I flunked!

I went through something that before it happened again recently, I had only experienced when I was in Secondary School.

I flunked my Audit module that I took for last semester.

Which means I need to pay $50 to retake the sub paper.

It was quite appalling for me. I have not failed any paper since post-secondary, from my diploma to advanced diploma to my final 2 years during my degree.

Although I don't feel that sad, it still doesn't feel good knowing that I have one more module to memorize.

And the fact that there is only one set of exam question paper and our trainer was the one who set it rub salts into wound.

I don't really need this diploma but who would mind extra qualifications.

And so I shall go through this for one final time. Pass or fail(again), I just let it be. One can't be master of all trades. Accounts has never been my forte, Audit is even worst. I will just suck it in and continue to be what I'm better at instead.

Reservist from 29th Oct - 2nd Nov

I will be heading into my 2nd reservist since I completed my national service in early 2000. That average out to like one call-up every 3.5 years. At this rate I should complete my NS liability when I'm 49 years old. Wow.. I wonder if I could still fit into my present uniform size by then.

Anyway I'm really looking forward to it. I didn't felt this way during my first reservist. Back then work is my life and I can't stand a day without knowing on-site what has gone about in the operations. Imagine the torture I had when I was on overseas holiday.

But lately my batteries seemed to be running flat. Motivation is near to zero too. I am thinking of taking a short hiatus during the entire Jan next year. Hopefully the lengthly break could revitalize me. Ideally my reservist next week could do the trick.

In any case, my plan to auto pilot the company will continue. If all goes well, finance would be well taken care of by Dec. Payroll and admin is picking the ropes and should settle well. Sales is more or less ready.

I'm not sure what I would do if I totally go behind the scenes permanently but at least I know the company I painstakingly built up would be in safe hands.

Let's sell Johor to Singapore!

Read this on LittleSpeck.com. Funny but make sense too really.

Johor

'Sell it to Singapore!'
A tongue-in-cheek solution from a Malaysian. Fun to read.
The Anti-jihadist.
Oct 24, 2007

Ladies and gentleman, Malaysia is facing a cash crunch.

The oil, lifeblood of the Government's treasury, is running out. Hugely expensive programmes such as NEP and subsidies are politically untouchable, so hence must run in perpetuity.

And of course Malaysia will in the future need more massive Merdeka parades, more shiny new Russian jets to overfly said parades, and more spaceflight participants to consume teh tarik and commit khalwat in orbit. So many expenses and dwindling income. What to do?

Simply put, Malaysia seriously needs a lot of cash...and the little cash-loaded red dot to our south (which need not yet be named) needs real estate and resources.

So my friends, with my tongue placed firmly in cheek, I would like to offer this simple answer for Malaysia's impending financial woes.

Let's sell Johor to Singapore!

That's right, not just the troublesome metropolis of Johor Bahru...the whole state of Johor - lock, stock and barrel.

Quite obviously, it's a mutually beneficial deal. UMNO/BN gets billions in hard currency that they could not obtain otherwise, and hence get the grease that lubricates the wheels of their, ahem, 'unique' brand of government.

Singapore gets desperately needed living space, and also acquires vital resources that it no longer has to buy from its surly neighbours (like sand and drinking water).

Not to mention that those annoying issues like the causeway and the crooked bridge are rendered moot, because Singapore will own both sides of the strait. Both sides win!

Oh sure, the Sultan in JB may have a small objection to the aforementioned deal. Enough cash in his pocket and the usual UMNO-style kickback should settle the matter in the usual way. OK, let's not call it a kickback.

We can call it a small gratuity, with another estate or two in Switzerland thrown in to sweeten the transaction.

Besides,I am quite sure that the Sultan can work out a deal with the pragmatic folks south of the (current) border to look as if he's still in charge whilst the practical bureaucrats of the PAP take care of the less glamourous aspects of running an efficient government.

Moreover, once the relatively non-corrupt Singaporean police show up in Johor Bahru and clean up the place in short order, the folks in JB should quickly grow positively fond of their new landlords.

After all the BN-sanctioned corruption and violence that's plagued the place for decades, who wouldn't be grateful?

Of course, after a half century of watching UMNO governments run Johor into the ground, I wouldn't blame the Singaporeans a whit if they didn't want any part of this proposed transaction.

Compared to their immaculately-kept island, Johor can best be described as a handyman's special, or a 'fixer-upper'.

It would take a ton of work to spruce up the place. But the Singaporeans don't seem too averse to a dint of hard work. After all, the miracle that is today's Singapore certainly didn't build itself, did it?

Alright, it doesn't have to be an outright sale. Perhaps the parties could opt for a long-term lease with an option to buy. Let the potential new owners test-drive their new property, kick the tires, and see how they like it.

After all, the Singaporeans wouldn't want any buyer's remorse, would they?

The Anti-Jihadist

http://pedestrianinfidel.blogspot.com/

Our neighbour's big ego.

Lately our MM Lee gave some remarks about how Singapore (government) might feel if we were to rejoin Malaysia.

"They have got all the resources. If they would just educate the Chinese and Indians, use them and treat them as their citizens, they can equal us and even do better than us and we would be happy to rejoin them," Lee said.

First of all, the thought of that even being mentioned shutters me. The comfort zone that most Singaporeans has taken granted for would be totally distorted. But of course if one thinks deeper, the execution of the merger is way too complex to even be considered more than a passing remark.

More over each country is still doing quite well by itself. The only thing that may pave way for such scenario is if somehow Singapore financial status become like, say Burma. Given the stringent manner governance is conducted, I doubt that would be a reality anytime soon.

And as usual, Malaysian Malays on hearing his remark wasn't particularly pleased. I wouldn't be surprised. If someone were to even criticize my hometown Tampines, I might be annoyed.

This sentence provoked a comment in Utusan Malaysia that the remark is borne out of unease at seeing Malaysia's growing competitiveness, which in some aspects have surpassed Singapore.

With the Singapore dollar still rising, I agree with that to a certain extent. That is if I look at things through a telescope.

They may have resources, land, people. The 3 key things for an economy to work. But if things are that simple, North Korea should be one of the better economy.

Poor security, ever-growing red tapes and blatant discrimination of non-Malays are just tip of the iceberg. Their inefficiencies, unprofessionalism and you always have youth leader of political parties who just shoot off their mouth without thinking. The worst thing is people actually buy that.

Yes, Singapore might be proud. If any other countries has done what we did since the birth of the country, they would too.

I hope their big Malay ego would continue to sustain or even grow bigger. Because with that impeding them to make the right decision for the country, the possibility of a Singapore-Malaysia merger would never happen.

And that's good news.

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$3/$4/$5

I had prawn mee for lunch today. And given that I was pretty hungry, I requested for a mid size portion ($4) to satisfy myself.

When i finally reach my seat with my food, I sense something is amiss. I was thinking to myself did I said I want $4 earlier on. This sure doesn't look $4 to me because one don't get only TWO!! prawns at that price.

My colleagues ordered the same as me. Being ladies they definitely had ordered the $3 and they have same number of prawns as me! What's going on? Where did my additional $1 mysteriously go to? Did the auntie meant a mid-sized bowl for a dollar more?

And the prawns doesn't even taste that nice anymore. Or maybe $4 meant prawns with tangier meat.

Whatever the case is, I felt cheated.

When shopper get conned with an over-priced camera or ridiculously-priced timeshare scheme, they always have CASE to turn to. What about for cases(no pun intended) like mine?

I think this calls for a boycott (and even an online petition!! if I ever learned how to start one). I demand hawker start to itemize what they meant when I upsize. I know what I get at McDonald. Larger fries and a large coke. But hawker food, how the hell would one know if the hawker doesn't state clearly that:

$3 = two prawns
$4 = two prawns
$5 = two prawns + extra soup.

It's obvious consumer misrepresentation(that module in law finally came in useful).

And given that I can't cook to save my life, hawker food is my basic necessity! And when I can afford more, I don't expect to be short-changed!

It's akin to going to Shell station to pump V Power and they still put in 92. WTF!!??

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School Project

Today I did something that I have only done once before. That is to kick someone out of a project group. Despite my lack of patience, I consider myself to be a pretty tolerant man. The myriad of free riders who had done their school project with me would be the best testament.

But you catch me on the wrong foot, my tolerance would quickly evaporate.

Which is what happen today after I notice that the sales for my company is at its worst, compared with the same period over the past few months. And we only added less than $2k after one week of operation! This is despite the fact that we have 3 more sales person and all of them are already operational.

With that, I temperamentally decided not to include a free rider into the business IT project that is due submission today. This guy since lesson 1 did not even bother to understand about the project. He doesn't even have the desire to attend class. My tolerance of him should have expired long ago.

There is another one on my team that I really would want to kick out too. But I reckon I would be over-ruled since she is closer to the balance 2 contributing team members. But then again, I didn't ask. Hmmm...

She is another one that I don't understanding what gave the impulse to pay more than $3k for a diploma course so that you would attend lesson sporadically and even if she comes, it make just the perfect place for her to sms. Yes, her handphone reception work best in a classroom environment.

These are people that need this piece of paper much more than me. They don't get it, they just have a O or N level which we all knows are as valuable as color paper now. But they doesn't give a damn about it. It's just right I return the favour towards them.

On a happier note, I am on my 7th session in my final semester. My last lesson would be on Nov the 4th.

Oh yeah. No more being in the same room with some many stupid & ungrateful dumb-ass. You know how being around a moody person could make one down too? I think the same would apply to stupidity. Kudos to my high immune system

Life is going to be normal again.

I'm so happy I could cry.

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Place of Birth

If you are able to choose your place of birth, where would you want it to be?

For myself, I would rank places like USA, Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, Australia, Switzerland on top of my list. Most people I reckon would have one or more of them on their listing. And it wouldn't come as a surprise. Competent governance, high quality of living, good security, freedom of expression and many other positive qualities are very important.

Conversely on where you wish you do not want to be born, countries like Iraq, Burma, North Korea may come to mind. The list may even extend to countries that just happen to be next to them.

Given a choice, I'm quite sure any pragmatic local Iraqi, Burmese or North Korean would not want to be where they are right now. Who in their right mind would want to live in fear, repression and threats every single day. They don't have a choice. No one has control over their birth place. And if they happen to be ran by power-hungry dictators who has no qualms in killing thousand so that he could remain rich and in power, luck is not on your side.

Yet these people still need to survive and live while yearning for the kind of life we have taken granted for.

Sadly, not many stood up to help. In the case of Burma, many even choose to profit under such situation. With extensive reasons that plainly means "if we don't do it, someone else would"

Neighboring countries would merely send letters and make speeches, in hope that the high volume of letters and saliva combined could irritate the junta enough to finally give in.

It's time everyone with a conscience take a step back and take off their money spectacles.

Let the people of Burma have what we have too, the pride of their birthplace.

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Crazy Indian Video

Oh man. This just cracks me up. Turn up your speakers.

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