Mr. Haxa Does The Blogs

Response to Sheih's Posting: Pariah Leadership and Death of an Economy

My response to Sheih's posting:

Sheih on Sheih: Pariah Leadership and Death of an Economy

http://kickdefella.wordpress.com/2008/06/11/sheih-on-sheih-pariah-leadership-and-death-of-an-economy/

Dear Sheih;

at global consumption rate of 1,000 barrel per second (read: Peter Tertzakian - A Thousand Barrels A Second, The coming oil break point and the challenges facing an energy dependent world.) there has to be change of lifestyle. instead of using carbon fuel for burning to power up our car, these molecules can be used as feedstocks to produce new innovative materials that add more value to the economy. i’m a believer in hybrid and introduction of energy efficient cars.

yes, natural gas is cleaner than oil, but keep in mind whatever price you are getting at pump station is highly subsidized! have you ever wonder why shell, bp, caltex, or esso do not retail natural gas? first building pipelines to gas station is expensive and secondly, transporting natural gas via trucks is highly dangerous!

back to government. it’s scary this administration taking the easy way out by cutting spending which only trickle down to contraction in allocation for research in renewable energy for example. or perhaps the recent cut in higher institution budget that can only means less money for research grants!

another disappointment in the measure to cut down subsidy is the failure of government to spell out in details what they will be doing with the savings. what exactly are they going to do to improve the public transport system? how are they going to improve human capital investment to produce more innovators? what sort of long term plan they have in place to solve food supply (esp. rice) shortage in the future? are we opting for nuclear or wind farms or methanol for new source of energy to power up our increasingly reliance on private ownership of automobiles. if brazil has successly introduced biofuel based on ethanol, we could do it here as well. it’s a matter of intention which mechanism will follow through!

Kuala Lumpur's Public Outcry or Social Commentary or Street Vandalism?

I had a great city excursion today with two good friends. It is true when they say that it is not what or where or when, it is about who you are with that matters for they bring different context and fresh perspectives of seeing things.

And today, I don't want to 'steal' the creativity of these graffiti artists with some intelligent messages, but I would like to present you how this city of ours, Kuala Lumpur is getting interesting be it for the good or bad of it. Long live freedom of expression!

Anyway, this is my first posting in Blog It, a Facebook application developed by Six Apart, my blogging service provider. Damn cool! You can be on Twitter or Movable Type or Blogger and be able to publish once from Facebook and goes to your blogging system without double entry work.

Anyway, you will notice DSA (Defense Service Asia) in a couple of the photos here. Read more about it here: http://www.antenna.nl/~amokmar/publicaties/2002/nottomatos.html

Talking about arms made me relate my mind to the cab driver who took me to Mutiara Damansara earlier. The cab driver who has just started driving cab in KL is a retired army. He was telling me it is no longer attractive to join the armed forces these days as the polices are "GETTING" more money and can give relatively better live upon retirement compared to retired army who have to drive cabs for example or as my good friend mentioned some become security guards, earning less than 400 a month!

It is really is Kuala Lumpur public outcry! Damn the system!

Salam Eid Ul Fitr 2007. Maaf Zahir & Batin

I wish all my blogs readers Eid Mubarak 2007. Maaf Zahir & Batin.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eid_ul-Fitr

First Trip to Indonesia: Jakarta

I was sleepy but I can't help it but to take out my camera and shot the beautiful view of dusk from the seat in plane with rays of light coming out from clouds. Perhaps the amazing view was an early sign of high aesthetic values of building architecture in Jakarta. Along the way from Soekarno-Hatta Jakarta Airport to downtown, I identified the influence of American building architecture on the skycrapers in the city.

It was a good business trip and I manage to do batik shopping at Sarenah Mall nearby our hotel. I had a great time at the top most floor which shelves a great variety of batik design of fabric and ready to wear

I look forward to visit Jakarta again to explore different parts of the city.

Selamat Menyambut Ramadhan, Selamat Berpuasa, & Beribadat

I just got back from eight rakaat Tarawih prayer at my qariah's musolla. I suppose, like myself, some other jamaah waited for the witir prayer, but the musolla had a tazkirah session before ended it with three rakaat witir instead. I decided to leave early and performed witir at home.

Earlier, eager to got home early, I had to wait about 20 minutes before I got a cab right after a tiring train ride. Thank goodness, I managed to get home just about time. Hopefully, tomorrow would be better as I'd be leaving office for home by 4pm!

To all Muslims, have a blessed Ramadhan 1428H.

Sumi Jo at the 10th Anniversary Festival of Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra

Sumi Jo, the Korean-born soprano sensation who was trained in Rome graced the 10th Anniversary Festival of Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra last night. Her splendid performance with some technically challenging arias was embodied with characters and souls to pieces such as Je veux vivre (from Romeo et Juliette), E strano ... Ah, forse lui... Sempre Libera (from La Traviata), and Olympia's Song (from The Tales of Hoffmann). Audiences were mesmerized and entertained in her comical performance that brought to life a mechanical doll for the Olympia's Song.

More on Sumi Jo:

1. Wikipedia Entry
2. Official Site
3. YouTube - Sumi Jo - Offenbach - Les Contes d'Hoffmann - Doll Song

Matthias Bamert, the principal conductor together with his strong 105-member symphony orchestra programming last night took us to different composers from France, Italy, German, Austria, and ended the night with a splendid performance on Ravel's Daphne and Chloe (Suite No. 2).

I had the pleasure of meeting friends from past acquaintances and made new friends with some of the musicians and ex-MPO staff. It was indeed a wonderful evening with great intermission food and some funny conversations with Tariq, Hani, & Fiza. Thanks to Fiza for the special invitation ticket and thanks to Le Meridien who catered wonderful array of finger food to the hungry concert goers and musicians last night.

I look forward to the new 2007/2008 season.

Malaysia Worst Bus Accident: A Call For Market Regulation & Consolidation of Operators

The reaction to the worst nation's road accident, that caused 20 fatality was rather disappointing. It's dejavu all over again when it's becoming an ugly finger pointing game. Fundamentally, this incident calls for a transportation market regulation. As was successfully done in banking and telecommunication industry, the express bus market has to be consolidated to only a few operators.

The mess in Puduraya is a good sign of it. Multiple operators; big, medium, and small, are trying to eat the same piece of cake. What options do bus users have but from:

1. bad ticketing system,
2. poor bus station services,
3. bad bus maintenance,
4. bad drivers,
5. shortage of buses during peak season,
6. frequent breakdowns, and
7. risking life of passengers in the hands of some reckless drivers.

A consolidated market will bring down the numbers of operators to a few with economic of scale to operate a huge fleet with good maintenance and day-to-day business. In a two-pronged approach, it'd make it easier for government to monitor and enforce new rules concerning drivers, bus, and safety.

I can still recall the decision to install black box device in buses few years back was unsuccessful due to cost reason given by small operators. In this recent incident, not only the operator allow a traffic offender with two arrest warrants to drive, the driver was not accompanied with another driver as stipulated in the regulation. If the brake system was the root cause, then blame it on shortage of fleet and infrequent maintenance.

Should the government decided to regulate, it'd be a short-term pain for these regulators with mergers and acquisition activities going on in the market. Some operators might be averse to such proposal and could jeopardize such plan. Perhaps, some also might propose regional-based operators system, but it could make it harder to devise such system.

Just as you would switch from apple to orange when apple price shoot up the roof, long distance travelers should be given other alternative, i.e. fast train service. Bullet train could be an expensive solution, but it'd be a good catalyst for interstate development in the long run and would make it possible for someone living in Ipoh to commute to Kuala Lumpur for daily work. In turn, this could balance the urban migration and allow people to have quality of life outside of Klang Valley. This could also be the remedy to the traffic congestion on our highways as numbers of private car ownership keep growing every year.

Though free market advocates might not agree to this solution, the safety or public transport users should be a major consideration. Just as the government wanted everyone to have access to quality mobile phone service, I believe this come on top of that at any point.

Imagine your son due for graduation in the coming week died in such accident. It's tragic. It's a wake up call. It's a lesson for all of us, but how long does the government has to wait to solve the fundamental problem of this. Let's get back to the planning board and have a constructive plan to revive our express bus system.

Yes, I am a frequent coach users. I subscribe to frequent-traveler system and I do buy Aeroline tickets online. And this issue concerns me.

L-O-V-E

L is for the way you look at me
O is for the only one I see
V is very, very extraordinary
E is even more than anyone that you adore

Love is all that I can give to you
Love is more than just a game for two
Two in love can make it
Take my heart and please don't break it
Love was made for me and you

(trumpet instrumental)

L is for the way you look at me
O is for the only one I see
V is very, very extraordinary
E is everything for you and me

Love is all that I can give to you
Love is more than just a game for two
Two in love can make it
Take my heart and please don't break it
Love was made for me and you
Love was made for me and you
Love was made for me and you

Community Service @ Rumah Amal Limpahan Kasih, Puchong

Couple of weeks back, we visited the orphanage (and single mom) home of Rumah Amal Limpahan Kasih in Bandar Baru Puchong for our Community Service activity. It was indeed a great experience for all of us. It was so much fun getting to know the kids, understanding their feelings, fulfiling their Wish List, organizing sports' activities, painting the home's fences and gates, cleaning up the store, and providing them with some of their basic needs.

The home's website is: http://www.rumahamallimpahankasih.com/ For further visit and inquiries:

Bandar Bukit Puchong 2
47100  Puchong, Selangor.
Pn Rabaah atau En Zawawi at Tel/ Fax : 03-80601770

For more photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/haxa/sets/72157601374934873/

In Price War - Consumers Win! The 'Deadly' Battle between Malaysian Bookstores VS. Hypermarkets

DSC_0136, originally uploaded by haxa.

The last edition of Harry Potter proves to be "deadly" in the price war battle among the major bookshops vs. hypermarket in Malaysia. Apparently, on the first day sale of the book, MPH, Times, and Popular boycotted the sales and only deliver the books to those who pre-ordered.

On my shopping spree yesterday, the Harry Potter book was one on my list and when asked the sweet book-consultant-cum-cashier at Borders, The Curve; I was told that the adult edition (as you see in the photo) is out of stock as they are already pre-ordered. She quoted me the price of RM109.90! I was told that the children edition which is also in hardcover only with cartoon front cover is still available, but I was not interested.

So, when we were at TESCO during grocery shopping, there were few more books on the shelf. I quickly grabbed one as I noticed that I have to only pay RM69.90 for a copy!

I also chatted with some aunties who were asking me about the two different covers. I told them about the adult and kiddie version and they informed me about the whole price war that made it in the news.

It turned out that hypermarkets such as TESCO and Carrefour are joining the fray in grabbing Harry Potter last-book-global-mania and passing the cost savings to consumers by selling it only at RM69.90. MPH went further by canceling all events on the book sales.

This is a good lesson for all these greedy bookstores. For so many years, Malaysians have been deprived of good books at best price as  they are charging us at exorbitant price. This price war is an indication that perhaps TESCO and Carrefour might shelf more books in their stores, which only means that we as consumers can buy more books! Perhaps I should boycott some of these bookstores!