel Teh exceeded the time given. I could only shook my head in disappointment. And worse, Daniel was predictably long-winded and boastful. Coming to my speech, it was only so-so and I knew even then that it was a challenge to produce my best because it was as if all of us were put under a spell of dreary detachment. Sure, the meeting wished for more enthusiasm and energy but discovered too late that we were actually the ones contributing to this torpid sense of listless ennui. I have to admit that I was one of them! I would give this meeting a score of 5 out of a 10 - the saving grace is that there were thirteen participants.

The Star newspaper on Tuesday featured Jeffrey Cheah (left), Sunway Group Chairman and highlighting the Jeffrey Cheah Foundation as his platform to improve and change the lives of bright Malaysian students (StarBiz, p 4). Here, I read that he was inspired by English clergyman, John Harvard who, upon his death in 1638, donated his entire library of books and half his wealth to an education institution which is today renowned as Harvard University. The Jeffrey Cheah Foundation aspires to be the "Harvard of the East" (line 90) - and this is similarly reflected in his personal motto: "I aspire to inspire before I expire". A fascinating visionary.

BMB3303 Projects

Today, I am putting up video clips of my BMB3303 students’ class presentations. Enjoy…

BMB2206 Projects

Since last week, my BMB2206 students have been presenting their Marketing Management projects. I am featuring four of the video clips that these students have produced:

Quiet Support

The 4-hour MINES Cruise served as the setting for the D’Utama Advanced Toastmasters Club Celebration Dinner on Saturday. Nancy Liew, the club President and Organizing Chairperson fussed over every detail, and to be sure, it was indeed a classy event which everybody enjoyed. I was asked to be the invocator to kick-start the evening and I .talked about ‘reflections”. In fact, Dr. John Lau, First International Vice President – and a member of this club – talked on the same subject too. A coincidence, it is not – after all, great minds think alike! Duh!

I read in The Star (p 21) today that at least ten BN MPs have ‘quietly' joined the fight against the proposed rare earth processing plant in the Malaysian state of Pahang. PKR MP Fuziah Salleh alleged that these MPs had not done this blatantly for fear of being labeled supporters of the opposition because this protest action was initiated by her. She added that the MPs could have reservations about objecting to the Lynas plant openly after Pahang Menteri Besar Adnan Yaakob accused MCA reps in the state for behaving like the Opposition over the project. These dissenters have no guts – they fear for their positions more than they care for the health and safety of their constituents. Shame on them!

Bahrain GP is Off

Referring to the case of the two Singaporean women made to do nude squats – read my posting dated June 15, 2011 – it has been reported on Wednesday in the Star newspaper (p 16) that Immigration director-general Alias Ahmad had pronounced that their arrests at the Sultan Iskandar Immigration checkpoint in Johor Baru on June 09 was done according to the law. Alias said the claim by the two women that there was no supervising officers at the check-in counter to stamp their passports when they came into the country the same day was not true. Hmmm, if that was so – then how did they gained entry into Malaysia in the first place? Maybe they rowed and landed at Danga Bay. Or they swam across the Straits of Johor. Or they put on their invisibility cloaks. Or the immigration officer on duty was sleeping on the job. So many possibilities! If we were to believe our trustworthy civil servant Alias, then these women have been deceiving us with their concocted stories! Shameless Singaporeans!

On Thursday, Formula 1’s governing body the FIA has formally struck the Bahrain Grand Prix off the 2011 calendar, AFP reported. Good sense finally prevailed because if the decision had been a go-ahead, it would have gravely damaged Formula One's reputation and made a travesty of the citizens’ struggle for human rights in the country.

Getting Hooked to Protest Shark-finning

Photo credits: http://www.calgaryherald.com/entertainment/Gallery+Woman+protests+shark+slaughter+hanging+from+fish+hooks/4950275/story.html

British performance artist Alice Newstead has taken her protest against shark fishing to Hong Kong, again backed by Lush, the British cosmetics company. She explained that because Hong Kong serves as a key trend setting city among Asian communities, it’s only the people of Hong Kong who can lead the way to stopping this brutal luxury consumer practice of using shark fin soup as a display of wealth.

On June 14, 2011, Newstead allowed herself to be suspended by fish hooks pierced through the skin on her back. In fact, she performed this same stunt at the Lush cosmetics shop in London's Regent's Street in 2008. She took the drastic action in protest at the inhumane practice of finning – where sharks are impaled on hooks, before their fins are sliced off to harvest meat for shark fin soup. The sharks are then thrown back into the ocean still alive but unable to swim and sentenced to certain death. She had declared her opposition to the killing of 73 million sharks a year, threatening their extinction.

Photo credit: http://www.indymedia.org.uk/images/2008/10/411877.jpg

According to UK’s The Telegraph (September 03, 2008), Newstead, once worked as a Lush sales assistant, but now works full-time as an artist, performing with a group called Constant Elevation, whose members specialize in hanging from hooks pierced through their skin. Newstead explained this extreme form of art: "I have had my torso, legs, arms, stomach and knees pierced before so that I could hang from them, so this is no big deal".

She added: "Being hung from the chest is more painful than the back because it restricts your breathing, but as long as the piercer knows what they are doing then it is completely safe".

More Slut Walks

Taman Indrahana Toastmasters Club had their meeting yesterday, and thirty people came. As usual, it was an evening of riotous fun and I particularly enjoyed listening to feedback from Alice Ong, who as the Table Topics Evaluator, infused it with much humor. Her one-liners had me struggling to keep a straight face because she was so hilarious! When Alice speaks, you don’t need to have a Humor Master anymore since she is good at keeping her audience in stitches! Assignment speeches and evaluations were generally stimulating as well as stirring. And yes, I was again voted the Best Evaluator. I evaluated Ho Fong Ming’s CC speech # 8: Get Comfortable with Visual Aids. But honestly, folks, I would happily surrender all the ribbons and certificates I have received if I can win just once at the division (I don’t care whether it is Divisions B, C, G or P) and/or district level Evaluation contest. Sigh!

Anyway, I enjoyed the meeting and I would give it a score of 8 over 10! It’s a Taman Indrahana meeting after all.

About two hundred people turned up for the Slut Walk in Sydney, Australia on Monday, shunning lingerie due to cold weather but nonetheless hammering home their message with banners reading 'Proud and happy slut' and 'Blame rapists not boobs'. As one organizer told marchers: “We're here today to declare that slut-shaming and victim-blaming have to stop".

Image credit: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/gallery/gallery-e6frewxi-1226074432890?page=2

Image credit: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/gallery/gallery-e6frewxi-1226074432890?page=11

And on Sunday, demonstrators in Mexico City, Mexico, who organized largely over social media, said they were protesting a pervasive macho culture that too often faults women for aggressions against them. This, in a country where the mayor of a small west coast town had proposed banning miniskirts to prevent teen pregnancy, and in a city where hit-and-run spankings of women are not uncommon.

Image credit: http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/world/9630759/slutwalk-happens-in-mexico-city/

The "Slut Walk" to protest violence and harassment against women also took place in other Latin American cities, including Matagalpa, Nicaragua, and Tegucigalpa (below photo), Honduras on Saturday.

Image credit: http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Lifestyle/Story/STIStory_679370.html

We can expect to see more Slut Walks worldwide on a regular basis.

Singaporean Women Humiliated

Image credit: Shin Min

Here’s a story about the humiliation suffered by two Singaporeans when they crossed into Malaysia at about 1:30 AM last Thursday. They had claimed they drove through an unmanned immigration lane on the Malaysian side of the Causeway without getting their passports stamped. Ms Chang and Ms Lim said they made a U-turn when it dawned on them that they shouldn't have done what they did. Still a wrong is a wrong and they were subsequently detained by Immigration officers for entering Malaysia illegally. They were informed that they would have to pay a fine of RM3,000 each before they could be let off – to which they agreed – but still, they were handcuffed, thrown behind bars, strip-searched and made to do nude squats.

[This incident has re-opened questions raised in 2005 when the police made a female suspect do the infamous nude squats which remain yet unanswered].

And following their punishment, they were allowed to return to Singapore after 48 hours with a warning. Of course, the women swore they will never go back to Malaysia. Singaporean newspapers went to town with this story yesterday and I picked this news on the very same day itself.

These Singaporeans are so naive – didn’t they know that the Malaysian Immigration fellas were itching to take punitive action against just about anybody who they can bully? Anyway, the women victims should thank their lucky stars! If they are Malaysians, they might be shot at a 45-degree angle, or fall from buildings, or battered in jail cells! What are a couple of squats and a fistful of dollars?!?! Singaporeans shouldn’t expect preferential treatment from our dedicated Immigration officers merely because they are Singaporeans. Whether law-breakers are Singaporeans, Indonesians, Bangladeshis, Indians, Nepalis, Chinese, Myamarese or others – Malaysian enforcement authorities dearly look forward to despotizing them! At least Singaporeans have no excuse to accuse them of wilful discrimination – they treat everybody equally as criminals!

If this story is true, then the Singapore government should lodge an official protest. Or maybe the two Singaporeans should consider suing the Immigration Department.

Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was investigating the incident. The Malaysian High Commission in Singapore said it had not received any formal complaint about the incident. When pressed about the case, the Custom and Immigration Quarantine Complex spokesperson said it was the responsibility of travelers to get their passports stamped before they entered Malaysia – and declined to elaborate further.