Saturday, May 31, 2014

Coffee break at Namoo cafe, GP, Penang

Coffee break at Namoo cafe at GP , Penang

This is a new Korean cafe but I am only interested in the coffee and a rest while waiting my wife. She is meeting friends while I am spending my afternoon wondering away my time.

It was not her fault as I have suggested this arrangement. It has been sometime I have not been to GP as I find Gurney Paragon a newer place for shopping.

Today is a big day in Telok Intan as this could change the political skyline. It is young against old and I think this country needs new idea and fresh faces. I don't believe old can serve the people better by virtue of been old and experience. I believe in the passion of serving and new ideas how to have a national reconciliation. . There are too many old people in the BN Government and they are getting inflexible and greedy. There should be a change and a change for the new.

Another point is young people are more receptive to new ideas and more supportive  of change. The Establishment is too inflexible and fixated and any changed will take time and could take a long time.

Any Government which stays around too long could have lots of baggage and which Mainly circle around greed. The greet for money and power。 when these two factors are involved , it is doomed for failure. So, lets say goodbye to them. It is better to be soon.

Namaste.

Friday, May 30, 2014

Another tiring trip - stir my awareness

Another tiring trip

Just back from Bangladesh after three days trip. Two days '' flying and two days meeting and it was possible  by using night flight. It makes me wonder why the rush? There is hardly any space to breath and reflect.

In a Chinese saying " looking at flowers while riding  a horse". It is just a glimpse on the surface of the beauties in life. We should stop to give ourself time to admire the beauties around us, appreciate and enjoy it instead of riding for miles and looking at thousands of flowers as a passing image. Finally, it is just an image.

In life, I think we must stop to pause , stop to appreciate and give us time to enjoy. Be it a place, a person or an event. The end is no meaning and the joy should come from the journey or the process. Treat life as an adventure and enjoy while you filming your life story. It is a new way ticket and enjoyed it while you can.

It does matter what you are doing or going through , just focus and be aware of the process. Stop the mind from taking control and steer your own path and enjoy the experience. It I is all within you.

I have gone through another experience is a glimpse in life and it has make me more conscious.

Namaste.

Monday, May 26, 2014

The day the cup fell & tiger rise

Yesterday ,two big events was unfolding ie the fight for Thomas cup and the tiger's Parliamentary seat in Bukit Glugor. It was a day of excitement as we have to struggle between staying on to watch the Thomas cup or to participate in a forgone conclusion of the winning tiger.

The day start with the election for the Jelutong parliamentary seat which was fought   between Ramkarpal and three other independents.  The voting was slow in the morning and it gradually become more busier.  Many people have thought that it is a meaningless voting exercise as the Tiger will surely win.  My sisters in KL was not back for the voting and my 2nd sister told me that she is not going to vote because it is a useless exercise.  But , I disagree and told her that we have to exercise our right and this is a right to choose who to take care of our rights.  I offered to take her and my brother to the polling station for the vote.

My center was not the same as them and I was the first one to drop in to vote at Chung Ling High School private.  The crowd was sparse and it was a very quick to drop in to vote. After that, I took them to their polling station and at the polling station oppersite Sunshine Farlim, the crowd was more heavier especially lunch time.  I dropped them and then pick them up at 15 minutes later. 

When I reached home, the Thomas Cup was in play and Dato Lee Chong Wei played well and won the 1st set . I keep watching until the 2nd doubles was 1-1 before I switch off the TV to another channel.  I have a feeling that Malaysian Team will lost and this was the final result 3-2 in favour of Japan.  My passion was divided between supporting the Thomas Cup Team and not wanting UMNO to gain mileage on the Thomas Cup event.  Lately, a lot of wrong  things been uttered by BN leaders and this have upset me very much.  I feel that BN give way to a new government so that things can be back to normal.

At 5pm, the polling closed and at 8pm, the result of the Bukit Glugor polling result start to roll out and Ramkarpal was ahead with the result and finally, it was 90% of the votes goes to DAP and the independents lost their deposits. The voting was below 60%  and 90% goes to DAP.  Yes, this is the result we want to show to BN and what they are doing is wrong and they have to change their way to remain in power.  We hope the Telok Intan result will be the same for Dyana and this will really wake up the sleeping and corrupt BN.

The day will come I think and everything will clearer after the rain.

Namaste.

Friday, May 23, 2014

Make a drastic change..

If you are caught in a hurricane, what would you do ?  The wind is changing direction at every moment and you are caught in the middle of this hollowing wind. Do you stay still and wait for the strong wind to hit you or would you take a bold step to dash out of the  hurricane.  Otherwise, you have to be prepared to be sweep away.

The most dangerous spot in a fast changing circumstances is to keep still, so you have to take a bold step.  Whichever way , you choose you have to move from the spot and take a decision.  It is pointless to leave it to lucky.

So, change fast when the things are changing besides you or surrounding you. Nothing is static and you have to change with the changes  or you become a obsolete.

The changes is exceptionally fast in the IT world and big companies like samsung , sony and apple, etc are competing with each other in the different sectors in the technology world. Non of them could stop to take a breath, otherwise, they will be sweep aside as their competitor could have gain another thousand miles in the race.  Electronic products are upgrading every day and new version are launched almost every quarterly.

As human beings, we also have to change as the technology evolves so fast.  Now most of our daily transactions are been handle electronically through Iphone, Ipad , laptop, tablets ,etc. There is no way to stay in the past.  If we stop learning and changing, we will be obsolete and will be wash away. We cannot stop to rest and we to change as the world around us change.

It is either we lead the change or the change lead us and our fate will be uncertain. Next, we are talking about robots that can move and think like human.  This is getting real and challenging.

Namaste.

A pause, a break and a stop

I was feeling edgy this morning.  From the traffic , at the office and at meetings, it was a rush and it pumps up my bad mood.  I was angry at something and everything. At the cars that rushes in without queuing on the way to work, my sexy secretary who rush me through my job,  my Friday reporting and rushing to meetings and missing meetings. What a whole mess.

Luckily, I have a break , a pause and stop during lunch.  Talking nonsense and making noise to relieve my tension and I know I was recovering.  I also take a short break in-between rushing jobs and sit down to reflect on what have happen.

My mood is a runaway feeling and if we do not address early, it would lead us astray and turning into a worst scenario.  There is a saying " positive thoughts attracts positive things " and this is the law of attraction.  If you look at MAS, with the missing MH370, the next thing happen is that the brake gear  malfunction and the latest happening is that one of MH plane was hit by lightning and caught fire on the way to Langkawi and now so many analysis that the Company will go bankrupt and its share will fell to 5 Ringgit cents and all sort of speculation.  So, one bad things lead to many bad things to come. " Ang Kong Por Pi"...in Hokkien , may the GOD bless us.

It is important that we can turnaround our mood and break the streak and the thought.  If we turn it around fast, we will be happier and live longer. 

Namaste.

Thursday, May 22, 2014

Farewell lunch for an expatriate ex-colleague

A few days ago, I had lunch with a former expatriate colleague and he is already 68 and just retired from his company.  He told me that he is suffering from diabetes and high blood pressure.  However, Diabetes, High blood pressure, high cholestrol and heart disease always come together as a " empat se-kawan package".  He looks old , hagged and weak in his voice but yet, he told me that he jogs 3 to 4 KM per day and is in healthy shape.

He also advise me that do a CSA after 50 which is a cancer scan as he has done it before and was detect cancer at an early stage and he was able to cure it in time.  He told me that a few of his colleague have died of the big "C' because of no scanning.  

Another interesting point is that he is free of " high blood pressure" after retirement and start to enjoy his night life in Bangkok.   He said that Bangkok although is under marshal law, it is still vibrant and interesting but working in Malaysia is better.   Day better in Penang and night is better in Bangkok.  What a life.

Another point he said is that there is a lot of exciting memories through his 25 years of overseas posting and 17 years of working in Japan. While he was in Thailand , he has gone through the big flood and in Malaysia, the Asian financial crisis.  He has seen business booming and also see business fell to its low and incurred huge losses.  Well, this the reality of business. One day you are up and another day, you can be in the ditch and dirt.

Well, this maybe the last time he comes around to our factory and he is now free as a bird and he can decide what to do with his next chapter into his twilight years.

There is no escape in this path of life and everyone have to drift into his twilight years. It is a matter of sooner or later.  For thousand of years, this is the path in our life journey.

Here, I wish my ex-colleague  bon voyage and enjoy his remaining years in his life.

Namaste.

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

What can I say ?

Yesterday, my staff was blowing his top after a meeting and I took him to Black ball for some cold drinks.  Initially,  it was only red bean and ice and I went to buy additional yam side dishes and later, I went to buy the black agar agar.   My staff just eat, eat and eat and his mind was somewhere else.

I don't know what to say but just make jokes and sit with him to eat.  He looks better but still his face was red and he told me when he think of what happen in the meeting, his anger rose again.

I know it is very difficult to control onc's emotion and ego especially when it is hurt and wounded.  I can only help to make less tense and the rest of the matter is the choice of my staff.  If he is wise enough, he will let go of the hurt soon and if it is not, then he has to fight with it and let time heal it.

He was scolded badly and as his boss, I was also indirectly been scolded.  I also feel bad but the intensity and duration is not the same.  I make my choice of letting it go as fast as possible as this negative thoughts have away to grip on to our emotions.

Different people absorb hurts differently and this skill has to be sharpen over the years.  The older we are , we become more mellow and matured.

Yesterday, I had a farewell lunch with a Japanese colleague who is 68 years old and just retired from our Parent Company. He was a monster during his days in our company.  He told me that after his retirement, he is totally relax and his blood pressure fell back to normal.

If we are able to see that what a person do to us when he is angry , then we know that it is not what he wants to be. Nobody want to shout and curse if he is in a good mood or not under pressure. Basically, everyone of us want to talk nicely and like to be liked.

I hope he will recover fast from his hurted ego, wishing him the best.

Namaste.

Monday, May 19, 2014

There is no right or wrong - sleeping alone?

This morning , I heard the song " I don't like to sleep alone" by Paul Anka and in the lyrics , it says that there is no right or wrong in our actions as long as we do not hurt anybody.  Yes, right or wrong is only at our own perspective and judgement.  What is wrong to you , maybe that is proper for other people. Who are we to judge ?

I have written on this subject a few times and it is so strange that this topic keep coming up.  If we want to judge , then it is fair for others to judge you as well.  People see things differently according to their perspective and upbringing.  For a muslim, they are taught and believe what they taught in their religion and they will be looking at things according to their teaching and influence while a christian may have a different sets of teaching and he will see things differently , so as a Buddhist, their views could be different as well. Just a religion can bring so much difference , so what about influence of culture, people, next of kin, family , etc.  So many factors will shape the view of a person.

It is like looking through different tunnels at different direction , you will see different things and places. It is not fair to say what you saw and conclude your view and judgement of an incident.  A slight shift in our eye's angle we will see different view and different colors of thing.

So, before we judge if we insist to judge is to see things in the eyes of the people who doing or carrying out the event and make sure every thing is in the same  light, tunnel and directions to have a clear picture of what the person can see.

Some people like sleeping alone, others don't like to sleep alone. This is a matter of choice or perference and what about you ... do you ? So, those people like to sleep alone is not necessary right and point their fingers to those who don't like to sleep alone and accusing them of immoral or wrongful act. So , don't judge or less be judge.

Namaste.



Saturday, May 17, 2014

It is raining today - Sunday

It is raining today - Sunday

The sky was gloomy this morning and followed by a heavy rain fall. I have not being feeling this cooling relief for sometime now. The past few months have been hot, hotter and hottest. We just leave the matter to the raining God to decide.

Just like our life, good or bad forums depends I what is written in the stars. What we can to is only to do what is humanly possible. Take good care of ourselves and to live the best way we can and the rest we leave to the God up there to decide.

The sudden death of Karpal Singh was an example. It was untimely to most people affect by his death . So much to carry on and so much pain left behind. Until now , we don't know what happen on the fateful day. Anyway, whatever have happen it is predestined. God have its own ways.

The rain have started this morning will have to end sometime. Like a birth and death but it will rain another day. Like a re-birth. I am just guessing and I don't know what a the truth.

PFR have its mysterious ways, so come what may. We just have to live the best way we can until the fateful day.

Namaste.

Friday, May 16, 2014

My recent trip to Vietnam

I was in Ho Chin Minh city for three days .  HCM city was formerly saigon.  I was not aware of the workers unrest when I touched down in the city.  Everything was normal and smooth and there was no so much people at the airport.

I stay in a smalll hotel but it was clean and tidy.  It was filled with pictures and design was from the 18th century and was mainly gold in color.  The rate of US$60 per day.  Initially, it was recommended by our member to stay there in a group but it ended with only a few of us.  The hotel rate of US$60 is inclusive of the breakfast.

Along the street was a lot of food joints , spa , massage and drinking pubs.  The local food was good but a bit pricey and it ranges from US$30 to US$50 a meal and the portion is only average.

I had a meeting Hyatt Hotel and before that , I checked the room rate which was about US$396 per night while Sheraton Hotel which was a short distance away , it was about US$300 per day.  These was the type  of rooms I was stay in East Africa  ie ranging from US$200 per night to US$300 per night. But , it was a bit wasteful as I was involved with meeting for most of the day. A small working class hotel will do and it was just for sleeping.  In East Africa, we only sleep for 7 hours each day and I feel abit guilty to waste such money.


On the 2nd day, there was news that the trouble in vietnam have escalated and some of the seminar and meeting participants could not go back to their factories and choose to stay in the nearby hotel.  But the bad news continued to flow in  and each hour the workers situation became worse with looting, rioting and burning.  Some people have been killed or many were wounded.

At night, we ponder whether to take an early flight back on the third day and upon checking, there was an earlier flight on the third day. There was a  flux of foreign investors running away from the country.  On the third day, when we reach the airport, it was crowded with many chinese owners or business men fleeding from the trouble industrial zones. A few of the seminar and meeting participants also flew out on the same day as us.

It was very tiring on the third day as I was lack of sleep because of the trouble brewing in the country and I was almost completely flat on  reaching Penang. Home sweet home , Penang.

It was a relief and I could return to my normal life.

Namaste.

Sunday, May 11, 2014

A weekend trip to Langkawi

My weekend visit to Langkawi

I flew in on late evening flight on Friday to Langkawi via airAsia   There were many visitors on the same flight and it was almost full . Then I realized that it is the same happening on.  Friday . visitors will fly in for a Langkawi weekend and return on Sunday and back to work on the Monday. It is so relax and refreshing to go on a non-routine weekend.

After getting on the flight I dosed off and when I woke up , there was an announcement that the flight have landed. I did not fell anything special and it was like waking up from a 30 minutes afternoon nap.

After reaching the airport in. Langkawi, my daughter May came to pick us up and sent us to a hotel in canang . This canang road is filled with many chalets,hotel and restaurants . After checking in to a drive in hotel, we went to a Chinese seafood Restaurant . The taste was good and the seafood was fresh. It cost about 40 RM per person. We rest early for the night .

Next morning , we went for a local breakfast and after that we went to Kuah town and my wife and daughter went on a shopping spree.  There were so many leather bags on sale and duty free chocolates. We spend about four hours there and we eat at old town cafe before going to a car wash to clean up the dirts in my daughter's car. She hasn't been cleaning her car after going to Langkawi.

We moved into another hotel near Lagunna resort as it was nearer to Danna Hotel where my daughter work. In the evening , we celebrated Mother's Day at a fine dining dinner at Danna Hotel. We ordered beef, Chicken and and salad . The hotel provide a bottle of wine and a cake to celebrate Mother's Day for my wife. She was so happy and I was glad. My daughter who works there was also serving us. Finally, I realized that she has gone up and she was very professional and matured. Her manager told us that we have good and fine daughter and I was very happy listening from. Stranger praising . No doubt she has gone up.

We left the hotel with her and I was very happy and glad of the good time we have so far. We reach our hotel pretty late and we went off to sleep happily.

The nex day , we woke up and my daughter took us to maritius Pelanggi , a sister hotel of Danna hotel for lunch . We moved around the hotel and enjoy the beauty and the natural setting of the hotel. It was a beautiful hotel full of nature . We had a Mother's Day lunch at the restaurant . My wife ordered a olio olio , a pizza , a salmon and a lamb chowder. My daughter enjoyed the lamb while we shared the rest if the food among us. The taste was okay while the price is reasonable ie about 60 RM per person.

At 1pm, we left Langkawi and in the same manner , I took a 30 minutes nap and we are back in Penang。,it was a hassle free tracks for my family and I will going back more frequently in the future.

Namaste.

Monday, May 5, 2014

Business trip to East Africa

Trip to East Africa

I have been away for 8 days in East African country if Ethopia ,Kenya and Uganda on a trade mission. I was worried at dies on hearing of these countries and I still carry the image of famine 30 years ago in Ethopia and the brutal image of  Idi Amin in Uganda. Anyway, I got my yellow fever jap as the condition of visiting these countries.

I took a flight from Penang to KL and to Dubai before reaching Addis Ababa , the capital of Ethopia. The word " Ethopia" comes from the word " uthopia" means paradise on earth. But it was so backward years ago . The traveling time was 16 hours. My backside will be on fire.

On reaching Addis Ababa, the airport was abit old but the air was clean and fresh. The temperature was about 20 deg C and it was very comfortable. We were told that the temperature is within 15 to 25 deg C , that is spring time all the year round. Another air com city of the world.

The country was far and wide with undulating land and a wide blue sky. The country was so spacious and have about 90 million people. The living and the houses are simple and rough while the people live happily.  We stay at Raddison Blu which as a world class hotel. However, there was not much tourist spot in the capital . We visited a few factories and I  move to Nairobi.

The airport Nairobi, the capital of Kenya  was old and small. We stay is Ole Serena Hotel another working class hotel. The place have a good restaurant but the food we eat where average to bad because the spices is not familiar to us. We visited another few factories and on1st of May14 we visited the Kenya National park. We saw lots of zebra, deers, one buffalo, one big monkey , several ostrich, one lion head and many type of birds.

Next we rush back to hotel and then to the airport to lea e for Emtebbe, the capital of Uganda. The loving condition in Uganda is the poorest of the three countries.  The features of the people is small size and very round head like a monkey. The people here claimed that this place is the beginning of "Man". The people there asked how we have lost our colors as the people are generally black.

Uganda is the biggest exporter of banana , cotton and minerals and is a self sufficient country and the people are happy。

Generally, the food in these three countries are bad taste for Asian and the food is abit pricey .

After visiting a few factories ,I was on my way for another 16 hours of flight. Good bye And see you.

Namaste.