am i old-fashioned...or is altruism still around?

ya ya ya my last posting was may 25th. its now may 29th. i can give you a whole lorryload of excuses, board meeting lah, audit comm lah...bla bla bla...hehe. Which, incidentally are true though. Alot has taken place during the week that I am tempted to comment, respond or give my personal views but as usual i shall refrain from doing it lest I be accused of attempting to replace RPK (hahaha) who, I read the star today, is missing and suspected of having left the country and is in brisbane. already some have said that I look like him (RPK) oh my gawd. I better make sure that I am not a case of a 'mistaken identity' hahaha. Then there was this 5 request thingy, according to reportslah, the independent chinese schools group putting pressure on DPM and also Minister of Education, YB Tan Sri Muhyidin Yassin. I kinda like his response though. The independent chinese schools wanted the govt to recognise their senior middle three... something like thatlah. Well the keyword is recognition. So, Muhyidin dengan selambe dek je jawap: '...well, you chose to be independent, now you want us to recognise you, tak bolehlah. if you want us to recognise you, come back to the fold (meaning come under the purview and regulations of the ministry of educationlah) then we can review'...something like thatlah...my interpretation (hehe). Well done Tan Sri, Kudos for your firm responses. I notice Datuk AKJ pon dah bosan komen on the silver happenings (wink)...he has moved on to Petronas and corporate leadership sustainability. And it looks like the Oxbridge mafia is still very much in control (hehe). Move aside US Ivy League guys! The Jaya Supermarket crash yesterday afternoon...hmmm...was it an accident or was it deliberately meant to be demolished? That's the interesting question. We shall wait for futher reports of the investigation. The PKFZ report? When I quickly read the report in the mainstream media today...I was just wondering why the Auditors wanted an indemnity before the report was made public (in the newspapers today)? Would they not already be protected by their code of professional conduct? (I stand corrected though hihi). Surely they are all covered under the D&O Liability Insurance too? (wink). Sorry CKF (he is a hull alumnus...just like John Prescott, former Deputy PM of the UK during Tony Blair's reign...hehehe). The hoo-haa seems to me, like opening up pandora's box...

Someone suggested to me that if I wanted a sudden surge of tsunami-like hits to my blog, that I should wear black, get caught by the police, my face all over the newspapers, on TV...hahahaha. No thank you Datuk! thank you for the thought hahaha. I may reconsider when I am no longer gainfully employed (wink). Which brings me to this young lawyer fren of mine who is having mixed feelings about him being nominated and will be appointed into a divisional political party (bahagian) ...something like det lah. He is worried, with mixed feelings, takut orang dengki, too younglah for the post, you need to wait-for-your-turn culture syndrome lah...bla bla bla. So i tell him, go for it bro, its gonna be an awesome experience. Fastforward learning opportunity. Don't forget, times have changed (if your are reading this bro), you are not only going to compete with the nonmalays, you have to compete with your fellow malays bah. If you have what I think you have, the spirit and aspirations of the early founding fathers of 'the party', this would be a great start. Don't forget most, at the time, were teachers, pakai baju melayu labuh, songkok tinggi (ala padang), bawak nasi bungkos dalam daun upeh dan mendayung perahu ke hulu, just to attend a mesyuarat bahagian. Their end in mind wuz caste in stone and were not ezily distracted by anything else you see in abundance today. Go see the movie Laskar Pelangi' for additional inspiration bro. The message was soo crystal clear and simple: Apabila kamu menjadi pemimpin satu hari nanti, berikanlah sebanyak-banyaknya kepada agama, bangsa dan negaramu, dan janganlah kamu sekali -kali mengambil sebanyak-banyaknya dari bangsa, agama dan negaramu... (when you become a leader one day, give as much as you can, not take as much as you can...) ya ya ya so much for the altruism I know some of my frens (who read this) will smurk...hahaha. Do have a fabulous weekend fellas...(evil grin).

mango mangga mia...

i go crazy over mangoes. even at Baskin Robbins...the only flavor that excites me is mango tango...haha. Just as there are many ways to skin a cat, there are many ways to skin a mango too, eat it, cook it, prepare it, put in alongside other great dishes hehe. O ya, jange lupo gak kerabu mangga mudo (don't forget young mango salad heehee).

of pens and pirates?...

I took the day off to be at home so I could observe my 12 year-old son who had high fever lastnite. It has subsided a bit but still relatively feverish. Even at home, I was still working which only confirms that in today's scenario, there is a grey area separating work and play. You play at work and you work at play..huh? sounds oxymoronic isn't it? hahaha. Ya ya, with blackberry and all, broadband, wimax and what have you...its like there's no sleep. One can really be up 24x7. So much to read, so much to catch up. Just take this week's The edge for example, I started by reading 'frankly speaking' and whoala! very neatly the pressure (subtly sometimes brutally I think at times..hahaha) begins...like asking G to walk the talk and release the PKFZ report; disclose recipients of stimulus package (again citing US examples..ya ya ya); asking G to make KPIs public (eh who's idea izzit aah this KPI tingy? KPI is the fashionable management babble which in the 60s and 70s we call MBO (management by objective), while I have nothing against processes and procedures, it is a necessary evil, but I worry we waste precious time on unproductive problems. Sorrylah I may sound simplistique but the KPI for the PM as far as UMNO is concerned, I was told, a long time ago (hehe) is economic growth. If during the tenure of a PM (sape sape lah tak kire...) the growth is from O to 5%, kire dah hebat sangat dah tuh! (hehe); and finally picking on Proton again...poor Proton hahaha. Dah la susah nak jual kereta! ah kong ah meng maniam osman dok asak cam macam...cam ade jerk yang tak kene dengan the national car make tuh. Kesian depe (hehe). I have been analysing the reports and writings in The Edge for a few years now...it is interesting how some articles are written (in malay we call it yang tersurat dan yang tersirat hehe). Very bold and brave indeed, the way it was crafted I must say...like for instance this one by RB Bhattacharjee (page 8, corporate big money). Just look at the title: "Najib's mission: to save a leaking ship" wow! (can you imagine what the topic suggests or imply?). He ends the article by suggesting that there are still plenty of skepticisms but they will dissipate, he contends, if the new cabinet do not over promise and under deliver. Reiterating that they must walk the talk (quote and unquote).

Which reminds me of walking up a plank on a pirate ship (hehe). Pirates? haaa it conjures many things on one's mind (evil wink..hehe you know what I am getting at don't you? you notti fellow?). Piracy has been around since time immemorial, pirated DVDs, software piracy, pirates of the malacca straits, pirates of the caribbean...and very hot these days are the ones off the Somali coastline. Read here for an interesting candid literary history of pirates by a Cambridge scholar...hahaha.... Pirates are everywhere aren't they? hehehe