Merry X'mas and HNY!

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Memorial Lecture by Bill Clinton

Bill Clinton is on his first trip to Malaysia and will be addressing at the inaugural BC Sekhar Memorial Lecture today at 6pm. As far as I have learned, he is a great speaker who always wanted to make this world a better place by his own sharing and caring ways.

Well, if you yet to plan your Friday evening.. why don't you catch him live on ASTRO Awani at 6pm.

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A visit to Rumah Hope

December is here and that means Christmas is on its way. Joy of giving and sharing love is what Christmas is all about. With such caring concern in mind, MIB has planned for an afternoon with the kids of Rumah Hope in Petaling Jaya on 13th December 2008.


We are hoping to reach out to the children by donationg clothes, books, provisions and gifts. More than that, we'll be spending some time; may be an hour or two with the kids on that day. Trust me when I say that the gift of time sometimes can be more valuable and more satisfying that money.

I think giving back to the less fortunate ones is the best way to thank God for the wonderful life we have been blessed with. And I also deeply believe any simple gesture blended with true love and care has the power to make unbelievable changes on others - which reminds me Oprah's words, "Everyone wants to matter. Three nuns I didn't know made me feel like I mattered when my mother, half brother, half sister and I were on welfare and they brought us food and toys for Christmas. The best gift wasn't the toys. It was being able to give the honest answer when the other kids asked what I got for Christmas. Now, here I am wanting to give back what I was given, a sense of worth"

So, let's reach out. More info of this initiative is available at Mindsblog and you may RSVP your attendace via Facebook.


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Bloggers Buff 2008


Bloggers Buff is back again after a year of gap. This year's event will be held in a greater extend compared to what the participants experienced July last year. There's going to be a special treat for all the bloggers as Tun Dr. Mahathir will be delivering a keynote address in the very first official event he's coming in as an Ex-Premier a blogger.

If you are a Malaysian Blogger, then make sure you grab this conference-cum-networking event. It's open to all bloggers regardless of genre, race and age limit. As much as we would love to have all the bloggers making this event a real great one, I must also tell you that only the first 100 registered participants will be allowed an entry due to very limited seats.

So, if you yet to register, cross your fingers and try out your luck at Blogger Buff 2008 official blog. I got to let you know that the seats are filling fast and yours might be the lucky 100th.

I'll see you on coming Saturday, 22nd November at PWTC.

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Bolehland live on RTM

Catch blogger B Mahendran live on RTM 1 talking in Blog, this evening at 8pm.

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Happy Deepavali


Let us together celebrate the victory of good
over evil, light over darkness, and knowledge over ignorance.. Happy Deepavali :)



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The Boss : Ithu Eppadi Irukku?


Check it out! Click on the image :D

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Selamat Hari Raya

Wishing all my Muslim friends "Selamat Hari Raya"
Be careful on roads, ingatlah girlfriend yang tersayang :P


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Malaysia Indru gets new look

MalaysiaIndru (மலேசியாஇன்று) -The Tamil version of Malaysiakini is now up and running with a brand new look. Check out its Version 2.0 release at www.malaysiaindru.com

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LOL Mondays 21


JUST A MINUTE

The man: "God, how long is a million years?"
God: "To me, it's about a minute."
The man: "God, how much is a million dollars?"
God: "To me it's a penny."
The man: "God, may I have a penny?"
God: "Yeah of course, wait a minute!"

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ISA : Let's talk about double standards

It's a clear cut of another Ops Lalang. RPK was the first victim of UMNO's "ramai-ramai masuk ISA" campaign. Well that was something everyone expected to happen, either sooner or later. In fact RPK himself wrote in Malaysia Today that he would be dragged under the draconian law when UMNO feels the time has come. And. I guess he was talking about "yesterday" all this while. In one of his recent articles RPK said,
...this could probably be the last article I write, at least until 16 September 2008. So I too need Anwar to succeed. If not I will be in Kamunting for quite some time to come and you will not hear from me over the next couple of years. Yes, I too have placed, not only my money, but also my freedom on Anwar. And if Anwar fails to deliver his promise on 16 September 2008, not only he but I as well am headed for a fall. But I have confidence he will do it.

And I have confidence that my stay in Kamunting will not be for two years but for a mere two weeks. But if I am wrong…..well, then see you maybe in six or seven years time...
But what was wrong in Sin Chiew Daily journalist, Tan Hoon Cheng reporting the truth to the rakyat exposing Ahmad Ismail's comments quoting Chinese and Indians as "immigrants".? And, why should be Teresa Kok, a MP who was elected by the rakyat to serve them put behind the bars for god knows what reason! Umno is going overboard and their acts are against democracy.

But, the perpetrator who vowed to conduct a nationwide roadshow on his racial remarks without any remorse is still at large. Ahmad Ismail who deserves an ISA act on him more than anyone else do is suspended for 3 years, just nice for him to pop up again for the next elections so that he could continue to propagate his racial agendas. And, no actions taken against the Utusan Malaysia fellas who stirred up rumors and reported false news.

Talk about double standards. Talk about media freedom. Talk about reporting the truth. I am losing hope already. Just like many of the Malaysians out there, I am desperate to see some signs for a new Malaysia that will overthrow the UMNO dogs rot to death with their laws and racist mentality.

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LHC first beam of Proton

Did you had a look at Google today? Well, this was the logo!

In case you wonder what's the rocket look a like thingy that circles around the Google and sparks out when collide with each another - it's the Large Hadron Collider, or LHC for short.

The LHC is European Organization of Nuclear Research's (CERN) new flagship research facility. As the world’s highest energy particle accelerator, it is poised to provide new insights into the mysteries of our universe. And, half the world's particle physicists hope to achieve by triggering the LHD machine to drive two beams of particles in opposite directions around this 27km ring at 99.9999991% of the speed of light, steering the beams at four points during their circuit into head-on collisions with enough energy to recreate in miniature the cosmic circumstances that exist one trillionth of a second after the big bang. I wonder why!

If you still blur of what happened at the 27km (17-mile) circular tunnel beneath the Geneva countryside this morning at the start of an experiment which has been suggested, will unlock the secrets of the universe, then click for more details, HERE and HERE.

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Tony Fernandes on blogosphere

As we have people like Kennysia who became a popular figure because of him blogging, we also have number of famous local personalities who started to blog in order to share their thoughts and opinions for the success of others.

Here's the next one on such a list. Check out Tony Fernandez in his CEO Blog -The Entrepreneur. He's now on board willing to share his ideas, thoughts and observations on a variety of topics with anyone who cares to listen.

As I was thinking what would be his blog's tag line, can u guess which one came to my mind first? Yes, "Now everyone can blog" .. hahaha! That's how much he has left an impact on the rest of Malaysians like me with his vision and spirit for success.

Hope he'll continue to inspire all of us through his writing and success stories. Welcome to the club, Datuk!

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An oath for today's youth

Several days ago I had a chance to attend a public lecture - “Ignited Minds : The Power of the Youth” by APJ Dr.Abdul Kalam, the former President of India, during his one week visit to Malaysia.

As the planet Earth is facing many conflicts both natural and man-made, he stressed that every single youth holds the responsibility to work for universal harmony by ironing out all the causes of conflicts

Thus, he administered nine points oath to be repeated by the audience, youths and students especially. And, here I share them for your knowledge and guidance.

1. I realize that small aim is a crime. I will have a goal and work hard to achieve that goal.


2. I will always be righteous in the heart which leads to beauty in the character, beauty in the character brings harmony in the home, harmony in the home leads to order in the nation and order in the nation leads to peace in the world.


3. I will work with integrity and succeed with integrity.


4. I will be a good citizen, a good member of my family, a good member of the society, a good member of the nation and a good member of the world.

5. I will always try to save or better someone's life. Wherever I am, a thought will always come to my mind. That is “What can I give?”

6. I will always protect and enhance the dignity of every human life.

7. I will always remember that “Let not my winged days, be spent in vain”.

8. I will always work for clean planet Earth and clean energy.

9. As a youth of Malaysia, I will work and work with courage to achieve success in all my tasks and enjoy the success of others.

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Anwar back in parliament

Final EC tally for Permatang Pauh election - Anwar got 31,195 votes, Arif Shah, 15,524, and Hanafi, 92. Anwar won with a majority of 15,671 - a bigger win than his wife, Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail who won the seat with a 13,388 majority at the March 8 general elections.

It was the hottest by-election ever. As I am looking down from the top of a 15 stories building at Lembah Pantai, - the constituency of Anwar's daughter, Nurul Izzah, I could see a festive like scenario with long line of convoys and continous honking, people shouting and screaming celebrating Anwar's big win and Keadilan flags are flying all over the place marking Anwar's political comeback after a decade of silence. It's a big win for Pakatan Rakyat. I just hope it will also be a big win for the rakyat.

And, I bet you, the parliament not gonna be the same again!

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Temples & crematoriums to be phased out of KL?

More than 120 temple representatives present at a meeting organized by Malaysia Hindu Sangam (MHS) at the Dewan Tan Sri K R Soma, KL yesterday were shocked that their temples and 2 existing Hindu Crematoriums were not identified at the master Plan of City of Kuala Lumpur by 2020.

It looks like there is a plan to erase off hundreds of Hindu Temples and 2 crematoriams at Jalan Loke Yew and Sentul by the year 2020.

In the recent press statement, MHS President, Datuk A Vaithilingam expressed that he felt of disappointment and disgust when they were briefed on the Master Plan. He further stressed that all temples are advised to immediately submit their protests to DBKL and send a copy of the protest form to Malaysian Hindu Sangam at No. 67, Jalan PJS 1/48, Taman Petaling Utama 7, 46150 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Fax 03-77847304 before 30th August.

The online version of DBKL Master Plan Booklet can be viewed HERE

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Remembering Nurin

It has been a year now since she went missing. Till today, no one was charged with the abduction of Nurin Jazlin. The closes thing we had is the blurry image of the suspect released in medias. But, the killer who brutally murdered the eight year old is still at large, walking among us as a free man.

Meanwhile, Nurin's family has filed a suit against the police force and government. Read The Star and NST for more.

For Nurin, Al-Fatihah.
May God bless her innocent soul to rest in peace!

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The transition

Yes, I know.. sorry for leaving a big gap on this page! Some of you have already started asking where did I disappear for the past few weeks. Things have been moving real fast enough lately that I had to gear up my momentum to catch up with the speed of change. I was smoothing down a transition till I had to roll my blog down from the priority list for a short period of time.

Having successfully survived my four years of engineering studies, I'm now preparing myself towards a new phase im my life. As, I'm waving goodbye to lectures, assignments, books, tests and reports, I'm welcoming a new world world of bills, bosses, meetings and loan repayments.

On one hand, I'm experiencing mixed emotions. It was a though decision for me to decide starting point of my career path. But, I'm happy enough and feeling excited that I have landed on the job of my choice and now looking forward to my first step towards professional development. On the other hand, I'm feeling a bit anxious. Although I have spend four years in varsity, I'm actually sitting down here and wondering what it will be like to cope with the new challenges. And, I couldn't agree more with the common opinion that one applies less than 10% of the theoretical knowledge gained in university within their job environment. The moment I step out of my classroom, it's a new world here, waiting for me. Life is no more happy go lucky. Now, life runs on routine as though everything is on an auto-pilot mode.

One thing that I realize is that the university experience and job environment are qualitatively different. The first one is very much result oriented and the latter is more towards action oriented achievements. One must be able to display initiative, set priorities, establish goals, and take responsibility for pursuing those goals in an ever-changing environment.

As I'm giving my mind enough space and time frame to reconstruct itself and adapts to a new reality, I promise to attend this blog soon, very soon!

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Adiyen Ramanuja Dasan

Dasavatharam; Kamal Hassan's latest flick that doesn't need an introduction anymore. I was particularly attracted to the fabulous first 10 minutes of the movie that brought us back in time to the 12th century.

Kamal Hassan as Rangaraja Nambi in the scene was forcibly tortured and dispatched into water to death by King Kulothungan Cholan for his refusal to disclose the whereabouts of his guru, Ramanuja Dasan and for his denial in giving up his faith to become a Shaivite. The King warns Nambi's referring to the fate of Kurattalvan who was blinded with a hot iron rod because did not reveal such information related to Ramanuja.

I have heard a little about Ramanuja Dasan before and while digging up a little deeper for the details of Ramanuja Dasan which left unanswered in the movie, I found some interesting facts attached to him. Ramanuja Dasan is a great religious philosopher of all time.

Once he was so eager to discover the meaning for a secret mantra which would lead to heaven after his death. So he approached his guru, Nambi, living in Thirukottiyur. The very moment he reached the doorsteps, he knocked on the door and cried, "Nan Ramanuja Dasan" (read = "I'm Ramanuja Dasan here"). But, Nambi refused to grant his request and replied back to him, "Nan setta piragu vaa" (read = "Come back after I die"). Ramanuja Dasan was confused with Nambi's response but wasn't in the mood to give up. So, he tried visiting him back the very next morning and he got back the same answer from Nambi saying, "Go back now and come back after I die."

This continued for not one or two but about 17 times. Ramanuja Dasan got fed up and started to think what was wrong with him for Nambi not to teach him the powerful manthra. Then he realised the meaning behind his guru's words. The word I" uttered by Nambi simply points to Ramanuja's ego and pride instead of guru himself. So, finally on his 18th attempt, Ramanuja was standing outside the same doorsteps and cried, "Adiyen Ramanuja Dasan" (Read = "Yours humbly, its me Ramanuja Dasan") - getting rid of the "I" (read=ego) in himself. Nambi obliged Ramanuja's request and started teaching him the meaning of the mantra.

Thank God that technology has evolved so advance that you don't have run up and down for 18 times. Nowadays, a single click would bring you up to heaven.

At the end of the teachings, Nambi extracted a promise from Ramanuja that he would not reveal the mantras to those unqualified to receive them. However, the following day, Ramanuja went to the nearby temple hall announced the sacred mantra to all those assembled there. When Nambi heard this, he demanded an explanation from Ramanuja for his direct disobedience. To this, Ramanuja, replied that if the act of his results in thousand souls reaching Vaikundam (read=heaven), he would be glad to be burned in hell which is the punishment for those who disobey their guru's commands. On hearing the explanation, Nambi was speechless and embraced him.

Two things to be learned here:

When we let go our ego and pride, we do see situations in a whole new light. We can open ourselves up to realms of possibility that we never before could have imagined. We can find knowledge, new powers, new creativity, new opportunities for growth, for love, for harmony, peace and joy in our lives that before our ego death we could not begin to conceive. I would love to quote Hugh Prather's words in The Little Book of Letting Go: "A mind (ego) that learns to let go gradually returns to its inherent wholeness, happiness, and simplicity."

Next, some people object to knowledge sharing as they feel that others will steal their ideas and reap the rewards rightly theirs. But, giving is always better than receiving. Share your knowledge with others genuinely. Sharing with others will result in powerful opportunities coming into your life that you never would’ve thought possible. Even money can buy you happiness only if you're spending it on someone else. You can call this whatever you want – helping others, going the extra mile, caring, but what it all boils down to is really serving others because you genuinely want to without expecting anything in return.

Cheers!

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LOL Mondays 20


A lawyer charges a poor, elderly widow $200 to draft her will.
She paid him with $50 notes.

After she left, the solicitor discovered that several notes have stuck together and he's overpaid by $100.

So, an ethical dilemma for the lawyer : Should he tell his partner?

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Fuel Hike Carnival 2008

Protests in Malaysia have become more like carnivals. The fuel hike protest held yesterday at Kelana Jaya Stadium was filled with carnival sort of atmosphere since the rally started at 10am. The all day protest which saw a red sea of approximately 30,000 people was fun filled with speeches, musical and artistic performances.

Here's a click from the event field


A bunch of Malaysians with the spirit of Makkal Sakthi unfurling a banner for what looked like a police helicopter hovering above. Check out more captured moments from the protest at Mycen and Malaysiakini

And.. in between all those ongoing sodomy dramas in our country, yesterday we had a a rock singer pulled down his trousers and showed his boxer shorts to the shock of the crowd during the anti-fuel price rally. I wonder what was he thinking on the stage!

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Fu-e-llemak!

Hahaha... I was expecting this piece of news to appear after the hike of oil price. The Star reported yesterday that four PKR MPs cycled to Parliament in petrol hike protest. They highlighted that changing lifestyle is not as easy as the Government claims as the road transport system here is not designed for bicycles and cyclists will find it difficult to cruise around town.

The skyrocketing oil price has made holes in our pockets. A Kancil car now needs almost RM 50 for a full tank and a Proton Waja drinks more than RM 130. That's crazy! In today's scenario, Saving petrol means saving money. As, you think on how to save more money on every drop of petrol your car consumes, I share you some tips I received via email:
  • Pump up your tyres. Keeping your tyres inflated is one of the easiest and most important things one can do to improve fuel economy. If a range is recommended by the manufacturer, the higher pressure should be used to maximize fuel efficiency. Lower pressure hurt the fuel economy by increasing the rolling resistance.
  • Drive at moderate speed. In highway driving, over 50% of the power produced by the engine is used to overcome aerodynamic drag. Drag and thus fuel consumption increases rapidly at speeds above 90km/h. On the average, a car uses about 15% more fuel at 100km/h, and 25% more fuel at 110km/h compared to when it is doing only 90km/h.
  • Clean the air-filter regularly. Clogged air filters increase fuel consumption by restricting airflow to the engine, and thus should be cleaned/replaced when necessary. Clogged air filters can increase fuel consumption by up to 10%.
  • Start up the car properly. With today's cars, it is not necessary to prime the engine first by pumping the accelerator pedal repeatedly. Do not crank the engine excessively. This only wastes fuel. When starting the engine, idle it no more than 30 seconds to warm it up. An engine will warm up faster on the road. However, avoid sudden acceleration before the engine has warmed up sufficiently.
  • Drive in high gear (overdrive). The engine runs most efficiently between around 1,500 and 2,500 rpm. To maintain these low revs you should change up through the gears as soon as practical and before the revs reach 2500 rpm. For automatic transmission cars, you should always switch on your overdrive to help saving fuel.
  • Travel light. Avoid carrying any unnecessary weight in your car. On the average, every 50kg added load in your car will increase fuel consumption by 2%.
  • Anticipate traffic ahead. A driver can reduce fuel consumption by up to 10% by anticipating traffic conditions ahead and adjusting the speed accordingly, and avoiding tailgating and thus unnecessary braking and acceleration.
  • Avoid strong acceleration. The fuel consumption remains at a minimum during steady driving at a moderate speed of about 90km/h. Keep in mind that every time the accelerator is hard pressed, the engine goes into a "fuel-enrichment" mode of operation that wastes fuel. The vehicle should always be gradually and smoothly accelerated.
  • Minimise aerodynamic drag. Additional parts on the exterior of a vehicle such as roof racks and spoilers, or having the window open, Roof racks are bad for fuel economy increases air resistance and fuel consumption, in some cases by over 20%.
  • Don't let your engine idle. Minimize fuel wasted in idling by stopping the engine whenever your car is stopped or held up for an extended period of time. Idling more than a minute consumes much more fuel than restarting the engine.
  • Use the air-con sparingly. Air conditioners can use about 10 per cent extra fuel when operating. However, at speeds of over 80 km/h, use of air conditioning is better for fuel economy than an open window.
That's all from me.. you have any more? Meanwhile, let's be smart.. jom LRT! :P

p/s: I'll be offline most of the time till mid July. My updates on The Blank Page wil be minimal. But, you can always enjoy my archives. :)

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LOL Mondays 19


A man is flying in a hot air balloon and realizes he is lost. He reduces height and spots a man down below. He lowers the balloon further and shouts, "Excuse me, can you tell me where I am?" The man below said, "Yes, you're in a hot air balloon, hovering 30 feet above this field."

"You must be an engineer," said the balloonist. "I am," replied the man. "How did you know?" "Well," said the balloonist, "everything you have told me is technically correct, but it's of absolutely no use to anyone."

The man below said, "You must be in management."
"I am," replied the balloonist, "but how did you know?"

"Well," said the man, "you don't know where you are, or where you're going, but you expect me to be able to help. You're in the same position you were before we met, but now it's my fault."

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Petrol price is going anti-gravity


The government has just announced it. Petrol price is going totally free from the gravitational force by shooting high up to 40.6% effective from tonight.

Petrol price will go up by 78 sen at midnight from RM1.92 per liter to RM2.10 RM2.40 RM2.50 RM2.60 RM2.70. Yes, RM 2.70!

And, The price of diesel will go up RM1, from RM1.58 per litre to RM2.58, which is a hike by 63.3%

Please leave your home early enough to queue up yourselves at your favorite petrol stations so that you'll be able to get your last drop of fuel by 12am tonight. And now you know, every drop counts!

I wonder if tonight will mark a new page on the Malaysian book of Record as the longest queue time in petrol stations!

Here are some fun things you can do while waiting in queues tonight:
  • Make new friends and later add them to your Facebook. (Randomly met at Petrol station?)
  • Once in a line, burp every 10 seconds or sneeze very often and very loud
  • Secretly fling coins into the air and have them land on people waiting in line in front of you.
  • In line, have a conversation with a friend who isn't there.
  • Suddenly do a tarzan yell really loud.
  • Place your laptop on top of your car's hood and start playing solitaire.
  • Eat up your dinner packed from the nearest McD drive through.
  • As the midnight approaches, look straight up with a shocked look on your face and yell, "Malaysia Boleh!!!"

p.s: petrol naik = everything else also naik; that includes milo tarik at mamak as well. Meanwhile, TNB to announce higher tariff tomorrow :(

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Of Engineers...

You know you are an engineer when,
  • You have no life - and you can PROVE it mathematically.
  • You know vector calculus but you can't remember how to do long division.
  • You laugh your heads off at jokes about mathematicians.
  • You've even calculated how much you make per second.
  • Your favorite James Bond character is "Q," the guy who makes the gadgets.
  • You have a habit of destroying things in order to see how they work.
  • You have never backed up your hard drive
  • You'll assume that a "horse" is a "sphere" in order to make the math easier.

Engineers and the other half of the half empty-half full theory.

To the optimist, the glass is half full; To the pessimist, the glass is half empty.
To the engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be. (now, that makes sense!)


And here's the bomb, check out this creative advertisement on how people are born engineers rather than they become one...


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Tadau Kaamatan & Gawai Dayak

This weekend marks a double celebration :)

To my Kadazan-Dusun buddies, I'm wishing you a Happy Kaamatan (May 30-31). May the harvest festival bring you more prosperity, happiness and good luck.


Also, best wishes to all Sarawakians celebrating Gawai on the 1st and 2nd June. I wish for the happiness and joy of this festival to be yours forever.


For the rest of you all, it's wonderful for us to be blessed with many different cultures and occasions side by side. Let's learn and enjoy the cultural diversities and uniqueness of them which make Malaysia what it is - a land of many colorful festivals and celebrations.


Happy holidays and have a great weekend :)

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A short update..

I am done with my exams. Now, left with a presentation for next week before i can wave goodbye to my undergraduate university life.

Nothing much to do. I got so bored doing the same thing again and again - sleeping and eating. So, I decided to change my banner. It's now a new one up there with a dark blue background. And, check out the nuffnang polls on your right :) Hmmm.. It's always nice to know your own visitors.

What's next? No..no..no! I am not gonna touch the blog's theme. I love the way it is now. May be a google reader might pop up soon :) I'm still figuring out how to fit it in here. :|

Meanwhile, lotsa things happened in the past few days - Tun M's game plans, funny parliament stories up to the Batu Puteh issue which we only managed to get some pebbles while Singapore grabbed the the whole Pedra Branca lighthouse.

And, this is the latest bombshell dropped in MIC.. while MIC's president claims the party to be the sole representative of M'sian Indians, the vice president Tan Sri
Karnail Singh Nijhar, the highest ranking Sikh in the Tamil-dominated party announced his resignation from MIC today. I wonder if MIC's political play is going towards UMNO's way! Bolehland got more of the story.

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Unity, Here In My Home!

Mahen shared it with me and it's about time for me to spread the love and unity to more and more Malaysians.

The Malaysian artistes have came with an anti-racism song and music video. There’s about 120 people was involved in this video directed by Yasmin Ahmad and Ho Yuhang. It features filmmakers, dancers, singers, producers, musicians, actors, entrepreneurs, designers, footballers, activists, celebrities, students and a florist.

free download

This wonderful piece of work was inspired by Pete Teo as the project founder, song co-founder & song composer. Most of us tend to get inspiring ideas when we are so damn bored, busy doing nothing and got no one to disturb around. Pete is no exception:
Pete was juggling tomatoes. bored. so he telephoned a few friends instead. “how about getting together to make an anti-racism song and music video?” all said yes without hesitation.
So, they teamed up together and came up with this music video, "Here In My Home"



I just love every single bit of it - the lyrics, singers' voice, the catchy chorus, the one-spot camera angle, the way Datuk Tony Fernandes dances around like a happy school kid and nothing beats the cute actions by Harith Iskandar; he's damn funny lah! And, of course the most important thing of all - the message itself.

Here's my favorite lines of the lyrics which explain what the message is all about.

Here in my home.. I'll tell you what it's all about..
There's just one hope here in my heart,
One love undivided, That's what it's all about..
Please won't you fall in one by one?
Hmm.. Wei Zhu has compiled the full lyrics of the song. And, you can download the movie and song clips from the official website. There is no copyright infringement, as they are meant for all Malaysians of all races. You may download them absolutely free as long as you promise to behave yourselves and keep your hands off the damn guava.

Listening to the song, I feel more Malaysian now, Here In My Home. woohoo~ I hope you to enjoy the clip as much as I did :)

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LOL Mondays 18


Presenting any technical elements with practical approach and humorous manner help people to understand them better. When a lady asked her boss for an explanation of marketing strategies, he answered her with some analogical examples:

You see a handsome guy at a party. You go up to him and say, “I’m fantastic in bed.That’s Direct Marketing.

You’re at a party with a bunch of friends and see a handsome guy. One of your friends goes up to him and pointing at you says, “She’s fantastic in bed.” That’s Advertising.

You see a handsome guy at a party. You go up to him and get his telephone number. The next day you call and say, “Hi, I’m fantastic in bed.” That’s Telemarketing.

You’re at a party and see a handsome guy. You get up and straighten your dress. You walk up to him and pour him a drink. You say, “May I?” and reach up to straighten his tie brushing your breast lightly against his arm, and then say, “By the way, I’m fantastic in bed.” That’s Public Relations.

You’re at a party and see a handsome guy. He walks up to you and says, “I hear you’re fantastic in bed.”
That’s Brand Recognition.

You’re at a party and see a handsome guy. You talk him into going home with your friend. That’s a Sales Rep.

Your friend can’t satisfy him so he calls you. That’s Tech Support.

You’re on your way to a party when you realize that there could be handsome men in all these houses you’re passing. So you climb onto the roof of one situated toward the center and shout at the top of your lungs, “I’m fantastic in bed!” That’s Spam.

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May 17 : Global Day of Action for Burma


Tomorrow, May 17th is a Global Action Day for Burma's Cyclone Victims. Thousands of people will gather across the world to call for the international community to intervene in the humanitarian crisis in Burma. Demonstrations and vigils will be held to urge world governments and the United Nations to intervene by supplying aid to the 2.5 million people displaced by Cyclone Nargis.

International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies estimated the death toll was between 68,833 and 127,990. The U.N. and the Red Cross say between 1.6 and 2.5 million people are in urgent need of food, water and shelter. Hundreds of thousands of people are at risk of death through starvation, dehydration and preventable diseases such as malaria and diarrhea.

Nearly half of those killed in the Myanmar cyclone were children. UNICEF says 3,000 schools were wiped out by the cyclone, leaving 500,000 children without classrooms.UNICEF says with people desperately in need after Cyclone Nargis, children are now at risk of abuse and trafficking.

It's a calling for an Urgent Response to Burma’s Humanitarian Disaster. This is a situation that the country has not dealt with before and the scale of the needs is clearly massive. Casualty figures continue to rise and something need to be done NOW! Every minute of delay is costing lives.

It's time to reach out and do something to support the relief efforts . You may donate monetary needs to the victims via International Relief Friendship Foundation or through any of the bodies listed HERE.

Tomorrow is the day, May 17th.. Mark your support - Spread the word, Light up a candle and show solidarity in spirit, participate in any Glodal Day of Action Events in your areas or simply change your social network profile pictures to SOS Burma.

I'll be going RED tomorrow. So as The Blank Page.


ps : On the other hand, within 72 hours after the quake rattled central China more than 50,000 people may have died in it. What a disaster!

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Raja Nazrin : The Challenges of Human Capital Development

This piece of sharing might come a little late but, it warrants this space. In the past four years. I have always made sure that I attend the public and adjunct lecture series organized by the university. It has been a routine for the university to arrange such sessions and they have invited many prominent speakers including Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Prof Emeritus Dato’ Dr Khoo Kay Kim and Tan Sri Mohd Ghazali Shafie to provide the students with better insights on national and global issues.


And this semester on the 5th of May we had a very special guest speaker - His Royal Highness, Raja Dr Nazrin Shah, the erudite, urbane Regent of Perak who has won the support of many with his common touch and willingness to speak candidly on a range of delicate issues. It was my first time witnessing a function or rather a lecture full of royal protocols. The presence of orchestra, huge yellow chair on stage, beautiful flower decorations, yellow carpets all the way, the traditional and musical welcome, thousands of people including lecturers, students, teachers, professionals, school kids, and not forgetting the protocols and police officers, all gave a real different aura to the ceremony. And, since I left my primary school years ago, I had never actually heard some of the rarely used array of Malay words such as patik, hamba, mencemar duli, titah, beta and baginda. May be that's what made the real difference in the hall this time, despite the presence of a royal figure on the stage. And, those words were for real instead of some examples on books. The way the MC conducted the ceremony with full blast royal protocols and the style of Raja Nazrin addressed himself as Beta was something totally strange for me to witness. Well, I have only seen those words on blackboards and school books and never heard it for real until then.

Raja Dr. Nazrin Shah has shared his views many times before on topics related to The Constitution, race relation, good governance, and role model, in the absence of any other leaders speaking on these topics so passionately. And this time, Raja Dr. Nazrin Shah delivered his text on "The Challenges of Human Capital Development". Raja Nazrin opines that the challenges of human capital development lie in enhancing knowledge, skills and abilities and in imbibing sound values, beliefs and attitudes.

His speech was short and sweet; right to the points. Let me give you some of his inputs from my notepad:

The process of human capital development works best where policies are strongly encouraging and supportive and not dispiriting and coercive. We must also be strongly oriented towards achievement. It is imperative that its linkage with advancement be an unshakable one.

Human Capital Development lies in active participation of individual themselves. Developing human Capital is also about building characters. It's the DNA of success, protocol and basis of establishing interpersonal relationships. And the value transformation towards human capital can be from family, colleagues, school, face-to-face and cyberspace. The Government and Monarch are also responsible in playing important roles in value transformation - The government must increase it degree of transparency and accountability should be demanded in public offices.

Money alone is not enough but, skillful human professionals. These concrete changes require more than concepts and we must give our knowledge institutions the critically needed space to work for it. In order to meet the challenges of Human Capital Development, we must empower Knowledge institutes or we may need to suffer the consequences. It's important to raise the number of knowledge institutes and increase the standards of local universities to match the foreign education institutes. We must close the gaps between them if the nation's vision is to increase size and standards.

Raja Nazrin suggested three goals -- learning culture, analytical culture and intellectual culture -- that we as a nation have to achieve in facing the challenges of human capital development.

  • People need to look at ways to instill values and beliefs that promote learning among Malaysians. A true learning culture includes overeating sense of questioning, welcoming new perspectives or different ideas and the ability to actively debate all kind of topics' Learning makes us change and changes make us learn - this is the whole cycle that could contribute to human capital development. Once knowledge is acquired, it motivates people to take action. With such we can improve the present and make the future better.
  • Malaysians needed also to develop an analytical culture so that they could be vastly more reflective and to understand the "what", the "how" and the "why" of the things they did. With such culture, people will consider methods with objective and will be able to draw a logical conclusion on anything the venture in. By developing analytical culture, it's important for us to review, debate and critic on issues and minimizes weaknesses
  • People needed to develop an intellectual culture though intellectuals were no longer highly regarded in most societies and even many rich countries were seemingly reluctant to support their work. If a nation is not intellectual, then the blossoming of knowledge would never occur in it. By acquiring knowledge we could create and creations are often come from those who ready to push their boundaries and limits. Also, learn to question, challenge and think. It is out of a sense of wonder or doubt with the conventional wisdom that new paths of knowledge emerge.

He concluded,

Providing the Knowledge institutes the needed space to meet the above goals will make Malaysians developed with their fullest capacity to benefit the nation and world.

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Happy Mother's Day!


Today is the day to honor all mothers and express gratitude for the hardships they bear in bringing up a child. Walking down the memory lane of early childhood days, we'll find out that all our moms had a favorite quote and a special tone to scold us. We might hate this scoldings as a kid but we all so much miss them when we grow up. Here's some of mothers' perfect one liners which used to irritate all of us :

You know? Money does not grow on trees!
How can you be bored? I was never bored at your age
If I talked to my mother like you talk to me....
What if everyone jumped off a cliff? Would you do it, too?
Hmm.. Just wait till your father gets home.
Because I'm your mother that's why.
I've got eyes in the back of my head, that's how!
Pet? who'll end up walking, bathing and feeding it...?


Blessed be all mothers who have come into our lives,
Whose kindness, care and loving; remain with us to guide.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY !!!

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Is National Service a death trap? (2)

Guess what the government's take on this issue? The National Service programme will not be scrapped despite another death among the 18-year-old trainees. And, below are the words from NS Training Department director-general Datuk Abdul Hadi Awang Kecil :
"It is our policy that the NS camps go on. What we are doing now is to rectify the problem. The training programme will not be scrapped, just because of one or two deaths (this year)"
Hmm... Does that mean, it's okay for them to have one or two deaths every time during the NS training? I wonder how the parents are going to response to his silly words. When I was previously attached to a Multi National Oil and Gas company, I was actually preety amazed to experience the emphasis the company provided to create a Healthy, Secure and Safety Environment for their employees. They take employees welfare and safety very seriously until more than 2 million accident free man hours were made possible at the time I left the organization, a year ago. Why can't this national level programme under the MOD emulate such an industrial practice to increase the quality of the NS programme rather than giving a typical third class response to cover up their mistakes?

"just because of one or two deaths"... I wonder if the DG is having a verbal diarrhea, with his mouth overtaking his brain, uttering words even before they can be processed for release.

Read rest of the rubbish at NST Online

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Is National Service a death trap?

On the 16th April, Afiq Zuhairi Ahmat Rozal - a National Service trainee died, five days after coming down with fever. Afiq Zuhairi Ahmat Rozal had been a trainee at the Kem Sentosa Chenderiang and his case had been classified as a sudden death.

That was last month. Now, another NS trainee, Too Hui Min, 18, died on Wednesday at the Slim River Hospital in Perak for the shock of everyone after complained of an upset stomach.

Are we to expect some one to drop dead in NS camps every single month? How much higher do we want the NS death toll to go to before something is done?

This is what Wikipedia has to say about Malaysia's NS training :
The security and cleanliness at most camps are very poor. In the more rural camps, communal bathing in murky ponds is practiced. The atrocious living conditions are speculated to be lower than announced cost of constructing the camp by the government. Sick trainees are NOT allowed to leave their camp even for treatment. This has been the cause of some trainees' death or illness. Sri Impian Camp, Sungai Bakap trainees suffered food poisoning due to food served on the first day of camp, 30th. December 2007. Investigations are still continuing until today and no results are seen.
In case you are not aware, Semanggol NS Camp that is currently under quarantine for some yet-to be-identified fever. 10 of its 300 trainees have been warded at the Taiping Hospital over the past few days while 80 others are being treated at the camp.

It's better to just scrap off this entire not-well-planned NS. At least, we could save more lives from the ‘deathly sentence’ of the National Service. The main objective of NS training is not to cater for national security but to plant patriotism and to cultivate the spirit of racial harmony among the kids. So, I feel the whole drama of NS is just to compensate what our education system has failed to deliver. The government should just need focus on ways to enhance our education system to suit the nation's needs and scrap this NS bullshit out of the way.

There have been too many casualties - an average of 4 cases per year. People are thinking twice to nod their heads "yes" to NS, as the MOD can't fulfil
l the most basic needs of safety and health in NS camps in order to win the trust of parents to send their children to the camps.

I think no one out there, parents especially, would tolerate a never ending series of death in NS camps caused by total inefficiency and carelessness. I can hear some of them screaming, "Just scrap it off lah!"

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Shit happens; but you can always flush it away!

I've been absent from blogging for past few days. I had to deal with a couple of hectic weeks till I had no choice but to take this blog out from my priority list for a short period of time. These are my final few weeks in university, which means I have to settle everything once and for all before I leave this place for good. I am sprinting my last four weeks of my four years race. The previous two weeks, I have been dealing with tons and tons of works and projects and paper reviews together with more and more counting datelines approaching my way. Looking at my calendar now reminds me of time bombs waiting turns to explode along the next few days. There are too many to handle!

And, to make things from bad to worse, my hard drive decided to crash a few days back, six days to be exact for no reason, on the minute I needed it the most. Too bad, I couldn't recover any single file. All my bits and bytes gone forever leaving me losing some of my recent works. Thank God, I had my important data and documents backed up in my external hard disks. If not, that would have been a real nightmare for me!

Being the only and very last electromagnetic device on computers (I guess no one uses floppy anymore, do you?) the reliability of hard drives is always a big question mark. I learned my lesson from previous damages happened last year when my Maxtor crashed. And, now my Seagate died in less than year - with the warranty is still way too long to expire. Currently I'm surviving on a brand new Western Digital. Reinstalling everything from scratch and customizing my system to suite my need is another headache. I've lost some of my precious downloads and yet to install my engineering soft wares. :( Well, shit happens now and then. We can't run away from it but we can always learn to flush it away.

For now, I need a break. Excuse me for a few more days. But, thanks to all those funky online gadgets - you can now catch me on Twitter even while I'm offline. Cool uh? And.. in case you are not aware, we have another new blogger in town. I think he doesn't need an introduction. Check it out for yourself at http://www.chedet.com.


p/s: Happy Labor Day to all! But, it's not a holiday for me. I had a test this morning and having a presentation right after this :| And, I don't wanna talk about tomorrow! T_T Like I said, too many to handle!

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LOL Mondays 17


A husband was in big trouble coming up to his wedding anniversary. His high spending, forever nagging, wife told him "ok you small brained good for nothing ape, tomorrow is our anniversary and there better be something in the driveway for me that goes from zero to 200 in 2 seconds flat".

The next morning the wife found a small package in the driveway. She opened it and found a brand new bathroom scale.

Funeral arrangements for the husband have been set for Saturday. LOL

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Makkal Sakthi Song

S.A Arun, the local music director who released his first hit album Isai Puyal is now back again with the launching of his single song dedicated to the spirit of Makkal Sakthi. It's an inspirational national folk with an unique mixture of various moods of music. And, Arun has been kind enough to have the copyright released to for the song title Rajavai Tundiyathal from the single by Mr. Yuga to be aired, remixed, duplicate in CD, transfer to mobile devices, public performance and sharing - in order for this piece of music to reach as many ears as possible.

DOWNLOAD LINK : http://www.mediafire.com/?zyvddbamx9n

Song Title : Makkal Sakthi
Singer : Yuga - Chorus Nantha, Sivanes, Puspa & Additional Swara By S.A. Arun
Lyrics : Karthik
Music : S.A. Arun
Producer : Yuga
Production : S.A. Arun's Pro Tools Studio

Song Recorded, Mixed & Mastered By S.A Arun

ps: Unauthorized Copying of this Recording in Private Album is Prohibited.

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Of Indians and their political curse.

Have you ever wonder who have been the number one loyal supporters of BN all this while? Indians. Yes, Indians I would say, not the Malays; nor the Chinese. Naturally Indians have this two habits of being extremely sincere and getting too emotional at times - which can either serve as plus points or weaknesses depend on how those qualities are applied for the benefit of the community. That might explain your doubt on why many Indians love to work in the same company for 25 donkey years regardless of their salary increments. But don’t try asking them about this, as they might easily get emotional and shoot back at you for questioning their loyalty to whom they respect.

That was how the exact relationship between the Indian community and BN has been all this while - for the last five decades. MIC has been the only choice which they believe could voice out their problems and find them the solutions they need. There were no second thoughts about alternatives. All they knew was to cross out the “Dacing” on the ballot papers for the bits and pieces they receive from time to time. Meanwhile, on the other hand, MIC has done his part well for years being a perfect pipeline funneling most of the Indian votes for BN.

But that isn't the scenario anymore. For the very first time ever the Indian community abandoned BN and voted the opposition, as they might find BN’s relevance via MIC diminishing by the day. They were too fed up with the false promises which have bottled up and cracked the layer of sincerity between the Indians and MIC. As everything was just waiting to burst out, this 5 of Hindraf jumped into the scene to fuel up the burning frustrations and grievousness of Indians, letting the mindset change among the community to spread more than double the momentum. No one could agree more that the entire political awareness among Indian voters were sparked by Hindraf which later on evolved into a spirit of Makkal Sakthi symbolizing people's power.

End of the day, Hindraf Leaders were arrested under draconian ISA. BN got wacked; MIC collapsed to ground. And now, the community is still angry with the lack of progress and even angrier at the detention of the Hindraf 5. And to make things from bad to worse, the government has decided to stay stubborn in denying proper medical facilities for Uthayakumar, a diabetic. He has not been allowed his medication nor a special diet in Kamunting forfeiting his right to medical care under whatever circumstances. Monday afternoon, Uthayakumar was rushed to the Taiping district hospital after he became ill and he was prematurely discharged back to Kamunting on Friday. That has caused almost 300 of his supporters to put up protest at Kamunting Detention Centre voicing out their dissatisfaction. All the parties are urging the government to focus on Uthayakumar’s health conditions. Police reports were made at certain parts of the country and Hindraf is demanding for immediate medical attention. Everyone is in fear for the life, safety and health of H5 leaders. Recently, Uthayakumar's mother has appealed to PM for the immediate release of her son who now suffers silent death in permanent incarceration.


The act of PM to keep on pretending deaf to all the calls to get ISA detainees the basic needs might end up in another tragedy. If Uthaya who has been a diabetic patient for years fails to get regular medication on time, he can be subjected to various related illnesses associated with diabetes such as cardiovascular disease, chronic renal failure, retinal damage, nerve damage and poor healing of wounds that could cause serious danger to his health.


If any of that happens, then that would be the end of Indians' support for BN as they will never be able to forgive the government for their inhumane act. Even many other Malaysians which have the sense of
humanity and respect for basic human rights would find it difficult to vote in for an inhuman government. The government has already failed once miserably for not listening to the rakyats' voice. If they continue to do so, then they might just dig up their own graves before the next elections.

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Happy Tamil New Year!

Updates : April 14 2008

Looks like we have more reasons to celebrate this very day. It's New Year for Malayalees and Sikhs - a double celebration !

Wishing Vishu ashamshegal to all Malayalees and Happy Vasakhi to my Sikh friends. May this new year brings lots of prosperity, abundance, love, good health and wealth to all of you and your family :)


Original Posting : April 13 2008

Today, April 13, the month of Chithirai has arrived and with it the Tamil New Year’s Day, an auspicious day to start new ventures and undertakings for Tamilians all around the world.


To my non-Tamil speaking readers, this is how you wish your friends in Tamil - "Tamizh Putthandhu Vazhtukkal." Go give them a surprise. :P

Happy Tamil New Year !!!

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Naana Neeya


The long awaited local Tamil movie, Nana Neeya is on screens now. The songs were released last year and I still remember writing a soundtrack review on The Blank Page. I haven't got the chance to catch the movie on a big screen, leaving me no credibility to write a review about the screenplay and the movie in a whole. But, you can check out how Mindsblog has rated the movie.

The local Tamil film industry is highly competitive. Only a handful ends up making successful movies and that did not stop Nana Neeya's director Dharmavathi from pushing her luck in delivering a quality movie with plenty of laughs. In her recent message, she highlights the ugly mindset of the people that lies behind the downfall of the Tamil movie industry in Malaysia :
When is the Malaysian Indian public going to change its mindset that Malaysian made movies are no good compared to the ones from India. How many NS Krishnas, GANAs and Shans are going to become victims to this industry just because they are passionate about wanting to see growth in our industry. There are 1.8 million Indians in this country and we do not even have 10K viewers for our movies but movies like Shivaji the Boss can collect the same amount like Lord of the Rings.
Nana Neeya -The full length comedy movie is on cinemas now for three weeks with five showings a week. Make sure you grab your tickets and drop your support.

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Yes, I'm a blog addict and I'm lovin' it !

Sorry for leaving The Blank Page a little blank without any updates for the past one week. Last week was a real busy one for me. And, I'm aware that the next few days are going to be worse than that, eating up most of my time. I have no choice but to deal with increasing workloads and approaching datelines.

It's not that I have gave up on blogging, but just that I need to sort through some issues that have taken full priority at this moment. So, forgive me if I neglect this blog for a few more days. I promise to be back soon with regular updates, hopefully by next week as I'm still very much addicted to blogging and blog hopping :) hehehe :P

No, it's not only me! I guess there is great number of people out there getting hooked to this new tool of technology, day by day. As for Malaysia, some say we have about 500,000 active bloggers (that's half a million people. wow!), ranking the country among the highest in the world. I'm puzzled why more and more people are getting addicted to blogosphere!? Every minute there is a new blog; a new blogger.

Well, may be because of the fact that blogosphere has proved itself to be a worthy medium to share collective perspectives and ideas, at least after its magic influence on last GE results. If not, I wonder why on earth would a Deputy Chief Minister spend his precious time to drop a piece of his mind on a web blog despite the tight schedule of weekly meetings, office works, parliamentary sessions and what not!

Anyway, I have no worries. I'm a blog addict and I'm loving it - just like most of you and the DCM of Penang. Till we meet again, enjoy my archives! Later..

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