Quick post

Still alive but down with a sore throat last week which morphed into a cold this week that I'm expecting to become a cough soon. That's always the way these things have been and probably will be (for me at least). Nothing much new here. Just working on some math equations that took a lot of time and looking at future derivations that'll probably take a lot as well. I blame the Malaysian schooling system for not giving me a better foundation in maths. ;)

And closer to home...

Looks like it's time to hail our new overlord Najis and his master Mahatahi back in bolehland. I for one welcome our new overlords with the sound of toilet flushing...

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Instilling hatred in Malaysian school children

Students In Mass Movement Against Israeli Atrocities

PUTRAJAYA, Jan 8 (Bernama) — School students nationwide will be galvanised into a mass movement aimed at instilling hatred against Israeli atrocities on Palestinians, said Education Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein.

Hishammuddin said the mass movement would involve those in the teaching profession and education ministry staff.

“Through the mass movement, the students will be exposed and reminded that the peace, justice and comfortable living environment can be easily robbed by people with greed,” he told reporters after presenting the ministry’s new year address here today.

The movement to be launched soon would involve all quarters including non-governmental organisations (NGO) and ministries to make the voice of young Malaysians heard globally.

Hishammuddin said the mass movement was approved at the Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi yesterday.

– BERNAMA

I just want to tell our dear Education Minister: F**k off, you moron!

Reading comments like these by our so-called "leaders", I'm not sure if I should laugh hysterically at their stupidity or weep for Malaysia.

On second thought, maybe they aren't really stupid. They'll probably use this opportunity to try to brainwash students into becoming zombie BN supporters while trying to use this stunt to win over Muslim votes by showing that they "care about Palestinians".

With all the politicisation of the Malaysian education system, it's no small wonder that the Science and Maths abilities of Malaysian students have been declining.

You can view the full UNESCO report here.

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Malaysia to privatise police force

KL, 21 Dec 201x: After the successful privatisation of the Malaysian health care system, education system, and military in the last 3 years, the Malaysian government has announced plans to privatise the Malaysian police force before the next general elections.

Speaking to reporters today after attending a free buffet lunch hosted by his party, the Pee Emm said that the Polis Di-Raja Malaysia (PDRM) has received bids from 2 different companies to be the majority shareholders. He said that it would be good because the government would no longer have to subsidise the police force nor deal with the spiralling crime rate.

"We will only allow the takeover if they promise to continue to be socially responsible and also protect the poor for free. It shouldn't matter who is running the police force as long as they do it effectively."

"There are criticisms that the public shouldn't have to pay for the police force but if they want the best protection, then they'll have to pay for it. There's no free lunch in this world."

When told that the public already pay taxes, he said, "How much are they paying? It's not even enough to fund our ministers' overseas holiday and study trips, much less continue to support a police force, now that the crime rate is spiraling. Furthermore, I need a new private jet since the one I have is coming to 2 years old and showing signs of wear and tear."

"We also need to upgrade the equipment of our policemen so that they can catch the modern criminals. Do you know how difficult it is to disperse crowds of people at candlelight vigils or arrest cyclists?"

On how poor would be defined: "We'll define it the same as in our last few privatisation projects. Any family earning less than RM300 a month is poor. Everyone else isn't. The public should make sacrifices and contribute back to the nation. They need to change their lifestyles, if necessary."

"If you don't want to subscribe to regular police protection, you can always pay on a case by case basis but make sure you have enough cash on hand or you'll be arrested and charged in court for withholding fees. We don't want people who want free lunches."

He also commented that the judiciary will be next up for privatisation after the police force.

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Do they really need a 2.4L Camry?

IPOH: The Perak Government will be upgrading its official cars from Proton Perdana to Toyota Camry for state executive councillors and ex-officios.

It will spend RM2.7mil to acquire 16 Toyota Camry. Each 2.4 litre Camry costs RM167,000.

Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin said the reason for change was because of the high cost of maintaining the Proton Perdana V6.

“The state has to fork out some RM1mil annually to maintain the Perdana,” he said after chairing the state executive councillors meeting here on Friday.

Perak is the second state after Terengganu to upgrade its official cars.

The Terengganu state government had in July bought 14 Mercedes Benz cars for RM3.43mil to replace the Perdana, also to cut costs.

I'm not sure what are the roles and responsibilities of the state exco members but I wonder if they really need a 2.4L Camry? Seems to be a pretty dumb move since it gives BN more ammunition to use against them. Maybe they think their victory's just a one-term thing and have decided to milk their positions for all its worth. If they continue on like this, their prophecy will be self-fulfilling.

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Sime Darby: Company with a heart?

KUALA TERENGGANU, Dec 20 — The government today assured the people that it will not sell nor privatise the National Heart Institute (IJN) so long as there is no alternative which provide similar service to the people, Deputy Health Minister Datuk Dr Abdul Latiff Ahmad said.

He said that while the idea to privatise the IJN was good because the government would no longer be burdened by the high costs of subsidising treatments at the institute, now was not the best time to do so.

“It is a good idea but what about those in the low-income group? Can they be assured of obtaining similar service?

“These are the things that the government needs to consider,” he told reporters after a dialogue with Terengganu Health Department staff here.

He also said that the people should not be worried as until an alternative service was available, the government would not entertain any proposal to privatise or sell IJN. — Bernama

Strange that since Najib earlier commented that Sime Darby would not be raising their rates for the "poor" and be "socially responsible". Does this mean that Sime Darby would have been subsidising Malaysians then?

I wonder how socially responsible SJMC, which is also SD owned, is and how many poor people get free treatment there yearly? Clearly Sime Darby is wasting a wonderful opportunity to publicise their acts of charity and kindness. They should fire their publicist and get someone who knows how to milk things like these to improve their image.

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Phrase of the day: Lost the plot

Lost the plot - this is probably a familiar phrase for those who follow the news about happenings in the English Premier League. For those who don't, it means to become mad or crazy.

Some examples of how to use the phrase:

1. Najib thinks that the perception of crime needs to be changed rather than actually reducing the rate of crime. He's lost the plot.

2. The Prime Minister-in-waiting of Malaysia has just announced a ruling that laundry should not be aired in public view and has suggested the use of dryers instead. Besides the ridiculousness of such a senior official talking about laundry, just months earlier he was asking Malaysians to change their lifestyles to conserve energy and money. He's clearly lost the plot.

I hope everyone enjoyed the phrase of the day.

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Met up with an old friend

Met up with an old friend, TBH, I haven't seen in probably 10 years yesterday. He was in Seoul on a business trip with Motorola and I made a trip over to meet him. He hasn't changed much over the years but I guess neither have I. He seems to be doing reasonably well and we had lunch at an Italian restaurant called Gorilla in the Kitchen at Dosan Park.

I guess we did what all Malaysians do when they meet up - discuss politics. He seems to be more optimistic than me about the future of Malaysia and in Malaysia. I have a pretty pessimistic view of the future of Malaysia. I tend to think of it as an unstoppable force and maybe it's better to just sidestep it. Perhaps he knows something that I don't, given that his father is working pretty closely with some of the government ministers. It would be good if he is right and I am wrong but I guess I wouldn't place any bets on it.

Some trivia: It's strange but I actually know all his cousins our age separately. One of them was my classmate during my primary school days in SJ. I then moved a few hundred kms down south to Johor and then I moved a few hundred kms back north again to Ampang and when I went over to Teknik KL for Form 4, TBH and I were in the same class. And when I went down to UTM Skudai for my undergraduate studies, I met another of his cousins there. Malaysia's a pretty small place. :)

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Winter's here again.

Snowed for the first time this winter yesterday evening. However, unlike years past, it was only in a small flurry and all of it melted away almost immediately. I think the first snow of the last few winters were rather heavy and left 2-3 inches on the ground.

Although it shouldn't be, it still seems surprising how the weather turned from warm enough for me to be cycling in shorts and my short sleeve jersey on Saturday (around 5 or 6C) to me having to use longs and a windproof jacket on Monday (-ve C). Bicycle lock's signalling winter by giving me trouble as well and the gears need to be tuned for the cold weather too.

Well, not that important but just making a short record for posterity.

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Rice weevils

Found my packet of brown rice to be infested by rice weevils today. This is the first time this has happened here and since all my previous packets were weevil free, I didn't take any precautions. Unfortunately, it seems that past history does not predict future behaviour for rice weevil infestations as well.

However, I decided to eat the rice anyway. I washed the weevils away the best that I could and probably ended up cooking a few that I didn't manage to wash away. Not sure how many I ate but I guess the pork rib stew camouflaged any that were left. I guess it's alright to eat them. They are vegetarian, don't carry disease, probably have proteins, and are cooked pretty darn well! Anyway, most rice contain weevil larvae and when the conditions are right, they turn into adults. So, we've been eating tonnes of weevil larvae since we were kids and it didn't seem right to feel squeamish now that they've all grown up. ;)



I did a quick search on Google and found that the best way to get rid of the rest of them is to freeze the rice for a few days. It seems that sub-zero temperatures kill the adults and larvae within a few hours. So, my packet of rice is currently lying in the freezer now, killing a few generations of the little buggers. I guess it'll be easy to wash away the adults after that but the larvae inside the rice will probably still supplement my diet. :D

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Thinking of reentering the stock market soon...

has the markets fallen enough? Hmm...

Edit: Let me quantify my soon - within the end of the year. It may not seem like soon to many but considering I've been completely out since November last year, I guess it's soon to me. Originally, I was thinking about somewhere next year but I'm wondering if the shit could fall earlier and the markets could start recovering by the end of this year?

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