Just because it's home?

Migration or in a lesser context, move to work overseas seem to be the flavoured discussion at the moment.  MalaysianInsider even started columns where people wrote in to say why they leave and why they stay.

Anyway… one of the main reasons why people decide to stay, besides the usual good nasi-lemak, char-kuet-teow and bak-kut-teh (which was specifically mentioned by someone in that MalaysianInsider column mind you…) is that Malaysia, regardless of how bad it is, it is still our home.

I wouldn’t dispute that – the point on Malaysian being home, not on staying.  It is our home, no doubt about it.  We were born in Malaysia and spent most of our formative years here.  There will always be a “Malaysia” element within us. 

But… does that mean that you must stay?

Following this, I have a thought… though it only applies to Chinese and Indians.

If you are a Chinese or an Indian, and decide to stay simply because Malaysia is home… can you just pause for a while and imagine…

Imagine…

Imagine…

Imagine…

That your grandparent or your great grandparent decided to stay in China / India simply because China / India is home.  That no matter how poor or chaotic China was during those days, it was still home and your grandparent decided to stay.  That no matter how difficult it is to make a living in India during those days, it was still home. 

If your grandparent adopted this perceived noble mentality…

What would become of you…

… a Chinese who spits everywhere who you look down on?

… a cheap IT call-centre person in Bangalore?

… a masseur giving traditional Chinese foot massages in Jalan Bukit Bintang?

… living in the slum of Mumbai?

… a cheap factor worker in ShenZhen?

… appearing in those “Only in India” pictures that you forward to each other?

If your grandparent decided to remain in China or India simply because it’s home… really… what would become of you… today?

Updated:  While some have commented that we could also be the son of a property tycoon in Hong Kong, or the son of the coal tycoon in China or the son of the telecommunication tycoon in India... let us all be honest and admit that we are all glad that our grandparent did not choose to stay in China/India just because it was home.

1 year ago... The injury conversation

2 years ago... Non-civic smokers like these are morons

3 years ago... V for virginity, P for purity

4 years ago… A professional mistake

Same theme, different team

Music out of nowhere. The character began to sing and suddenly, dancers appearing out of nowhere to accompany the character. They were all Indians, and everyone will call it a bollywood movie and laugh about it.


Music out of nowhere. The character began to sing and suddenly, dancers appearing out of nowhere to accompany the character. Sometimes, you even get back-up singers appearing. But they were all Caucasians, and everyone will adore it because it’s called Glee.


1 year ago… What’s your law?… Masturbation

2 years ago… A new word, nephrologist

3 years ago… Feeling sleepy?

Should you tell the girl?

Imagine if you were at your work place, and there were 2 big bosses having a heated discussion next to your place. The discussion did not concern you but since it was a heated and rather loud discussion, you can’t help but to take notice.

But in trying to pick up what exactly was the issue, you inadvertently noticed that one of the big bosses did not zip up her skirt. There was a rather “significant” exposure. And the reason why you noticed was because they were standing and you were in a seated position.

The question is… will you tell? If there are similar situation, regardless of the type of “exposure”, will you tell?

Generally, when a girl is in similar situation, would you want the guy to tell?


1 year ago… The fate of 4 slaves

2 years ago… What happen if you put your foot down?

3 years ago… KPF or starfish?

I never said GST is bad

I think there is a need to make this point clear. I have never said GST itself is bad. It is an efficient tax collection mechanism, one that ensures an equal spread of tax burden. Just like how some readers have highlighted, GST is currently functioning in many countries. It would appear that it has a proven track record and hence, we shouldn’t be complaining about GST.

The above are all true, I wouldn’t disagree with them. In fact, I would even say that GST is good.

However…

Just like a friend of mine said… GST is good in “chaotic and racist countries” like UK, Australia, Singapore, etc… but for a “beautiful” country like Malaysia, GST is no good.

Consider this… is democracy good? It certainly is… but is democracy in Malaysia good? I hope you get my drift.

For a start, it is claimed that only 15% of Malaysians are tax payers. The rest are either retired, which means they enjoy tax exemption, or their income are below the tax paying range. When GST comes into the party, everyone will have to pay tax. Is GST good in this situation? It is good because it spreads out the tax collection net and increase govt revenue, but it’s bad because a lot of people who don’t really need to pay tax will now have to pay tax.

Certainly; more tax revenue collection for the govt under a normal situation, is a good thing. It means the govt have more money for development of the country. But for a beautiful country like Malaysia… do you think they will use the money to develop the country and improve things… or will they use the money pay commission for buying submarines that can’t dive?

Right now, some of you might be thinking… GST, proposed at 4% is supposed to replace sales and service tax of 10% / 5%, surely such a reduction in rate will benefit us…!

I am not going to go into the detail mechanics on how GST, despite only at 4% will still result in us having to pay more tax. The bottom line is, govt is going to collect an additional RM1b from GST. Please note the keyword “additional”. I am not going to elaborate further.

Next, GST will result in additional cost for businesses. This happen in all GST/VAT countries. As to why companies will incur additional costs, I have already blogged extensively about it.

In other GST/VAT countries, there is strict enforcement to ensure that additional costs arising from GST will not be cascaded to consumers. If they find any companies cascading such costs to consumers, these companies will be in trouble.

Now, for a beautiful country like Malaysia with their very civic minded businessmen, do you think companies will refrain from cascading GST costs to consumers? And, do you think our super efficient law enforcers will ensure that consumers’ interest will be protected?

Last but not least, we are talking about a beautiful and efficient country like Malaysia trying to kick-start a very complicated and sophisticated tax regime. The last time something like this was done was the implementation of self-assessment for companies. It was a huge mess. Till today, there are still some grey areas that are not fully addressed. Will the implementation of GST be properly done? Only God knows.

There are many more things that I can write about. But I am sure you already know what I am trying to get at. Besides, I am tired of hitting the same nail again and again.

So just let me reiterate… GST is not a bad thing. It’s a good tax regime, designed with an effective and efficient tax model. But when mix GST with Malaysia, that’s when the equation takes a whole new dimension.


2 years ago… The conversation with the driver

3 years ago… A very misleading document

Anyone know what fruit this is?

I think the first time I had it was when I was 13, the year I joined the Boys’ Brigade. We have this place that we call “Rock Garden”, and the tree is located there.


After school, or during our limited Boys’ Brigade break time, we will be on the look out for it. Some are within a jump’s reach while some require a certain amount of climbing before you can lay your hands on it.

Those located high up are not spared. To us, they are just a shoe’s throw away. Oh yes, we were quite accurate in our throwing too. One throw sometimes gave us up to 3 fruits! Though they dropped on the road, we never wash them. Just a wipe on our sleeve and we’ll eat it. Those days, hygiene is not priority.

Its diameter is about the size of a 50 cents coin. Inside the fruit is a brownish seed that’s inedible. Remove the seed, and the whole fruit will down into our mouth. If we managed to get those that have ripened to light yellowish in colour, its sweetness is heavenly.

Till today, my friends and I who have eaten this fruit have never seen it anywhere in the market. It would appear that they only tree bearing this fruit is located in Rock Garden, a stone throw from my school.

They are going to tear down the place though, to make way for a huge multipurpose hall. It’s a project by the church. Ya’ know, churches are very fond with mega structures nowadays.

Hence, I am interested to know. Has anyone seen or eaten this fruit before? Any idea what it is called?

That car sticker that got me thinking

I was driving around the other day and I saw this car sticker which states “I love Allah”.

As most of you are aware, Christians in this country are currently wrestling with the “authorities” in court on the usage of Allah in the Malay-language bible and other Christian publications.

The “authorities” are prohibiting Christians to use the word “Allah” as they claim that the usage of “Allah” will confuse the Muslims while the Christians are arguing that “Allah” simply means God and hence, should not be prohibited from using the word.

The encounter with that car sticker got me thinking… Will we Christians put up the “I-love-Allah” car sticker in our cars? After all, we claim that it simply means “God”.

No Christians have answered yes to my question.

P/S: The driver of the car which bear that sticker was not a Christian.


1 year ago… The annual corporate battle

A squid story

I first heard about it when I was in University. The guy who told me is the same person who told me about this “tragic” story. I have since heard similar stories from other people but whether it is true or otherwise, no one knows…

Ya’ see… fishermen go to see and spend quite a substantial amount of time there. I was told that it may be as long as weeks, or even more than a month. And ya’ know, spending time out in the sea for such a long period of time tends to result in extreme boredom and loneliness when fishermen are not actively engaging in fishing activities.

To entertain themselves, they smoke, joke and drink. But then again, they can’t be doing that all the time. So what else do they do?... They masturbate. And over time, masturbation went through evolution…

Apparently, the inside of squid resembles the female love canal. And so, it was said that fishermen use squid as a masturbation tool. Yup… they wrap their pole with a squid and do the up and down motion which produces the white lotion.

Have you heard of this before?
Is it true?
And… are you a squid lover?


1 year ago… A theory of 2 companies

2 years ago… A sight at the gym

GST snippet

It is a very complicated taxation mechanism. To explain it would take numerous write-ups, and I might just end up confusing you even more. I received a few e-mails asking me about it and I will try my best to explain it in the simplest form possible. But I have to let you know that I am no GST expert.

Since weekend is on the way, let’s leave GST talk for next week. However, let me leave you with a teaser…

Apart from the govt, there is a group of people who is smiling in the sleep and quietly celebrating because GST is to be implemented. Who do you think this group of people is?

On a related note, I was in a consultation group with a top govt agency this morning regarding GST where a lot of P&C information was disclosed and discussed. Sorry that I can’t share with you, it’s P&C. Anti-Zewt claimed that I was only boasting when I claimed I have access to such information and he/she knew such information too. Perhaps anti-Zewt can share what’s in that consultation… can he/she?



2 years ago… Light Monday read… My very own encounter… Why the fortune teller failed to tell my fortune

What would you want to be the reaction?

You should read and ponder upon “What would be your reaction” before reading this…
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Weekdays, on the way to work; and you were stuck in the jam once again. You just couldn’t understand why the lights always turn red as soon as you were about to cross the junction that day. Perhaps it was just not your day.

You turned to your right and saw the other driver smiling. “Seems like a good day to him”, you thought to yourself.

A loud unknown sound redirected your attention. You turned to the source of the sound and you saw it… a motorcyclist had smashed a metal rod into the driver window of a few cars behind you. He seemed to be pulling something from the driver side of the car.

2 seconds later, he swung the metal rod again to the car and a loud scream followed. To your horror, you saw a splash of blood on the windscreen of the victim’s car. The motorcyclist, who has firmly established himself as a criminal then sped off; and he was going to pass the right side of your car.

At that moment, your mind somehow brought you to the countless victims who have fell prey to such theft and they are now either dead, or left in a coma.

You engaged a gear and just as the perpetrator was about to pass your car, you intentionally crashed into him. You got him! He was pinned between your car and the car next to you.

You paused for a few seconds to recollect yourself before exiting your vehicle. The thief was screaming in pain and your car was badly damaged, so was the car next to you.

You wonder how the owner of the other car would react…

What would you want to be the reaction of the other driver?

Those who commented in the earlier post… any thoughts?


1 year ago… Same shield, different usage

2 years ago… Ghost sex = good sex?

What would be your reaction?

You were on your way to work, just like any other day. As you were about to reach your office, you stopped and your car came to a halt as the traffic light turned red.

The music from the radio entertained you as you waited for the lights to turn green. Looking around, you saw the familiar faces crossing roads; probably making their way to the respective workplace.

Suddenly, you heard a loud “smashing” sound coming from the back of your car, followed closely by a scream. Before you could turn around to check out the source of the commotion…”bang!”… something smashed into your car!!!

You got out of your car in hastily only to find that a motorcyclist was pinned between your car and the other vehicle next to you… your car, was *gasp!* badly damaged!

It was not an accident. What happened was…

The motorcyclist pinned to your car is a snatch thief who just smashed the window of a car which stopped a few vehicles behind you to get the driver’s handbag. After getting his loot, the thief sped of only to be stopped by a good Samaritan who sacrificed damages his car by crashing into the thief.

Unfortunately for you though, your car was also involuntarily sacrificed…

What would be your reaction?
What would be a typical Malaysian reaction?
Would you react like a typical Malaysian?

Such a dilemma to be honest with oneself… isn’t it?


1 year ago… An answer in the 400th

2 years ago… Can we really not be a part of it?

Back from China with a China riddle

Yo! I am back!

It was a fantastic trip, blessed with the perfect timing and weather, except perhaps for the last day. But I am not complaining, because…
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… … snow is always beautiful!

It delayed my flight for a couple of hours but it’s certainly a nice feeling to see snow again.

Anyone care to use your brain juice?

When I spent a few months working in ShenZhen and now about a week holiday-ing in Beijing, I noticed that China doesn’t have one particular thing… can you guess what it is?


1 year ago… Tuesday reflection on a recession… I have not made it

2 years ago… Are you part of the mess?… The mess continues… Wednesday blues… Appreciating life

You are going..!!??

Upon disclosing that we will be heading to Beijing for holiday, we often get this remark….

“Huh, both of you don’t speak Mandarin and you are going to China?!?!!!”

Indeed, me and Jules hardly speak any Mandarin. Maybe I can still go about asking for direction and order a simple meal but that would be it. As such, many are showing concerns on our survival probability when we head to Beijing later this month.

I find it really strange, really really strange. Ya’ know why?

If you hear of people going to Spain, do you hear rhetoric such as “Huh, you don’t speak Spanish and you are going to Spain?” ¿Habla usted español?

If you hear of people going to Italy, do you hear people remark “Huh, you don’t speak Italian and you are going to Italy?” Lei parla italiano?

If you hear people going to Japan, do you hear people say “Huh, you don’t speak Japanese and you are going to Japan?” あなた日本語を話せますか？

Do you?

Anyway, I will be heading to Singapore this weekend for some games. Should I have any concern?


1 year ago… 3 comparisons, 2 awards, 1 interview

2 years ago… A very personal sharing

Sudden traffic and what say you?

When I checked my traffic this morning, I was shocked to see that it has hit thousands! As early as 10am in the morning! A quick check and I realised that there was a huge traffic flowing from this particular site. It appears my last post was featured Malaysia Today. (Noticed that the link is difficult to access, bypass firewall here).

I am letting you know in advice in case I suddenly disappear. And if anything happens, do light a candle for me ok? :)

Alright, gotta keep this short as I need to sleep early today…

If… you are hired into this position where you will be leading a team. You, being the boss, naturally get much higher salary compared to them and you have to lead them. But you found out that they are all possess a MBA, all more quailed than you. Experience is unknown.

Would you feel damn proud?
Or…
Would you feel in adequate and feel needy to get a MBA yourself?
Or…???

What say you? By the way, I am not referring to myself in case you're wondering.


1 year ago… Singapore snippets

Delay No More

I actually didn’t manage to take that many pictures of the food I had in HK. Reason being, the first thought that came to mind was to eat them as soon as they are on the table. They looked so yummy, the instinct to snap a pic only came after the food is half way in my digestive system.

Anyway, I manage to snap this, a very special breed of mooncake. Click to enlarge… check out the DIY… haha!!

Also, there is this new concept in HK, known as “Delay No More”. You can see things like… Do it now, Delay No More… Recycle, Delay No More… Stop smoking, Delay No More… etc.

But, I was informed that “Delay No More” actually means something else. It actually rhyme with a particular Cantonese phrase.

Can you guess what it is? Come… make a guess, Delay No More… hehe…

2 years ago… 3 tales…

Are you racist?

Real life story…

“Are you racist?”
“Of course not!”
“Hmmm… Will you allow your children to be in a relationship with someone from another race?”
“Errr….”
“Will you?”
“Err… like that different lah…”

So, are you racist?

Do they really pour oil on it?

My colleague was involved in an accident last Sunday. If you are heading to the highway from Kota Damansara with The Curve on your left, you will be passing through a tunnel just before you hit the highway. That long stretch of tyre mark just after the tunnel belongs to the vehicle which hit my colleague’s car.

My colleague said he heard a very long tyre screeching sound before the impact happened. His car spun, hit a signboard and stopped after hitting another car. He should be counting his lucky stars.

The driver of the speeding car was apparently drunk, the police were there and tested him on the spot. Was the driver arrested and properly dealt with? Let’s not go there…

The most intriguing element of the saga was the almost instant appearance of tow trucks. My colleague said that these parasites appeared within a minute. Yes, within 60 seconds. I have been in an accident before and looking back, I am also quite perplexed at how these tow trucks can just show up almost immediately. It’s like they know an accident has happened.

The quick arrival of tow trucks and the inability of the perpetrator (an ABS equipped car) to brake despite such a long tyre mark (indicating that he hit the brake quite a while back) prompted another colleague to suggest that “they” could have poured oil on the road. The time of the incident was around midnight.

Following the accident I had a few years ago (which I will blog about), I did hear some quarters suggesting that there are people who pour oil on the roads to “stimulate” accidents, generating revenue for workshops. And after my colleague’s frightening experience last Sunday, this notion was mentioned again.

An old friend of mine, who has close connection with car workshops and all told me that it is true. Either they pour oil, or they pour sand, causing cars to lose control leading to an accident and ultimately, business for workshops. That is why tow trucks will just appear immediately. They have been waiting at the wings. And such incidents always happen past midnight.

Knowing that this country, I will not doubt it. My instinct is telling me that it is true. But I am also interested to know your view. Have you heard of such stories?


1 year ago… I am thankful

Saying “No” to a rock

Following my post on “How big is your rock?”, many has expressed his or her opinion regarding this particular rock issue. I particularly enjoyed a couple of the comments there where they were absolutely hilarious.

Coming back to protracted discussion, I have only heard of one instance where a girl has actually said “No” when a guy presented her with the rock. That is the famous Jen in the “He asked 5 times” post where she rejected Ben’s proposal not once, but 5 times. But of course, the reason for her rejection has got nothing to do with the rock itself.

And that was it, the only time I heard about a girl giving a “No” to the guy when he went down on his knees and proposed to the girl with a sparkling diamond professionally set on a carefully refined ring. Besides that, I have never heard of any proposal rejection. Have you?

And here lies a painful reality, one that has been taking place after that wonderful “Yes!”.

I personally know of 4 instances within my close circle of friends where the girl, having struck with the euphoria of being presented with that wonderful rock, said “Yes!”… and when the high is over, decided otherwise. Of course, this change of mind happened before the actual marriage. Anyone heard of such stories?

In all of those instances, not a single one of them bears similarity with Jen’s scenario, where she just thought that the timing was not right. In all of those instances, the girl just happened to come into realisation that the guy was not right. More of often that not, the couple has already been in a relationship for some time.

I will never know how it feels to have a guy whom you love (or you thought you love) going down on his knees and propose to me with a beautiful big rock, and I don’t think I ever want to know how it feels. I only know how it feels to be so nervous going down on my knees to present the rock. And hence, I do not know what goes in the mind of a girl when a so-called romantic proposal takes place.

But the question remains, can a girl fully engrossed in the high of the moment capable of saying “No” to the rock?

I know some are thinking that there will always be hint from the guy or the girls already hinted she wants to get married or perhaps the proposal is a planned one. But what if it was really a surprise? What if your boyfriend turns out at your doorstep right now with 100 bouquets of roses and a 1 carat ring and proposes… right now… are you going to say “No?”

History seems to suggest that the probability of a rejection is relatively low.

But that does not change the fact that there is a growing trend out there where a girl said “Yes” to the rock and “No” to the cock… I mean “No” to the man. And this can result in a lost of grieve, for both the girl the guy which can be a whole post altogether.

But for now, should a girl learn to say “No”, will a girl say it? I don’t know… you tell me…


2 years ago… Faultology… One night on a wrong stand

How big is your rock?

A friend of mine just bought a big diamond ring. Obviously, it was not for himself but for the usual purpose of a diamond ring… marriage proposal. This friend (who reads this blog) told me he spent more than RM20,000 for that ring. I suppose the diamond is more than 1 carat. I personally estimate the whole thing to be about RM23,000.

I noticed a worrying trend amongst guys lately, although I shouldn’t be worrying anymore. There appears to be a genuine fear that their loving girlfriend will actually say “No” if that piece of rock that they present on the ring is not big enough.

I am not saying that this friend of mine who just spent more than RM20,000 on his rock is afraid that his sweetheart will say no. But really, there is a genuine fear out there.

Funny enough, such fear also present in guys who claim that their girlfriend loves them not because of their money. Perhaps a matter of ego then?

To me, if I propose and the girl rejects because the rock is not big enough, I will most definitely bid her farewell and find a girl who will appreciates whatever size of the rock that I propose with.

I am sure many of your will come out with your own reasoning such as “sincerity” or “symbolic of the guy’s love” etc. etc. If that is the case, are you saying that you judge your boyfriend’s sincerity based on the size of the rock? What about the size of his cock? Okay… I am sure you know that size his cock is and is satisfied with that already…

But anyway…

I certainly agree that if a guy can afford a big rock, then perhaps he shouldn’t get a sesame seed size one for his darling. But really, to all the girls out there… if you are being surprised by your long-loving boyfriend with a romantic proposal and he present to you a rock that is not up to your expectation… will you say no?

P/S: Do you remember the millionaire? He proposed… without even a ring. He is now married.

Story from Jane

Jane works in the private equity industry. Generally, they are the people who go “shopping” for profit making business. They also look into buying distressed business with the intention of turning it around and then sell it. Anyway, that’s not the notion today.

One day, Jane was sent to a cockle farm (si-ham), one said to be making tonnes of money and thus, attracted attention from the private equity industry. She was sent there to evaluate the farm and the company managing it to see if it is a viable business to buy. Naturally, she was given a tour of the farm…

It was then that she saw, much to her disbelief, that that the cockle breeding area was located in a lake right next to a factory. Toxic waste can be seen disposed into the lake and one can tell from the look of the water that it is highly polluted.

“Dit si ham mai yau tuk lor?” Jane asked the owner.
(Does this mean the cockles are poisonous?)
Leaning closely to Jane, the ownder whispered…
“Mo kam tai seng. Hai ah, yau tuk kah” (Not so loud. Yeah, it’s poisonous)
“Hah! Mo yam lei yim kah?” (What? No one comes to check?)
“Aiyah, yi tit ngo dei ho yi gau tim geh” (Aiyah, things like these can be settled)

It was then that Jane realised, that this heartless entrepreneur has made a conscious decision to sell polluted cockles in the name of profit. Well, since the authorities can be easily “gau tim”, I guess there is no stopping him.

But of course, Jane was traumatised. She stopped eating cockles and told her family and friends about her experience, advising them not to eat cockles as well.

But there is a problem…

Ya’ see, in the land where Jane lives, cockle is an important ingredient in what is seen as a food of national importance, known as char-kuey-teow. Taste bud stimulation from this food supersedes all other concerns. Further, some of Jane’s friends adopt the little-bit-of-poison-won’t-kill-you mentality. Besides, it’s not any other food… it’s char… kuey… teow.

And hence, Jane’s story shall just remain… as a story.


1 year ago… It was just an ordinary day

2 years ago… The identity inquiry… What’s with the name?

Can you interpret The Sculpture?

When I was doing English Literature in school, I remember my teacher once said that a good poem is one that means different thing to different reader but yet, have a special meaning in the eyes of the poet. Do you agree?

I have put this up before I think it’s worthy for a second appearance. Till today, I still think this is my best piece yet. And in trying to be a poet, I am wondering… how would you all interpret this…

THE SCULPTURE

From the ground
That’s where it was first picked up
Clay, made from dust
Something so dirty, most times unwanted
Unaware of its worth

With water, clay was softened
First step towards transformation
The hands provided the effort
From the heart… love and patience
Clay and hands, oh what passion

From mere dust to a masterpiece
Greatness, many perceived
So stood the sculpture for the complete years
That’s when the legacy ended
If only it was avoided

The hands that made it all
Same hands that made it fall
From once placed so high
It was thrown right to the ground
Some parts lost… and never found

A year after, for what was ever after … (supposedly)
The sculpture, the hands miss
Thus they were picked up piece by piece
But some were lost
It was a lost cause

Tried he did with what’s left
The hands did their best
But the clay was no longer the same
Some pieces were missing
Sigh… certainly pointless in pursuing

Passion not faded, but hands were tired
Hurt… from the cuts, those sharp pieces made
Fiasco it is, finally came to term
It was after all, the right judgement
What’s left… only reminiscence

Zewt
14 Oct 2004
5.52pm

So what is “The Sculpture” to you?


1 year ago… Remembering Valentine

2 years ago… Ecologically yours… The spoon and the cat