Selangor Budget 2015 Focuses on Development

Selangor Menteri Besar Mohamed Azmin Ali is doing just fine thus far.

 

Pic  courtesy of Menteri Besar's Office, November 24, 2014

On November 24, 2014, the Pakatan Rakyat-led Selangor government tabled the largest budget for 2015 since they took over the state in 2008 – a massive RM2.42 billion, of which 46.81% or RM1.13 billion has been earmarked for development.

 

The state also projected that the 2015 revenue will increase 6.49% to RM1.97 billion from the RM1.85 billion forecast for 2014. This marks the state’s first deficit budget under PR.

 

But there is no need for alarm. Azmin insists he knows what he is doing.

 

His government will not use reserves to balance the deficit budget. Besides, the budget was drafted according to the actual expenditure of the state to avoid having to table a Supplementary Supply Bill next year to expand the allocation.

 

As Azmin said: “I chose to face it (our spending) honestly”.

 

For those who didn’t know, Selangor under Khalid Ibrahim had actually been having deficit budgets too because Supplementary Supply Bills have been tabled yearly for additional funds since 2008.

 

Therefore, this is a refreshing departure from past practices. And best of all, the budget is indeed focused on “development”. For Selangor, we can never have enough of development. Proper measured development, that is.

 

On Friday afternoon, I was part of a 3-person judging team for Sunway University colleague Derek Ong’s Marketing Research Poster Exhibition. The DMK2033/MKT2074 Marketing Research students were in ten teams and it is always nice to see students showcasing their research initiatives.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And Emil Anthony’s invitation to GAB for drinks was most welcomed. It was a MAS function and of course, beer was overflowing. And the opportunity to catch up with MAS (and ex-MAS) friends.

 

Exploding Poo

 

Image credit: http://www.addictinginfo.org/2014/11/24/poop-explosion-destroys-apartment-building-because-who-needs-permits/

 

In Zhangjiajie, Hunan province in China, an apartment building was knocked down when a cesspool filled with human excrement exploded. The blast was apparently sparked by a local who decided to burn his thrash too close to the faecal pit. This ignited the methane gas that was discharging from the pit.

 

The incident occurred on November 22, 2014 and according to the Xinhua news agency, fifteen people were injured but thankfully, nobody died.

 

It is said that China's urban infrastructure has often been hastily built with little regard for safety. This is the outcome of the gargantuan rural-urban migration that is taking place all over the country.

 

This story was accompanied by another excrement-related incident where a man and his mother both died trying to retrieve his wife's new mobile phone – worth 2,000 yuan ($320) – from a toilet septic tank, reports said in May.

 

According to Dahe, a web portal run by the provincial government in central Henan province, the man jumped in to try to locate the phone but was overcome by fumes and passed out.

 

Don’t ask me how did the mother die? Maybe she jumped in after her son lost consciousness after he had jumped in. Maybe she was so distraught that she decided to end her life when her son drowned in the septic tank. Maybe.

 

And how did the wife’s phone end up there? Maybe she was making a clandestine call and her phone slipped from her hand and into the tank. Maybe she wanted to test her hubby’s love for her and so she threw her phone into the septic tank to see what he will do. Maybe.

 

Anyway, these are unusual stories. Only in China…

 

Bulgarian champion side Ludogorets Razgrad and Liverpool FC drew 2-2 on Sunday. The former are eliminated whilst the latter still have a chance to reach the Champions League last 16 – if they can beat Basel in their last group game next month.

 

Liverpool’s goals came from Rickie Lambert (8) and Jordan Henderson (37). It was another unconvincing performance but the Reds remain in control of their European destiny after Basel were beaten 1-0 by reigning champions Real Madrid.

The Post-PC Environment

I was amused when I read in The Star (November 21, 2014, p 50) of a Malaysian reader griping about our obsession with mobile gadgets. He is in denial because like it or not – the smartphones and tablets are here to stay.

 

Particularly when mobile devices are getting faster and new capabilities are being added. In fact, he should know that the world is moving towards a post-PC environment. If he has read The Wall Street Journal (November 21-23, 2014, p 19), he would have learned that “early adopters” have started to discard their desktops and even laptops.

 

One of them is Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide CEO Frits van Paasschen who has gone all mobile. This 53-year old executive is among a growing number of professionals to dump the PC and turning to smartphones and tablets as primary work tools. He is relying on his Apple iPhone and iPad for work at home and the office.

 

Even mobile apps at Starwood have moved beyond standard productivity tools like email and now include core enterprise apps built specially for mobile use.

 

The hotel operator’s “Room Cataloguing” app, created for global hotel associates who are usually on their feet helping guests, references 12 million data points about hotel rooms around the world, such as whether a room is close to an elevator, or has a full-length mirror. That data gets filed in a Starwood global reservation system. Now, if a guest wants that full-length mirror, Starwoord can quickly match them to the right room.

 

It’s that agility, van Paasschen says, that will pay dividends to Starwood, whose brands include Westin, Sheraton, W Hotels and St. Regis.

 

And companies such as Eli Lilly & Co have transitioned their entire sales team away from laptops and deploying 18,000 iPads to help improve the way salespeople interact with busy doctors.

 

Mike Meadows, Lilly’s vice-president and chief technology officer, said the conversion had boosted productivity since the salespeople no longer had to fumble with bulky computers and poor battery life.

 

Research firm Gartner Inc projected in July 2014 that the traditional PC market, both desktops and laptops, was on pace to shrink 6.7% this year, and 5.3% in 2015, based on the number of units shipped.

 

Smartphones and tablets, on the other hand, are expected to continue to grow.

 

I was in KL’s Jalan Tun Sambanthan 3 in Brickfields last evening. At the MIA Toastmasters meeting, I took up the role of an Evaluator for Jing Yi who gave a speech informing us about “coffee”. Generally, a good meeting and I have no complaints. I am giving it a 6 over 10 score.

 

 

Renaissance-era Cosplay

The Internet was a-buzz when photographer Sacha Goldberger uploaded some masterpieces from his gallery outing. The artist had re-imagined iconic superheroes (including Star Wars characters) as they would have been depicted in Renaissance portraits.

 

[Note: The Renaissance was a cultural phenomenon that profoundly affected European intellectual life in the early modern period. Beginning in Italy, and spreading to the rest of Europe by the sixteenth century, its influence was felt in literature, philosophy, art, music, politics, science, religion, and other aspects of intellectual inquiry].

 

Image credit: http://kotaku.com/awesome-cosplay-takes-star-wars-superheroes-back-to-th-1659421934

 

These much-talked about pieces were first shown at the Grand Palais’ exhibition in Paris, France.

 

You may be interested to know that the above photos aren't fakes, or even photoshop fantasy. Rather they represent a small army of people, from costumers to cosplayers to models to hairdressers to make-up stylists who were involved to make the above a reality.

 

To be sure, an inordinate amount of time went into producing each image, from planning to styling to wardrobe to makeup and, of course, shooting. And the end results speak for themselves.

This creative play on pop culture is superbly magnificent.

169 Dengue Fatalities in Malaysia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Image credit: http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2014/11/24/Public-apathy-leads-to-dengue-spike-Human-negligence-allowing-Aedes-to-breed/

 

Dengue fever has reached pandemic levels due to public apathy. And I am concerned that many Malaysians are not as alarmed about the mosquito threat as they should be.

 

There were 88,806 cases reported until November 08 this year compared to 31,170 in the corresponding period last year. And in that same period, a Health Ministry report showed 169 dengue-related deaths, compared to 63 in 2013.

 

But yet, Malaysian media is shy to shout about it. Only occasionally, dengue made the news and even then, it quietly occupies an inconspicuous portion of a page.

 

I do know that at Sunway University, fogging is done on a regular basis. The dengue threat is real!

 

 

Yesterday, I was at Cobra Club in PJ’s Lorong Utara B to attend the Taman Indrahana Toastmasters meeting. I completed my CC manual – my fifteenth round todate – when I delivered CC #10 titled “Blessings”. And I was voted Best Speaker. I also received a Competent Communicator ribbon.

 

(Just so you know, I have another 13 CC manuals that are work in progress and I am supposed to finish them all by end of this year – but that looks very unlikely. Still, I am determined to complete them by June 30, 2015).

 

A good meeting and I am giving it a score of a 7 over 10. One assignment speaker was way off the mark and methinks he should redo the speech. My opinion only.