Price reduction saga

Today's news online that was in my mind was on the price reduction of petrol. So far, we're still behind times compared to other Asian countries who has already slashed petrol prices for God knows how many more times more than us.

In one way I'm glad for the reduction in petrol price. At least the savings from there can help cover the monthly toll expenses. Also there has been talks by the ministry on trying to reduce food outlet's prices. Seriously speaking I'm not that convinced that businesses are willing to reduce the prices. Most would just turn a blind eye to the reduce petrol prices. I mean, a few cents for each item added up is worth a lot to businesses and they will think that it is just a small amount that consumers will just have to bear with it. Which is what we are all doing at the moment. So, what makes the ministry think that the businesses will reduce the pricing? Will they go to the extent to each restaurant in the whole country to check? Probably at random. How much control will they have? What about other businesses? Not only food. What about other things like clothes, books, household items, etc? Will the price reduce? No chance in that I bet.

I guess, these questions I've been asking myself thousands of times and I'm sure many out there are asking as well. I'd rather take my own action in ways to cut down , rather than rely on our incapable government.

Happy Deepavali

To all my readers who celebrates Deepavali, A very Happy Deepavali to you.

Goals in life

An interesting article caught my attention as I was reading this morning. The article talks about goals, setting goals and achieving them. It makes me ponder whether I've been doing the right thing.

All my life, I've been brought up to think that to be successful in life, I'm supposed to set goals, mostly realistic enough and achieve them or at least try to achieve most of them. But today's article open my mind further. It sorts of contradicts what I've been traditionally taught.

This was a topic brought up by an author called Stephen Shapiro whose book is called Goal-Free Living. In this article, the Stephen Shapiro is quoted to ask us to throw our to-do-list out the window. At first, I thought, why in the world would I do that. But reading further on, it makes sense, some of it.

First, Stephan Shapiro asked a good question, "Whose goal is it anyway?" He says, most goals aren't created by people themselves but is driven by society and family pressure. True enough but that's what we have in this world right? Society and family do play a part in our lives. So of course, our goals tend to evolve around them.

Secondly, he again said that when we're focusing on our goals, we're putting blinders on. Now this one I agree maybe 80%. I quote from the article written by Dawn Raffel, "You lose peripheral vision and miss out on all the breath opportunities around you" Yes, we lose some, we win some. When we put our effort in achieving that one goal, we lose sight on other things that might be equally important for example, that career we're banking on, while we totally neglect our other half or family. Can't be greedy right? What about multi-tasking? Can't you apply that to achieving goals as well? I don't know. You tell me. But it does makes sense to a certain extent I guess.

Third, Stephen Shapiro says that with busy achieving goals, we're always living for the future and people end up saying I'll be happy when (fill in the blanks). Ok. This one I agree. This is almost equivalent to being greedy in a way. Questions? I'm presuming that what he means is, we forget to live in the now and always want something further, something more, as in I want this or I must be at this level so that I'll be happy. But when we get it are we happy? Or do we want more?

We can't live without goals, nor can we live with having too many goals can we. Or can't we?
Moderation is the word here in my understanding while Shapiro says, to have the right goals, you must be able to relate to them the right way.

So what goals do you have for the now and the future?

5 rules

Have been reading this book for a little pick-me-up and I came across 5 advices that changed lives and I find it's worth sharing about.

1. Break the rules (only where it's not against the law).
2. Live like there's no tomorrow.
3. Never compromise.
4. Trust your gut reactions.
5. Think before you shriek.

Straight to point but great for making a person happier in life.

To...

As the pain becomes unbearable, she sits and tries to calms herself, willing the tears to flow, to let the pain unleash itself so that she can get closure but the tears just wouldn't come. "Funny" she thought. She has always been emotional, but this is the first, not being able to let go, to scream to cry. Why is that so?

Haley walked aimlessly around the house, not knowing what can be done since it's gotten too late to do anything about the problem. As she sits staring into space, she was startled by the beep on her phone. As she read the message, her heart constrict in pain knowing how true the message rings clear and precise.

To know the power is within yourself and the decision to change has been a wake up call for Haley. She knows that the only way she can overcome her pain is to take a step forward and admit the mistakes she has made for the past years. All these while she always thought that she's been right to stand up and make a point, standing up to what she knows is right, following her upbringing but all that's been said and done seems to have backfired and she wallows in self pity.

"I can't let my past keep coming to haunt me" thought Haley. "I've got to make a promise to myself. I've got to keep going strong. He needs me. I need myself, I mean I got to keep sane" she whispered to herself. Haley decided that it's time to change. To take matters into her hands. No point sitting here to wait.

Finding courage and strength, Haley makes a pact with herself, from tomorrow onwards, "I'm going to make an effort, to be happy. To not take things for granted and be grateful for what I have. To let the past be past. To put things in God's hands." To put others first before herself. To not be lazy. To pray on her worries. To always put her best foot forward and keep trudging forward. To take everyday as it comes. To learn something new everyday. To make a change in her life.

Life's blow and having hope

Have you ever been in the situation that makes you want to go around in circles screaming your head off. Ok. Probably it's a tad bit dramatic. But the bit about going around in circles does happen, especially when you're totally at lost in what you want in life. This feeling totally sucks.

When you're reached a certain barrier in life, it makes you stop and wonder, what am I in this world for? What do I want in life? I've reached that point in life and I'm still trying to find those answers. Asking, praying to God has not reaped answers yet. Maybe I'm not having enough faith in Him, maybe I've been not putting God first in my life above everything else.

You try out different jobs, from all those wonderful jobs that are supposedly to give you the best salary in the industry, with perks that most people would die for to end up being a consultant and still you can't find happiness in your work. Why is that? When you've worked 6 years after finishing college, trying to find satisfaction from your work, you finally realised that there is no way in life that you'll actually get the job of your dreams and you can definitely forget about getting satisfaction from work. Sounds sad.

I can't let this ruin my life, I mean sitting here, moaning about it, throwing tantarums. Just gotta find something that works, something that brings in the dough as well. Best thing of all, not giving up. I hope this works. I mean what's life without hope right? Keeping fingers crossed and praying hard.

How much more stupid can you get?

I stopped blogging for the past few months as I couldn't find one topic worth blogging about, nothing about the political situation in this country deserve a space in my blog and there isn't anything much interesting going on in my life at the moment but something caught my attention this morning and I thought what better topic can I get than this to start blogging again.

I've been reading the papers online every morning and the topic "POLICEMEN BEAT A RETREAT" caught my attention. Now thinking, this it totally a good topic to blog about, ever since I've been away from blogging for so many months.

My initial comprehension of this particular subject was, "Has there been some sort of riot that the policemen had actually retreated?" I mean that would be a total shame to the country and of course the police force but boy am I in for a bigger surprise.

After reading this particular piece in the news, it came to light that a police beat base in Chow Kit area has been shut down. The reason for the closure, get ready for this (Drum roll please...) I quote from the papers mind you, "Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar said the beat base was located in a dirty area where police faced the possibility of being exposed to contagious diseases." I was like huh? !! How much more stupid can one get? I mean is that a sufficient enough reason to close a base? Then read on, it say as quoated, "The presence of criminals also posed a threat to the safety of police officers."

And I thought that I was going bonkers reading too much online. I misjudged a politicians in this country. The longer you're in politics, the more ludicrous your reasons get. A safety threat? What kind of bloody reason is that? Does this mean that our safety is at stake here? To the extent that a police beat has to be closed down as criminals posed a threat to the police officers? Shouldn't it be the other way round or have I been in deep slumber all this while to actually missed out this important turns of events?

I guess I'm having a good laugh with my friends about this statement made by our beloved home minister but I shudder to think what will happen if he continues to exert his brain juice in running the ministry.

Malaysia's customer service

As Joelle was sitting down, looking at the menu, she was still contemplating whether to order the famous Hainanese chicken chop or the mee siam which looks equally delicious on the menu. But an after thought went through her mind, she then decided to pick the Hainanese chicken chop and their famous toast bun.

She looked at her watch and it showed 8.21pm. Hoping that time would go slower so that the food will arrive and she'll be able to enjoy it before moving on to her favourite outlet, Ikea. As the seconds hand of the clock slowly ticks by, it now showed 8.40pm and her food has yet to arrive.

Surprisingly though, the next two tables that were previously unoccupied now had other customers and to her dismay, their food seems to appear before them instead of hers. Now fuming away, she decides to eye the waiter that took her order, but he was adamant not to look at her eyes. The cloud of "fire" around her head, looks as if it's about to burst into flames, she called out to the outlet manager demanding for her food. As the other customers who came after her were happily gobbling away their food, Joelle practically had steam coming out of ears as she was trying to keep her composure cool while questioning where did her food go as she was the first to arrive.

After profuse apologising by the outlet manager, her food promptly arrive in less than 3 minutes. Now this is what's call efficient service, thinks Joelle. But before tucking into the plate of chicken chop, she made sure there was no "extra" ingredients added. Knowing how cruel the F&B industry can be even with prompt service after a little seething is done by the customer, a thorough check wouldn't hurt she thought. F&B's unspoken rule of revenge is either to spit in the "fussy customer's" food or to actually maybe toss it on the floor before rearranging it in a nice presentation for the customer.

I sometimes experience the same situation. Sometimes my temper gets the better of me and I tend to last out unmercifully at the waiters or most of the time the outlet managers for such poor service. Food delay can be expected but to the extent that they completely decided to ignore your order while someone who came much later gets their food, this is a total no-no. Malaysian F&B etiquette still need vast improvements.

Little bit of life

For the past few weeks I've been getting daily emails pertaining Petronas, be it an email complimenting their good effort and trying to put a good word for Petronas or even an email that totally gives no crap to Petronas.

I've been getting tired and bored with all these emails. It's always the same. Fighting against or for Petronas. What's the whole point? After all it belongs to the government and I find that it does not make any difference if we were all to forward emails to boycott and not pump Petronas petrol. Does this mean that everyone will actually follow and that the government will decide to lower down the petrol prices? Come on. Grow up. The fact is, nothing can be done with this country's government. Time to give up on them. I've given up on them already.

I mean, how much can we fight them? But I won't join them either. I'll just get on with my life as long as they don't disrupt mine bad enough for me to want to leave this country. I might as well use the energy and time to do something more useful either for the environment or spend time with my family, rather than waste it fighting the government, Petronas or to have anything to do with them.

Enjoy life. Happiness only comes when you make time to enjoy life. Stop and smell the flowers. Enjoy the company of family and friends. Easier said than done? Maybe ,but I guess a small step at one time helps to take other grievances away.

A little incident

After my fall on Monday, my little puppy Duchess decided that she'll get her bum to be seen by a vet, hypothetically that is.

She made up her mind to give her tail a little nibble on Thursday night after her required jab on Wednesday. What came from the nibble was a patch of fur gone from her tail and a red and swollen tip. It actually looks like there was some sort of growth but thank God it wasn't.

Made a frantic call to our friend who is a vet and he asks us to apply calamine lotion, which will help soothe the itch. It did stop the redness but the swelling was still there and we couldn't really apply the lotion properly the next day as the fur was clumped up.



Decided to bring her to the grooming school that I'm now training at to get my teacher to help trim the fur on her tail. No tools yet since I'm still on a theory based learning stage at the moment. She did a great job of it. But embarrassing part of it was, she decided to cham cha and give a little extra "something" to my teacher for helping her trim her tail and also a dose of antiseptic spray on the tail. Which basically means that pee and poop on the grooming table. Probably thinks that, "Fine. Make me suffer I'll give you more work to do". She's a fiesty and dominant little puppy. Translated into "spoilt puppy" my teacher said. Hahaha! We had to get the e-collar for her so that she doesn't turn around and bite her tail and aggravate it further. She practically hates the collar. When she came back, she gave us this mournful look.



Well, time to MAKE time to train her better. She's much better today like her mistress. Getting used to the e-collar and being her usual naughty self again. Hopefully there won't be anymore incidences like this.

Big bruise

A bruise is "an injury appearing as an area of discoloured skin on the body, caused by a blow rupturing underlying blood vessels." Quoted from AskOxford.com

Don't think that it is something that actually came through my mind when I got this big bruise from falling down the stairs.

Was going down the stairs on Monday morning but fate decided I was to slip and fall down the last two steps of the stairs. Cruel thing was I wasn't sure whether I was pregnant or not but what choice did I have. The edge of the stairs hit my hip and I'm still praying hard that there's no hairline crack even after being given confirmation of a clean bill of health other than major muscle injury by the A&E doctor as well as the radiologist based on the X-Ray.

So, have spent the last 2 days including today in bed, trying my best not to walk around much other than going to the toilet as per doctor's instruction. I think lying in bed has caused my other side of my back to ache as well. Shows that I'm no longer as young as I thought I am. Without much sleep at night due to trying to find the most comfortable position, I'm getting grumpier by the minute. To think that I'm going back to work tomorrow, doesn't look that good. Seeing that I can't sit for long.

Hoping that God actually gives me some rest tonite.

Petronas to go bust by 2018??

Now this is a very interesting topic that caught my attention when I read The Star online.

I’m not sure whether should I find this a topic a laugh or should I be embarrassed. But feeling both can be ironic. I feel that, with this news splashed over the papers, can make the whole country a laughing stock. Imagine that a huge multi-national company dealing in oil can actually go bust or is predicted to go bust. What more when the government has some sort of share in it? Does this mean that the government has been ignoring the company? Or does it mean that, they have been managing it poorly? Wouldn’t it be their responsibility to make sure that they hire the appropriate person with the capability to run the organization as it should be?

In the news, it is said that the CEO, Tan Sri Hassan Marican warned that many national petroleum companies in the world have ceased to exist or were in financial trouble today because all their profits were taken away from them. So far, there have been a couple of companies like BP merging to become BHP or Mobil with Esso to become ExxonMobil. But is there any other oil company in the world willing to take the big risk of doing mergers with Petronas? I for one wouldn’t. Imagine having to merge and paying the blardy government billions and billions in taxes. What is to be seen in the future for Petronas, will definitely be a huge impact towards the citizen of Malaysia.

Is that why the citizens of this country has been made to suffer just because of their incompetence? Makes me totally want to puke with all these “pitiful” stories to get people’s sympathy. Aww!! You poor poor company. Paying so much taxes till you’re almost going bust. Do you need any help? Need us to pay more taxes to subsidize your holidays overseas?! Dream on!

Up Up and Away

Up Up and Away can be related to smoke or to the recent price hike of petrol which also means that our money in our purses and wallets are definitely going up in smoke. So up up and away it goes.

I've yet to find the energy or that so-called "passion" to be totally infuriated with the government as I used to be when they initially kept increasing petrol price. But after this round, I think I have gotten immune to it. I don't get angry with the CCB (don't ask me what that stands for cos it's illegal to post it here) government but more of get really disappointed with them. Gone were the days that I'll rant, object, whine about this whole price hike. I'm just praying hard to God that, even with the increase of price from A-Z due to the petrol hike, I'm only asking for not an increase of crimes. As I foresee that will bound to happen when people get desperate.

After experiencing the massive jam and even not being able to get my turn at the petrol pump, I'm beginning to think like Zewt, that the grass will be much greener on the other side. Getting the drift here??

Which basically means that my current project that I'm actually thinking of starting might not kick off after all. Have to discuss in more detail with hubby on this.

So what's your take on this?

P.S (Pix taken from Yahoo Image)

Worn out

Things have just started to heat up in my life. With classes 3 days a night during weekdays after work and having to use up most of my brain cells during the day at work, and not counting in the fact that I've been trying to get enough discipline to get up much earlier than normal, not to fit in a routine exercise but to actually feed my pup and play with her a bit before my daily morning routine. Then coming back after class to again, spend sometime with my pup before retiring to bed. It's a bit overwhelming.

I'm starting to question, whether I'm up to this, but I've made a pact with myself, I have to push myself to this extent in order to reap the rewards later on. What kind of rewards?? That is for another entry much later when it has materialized.

I have to keep telling myself that I can do this. It's only for a few months. After this project ends, I'm done. I can go on with my life at a more leisurely pace, albeit missing a big chunk of financial independence of course but in compensation to that, there will be the splendor of doing something I have passion in. ;)

So, I'm depending solely on the Almighty God to help me get through these few months, and give me the strength I need to do it.

A small addition to the family.

It's been months since I last update my blog. One is due to the current project I'm handling and another is due to a small addition to the family lately. She's named Duchess.

She's now 2 months and 4 days old, has a big appetite and is very very inquisitive. She explores everything, poos and pees according to her whims and fancies. So it's been a real hectic time running after her and cleaning up the house each times she decides to let go.

I'm not talking about my baby, though indirectly she is. Just a four-legged baby and a furry one too. I'm talking about my Welsh Pembroke Corgie. A gift from my hubby. :)



So, do enjoy her pictures. Will update from time to time when I'm not going mad trying totoilet-train Duchess.

New project

Well, it's been ages since I've updated my blog. I'll be on a project for a couple of months. Too secretive?? There is a reason for that. Will be updating once every thing's up and running smoothly.

So, hang in there and have a little patience. :)

Pissing

A normal routine on Saturday would be to eat breakfast out instead of our normal "healthy" breakfast of oats and bread.

A real good sleep was needed after a grueling week and a hearty breakfast always follows to start a good weekend. Today was no different. So when we got to the coffee shop which happens to be a different one from where we would normally hang out, we ordered our favourite Kuching kolo mee. We just so happened to chance upon the dish there.

As we were having our meal, my husband got a shock when he saw this little boy, not that little but still in primary school, probably either in the age range of 8-9 years of age, running through the coffee shop in his underwear. Of course he was wearing a t-shirt, not half naked. The best part was, he was rushing out of the coffee shop to piss right in front of the entrance of the coffee shop, where tables and chairs were place and there were customers sitting right there. In BROAD DAYLIGHT!!! Now can you beat that? To makes things better, his mother was just at the stall nearby packing food and when she saw him doing that, she did not reprimand him, nor apologise for his behaviour but instead took out a tissue from her purse and helped him "dry up"!!!

I did not know that civilization in Kuala Lumpur was not up to par with the other cities around the world. The scenario seems more to suit a war torn country, where the children run around in probably without shoes or even shirts but not in metropolitan KL.

Sorry no pictures taken. I was too shock to do anything other than I almost puke into my bowl of noodles when I saw it happening in front of my eyes.

So, tell me, what would you do if you were there?? Just watch in shock like me or otherwise?

First of all firsts

First day at work seems daunting but colleagues were very open and friendly which makes things less intimidating. It’s a first of all things to be actually working as a free lance consultant and can be rewarding where you actually dictate your own time as long as the work is done on schedule. Also another first of “camping” out at clients’ office during the project tenure. So, it’s another new discovery. Best of all I’m allowed to have free flow of internet access which I swear to myself I will not abuse my rights. Surprisingly I’ve managed to stay away from all my usual url haunts for the past few days.

One thing for sure that kept me away was because the amount of reading I had to do to catch up with the project as well as trying to finish up my part before the first dateline which I’m proud to say I’ve done my part so far. The only tasked that has yet to be actually done is getting screen shots of the system where I’m still waiting for after the UAT has been done. (Please excuse all the jargons)

Anyway, I’ve decided to update what has been happening so far here since I’ve been going MIA for a few days or weeks at time.

So nothing major to give account on so far. So have a great remaining week ahead. J

Boycott!!

“Dutch instructions on parking meters to be replaced: MPSJ” This is a title that bore right into my mind when I just glanced through it.

Get real people!!! Wake up!!! This thing has been happening for centuries. Life isn’t fair. When is life ever fair? How many times has this issue happen over and over again? Just because some idiotic person has decided to come out with a film on religion may it be something bad or good, some other even more idiotic fellow decides to stand up for their religion rights and put a stop to it by going all the way. One good example is shown right here in Malaysian waters. I mean for goodness sake!!! Before this, there was no issues of using foreign products and now right after the film is made companies in Malaysia like Mydin or MPSJ for that to say are downright boycotting Dutch products, instructions etc.

What about other religions?? Do they think that no one has made any caricature or jokes or even printed T-shirts of other Gods anywhere and make a fool out of it? It has happened. But I don’t see other religions banning products, writing in the papers about it all those. Rather they believe in praying or just being silent about it. Don’t believe, try looking at the pictures below? Or is it because our own country do not care about other religions other than what they think as the main one?

Really sick and tired of all these religious war. Why can’t for once people let all these religious things be a private thing and not a full blown war??!!! Damn!

Hail Storm in Malaysia

Quoted from " http://www.tornadochaser.net/hail.html" How does large hail form or why does hail form?
Updrafts within thunderstorms push rain high into the cloud where very cold air freezes it. Once frozen it starts to fall but gets caught in another strong updraft where it gathers more moisture on its way back up making it larger. If the updrafts are strong enough they will continue this process for long periods of time allowing the hail to accumulate more moisture and more moisture. In a severe thunderstorm downdrafts may act like a wedge and increase the intensity of the updraft. Updrafts can get so strong they even intrude into the stable stratosphere. When updrafts are this strong it becomes possible to suspend large hail for long periods of time further adding moisture to the hail, sometimes building it to incredible sizes. Updraft winds can be from 100 to 120 miles per hour when producing baseball and larger size hail.

To actually watch this happened in Malaysia’s climate and before my eyes was something I would never expect let alone believe but that was what happened when I was on my way back from my husband’s hometown, Seremban yesterday afternoon.

The journey, started as normal. The jam was terrible starting from town due to the strong wind and torrential rain pelting down heavily. As we passed the trees along the way, they all look threateningly about to come crashing down on top of us. That was how heavy and strong the rain and wind was. While we were almost reaching the toll we suddenly heard thunderous sounds of “things” dropping on the roof car. Then as we watched closely, we saw that it was small ice cubes. It was not as big as those that we can find in our freezers, more of like how ice-blended ice cubes looks like.

We were all amazed, more like stunned that we actually saw hail storm happening in Malaysia, in a climate like ours but when it started coming down really heavily, and started to chip the wind screen, I suggested we detoured and go find cover before our wind screen really cracked. So we ended up going to Jusco’s parking for shelter while we waited out the storm. Luckily it only went on for a couple of minutes but as much as it was an eye-opener and pretty exciting to a certain extent, the potential of what could really happen if a huge hail storm occurs actually came to my mind and it was quite a grim picture.

So, I’m still thinking of how in the world can a mini hail storm occur in our Malaysian climate and from what I hear this is not a first time, but still a first in front of my eyes. I wonder when actual winter will occur then?? Any chance you think?

New life

How does it feel to bring a new life into this world? I've been "hmming and haaing" over this question ever since I've gotten married.

Ever since I've gotten married my husband and I have talked about having kids soon but I'm not sure whether I'm up to it. Whether I'll be a great mum? Whether we're financially ready? Whether I'm brave enough to go through labour pains? So many questions to ponder yet somewhere inside my brain back there I have this inkling that I do want to have one but am scared of all the unanswered questions.

Having more exposure to the latest technology and making use of it like the internet and not forgetting my favourite channel in Astro, Travel and Living Health channel, I've been researching a lot of my questions on the net as well as finding out some answers on the tele. I'm not sure whether I'm ready after reading and finding out more answers but I guess I'm beginning to toy with the idea of having kids isn't that scary after all.

So keeping fingers cross that everything will be fine and less scary when the inevitable happens. So new life, new career in the line soon. God has been merciful and I'm hoping He will take my hand and lead me all the way. :)

Unanswered questions

Lately a lot has been going through my mind.

After the country's election, I wonder how the new politicians will be able to prove themselves, to able to prove that they're much better than the old government, whether the older government will find dirty tactics and ways to bring down the new government. After a few days I stopped reading the papers too. All I find inside are depressing news of how the old government are acting, being sour grapes. Even the new government aren't working among themselves. Power crazy maybe? Who knows? But it's a depressing news.

I felt exhilaration for a couple of days when I decided to throw caution against the wind and resigned without a job. This is the first for me, and it feels great. I thought that I would worry about how I will be able to find ways and means to pay for my commitments but surprisingly I did not have any niggling feeling at all. It came about when my manageress decided to be her normal self and act like the demented ever-barking dog she is. Not in the terms of barking orders but more of barking because she's not please about any single thing. In one word, I've had my patience worn thin when I'm being rebuked by someone for no particular reason. Thank God I wasn't the only one who wasn't in her good books. At least it didn't made things as miserable as it was but I really pitied all the uncles in my organization who have been pressured by her endlessly. One of these days I'm just worried a blood pressure in their body will burst and a stroke will occur. Unsurprisingly this has happened to numerous other parties but I guess management has turn a blind eye to it.

Yesterday was Good Friday and as I attended mass I was nearly brought to tears when I think back of how the Son of God has suffered intentionally for our sins, my sins. It has never gotten to me this deep. The vision of the movie, Passion of the Christ came into my mind when the sermon was given.

So, not literally being weepy but been thinking more and more of things happening around me, in my life. Some good and some bad. Nothing unusual about that I'd admit. Just feel a little hopeless at times how things come about. Maybe I should spent more quiet time with God and maybe a little practicing of what I've read in The Secret might help eh? I wonder how well it works?

Is it worth it?

After a long break during the Chinese New Year, I came back with new vigour and determination to work my ass off. I started to get the ball rolling for both projects. I’ve been busy travelling, visiting branches and it’s been a real eye-opener. What I meant in terms of an eye-opener meaning how things are run in this organisation. My job is to ease the burdens of these branches by being the eyes and ears as well as the voice to the management but I’ve been failing miserably in this aspect. With constant figures and feedbacks from the branches and having presented them to the management, they seem to be in denial how badly things are at the branches. Rather than figuring out how to lend a hand, the management prefer to find more faults with the branches which cause more anger and resentment among the employees at branches. Now I understand why my predecessors left the organisation and why I’m stuck in my current position now.

At times, a sense of helplessness overcomes me and I just feel moody whole day long, and it doesn’t help with the new dragon lady acting exactly like a dragon, forever breathing fire and snarling away. It makes me appreciate my previous boss, even if he lacks certain leadership skills.

Tell me, how do you actually succeed in being a better employee when you’re being screamed at for taking initiative to do things better and having your self confidence and effort being ripped apart when you try to get advice from a dragon lady? I’m lost for words as to how do I actually describe the scenario here. Even with constant stream of words of wisdom and encouragement from the Bible, I’m still at a loss here. I’ve never felt so helpless, useless and demotivated in my life. It makes me wonder whether getting pounded by verbal abuse everyday is worth every penny earned?

The past weeks incidents has got me thinking whether what I’ve earned so far in this organisation, will it be a waste to just throw it all away for the sake of my own health and happiness?

It’s time to sit back, pray, evaluate and find out what are my main priorities in life.

Gong Xi Fa Cai

Yes. The year of the Rat is looming over us and it's coming in 5 more days. I always look forward to Chinese New Year every year as it's the time when my brother and sister used to come back from overseas during the uni breaks and we would all have great fun. Well, now it's different where now I look forward to go back to spend time with my parents and my siblings as well during CNY ever since I started studying and working in KL.

2008's CNY has been a pretty quiet one. Not much of festivities around. I don't feel there's much celebration in the air, probably due to the increase of price in everything, that everyone's watching what they spend this year.

Oh well, I still find it's a good time to catch up with friends and relatives. This year is no different. I usually go out with a bunch of friends in KL for a round of Yee Sang before going back home for CNY but since most of the gang are already not around, this year's lou sang is only with a small group, 3 of us to be exact. The remaining of the gang will be meeting up after CNY which will be great fun. We decided to go to Din Tai Fung which is located in The Gardens. Why we chose this location was by chance. I actually wanted to go there to check out the decorations for Mid Valley this year but it was disappointing. Not as what I expected it to be. I find Pavilion's decoration much better this year.




Anyway, we of course had our Yee Sang. Salmon Yee Sang to be exact. I was pleasantly surprised to find the service at Din Tai Fung pretty good. As they added the plum sauce, oil, and other ingredients, the waitress actually made several CNY wishes. I'm impressed with that.





We ordered a separate dish for ourselves, a-la carte as there weren't a lot of us, and we decided to keep things simple, so we had preserved mustard and pork la mien which tasted really fresh but the soup still had great taste, prawn and pork dumpling la mien which is also a remarkable dish. I decided to go against the norm and ordered a seafood udon. The prawns were really fresh and most succulent. Yummy! Since this is just like a pre-CNY dinner, not much photos of food here. Will upload more after we've had our proper yearly CNY dinner after we're all back from our hols. But do enjoy the pictures that I took at each of the malls that I managed to go. :)






So, a Happy and Prosperous Chinese New Year to you all!!! Enjoy your holidays. See you guys when I get back.

Painting the town "red"

Having an extra holiday in between the week has always been welcomed news. Of course like most people whenever there’s a holiday I try to get some house chores done or to laze around but this round my husband and I had to do some entertaining of relatives that came from outstation. So we hit the malls for some CNY shopping. It was no as crowded as I expected it to be. We could easily find a parking whenever we went to a different mall, other than the normal jam at Bukit Bintang. We managed to scour 2 malls within 4 hours and we did manage to find pretty good deals.

Of course any outing will include good food. But we did not get it at the mall; we decided to go and get food at the pasar malam near my area. Sorry, but no pictures here as we were ravenous when we got back so we started digging in before any pictures could be taken. After we finished eating we suddenly smelt kerosene in the air. At first we thought that it came from behind of the house as some houses were doing some renovation but the smell actually came from the front. We went out to check out where the smell was wafting in from and we saw that some brainless ah long (useless human being who are rich enough to lend people $ but use uncivilised ways to get the $ back from the borrower) decided to embarrass my next door neighbour by throwing red paint, not knowing that this particular neighbour of hours has a skin thicker than any rhino or elephant in the world. They have gotten this kind of treatment at least 3 to 4 times so we ignored it as we’re not the typical nosey Malaysian. Anyway, we went back to clear up the table after eating and when it was time to send our relatives off, we were about to get into the car when we realised that the paint also splashed on our car!!!!!! Then only we saw another plastic bag with paint in our compound as well.

The whole situation made me see red immediately, not because of the red paint but because I was fuming. Out of no reason, we had to suffer due to some incompetent idiot. I mean, good Lord. If you’re really an ah long, might as well go up to the house and throw the paint directly not go pass in a motorbike and throw 2 plastic bags of paint. Really, one word for these guys, F**KING NO BALLS!!!! Well, of course other than fuming the whole night, we had to do something before the paint really set in so my husband had to quickly go out and get turpentine to get the paint off. Luckily the paint of the car did not come off with the red paint. We took at least 4 hours to get the paint off the car and wash the compound and sad to say, not even a word of sorry from the bloody next door neighbour.

The best part of the story is, when we called 999, the operator that picked up asked us to call the police station nearest to us and make the report. So after calling the police station and explaining the situation, the police had the nerve to actually tell us to go to the station and make the report. So much for Cekap dan Mesra slogan by the police force. It’s a useless slogan. Might as well change it to Lambat dan Pengecut. So, I wonder how the government expect the public to trust the police to protect and help us if they can’t even solve such simple things. At least have the decency to come over and look, take some pictures and take down our statement rather asking us to go over to the station. But then again, as usual putting hopes in these people is like putting hope in a pile of shit! Useless! Sigh!

Petrol future for 2008

This article below got me thinking. Based on what I received earlier of the day to boycott all means of pumping petrol on 24^th of January 2008, this article was sent to me by a friend working in Shell. Some of you might say that it is a way to make his stand in showing his commitment to the company but some of you might also say it has a true ringing to it as well.

We all know that oil and all the resources will one day finish and it’s up to the government of the country to actually find ways and means to find substitutes for the fuel via solar, wind or hydroelectricity and etc. What has our government of Malaysia been doing I wonder? Any comments on this??

From: Jeroen van der Veer, Chief Executive To: All Shell employees Date: 22 January 2008 Subject: Shell Energy Scenarios

Dear Colleagues

In this letter, I'd like to share reflections about how we see the energy future, and our preferred route to meeting the world's energy needs. Industry, governments and energy users - that is, all of us - will face the twin challenge of more energy and less CO₂.

This letter is based on a text I've written for publication in several newspapers in the coming weeks. You can use it in your communications externally. There will be more information about energy scenarios in the months ahead.

By the year 2100, the world's energy system will be radically different from today's. Renewable energy like solar, wind, hydroelectricity and biofuels will make up a large share of the energy mix, and nuclear energy too will have a place.

Mankind will have found ways of dealing with air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. New technologies will have reduced the amount of energy needed to power buildings and vehicles.

Indeed, the distant future looks bright, but getting there will be an adventure. At Shell, we think the world will take one of two possible routes. The first, a scenario we call Scramble, resembles a race through a mountainous desert. Like an off-road rally, it promises excitement and fierce competition. However, the unintended consequence of "more haste" will often be "less speed" and many will crash along the way.

The alternative scenario, called Blueprints, has some false starts and develops like a cautious ride on a road that is still under construction. Whether we arrive safely at our destination depends on the discipline of the drivers and the ingenuity of all those involved in the construction effort. Technical innovation provides for excitement.

Regardless of which route we choose, the world's current predicament limits our maneuvering room. We are experiencing a step-change in the growth rate of energy demand due to population growth and economic development, and Shell estimates that after 2015 supplies of easy-to-access oil and gas will no longer keep up with demand.

As a result, society has no choice but to add other sources of energy - renewables, yes, but also more nuclear power and unconventional fossil fuels such as oil sands. Using more energy inevitably means emitting more CO₂ at a time when climate change has become a critical global issue.

In the Scramble scenario, nations rush to secure energy resources for themselves, fearing that energy security is a zero-sum game, with clear winners and losers. The use of local coal and homegrown biofuels increases fast.

Taking the path of least resistance, policymakers pay little attention to curbing energy consumption - until supplies run short. Likewise, despite much rhetoric, greenhouse gas emissions are not seriously addressed until major shocks trigger political reactions. Since these responses are overdue, they are severe and lead to energy price spikes and volatility.

The other route to the future is less painful, even if the start is more disorderly. This Blueprints scenario sees numerous coalitions emerging to take on the challenges of economic development, energy security and environmental pollution through cross-border cooperation.

Much innovation occurs at the local level, as major cities develop links with industry to reduce local emissions. National governments introduce efficiency standards, taxes and other policy instruments to improve the environmental performance of buildings, vehicles and transport fuels.

As calls for harmonization increase, policies converge across the globe. Cap-and-trade mechanisms that put a cost on industrial CO₂ emissions gain international acceptance. Rising CO₂ prices accelerate innovation, spawning breakthroughs. A growing number of cars are powered by electricity and hydrogen, while industrial facilities are fitted with technology to capture CO₂ and store it underground.

Against the backdrop of these two equally plausible scenarios, we will only know in a few years whether December's Bali declaration on climate change was just rhetoric or the beginning of a global effort to counter it. Much will depend on how attitudes evolve in Beijing , Brussels , New Delhi and Washington .

Shell traditionally uses its scenarios to prepare for the future without expressing a preference for one over another. But, faced with the need to manage climate risk for our investors and our grandchildren, we believe the Blueprints outcomes provide the best balance between economy, energy and environment.

For a second opinion, we appealed to climate change calculations made at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. These calculations indicate that a Blueprints world with CO₂ capture and storage results in the least amount of climate change, provided emissions of other major manmade greenhouse gases are similarly reduced.

The sobering reality is that the Blueprints scenario will only come to pass if policymakers agree a global approach to emissions trading and actively promote energy efficiency and new technology in four sectors: heat and power generation, industry, mobility and buildings. It will be hard work and there is little time.

For instance, Blueprints assumes CO₂ is captured at 90% of all coal- and gas-fired power plants in developed countries in 2050, plus at least 50% of those in non-OECD countries. Today, there are none. Since CO₂ capture and storage adds cost and brings no revenues, government support is needed to make it happen quickly on a scale large enough to affect global emissions. At the very least, companies should earn carbon credits for the CO₂ they capture and store.

Blueprints will not be easy. But it offers the world the best chance of reaching a sustainable energy future unscathed, so we should explore this route with the same ingenuity and persistence that put humans on the moon and created the digital age.

The world faces a long voyage before it reaches a low-carbon energy system. Companies can suggest possible routes to get there, but governments are in the driving seat. And governments will determine whether we should prepare for a bitter competition or a true team effort.

That is the article, and how I see our challenges and opportunities. I look forward to hearing how you see the situation (please be concise).

Regards

Jeroen van der Veer
Chief Executive

A second chance

As I read the paper this morning a title in the paper caught my attention. It says, “A second chance for strays - Dogs rounded up by MPSJ to be offered for adoption".

Firstly, I applaud and salute the MPSJ for doing this. They are the first council in Malaysia that I hear actually show a positive attitude towards strays. And furthermore, the MPSJ president is Datuk Adnan Md Ikhsan. In the section, quoted from the Star, "According to MPSJ president Datuk Adnan Md Ikhsan, stray dogs rounded up by the council would first be put up for adoption before they are put down. He added that the MPSJ did not want euthanasia to be the only option in countering the problem. "We would prefer that the dogs are given second chance by those willing to take them into their homes as pets or as guard dogs for their farms, " said Adnan. Bravo!! I really respect him for doing this. He is the first council head and a Malay as well who actually don't want to see dogs being put to death for no reason. At least he's giving them a second chance unlike other councils, all they know is to kill that's all.

Honestly I have nothing about Malays not liking dogs as I know it's something to do with their religion but at least have the courtesy like Datuk Adnan to give the animals a second chance. I really hope that other councils would learn from him to take this action. Dogs, cats, guinea pigs, hamsters, iguanas are all pets. They should not suffer just because they are strays where maybe some irresponsible owners out there couldn't control or teach their pets, they rather choose the easy way of letting them go astray, hoping that the pets can find food in the rubbish bin.

I know that all the pet shops nowadays offer beautiful dogs and cats for sale. Those are breeder dogs, and boy do they cost a lot. So, it is a wise decision for Datuk Adnan to let the dogs be adopted. They make better pets even compared to some expensive breed. Anyway, hasn't there been many medical articles talking about how keeping a pet actually reduces the chances of a person getting a heart attack?

Again, I salute and pay my highest respect to the MPSJ for being the first to initiate this adoption campaign. Good job!

Rollercoster emotions

"Ring!Ring!" I always dread hearing the phone ring in the middle of the night. Have always had this phobia that something not good has happened for someone to actually call in the middle of the night.

But I did not get such a phone call. I got a sms from my sister on Saturday morning, informing that my eldest aunty was comatose in the hospital from a stroke. Not a very good start of the weekend and to have to hear my mum sobbing over the phone, incomprehensible words from her makes things worse. Even when my grandmother passed away when I was young, my mum wasn't crying uncontrollably like now. So it came as a shock with the news of my aunty and my mum on the phone in that state made me have this dreaded feeling of doom overwhelm me.

I've never been brought up in a family that showed much affection other than the relative pat on the head saying I'm a good girl. No huggings or kissings on the cheek. None. But I do hug my family members each time I leave for KL, some tradition my brother started way back when he was in his university days. So when I heard my mum cried on the phone I felt like a helpless fish on land, I didn't know what to say to console her and I felt like crying. I felt like a useless shit practically. I know that words to console her won't make any difference but deep down I know it will still give her some comfort. A weird and sad thing was, it's easier for me to say it to friends rather than to my family. I wonder why. But after 1 day of pondering how to say it out, I decided to call my mum to console her this morning. Wasn't too bad as I expected it to be, nor was it as awkward as I thought it would be. Probably due to the fact that my tummy was queasy enough from all the diarrhea that I didn't feel any butterflies in my stomach while I was waiting for my mum to pick up the phone.

So, getting that over and done with, now the only thing bugging me is the condition of my aunt. Came as a shock as she looks well when she attended my wedding last month. I guess again, God is trying to tell me that human life is really very unpredictable and to cherish what valuable time we have with our loved ones. Not spending time to find fault with each other or to spend time idling away, doing irrelevant things. I always felt like if anything happens to me, I'm ready to leave this world myself but I'm not ready for people around me to leave. I don't think I'll ever be ready.

Now the only thing I'm concentrating on is to pray hard to God that He is there to comfort everyone of us while He heals her slowly.