Photolog: Himalayans

This is a mesmerising view of the himalayan mountains from the plane, as we were flying between HK and London.  I actually missed the view of the Great wall of China, as it snaked through the mountains.  It was so surreal, looking at the wall, to think that it was man-made, just makes me wonder at man’s ability.

please ignore the blur dot in the photo.. something’s wrong with the viewfinder.

Amazing Race Asia 3

I’ve been following the current season, off and on.  So far it’s been entertaining and attractive enough for me to remember to catch it on Thursday night.  I stayed up late last night to catch the Finale – Team HongKong won.  I’m sure everyone who follows this program has their favorites and dislikes.  Of all the teams, I liked Team HongKong and Team Singapore more, just because of their rapport, fighting ethics and spirit.  Maybe they fought alot off-camera, but from the scenes that I saw it was mostly of them encouraging each other.  I especially like the way that Team Singapore is able to find humour even during stressful moments and they are witty. 

I guess I should be rooting for the 2 teams representing Malaysia, if only for patriotic reasons.  Somehow they did not stand out enough to be my favorites.  Team Ida & Tanya had the luckiest break when they came in last, 2 times in a row and both were non-elimination rounds… and that is how they were able to continue.

What puzzles me is that this season of TARA seemed to be filled with beautiful and famous people.  Most of the participants had a pretty impressive resume (actors, models, Beauty Queens etc) and except for Team India and Singapore, the rest were all good-looking.  I guess this is to attract viewers to watch the show but I was rather disappointed as I wanted to watch “real people” racing.. people like you and me.  Sometimes it felt like a directed show with professional actors, isn’t it supposed to be a reality show?  Maybe some of us like watching famous people in their physically and emotionally-weakest moments to know that they are just like us.

Congratulations to the winners and Thank You to all the participants for showing me the good and bad-sides of human behaviour during stressful times.  And reminding me that the most difficult of all behavior traits is respect for another, at all times.

419 Scam

Got this email from an unknown person, asking for my help in return for 30% of $19.5m.  This isn’t the first time I’ve received such mails and it’s a good thing that I know it’s a scam.  Popularised by the Nigerians, it is also known as the 419 Scam.  It is amazing that despite all the publicity, there are still some unfortunate people who believe that they’ve won a windfall.

There are several variants of the same thing but it all has the same content, you will get an unbelievable amount for helping them transfer funds.  All you have to do is pay for the legal fees, which according to them is meant to “legitimise” this arrangement.  From some of the sad stories I’ve read, these scamsters can be very persuasive and that’s how people are tricked into sending the money.  If you’re lucky, you won’t hear from them again, after the 1st payment… but some of the more unfortunate people were duped into sending money, again and again. 

Let’s disect this mail.. just for the fun of it.  (i) This “guy” said that he’s working in Hang Seng Bank – so why does he need MY help to transfer money  (ii) The amount in question is $19.5m – too bad he didn’t say what currency, because if it is in Rupiah, at today’s rate of Rp1,600 = HKD1, Rp19.5m equals only HKD 12, 188.  So 30% of HKD 12,188 is only HKD 3,656… hardly worth the trouble. (iii) He wants to know my age and sex, how is that relevant?

Anyway, if you ever come across such mails, just delete it.  It’s hardly worth your attention.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Good Day.My name is Mr. Song Lile, I am the credit officer in Hang Seng Bank, Hong
Kong. I have a business proposal in the tune of $19.5m to be transferred
to an offshore account with your assistance.After the successful transfer, we shall share in ratio of 30% for you 
and 70% for me. Should you be interested, please respond to my letter
immediately,so we can commence all arrangements and I will give you  more
information  on the project and how we would handle it. Please treat this
business with  utmost confidentiality.

You can contact me on my private email:( song.lile18@yahoo.com.hk

(1)Full names:
(2)private phone number:
(3)current residential address:
(4)Occupation:
(5)Age and Sex:

I look forward to hearing from you.

Kind Regards,
Mr. Song Lile

 

Destination : Cheung Chau Island, HK

This is one of the islands in HK, about an hour ferry ride from Central pier.  I went on a Sunday in Summer – too hot in the summer but it could be very nice, any other seasons.  

Wow:

It’s famous for the yearly Cheung Chau Bun Festival, where free pau is given away.  It’s a quaint, little island with a beautiful beach and a small mountain, best of both worlds.  It’s quite an easy walk around the island and could easily occupy half the day or you could rent bicycles to ride around the island.  Seafood is cheaper than in HK Island and fresh. 

Must bring home: Plastic Cheaung Chau Bun magnet and key-chain and the real-deal for the tummy.  

No, no, no:

Possibility of getting nauseous / sea-sick, from the rocking ferry is very high.  So stock up on motion-sickness tablets for the trip.

Here’s a picture of boats docked at the pier:

Destination: Jakarta

A bright idea came to me to start a travelogue of the places that I’ve visited, whether for work or leisure.  Before visiting a new place, I like to research the web for information on the must-see/do/eat and make a long list, which I take pleasure in ticking off, as I see/do/eat.

The travelogue is organised into 2 broad sections:

• Wow – which include the must see/do/eat, advisory and uniqueness of the place
• No, no, no – Time-waster/ugly-side of the place

This first travelogue is on Jakarta.  I’ve been to Jakarta several times in the last few years for business.  Partly due to several nasty experiences in previous visits, I’m wary of the City.  Of the cities that I’ve visited so far, I find Jakarta to be the least safe.  Having said that, don’t start your trip with a negative perception, just take precaution and enjoy its rich culture and history.  It’s also nice to remember that many of the locals earn much less than you do and would appreciate any tips you give for their service.  There are some (re. Bajaj and taxi drivers) who think that because of this reason, they are “entitled” to charge a foreigner more and shameless do it, expecting you accept it and not make a big fuss.  Depending on your philosophy in this matter, if it’s just a few extra dollars, it’s hardly worth risking your limb and those few extra dollar would go a longer way for them.  

Wow:

• The People : they are warm, hospitable and friendly and have large amounts of patiences, especially when we butcher their Bahasa. 
• Must Try Food : Sudanese food & Balinese food.  Jakarta is made up of many regions/provinces and each has its unique flavour.  Typical Indonesian food is so-so, not as good as Malaysian but somewhat similar to Filipino food, in terms of blandness.  One of the local favorite dishes is Ikan (Fish) Gurame, fried until its crisp, also known as the flying fish (because when its fried to a crisp, it resembles a fish with wings!). Advisory: Always drink mineral or boiled water and avoid ice.  I would also not tempt the tummy with food from the street-vendor.
• Bahasa : the national language.  The wow factor here is the fact that each region has its own dialect and each Indonesian can speak at least 2 languages-Bahasa & local dialect.  They speak very fast and I’ve observed that they tend to speak in a manja (affectionate) manner.  A tip to sound more Indonesian, is to add the “Ya” or “iYa”, after each sentence. 
• Shopping : because  of the weak Rupiah, everything is cheaper if converted to your home currency.  Unique to Indonesia is Batik, which is currently very popular and fashionable too. If you enjoy the local atmosphere, where things are cheaper, consider a visit to Mangga Dua and Ambassador Mall.  The former is 2 huge complexes, filled with small shops covering everything a woman desires.  Bargaining is mandatory.   Advisory: The place gets crowded during the weekends, after noon.  So it’s best to be there and out before noon.  Bandung and Bogor (towns about 2hr and 1hr, outside Jakarta) are well-known for having factory outlets that sell export overruns.  But it’s very crowded during the weekend and the trip could take much longer.
• Massage : Indonesian massage is dry, unlike the Thai massage.  Although there’s lots of seedy massage parlours, I’ve found 2 centres, which pride themselves on being a “Family Health Centre” – Bersih Sehat and Mitra Sehat.  They have outlets around Jakarta and rates are reasonable, approximately 100,000Rp for 1 hour of massage, tips not included.
• 3-in-1 and Jockey for Hire : A rule was imposed on certain highways, which required at least 3 passengers in the vehicle in order to travel on that road.  This created a niche market of Jockey for Hire, whereby drivers would just pick up men and women from the road-side and pay them a fee to ride the distance on the road.  These Jockeys are let-off at the driver’s fancy.  Hire price is standard at 10,000Rp/person as supply is plentiful.  If you’re unlucky, the driver could pick up a smelly Jockey, so pick a fairly well-dressed one.

 No, no, no:

• Traffic : is chaotic during rush hour, which is almost anytime between 6am to midnight.  It once took us 45mins to make a U-Turn.  It’s everyone for him/herself during rush hour and all courtesies are gone, as everyone try to out-manuevar each other, with motobikes squezzing in when they can. 
• Pollution : Terrible because of the large population of vehicles on the road.  Advisory: Never consider walking outdoors longer than 20mins.  You’ll smell like smoke and probably inhale more of it. 
• Public Transportation : In the city, there’s buses, vans, three-wheeler or known as Bajaj and taxis.  The cheapest of these is the Bajaj.  Although fare is negotiated up-front, but from experience, this does not stop the driver from threatening you for more, along the way.  It’s fine for short distances but beware of being stuck in traffic, you’ll be eye and nose-level with other vehicle’s exhaust pipe… not a pleasant position.  Stick with Taxis for comfort reasons but some will take advantage of foreigner.  Advisory:  Only take taxis from Blue Bird Group, they have 2 types of taxis – Blue Bird (Economy-class, painted blue) and Silver Bird (Premium-class, painted black).  Blue Bird is so popular that several rivals have tried to trick passengers by also painting their cabs a different shade of blue.  So look out for the company’s name, which is painted on the side of the taxi.  Flag fall for Blue Bird is 6,000Rp, tips are appreciated.
• Income disparity :  Is so obviously big, with a large portion in the low income bracket.  A local once explained that although Jakarta covers about 20% total land area in Indonesia but it held 80% of the wealth.  Many poor people travel from the provinces to work in the city and some make their homes under bridges and railway lines.  At the same time, it’s mind-boggling to see huge shopping complexes selling designer brands. 
• No Free Map : I’ve tried but failed to find a free map of Jakarta, so for those who like to navigate and know your bearings, it might be worth investing in a map.  I’ve never bothered and depended on the taxis.
• Historical places : There are some museums and several roundabouts with monuments, which I didn’t find too fascinating.  Other than that, there’s nothing much touristy to do in Jakarta.  The time is better spent, talking to a local and understanding Jakarta’s history and culture.

Ode to Christmas

I’ve changed the theme, to celebrate Christmas.  Christmas for me, started early this year, since September to be exact.

I was in Manila in late September and was surprised to see christmas decor in the shopping complexes.  The most surprising thing was hearing Christmas carols on the Train Station’s loud speaker.  A local explained that Christmas starts when the months ending with ‘ber’ starts… September onwards.

A friend send me this modified Christmas carol to suit the current economic condition.  It should be sung to the melody of “Santa Claus is coming to town”:

You’d better watch out
You’d better not cry
You’d better keep cash
I’m telling you why:
Recession is coming to town.

It’s hitting you once,
It’s hitting you twice
It doesn’t care if you’ve been careful and wise
Recession is coming to town

It’s worthless if you’ve got shares
It’s worthless if you’ve got bonds
It’s safe when you’ve got cash in hand
So keep cash for goodness sake, HEY

You’d better watch out
You’d better not cry
You’d better keep cash
I’m telling you why:
Recession is coming to town!

Finance products are confusing
Finance products are so vague
The banks make you bear the cost of risk
So keep out for goodness sake, OH

You’d better watch out
You’d better not cry
You’d better keep cash
I’m telling you why:
Recession is coming to town.

Children, a gift from GOD

This post is inspired by an article I read, on the challenges Philippines is facing in tackling the issue of population control.  It has been struggling with an increasing population, which is straining its natural resources.  Coupled with corruption and a turbulent political past, the country’s economy has not had a chance to progress as much as Singapore and Malaysia.  Large families is mainly a problem for those in the lower-income bracket and multiplied by the population that falls into this category, well you can imagine why this is now a concern.  Being a largely Catholic country, the Church advocates natural birth-control methods, such as abstinence, rhythm and withdrawal, instead of artificial methods.  Many of the poor depend on the government to provide artificial birth-control aids, however due to its religious obligations, many local governors have decided to disallow this.  Thus, the poor are left to their own devices, to control the size of their families and needless to say, it has not been very successful. 

The article profiled a woman who planned for 4 children but ended up with 7.  Her husband is the only breadwinner and he works as a tricycle driver.  He doesn’t earn enough to feed his family of 9 and depend on extended family for help.  This woman was angry with the lack of assistance from the government in managing this problem.  In her opinion, the 3 unplanned children were the government’s fault and thus, the government should be financially responsible for these children.  She is still of child-bearing age and dreads thinking of whether GOD will continue to bless them with more children.  Everyone in the family will suffer from the lack of money. 

This story struck me because I have a dear friend – M, who has been trying to get pregnant for the last year and has so far been unsuccessful.  I’ve seen her tears of frustration and felt her desperation, as she goes through this process.  She and her husband are financially and emotionally ready for a child but it is not yet their fate.  This article represents another end of the spectrum, where children have been gifted but the parents are not financially capable of giving them a sustainable future.  I think that poverty is worst than death, poverty robs a child of education and the potential for greatness.  Yes, there have been stories of great success, where people with underpriviledged childhood have broken this barrier and found fortune but this is a fairytale compared to what normally happens.   

I believe in people’s right to choose – free will.  If we screw up, then we face the consequences.  Unfortunately when it comes to parenting, if we screw up, its our children who suffer for it.  I’m against abortion as a birth-control method.  But other than that, I believe that we should all be treated as adults and allowed to decide what works best for us.  If the government wants to dictate how to manage this problem, it should also be supportive if the consequences are other than expected.   

During a Catholic wedding mass, the couple is asked to take several vows.  The most profound of these is - Will you accept children lovingly, from GOD?  It never fails to make me cry, because the meaning is so powerful, so full of responsibility and a reminder that it’s GOD who chooses the parents.  This is one thing that is out of our mortal hands. 

    

Who do you please – Yourself or Others?

Philosophical question, really- who do you please?

I’m sure most of us have had this internal debate with ourselves, at least once in our lifetime.  Some of us probably have this debate every month!  Given scarse resources, we cannot please ourselves and others.  If we’re lucky, at least we have the luxury of prioritising whom to please but more often than not, this is not the case.  To please ourselves first, seem as-if we’re selfish / self-centred and this is against our primitive need for community living.  But to put other’s wants before ours will eventually make us disgruntled.  Some wise person would say “there needs to be a balance” – who decides the balance? For sure, I suck at this, as I tend to swing to both extremes.

In a previous post, I wrote about my ”challenge” with acceptance into my not-so-new community.  More than 6 months on, I’ve now realised that no matter what I do to make myself more acceptable, I’m fighting a losing battle.  Recently I faced a situation, where I needed to make a decision, which would affect members of my not-so-new community.  I’m sure there were 10 opinions on how I should decide and I tell ya, its a no-win situation for me… no matter which way I decided, I’ll still end up the loser.  While analysing this situation, I wrongly started out with the thought of whom I should please, to ensure “safe passage” through this “rough seas”.  It was fast becoming a political maneuver, of which I had the upper hand, because I was the decision-maker.  Call me naive but I dislike such politicking / strategising, life is hard enough, there’s no need to make it harder.  So in the end, I decided based on what I thought was best for the whole community.  I was very careful to ensure that there was no hint of favoritism, which was easy to do as I have no favorites. 

I was feeling pretty good about my decision and particularly proud of the way I handled the situation.  I was naively confident that everyone who saw my decision would see it as I did – fair.  But my faith in my community has eroded, as I’ve since come to know that there are a lot of dissatisfaction and rumours and gossips behind the scenes on the decision I made.  These rumour-mongers chose to pick on those bits which were not in their favour, while keeping numbingly silent about the ones favouring them – work of Small Minds.  My initial reaction was to defend my decision and carefully explain my thought process in arriving at the decision.  But I stopped myself short – why did I have to explain myself?  No one else is required to. And anyway, those who dislike me would not give me the time to explain myself, or even if they did, I hardly think my explanations would sway their thoughts of me. 

And so, that’s how I came to the conclusion that I cannot please everyone and it’s easier to please myself.  Someone wise once told me – ” Some people will like or dislike you, no matter who you are or what you do or don’t do” - there’s no logical explanation for this, it’s just one of those things in life. 

Now, after months of agonising over this lack of acceptance, I’ve come full-circle and am contented with my current state of mind.  At least it’s an end to the endless debates with myself.  There is no right or wrong answer, as long as I can sleep peacefully at night. 

America’s New President

Yesterday’s big news was about the election of America’s new president.  Most of the headlines, screamed “America’s first African-American President”.  It then struck me, that although Americans project themselves as being liberal-minded, but their politics is still quite racist.  President Obama may have been elected for his promises, policies and character but it seemed that the main thing to celebrate was the fact that he is the first non-white President.  I watched CNN last night, when they interviewed several African-Americans who came to hear President Obama’s victory speech. All those interviewed were ecstatic and jubilant, some were even crying and one guy said that this was a breakthrough for African-Americans and that President Obama would now champion “African-American” rights.  And I thought that he is supposed to be President for all (sounds familiar?).  

I think racism, although getting more subtle, still exist in every multi-racial society.   Perhaps it will take another lifetime, for us to be truly “colour-blind” and to not make distinction of a person’s race.  Instead,  we will recognise and celebrate substance of character.

Congratulations, President Barack Obama

Current location: Home Sweet Home

I returned to Malaysia for work on Sat and since then, haven’t found the need or want to update the blog.  There are so many more interesting things happening, which is occupying my attention. 

Since returning home, I’ve been greedily reading newspapers, even the ones from 2 weeks ago.  It’s as-if I’ve been starved of information and need to get acquinted with the going-ons in Malaysia.  I’m happy to see that the current economic recession in other parts of the world has hardly affected Malaysia and everyone that I’ve met, isn’t too worried that it might hit Malaysia.  How refreshing to not feel insecure about the economy or your job, for that matter.  And I’m the bringer of doom and gloom, telling everyone I know, to save, don’t take loans etc. 

I was also surprised to read that Abdul Razak Baginda, the one who was charged with plotting the Altantuya murder – the Mongolian who was blown to bits – was acquited and set free!  Hmm, how and why did THAT happen?  From what I read previously, he seemed to be the only one with motive to get rid of her.  BUT everyone is innocent until proven guilty or my personal motto – Life may be Unfair but GOD is fair. 

Next, there was hardly any mention of THE Government Take-Over by Pakatan.  It’s so quiet, as-if they gave up the goal.  I guess I’m the one with the problem – because they (Pakatan) had built up the hype, even set a deadline for THE Takeover and when that didn’t happen, my interest just died.  And since then, silence… what is going on, man?  Could it all just be a ploy to put pressure on our PM to step down and elect DPM??  Please don’t quote me, I’m just speculating wildly.

I’m now staying at Mandarin Oriental KL and my view is the KLCC.  I’ve never seen KLCC this close before.  Here’s a picture I took of the Twin Towers, from my room.