March Madness

March election is over. Alhamdulillah! Dust has not settled yet but it seems nothing bad is going to happen. Malaysians, irrespective of race and religion, know what is best for our country.

During the campaign (as can be found in Youtube) many people were talking about a lot of stuff and making promises that I found a bit difficult to swallow. I am shocked to know that not many people out there were willing to correct some of the statements made particularly on the issue of fuel price increase in Malaysia. Are we all deaf, dumb and blind??

According to our ex-Finance Minister from 1991 - 1998, the fuel price in Malaysia was Rm 1.10 per liter and PETRONAS' profit was between Rm 25 - 30 billion because he 'made' sure that it never exceeded those amount. What he failed to mention was the price of crude oil was USD 20 - 25 per barrel!

Now the fuel price in Malaysia is Rm 1.92 and the price of crude oil is hovering above USD 100 per barrel. Okay, I am not a qualified economist but when crude price goes up, so should our fuel pricing. So if the people are asking for transparency, then I suggest the government should show the actual amount of subsidies to sustain the fuel price at RM 1.92 per liter and link it to the loss of possible development from those subsidies. For 2007 alone, the Malaysian government is spending RM 40 billion on fuel subsidies!!

People should know that PETRONAS' profit no longer depends on domestic production as it has been going international since late 90s in pursuit of excellence. The more profit PETRONAS makes (higher ranking in Fortune 500) the better of its chances to enter another international market. Therefore, the higher the profit that PETRONAS makes, the higher the tax that PETRONAS pays to the government of Malaysia so that means more money for the development of our country. The rakyat needs to understand that the success of PETRONAS is of utmost importance to them and asking PETRONAS to subsidise fuel will only benefit a fraction of the rakyat especially the rich. Artificially low fuel price only encourages waste, misallocated capital and other complications.

How should we resolve this? We need intelligent people who can be trusted to manage the wealth of the country for the benefit of the rakyat. There is hope as the level of education in Malaysia has increased because the government invested in setting up many local universities and also sending many students overseas. Therefore, I can only hope and wish that this will translate into having many, if not all, highly educated persons in the government and also in the opposition. The only thing we need to ensure is that our future political leaders have integrity, honesty and accountability, which cannot be taught in school and universities, are of same importance of having good academic qualifications. Therefore, it is our duty to instill these values in our younger brothers and sisters and of course, our children.

There is less than 12 years remaining before we should reach the target of being a developed nation and eliminate poverty in our country. My question is whether we will have enough highly responsible and qualified people running the country to help us reach the target.

The world is in the palms of my hand ..

'Green' earth in the palm of my hands! Okay, okay, okay! I am not going to write about saving the earth and so on. Please look a few posts below and you will see that I wrote about my weight challenge about three weeks ago. The target was to lose 1 kg / week and by end of March I should reach 80 kg.

Well, three weeks have passed since and I have only lost 1 kg despite me going 'green' and working out at the gym. I still have five more weeks to go according to the challenge but it seems impossible for me to achieve the goal in a healthy manner. I have not given up yet but I have to be realistic and I should learn from my mistake - I should just keep my big mouth shut.

For those who believe in me, please be patient as I will eventually achieve the target weight. I know I can do it but it is going to take longer than I originally anticiapated. For those who snickered at the idea of me losing weight, you may have won the battle but I will win the war.

Quoting from the movie Ratatouille, 'Change is nature and it is the part that we can influence. It starts when we decide' I decided that it is time to change, be healthy and look good.

Florida, I shall one day return to you as I once was ...

Monopoly

My son is going to be 6 this year, and I thought it would be good to teach him the value of money since he used to count them according to the number of currency notes he has irrespective of the amount, for example, he may have three RM10 notes and five RM5 notes but to him, he only has 8 ringgit/dollar. Alamak! This is not good!

So I went out to Toys R Us store sometime in December last year to get him the Monopoly Junior. He was thrilled with it from the get go and started playing it on a daily basis until he is really good at it. The rules are simple and obviously, it is does not have the same rules as the Standard monopoly. Anyway, the rules are meant for kids between the age of 5 - 8 years old. So who cares, right? So day in and day out he went around bugging everyone to play the board game with him until ...

His aunt got tired of playing the Junior version and decided to teach him the Standard version. On the box it says that it is suitable for kids above 8 years old and adults, of course. Either his aunt can't read or my son is way beyond his age and is able to comprehend the complexity of Monopoly's cut throat strategy of winning. Err.. maybe that only existed in my side of family when I was a kid.

The reason why I was initially against my son playing the grown-up Monopoly is because when adults play with kids, adults may find it difficult to play according to the rules exactly, and they have to give in to the kids so that the kids don't cry or feel disappointed when they lose the game that they do not fully comprehend. But giving kids a chance is also not good because then adults are teaching the kids that they (the kids) can always get away with certain rules just because they are kids.

Today, I know for a fact that my son don't need sympathy when it comes to playing Monopoly. He has beaten me twice fair and square since we started playing it according to the official rules. And whenever I do beat him, he thinks that I put some sort of mambo-jambo on the dices so that I always get both Parklane and Mayfair. I wonder where he picks up such statement!?

Anyway, I learn that I should not impose my ideals to my son and to anyone else for that matter. My son's ability to learn the game and to develop his own strategy in buying properties impresses me very much especially at his age. Okay he still cries once in while when things don't go according to his expectations but that's okay - he is still only 5+. So, the possibility of what Roving Soul has said in the comment section could be true that my son's ability must have come from my wife's side of family (Roving Soul and my wife are related) because when I was at his age, all I knew was Buy! Buy! Buy! at every property I landed on - so of course, I went broke pretty quick. I would like to think that I am smarter now but the point is my son still can still outsmart me.

So to all the mommies and daddies out there, do get your kids a game (value adding game) that all of you can play together. Your son or daughter may not understand the game in the beginning but you will be surprise how fast they learn.

Finally, please take a few minutes of your time to vote for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to be part of the World Edition Monopoly. Thank you.

Era of Entitlement

Quoting from Wikipedia, entitlement is a guarantee of access to benefits because of rights, or by agreement through law and/or policy. It can also refer, in a more casual sense to someone's belief that he/she is deserving of some particular reward or benefit. It is often used as a negative term in popular parlance (i.e. a 'sense of entitlement'). The legal term, however, carries no value judgment: it simply denotes a right granted.

Hmm .. where am I heading to on this subject? Keep on reading ..

Ms. Marci A. Hamilton, who is the Paul R. Verkuil Chair in Public Law at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Yeshiva University, wrote in her legal column back in 2003 that:

This is the Age of Entitlement. She [I] does [do] not mean entitlement only in the
sense of the belief that one is entitled to a government handout. She [I] also
means [mean] entitlement in the simpler sense of the belief that one deserves
to get exactly what one wants - regardless of the law and despite the public good.

Okay Roving Soul seems to get it based on the comment in this blog but I am divided on this subject. I could be dead wrong and would not want to generalise such issue but somehow I think those (people I know, of course) including myself who were born between 1970 to 1974 are in the grey zone. It seems those who were born from 1975 onwards have a strong inclination towards demanding entitlement as compared to those born before 1970's.

The comments from Ms. Hamilton were made 5 years ago, however, as recent as December last year, an editorial from Automotive Engineering International (AEI) that I came across while trying to prepare for my upcoming technical assessment that confirms what I have been thinking all along i.e. there is a whole new generation expecting entitlement as aforesaid. The excerpt from the editorial (conversation between AEI editor and Mr. Jack Curcio - former President and CEO of Mack Truck) will hopefully clarify my point further:

Jack attributed his success in life to always doing the best job possible. Jack told me (AEI editor) that this message is one that he communicates in his numerous speaking engagements, particularly to college students: "Take the hand that is dealt to you and do the best job ever."
This philosophy is not unlike that of my own father's. He constantly reminded me and the rest of my family members that, if you do the best job possible, you will ultimately be recognized and rewarded. Be rewarded with more responsibility, more authority, and more money. I always believed that self-interest was better served by doing good work than by getting good things. Too many times I see in younger generations the desire and need for immediate reward. Too often, it seems, our youth is unwilling to accept special assignments or take on additional responsibilities unless these are accompanied by immediate reward. Entitlement is a word that I never grew up with, yet now I hear it all the time. Interestingly, I searched for the word in my 1960 edition of the Webster's Dictionary, and found that it did not exist. In my 1998 edition, however, "entitlement" was an entry. I
believe that this relatively new concept has been born out of the drive within
organizations to empower people. Some individuals clearly equate "empowerment"
with getting what they want.

Okay, the reason why I mention I belong in the grey zone is because I have witnessed and also gone through both experiences as written by AEI editor above. At work, I would do my best in everything I do as I know that it will make me stronger and better at my tasks. When I happen to stumble upon spare time, I would volunteer to do work that are beyond my job scope to broaden my experiences and of course, I would not hesitate to work with all sort of people regardless of rank, gender, race, level of education and age because the experience gained will nurture me into a better person personally and professionally. At the end I know all that I have gained so far will make me a better leader and person for my family, friends and people I work with. Instant reward was never an issue but, I do expect recognition, respect and trust from them.

Sadly, in place there is the performance appraisal system (when it is not done correctly) that to many people at my workplace replaces the human interaction from superiors to/from subordinates and co-workers to co-workers, as it is done at most twice a year. This is simply insufficient to nurture positive values amongst employees which makes it even more difficult to manage expectations. It cannot replace the simple pat on the back when one does well, reassurance for another that his/her mistake is a learning experience, the advice and moral boost amongst fellow workers i.e. the human touch part of it.

On one hand, one may feel that he/she is doing very well only to find out six months or one year later that he/she is merely meeting expectations. Wassup!?!? On the other hand, one may feel that he/she deserves to get good appraisals just because he/she did a token more than the previous year without considering his/her actual contribution to the company.

Mr. Paulo Coelho, the author of Alchemist, wrote, "... everything you do in life will leave a mark, so try to be conscious of that in your every action." I know that there are people out there who work because they want to make the world around them a better place. I hope I have the strength and will to be one of them and not be sucked into the vortex of entitlement. Don't get me wrong, I would like to be rewarded as a recognition for all the great things I have done so far but not just because ...

Legend in the Making - Danube (Donau)

Posted above is a beautiful Waltz piece, which is called Blue Danube, composed by Johann Strauss II and performed by Vienna Boys Choir. This video of the Danube was posted by Ryan Goldd on Youtube (http://www.youtube.com/user/RyanGolddRedux).

The Blue Danube is the common English title of An der schönen blauen Donau (At the Beautiful Blue Danube), a waltz by Johann Strauss II, composed in 1867. Originally performed on 9 February 1967 at a concert of the Wiener Männergesangsverein (Vienna Men's Choral Association), it has been one of the most consistently popular pieces of music in the classical repertoire. Its initial performance was only a mild success, however, and Strauss is reputed to have said, "The devil take the waltz, my only regret is for the coda—I wish that had been a success." (Source from Wikipedia)

And of course, besides being well known in the classical musics scene, the Danube is the longest river in the European Union and Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It originates in the Black Forest in Germany as the much smaller Brigach and Breg rivers which join at the eponymously named German town Donaueschingen, after which it is known as the Danube and flows eastwards for a distance of some 2850 km (1771 miles), passing through several Central and Eastern European capitals, before emptying into the Black Sea via the Danube Delta in Romania and Ukraine. (Source from Wikipedia)

The Danube represents more than just a beautiful waltz and the longest river in the European Union to those who know what I am writing about. It will be a historical milestone for me personally and most importantly for those who have put in 110% effort in making it happen. I wish I could elaborate more but until that day actually comes and the event actually happens - I shall keep my fingers away from the keyboard and close to my heart praying that all goes well.

Anyway, suspense and thrillers aside, I came across a very interesting presentation when I attended a seminar in Austria. The title of the presentation was Quo Vadis Powersports! For those who don't know me well, I love toys; I love fast toys; I love expensive fast toys. What sort of expensive fast toys are we talking about? Try to imagine one with the Prancing Horse emblem. I may not have the buying power to actually own one of those fast and expensive toys but I sure have the desire to ride on one with similar thrill factor. So this is where the significance of powersports comes in. The company talks about its powersports products such snowmobile, personal watercraft, motorcycle and many more. One of its product caught my attention - snowmobile. Do you know that a snowmobile can actually accelerate from 0 - 100 miles per hour (0 - 160 km/h) in less than 6 seconds? So that means there is a snowmobile out there that can outpace the expensive fast toy with the prancing horse emblem I was writing about earlier. Imagine that! It is also 'cheaper' to test ride one but whether or not you can get up to the speed that this snowmobile is capable of really depends on how big your cahonas are.

With my limited free time, I came across this website while I was 'space-walking' in cyber space on Google space station. Ski-Doo! This company really knows how to do their marketing. I love the way they promote their products prior to the actual launch. Check this out! http://www.ski-doo.com/brphtml/skidooenginetech/en/Index.htm. Great way to get people excited about their new lineups for 2009. The background music is simply exhiliarating. I suppose that is how your heart is beating when you actually ride their Ski-Doo. I have to ride one SOON! But how?