MERHABA, MY RICH BROTHERS.....

For those who don't know, 'Merhaba' is welcome in Arabic Language. And yes, it is that time of the year again. Some of us may be waiting for the season to come, some dont.

"Some 200,000 Middle Easterners are expected to visit Malaysia this year, a 30 per cent jump from 2005. This will translate into RM800 million in tourist receipts. Last year, the country received about 147,000 Arab tourists who spent a total of RM600 million. Earlier report noted that tourists from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Syria spent an average of of RM4,709.80 per person. . In efforts to further woo Middle East tourists to Malaysia, a designated area called "Ain Arabia", or the Arab street, located in Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur, was introduced to showcase various Middle Eastern restaurants and shops."

As Malaysian, we should make our fellow friends feel at home, by all means. The Arab Square in Bukit Bintang, with its giant teapot and all, are there so that that they would never miss home, as they can always quench their thirst at any of the many Middle Eastern restaurants surrounding the area.
Please, everyone, for the tourists’ sake, keep our public toilets clean. Smile always, be courteous, show them how advance our first world infrastructure and mentality are.
And our ever friendly taxis, please keep your brakes in tip top condition, coz’ you’ll never know when our very considerate friends going to hail you. Don’t mind the cars waiting patiently behind you, they have good excuses to come to work late ( World Cup season). Sometimes, when they honk, is a sign of approval for the noble things you have done (by picking the tourist up).
In KLCC, its ok for them to talk loudly sometimes, as the sound system in there can be a bit deafening. And watch out when you walk beside them, you don’t want to break anything that they bought inside their shopping bags. Those ‘swinging’ shopping bags keep them in balance while walking in the crowd.

My Middle Eastern brothers and sisters, please treat Malaysia as your very own. 3 months is a short time to leave an impression on us your humble Malaysian. Salaam.

Malaysia, 3rd rudest country? Definitely.

........keep layering the yellow butter paper

WHATS 'GHANA' HAPPEN TO BRAZIL?

(photos courtesy of FIFAworldcup.com)

UPDATED (27.06.06_1.30AM)

Evidently Brazil was the stronger team. Kudos has to be given to Ghana for playing such beautiful low pass game ala Samba , but then again, Brazil seems to be a bit too relaxed and too good for Ghana. Brazil is slowly peaking at their game.

I watch the match at my favourite 'makan place', and people are perpetually supporting Ghana. Everyone wants to see a fairy tale ending for Ghana.

The other observation I gather is Brazil's 'Fat Boy' (no points for guessing who) is finding his delicate touch again, game after game. Marvellous.

Final score:

BRAZIL 3 - GHANA 0
Goals:
9. RONALDO (5')
7. ADRIANO (46+')
11. ZE ROBERTO (84')
..................................................................................



I have to say the Ghana football team is looking quite good. The game with the US of A sure had its moments, but the true test for Ghana will definitely be against Brazil 27.06.06.

My prediction:

PENALTY GHANA 4 - BRAZIL 3 (2-2 FULLTIME)

(one of them will win the World Cup)

.....keep layering the yellow butter paper

....OF GOATS AND MAN(KIND) [FORMERLY KNOWN AS ....OF COWS AND MAN(KIND)]

UPDATED (16 June 2006)

I read today something that interest me as much as watching Tunisia played Iran the other night (2-2, by the way). Raja Petra in his article, "An orgy of Malaysian politics" mentioned about goats, and how goats brought some fond memory to a person. How appropriate for me to rename this posting, I thought to myself. and change the subject matter completely.

Malaysians are now in a 'state' of confusion, I would think. Too much of 'spinning' and turning in the media, friends throwing fists and fits at each other....for what. Sometimes we tend to forget about the whole scenario, the bigger picture, and the basic of things.
Here is a refreshers course,GOATS IDEOLOGIES 101

Feudalism:

You have two goats. Your lord takes some of the milk.
Pure Socialism:

You have two goats. The government takes them and puts them in a barn with everyone else's goats. You have to take care of all the goats. The government gives you a glass of milk.
Bureaucratic Socialism:

Your goats are cared for by ex-chicken farmers. You have to take care of the chickens the government took from the chicken farmers. The government gives you as much milk and eggs the regulations say you should need.
Fascism:

You have two goats. The government takes both, hires you to take care of them, and sells you the milk.
Pure Communism:

You share two goats with your neighbors. You and your neighbors bicker about who has the most "ability" and who has the most "need." Meanwhile, no one works, no one gets any milk, and the goats drop dead of starvation.
Russian Communism:

You have two goats. You have to take care of them, but the government takes all the milk. You steal back as much milk as you can and sell it on the black market.
Perestroika:

You have two goats. You have to take care of them, but the Mafia takes all the milk. You steal back as much milk as you can and sell it on the "free" market.
Cambodian Communism:

You have two goats. The government takes both and shoots you.

Dictatorship:

You have two goats. The government takes both and drafts you.
Pure Democracy:

You have two goats. Your neighbors decide who gets the milk.
Representative Democracy:

You have two goats. Your neighbors pick someone to tell you who gets the milk.

Bureaucracy:

You have two goats. At first the government regulates what you can feed them and when you can milk them. Then it pays you not to milk them. Then it takes both, shoots one, milks the other and pours the milk down the drain. Then it requires you to fill out forms accounting for the missing goats.
Capitalism:

You don't have any goats. The bank will not lend you money to buy goats, because you don't have any goats to put up as collateral.
Pure Anarchy:

You have two goats. Either you sell the milk at a fair price or your neighbors try to take the goats and kill you.
Anarcho-Capitalism:

You have two goats. You sell one and buy a bull.
Surrealism:

You have two giraffes. The government requires you to take harmonica lessons.

Still confused? Sorry Malaysians. There is no country that can claim they are of one unique brand, its always a mix of everything and anything.

......keep layering the yellow butter paper

WHERE ARE WE HEADING AS A NATION?

The past 2 days have been quite a whirlwind experience for most Malaysians. Two days ago, former PM Tun Dr. Mahathir came out against his pledge to stay out of the current administration's "business" and start lambasting his way through the local media. Who can blame the great man. The past ten years prior to him stepping down from the premiership, he had been focusing on building "Mega Projects" from the logic that he had upkeeps, which was (and I still think is) building for the future. His vision of having these developments is to cater for the next generation, hopefully spanning for another 100 years. This is in view of the increase of the inflation rate and population growth. For example, PLUS highway when it was first mooted back in the 80s, opposition came from right, left and centre. Wastage they cried. Evidently now, even expanding it into 3 lanes could not cater for the ever increasing number of vehicles crawling during Balik Kampung season. Some people fail to look at the bigger picture. Currently the planning for Penang's second bridge is well on its way. "Coincidently, it happened to land on someone else's "Land", I quote TDM's remark at the recently held talk with Young Professional Chamber Malaysia (PROMUDA).

Then again, our PM's silence should not be perceived as a sign of weakness as most young people might think. It is just not Pak Lah to engage himself into a confrontation. The RM289.5 Billion(1) question, was he the right man for the picking 3 years ago. TDM mentioned many times that he has a habit of having bad character judgement. "......smart, loyal, 'doze(s) off' sometimes.." answered TDM when asked why Pak Lah was chosen. It will be interesting to watch what is Pak Lah's next move. So far he has been living up to his 'Mr. Nice Guy' persona, but politicians are like magicians, there are always something up their sleeves.(2)

Time and experience have proven that we cannot be too naive and believe everything we read in the papers. Everything that goes around in any political situation in any country should be consumed and swallowed with not just a pinch of salt but a lot of it. As to how the media can be manipulated, in the case where a 'war' is being created in the film 'Wag The Dog', we could never imagine what the real agenda behind this unbecoming spat between these two respected leaders.
"They (the public) should welcome [the discussions generated by recent developments between the two politicians]. More than one opinion should be heard," said Tengku Razaleigh.

As a young Malaysian, who is very optimistic about his future, how the current situation unfold itself is very much anticipated. These saga could end with a fairy tale ending when both of them kiss and make up, or it could end up very ugly. Lets just hope that the latter would not even come close.

note:

(1) Gold and Foreign Exchange and Other Reserves including SDR

(as of 31 May 2006)

RM289,505,292, 416 (Source : Bank Negara Malaysia)

(2) Anonymous

.......keep layering the yellow butter paper

SOMETHING ABOUT....MONKS

ORIGINAL PHOTO ( COLUMN 1,ROW 1) TAKEN BY STELLA CHEANG,

DOCTORED BY YOURS TRULY.

This photo taken in Phnom Penh, Cambodia depicted the striking contrast between the colour of the monk's robes with the surrounding. With a lot of editing and doctoring to the photo, the striking colour seem to be taken over by the texture and form of the flowing robes, (see column 3, row 3).

.....keep layering the yellow butter paper

WHY 666?

In Mathematics

666 is an abundant number. It is the sum of the squares of the first seven prime numbers.
Since 36 is both square and triangular, 666 is the sixth number of the form n2(n2 + 1) / 2 (triangular squares) and the eighth number of the form n(n + 1)(n2 + n + 2) / 8 (doubly triangular numbers.)
There is no number whose value of Euler's totient function φ is 666, making it a nontotient.
The harmonic mean of the digits of 666 is an integer: 3/(1/6 + 1/6 + 1/6) = 6. 666 is the 54th number with this property.
In base 10, 666 is a palindromic number, a repdigit and a Smith number. A prime reciprocal magic square based on 1/149 in base 10 has a magic total of 666.
The Roman numeral representation of the number 666 (DCLXVI) uses once each the Roman numeral symbols with values under 1,000, and they occur in exact reverse order of their respective values (D = 500, C = 100, L = 50, X = 10, V = 5, I = 1).

In Other Fields

- 666 is commonly known as the Number of the Beast in Book of Revelation chapter 13, verses 17-18.
According to translator's comments in the New English Translation (NET) Bible[1], some maintain that recent discoveries show that 616 could possibly be the correct number of the beast, and not the commonly known 666. A few manuscripts of the Book of Revelation read 616 at chapter 13:17-18, and there are several other numerical variations. Irenaeus' mention of manuscripts having 616 is balanced by his rejection of their accuracy. The reading 616 is intriguing since the conversion of Nero Caesar's name in Latin by way of gematria, Hebrew numerology, comes out to 616. But for this very reason it is suspect because such a reading seems motivated by that very fact and somewhat contrived. Some people say June 6, 2006 (06/06/06) and June 6, 1906 are the days of the Beast [citation needed].

- 666 is also the value of the kilohertz frequency of the Bodenseesender, a big AM radio station in South Germany, which is receivable at night in all of Europe. It is also the frequency of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Canberra station.

-In the United States, 666 is a brand name of cough syrup.

-666 is the port number used by the game Doom (by id Software) when playing against another player via TCP.

-In Unix and similar operating systems, a file permission of 666 (which is not uncommon) grants all users read and write permissions on the file.

-666 is the sum of all the numbers on a typical roulette wheel. (A typical roulette wheel is numbered from 1 to 36, with one (in Europe) or two (in North America) zeroes. See the point on triangular numbers, above.)

-666 is the numerical value of: "ועתה יגדל-נא כח אדני" ("Ata yigdal na koach Ado-nai"; Now, let the power of my Lord grow) (Numbers 14:17). This was Moshe's prayer invoking Divine Mercy on behalf of the Jewish People. [2]

-CSX Transportation currently has a GE AC6000CW with the number 666.

-666 is a nickname for Benzene Hexachloride, a powerful insecticide and pediculicide. Its chemical formula is C6H6Cl6.

-Similar to the Roman numeral occurrence, combining one of each of Japan's coin currency yields 666 (500, 100, 50, 10, 5, 1)

-Apple's first computer, the Apple I, was priced at $666.66.

-Organic molecules are based on carbon-12, with 6 Protons, 6 Neutrons and surrounded by 6 Electrons.

.....keep layering the yellow butter paper

060606

One of the scariest movie when I was growing up was The Omen (1976). This was about 20 years ago. When I found out about the remake, I was very excited. The thing about horror films like this one is the story borders very closely to what is fact, fiction and the unknown. The mention of it in religious book, be it Bible or the Holy Quran, would trigger the mind even futher especially those who constantly question the meaning of life, religion and the world we live in.
Without poking deeper into those sets of question, we will just concentrate on the movie.

Today marks the day when The Omen(2006) opens worldwide, good sense in picking the right date I may add. The synopsis :

"The prophecy is clear. The signs unmistakable. On the 6th day of the 6th month in the year 2006 his day will come.

…From the Eternal Sea he rises

Creating armies on either side

Turning man against his brother‘

Til man exists no more

Many believe the prophecy from the Book of Revelation provides a map to a terrifying future…or it presents fragments of history that have come to life in our time. The signs, they claim, are all around us: terrorist attacks, extreme weather… the list goes on.The passage specifically points to the arrival of the Anti-Christ, who is branded with the numerical sequence “666”: the mark of the Beast. The Anti-Christ will receive his power directly from Satan to establish a counterfeit kingdom on earth, signaling the beginning of Armageddon…Robert Thorn is unaware of such dark prophecies. Thorn, a senior American diplomat, has other things on his mind. His wife, Katherine, has endured a difficult delivery and she’s as yet unaware their newborn child has died. Devastated by the loss, Thorn’s concern turns to Katherine, who had suffered two previous miscarriages. The news will surely devastate her.

The hospital priest, Father Spiletto, presents Thorn with another child born that night, whose mother died in childbirth. The priest compels Thorn to take the infant boy as his own; Katherine will never know the truth, and their son, which they name Damien, will be raised as their flesh and blood. Katherine embraces the child as her own, blossoming in motherhood; Thorn, it would seem, has made the right choice.

Thorn’s career ascends – he becomes the U.S. ambassador to Great Britain – and the family settles into an estate outside London. But certain events, all seeming to revolve around the now five-year-old Damien, are deeply disturbing: Damien’s nanny hangs herself at the youngster’s birthday party; a strange priest brings dire warnings to Thorn; a children’s trip to the zoo results in a panicked frenzy; Damien becomes hysterical during a drive to church; and blurred movements in a series of photographs portend shocking deaths.

The troubling incidents multiply, pointing to something wrong – terribly wrong – with Damien. Enter Mrs. Baylock, Damien’s new nanny, who seems to have a preordained devotion to the child. Then tragedy strikes closer to home. But only later does Thorn comprehend the truth: Damien is no ordinary child; he is the long-prophesized Anti-Christ. Now, Thorn must make the ultimate sacrifice to prevent the unspeakable terror that awaits the world.

The prophecy is clear, the signs unmistakable: Armageddon is upon us. On 6 / 6 / 06, the omen is revealed...and our darkest fears are revealed."

.......keep layering the butter paper

REAL ARCHITECTS.........

Real architects don’t design buildings, only spaces.
Real architects don’t believe in the Universal Law of Gravitation.
Real architects don’t believe in most other forms of physics, for that matter.
Real architects have no respect for engineers, with the rare exception of the civil engineer.
Real architects don’t need sleep. They don’t get any either.
Real architects don’t let sustainability get in the way of real design.
Real architects don’t have a life.
Real architects think space exploration is a design process.
Real architects have reclining studio chairs.
Real architects have larger studios than bedrooms. That is in the rare case where the two are not the same.
Real architects have read "The Fountainhead" more than once.
Real architects see the world in black and white, at most in grayscale.
Real architects know that light is a magical phenomenon and not just a form of electromagnetic radiation.
Real architects will tell you more than you ever need to know about reflection but don’t have a clue what refraction is.
Real architects don’t drink anything weaker than double expresso.
Real architects think that plaid looks good so long as it has Golden Rectangles.
Real architects don’t use cameras.
Real architects do use slide projectors. They draw their slides.
Real architects can see the beauty in a Brutalist building.
Real architects know what a Brutalist building is.
Real architects design Brutalist buildings.
Real architects live in balsa wood and plexiglass houses.
Real architects don’t understand the word "efficiency".
Real architects don’t understand the word "budget" either.
Real architects have no respect for interior designers, landscape architects, or city planners.
Real architects go to libraries to look at the building.
Real architects live in glass houses.
Real architects don’t live in the ‘burbs.
Real architects own more knives than chefs.
Real architects make less than $20,000 a year. Those who make more are architectural whores.
Real architects talk to buildings. Really Real architects have been known to date them.
Real architects know their house better than their spouse. That is if they even have a spouse.
Real architects get divorced more than once.
Real architects, when starving and coming across a piece of food, will draw it first.
Real architects describe their house’s façade instead of its address.
Real architects would rather be poets or artists, though not real poets or real artists.
Real architects always take the stairs.
Real architects see architecture not as a career but as a way of life.
Real architects hate all things plastic.
Real architects don’t use ballpoint pen.
Real architects don’t use rulers. Rulers are for engineers.
Real architects can draw straight lines. They just choose not to.
Real architects don’t believe in right angles.
Real architects do believe in Feng Shui.
Real architects see everything as a geometric shape.
Real architects pretend to understand math when they really don’t.
Real architects don’t study.
Real architects eat one meal per day.
Real architects don’t draw, that’s the intern’s job.
Real architects don’t design, that’s the new guy’s job.
Real architects simply pull visions out of their [deleted], which they refer to as their trash chute.
Real architects only know two types of trees, balsa and bass.
Real architects use tree stamps.
Real architects draw graphs in perspective.
Real architects always know which way North is.
Real architects always use the front door.
Real architects have egos unrivalled by anyone except other Real architects.

Real architects.....keep layering the yellow butter paper

ARCHITECTS ANYONE....?

According to City & Guilds (a London based vocational institute), you're (probably) not the only unhappy architect. In their 2004 Happiness Index, Architects were the 29th and least happy profession, behind such professions as butchers, bankers and civil servants. If you're thinking of a career switch, the whole index is:

#01 - Hairdressers - Perentage that are "Very Happy": 40
#02 - Clergy - Percentage that are "Very Happy": 24
#03 - Chefs/cooks - Percentage that are "Very Happy": 23
#04 - Beauticians - Percentage that are "Very Happy": 22
#05 - Plumbers - Percentage that are "Very Happy": 20
#06 - Mechanics - Percentage that are "Very Happy": 20
#07 - Builders - Percentage that are "Very Happy": 20
#08 - Electricians - Percentage that are "Very Happy": 18
#09 - Florists - Percentage that are "Very Happy": 18
#10 - Fitness Instructors - Percentage that are "Very Happy": 18
#11 - Care Assistants - Percentage that are "Very Happy": 18
#12 - Health care professionals - Percentage that are "Very Happy": 17
#13 - Media - Percentage that are "Very Happy": 16
#14 - Chartered engineers - Percentage that are "Very Happy": 15
#15 - Pharmacists - Percentage that are "Very Happy": 15
#16 - Scientists/R&D - Percentage that are "Very Happy": 15
#17 - Butchers - Percentage that are "Very Happy": 14
#18 - DJs - Percentage that are "Very Happy": 13
#19 - Interior designers - Percentage that are "Very Happy": 9
#20 - Travel Agents - Percentage that are "Very Happy": 9
#21 - Teachers - Percentage that are "Very Happy": 8
#22 - Bankers - Percentage that are "Very Happy": 8
#23 - Accountants - Percentage that are "Very Happy": 7
#24 - IT Specialists - Percentage that are "Very Happy": 5
#25 - Lawyers - Percentage that are "Very Happy": 5
#26 - Secretaries - Percentage that are "Very Happy": 5
#27 - Estate Agents - Percentage that are "Very Happy": 4
#28 - Estate Agents - Percentage that are "Very Happy": 3

#29 - Architects - Percentage that are "Very Happy": 2

ARCHITECTS PURITY TEST


......keep layering the yellow butter paper
(sure or not....?)

TWO SONS OF MALAYSIA

I read this piece of writing, a year back, and I still keep it with me as a reminder for me and everyone. I can't remember who is the writer, but in case any of you know, please inform me. I am sure the more people know about the story the better. Seen it a lot in other blogs too. Put it up in yours if you have one.

Once, there was a family known as Malaysia. In 1985, they were blessed with their first born, Proton. The family loved Proton all they can. They gave Proton everything. They protected Proton from the bigger boys in Kindergarden. They told Proton, "You’re young, you need protection from them. It’s okay to make mistakes, you’re young. Even if you don’t learn from mistakes...it’s okay...you are young."

Proton became spoilt. He always depended on parents and used up all his allowance on useless things. When he had to do his chores, he paid people to do it and the work is lousy, causing the parents having to call repairmen to fix all the mess that he made.
Anyway, when Proton was 10 (but he still acted like he is 1 or 2 years old), he had a younger brother, Perodua. At first, everyone thought this younger brother will be like Proton. Anyway, this new baby was more handsome and looks smarter than Proton. Malaysia knew there is a possibilty Perodua could be smarter than Proton. Since they love Proton so much, they decided that Perodua can only learn a few things.
Cannot learn the same thing as Proton. This is so that Perodua wouldn’t beat Proton at what Proton is doing.
Although Perodua was also protected by Malaysia, he learn to be independent very fast. He made good friends with Daihatsu, who had an elder brother Toyota. The two of them helped Perodua in everything. Perodua, being independent and smart, learnt a lot and in a short while, was becoming as good as, if not better, than Proton.
Malaysia realized that Perodua was becoming better than his brother.
Although proud of Perodua, they still love Proton best. They paid Lotus (which is older and well known worldwide) to be friends with Proton. Using this advantage, Proton mentioned Lotus everytime he wanted to tell people about himself. On this own, he was still the same.
Moreover, Proton is always not updated. When doing his work, he still uses the typewriter and refuses to use the computer. Perodua, so much younger, used the computer, with broadband for his work. Perodua was improving so much that Toyota has assigned him with his work, codename Avanza.
2005. Proton is 20 years old, Perodua only 10. It was obvious that Perodua was the more successful of the two siblings. What is worse, Proton said he still need his parents to help him for another 10 years.
He still need to protection from the big boys. In May 2005, Perodua was about the show Malaysia his best work so far...codename Myvi. Proton, being jealous...quickly came up with an unprofessional remark
About Perodua’s work and show his work at the same time as Perodua on Purpose. The future of Malaysia and her two kids are still unknown. But it
Would be obvious that Perodua will shine, leaving Proton crying. It would be
A wonder if in 2015, Proton will ask Malaysia for another 10 years of
Help and protection...maybe this time...protection from Perodua as
well...........THE END

(WRITER YET TO BE KNOWN)

.......keep layering the yellow butter paper