BN's Great Expectations in Sabah

For GE14, I am not putting much faith in Sabah – insofar as Pakatan Harapan chances are concerned. 

The opposition bloc is not only up against the mighty BN but have to contend with the disparate forces which are made up of local opposition parties. And they are so many of them. Warisan, Parti Anak Sabah, Parti Cinta Sabah, Parti Harapan Rakyat Sabah, PKS and Gabungan Sabah (consisting of Harapan Rakyat, STAR, Parti Perpaduan Rakyat Sabah and SAPP) and to be sure, others. 

I don’t think I am able to keep track of all of them. And this is because switching sides is a favorite pastime of politicians here. It would seem that this malaise is contagious. 

Besides the fact there are just too many frogs.

Let me identify some of these more well-known amphibians. 

We know that PKR, at one time, were swarmed with frogs. Penampang MP Darrel Leiking hopped to Warisan. So too did Terrence Siambun of Moyog. Wilfred Bumburing of Tamparuli and Lajim Ukin of Klias jumped ship to set up their own respective parties, PCS and Harapan. Assemblypersons Jeremy Malajad of Kadamaian and Jailani Hamdan of Matunggong also ditched the party and declared themselves as independents. 

DAP too have their share of frogs. Junz Wong of Likas skipped to Warisan. Edwin Bosi of Kapayan left for Parti Anak Sabah. Hiew King Chew of Luyang crossed over to BN after selling his soul to MCA. 

Thomas Anggan walked out on PBS and started PKS. 

And Jaujan Sambukong of Sulabayan showed his finger to UMNO and went over to Warisan. 

I am certain frogs will continue to play a big part in Sabah’s political landscape. One thing I know is that in this state, nothing is really permanent – only because frogs are most prolific here. Not just in PKR. Or DAP. But everywhere.

This brings to my point that the opposition in Sabah is wretchedly fractured. And therefore, hopelessly divided. 

The truth of the matter is Sabah BN are heading into GE14 on a very confident note, holding 21 of the 25 parliamentary seats and 48 of the 60 state constituencies. 

Still, I must not give up hope. I cannot be disillusioned. More importantly, I shall pray that Sabahans can get their act together. Surely, they have had enough of BN? 

Wake up, Sabahans. It is time to kick them out! Enough is enough!

Toastmasters D51 AC2018 Welcome Night

Toastmasters’ District 51 Annual Conference 2018 is not just about the learning. 

The words of our founder, Ralph C Smedley, ring true even to this day: “We learn in moments of enjoyment”. 

Sure, it’s important to focus on education, and to help members meet their communication and leadership goals, but let’s be adventurous too. 

There’s always room to explore and discover new ways of learning while having fun in a supportive environment. 

In our case, Welcome Night @ D51 Annual Conference 2018 is a time to meet, interact, eat and drink, and immerse ourselves to enjoy the fabulous company of Toastmasters. 

We are adding fun into the mix. Just look at the “edutainment-entertainment” line-up: 

Brace yourselves because we are going to have a ball of a time! 

I must confess that I am really looking forward to it. Don't you?

#d51ac2018.  

Wantan Mee to Die For

Image credit: Facebook

Malaysians, I am sure, are familiar with wantan mee – and just like nasi lemak – it is a versatile meal that you can eat during breakfast, lunch, dinner or supper. 

And yes, the typical Malaysian eats four times a day, in case you don’t know. 

Just so you know, wantan mee is not confined to this country but is also available in neighboring countries. 

So this restaurant in Bangkok, Thailand made the news because it had decided to take wantan mee to the next level by hugely increasing its portion and throwing in a food challenge! 

According to China Press, this bowl of noodles consists of massive amounts of char siew (Chinese-style BBQ pork), vegetables and succulent wantans (also spelled wontons) – not to mention, a generous amount of noodles. I am salivating just looking at the size of this dish – more so since I have not had breakfast!

Image credit: China Press

This humongous bowl of wantan mee is priced at 250 baht (about RM31) and it can easily feed up to three people, based on my eating capacity, that is. 

Currently, there’s an ongoing challenge at the restaurant – if you can finish this heavyweight meal by yourself – your meal will be completely FREE. 

[Note: In case you’re wondering, yes, they do serve normal portions of wantan mee too. Oh, if you do not wish to partake your meal there, you can have it as a take-away].

Image credit: China Press

Needless to say, this lavish wantan mee had made an explosive appearance on social media and to be sure, it attracted many Malaysian netizens’ attention. 

“Are you free this weekend? We can make a road trip to Bangkok and take on this challenge”, a netizen said after tagging his friend in the comment section. 

If you’re keen on paying them a visit – you will need this info: 

Restaurant name: บะหมี่ล้มยักษ์ ท่าน้ำนนท์ 

Operating hours: 10am – 6pm daily; closed on Mondays  

Google maps: บะหมี่ล้มยักษ์ ท่าน้ำนนท์, 11000 Bangkok

On Sunday, Liverpool met Manchester City at Anfield in a fast-flowing EPL game. 

Both teams delivered goals and you can sense the palpable excitement throughout the match. As Jurgen Klopp described it: Two teams, full throttle. 

The Reds’ bounty came from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (9), Roberto Firmino (59), Sadio Mane (61) and Mohamed Salah (68) – the last three of which came in an eight-minute quick-fire spell. The Blues replied through Leroy Sané (40), Bernardo Silva (84) and Ilkay Gündogan (90+1). 

And beating the runaway league leaders after a 22-match unbeaten run is scintillatingly brilliant. More so, a seven-goal thriller! 

A well-deserved win for Liverpool – especially following Philippe Coutinho's departure. 

[Note: Coutinho's £142m transfer to Barcelona went through last week Monday]. 

Something for fans to chew on. Liverpool have scored 85 goals in all competitions this season – just seven shy of the tally they managed in the whole of last season (92). 

We have now moved up to third in the table, level on points with Manchester United in second and fourth-placed Chelsea.

Amputation under Hudud

Screenshot from an ISIS video. Image credit: https://cdn.images.express.co.uk/img/dynamic/78/590x/ISIS-588412.jpg

It all started when Kelantan deputy menteri besar Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah said contemporary Islamic scholars were of the opinion that the services of doctors were needed to carry out punitive amputation on thieves found guilty under hudud law. 

“We want to use a surgeon to avoid any damage to the remaining parts of the limb”, he was quoted saying. 

Singapore’s Today on January 03, 2018 cited him as also saying the state will allocate RM1 million (S$330,552) to research how best to implement hudud that includes amputation, whipping and stoning for some offences. 

Just as promptly, three prominent Muslim doctors of medicine voiced outrage over the said proposal. They told FMT that would mean asking a doctor to violate his professional oath of doing no harm to the human body. 

The three were Islamic Renaissance Front director Ahmad Farouk Musa, who is a cardiothoracic surgeon, California-based surgeon and political commentator M Bakri Musa and Kota Raja MP Siti Mariah Mahmud, a doctor who used to teach medicine at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. 

On Sunday, Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah even had to issue a statement that the health ministry will never allow doctors to cut off the hands of thieves found guilty even if hudud is implemented in the country. 

“What we said in 2015 still stands today”. 

He maintained that both the health ministry and Malaysian Medical Council are clear about this. 

Only because elections are looming, PAS started to become defensive. 

So, on Tuesday, PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man questioned the criticisms levelled at his fellow PAS member. He said that any discussion was irrelevant as there is currently no such laws in Malaysia. 

“Even in the amendment to Act 355 which has not been passed does not entail such a law”, he said, referring to PAS’s efforts to amend the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965. 

And in a separate report, Kelantan chief Syariah judge Daud Muhammad said the amputation of limbs was not something that would be enforced indiscriminately. 

He added that there were many aspects to consider before delivering such a punishment. “It is not necessary to cut the hand for stealing... we must see the circumstances, such as whether (the thief) was desperately acting out of hunger or other causes that led to the crime”, he was quoted as saying. 

“God willing, we will not have to reach that extent. It is, however, important to have and empower the law”, he added. 

I don't know why but suddenly, I am envisioning a population of limbless citizens in Kelantan – if the Taliban, oops, I mean PAS continue to wield power. For a start, it is public knowledge that Kelantan’s vices are already way over its head.

A Millennial Job Interview

A millennial’s experience at a job interview – and depending on how you look at it, it can either be hilarious or cringe worthy or both!

I know millennials like that. And they are real. 

A screenshot of the H&M online catalog with the offensive ad. January 14, 2018. 

Last week, H&M found themselves entangled in a social media mess. They had been accused of racism. 

Their online catalog featured an advertisement of a black boy sporting a hoodie with the words "Coolest monkey in the jungle" written on it. 

The Swedish clothing giant tried to quash the criticism by apologizing and withdrawing the ad and the item from sale. But the damage was done. 

Gothenburg University marketing professor Eva Ossiansson pointed out: "In some cases, in order to create a buzz, companies like to stretch their communication and commercials beyond borders". 

But he said it is risky. 

It is much more than that. It is stupid.

Don't Leave PSM Out in the Cold

Parti Sosialis Malaysia are seeking talks with Pakatan Harapan with a view to finding a formula for collaboration in facing GE14. 

“We are prepared to cooperate with them as we consider ourselves part of the opposition, but they are not giving us space to talk”, PSM’s Dr Michael Jeyakumar (left) told FMT. 

It seems they took the initiative to ask PKR to decide on the matter as far back as two years ago – but all they get was a run-around. 

The two-term Sungai Siput MP said: “The whole point of democracy is to give the public different options. If our option is the same as PKR’s, then we should have joined PKR in the first place, but the fact is we didn’t and this shows that we have a different vision for the country”. 

A valid point. And he correctly added: “A healthy democracy is about allowing different visions to be promoted”. 

I support PSM to be included in the opposition coalition. After all, the party have been supporting PH all this while. 

Be warned! If the above is not resolved, PSM will have no choice but to contest under their own party logo. 

And if PSM were to go it alone – they will battle it out with PH and BN in 3-cornered fights for the few seats PSM are eyeing. 

When that happens, PH will be the losers! 

All PSM wanted was a chance to earn their place in the sun. 

Learn to share, PKR! Let’s be all-inclusive. Isn’t that what being a Malaysian is all about?

[For more info background on the PSM dilemma, kindly check out this link: http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2018/01/13/psm-to-use-own-logo-tells-ph-critics-to-grasp-history/].

Toastmasters Meet @ THE POD had a meeting on Saturday. As always, good learning, good sharing and good fellowship.

Again, I was the Toastmaster-of-the-Morning.

Lessons from Google

I read this Washington Post article that says in America, students are advised to focus on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) subjects – believing that’s the only way to become workforce ready. 

And yet two studies of workplace success contradict the conventional wisdom about “hard skills”. 

More surprisingly, this research comes from the company most identified with the STEM-only approach: Google. 

Sergey Brin and Larry Page, both computer scientists, founded their company on the conviction that only technologists can understand technology. 

Google originally set their hiring algorithms to sort for computer science students with top grades from elite science universities. 

In 2013, Google decided to test their hiring hypothesis by crunching every bit and byte of hiring, firing, and promotion data accumulated since the company’s incorporation in 1998. 

Project Oxygen alarmed and even shocked everyone by concluding that, among the eight most important qualities of Google’s top employees, STEM expertise comes in dead last. 

The seven top characteristics of success at Google are all soft skills: being a good coach; communicating and listening well; possessing insights into others (including others different values and points of view); having empathy toward and being supportive of one’s colleagues; being a good critical thinker and problem solver; and being able to make connections across complex ideas. 

Sad to say but many, if not all, of these characteristics, are missing in a vast majority of Malaysian graduates. 

I know we know this – but do we continue to be in self-denial and just let it be? Or will we face up to this and do something about it? 

Those traits sound more like what one gains as a social science or humanities major than as a programmer. Could it be that top Google employees were succeeding despite their technical training, not because of it? 

After bringing in anthropologists and ethnographers to dive even deeper into the data, the company enlarged their previous hiring practices to include other majors, and even the MBAs that, initially, Brin and Page viewed with disdain. 

Project Aristotle, a study released by Google last year, further supports the importance of soft skills even in high-tech environments. It analyzes data on inventive and productive teams. 

Google takes pride in their A-teams, assembled with top scientists, each with the most specialized knowledge and able to throw down one cutting-edge idea after another. 

Their data analysis revealed, however, that the company’s most important and productive new ideas come from B-teams comprised of employees who don’t always have to be the smartest people in the room. 

Project Aristotle shows that the best teams at Google exhibit a range of soft skills: equality, generosity, curiosity toward the ideas of your teammates, empathy, and emotional intelligence. And topping the list: emotional safety. No bullying. To succeed, each and every team member must feel confident speaking up and making mistakes. They must know they are being heard. 

Google’s studies concur with others trying to understand the secret of a great future employee. 

Another survey of 260 employers by the non-profit National Association of Colleges and Employers, which includes both small firms and behemoths like Chevron and IBM, also ranks communication skills in the top three most-sought after qualities by job recruiters. They prize both an ability to communicate with one’s workers and an aptitude for conveying the company’s product and mission outside the organization. 

Or take billionaire venture capitalist and “Shark Tank” TV personality Mark Cuban: Interestingly, he looks for philosophy majors when he’s investing in sharks most likely to succeed. 

I certainly agree with the said article that STEM skills are vital to the world we live in today – BUT technology alone (as Steve Jobs famously insisted), is not enough! 

We desperately need the expertise of those who are educated to the human, cultural, and social as well as the computational. 

Therefore, no student should be prevented from majoring in an area they love based on a false idea of what they need to succeed. 

Certainly, broad learning skills are the key to long-term, satisfying, productive careers. 

What helps you thrive in a changing world isn’t rocket science. It may just well be social science, and, yes, even the humanities and the arts that contribute to making you not just workforce ready but world ready. 

Let’s spread the word about this to everybody and anybody. It is indeed worth sharing.

Malaysia Drowning in Debts

The Malaysian government's debt has ballooned by an average of 10% a year over the past 10 years due to over-the-top spending. 

This trend can be expected to continue under PM Najib Razak and if and when it continues, it will surely lead to Malaysia being a trillion ringgit in debt within four years – as claimed by The Edge Malaysia. 

By 2028, this would stack up to RM2 trillion and by 2032, it would swell even more to RM3 trillion. It said as at September last year, the nation's debt had reached RM687.43 billion (51.1% of GDP) from RM266.72 billion in 2007. This, however, excludes the government-guaranteed debt of RM226.88 billion (16.9% of GDP), in which entities like Ministry of Finance Inc-owned 1MDB's debt falls. 

This debt spiral was attributed to operating expenditure outpacing revenue growth at an average of 6% a year for the past 10 years to RM219.91 billion in 2017 from RM123.1 billion in 2007. 

Revenue grew an average of 4.9% a year over the last decade, to RM225.34 billion in 2017 from RM139.9 billion in 2007, leading to a fiscal deficit, defined as when a government spends more than it earns. 

We should get anxious about the debt service charges too. They have risen from RM6.4 billion in 1997 (9.8% of revenue) to RM28.87 billion in 2017 (12.8% of revenue). This year, debt service charges are projected to reach RM30.88 billion, or 13% of government revenue, equivalent to 96% of the estimated RM32.2 billion personal income tax collected and 71% of the estimated RM43.8 billion collected from GST. 

We already know 2018 is going to be challenging for Malaysians. 

Know that about RM75.7 billion of government debt will mature this year – higher than the RM71.3 billion last year, according to AllianceDBS Research economists. 

Irrespective of the GE14 outcome, the country will have no choice but to tighten its belt!

I Laugh KL

On Monday, Toastmaster-turned-comedian Juliana Heng hosted her maiden Open Mic Stand-Up Comedy @ THE POD in Sunway Putra Mall in Jalan Putra, KL. 

Also ten other comedians plus one headliner. And together they entertained. 

I was told many in the audience were first-timers. 

When the show started, the humor sputtered like an old water faucet. But once we got into the mood, the flow of humor became fast and furious. And as time fled, the laughter grew louder and louder. 

If I might add, it nearly brought the house down. And that is no joke!

A good show!