WHAT?? RAISE AGAIN?

I'm quite amused with the excuses that was given in the news when these people, whom were chosen to "lead" a state.

QUOTE
"If we support the bill, people will say, all of you will obviously support it as you will be getting a raise.

"If we do not support it, the burden will be on us. The raise should not be made into an issue"
END QUOTE

QUOTE
"The people do not know how much we are getting.

"They seem to think that all assemblymen have a lot of money when actually we don't and we shoulder a big responsibility."
END QUOTE

My question to you all is, what have you done? You've all obviously have allowances that are MORE then what some people working in the factory or in the retail sectors are getting paid for on a monthly basis.. I don't think anyone whom has their conscience would say that "shoulder a BIG responsibility".. If you're so responsible, how come you all haven't do (I say do coz doing the actual thing is harder than saying! And i find most are NATO (No Action, Talk Only)....) anything about the AG's audit report and some even have the audacity to question why has the AG audit report been made public... And that the report should not be made public to make the "country" (are you sure you mean country? Or do you mean yourself?) look bad
What's more [QUOTE] meloyakan [END QUOTE] is NO action has been taken even though report is out year after year! It's pretty funny isn't it? MACC is prob folding their hands and say, I can't do anything about this. Will MACC dare to take up the challenge and dig into the 40k laptop incident? I'm not sure how much would the government spend on pencils next time. 100k for a pencil maybe?
Enough said.. Quite sick and tired of all these nonsense. I say to those people whom says, MUST BE PATRIOTIC AND SERVE THE NATION.. I say TO HELL with you leeches... I'll just pay my taxes and live my own life.. And don't come and disturb me! I'll decide where to put my money...
It's been quite a while since I've last blogged... Well, in between the time, I spent quite a bit of time trying to get my life organised.. And of course, trying to convince that Special Someone (SS) to be with me for life.. ;) And things are going quite well, I have to say. After some rocky start, I'm looking forward to the day she says... I'll be with you.. :) Hopefully sooner than later.. ;) Work's been great... Could be better.. But I can't complain. Went for a monthly trip with the gang in September and October.. Will put up the photos soon.. If I have the time. :) But it's all in my facebook. Went to Melaka in September and Ipoh this month. The trip was GREAT! I can't wait for the next one.. Though not far... We plan to go to Little Genting which is in KL.. It's the company that matters. This time round, I hope SS would join us. :)
I'm now waiting for SS to finish her exam. Good luck to her.. ;) Anyway, think I'll end here coz I'm in no mood to blog too much.. haha.. Till then, live long and prosper?

We're almost there

Why are we working so hard in life? For money? Coz we like it? Coz... we're running away from something?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
A boat docked in a tiny Mexican village. An American tourist complimented the Mexican fisherman on the quality of his fish & asked "How long it took him to catch them ?"


"Not very long," answered the Mexican.

"But then, why didn't you stay out longer & catch more?" asked the American. The Mexican explained that his small catch was sufficient to meet his needs & those of his family.

The American asked, "But what do you do with the rest of your time ?"

"I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, & take a siesta with my wife. In the evenings, I go into the village to see my friends, play the guitar, and sing a few songs... I have a full life."

The American interrupted, "I have an MBA from Harvard, and I can help you! You should start by fishing longer everyday. You can then sell the extra fish you catch. With the extra revenue, you can buy a bigger boat."

"And after that ?" asked the Mexican.

"With the extra money the larger boat will bring, you can buy a second one & a third one & so on until you have an entire fleet of trawlers. Instead of selling your fish to a middle man, you can then negotiate directly with the processing plants & maybe even open your own plant. You can then leave this little village & move to Mexico City , Los Angeles , or even New York City ! From there U can direct your huge new enterprise."

"How long would that take ?" asked the Mexican ?

"Twenty, perhaps twenty-five years," replied the American.

"And after that ?"

Well, my friend, that's when it gets really interesting, "answered the American, laughing."When your business gets really big, you can start selling stocks & make millions !"

"Millions ? Really ? And after that ?" said the Mexican.

"After that you'll be able to retire, live in a tiny village near the coast, sleep late, play with your children, catch a few fish, take a siesta with your wife & spend your evenings doing what you like and enjoying your friends."

"With all due respect sir, but that's exactly what I am doing now. So what's the point wasting twenty-five years ?" asked the Mexican.

And the moral is : Know where you're going in life...you may already be there

Working in Malaysia

I've been back in Malaysia for the past month or so and have started working as a locum with my previous employer before I left for UK. It's strange, that I'm back here in Malaysia, working. Why is it strange? I don't know. I just get the feeling that it's strange working again after taking one year off studying. I'm back to my old, bad lifestyle of early breakfast (a cup of coffee) and, late dinner (about 30 minutes before I go to bed). Hence, my stomach is growing again after spending one year in UK trying to slim down. And I had slim down as told by many whom had not seen me for a year. Not that I'm complaining, coz I am very grateful for my employers to take me back and give me a job while I wait out for the UK stint. But the current life is exactly the kind of life I am trying to get away from. It's very unhealthy to live like this. I'm not sure if life in UK will be any better. From what I see, it'll definitely be more boring as I'm not the type whom goes out partying or drinking. I don't have much friends there and the closes to me, HYY is staying up north which is about 6-7 hours drive away from where I'll be placed. I'll be away from my family. Makes me wonder... Why am I doing this again?
I have my family here whom takes care of other things for me while I work, my friends whom I can go out with when I want, when I'm free.. and more importantly, there's her here. I'm not sure if everything will work out. But I do hope so.
Working in Malaysia really drains me.. 12 hours daily for at least 4-5 days. The old me, will say no problem. I'll be able to handle it. Well, I still am able to handle it. But, things in Malaysia seems to be getting more and more expensive. So much so that comparatively, I find living cost in UK much more cheaper than Malaysia! Call me crazy.. But it's really true without doing any conversion! Imagine, a pack of rice in Malaysia can go up to RM50++ which is almost equivalent to a pack of rice in UK after conversion!
I'm really in a dilemma at the moment, not knowing what to choose and do. Coz the decision made now, will affect the rest of my life. If I make a decision to go back to UK, my parents will probably be disappointed though they'll put up a brave front and say they support my decision. And, I might lose my chance with her. But if I stay, I really do not know how I will be able to survive.. Hmm... Oh well, we all have to make a decision some time. Wish me luck! Hope that the decision I make, will be a good one..
Enough ranting.. Till next blog, live long and prosper..

Life’s unfair.. But it has to go on…

Have you ever had that feeling of being pressurised, feeling very moody and down and irritated… The feeling of frustrated, sadness angry… All at coming at once? The feeling of… What’s happening to me? What’s going on with my life? Why do I have to deal with all these things? Why am I in this situation? Why? Why? Why?

Well, I’ve learned over my years of growing up that life’s unfair. In fact, I’ve seen many examples that life has never been fair to a lot of people! Why do kids have to suffer from abusive parents? Why to women have to suffer from abusive husbands? Why do the poor have to suffer from poverty? I’ve once saw a movie that has the phrase… Life’s a b*tch… Get used to it. I guess there’s really no other choice, does it? No matter how we complain, how we despise and hate how things happens to us, how we hate our lives, we’ll still need to make the best of things!

That’s exactly how I feel now. I was coming back to sit for a resit due to a failure in one of my paper when I got the news. Good news maybe? Well, hell no! It’s bad news with a B-A-D written all over it! I was supposed to be able to start work once I pass all my exams and apply for a visa. But it seems the government has some other things in mind. I don’t know why they had to do this, but, the government suddenly decided, upon me and my classmates’ completion of the course, that they would remove my soon to be job off the occupation shortage list and deny everyone of us a work permit. Why is that so? Well, I’m not sure. I was stunned when I heard the news. That means, all the hard work I’ve put in, all the money I’ve spent for a diploma that is not valuable anywhere but here in this country, is for nothing? That’s not right! Wait a minute. I don’t think I deserved that! I’ve done all that was asked of me. And I’ve given in one whole year of hard work in the course. And now I suddenly am told that I won’t be given what is the most important thing of all? hmm…

I was “lost” because of that. Felt depressed, frustrated, angry regret… Everything! Even felt like giving up on the exam. Not knowing why I even bothered taking the exam. But, thanks to that someone.. whom listened to my complains… That kinda cooled me down a little bit.. And helped me over this period of bad time… I want to say thank you to that someone. You know who you are. :)

I would also like to thank Edward for taking me in and letting me stay in his place. Because of this problem, I’m in a limbo. I don’t know what to do… where to go. I wouldn’t want to spend too much of my money especially in this uncertain times. I’ve only very little left of my savings that I’ve saved bit by bit over from my 9 years of work. Hence, I was in a dilemma. To stay on, or to just go back. I finally come to a decision.  I will try to look for a job. Try to earn some money at least. I moved to Leeds to stay with a friend. Leeds, is a good city. Not too big or busy… And not too small as well. That, will be in my other blog which is coming soon.

Unfortunately my close relative at home… experience some symptoms that I thought would be a prelude to something serious.. ie Stroke! That, would require my attention.. hmm.. So after getting that news, I decided to return home immediately rather than running round UK to do some odd jobs although the pay will be good. The feeling of not having a home that I could go back to ( in UK ).. isn’t very nice anyway. It felt like.. I’m a “homeless” guy trying to live one day at a time.. And can’t plan for the future. I don’t quite like that feeling. Hence, I changed the date of my flight and decided to return home.

Now, I’m back in my comfy room… With a home to return to.. My comfort zone. And I’ve got a job interview in Malaysia lined up. So life… have a funny way to resolving the problems that you faced. Just have to hang in there and be positive. I’ll be here in Malaysia until the visa problem resolved itself. And when that time comes, I’ll have a decision to make. One that could affect the rest of my life. On one hand, I’ve my parents to think about.. and that special someone… If I’m here in Malaysia, I’m nearer to them… and will be able to do things for them if anything comes up. But that will mean I will be giving up my life savings just like that. If I decide to go back once the visa thing is resolved, I would have to be away again… and might miss out on that special someone.. Distance is a problem.. I guess.. hmm.. decisions decisions.. Life’s a b*tch.. isn’t it? haha… :p Anyone got any advice?

Anyway, enough ranting… Live long and prosper..

Michael "Red Devil" Owen?

Hmm.. Seems strange to me that Michael Owen is being signed by Manchester United. But then again, what do I know about football other than to watch the game and the goals. Heck, I don't even watch the full match! But let's hope that Michael Owen will come good in MU colours and will at least soften the blow left by the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez.

___________________________________________________________________________________

Adapted from bbcnews

Michael Owen has completed his surprise move to Manchester United after the free agent signed a two-year deal with the Premier League champions.
The 29-year-old ex-Liverpool and Real Madrid striker's contract with Newcastle ended earlier this week.
"Michael is a world-class forward with a proven goalscoring record at the highest level," said United boss Sir Alex Ferguson.
Owen had also been linked with Everton, Aston Villa, Stoke and Hull.
But instead he becomes United's second summer signing after the recent addition of Antonio Valencia from Wigan.
"Coming to Manchester United with the expectations that we have is something that Michael will relish," added Ferguson.
Owen said United's interest in him came as a surprise, adding: "I had just begun to talk to other clubs when out of the blue Sir Alex phoned me on Wednesday afternoon, invited me to have breakfast with him next morning during which he told me that he wanted to sign me.
"I agreed without a moment's thought. This is a fantastic opportunity for me and I intend to seize it with both hands.

OWEN FACTFILE
ENGLAND 89 games, 40 goals
LIVERPOOL (Trainee - August 2004) 297 games, 158 goals
REAL MADRID (August 2004 - August 2005) 40 games, 14 goals
NEWCASTLE (August 2005 - July 2009) 79 games, 30 goals
"I am now looking forward to being a Manchester United player and I am fortunate that I already know so many of the players here.
"I missed pre-season last year and am pleased that I will be starting from day one.
"I'd like to think that everyone was quite surprised with my medical.
"I've obviously passed them before, and my fitness is high. A lot is made out of it but I certainly don't feel like I'm injury prone.
"I want to thank Sir Alex for the faith he has shown in me and I give him my assurance that I will repay him with my goals and performances."
Owen had checks on an old knee injury in London on Thursday before undergoing a full medical at the private Bridgewater Hospital in Manchester on Friday.
He has been plagued by injuries in recent seasons, suffering with groin, ankle, thigh, hernia, metatarsal and knee ligament problems.
The 2001 European footballer of the year has dropped out of the England squad, but a move to United gives Owen the chance to revitalise his career, even if it involved accepting a lower basic salary.

It was reported by the Press Association that Ferguson has struck a pay-as-you-play deal, with the player also taking a significant salary cut from the £110,000-a-week wages he was said to be on at St James' Park.
Ferguson has been a long time admirer of Michael Owen and has decided to gamble on the striker who has proven himself a prolific scorer at both club and international level when fit.
Since losing the Champions League final to Barcelona at the end of May, Manchester United have sold forward Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid for £80m and failed to persuade striker Carlos Tevez to stay at Old Trafford.
The departure of those two players has left United manager Sir Alex Ferguson with a shortage of strikers, with Fraizer Campbell also likely to be sold.
United have been linked with Lyon striker Karim Benzema, who is set to join Real, while Bayern Munich forward Franck Ribery has been linked with a move to the Madrid club rather than the English champions.

PHIL McNULTY BLOG
Is this a sign of desperation creeping into United's transfer dealings or another piece of inspiration from the gambler Ferguson?
Owen made 79 appearances for the Magpies and scored 30 goals in four seasons at St James' Park.
But an ankle injury and groin operation severely disrupted his final year at the club, with the last of his 10 league goals for the 2008-09 campaign coming against West Ham on 10 January.
Ferguson has previously shown his willingness to take a chance on players like the enigmatic Eric Cantona or stars that have suffered serious injury problems like Henrik Larsson.
Pete Spencer, sports editor of the Manchester Evening News, said: "It is a bold move. It could put them at risk of the fans mocking them because they've missed out on Benzema and Ribery.
"Owen will have a lot to do make sure that he overcomes the natural hatred between Manchester United and Liverpool, although he has been at Newcastle for some time.
"United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has a record of older players doing well at United and if Owen has got anything like the pace he had before then he should be a hit. Who's to argue with Sir Alex Ferguson?"
And former Liverpool striker Ian Rush admitted he would have liked to have seen Owen return to Anfield, saying: "Personally, I'd like to have seen him at Liverpool but they haven't lost their best strikers. Rafael Benitez will be happy with what he's got.
"I know the way he is and he doesn't have to prove anything anyway. It's a chance for Michael to get back and score some goals. He'll get chances for Manchester United and will score goals."
Even so, the move for Owen represents something of a gamble for Ferguson, given Blackburn manager Sam Allardyce ruled out a move for the striker earlier this week because of concerns over his fitness.

Owen (right) is already familiar with a number of Man Utd players
"I just question the injury scenario," said Allardyce.
"I need a striker that's going to be available for 30 games next season. That's not happened for Michael over the last four years."
After Newcastle were relegated to the Championship, Owen expressed his desire to remain in the Premier League.
The Wasserman Media Group (WMG), the management company that represents him, sent out a brochure to a number of clubs reminding them of the talent that resulted in the striker scoring 158 goals in 297 games for Liverpool and 40 goals in 89 appearances for England.
Owen's move to Old Trafford could revive the former Liverpool striker's hopes of resurrecting his international hopes and taking part in the 2010 World Cup, especially as he will now be playing alongside England striker Wayne Rooney.
He has been marginalised by England manager Fabio Capello and has won just one cap under the Italian, as a substitute in the 1-0 friendly defeat by France in Paris on 26 March, 2008.
Owen's exploits in helping Liverpool to victory in the FA Cup, Uefa Cup and League Cup in the 2000/2001 season led to his European footballer of the year award in December 2001.

Failure…

It’s been like a dream.. After 9 months away from home, the feeling of being back home.. is GREAT! I loved the comfortable environment, the warmth of having family members around me, the dinner and chatting sessions with close friends and most importantly, seeing that special someone… Whom I thought "we” made some good progress… But this failure.. This resit has to happen… So hate myself for not working harder to pass the paper so that I am able to spend more time at home and with that special someone.

Oh well, life goes on. There seems to be a lot of events happening after the peaceful 9 months I had in University of Sunderland. First, I had a HUGE SCARE on my way back from UK to Malaysia. I thought life would be better after that.. But no… I had another bad event happened… I failed my paper and had to cut short my stay in Malaysia to go back to the University for a resit. Dang… After that, I’ve got a huge slap on the face because of my tickets with Malaysia Airlines ( Which, a certain customer manager or something with the company left me a message on my blog trying to explain the obvious but chose to ignore the actual problem. I’m sorry Mr manager. I’ve lost faith in your company. You might’ve earned one thousand plus ringgit from me this time. But you’ve lost a potential tens of thousands of ringgit from me and my family! Oh ya.. for that matters, from my friends as well!)

Well, I’m now on my way back to UK to prepare for my resit. Fingers crossed that all the bad events, has gone and the good times will come again. I would like to say to that special someone, I’m sorry that I haven’t been able to spend more time with you to convince you and to show you who I really am. I just hope, this good progress will continue to become something special in the near future. I do understand that distance is a problem. Just hope that, you’ll let time show you whom you should choose and what you should do and not cut me off too soon. You know who you are. Ssiigghh… I’m missing home already. I miss my parents, my pets, my friends and mostly, that special someone.

I’ve still got about 2 hours plus more before landing. I’m on Air Asia X from KL to London. Frankly, I’m quite impressed with the airline. Cabin crew is just as nice as any of the other airlines I’ve used (not that I’ve used that many.. Had flew with Emirates most recently and it’s good value for money!). The XL seats is quite nice! You get to put the chair down to make it like a bed! Only complain I have is the seat isn’t really that comfortable. Maybe it’s just me. Oh well… For the price I pay for economy tickets on other airlines, I get to fly on a better class! So, I won’t complain that much. Food wise, I think it’s not too bad. I chose Malaysian recipes and I was given Nasi Briyani and Nasi Lemak. The rice of Nasi Briyani was excellent but the chicken was somewhat too spicy for my taste. Again, it might be just me. The Nasi Lemak was so-so. The rice was… how you would put it… too “wet”. Doesn’t really taste like the authentic nasi lemak I had back home. And the anchovies are very salty. Overall, I’d prefer the nasi briyani over nasi lemak. Maybe next time I fly with Air Asia, I should try the international recipes!

The flight is quite ok. So far so good. A little bumpy earlier in the start but that’s due to the bad weather condition. You won’t feel a thing if you sleep over it. I did. I woke up to a nice sunny weather about 6 hours later! I’d definitely recommend for those whom want to try a better seating for the normal price that they pay for economy seats in other airlines. It’s actually slightly cheaper too! Air Asia has come a long way. There had been complaints about the domestic flights in Malaysia where the seats are too… uncomfortable. But Air Asia X offers a whole new experience.

One thing though, Air Asia, being a budget airline that offers cheap air tickets, tries to recover their revenues in whatever way they can. That including water. So, I think it’s best if you can bring a couple of bottle of water if you’re a “heavy drinker”. Sorry but I didn’t take photos this time round. Should of but I was kind of lazy.. Maybe when I use their service next!

Well, that’s all for now.. I want to tell that special someone again that, I already miss the time we have together. I’ll try to go back again soon so that we can have another few outings together.

Till then, live long and prosper.

Malaysia Airlines…

I’ve recently tried to use the services of Malaysia Airlines after so many advertisements from bloggers and news saying that it is one of the better airlines. But turns out, what had happened left a bitter taste in my mouth. I booked an air ticket from KL to London which, is a promotional ticket. A cheap ticket, yes. I was pleasantly surprised that it is even cheaper than Air Asia! But it turns out that there’s catch.

I had wanted to enjoy my holidays but to be spoiled by the fact that I failed one of my subjects in my course that I needed to go back to UK early for a resit. Dang! So, since I’ve bought a ticket from MAS and a “CHANGE IN BOOKING” can be done “FOR A FEE” which I am willing to pay in order not to forfeit “what’s left of my little budget” for the next few months in UK. 

But when I called up the call center, I was told that I cannot change! When I argued that there is a statement that I can make the change of booking for a fee on my electronic ticket, I was told that there is another page of terms and conditions that states why I am not allowed. Hmm.. That’s very contradicting don’t you think so? So, I told the officer in charge, I will not ever use MAS services again! Ever! And I tried to leave a customer feedback on the website and guess what did I get?

System error!! Hmm… I guess the customers aren’t really as important to MAS as I think they should be valued. Especially in the time where economy situation is pretty bad and swine flu is announced a global pandemic! For any one whom studied marketing, they should know the advertisement via verbal communication is a pretty important marketing tool. And I will definitely NOT recommend MAS to anyone of my family and friends.

Thank you very much MAS for wasting my money and time. I will now turn to your competitors which provides me a better service and customer satisfaction. There is no way I am ever going to “support” you ever again! Well, I guess that won’t matter to them will it? I am but only one person.

Ok, enough of my rant. It’s time to hit the books to prepare for my resit. I’ve made arrangement to book Air Asia anyway. So resit papers, here I come! Till then, live long and prosper!

HUGE scare…

I’ve just reached Dubai airport… And had my first major scare in a long long time.. But in the end, everything turns out well.. Phheewwww… Thought this would turn out to be a nightmare! But the saying that everything will be fine when it’s time.. Just have to put our heads down and work hard towards the objective… Works this time as well! And I’m very very relieved that things were sorted out well.. Gosh.. Can’t imagine what would happen if this scare didn’t turn out well… Lucky lucky me…

On a more happier note, I can’t wait to go back to Malaysia… to see my family, my friends… And that someone.. Hope this would turn out to be a very very happy holidays for me..

I’ve still some outstanding issues to settle in UK.. Most notably the visa and work permit thingy… But that can’t be settled without the employers settling their issues with UK home office first. Hence, I hope to receive a good news soon.. So that I can settle on my part ASAP. Another thing to settle is the accommodation part. This part, I think should be settled very very soon. Have found a place that I kinda like and it’s very very close to where I work. The only problem is I will be losing one month’s rent. But that’s not too bad comparing to the price I need to pay for a car and the fuel, licensing and other costs etc etc.. So, I guess I’ll probably be more willing to give up one month’s rent which is about 100% savings as compared to the money I’ll be spending if I were to get a car.

Anyway, this is the short update for now.. since I’m so free, sitting here in the Dubai airport… doing nothing. I’m very nervous about tomorrow… when I touch down in Malaysia.. Not because of others… But because that my results will be out! I hope that all will go well for me.. And I do not have to spoil my holidays and cut short the stay in Malaysia just to resit. Touch wood!! And another anxious moment… is to see that someone.. Hope I can get to go out with that someone..

Anyway, gonna end here. Till then, live long and prosper.