No! Don’t Stop…

(What! Last post in March 2010? Darn.. )

It’s been a hectic year I would say.. For all of 4 us.. being thousand miles apart is definitely hard for everybody.. for the past almost six months, skype, gtalk connect us together.. Jr & little Miss have all grown up, thanks to lovely Mrs.. he reads a lot nowadays, facebook & gtalk-enabled.. she is getting bubbly and bubblier.. plus diaperless now.. (although few (or many) accidents every now and then.. opps)..

A two weeks visit back in May definitely not enough.. everyone is dying to get back together.. (here, there, anywhere) hopefully, insyaallah.. *watch this space* wink!

Scene 1 (over the phone) :

+ : I think my card was overcharged last night..
- : Our log stated that you never touch in before you touched out at wimb.. may I know what happen?
+: It was game night, FlhmBrdwy station was so crowded, I missed the touching station and couldnt turn back..
- : Oh ok.. in that case, the trip should cost you 1.50 only, we’ll refund the overcharged amount to your card by the next working day.. just tell me which station you’ll use your card.. the amount will be debited to your card once you touch your card at that station..
+ : wow.. kewl… cheers..

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Scene 2 : (at highway office)

+ : Saya rasa kad saya kena terlebih caj lah..
- : Apa jadi, encik?
+ : Masa saya lalu tol SUB,i saya rasa masa sentuh kad tu tak ada pun bunyi tit-tit, tapi gate terbukak jugak.. bila saya masuk tol DMR, tau tau saya kena caj 40.00++..
- : Oh ok.. encik isi borang ni dulu.. selepas 20 hari bekerja, kalau encik tak dapat cek dari kami, sila telefon nombor ni..
+ : 20 hari bekerja?
- : aah.. jadik kami tolak caj SUB-DMR 1.00 dari kad encik, dan caj perkhidmatan 5.50..
+ : tapi.. baki kad saya cuma ada 7.00????????

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If you think scene 2 is simply because we don’t have the technology, the offices are not link with its online systems etcetera.. etcetera.. ? You are dead wrong.. for god sake, our country implemented world first smart-card ID, remember.. No way we are behind in term of technology..

it is actually a simple yet classic example of people/service driven vs money/profit driven business..

From a system designer/programmer point of view.. how come we can put our money into the so-called-smart-card from any merchant; but when come to refund, we have to go through all those trouble? shouldn’t it be paperless as well??

From business point of view.. why need to pay back the money now.. take some time.. hold it in FD.. we’ll get more from interest.. and furthermore think about how many will actually write-off the amount rather than go through all these process.. $$$$$$!! Hahahahhaaha..

The objective of smart card is to simplify process, people need not to pay over the counter, no traffic, smoother service so on and so forth..

In country #1; by using smart card, you’ll pay lesser.. much lesser than normal fare..

In country #2; by using smart card, you’ll pay same amount, in some cases you need to pay more; eg parking; additional 10% on top of normal fare.. topping up at 3 party merchant, additional 0.50..

that’s could be one of the reason why in country #2 highways; 10 toll-gates, 5 smart card => empty; 5 pay-as-you-go counter => jammed like hell..

same objective different implementation.. Gagal!!..

Versi Kenduri Kahwin

1) Looking at the mirror, u saw grey hair sticking out of your side songkok..

2) 5 minutes away from the venue, u realized you left your sampin & shoes behind, and had to turn back all the way to get those..

3) Waitress serving your table asked you.. “Nak coffee ke tea, uncle?”

4) Shortly after the wedding, ur beloved wife walked straight away towards the car and left you alone by the lift door.. until she realized we parked our car at another level..

hmmmmmm…

After a series of scolding, shouting, sulking and crying.. Faeq said “Daddy.. I dont want to friend with you!!”.. I asked him why.. he said.. “Because u always marah-marah at me.. I dont want to friend you..”

So I slow talked to him.. “Dear, the reason I scolded you is simply because I love you.. If you did something wrong, off course I’ll scold you.. If I don’t love you, I’ll just let you do anything.. even when you do bad things.. I never scold you without any reason..”

He accepted my words and we made up, and we are best-bud again, as always..

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Days later, Faeq did something naughty and I had to scold him.. raised my voice.. however this time, instead of crying and sulking, he smiled guiltlessly..

“What are you smiling about??? I’m very mad at you.. I told you dont make me angry.. DO YOU LIKE ME ANGRY??”

“You love me, kan?..”

“HUH!???”.. I said, confused..

“Last time you said, you were angry because you love me.. Now that you are angry, means you love me lar.. thats why I smiled..”

Haiya!! and Daddy immediately didn’t have the appetite to scold..

and he is using that killer-phrase since then.. unlucky for me, it works every time!!

We’ve been living in our neighbourhood for few years already.. Mrs has been here for erm.. almost two decades perhaps? Although it is not really cheap to rent a house here, we always think it is the best option.. near with Mrs’ parents, easy-access, no-bottle-neck 24-7 traffic-jam, shopping MALLS just a shout away, clinics, good paediatrician, specialist center nearby, safe neighbourhood… safe neighbourhood?? hmmmmm.. not really..

a neighbor’s maid just in front of MiL’s house was murdered inside the house before dusk last year, a friend’s FiL’s one-month-old, approx. 100km mileage car was stolen from inside his electronic-gated house, so did a friend’s mother’s car..

In conclusion.. it is not the safest ; (but well, probably still safer than some other places..)

Recently, some responsible neighbours circulated flyers to propose to close access with boom-gates and patrolling guards.. Residents are expected to pay service fee of around RM50 per month.. great effort.. ermm.. but why??

We moved to a landed property for many reasons and locked inside-out is not one of it .. Why do we need to change our lifestyle because of some minority penyangaks who are stupid and greedy enough to intrude our safe-haven?

I remember one Tok Guru reminded ladies to wear more decent clothes to prevent molest and rape cases.. he was heavily criticized and bombarded by many who think covered or not; rapist would still find their ways to do their business.. and how about now? Guarded or not?

I envy a friend of mine who live across the continent, (*in manchesteruk to be exact) who has a beautiful decorative gate in front of his house.. by decorative I mean decorative.. the gate which remains forever open.. and oh btw.. his house is the only one with gate in the neighbourhood..

Here in our own beautiful country.. a gated, iron-grilled, house with alarm and CCTV is no longer safe.. we need Titanium locks, barricades, rottweilers, patrol-guards and so on..

I’m pretty sure in case of emergency such as fire, we dont have time to figure out which key goes to which 10 padlocks that locked our front door..

and then what’s next? Twitter? helicopter-patrol? bullet-proof car? armed-bodyguards? a pet tiger?? (opppss.. too much MW)

I wonder why we have to live in our own country in such fear.. this is not a third-world country.. we have built the tallest twin-tower in the world, implemented the world’s first smart identity card, for godsake!

I’m still wondering why..

Something must be wrong somewhere.. what is the root cause?

(to be continued)

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Related links :

1) Empat bulan jadi pelarian

2) Cops to keep Nurin and Sharlinie cases open

3) Kadar Shah’s home burgled, maid raped

4) Mongolia’s new president vows battle on corruption

During one of balik kampung get together with Pak Ngah and Mak Ngah, Jr co-created a role-playing game with his cousins Durrah & Sarah.. he became the Dad, Durrah be the mum; Sarah be the son (don’t ask me why.. however after a while they changed Sarah’s character to Daughter) and Nayla be the little baby..

The Bossy dad will come back from work.. ask mum to cook.. eat together etcetera.. etcetera..

Today the girls again came for a visit.. and as always they played mum & dad.. but this time, they (or probably just him) involved me in as well.. as the OLD man!!

Hey hello!! I’m still in my 20s ok!

ps: DARN!!!! Do I have to shave everyday?

Quoted from The Star

Decision on teaching Maths, Science in English by month’s end (Updated)
By SIMON KHOOand KAREN CHAPMAN

KUANTAN: A decision on whether to continue teaching Mathematics and Science in English is expected to be reached by the end of this month.

Education Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said the Cabinet would make a final decision after gathering all the feedback from the relevant agencies and other ministries.

Read more..

Frankly I think, the idea of teaching Math and Science in English is very good. Perhaps somewhere somehow the implementation wasn’t as supposed.. Understood that some which may not even be a majority are really pushing for it but I am totally against of flip(flop)ing back BM.. However improving the implementation is a must to avoid future generation from lacking behind..

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At night, Jr was on sugar-rush after a visit from his cousins from seremban earlier that evening.. jumping up and down on the bed.. mummy couldnt stand it any longer and began her infamous counting..

Mummy : “You better go to sleep now before I count to ten!! Masuk tido! SAAA-TU!!!”

Heh.. Do you think that’ll work on this Cheeky little boy???

Prolly in his mind : (Lalalalala.. Tomorrow don’t have school.. lalalalalalala.. Mummy wanna count? I can count also)
Jr : SATU… DUA…. TIGA… EMPAT…. (long pause).. SATU… DUA…. TIGA… EMPAT..
Daddy & Mummy : (puzzled)

Jr : Errrr.. Daddy.. what’s FIVE?????

Ouch!!!

We, strongly support PPSMI!!

New URL u guys..

whats new with us? ermm…

Little Miss is getting bigger and smarter.. and Jr? He can count 1 to hundred!! Just now while waiting for lunch to be served, this thirsty little chap began impatience.. so I asked him to close his eyes and count from one to hundred.. and he did..

ONE.. TWO.. HUNDRED!! dah!! where’s my drink???

Happy V-day.. XOXO..

When I took Basic Econ in form 4, one of the first chapter being covered was about your need vs want.

Wikipedia defines the term as below :

Quote

Needs would be defined as goods or services that are physiologically or biologically required for maintaining life. This would include the needs for air, food, water, clothing, shelter, sleep[1]. “Wants” are described as “having a strong desire for something” be it a consumable good, time, or money. Want is often a physiological desire.

Unquote

When I involved in system implementation projects for MNCs, I also came across with this term. Probably rephrase as Must win vs Nice to Have. The concept is still the same however.

From my experience working with Mat Sallehs in designing systems, they would always look deep into ‘Must wins’ first before slowly move towards on those ‘nice to have’. This to ensure that everything is optimumly designed and delivered for usage with quality, money and time well-spent.

However sad to say. Things are very much different in our country. Pardon me. I’ve never really experience it but from numbers of reliable source, it does happen.

Malaysia government, GLCs, often looking at facilities, systems, technologies at the very high-end. A consultant-friend of mine once told, he involved with a project with an oil company in malaysia (i dont wanna say the name) where they want a very complex & fully-automated system. after god knows how many mandays spent, it was delivered. The system was too complex until end-users dont really know how to make full use it.. One who never ride a horse but given to ride a Unicorn.. Ended up as another “White Elephant”..

Another friend of mine told me, a development corporation in Cyberjaya planned to implement a fully integrated up-to-date customer relationship systems which can monitor, track and process calls from customer very much faster and simpler. First question asked when he came to propose the solutions, how many calls the client want to track? His client proudly answered… “3-4 calls per WEEK“. My boss here would probably say “Pure bollocks!!”.. How on earth you need a multi-million system when it alternatively can be done by just a simple spreadsheet?

Last thing I heard, it has not fully went live after 2 years.. And to make it worse, (I strongly believe) this corp is being sourced by government grant..

This kind of scenario keeps on happening.. again and again..

The most recent on the purchase Eurocopter issue.

In a statement issued Friday, Abu Bakar said the ministry chose the Eurocopter EC725 because the company had a complete tender offer that obtained the highest marks based on technical evaluation, an offset package while also being at a reasonable price..

“Eurocopter also offered a system that was proven which also fulfilled the army’s specifications,” he said, adding that the Government had no influence on prices that were offered by the company as bidding was done via an international open tender process.

Does it?

I dont have the answer.. Hopefully it is not another ‘First class facilities but with third world mentality’..

post note {18/10/2008}: this article is a must read..

And countdown to 30 officially begins..

365 364…