CNN.com Specials
CNN.com: Quake, tsunami kills thousands
CNN.com: Report: Third of dead were children
Those are but a few.
It's the most unexpected and terrible thing to hit Asia for nearly a century. (Personally, the '97 finanacial crisis affected me more, but this is a real tragedy.) Lucky me was in Penang at the time, but I wasn't even near any of the areas affected by the whole thing. The nearest I was to the seaside was at Bayan Lepas FIZ, where people were fishing quietly by the beach. I only got to know the whole thing Monday morning when I read the papers in Ipoh.
I can't find much (read: lazy to google) about the extend of the destruction in Penang, but from what I heard from friends, it's pretty bad. Roads split near Island Plaza. Batu Feringgi is a mess, fishing villages in the north-eastern part of the island are in shambles.
Comparing to what happened to other countries, especially India, Sri Lanka, and not to mention Maldives with two-thirds of its land submerged, I'll say Malaysia did OK. The saddest thing is that the death tolls keep rising, and so many of them are children. Areas destroyed will take years and millions of dollars to rebuild. So many lost their homes and loved ones.
CNN.com: Fatal Lack of Warning System
It's true that governments could have done more in terms of some kinda disaster warning system for real-time warnings on tragedies like this. Still, they are not to blame because this, the Indian Ocean, is really not a region that's been high in these kinda seismic activities. More like, none.
It's a good thing that governments now plan to setup such warning systems. It might be too late for what has already happened, but hopefully, it will help save lives if, God forbids, that similar events might occur in the future.
Besides these, it's really been a bad December. A few buses have had serious accidents casuing deaths throughout the month. The Lata Kinjang waterfall, a famous tourist attraction here, had a sudden flood during peak days. Bad news are all I see in the papers this month.
Hopefully, things will get better next year.
For those who died, may they find peace; and for those who lost so much, may they find the strength to live on.
Tuesday, December 28, 2004
moving in
Bought some stuff for my room in Penang last Sunday. Not much, just a nice computer desk, a Coffee-Bean-type chair, something to hang my clothes on and one of those plastic drawer thingy. Stuff are so expensive these days. I was kinda thinking on getting a (real) cupboard or closet for clothes.
I still have yet to get a bed, but I'll probably only get the mattress. Things are soooo expensive. :) Will also need some tiny drawers/bedside desk or something. I haven't decided yet. I've got less than RM1000 to spend on stuff, including a stove, maybe a share of a washing machine and stome other stuff.
Worst still, I haven't found either a motorbike or a car. Work's starting on the 10th next month. I seriously do not have much time to get everything done before that. Maybe I should've asked for an even earlier release from work here. I'm doing nothing here now anyway, since I've already finished all my projects and passed whatever remains to my colleague. :)
I still have yet to get a bed, but I'll probably only get the mattress. Things are soooo expensive. :) Will also need some tiny drawers/bedside desk or something. I haven't decided yet. I've got less than RM1000 to spend on stuff, including a stove, maybe a share of a washing machine and stome other stuff.
Worst still, I haven't found either a motorbike or a car. Work's starting on the 10th next month. I seriously do not have much time to get everything done before that. Maybe I should've asked for an even earlier release from work here. I'm doing nothing here now anyway, since I've already finished all my projects and passed whatever remains to my colleague. :)
Tuesday, December 21, 2004
z u g
| You never appreciate how long the night really is, until you stay awake through it. I tried all the usual tricks, starting with counting sheep. I got up to forty-two, then ran into a problem when #43 wouldn't go over the fence. The shepherd came out, tried some soothing words, to no avail. He tried softly stroking the sheep, which didn't work either, but did get the shepherd aroused. Before I knew what was happening, he had fitted the sheep's rear legs with a pair of black nylons, and was madly pumping it from behind. |
That's what www.zug.com is all about. :) Hella funny site.
Wednesday, December 15, 2004
resignation
I just handed in my resignation. The manager's on leave, so I just left the letter on her desk, then sent her an sms. I was kinda expecting to see her face and how she react, in person, when I hand it in, but this couldn't wait. I'm already asking for a shortened notice period as it is.
She did call almost immediately after getting my sms. Sound shocked on the phone, and kept bugging me about my reason for leaving. She just clammed up when I told her that I found a better offer. :) Been wanting to say that for a long time. She said she'll come back tomorrow so that we can discuss it further. I made it clear that the only thing left to be discussed is how soon I can leave.
Seriously though, I'm not being cruel or whatever. I really do need the extra time to prepare. I haven't even got myself a place to stay over in Penang, haven't found a car, let along decide on what I'm gonna pack and bring with me. There's probably gonna be some renovation for one of the rooms at home starting in about a week's time, since my brother's gonna be back soon. All in all, two weeks is probably not enough time for me to get everything perfect, being the perfectionist that I am. :P
As for the new job, it's probably not that much of a better offer, after considering all the extra expenses I'll have to deal with. It IS more or less better in the sense that it'll look more interesting on my resume, and that it has a better future than the dead-end-shit-pay job that I'm having now.
I probably shouldn't complain. There's a lot of people out there who are practically begging for any job they can get, with the market being as bad as it is. I AM thankful. Especially for being able to get outta this place. It'll probably mean no more abusing of a 2Mbps line and such, but I can live with that. :)
Plus, four years in Ipoh is enough. It's more or less like a Malaysian version of Florida - a place where it's probably good to retire to, minus the beautiful beaches and bitches. :)
Hopefully, next year will be a better year.
She did call almost immediately after getting my sms. Sound shocked on the phone, and kept bugging me about my reason for leaving. She just clammed up when I told her that I found a better offer. :) Been wanting to say that for a long time. She said she'll come back tomorrow so that we can discuss it further. I made it clear that the only thing left to be discussed is how soon I can leave.
Seriously though, I'm not being cruel or whatever. I really do need the extra time to prepare. I haven't even got myself a place to stay over in Penang, haven't found a car, let along decide on what I'm gonna pack and bring with me. There's probably gonna be some renovation for one of the rooms at home starting in about a week's time, since my brother's gonna be back soon. All in all, two weeks is probably not enough time for me to get everything perfect, being the perfectionist that I am. :P
As for the new job, it's probably not that much of a better offer, after considering all the extra expenses I'll have to deal with. It IS more or less better in the sense that it'll look more interesting on my resume, and that it has a better future than the dead-end-shit-pay job that I'm having now.
I probably shouldn't complain. There's a lot of people out there who are practically begging for any job they can get, with the market being as bad as it is. I AM thankful. Especially for being able to get outta this place. It'll probably mean no more abusing of a 2Mbps line and such, but I can live with that. :)
Plus, four years in Ipoh is enough. It's more or less like a Malaysian version of Florida - a place where it's probably good to retire to, minus the beautiful beaches and bitches. :)
Hopefully, next year will be a better year.
Thursday, December 9, 2004
what can i say?
Read this
That is the concise version. I got interested in that piece of news when I was scanning through a local Chinese daily this morning. What is not included in the online version, is information such as how the accused had been working for the post for 8 years, delivering mail via motorcycle and van, and is currently only getting RM500 per month.
With that piece of information, it is obvious that the fella actually did what he did to get to whatever that's worth something inside the mail that he's supposed to deliver for extra income.
What's wrong with this picture?
Aside from the obvious, that he has gone against his job ethics in tampering with the mail (which he is now paying for with 2 year's jail), is how badly paid some government servants are.
I said some, because I see those that get paid beyond what they deserve all the time. For example, you friendly local assemblymen. How many of them actually deserve to be where they are now, least of all getting paid for it? And those idiots that gets laptops everytime they go for a meeting? Oh please. Do they even know how to use a laptop?!
Let's take the PM for example. He's getting a monthly salary of over RM20k, has government provided housing and transport, tons of benefits, claims for traveling overseas... not to mention other *coughunderthetablecough* income sources. I'm sure if there ever was a in-depth investigation into what these government people are getting, we'll all see how unbelievably disappointing the whole system is.
The other thing is, I utterly fail to understand how someone working for the same company for 8 years can only be getting paid what part-timers, in their teens, can be easily getting. It's even a government subsidised corporation, for chrisakes!!
If these high up "officials" would only give up some of their income for charity every month, we probably won't even need to have any charity drives in the country at all.
Charity shows are another stupid idea. We often see charity shows that pays for artists/idols to attend and play games, get people to donate via the phone or whatever, give prizes the stars... blah blah yadda yadda. Didn't they even stop to think that, instead of spending all that money on hiring people, organising the show and buying the prizes, they might as well just donate those money to charity?
It's all a freaking show. That's what life is.
That is the concise version. I got interested in that piece of news when I was scanning through a local Chinese daily this morning. What is not included in the online version, is information such as how the accused had been working for the post for 8 years, delivering mail via motorcycle and van, and is currently only getting RM500 per month.
With that piece of information, it is obvious that the fella actually did what he did to get to whatever that's worth something inside the mail that he's supposed to deliver for extra income.
What's wrong with this picture?
Aside from the obvious, that he has gone against his job ethics in tampering with the mail (which he is now paying for with 2 year's jail), is how badly paid some government servants are.
I said some, because I see those that get paid beyond what they deserve all the time. For example, you friendly local assemblymen. How many of them actually deserve to be where they are now, least of all getting paid for it? And those idiots that gets laptops everytime they go for a meeting? Oh please. Do they even know how to use a laptop?!
Let's take the PM for example. He's getting a monthly salary of over RM20k, has government provided housing and transport, tons of benefits, claims for traveling overseas... not to mention other *coughunderthetablecough* income sources. I'm sure if there ever was a in-depth investigation into what these government people are getting, we'll all see how unbelievably disappointing the whole system is.
The other thing is, I utterly fail to understand how someone working for the same company for 8 years can only be getting paid what part-timers, in their teens, can be easily getting. It's even a government subsidised corporation, for chrisakes!!
If these high up "officials" would only give up some of their income for charity every month, we probably won't even need to have any charity drives in the country at all.
Charity shows are another stupid idea. We often see charity shows that pays for artists/idols to attend and play games, get people to donate via the phone or whatever, give prizes the stars... blah blah yadda yadda. Didn't they even stop to think that, instead of spending all that money on hiring people, organising the show and buying the prizes, they might as well just donate those money to charity?
It's all a freaking show. That's what life is.
Wednesday, December 8, 2004
happy birthday mom
Booked a karaoke room last night and had a party for my mom's birthday. Mostly just invited her closest friends - aunties. :) Mom was happy.
She made some pretty good food that we brought along. Too bad we weren't allowed to bring our own drinks. At least they let us exchange the bottle of cheap red wine and the bottle of cheaper brandy that came with the package for something else. Something else = 2 jugs of beer and 12 1L-bottles of mineral water. We all got a good laugh outta that, cuz I was joking in the car on the way there about how many bottles of mineral water we'll get in place of the cheap wines they have. The waiter actually bought the whole retail box of mineral water in.
Since I was the only guy, I had to help out with all the duets and male songs. My having a sorethroat didn't help at all and I'm either speaking softer than a fag, or communicating with lousy sign language in office today. I wonder when it'll be okay for me to start snacking on the Twisties and Cheezels I stocked up at home...
She made some pretty good food that we brought along. Too bad we weren't allowed to bring our own drinks. At least they let us exchange the bottle of cheap red wine and the bottle of cheaper brandy that came with the package for something else. Something else = 2 jugs of beer and 12 1L-bottles of mineral water. We all got a good laugh outta that, cuz I was joking in the car on the way there about how many bottles of mineral water we'll get in place of the cheap wines they have. The waiter actually bought the whole retail box of mineral water in.
Since I was the only guy, I had to help out with all the duets and male songs. My having a sorethroat didn't help at all and I'm either speaking softer than a fag, or communicating with lousy sign language in office today. I wonder when it'll be okay for me to start snacking on the Twisties and Cheezels I stocked up at home...
multi-level marketing
Check this out at Qualoos! MLM Scams
Given, some of the language the article used and certain ways that they present their opinions spell at least a little discrimination against multi-level marketing, or direct sales as it's more popularly known in Malaysia, most of what it says rings truth.
I myself have attended quite a few of these rallies, which is supposedly to educated/encourage members to sell the products. In reality, I see cheesy middle age men and women giving bullshit speeches about how they succeeded, while they profess not to be able to answer a lot of the questions I asked, saying that it'll all be clear once I joined.
Another thing that seriously causes a doubt is that, if it is true that these companies really earn money from selling actual products, instead of charging for memberships, books, tapes, seminars/trainings etc, why is it that it's never enough that you buy products from one of their members? If you ever buy a product from any member, you'll get pestered again and again to join as a member yourself, getting thrown at with how much you can save if you join, and how much more you can save/earn if you get downlines yourself.
The similarity between this and how beggar kids in Thailand will flock to you if you ever give a single coin to any single one of them.
I think it's ok if you treat MLM as a part-time job for a little extra income, or if you join an MLM program because their product is really good and you really wanna use them. If you plan on making it full-time, make sure you have something to fall back on. And don't freaking try to build your downline using friends and family, you'd end up losing those too.
Then again... one would be better off getting a REAL part-time job. I mean, Amway salesman really doesn't look well on a resume.
Given, some of the language the article used and certain ways that they present their opinions spell at least a little discrimination against multi-level marketing, or direct sales as it's more popularly known in Malaysia, most of what it says rings truth.
I myself have attended quite a few of these rallies, which is supposedly to educated/encourage members to sell the products. In reality, I see cheesy middle age men and women giving bullshit speeches about how they succeeded, while they profess not to be able to answer a lot of the questions I asked, saying that it'll all be clear once I joined.
Another thing that seriously causes a doubt is that, if it is true that these companies really earn money from selling actual products, instead of charging for memberships, books, tapes, seminars/trainings etc, why is it that it's never enough that you buy products from one of their members? If you ever buy a product from any member, you'll get pestered again and again to join as a member yourself, getting thrown at with how much you can save if you join, and how much more you can save/earn if you get downlines yourself.
The similarity between this and how beggar kids in Thailand will flock to you if you ever give a single coin to any single one of them.
I think it's ok if you treat MLM as a part-time job for a little extra income, or if you join an MLM program because their product is really good and you really wanna use them. If you plan on making it full-time, make sure you have something to fall back on. And don't freaking try to build your downline using friends and family, you'd end up losing those too.
Then again... one would be better off getting a REAL part-time job. I mean, Amway salesman really doesn't look well on a resume.
Friday, December 3, 2004
hoping for more
2 days ago, I was only hoping that I'll get better soon. I'd not thought it possible that I could fall ill so easily, even though it's more or less the flu season again. (Come to think of it, there seems to be quite a lot of flu seasons lately, and I'm not counting the chicken flu thing.) I did get better, although my throat still feels like a mess and I have about half the voice (read:volume) that I usually have.
Things got even better when I saw my last semester results. I'd passed everything, albeit not with flying colors, and it means that I'm done with my degree. I've graduated. :) Well, I'm assuming that I did, since I saw nothing on my student page that indicates otherwise. According to the staff in charge of my program, I can expect the official transcripts and graduation related stuff to arrive sometime in January. That's kinda late. I was kinda hoping that I could get them within a couple of weeks.
That's mainly because Dell's offer kinda suck. Freaking low pay, even though I've got pretty good experience in the field, just because I do not have a degree. More ironically, they really don't care what discipline the degree is in, just a degree. *grrh* The HR lady from Dell haven't call me back yet. Hopefully I'll get a call tomorrow and we can make arrangements for a better package than the one she offered me yesterday.
What were they thinking anyway? That package that they offered probably wouldn't be enough for me to survive in Penang. Especially after the horror stories of expenses from Susi™, I seriously think it's not sufficient. Still, I'd probably take it even if I can't negotiate more outta them. It IS a pretty good opportunity anyway. (read: can't wait to get outta the shithole company I'm working for.)
And I freaking want my voice back.
Things got even better when I saw my last semester results. I'd passed everything, albeit not with flying colors, and it means that I'm done with my degree. I've graduated. :) Well, I'm assuming that I did, since I saw nothing on my student page that indicates otherwise. According to the staff in charge of my program, I can expect the official transcripts and graduation related stuff to arrive sometime in January. That's kinda late. I was kinda hoping that I could get them within a couple of weeks.
That's mainly because Dell's offer kinda suck. Freaking low pay, even though I've got pretty good experience in the field, just because I do not have a degree. More ironically, they really don't care what discipline the degree is in, just a degree. *grrh* The HR lady from Dell haven't call me back yet. Hopefully I'll get a call tomorrow and we can make arrangements for a better package than the one she offered me yesterday.
What were they thinking anyway? That package that they offered probably wouldn't be enough for me to survive in Penang. Especially after the horror stories of expenses from Susi™, I seriously think it's not sufficient. Still, I'd probably take it even if I can't negotiate more outta them. It IS a pretty good opportunity anyway. (read: can't wait to get outta the shithole company I'm working for.)
And I freaking want my voice back.
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