Happy Lantern Festival

A year ago, I was celebrating my very first lantern festival in Northern Thailand. Didn't know the Thai also celebrate Lantern Festival like the Chinese.

Had a lot of good food, made plenty of new Thai friends.

And of course visited plenty of places where not many Malaysian would ever thought of visiting.

Happy Lantern Festival to all my Chinese friends no matter where you are. I am missing Thailand & looking forward to my a week break in November, celebrating Loy Kra Thong.

Football Rivalry - Why I Hate The Liverpudlians

There are so many reasons to hate the bitter rival. Especially when two of the biggest clubs (in terms of achievements & success - better for me to state this before some less educated Blues & Gunners start to condemn me) in English football history clashing tonight.

The only thing that the Liverpudlians can boast about their club would be winning the European Cup for 5 times while ManUnited only won it for 3 times. It is pretty sad sometimes that the Liverpool fans can only tease us on this fact when we can boast on our club currently holds the most FA Cups, Manchester United holds the record for the most Premier League titles (11) when Liverpool none! Two of United's managers had been knighted while none of Liverpool's managers are in the same league or appreciated by the Queen. Torres must be freaking out of his mind to choose the Kops over Devils.

Anyway, Liverpool still deserves our respect in terms of club success in England. Chelsea & Arsenal are nothing and no where near us nor Liverpool.

Anyway, to cut long story short, watch the football rivalries videos below (a lil aged but still enjoy every bit of it)... Good luck Devils!

It's Christmas or Raya Now?

People, you tell me the answer after watching this advert. Geez, I thought the dudes in TV3 can be more sensitive on this. Now, we recently got some deejays from 98.8FM being dismissed by the station, shall we see the same fate on people involves in this advert?



We shall see... interesting!

The Right Of Being Stupid

Everyone has a right to be stupid but this one guy is abusing the privilege. What kind of university this "cow" is graduated from? For law graduates out there, here are the 8 videos on "HOW TO FAIL YOUR LAW EXAM"



Enjoy!

Apple July 16th Press Conference

For iPhone 4 haters, get a life...

Ants & Grasshoppers

My first blog post of the month, found a very good story to share and something for us to ponder again. No point for me to list what ugly things happening here, it's everywhere on the internet you can read the news. But one point to stress here, check out the moral of the story at the end of this post.

Older Version
An ant worked hard in the sweltering heat all summer, building its nest and laying up supplies for the winter.

A grasshopper thought the ant was stupid not knowing how to enjoy life. It spent its days laughing, singing & dancing thoroughly enjoying the summer.

Came winter, the ant was warm, comfortable and had no shortage of food. The grasshopper had no proper shelter, no stored food, and couldn't find anything to eat from the snow-covered ground. So it died and the story ended.

Moral of the story: Be responsible for yourself!



New Millennium Version

An ant worked hard in the sweltering heat all summer, building its nest and laying up supplies for the winter.

A grasshopper thought the ant was stupid not knowing how to enjoy life. It spent its days laughing, singing & dancing thoroughly enjoying the summer.

Came winter, the shivering grasshopper called a press conference and demanded to know why the ant should be warm and well fed while he was cold and starving.

TV1, TV2 & TV3 showed up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper alongside to a video clip of the ant in his comfortable home with a table full of food.

The majority of the Malaysian Parliamentarians were stunned by the sharp contrast. How could this poor grasshopper be allowed to suffer?

Khairy staged a demonstration in front of the ant's nest.

Nazri went on a hunger strike along with other grasshoppers demanding that they be relocated to warmer climate area during winter.

The Malaysian Government immediately passed a law forbidding all ants from working hard in the summer so as to bring about equality of poverty between ants and grasshoppers.

Hishammudin increased 'More Special Reservations' for grasshoppers in Educational Institutions & Government Services..

The ant was fined for failing to share 30% of his food with the grasshopper. The Prime Minister announced that this was part of the NEP. No ant should question it. (Don't forget, Tax Audits were introduced and targeted at certain individuals who were eventually penalised heavily for not contributing enough to the well-being of the grasshoppers).

Many years later...

Some ants migrated to the US and set up multi-billion dollar companies there.

Hundreds of grasshoppers still died of starvation despite the 'More Special Reservations'.

Losing significant number of hardworking ants and free-loading the grasshoppers, Malaysia remained a developing country, despite its abundant natural resources.
All because the remaining ANTS were still doing their work.

Latest findings showed that almost all the grasshoppers in the political arena and civil service were hoarding corrupt wealth which they refused to share with fellow grasshoppers.

Moral of the story: Be careful of how you vote in 2011.


PS: Had been neglecting blogger for a bit, partly thanks to Twitter, had been microblogging more. So if you haven't sign up for Twitter, get one and follow me at http://twitter.com/mikemmery

What If...

What if the Sejarah that we studied is not the real truth about our past?

What if British continues ruling this country beyond 1957 just like in the event of Hong Kong?

What if I know something you might not know about this country?

What if you all know the truth?

What if Singapore still part of Malaysia?

There's so much what ifs about this country. Internet is phenomenal, as you indulge deeper, missing jigsaws will reveal by itself. It is shocking!

On the less serious side, what if I get marry next year?

The Cove

Just spent about 90 minutes on the above titled Academy Awards winning documentary, "The Cove". It is indeed the best documentary that I have ever watched with the message that it is trying to convey to the world.

The documentary is on how tens of thousands dolphins killed in a small town called Taiji in Japan and how these meats being traded as whale meats in Japan. Worth watching!

What To Look Forward This Week

First & foremost, I am back as corporate slave come this 1st April 2010, took up a managerial position. One of the best interviews I have had so far in my working experience, all done in 1 day including remuneration discussion, benefits, roles & responsibilities.

And I am already looking forward to this weekend F1 race in Melbourne, Australia. Pundits said Schuey shall be back on fire after 3 races. Nevertheless, I want to see the Silver Arrows conquer the track. It had been a good racing weekend in Bahrain, most of the teams were competitive. Ferraris did well with both cars on podium. Both Mercedes scored points too at Bahrain, let's hope they go on podium this time around in Australia.

I am also looking forward to footie matches this week as the EPL is approaching its finale. Later today, bitter rival Chelsea will be facing Portsmouth, let's see if Avram can disappoint the Blues or not. The Devils are currently on top of the table after defeating Liverpool last weekend and leading Gunners by 2 points & Blues by 4 points. We will be meeting Bolton this weekend and there should not be a problem to grab a 3-points there. Glory Glory!

Let's see if all the good things are coming to greet me :)

To Blog or Not To Blog

Close to two months now since my last post. Perhaps my longest break from blogging after so many years. 2010 so far had been a wavy one, I am completing my project in Hong Kong real soon and there are a few personal stuff that is keeping me away from writing. I had also stop being the contributor for another corporate site due to unforeseen circumstances so I shall be able to update as often as possible, keep fingers crossing!

I am going back basic in a lot of things, be it in life or be it in the blogging. My template is back to basic, everything needs to go back to basic. I am starting all over again.

There are a few important individuals that I would like to thank who had been my pillars at this journey - mom, bro, sis, fat one, slim one, the cat & the one who chose to love me for who I am.

Bring it on!

The Reality of Being a Malaysian

A friend had just sent me an article and in the article contained hard facts, facts that I cannot deny. I am not too sure if you feel the same as me, I realized that friends & relatives around seem to get lesser & lesser.

Those years when Chinese New Year drew near, all sorts of gatherings & appointments filling up the diary but somehow this year 2010, I felt emptiness inside. Even the phone calls & face to face meet up had become much lesser.

Perhaps they are busy with their own things to do or perhaps people nowadays prefer to stay in. However, this is not entirely true, thinking further, actually all my old friends & relatives are very much alive and well, the hard fact is indeed they left the country, Malaysia.

Take my sister for example, she has plan to buy a property in Singapore and eventually settle down there with her husband.

My friends, Myke, Damian, Steve and a few more had already settled down in Singapore. All of them are already PR and some were offered citizenship too. Most of them are enjoying an income much higher than most of us here who still stuck in Malaysia.

Another friend, Lawrence had migrated to US, Kenji & Loh to Japan. My cousins in Canada & Australia. These are just few names that I mentioned here, the list can go on & on...

At first, I thought these are individual cases but after further thought, these are more than individual cases, in fact these are general symptoms of our society. These are big numbers and the statistics as follow.

Department of Foreign Affairs released the figures and confirmed that the situation is real. From March 2008 through September 2009, a total of 300,000 Malaysians migrated to other countries, among them 200,000 left between Jan - Aug 2009 (in the span of 8 months).

Cumulatively, a total of 2 millions Malaysians migrated, this number is close to the number of Indonesians workers in Malaysia today. The difference is, those who migrated are mostly professionals & middle class people. Hard fact indeed!

Those who migrated have many reasons to do so (even myself); to pursue career development, for the future of their children, in search of better life & environment. In short, they actually lost hope on Malaysia. With the recent racist remarks thrown to us Chinese as prostitutes & fellow Indian as beggars, not forgetting too attacks on churches & temples. What is happening in this country?!?!?

50 years ago, people said Malaysia is very good, far better than Hong Kong and even Japan. 30 years ago, people said Malaysia is not bad comparable to South Korea & Taiwan (no more mentioning bout Hong Kong & Japan). 20 years ago, people said Malaysia can do-lah, at least better than China & Thailand. 10 years ago, people said no matter how bad Malaysia is, cannot be worse than Vietnam & Indonesia (China had since booming into first world country).

Today, the economic growth rate in the above mentioned Asian countries had far exceeded Malaysia. Social & intellectual development had also developed tremendously. And we had politicians in the ruling party comparing us to Philippines, Myanmar & Zimbabwe. Sigh...

However, an economist who recently surveyed Philippines foreseen that in 20 years to come, Malaysia will replace Philippines as the world exporter of Malaysian maids.

Over half the century, Malaysians live in the big old imperial housing complex, closed up and survive on properties left behind by the ancestor; continue to consume up social resources, wasteful, and drive away talents; they never talk about competitiveness, totally neglect productivity, and hate meritocracy.

When Asia economic storm hit in 1997, Malaysia closed their doors, thinking we beautifully avoided a disaster, there even think of themselves as genius, being able to handle the situation so well. However, just look at other countries in our neighborhood, they stand up, face the storm, and walk out of the storm. They overhaul the system, improve the processes and march forward, they moved up to a new level. And Malaysia, still walking on the spot.

These are all hard facts. It is not my choice to be born a Malaysian, even if other fellow Malaysian from other races would hurl racist remarks on us Chinese, it is indeed not my choice. Why don't we work together to build the nation so that we can once put Malaysia on the map of the world? Why all the negative publicity about us Malaysians?

Time to wake up, we are very very late now...

Untukmu

This song rather brought a lot of memories. Kian Leong, if you are reading this, I remember we sang this song together during our secondary school days, Form 3 or 4 if I am not mistaken.

And all of sudden, someone I chatted on MSN today triggered me to listen to KRU's songs again. And this particular song's lyrics matched the message that I want to convey to a person far far away.

Enjoy the song...

Reflection

Since my return from Hong Kong, there are massively a lot of things happening. Things that sometimes I myself can't define whether it is good or bad. But as I grow older, I tend to see things in a more positive manner, my family also can see that change in me, even my siblings commented that my temper changed dramatically.

A lot of things inside me, I am glad that I have 2 best buddies to listen to me. They seem to be like my pillars of my life now. And for my family, of late, I managed to handle certain problems wisely which I do not feel comfortable to share it here, but there ain't much concern now because we managed to pull it through.

Secondly, as predicted, I am romantically linked with someone out of the country. Something which I will not deny but I had recently calling it off because it will be better for both parties. Like I mentioned in my earlier post, every decision must be justifiable and must be processed through sanity. Without sanity, every decision will be impulsive and the consequences will be bad (that is at least how I feel). For meantime, we both had decided to chill off a bit, let's see what the future will be. I guess this has much or less answer a lot of questions posted by caring friends who want to know my relationship status :)

Thirdly, I am still working on my project right now and will be back to Hong Kong probably after CNY to conclude it. Then my plan, I might go into employment again depending on offers that are coming. I am glad that there are offers coming in at this point of time, but to me, the right offer & position will be the key factor for me to join into employment again (keeping fingers crossed)

And of late, I have few friends who ended their relationships. One is my schoolmate buddy, another is a close friend who I had been lending my ears to her. I had been thru that stage, it is not easy and trust me, everyone can pull through it. I am always there for you people. Love you!



Ciao for now...

Love is Not Just a Game, It's a Commitment

I want to remind all couples out there, appreciate each other. Love is a funny thing indeed, a wrong decision can mean disaster to one another. Love is a test as well. Test of patience & a test of faith.

Love is a journey that will be filled with hurdles. Love isn't just by a mere uttering of sweet words like "I Love You", it's about the commitment that made those words meaningful.

Do not give up if you all are meant for each other, process every words through sanity.

Have faith in fate peeps, everything happen for a reason, a reason that only God the Almighty knows.

Good luck and I dedicate this song to all loving couples in the world.

Cheers!

Do You Believe in 6th Sense?

6th sense, believe it! I am seriously amazed with this Indian genius. Watch the rest of the demo and be amazed.



Amazing kan?

I Can't Wait For The Next General Election

If we do a simple analysis on the results of the past 2008 General Election (GE), the East Malaysia, Sabah & Sarawak saved Barisan Nasional (BN) by giving them the edge over Pakatan Rakyat (PR).

Under Najib 1Malaysia, the popularity of ruling parties is definitely diminishing despite the mainstream medias in Malaysia which mainly controlled by the ruling government reporting endless conflicts within the opposition coalition.

As the title of this post itself, I got a very strong feeling that Malaysia is heading for a change. Malaysians are ready to get out of its so-called "comfort-zone" to at least try out the change.

Let's look at BN and its component parties in an overall picture since the 2008 GE.

Since I am a Chinese, I start with MCA who is representing the Chinese in Malaysia. Look at them now, they are a joke as far as I am concern. The conflicts within the party itself is far worst than the much reported disagreements between component parties in the Opposition.

Now, we look at MIC, party that represents the Indians in Malaysia. Where is this guy Samy Vellu now? Perhaps hibernating at the moment to keep low profile as there were high profile cases against him which was reported on Malaysia-Today.

Now, UMNO which I need not have to say more. The recent government supported demonstration (Najib & his cousin brother said it is ok for the public to protest on the Catholic publication, Herald for using the word "Allah" in their publication) & the protest had caused arson attacks on worship places. If you still remember, the very much peaceful BERSIH & HINDRAF rallies were entertained with tear gases & water cannons. Talking about inconsistencies.

And I have not even touch on issue where the Malaysia military force can afford to lose 2 jet engines. For foreigners reading this, don't laugh, it is true, my country military forces had recently said they lost 2 jet engines :)

All in all, I urge all my friends who have yet to register themselves as a voter, please do so to practice your right instead of complaining and talking about it in mamak or kopitiam. And be a well-informed voter by getting facts & truths from all independent sources.

Enjoy the below Al-Jazeera videos. Time to change!

1Malaysia? Think Again Fellow Malaysians

I was watching this "Inside Story" by Al-Jazeera, one of the well-known news network in the world. I do not have to elaborate further, this video is worth watching. Without fail, you will find who is the one barking at the wrong tree.



Kebodohan-mu tidak terkata, stop reading script, goodness sake!

2009 Welcoming 2010

So here I am in Hong Kong on my first post of 2010. 2009 as a whole been a colorful one for me. I would not rate it as a fantastic year for me but overall it was a decent one.

Biggest decision in 2009, left my job and took the opportunity for a short project here in Hong Kong. At the time of this post, I am close to my 3 months stay here and in a way or two, it is a good experience. Many were skeptical about my decision to leave my position in a MNC but I also proved to many that life's much better outside here :)

Re-looking back 2009, it was a year where I traveled the most. Started the year with a trip with my primary schoolmates (our very first trip since form 5) to Langkawi. It was hell of a trip and we all felt young once again and how we miss those school days :)

After the Langkawi, I went to Perhentian Island in Terengganu with my college buddies. Enjoyed my time relaxing at the Bubu Island Resort with my 2 best friends forever and never I thought I can be holidaying with one of my ex-gf too. Guess I am too good as a man that none of my ex-es have a chance to get piss with me (praising myself) :p

Now, my first overseas trip was to Bali, Indonesia. I was there for a conference and this trip had been a controversial one as I am the one who decide on the Malaysian delegates there and I do not have to elaborate more on it. But overall it was a good trip because we were all placed in a 6-stars Ayana hotel and Bali is definitely one of my shortlisted countries to bring my the other half for wedding ceremony (so any girl interested? Pls apply within) kekeke...

After the Bali trips, I made few trips to various part of Thailand both on business & leisure. Been to Hat Yai, Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Doi Tung & Mae Sai (The Golden Triangle). 2009 certainly a year where I got closer to Thailand, understanding their lifestyle & culture.

Soon after I am back from my Northern Thailand trip, I came to Hong Kong in the 2nd week of October to present. Celebrated my birthday, Christmas & welcomed 2010 here. Met up with a lot of Malaysian friends who visited here. Made a few nice local friends as well as expats who are here for work. Enjoyed working & had great food here but at times do feel lonely missing my friends back home.

So that was about where I went in 2009. So, how about relationship? No luck still, officially I did go after a girl but the she ain't interested in me though :( , unofficially, hmm...for me to know, for you to find out ;)

And 2009, I had a chance to experience the F1 from the paddock. And being a red devil myself, I went to the Manchester United friendly game here in Malaysia.

2009 - Family wise, I became an uncle to Nicholas Song (my nephew) :)

My youngest brother graduated as a civil engineer. Practically my parents can go for retirement :)

I had a new tattoo as well, a traditional Iban's 'Bunga Terung' on both sides of my shoulders but I have yet to take a good snap shot of it.

Misses a few weddings, birthday parties especially towards the end of 2009. To those who invited me, deeply apologized on that.

2009 overall, I found happiness in whatever I do. Money wise which I have not achieve much, I am happy with the turnout of 2009.

So 2010, what's installed? I will be back to Malaysia very soon. Just got the good news that I will be paid by my Malaysian client by next week and I will be flying off to Land of Smile this coming Thursday. Then after my short break in LOS, I will head back to KL to get some unfinished business done then back to Malacca to arrange some big thing.

See you guys soon!