disoriented...

I am a bit disoriented today. Have not felt like this for quite sometime now. No, nothing to do with my aging process..heheh. Last nite my PA texted me in a very like takut2 manner if it is ok for her to tender her resignation cos she got this damn great offer at a global company at cyberjaya. What do you think anyone in my place would or should react? I was like... owh shit...what went wrong? I mean what did I do wrong? I asked her, why? you don't like to work with me/for me nemore aaah? wei? hahaha. I told her, while I am dissapointed at her leaving us at such short notice, like always...I never grudge people on their better prospects. I reminded her to carry herself well cos she will not only be carrying herself, but will be carrying our (MRC) and MY reputation. If her new employers have high regard for her deliverables and her performance...kite pon tompang le semangkok...hehe. In other words, her performance there nanti, will speak volumes...wether or not, we had trained her well while with us. I am still disoriented and wants to cry now...uwaaaaa...

mind masturbation....(MM)

Heh...sorry for that rather provocative, perhaps intimidating and somewhat bluish well..yellow for the color blind...title of my blogpost today. Its the mental mode and drive I am in right now. Suddenly there are soo many papers to write, a few speaking engagements...hmmm a good problem actually. I have been invited to speak for the 3rd consecutive year, at the International Quality Symposium 2008, at the brand new Garden Hotel, MidValley. Have been asked to speak on crisis management(huh?). Last night I was thinking how to put some oomph in the topic and I decided it should read: "Crisis Management: a hopeful oasis or a devious mirage?". That should attract the crowd hehe, especially when your speaking is slotted during the 'graveyard shift' haha. Then I need to do some more research before I get caught with my pants down when I speak with van ratingen, secretary-general of EuroNCAP at IBIS Australia 2008 next week on Technology - Vehicle Safety Systems And Their Impact On Repairability...hehe. Then I remembered, omg...there's another one at Hotel Istana August 12-13 by Marcus&Evans 'Maintaining Transparency In Your Organization by Propounding Corporate Disclosure Policies..' (whatever that means! hahaha). Then I got a call from the School of Economics, Universiti Malaysia Sabah informing me that I have been selected as one of the industry/practice external reviewer/assessor to look at their new MBA program curriculum. There was to be a postgrad group retreat at Kundasang about an hour and a half away from Kota Kinabalu but that was initially scheduled on August 8 but has been changed now I was told. Thank gawd, cos I would just only be flying back from Sydney on that day! There's plenty more on the plate actually..the national agenda proposal to treasury, 3 position papers for the coming annual Research Council for Automobile Repairs (RCAR) meeting in Paris in September et al...which I am still working on... bla bla bla... ok ok I shall not bore you further with my itinerary and 'classified projects' hehe but I do look forward to the grande finale of my speaking engagements for the year...hehe...ermm in Cairo, I think, sometime early November izzit? hehe. Yezzez yes yes my brain has had a damn good exercise! (MM anyone? hahahaha)..enjoy the rest of the week folks!....

MICPA 50th Anniversary Gala Dinner...

I just got back from the 50th Anniversary of the Malaysian Institute of Chartered and Public Accountants Gala Dinner at the Mandarin Oriental Kuala Lumpur. As usual, boring dinner, not to mention long boring speeches by dignitaries...ish. But, before that, thank you Halim, my colleague at HTP Berhad, President of the Young MICPA club, 35 years old and making a mark in the corporate world and I have heard some encouraging accolades about you from other head honcos too...and you too Wadi (I know u are also reading my blogpost...hehe). I never fail to accomodate all his invitations, well, almost, hehe unless of course I am not in town! Even if it is a last minute invite (wink). Thank you bro. Spotted and chatted with, at the pre-dinner session was, CF Lim ED of PIAM and his wife, Datuk Ab Halim (former MICPA president) & Datin, Datuk Nordin Baharuddin Chairman of KUB and current MICPA President, Mohamad Abdullah until recently my board member and former Chairman of Malaysian Re and his wife, Vice Chancellor of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia Tan Sri & Puan Sri. Of course lots were chatted on the table which I suspect some were not comfortably digested by some people. As usual, I would ramble on, distasteful and 'outofthisweld' jokes, some of which unclassified and uncensored...much to the disgust of many like this one for example...hehe..I was reminiscing the gud ole 'ragging' days at ITM (now UiTM) where we would purposely single out ACCA or CIMA students and ask them what's the definition of an accountant? and the answer? one who makes a double entry! hahahaha...(wink). Bean counters you say? naaaah...that's a bit too common, out of date...hehe. Do have a great sunday ahead folks! nanait....

what a saturday afternoon it was...

Institute of Marketing Malaysia (IMM) official publication...

my article just published in the IMM newsletter issue 2/2008...

I must tell you what happened awhile ago when I was on my way to pick up extra copies of the above journal. I realised that I had not been on the ground to feel or to emphatize the real feelings of malaysians on the ground in their homes these days...and how frightened, scared, worried and xenophopic they have become too. Yes, OMG, where have i been? Just now i was with an old colleague in his jallopy (sowee Goh hahaha) proton wira (looking like a getaway or like the ones used by robbers...or worst, like the car that hijacked Canny Ong remember?hahaha). No wonder people at section 14 PJ wasn't too friendly or too eager to give a helping hand. I just wanted to know where Jalan 14/37D is...and 2 people we met (in front of their homes...thot we were robbers...hahaha...with me and my steven covey look hahaha well more like kojak actually...hahaha). one politely and softly said...sowee lar incek aaa...gua pon balu pintah sinie woo...wa tatau lar...sowee aah grinning with a sheepishly worried look hahaha. the next guy on the next road was even more interesting. the minute he saw us coming to his gate (he was at the gate at the time mind u..) he quickly went inside the house...hahaha

ok ok...lets move on to something much more appetising...heheh. my gud ole fren kheng siang...ya ya the same ole golden age buddy i was with above, took me to this cool new joint at subang jaya in front of sheraton subang beside SJMC...yummy gud food, gud ole kampong kuih coming out all hot and fried JIT..hehe...where cud one find such unbelievable prices during ths 'high fuel price' times huh?... we had tehtarik, kueh kasui (my favourite javanese kue), cucuk udang...welll more like cucuk carrot...hahaha and cikodok...yes...the same ones your mum makes for you when u were a kid, remember? and det costs us only RM6.60...can u beat that? and what else u get? the view uish..owww...awesome maaaan...u have to be there to experience it yourselves..hahaha

there you are? the crowd flow is impressive. cool crowd, very cosmopolitan, very the uptodate oso leh...from tudungs to 'jeansyangnampaktabungs'...hahahaha suma adaa jugak (wink)

u must try it.... ok folks enjoy the rest of the weekend. I blogged this post as soon as I got home..hehe and do, please do checkitout. no, i am not competing with maria sabree of the jom makan TV3 fame and no, i am not getting any commission from bawang merah and neither am i a shareholder or a sleeping partner...hahahahaha

the Asia HRD Congress 2008, Jakarta Convention Center, Indonesia, July 22-24

Chairing a concurrent plenary session entitled 'Talent Management' by Prakash Rohera, Director of TheRedwoodEdge, India ...he didn't like it when I was bloody assertive and shot him down to finish at exactly at 3pm Jakarta time..hahaha. Otherwise he is nice fellow...I obliged when he wanted to do some exercise with the delegates before his presentation proper (typical trainer! bah)

CEO Forum II at 5pm on day one. Panelist included yours truly, Bapak Kasmuri, Prakash and Hasnah (HR Director Proton Holdings Berhad)

Ole frens. Roslan (Principal Sime Darby Business School), Dr Palan (Chairman SMR Group) & Bapak Hj Zulkifli Baharom (the strategist behind HRD Asia Congress 2008)...

Roslan Razak smiling showing off his HRD Award insisting that I capture the moment with none other than THE Dato' Lokman Musa or lebih dikenali dengan nama manja Dale...hehe

It's 1 AM in the morning. Just got home. Thought my regular fans would like to know where I have been and what I have ben up to. There you are, some photos of my 2nd trip to Jakarta in a month! Will share some more photos later..In the meantime, I do need some sleep ok? Which reminds me of that pickup line script in the movie 'Ironman'. Did you watch the movie? There was this scee when a dropdeadgorgeous journalist ws trying to catch a moment with JOhn Stark of Stark Industries. She finally managed to corner him. And this is how the script goes: John Stark..you're a very busy man, themost important man in America as far as the military & defence sector are concerned (something like thatlah)...she went on to say...you're a workaholic...don't you evcr sleep at all? and you know what John Stark replied? ..'I wouldn't mind a few hours with you!'..... hehe...nanait folks...I do need some rest ok?

wedding egg-a-calling...telor puyuh?

I just got back from a wedding at SUK Hall Shahalam. It was Maimon's eldest daughter's wedding. Maimon was my secretary when I was general manager of University of Malaya Cooperative. I still remember Mimi (the bride) was just a little girl browsing books at the coop while her mum was working nearby. O my gawd, she has grown up into a beautiful young woman and is now a wife. The couple will soon leave for Dubai as her hubby is based there. I met my other ex-staff too. O my gawd, it has been years since I left the coop. Maimon was secretary to my predecessor the late Fahim Yaacob then (of the famous Yaacob clan from Kota Bharu....Fauzi, Fahmi, and Datuk Hishamudin Yaacob whom I also met just now, briefly towards the end of the ceremony). When I got the job offer, Maimon had just got home with her family after a 2 year stint in the UK. She asked back for her job and I gave it to her. At some point in time she joined my old employer, OxfordUniversity Press and was secretary to Edda de Silva the MD who succeeded M Sockalingam.

I notice, we are forever late for weddings and leave before the ceremony ends...much to the disgust of others as well as to the host I suspect...hehe. We do not seem to keep to schedule. Walking in and out as I had commented in my previous wedding blogs, walking shamelessly across the hall in the middle of the ceremony. I, for one, am very particular about functions, don't wanna be too early or late...its bloody embarassing man...hehe.

Anyway, Aishah...yes THE Aishah...the NZ fan club singer with the jeans (yang nampak tabung tuh...hahaha), She looks awesome now (?)....and I must put this on record, that it seems gifts or table gifts have moved from aromatic candles, candies, chocs, chicken eggs to quail egss now (telor puyuh)...that's quite innovative. But I kinda like the pantun gurindam seloka Khalid Salleh as the couple moved in to the Pelamin tempat bersanding (the Dais):

Rasmilah sudah dua sejoli

menjadi ikatan suami isteri

mimim ezura nama bini

mohd sahrul nama laki

kelak hidup berumahtangga

belacan garam asam dan gula

pahit dan manis akan dirasa

penguat semangat hidup bersama

jangan bertengkar jangan bergaduh

sampai membangkit segala yang hodoh

biarlah akal menjadi penyembuh

cari yang jernih buang yang keruh

lambat cepat beranaklah juga

namanya juga cahaya mata

bila mengndung mengidamlah dia

hati nyamuk jangan dipinta

kisah sejarah di gunung ledang

memberi makna erti yang terang

duga dan cabar jangan direntang

maklum fahamkan mudah dan senang

sembilan bulan sepuluh hari

benih tumbuh mebentuk diri

bulan da bintang menjadi saksi

hidup manusia bermula disini

doa restu ibu dan bapa

lahirlah anak dari sifatnya

hukum dan syarat menjadi manusia

berkahwin itu sunnah rasulnya

adat bernama budaya melayu

bersanding berarak mengundang tamu

cara kita memang begitu

sambil berjamu kitabertemu

asal kapas menjadi benang

benang menarik si layang layang

bagaikan sirih bertaut di gagang

isteri dikasih suami di sayang

lubuk bermandi puteri bersiram
bersih dan jernih untuk berendam

dengan bismillah akhirul kalam

semoga mempelai rukun dan tenteram...

london diary...

a summer night at 111 cromwell road kensington...a view from my boutique hotel window

haha..you're not alone jasper! it's a global phenomena silly!...

Kakteh choc-a-blog was too busy and had no time for me...uwaaaaaa. She was a dear fren and had been a UK permanent resident with her family more than 20 years ago. Her last text message to me was, she was with Minister Rais Yatim. 2 ministers were in london, Rais (Foreign Affairs) and Minister Ong (tansport). The former was trying to persuade the British Government not to impose visa requirements to bona fide Malaysian travelers (like yours truly), and the latter was there to witness the signing ceremony of MAS purchase of the new 737-800 Boeing when reports in the UK that I had read said that at least 14 of the world's LCC (low cost arlines) had gone bust! (hurmm). I briefly met Mowardi (Utusan) and BK Siddhu (Star Biz) my good ole journalist friends at the holidayvilla Leinster Gardens, Bayswater, while they were dining with Transport Minister Ong. Only managed to see Jaffri (resident manager holidayvilla london) a day before I left.

It was a bloody hot summer, flights were full and I had to downgrade to economy....ceh. Many Malaysian parents apparently, were in UK for their kids' graduation. On my flight to london, I seated next to this pregnant tall welsh lady and her 18 mth old first daughter who kept calling me daddy...hahaha. Even MAS crew thought that we were travelling as a family until I corrected the perception hahaha! On my way back yesterday, I was seated next to a nice warm English lady (roundabout my generation...she used to go to school in penang in the early 60s when her dad was in Malaysia). I shall not reveal her name but she is an anthropologist and curator of Horniman museum in london, on the way to Banjermasin, Kalimantan to present a paper at a conference and then spend the next 6 weeks in Bali for her research. As we chatted, it seems that we have a common friend, Prof Terry King who took the whole chunk, well in fact the whole department of South East Asian Studies from the University of Hull to the University of Leeds! Prof King was an old friend during my good ole days at OUP and we had a picture taken together during my MBA convocation at Middleton Hall, Hull on December 8, 1994 (see my earlier blogpost). She was talking to me about her two nephews, one about 26. Brilliant chap now living in Melbourne, works for a top 4 global accounting firm. The younger brother 23, wasn't academically inclined and lazy. Behaves like an 11 year old asking his auntie...can u please buy me an ice cream? made his mum pays the rent for his flat, and kept saying oh...i am differrent from my brother...I wanna be a poet! hahaha.. (sounds familar isn't it? plenty of this type of characters in our midst as well kan? hahaha). So, you hingats owang puteh nie tere sangats kers? yang haprak melambak....tapi tau aje ler...malaysians (melayus to b specific) kalau matsaleh je...wow...tengangga mulots..(bukan cemolots ok? hahaha)...cam arab2 middle east pon camtuh gaks...klu matsaleh kan main lagiek!

Oh I forgot, YM Tunku Naqiuddin was also on the same flight to London. Said hello to him who was seated in first class cabin, he remembered me cos we were buggymates ( first flight yuh! hehe) at the last inter university alumni golf games at KGPA. I must reiterate however, that we were never hostelmates (now now...don't get mischievous ideas now..hahaha). He was on the way to receive the University of Wales at Aberystwyth (now Aberystwyth University) award of Fellow. Congratulations Tunku Bill! (as he is fondly referred to during his university days...). He said to me he may not be in the country for the coming Aber golf event. Well, so much for a week away in london. I have blogged the serious bit earlier, took out the sleezy and classified ones..lest my cover is blown or at worst....I may have to detonate you...in any case, like I always say, like the Balance Sheet, life is also a bikini, what is revealed is interesting, what is concealed is even more vital than you could imagine...hahaha...do enjoy the rest of the weakend folks...hahahahaha...

Asst. Governor Central Bank (BNM) visits THATCHAM

AsstGovernor being briefed by THATCHM Chief Executive of the role THATCHAM as a renowed global research centre, funded the Association of British Insurers (ABI), plays, in containing th costs of claims for the UK general insurance industry..

Mike Paterson opening the door to the highly classified sledge lowspeed testcrash chamber. Classified because some manufacturers require that their new vehicle model not launched yet t be crash tested in secrecy...hehe

when a small car meets with an accident, compare it with an accident experienced by a SUV, which one do you think will be more severe? give a guess haha and you juz might win a free trip to THATCHAM hahahaha (juz kiding...uhu hu hu hu)

Mike giving the asstGovernor a quick tour round the THATCHAM complex...

takaful summit london...the lighter side..hehe

yezzeh..the much talked about, publicised malaysian kitchen outlet JOM MAKAN at Pall Mall East, near Trafalgar Square, london owned by PNS and was officiated by Najib our DPM on june 10, recently. we checked it out. ok lar...indah khabar dari rupa..hehe. i mean, nothing greatlah except for the international staff...

We were served by a waitress who said she was from Lithuania..alot of them are from Poland and the Balkan States..Eastern Europe...

walking a round after dinner...for better digestion...hahaha. a great nightshot one for the blog..hehe

chic albeit cluttered, my work table at th Ashburn,111 Cromwell Road, Kensington

with rita & jeff our hotel acquintance who are on holiday. The couple are from New Jersey, USA. Jeff is in the food business...

2nd Internatonal Takaful Summit 2008...London.the serious side

Tardmizi (CEO Etiqa), Datuk Muhammad Ibrahim(Asst Governor Bank Negara Malaysia), Majid (Labuan Re President/CEO) & me....

Great Briani and Lamb Curry they serve at the Jumeira Carltn Tower, Knightsbridge (Harrods just at the back of the hotel hehe)...leave the food to the midde eatern guys..my gawd..uttely delicious, just awesome...

Mamadou of Gambia, Suhaimi (Shariah Specialist Bank Negara), CimbIslamic chap & Datuk Mohd Fadzli (HeiTech & MRCBoard member)during lunch break

Datuk Prof Dr Adnan Alias MD/CEO Institute of Islamic Banking & Finance (IBFIM) with his closing address & thank you note to delegates, yesterday wednesday july 16th...

exploring uncommon business...?

You may be wondering what the hell I am doing in Jakarta when oil prices are climbing steadily to perhaps US200 per barrel before the end of 2008? hehe ok ok no economic coffeeshop projections babble today. We had dinner with Bapak Prodjo Djajanto, President Director BP Telecommunications lastnight at Sari Pacific Hotel, Jl Thamrin Jakarta. I can't, unfotunately, describe in greater details what transpired. It is highly classified. If I tell you, I may have to make arrangements to exterminate you! hahaha.. Ya right...bla bla bla. Jakarta network, celfon systems seems to be down yesterday from about 6pm to about 10pm. No text messages in or out were available during that period. Which resulted in alot of inconveniences and disrupted appointments. Sarina, the next door shopping centre seemd to be having a DDG(drop-dead gorgeous) sales up to 70% off but...hmm the crowd just wasn't there. Signs of bad times ahead, I hope not, perhaps? oh ok ok no speculations...sorry! Gotta go, am blogging at the lobby of Sari Pan Pacific waiting for Bapak Taj Daniel to pass me a set of books for Bapak Fariz...hehe.

Remnants of The Majapahit Empire...

with my indonesian (javanese) cousins at the Sari Pan Pacific Hotel, Jl Thamrin, Jakarta

Statutory Declarations...otherwise a dull document, brought to life!

I had something to eat a while ago at my favourite Pak Su (Kedai Kelantan SS6 Kelana Jaya). Had eaten Lau's kueyteow for the last 22 years...but not tonite. I just had sotong kangkong, poached kerang and teh o limau nipis nipis...hehe. Chatted as usual, with strangers and when I asked them casually what you think of the current situation in the country? She said...I am confused. I am not sure who is really telling the truth...uwaaa...uhu hu..hu..hu. And I said, have no fear there...you're home alone again...hehe. Which brings me to SD shortform for Statutory Declaration, where in my job, it is often a required document to be dealt with, with utmost care (legally speaking). With recent events that I had read in the news (both mainstream and otherwise) I am inclined to rethink what SD's are really becoming...a far cry from the perception I had grown to believe, that it is a most important document indeed third in line only after Allah and the Prophet (Peace Be Unto Him)...Of course by the stroke of recent events, many would beg to differ or perhaps even violently object to my understanding of what SDs really are!

Wikipedia defines: A statutory declaration is a legal document defined under the law of certain Commonwealth nations. It is similar to a statement made under oath, however, it is not sworn. Statutory declarations are commonly used to allow a person to affirm something to be true for the purposes of satisfying some legal requirement or regulation when no other evidence is available. They are thus similar to affidavits (which are made on oath). Depending on jurisdiction, statutory declarations can be used for: Declarations of identity, nationality, marital status, etc. when documentary evidence is unavailable. Declaring the intention to change one's name. Affirming the provenance and nature of goods for export or import. Statements of originality for patent applications.

Now tell me I am far-fetched in my views of what SDs are, or what they are meant for....

farewell adiba shahira roslan...

Jehan giving her a farewell gift watched by sulaikah & hidayah...

oi...klu ye pon sabau ler cket... banyak lagi soto n sate tuh...hihi

You must be wondering why I gave a special slot/mention in my blog to adiba shahira roslan. No no, dia bukan artis tetapi antara pelakon ( kalau nak gunakan dalam konteks disneyworld) di dalam suatu persembahan baik musikal, klasik maupon drama kecil pementasan. Si kecilmolek nie bole tahan becok mulot, bijak berkata2. Dier selalu tepon dulu sblom datang jumpe i di pejabat...'booooz...boz ade ek? bley sain cek tak?' bunyi suara halus kecil cuak tapi kenkadang garang berani gaks! hahaha. Dier gerun gaks sebab kenkadang suara saya lam tepon seriusgilermauts ( cam baguih je...kata budak2 muda sekarang) hahaha. Dier selalunye takot nak jumpe I sorang nak mintak sain cek, so she would normally come along with Liz, her chaperone and bodigad...hahaha.

Today is her last day at the group finance services division of HTP. She will soon start her new life back as a student at UiTM pursuing her degree. We wish her well in her new challenge. She doesn't show it, but I think she will miss her frens kat finance tuh hehe. I told her to focus, get her degree first...yang lain2 tuh tolak tepi dulu...hehe. Which reminds me of a mum who is excited about her teenage daughter going out to a party for the first time...and kept on saying to her "...ok have fun darling and remember..be good ok? Her teenage girl shouts back...Mum!! how can I have fun and be good at the same time?" hehe...

5 Pillars of Transformational Teams...

Arthur F Carmazzi

The Executive Luncheon...


The hosts, Saras & Haq and HeartCare...

Dato' Subhi VP of SME Bank, Mat Sultan VP HeiTech, Foo, and Sitti GM HR Tabung Haji

I was invited to a special executive luncheon at the KL Hilton, Sentral Station yesterday. Nice, cosy, quite a select crowd. Just 3 tables and fabulous food. As the Americans always say, there's no free lunch! Well, it was free yesterday, in fact there were other goodies as well, chocolates and all...hahaha. We were then given a preview of a new training program as well as a reminder to take care of our hearts. Arthur F Carmazzi was on my table. he shared with us his 5 pillars of transformational teams (unified identity, supportive environment, methodology for change, common language, and greater purpose).

Every exceptional team, it seems, has its foundations in the ability of team members to think beyond self, and cohesively take actions to attain a greater purpose. This does not involve changing the mindset of the group, but the cultivation of an environment that brings out the best and inspires the individual in that group, says Arthur F Carmazzi who has his operations based at Ubud (my favourite Bali Art Village), BALI.

nasi goreng kampong...

I had coffee with an old friend today. I knew him since the good ole days when he was GM at unisys and I was GM at the university of malaya cooperative. His last job was group MD of a 2nd board public-listed company. Our chat moved from official potential business with his new outfit to current politics and jet-skiing. Talking of which, I have not gone back to PD to jet-ski for quite sometime now. He then told me of his life and death experience he had recently. His 2 kids (boy and girl) went jet skiing. They stayed at Tanjung Tuan Resort (5th mile PD) and at about 7 pm on 2 separate jet skis, both his kids went out of sight. It was dark. They were gone. He had to arrange a search party to lookout for them. Apparently the currents brought the kids and their jet skis out into the sea, the jet skis then ran out of petrol. In the darkness, they (his 2 kids) saw big ships pass by, waved for help but to no avail. They decided to swim back to shore. 3 hours later they reached Teluk Kemang which was on the 8th mile of the PD beach stretch. Luckily, both his boy and girl (the girl was older) were excellent swimmers. They swam, sister in front, brother trailing behind in the dark, towards the beach. They arrived 3 hours later, having been bitten by all sorts of fish and jellyfish and arrived in just their underpants. When my friend realised that his kids were missing at sea, and tried to arrange for a search party...nobody cared, it took along time to get help....hah..soo much for malaysian hospitality! If you dialled 911 in the States...the response time would be much much swifter. That's the difference when one talks about a first world country and a third world country! His daughter is back from the UK and writes for The Star and she works for someone I know in Jakarta. Her younger brother, is doing his PhD, all paid by his university (Milwaukee) in the US.

We discussed among other things, the need for money for children's education. One needs at least RM1mil now to put your kid in medical school. We also talked about what life would be like living in New Zealand ( referring to another common fren who had migrated to NZ hehe). He still believes that London...being much more cosmopolitan, would be a much more happening place to live....which, I could not disagree hehe. Well, he has enough money for all that and tells me having more money is no longer an option. But I told him, when you retire, how much really can you eat? I don't think you can even finish a plate of nasi goreng kampong (village fired rice)....hahaha.

Men becoming increasingly effeminate...? hmmm

I was reading The Independent online (UK) a moment ago and I saw this report:

"Men are now paying more attention to themselves and fashion," Dariga Nazarbayeva, 45, told a women's congress. "They have started going to beauty parlours and hair salons a lot more often. They have started doing manicure. "Looking at the appearance of contemporary young men, one may notice how much their notions of masculinity have changed, how this masculinity is sometimes being replaced by femininity." But, she added to the 400 women and the 10 or so men at the conference: "One cannot help but notice that the world of men has become increasingly effeminate... I don't know if we can see this as our gender's victory."

Hurmmm...she may just be right there. Alot of handsome boys too these days. Effeminate may be perceived as a very provocative word...I suppose they have another term for it...metrosexual...I think...or something like thatlah....They are all around us hehe. What happen to the unkemp, no make up, foul BO types? Are they still around or have become endangered species too? hahaha