Thursday, July 30, 2009

Heritage Sleepover @ Museum, Malacca.

Heritage Sleepover at the Museum, Malacca.


View the slide shows.


"The coming CEOs Summit's Venue. 1 Woman 9 Men"

NAZA HOTEL MELAKA,

177, Jalan Tun Ali,

75300 Melaka.

Tel : 06-28 82 288.

Fax: 06-28 82 289.

Att: En Abu Hassan Ismail @016-6685485


Let's look at Heritage Sleepover around the world.


1) Sleepover Hotel Santa Isabel, Cuba.


2) Giant Sleepover at London Aquarium

- It was one of the venues of this year's Giant Sleepover, which saw more than 30,000 people across 890 locations bedding down to raise money for Children's charities in June 2009. Source: http://english.cri.cn


3) Tibi Sleep Over Experiences


......



Tuesday, July 28, 2009

A Vegetarian Lunch

Dr. Saravanan Muthaiyah, Dr. Murali Rahman, Madam Chan Gaik Yee and I had lunch today. We chose to have a vegetarian.

My colleagues and I had very simple food. 3 of them are married and I am the only single and the young lady. It is a norm when I am in Malaysia. I am just a lucky woman with many elderly around me. They taught me a lot about the life experience.

I will turn 30 s in this september. Don't perceive that I am 40 or 45 years old.

I like meats but, I seldom eat meats because I am very selective in meats. I just feel not good and not healthy after I eat them. I vomited them after I have taken them. My definition of good meats is very personal because I can not swallow some meats which are not up to my taste. The meats are good for most of the people definitely. Most of the time, some people are offended if I did not take meats which they have served me and cook for me. Sometimes, I am curious to try the meat, but, later, I run to the bathroom to vomit out. I feel so sorry for the cook especially when it is a family dinner or friend gathering.

Therefore, I always say that I am a vegetarian to avoid any unnecessary offences. I am just a bit choosy for meats. Therefore, I choose to eat more vegetables and selective seafood.

"I tried some good best beef when I was in United States of America about 4 years ago. Ben White's mother bought the beef for the BBQ at camp," I said.

One India colleague suggested that I go for Kobe Beef. He said, "if the Kobe beef is halal, the Kobe Beef would be the best selling item in Malaysia."

"It is hard to find in many places," I said.

One of my colleagues, Dr. Saravanan Muthaiyah told us about his family outing in Malacca. They went to A' Farmosa Resort. He mentioned about his little daughter's questions at Animal Farm. He felt the questions were funny. "Papa, what is that?" asked her daughter. "It is elephant's poops!" my colleague said. Her daughter raised her voice and asked again, "Papa, papa, why the poops is so big?" Dr. Saravanan Muthaiyah told the little girl, "The elephant's size is big, so its poops are big. You are a little girl, so, your poops are small."

Later, Dr. Saravanan Muthaiyah told us about the Chicken Farm. It consisted all types of chicken. It was wonderful. His children like the place very much because his children never see the real chicken. They only saw them from the book and TV. He imitated his daughter's voice again, "Papa, the chicks are so cute".

I told my colleague about one of my good friends, Lai Pui Wah who is working on a Ph.D. on chicken meat's structure in one of the Universities in Taiwan. Dr. Saravanan Muthaiyah suggested my friend to work in Malacca once she returns from Taiwan. I smiled.

The conversation continued, Dr. Saravanan Muthaiyah cracked a joke. He said he met a Singaporean. According to him, the Singaporean told him that he wanted to let go the Singapore Citizenship. We are surprised about the correctness of his speech. He clarified and said it was a joke. He asked the Singaporean the reasons why he would like to let go the citizenship.

"Is that because of the pay?" my colleague asked.
"No. No. No complaints," said the Singaporean.

"Is that because of the President?" my colleague asked again.
"No. No. No complaints," said the Singaporean.

"Is that because of the living environment?" my colleague asked.
"No. No. No complaints," said the Singaporean.

"Is that because of the water?" my colleague asked.
"No. No. No complaints," said the Singaporean.

"Is that because of the people?" my colleague asked again.
"No. No. No complaints," said the Singaporean.

"Then, why you want to come to Malaysia and let go your citizenship?" my colleague asked.
"It is because I can complaint if I am a Malaysian," said the Singaporean.

"No one dare to say a word when Lee Kuan Yew wanted to implement a law or a regulation. When he said, everyone listened. But, when Prime Minister in Malaysia said something, the whole Malaysia citizens complaint. Malaysians just like to complaint even though it is nothing wrong from the Prime Minister's and globalization's perspective. I want to join you as a Malaysian to start complaining," said the Singaporean. "I never complain in Singapore because I have nothing to complain," he added.

The joke ended.

I agreed that Singaporeans have a very good Prime Minister always. I think they are lucky. I am proud that our Prime Ministers have caliber too. Each of them has their own strength. They are developing our country step-by-step.

"The Singaporeans' behavior is so different. They act differently when they are in their country and when they are in Malaysia," Dr. Saravanan Muthaiyah continued.

"The Singaporeans like they were just released from somewhere. They just acted differently especially when they were in Malaysia. In Singapore, you can not do this and you can not do that. The Singaporeans are very discipline. In Malaysia, you can do anything," he added.

"Oh! It is not true. How can you do everything in Malaysia? You can not take soft drugs in Malaysia. It is illegal and a death sentenced. No marijuana even though it is a legal thing in Amsterdam," I said.

I responded that what the Singaporean said was not 100% correct, somehow, Singaporeans just like Malaysia because of the currency exchange. Their spending power raised about 2.2 times when they were in Malaysia. They liked the food and the people in Malaysia.

We have many water parks and entertainment cities in Malaysia. I should spend a day to A' Farmosa. Who is the lucky guy?

He also told us about many Singaporeans choose to spend a weekend in Malacca because that is the second nearest and the most interesting city.

Malacca is also known as the Historical city. And, it has been listed as a prominent World Heritage Site of UNESCO since 7th July 2008. The Malacca history started with a Malay Hindu Prince called Parameswara from Palembang district of Srivijaya Empire in 1402. The prince named the place with the name of the tree which he rested while he witnessed a mouse deer outwitting a dog. It was a Malacca tree. The prince was very happy about the incident and he has decided to start his Kingdom at Malacca.

Soon, Parameswara married a Princess from Pasai and converted himself to Muslim by calling himself Sultan Iskandar Shah. The Hindu-Malay and Tamil-Malay society were formed. Parameswara had a foreign relationship with Ming Dynasty, China to ensure his country being protected and free from the Siam's and Majapahit's attacks. Parameswara embarked several voyages to visit Emperor Yongle; was escorted by Zheng Ho and Yin Qing.

In 1908-1981, Malacca grew into an international trading port. 80 languages were recorded spoken in Malacca. It grew as a Muslim land. The Portuguese writer illustrated the place as one of the important and rich port in far east, "He who is lord of Malacca has his hand on the throat of venice."

The Malacca was colonized by European. In April 1511, Afonso De Albuquerque sailed from Goa, India to Malacca. He conquered Malacca. In year 1641, Dutch defeated Portuguese. In 1826, Malacca was governed by British in the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824. From 1826-1946, Malacca was governed by British East India Company and then as a Crown Colony. Straits Settlements are formed by Singapore, Penang and Malacca.

It is worth to spend some time at Malacca. It is a small place and yet it is lovely.

Besides family outing, Malacca and Singaporean, we talked about the language used in Mathematics and Sciences teaching in schools. We agreed to use English. Anyway, it is an issue always when a new leader is taking over the position. Normally, there are many new rules and regulations. Sometimes, the average or normal citizens are very confusing. Is there an awareness program to help the citizens to get a clearer picture?

Are you changing or not changing? Is that legal or not legal? When there is a change, what are you going to do? Smart people and highly educated people can catch up the change very fast.

Those who are average and normal will only listen from the leaders. No choice.

The words pass from one mouth to another mouth. Will the message still remains the same? Sharp and clear?

When a message turn sour or bad, are they consider a rumor since it is not true? Is this the way to form a rumor? Tom passed a message to Dick, later, Dick passed a message to Harry, soon, Harry passed a message to ...... The message change from one mouth to another mouth. What is next?

Will that be a message from the Prime Minister?

I doubted so.

Is time to bridge the gap? How? Will bridging the gap for a past leader's ruling and the new leader's ruling is a good research topic from the economics perspective?

Are you going to spend more money when you have such a change? If it is, should you implement the change? Is there a standard procedure to implement the change with the lowest cost? Is that a globalisation issue, so that you must change?

Who should set the rules? The United Nation? The World Federation? The Central Bank?

It is so interesting. I hope I can read some useful articles soon for my queries. I am just curious because I met some people who are complaining that they are so confused for some changes recently.

"We are confused. Our money and investment go down to the drain for a slightly change. We need your helps. Is there a bridging the gap program for the change?"

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

A Slower Walker


"I am a slow walker, but I never walk back."
Abraham Lincoln - 16th President Of The United States of America




Thoughts

“If you realized how powerful your thoughts are, you would never think a negative thought.”

—Peace Pilgrim (1908-1981); pacifist, peace-activist

Thursday, July 9, 2009

The 25th Tunku Abdul Rahman Lecture


Tunku Abdul Rahman Lecture is 39 years old. Malaysian Institute of Management has invited DYTM Raja Muda Perak, Raja Nazrin Shah Ibni Sultan Azlan Muhibbuddin Shah to deliver a Tunku Abdul Rahman lecture, "Imbued with Integrity, Endowed with Ethics: Foundation for Managing Malaysia through Enlightened, Value-Driven Leadership" on 5th August 2009 at Grand Ballroom, Shangri-La Hotel, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

See you there! It is a great networking opportunity.




Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Slumdog Millionaire - Review

I had an invitation from a new friend for a movie in October 2009 in central London. Unfortunately, I had an emergency matter. I was back in Malaysia with only an SMS saying, "I'm sorry. I cannot go to the movie. Shall I send you a review when I have a chance to watch the movie?" I tried to contact him again when I was in London a few months ago. I could not reach him using email and his mobile phone number. In short, "Slumdog Millionaire" is a good movie. It passed a message to the audiences that a boy was born and grown in the slums of Mumbai could be smarter than lawyers and doctors by winning the game event, ‘Who wants to be a millionaire?’. He won twenty-million Indian Rupees. He showed the audiences that his knowledge was better than lawyers and doctors even though he never had a chance to go through a formal education. Former education is very important. Unfortunately, not all human beings have the opportunity to enroll to formal schools. He gained the knowledge through his life in the slums, and the adventures on the road with his brother and his “love”.

It was unbelievable that the boy, Jamal Malik from the story won the game. The movie showed the ugly side of the human beings being the sour grapes because they did not understand why a boy was born and grown in slums could answer all the questions. The police arrested him for a night during the break towards the last question of the contest. The police suspected him of cheating. Also, the movie showed the violence of the police force towards a victim. The policemen should not beat him because he was not charged being found guilty yet. In additional, where were the human rights? “Should the policemen go for the course of Ethics and Professional Conduct? Is that right to beat people even though they are wrong?”

“Should you use a better method to ask questions instead of beating someone? It hurt physically and emotionally. He was innocent, and he was smart. He never cheated. Why did you want to suspect him? Why did you want to beat him? Why did you want to give him so much trouble?”

“I have a suggestion for the sour grapes. When you are not sure why people are very smart, kindly invite him for tea to ask him properly rather than asking the police to arrest him and accuse him of cheating. His reputation and trust were down the drains. Were there any compensation given?” “I would recommend all to watch the movie. Kindly purchase the original copy because the pirated one is not going to give you a very good sound effect. We need to support the original copies of production. Support the original copies!”

I hoped that the audience will get the following messages.

1. Love at first sight is very powerful. Love is without conditions.

2. Never look down at people who are not born in a good environment. These people might have many merit points for us to learn from them. They could be smarter than us.

3. Professionals such as lawyers, doctors, engineers and professors are job titles. It indicates intelligence and expertise in a particular field. Therefore, when we talk about life and other knowledge, we are all equal. Let's learn from each other about life and other knowledge. It is not professional to say, "You are a lawyer. How come you do not know this simple thing?" If you are a friend of the lawyer, kindly let the lawyer know what the simple thing is. Tell him how other people perceive from their perspective, and seek the lawyer's opinion to find out what his position and perspective are in a given situation.

4. "Sour grapes" is formed as a result of the people’s thinking are not matching the way it supposed to be. In other words, your expectation is not matching with the outcome of an event. For example, the policemen from the story perceived that only doctors and lawyers deserved to win the game, "Who wants to be a millionaire?". The policemen perceived that only doctors and lawyers were smart. They perceived that a boy who was born and grown up in slums of Mumbai was definitely a cheater. Thus, there were unnecessary suspicion and violence inflicted on the victim. Why not one tries to understand him, understand how he grew up and his life experiences?

5. It is urgency to form the Ethics and Professional Conduct Law. A fine system is necessary for how people talk, and how people perceive. It is not an offence. It is just like a punishment for non-professional people, and, the non-professional attitude has jeopardized others' image, reputation and trust. The people who are non-professional judge a scenario with wrong reasoning methods and also, they do not understand the whole picture. Thus, you should not make a conclusion when you are not informed with enough information.

If you have done the mentioned mistake, kindly change your mindsets. If it is within your capacity, kindly give necessary compensation.

It was something funny when you heard some extremely intelligent people in certain fields gave comments on their country's government. These people did not understand the meaning of Accounting and Business, but, they could judge people were corrupted when they knew some former politicians have millions in their bank account. At the first place, how did they know that they had that amount of money? Was the banker ethical and professional?

Let me show you a simple calculation without any bank interest, life insurance, bonds, blue chips and properties ownership for a normal individual who has an income of ten thousand Ringgit Malaysia per month for ten years. The ten thousand Ringgit Malaysia is the net income because he or she has a company car and a company house. The food and traveling expenses are provided. One hundred and twenty months multiply ten thousand Ringgit Malaysia equal to one million and two hundred thousand. According to some insurances, bonds and blue chips investment projection, they show minimum of forty percent to a maximum of four hundred percent as the investment return. It is not strange when a person who used to work for ten years with ten thousand Ringgit Malaysia monthly salaries will have a few millions in a bank account.

The investor was not corrupted, understand? The investor was wise in investing. As a result of your suspicion and your stupidity to listen to rumors, the investor has a reduced in reputation and trust. “You may start to learn how to become a smart investor. Should government servants and policemen attend business and investment courses?”