The people have not yet spoken!

Ah, as expected BN wins in the Ijok by-election. With all the government machinery behind them, I'll be pleasantly surprised if they don't. But I think the coalition was very worried about this particular by-election - even the big guns had to come to Ijok themselves to help bring about the victory.

Of course when you have the whole weight of the mass media behind you, lots of money to buy votes, police to keep the Opposition at bay, and the Electoral Commission who is incidentally paid by the government to manipulate the voting register, you can't possibly lose can you?

It's good to see the people of this little known community getting all the attention they deserve for once. And it's good to know that the government, for all its bureaucratic red-tape, can settle wrongs that lasted years in a matter of days when an election comes to town. Hence maybe it's good for a BN-elected representative (pointless for an Opposition-MP to do so since it's not BN's seat to lose!!) to resign or pass away in order to bring some good to their constituents.

Congrats to the people of Ijok! And make sure all those BN promises are kept or else...

Tax (Returns) Day!

Today's the day I submitted my Income Tax returns, the old-fashioned way. Surprise, surprise...it seems I have to pay a small amount this year. And since I had to submit the original income tax deduction receipts anyway I went to the IRB Office in Kelana Jaya.

There were few people around actually, but I guess most of them were upstairs doing their E-filing. I wanted to pay by cash but I was told to go all the way to to the Jalan Duta office to do so...what??? So I had to go back and write out a cheque for the amount and go back all the way to the IRB office to submit the cheque.

But it was quite smooth. Not many people around, surprisingly. If I know Malaysians (why not, since I'm one!) they'll wait for the last minute to do so...I wonder why? Maybe it's our competitive nature...

Well, I don't know about E-filing - apparently there were still a few glitches to iron out there. Maybe next year.

Another holiday

Today's a holiday, for civil servants at least. We had the inauguration of our new Yang-DiPertuan Agong - hence the off day. Why I am not sure. The banks were closed too; but most of the private sector continued working as usual. Guess the inauguration isn't a big deal after all.

I tried to watch the Inauguration ceremony on TV in the morning...all ten minutes of it. Guess it took way too much time. An watching a lump of maturing cheese on the Internet was way more exciting.

I think I had better luck (and better reason) sleeping the day away. Zzzzzzzzz...

P.S., the cheese part is real: Lump of Cheese

The 13,000

No, this is not the sequel to the 4400!

The DJIA, for the first time, has breached the magical 13,000 level, six months after breaching 12,000.

What does this mean for our local stock market? Nothing...because today is a stupid holiday!!!!

Some people never learn...

Millions lost in e-invest scam

Haiyo...I wonder how long this has to go on. But I guess as long as there are greedy and gullible people out there, I'm sure scams like this will continue. I mean the returns are outrageous; I'm not surprised so many find them attractive. Well, if you put your money in get them out as soon as you can and don't get too greedy, otherwise you might lose it and not see them again...

And oh, on a lighter note:

"There is no short cut to wealth, not even via the Internet, advised Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak yesterday".

The Star, 21/04/2007

Football: Malaysia 0 Hong Kong 1

Cough...cough...it's not a typo!! Yes believe it!

How low can we go? Who knows? Malaysia Boleh!!??

Finally!

Well, the good times had to end some time. And for Sanjaya, it did this week. But better late than never. How on earth did he get that far? Combination of good luck, questionable hair-do, and a make-believe persona...I'm sure that charmed millions of American tweens into voting for him. And oh, he's only 17...something American Idol producers have not overlooked I'm sure.

But that guy can't sing to save his life. The judges must have been turning in their sleep trying to figure out how he survives week in and week out. And he did just that. Personally I had expected him to go on the very first week of the finals, but he kept on hanging there.

Credit to him though, he gave a good performance in the Latina night - even Simon Cowell can't say anything about that. But that was one spark in a dimming light.

Enough about him: we have six left, and the competition heats up. I guess a lot could even see the eventual winner now: Melinda Doolittle, but anything can happen. Never had the difference between the singers so marked, demarcation between guys and girls so obvious. If I had my way, the guys could have all been eliminated by now; only Blake Richardson has got any real chance of making it all the way. Jordin comes off sparky, but I don't think she's got a chance; Lakisha needs to buck up. One thing I'm not sure, does it have to be a one guy, one girl final?

So my predictions on the coming weeks, in order of elimination: Phil, Chris, Lakisha, Blake, Jordin, and winner Melinda!!

Not another one!

Oops it happened again! I'm sure that's what the advisor to the George Bush must have thought when he heard the Virginia Tech massacre. Don't these politicians ever learn? Guns are dangerous, and should be controlled. I just wonder how many more innocent people are going to die before they do something about it. Hiding behind the Second Amendment should not help; and what an archaic pronouncement have relevance in this society today I wonder.

But this time, the shooter was a Korean and an Asian. Not one of their own. I just feel for all the Asians out there now, looking behnd their backs wondering the next thing would be a revenge bullet. I hope that things would not get from bad to worse.

Condolences go out to the families of the victims as well as all those affected by the shooting. I just pray that this does not repeat itself.

Another lesson learnt? Or would the killing spree continue? I just hope those politicians get their act right for once.

BN winners

So the Machap by-election goes to Barisan Nasional: no surprises there. But with the whole goverment machinery behind them, David had no chance against Goliath. But little reported was that the majority for BN has been reduced, and that itself a sign of things to come? I hope the BN is listening...

The General Election is coming in a few months, even if there is little talk about it now. BN will definitely not win it with such aplomb as they did last time. It will be a fight, because there are a lot of disgruntled people out there - mainly middle-class, urban professionals, and this will make their voice felt. Of course the rural folk will still vote for BN - seen as heroes for providing the necessary amenities of daily life, all the while sucking them dry like a leech without them knowing it. So there is no doubt that BN will win the election, but a markedly reduced majority will make them sit up and listen. There has to be changes - painful changes - that need to be addressed and done to make this country more competitive, safe and better place for us and our children to live in.

I am no fan of the Opposition, and have not voted for them in the past but living through all the injustices that is going around this country - denied by the BN but plain and obvious for us to see, why am I not surprised? - made sure that I would try to make my vote count this time. Sure it would be an effort in futility with the Election Commission on the government's payroll, but we have to start somewhere.

So next will be the Ijok by-election in two weeks. BN again? I'm sure, but in a reduced majority again I hope...

Blink! Blink!

Lim: 3.5GHz frequency interfering with Measat-2

Oh come on!! I had a good laugh when I read this! Sometimes you do wonder about 'Malaysia Boleh!'

Let me see: maybe we can ask the U.S. Department of Defense's help to shoot down Measat-2 for testing of their anti-satellite weapons!!!

What next?

Leaking pipe brings Immigration HQ to a halt

First a hospital, now the Immigration HQ, so who's next? And these are the ones that attract media attention...what about those that were quitely hushed?

You can blame shoddy workmanship, poor maintenance, so on and so forth, but the telling question is that these are happening to buildings barely three years old!! What is happening here? Are our so-called local main contractors so pathetic that they couldn't do a good job, or are the sub-contractors to blame? If this is happening locally what would happen to the multitude of buildings oversease where our construction companies are plying their trade nowadays?


Easy answer: we Malaysians are being treated like second-rate citizens in our country! First it was the Proton cars - an open secret that export-model Protons are first-rate while the local ones are no more than tin-cans. So now it's government buildings...I suppose 'government' because there is always other parties to blame. But I'm sure nothing like this will happen overseas because the main contractors' reputation is at stake - so they use the best of everything: companies, workforce, materials etc....

And where is the PWD in all this? I'm sure their so-called preventive maintenance is nothing to shout about - it's all about repairs now, because that's where all the money is...

So I ask what's next? Let's just wait for the next juicy story...

Whoa?

Just had to put this up...

NEW YORK – Idaho resident Kathy Evans brought humiliation to her friends and family Tuesday when she set a new standard for stupidity with her appearance on the popular TV show, “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.”It seems that Evans, a 32-year-old wife and mother of two, got stuck on the first question, and proceeded to make what fans of the show are dubbing “the absolute worst use of lifelines ever.”

After being introduced to the show’s host Meredith Vieira, Evans assured her that she was ready to play, whereupon she was posed with an extremely easy $100 question. The question was:

“Which of the following is the largest?”
A) A Peanut
B) An Elephant
C) The Moon
D) Hey, who you calling large?

Immediately Mrs. Evans was struck with an all consuming panic as she realized that this was a question to which she did not readily know the answer. “Hmm, oh boy, that’s a toughie,” said Evans, as Vieira did her level best to hide her disbelief and disgust. “I mean, I’m sure I’ve heard of some of these things before, but I have no idea how large they would be.”

Evans made the decision to use the first of her three lifelines, the 50/50. Answers A and D were removed, leaving her to decide which was bigger, an elephant or the moon. However, faced with an incredibly easy question, Evans still remained unsure.

“Oh! It removed the two I was leaning towards!” exclaimed Evans. “Darn. I think I better phone a friend.” Using the second of her two lifelines on the first question, Mrs. Evans asked to be connected with her friend Betsy, who is an office assistant. “Hi Betsy! How are you? This is Kathy! I’m on TV!” said Evans, wasting the first seven seconds of her call. “Ok, I got an important question. Which of the following is the largest? B, an elephant, or C, the moon. 15 seconds hun.” Betsy quickly replied that the answer was C, the moon. Evans proceeded to argue with her friend for the remaining ten seconds. “Come on Betsy, are you sure?” said Evans. “How sure are you? Puh, that can’t be it.”

To everyone’s astonishment, the moronic Evans declined to take her friend’s advice and pick ‘The Moon.’ “I just don’t know if I can trust Betsy. She’s not all that bright. So I think I’d like to ask the audience,” said Evans. Asked to vote on the correct answer, the audience returned 98% in favor of answer C, ‘The Moon.’ Having used up all her lifelines, Evans then made the dumbest choice of her life.

“Wow, seems like everybody is against what I’m thinking,” said the too-stupid-to-live Evans. “But you know, sometimes you just got to go with your gut. So, let’s see. For which is larger, an elephant or the moon, I’m going to have to go with B, an elephant. Final answer.”

Evans sat before the dumbfounded audience, the only one waiting with bated breath, and was told that she was wrong, and that the answer was in fact, C, 'The Moon.'

Vieira thanked Kathy Evans for coming on the show, and tried to make her feel better about winning zero dollars. But after the cameras stopped rolling, she stood up and smacked her across the face. “How could anyone be so stupid?” shouted the irate Vieira to cheers from an approving crowd. “Get out! Get out of my studio this instant you stupid idiot!”

As Mrs. Evans left the studio, she was jumped and beaten by several angry audience members. She is currently listed in critical condition at Mt. Sinai Hospital.

From: www.bsnews.org

Asked to vote on the correct answer, the audience returned 98% in favor of answer C, ‘The Moon.’ I guess that means the other 2% is in the same boat as her!! I rest my case...

Bloggers register!!

Bloggers may have to register

Oh brother! What else would the government think of next? Maybe they are worried that responsible bloggers are spreading the real truth more widely than they have anticpated. Come on, you can't keep it from us forever!

I mean it's ridiculous to register bloggers...there are so many of us, and the purpose? To keep an eye on us? And how are they gonna do that? Keep an eye on keywords like government, BN etc.?? Blogging should be freedom of speech, as long as it doesn't incite people to do harm. Most of us blog as a form of sharing of views and ideas, an online diary of their life (public ones), or as a way to vent our frustation at certain aspects of life. Is that so wrong?

I think the government should spend their time more wisely on matters of importance...there are plenty of them out there!!

Bomb threat!

Thousands caught in jam after bridge closure

The news started filtering in in the late afternoon. News of a traffic jam at the Penang Bridge lasting for four hours, ostensibly to clear up an overturned trailer on the bridge. But later it was acknowledged that the authorities investigated a purported bomb hoax - a metal pipe found wedged under one of the girders. The bomb squad exploded the pipe at the site - you can imagine the panic when unknowing nearby residents heard the explosion.

With global terrorism at it's height (even though it is apparently far away), in today's world one cannot be too careful when it will strike home. Terrorists are well known in not discriminating sovereign borders (read Bali, Jakarta,) so we have to be on our toes. Anything can happen nowadays...

The raise is coming! The raise is coming!

Government offices to open from 7.30am to 5.30pm

Well, this is something new...but I wonder whether it will work wonders for productivity. Judging by experience, no. An extra hour of work is of no difference if you can waltz in 15 minutes late and waltz out 15 minutes early, and spend an extra 15 minutes each for the two 'mandatory' coffee breaks. The work mentality of majority of civil servants have been so entrenched that a little change would not even create a ripple. What we need is a wholesale shake-up, which will not happen even if the cows actually come home.

But I guess this is a government ploy. Why? Because the elections are coming. Because the civil servants want a raise. So there has to be a give and take. Now you 'work' one hour more so we can give you the raise you richly deserve.

Go figure...

April Fools' Day

Well today is April Fools Day...a day for pranks and laughs. That's why I'm staying at home this rainy day...but so far nothing has happened. No pranks or jokes. The closest thing to a prank is the pouring rain since early in the morning...it's so dark outside that it seems like night!

Sigh...April Fool is losing its lustre...