More than just "Tenderfoot"

Nota : Diambil daripada Blog Pergerakan Pengakap Malaysia  

Persetiaan Pengakap 

Bahawa dengan sesungguhnya, saya berjanji dan bersetia yang saya dengan seberapa daya upaya, saya akan:-

Taat kepada Tuhan, Raja dan Negara
Menolong orang pada setiap masa
Menurut undang-undang pengakap

Undang-Undang Pengakap

Pertama ~ Pengakap adalah seorang yang sentiasa dipercayai maruah dan kehormatan dirinya.

Kedua ~ Pengakap adalah seorang yang taat kepada Yang Dipertuan Agong, kepada Rajanya, Negaranya, pemimpin-pemimpin pengakapnya, ibu-bapanya, orang-orang diatas dan orang-orang yang dibawahnya. 

Ketiga ~ Pengakap wajib menjadikan dirinya berguna dan menolong orang pada setiap masa. 

Keempat ~ Pengakap itu sahabat kepada sekalian dan saudara kepada lain-lain pengakap walau apa negeri, pangkat dan agamanya sekalipun. 

Kelima ~ Pengakap itu baik dan sempurna budi pekertinya dan sentiasa berbudi. 

Keenam ~ Pengakap itu baik dan kasih kepada segala binatang. 

Ketujuh ~ Pengakap itu seorang yang sentiasa menurut perintah dan suruhan ibu-bapanya, ketua patrolnya atau pemimpin-pemimpin pengakapnya dengana tiada apa-apa soalan (kecuali dalam hal-hal yang berkemusykilan dan maklumat tambahan). 

Kelapan ~ Pengakap itu seorang yang sentiasa sabar dan manis mukanya dalam kesusahan. 

Kesembilan ~ Pengakap itu jimat dan cermat 

Kesepuluh ~ Pengakap itu bersih dan suci fikirannya, perkataannya dan perbuatannya.

(Below excerpt taken from BoyScout Trail website)

Tenderfoot Rank Requirements:

1. Present yourself to your leader, properly dressed, before going on an overnight camping trip. Show the camping gear you will use. Show the right way to pack and carry it.
2. Spend at least one night on a patrol or troop campout. Sleep in a tent you have helped pitch.
3. On the campout, assist in preparing and cooking one of your patrol's meals. Tell why it is important for each patrol member to share in meal preparation and cleanup, and explain the importance of eating together.
4. a. Demonstrate how to whip and fuse the ends of a rope.
   b. Demonstrate that you know how to tie the following knots and tell what their uses are: two half hitches and the taut-line hitch.
   c. Using the EDGE method, teach another person how to tie the square knot.
5. Explain the rules of safe hiking, both on the highway and cross-country, during the day and at night. Explain what to do if you are lost.
6. Demonstrate how to display, raise, lower, and fold the American flag.
7. Repeat from memory and explain in your own words the Scout Oath, Law, motto, and slogan.
8. Know your patrol name, give the patrol yell, and describe your patrol flag.
9. Explain the importance of the buddy system as it relates to your personal safety on outings and in your neighborhood. Describe what a bully is and how you should respond to one.
10. a. Record your best in the following tests:

    Skill	Current	After 30 days
    Push Ups	__________	__________
    Pull Ups	__________	__________
    Sit Ups	__________	__________
    Standing Long Jump	__________	__________
    1/4mile walk/run	__________	__________

    b. Show improvement in the activities listed in requirement 10a after practicing for 30 days.
11. Identify local poisonous plants; tell how to treat for exposure to them.
12. a. Demonstrate how to care for someone who is choking.
    b. Show first aid for the following:

    - Simple cuts and scrapes

    - Blisters on the hand and foot

    - Minor (thermal/heat) burns or scalds (superficial, or first degree)

    - Bites or stings of insects and ticks

    - Venomous snakebite

    - Nosebleed

    - Frostbite and sunburn

13. Demonstrate Scout Spirit by living the Scout Oath and Scout Law in your everyday life. Discuss four specific examples of how you have lived the points of the Scout Law in your daily life.
14. Participate in a Scoutmaster conference.
15. Complete your board of review

Conventional Cassette : A side and B side.

As what I understood after reading a book by David Schwartz , "The Magic of Thinking Big", people who "Think Big" do not get themselves involve in small talk about others bad behaviours. .You can find these kind of people everywhere, anytime and when you start to learn about them,  you'll meet more of their kind along the way. People who live in mediocrity, will then start to think and behave stereotypically mediocrity. Their presence may sometime seem like dragging you into the path of rat racing in their own interests of bad mouthing, slandering and sarcastic remarks. I call these people as B side of a cassette.

Recently, I had spent an evening with people who seem to be so nice to be with,  cheerful and full of jokes (they do actually) ,  but then the badmouthing chapters started to drip through their mouth, one drop at a moment and than slowly, "woosh.." , I was wet and soaked. In my opinion, badmouthing is a product of being mediocre. If you are not careful or sharp enought to sense its presence, you may as well indulge in the "mediocritism",   and non-value add information and discussion started to jam into your brain inbox.

On  the other hand, sometime these people are also good people that kind enough to assist you voluntarily. I call it, the A side of the cassette. I wonder why. I have dilemma in that mode of role transition. Probably that's the way things are engineered in this universe. A radioactive can be a useful element in medical science, and it could also be a destructive weapon of mass destruction. By chance or not, most of the people that I met whom like to  tell under the skirt stories are very helpful people. In other word, you can depend on them for help when you are in need, provided you become a good listener to what they wanted to tell.

Most of the time, I just couldn't avoid hearing negative stuffs as I had to be around these people for some valid reason. Most of the time , I would made my own way, doing my own activities or thinking, just to avoid or distract an influence from these people. People always like when you listen to them, hearing all the nasty stories,  but honestly, I don't always like what I listen. Some may think that I am choosy about friendship or relationship, and yes, they are most probably right, because I dont have the capacity to listen to the unnecesary fairy tales.

One thing I learn in order to stop or temporary skip this kind of behaviour is to ask these B side people about  great truth about themselves or perhaps the person that they adored (like their kids or good friends), good things that they had experienced, good people that they met, and yes...they do have good story too, and there you go, grab the juice out of it, keep the bad stories in the fridge.

Having said this, it is not to say that you should totally prohibit yourself from talking about others, but you have to think about the intention of having that conversation. If the intention is to avoid the same mistake, learn from that mistake or to tell save the audience from getting into trouble, than it would be a considerable bad mouthing. For example, you got a very bad service from a shop that cause you to lose money, it is ok to share this with your friends so that they do not get into the same problem.

On contrary, if the B side stories are intended just to past time , just to fill the conversation , just to get influence so that people support you or just to let go your feeling, I think this is not ethical. Some people may enjoy, but honestly I don't. Sorry for not being a good listener.

- UnspokenSpirit.

Teknik pernafasan mulut ke mulut , pendengaran telinga ke telinga.

Dalam kehidupan seharian, terlalu banyak maklumat yang kita perolehi. Daripada internet, suratkhabar, bahan cetakan lain dan yang paling kerap adalah melalui percakapan mulut ke mulut. Sogokkan peralatan canggih hari ini seperti smart-phone, tablet, netbook, laptop meledakkan atau memangkin proses ini dengan lebih eksponential ke seluruh pelusuk platform komunikasi , desa, bandar, kota metropolitan, institusi pengajian , sekolah-sekolah, malah di lorong-lorong taman perumahan.

Atas pemerhatian saya , masyarakat kita terutamanya orang Melayu sangat berkecenderungan untuk mendapat atau menerima maklumat-maklumat terutamanya tentang keburukan atau kekurangan orang lain. Dan yang lebih parah, mereka sering percaya bulat-bulat tanpa membuat sebarang kajiselidik, pengesahan dan bertanya sendiri tuan yang empunya tentang sesuatu perkara. Saya juga ada bertanya kepada rakan-rakan yang berbangsa Cina dan India sama ada situasi sebegini muncul dalam masyarakat mereka, ironinya, mereka menyatakan perkara yang sama juga berlaku, mungkin dengan kaedah atau magnitud yang berbeza. Pemerhatian saya mungkin agak sempit, iaitu melalui bahan-bahan bacaan dan ruang-ruang terdahulu yang pernah saya lalui seperti zaman persekolahan, institusi kekeluargaan, institusi kejiranan, ruang kerja , jaringan sosial (social network seperti Facebook, Twitter, Myspace etc)  dan seumpama dan sewaktu dengannya.

Mungkin sebab itu apa-apa berita yang muncul dalam internet, klip video mahupun perbualan audio sangat mudah menular ke dalam masyararakat. Topik-topik seperti itu dijadikan sandaran untuk dibincangkan di meja-meja kedai kopi, di ruang pejabat malah di dalam masjid ataupun surau.

Atas pemerhatian dan penelitian saya juga (* tiada bukti saintifik) , memang terdapat golongan-golongan  manusia yang telah terlatih untuk menyebarkan berita-berita sensasi ini. Ibarat sehari tidak berkata buruk, tidak lengkaplah hidupnya. Terlatih di sini bermaksud tabiaat atau sikap yang telah lama di bawa oleh individu-individu tersebut, mungkin sejak dari kecil , bangku sekolah atau zaman remaja. Untuk mengubah orang-orang sebegini amatlah sukar kerana amalan tegar mereka berulang-ulang dan menjadi darah daging. Namun fokus saya di sini bukanlah untuk mengubah mereka, tetapi mengubah diri kita menerima kehadiran  mereka di dalam masyarakat. Menerima mereka seadanya dan tidak menjadi sebahagian daripada mereka. Mereka tetap kawan atau keluarga kita, namun kita perlu lebih berhati-hati dalam menghadapi individu-individu ini. Kita mendoakan agar dipercepatkan proses kesedaran dalam diri mereka agar masyarakat akan menjadi lebih aman dan tenteram.

Kalau dahulu, mitosnya, orang perempuan seringkali dikaitkan dengan tabiaat membawa mulut ini, tetapi sebenarnya golongan lelaki juga tidak kurang banyaknya. Sebagai contoh, saya pernah mengikuti suatu kumpulan rukun tetangga berdekatan kawasan  kediaman saya, sepanjang malam semasa membuat "patrolling", ada beberapa karektor dalam kumpulan itu sangat suka menceritakan keburukan jiran-jiran, bermula dari satu rumah ke satu rumah. Ironinya, ada telinga-telinga yang sudi mendengar. Jadi situasi ini adalah saling lengkap dan melengkapi. Mesej saya di sini adalah proses membawa mulut ini memerlukan dua pihak , sekurang-kurangnya dua pihak. Maka jika kita tidak dapat mengawal mulut seseorang, sekurang-kurangnya kita boleh mengelakkan diri kita daripada menjadi penerima. Saya memilih untuk tidak mendengar, tidak menyambut dan tidak memberikan "approval gesture" kepada golongan-golongan ini. Kadangkala, biarlah orang mengatakan kita sombong, berdiam diri dan tidak memberikan reaksi bila orang bercerita. Kadangkala dalam sesuatu majlis, saya lebih suka bersendirian kerana ruang yang kosong seringkali dijadikan forum untuk mencetuskan "al-kisah, al-alkisah" yang tidak baik.

Contoh kedua, semasa transformasi remaja dan proses mengenal dunia , saya juga tidak terlepas daripada terlibat dalam golongan ini. Hampir  segala-galanya bermula di meja teh tarik. Ada tukang karut dan ada pula penonton. Saya selalunya teribat dalam menjadi penonton dan pendengar setia. Hampir setiap hari sekumpulan rakan-rakan kami akan berkumpul, dan tukang karut selalunya orang yang sama atau karektor yang hampir sama. Tanpa disedari, kadangkala virus tukang karut akan turut menyerap ke dalam minda kita dan secara automatik kita juga akan menjadi seperti mereka. Di asrama kolej dahulu, hampir setiap hari ada persidangan tidak rasmi, namun isu bawa mulut  tentang keburukan orang lain amat kurang, kecuali wujud kes yang sahih dan tertentu. Semasa menjadi pelajar dahulu, yang selalu mendapat kritikan selalunya bukan rakan-rakan, tetapi pensyarah yang "kedekut markah" atau "killer". Mungkin budaya pelajar dulu, kalau nak kutuk, kata saja depan-depan, dan selalunya kawan-kawan ok. Namun , ada juga yang tak ok, tak tahan...hmm... itulah manusia, rambut sama hitam, hati lain-lain.

Ada banyak perkara sekiranya diteliti, ditimbal periksa , disiasat betul-betul, ianya berkemungkinan besar bukan apa yang kita fikirkan semasa maklumat mula-mula diperolehi. Sebagai manusia biasa, kita mungkin berkecenderungan untuk berfikiran "stereotype" atau " preset values", terhadap sesuatu kumpulan lain, individu lain, fahaman lain, kepercayaan yang lain dan sebagainya. Mungkin juga masyarakat kita malas untuk mengambil usaha kedua menyelidik maklumat, jadi apa yang diberikan , maka itulah maklumat sahih. Malangnya, maklumat-maklumat tidak betul, tidak sahih atau separa lengkap ini memecah-belahkan agama, bangsa , kekeluargaan , persahabatan dan sebagainya. Malah ada sesetengah kes, perpecahan antara ibu dan anak sendiri akibat intervensi yang melampau.

Sebagai blogger, saya hanya menyampaikan apa yang berada di minda dan pemerhatian dari semasa ke semasa. Dan sudah tentu , bagi saya, semasa proses penulisan ini, beberapa individu muncul dalam kotak fikiran dan saya tersenyum sendirian mengenangkan insiden-insiden yang pernah berlaku dalam hidup saya. Kebelakangan ini, bila "social network" menjadi satu platform komunikasi, saya melihat masyarakat kita tidak terlepas daripada kegelinciran moral yang menjurus kepada pembawaan mesej yang negatif, maklumat yang tidak sahih dan penaburan fitnah yang tidak terkawal. Saya bersimpati kepada rakan-rakan atau individu-individu yang menjadi mangsa "open attack" dalam "social network" yang kadang-kala tiada kesudahannya. Pada pendapat saya, "open attack" yang berunsur peribadi adalah lebih baik ditujukan secara tertutup atau bersemuka supaya mendapat penjelasan (sekiranya niat adalah untuk menyelesaikan masalah). Itu adalah lebih baik daripada menabur kisah-kisah yang tidak baik ( belum tentu kesahihannya) dan menanam benih di minda ratusan orang lain yang mungkin tidak tahu menahu akan hujung pangkal cerita. Kata maaf memang boleh diunjurkan selepas isu sebenar dikupas, tetapi bayangkan serpihan-serpihan dan parut-parut yang ditinggalkan, tidak mudah untuk disembuhkan.

Ibarat kata seorang rakan senior ,"...hidup ini bukannya lama sangat , entah esok lusa mungkin giliran kita. Nak buat baik sesama rakan, jiran atau keluarga pun masa kita kat atas dunia. Di akhirat nanti , kita tidak tahu nasib kita. Maka lebih baik bersangka baik, berbuat baik dan cuba untuk memaafkan orang lain, di sekeliling kita, sementara mereka masih ada.

Monkey See , Monkey Do : Dilemma of the Baby Boomers, Gen X, Y, Z..

   
   Pagi tadi saya membawa keluarga bersarapan di sebuah kedai, seperti di kebanyakan tempat, terdapat gerai menjual suratkhabar dan majalah. Kami sekeluarga memang jarang sekali membeli suratkhabar kerana kebanyakan berita dapat diperolehi melalui internet secara percuma. Kebetulan isteri saya membeli sebuah suratkhabat tempatan; di laman depan terbentang kisah sosial sensasi masyarakat Malaysia. Dan hampir setiap hari kisah-kisah sensasi sebegini mendapat tempat di kalangan pembaca Malaysia. Apa mungkin bahan bacaan sebegini dapat menbentuk satu generasi yang matang. Apa faedahnya diceritakan secara besar-besaran kisah yang tidak baik tentang seseorang, sesekumpulan , kaum atau agama (hampir setiap hari). Mungkinkah ianya akan menambahkan lagi perkara-perkara yang tidak baik kerana bagi pembaca, ini adalah lumrah seharian mereka. Monkey see Monkey Do....the point is , can we show monkey some other better things to do.... so that it is okay to have Monkey See Monkey Do Great Things... Orang lain sudah sampai ke bulan dengan kenderaan rocket , kita juga sampai ke bulan, tapi menumpang rocket orang lain. Orang lain sudah cipta Tablet yang mengubah kehidupan manusia, kita juga tidak ketinggalan mengguna alat itu , tapi guna untuk terus menyebar fitnah , keburukan orang lain dan gossips. Bila kita hendak mencipta alat-alat itu bila hampir setiap hari generasi kita hanya terlalu dibuaikan dengan kisah-kisah seperti tangkap basah, rogol, ragut, menteri rasuah, CEO rasuah, video lucah, teori konspirasi dan sebagainya.  

Ada seorang kenalan "Mat Salleh" dari negara Barat memberitahu saya bahawa apabila dia mengkaji media cetak utama di Malaysia, cerita-cerita sosial lebih mendapat perhatian berbanding cerita-cerita mengenai kewangan atau perniagaan. Dari sudut sosiologi,  ini adalah perkara yang baik kerana ianya secara tidak langsung menunjukkan keprihatinan sesuatu masyarakat terhadap status sosial.

Namun bila dilihat dari aspek yang lain , contohnya sikap sesuatu masyarakat terhadap isu utama, ianya memberikan implikasi yang kurang baik kerana majoriti masyarakat yang dipamerkan melalui media lebih menjurus kepada permasalahan sosial seperti isu remeh-temeh artis , isu pergolakan rumahtangga, masalah politik berpanjangan , masalah sosial seperti Mat Rempit, pembuangan anak , masalah sekolah dan sebagainya.

Ini secara tidak langsung mempamerkan masyarakat kita terlalu sibuk menyelesaikan masalah sosial dan berkemungkinan ketinggalan terhadap tanggungjawab yang lain seperti sistem pendidikan, sistem kewangan, pembangunan insaniah, sistem perniagaan dan lain-lain. Mungkin juga masyarakat kita terlalu ditaburkan dengan cerita-cerita sensasi sehingga setiap media perlu diselitkan dengan kisah-kisah sensasi.
Tinggal lebih kurang lapan tahun sahaja lagi bagi Malaysia mencapai status negara Maju. Namun masyarakat hari ini menghadapi terlalu banyak dugaan terutamaya ledakan maklumat tidak bersempadan.  Bukan setakat media cetak, media internet rupanya lebih hebat memainkan perananya dalam konteks pembinaan minda sosial.

Baby Boomers dan sebahagian Gen X dan Y mungkin masih menggunakan media cetak yang dilihat pro akan sesuatu kumpulan, baik politik, agama , NGO dan sebagainya. Sebahagaian besar Gen Y dan juga tidak lama lagi Gen Z hari ini hampir langsung memilih media internet sebagai rujukan utama mereka. Penyebaran maklumat dalam internet bersifat global dan pandangan dalam internet adalah secara langsung tanpa sebarang penapisan.



Dilihat secara kasarnya, Gen Y hari ini lebih bersifat bebas fikiran dan bersifat ingin berdikari, mahukan perubahan revolusi dan banyak lagi kehendak unik yang sebahagian besarnya disogok melalui internet seperti blog, facebook, twitters, myspace dan lain-lain lagi. Namun daripada beberapa pemerhatian peribadi, saya melihat sebahagian daripada Gen Y ini umpama nekad tanpa muafakat, bertindak tanpa membuat homework. Dan lebih sukar lagi mereka terus mempercayai bahawa kebebasan boleh membawa kepada matlamat akhir perjuangan. Dan kadang-kadang isi perjuangan yang mereka cuba perjuangkan tidak diteliti dengan cermat. Yang menanggung beban bukan hanya Gen Y kerana Baby Boomers (Generasi ibu bapa kepada Gen Y) turut menjadi mangsa. Gen X yang juga terumbang-ambing hanya mampu melihat Gen Y dengan dunia mereka, kerana apa yang akan berlaku pada anak-anak Gen X iaitu Gen Z masih kabur, namun dominasi rasa bimbang sudah tentu terterap dalam diri Gen X.

Tidak hairanlah, statitistik tidak rasmi yang dikeluarkan oleh sebuah NGO penganalisa halaman sosial, Malaysia merupakan sebuah negara yang mempunyai aspek ratio sebanyak hampir 50% pengguna facebook, yang kedua tertinggi di dunia selepas Amerika Syarikat. Hampir 13 juta orang di Malaysia mempunyai akaun Facebook.

Maklumat dalam internet hampir tidak bersempadan , sungguhpun ada badan yang memantau maklumat , namun hampir mustahil untuk menyekat maklumat-maklumat negatif atau website yang memudaratkan. Institusi terdekat adalah keluarga, ibu-bapa, abang-kakak dan saudara mara perlu lebih agresif memantau keadaan ini. Sungguhpun sangat sukar untuk menegah sesuatu pendirian. Sebagai maklumat tambahan, saya juga ada terbaca bahawa sebenarnya, kaum lelaki lebih banyak menghabiskan masa di hadapan media sosial. seperti Facebook, Twitters dsb. Saya berharap pelaburan masa saya di laman sosial adalah untuk kebaikan dan pembangunan bersama. Sebagai blogger yang baru setahun jagung, saya akan terus belajar, Monkey See , Monkey Do..

Scenarios : People make the different.

I have always imagine that should I own a restaurant or a shop, I would apply the best customer service to my customers. This is basic in business, and some see them and some don't. For a big corporation that run services, they have cultivated this approach among their workers, especially those whom directly interact with the customers. But there were also some small hiccups even for this big companies. Human factors are pretty subjective.

Scenario 1 : Learning from the West


While I was at the United States, i noticed a self-motivated customer service system. A Levi's store somewhere near L.A. There, I noticed that every single salesgirl is trained to treat their customer profesionally . After you closed a deal, upon payment, the cashier will ask you who was the salesgirl that engaged/assisted you. I could guess that they applied the the bonus system for every single sales that the salesgirl closed. Common sense. Of course, the system moves the employee by itself to do more sales. So clever, improve sales and improve customer service. Next, I observed the staffs at Universal Studios, California, almost everyone, from the event organizer, the host , tour guide, ticketing , usher, security and up to janitor were all well trained , to at least greet the visitors. It wouldnt increase their operating cost, but it did increase the customer satisfactions, and most importantly, it respresents their people attitude. The first world country attitude.

Scenario 2 : The Technology industry

Back in Malaysia, recently , I was shopping for a laptop. Hoping from one place to another. I could obviously see the different kind of approaches from one shop to another. When I eventually made the final purchase, it was actually more than 10 outlets that I visited. The last 9 outlets have almost the same machine that I was looking for. But the last outlet made a whole lot different. It was an outlet that sell Apple products, located in Sbrg Jaya. The owner or the training team had done a good job. They have trained their salesperson very well, I tested few of them and most of them are very customer oriented and more importantly , not selfish. They dont even ask me if I purchased any products from them.

I ended up paying almost 2x the original amount I was willing to fork out in my earlier planning. I agree that the decision of the purchase was not just ab the salesperson. A combination of beliefs in Apple's product, Steve Jobs fever/believer , friends (content expert) justification on Apple products, my own experience having an Apple product. But let's not forget the good salesperson  that was genuinely helping me to understand the product more, convincing me without forcing me to buy, and most importantly knowledgeable and honest. That person made a whole lot different. I went to an almost similar shop in Ipoh, that sell Apple products, ironically, the salesperson there didnt see me as a potential buyer. People do make the different.

Scenario 3 : The Food Service Industry

From IT service industry to simple food services. My favourite Nasi Kandar , Hameediyah, Penang, they too had good customer service. They greeted my kids, treating my kids like family. Fast delivery of food and beverage, and of course , the original mamak test of Briyani. But still, the people matters. People make the different. Recently in Kulim, there is a stall selling Nasi Lemak. No doubt the food are considerably good, but the owner him/her self lack of customer service. I noticed some unsatisfied customers just walked away. I noticed that people buy, but without a full satisfcation of money that they are paying for. Faces of the customers are something that wrote " I dont like you , but your food is delicious, so just gimme that damn f%#kin nasi lemak thing and I want to f@$k off". Another shop is the one selling "Soups". I have been noticing for many years that the faces of those who work at that food stalls are like slaves or prisoners under custody. No greeting, no smiles. And they can simply say "no stock" or "already finish" without empathy towards the customers who came to the stall. But surprisingly, people still go there. Probably because no one complaints, they don't really care or bother about customer like me. Probably that was also their strategy, so that people just come and take away /Tapaw, or if they choose to eat there, they eat and go, and dont really "lepak" for hours. Perhaps their strategy, I do not know.

Scenario 4 : The specialty shop service industry 

Couple of weeks ago, I drove 400 km, all over from Kulim to KL. I was told by a friend about an outdoor gear shop located in Petaling Jaya. As I took my family for a holiday, I took the opportunity to stop by at the said outlet. So excited to find the shop with my quite an "outdated Garmin GPS", I planned to buy a house tent for my next camping trip and couple of camoing gadgets. Upon reaching the store, I was so impressed with the products display. Inside,  there stood my favourite survival hero character, the one and only Bear Grylls , a kiosk displaying Gerber products, The Ultimate Knives, Fire-Starter,  and some other BG series. At the main counter, there were branded hunting/survival knives, haversacks, outdoor gadgets, clothings , you name it, full of accesories that I love and dream of having them. They even sell kayaks. But the shop lack of human touch, they simply don't pay attention for the customer service. No customer greeting, not even a smile. Very passive kind of respond when I inquired about a product. The products may be great but these people behaviour had made me felt like an unwelcome person into their territory. I could still remember the face of the salesguy. Someone that looks like he had to work without getting any pay. No initiative to close the deal. It's something like , " if you wanna buy, you buy, dont wanna buy, up to you..I have some other better thing to do...". That kind of attitude.  I tried to move to the other salesperson, even worst, the next person don't even put an effort to even notice my appearance. As expected, I left the shop without buying a single thing. I simply should have spent at least RM1,000 shoud the salesperson know how make things a little bit better. And knowing me, that was not the first time I walked out of a shop due to poor customer service. I would rather buy at a more expensive price as long as the owner or the salesguy have manners / polite. The shop may not lose much mathematically, but I guess I am not the only one that feel in that way, and multiply by those unsatisfied customers, i guess they still lose some significants amount of business potential. I don't think that I should mention the outlet name. Probably the real owner wasn't there to ensure things are running fine. But you see, Walt Disney was also not there when I visited Disneyland. Steve Jobs wasn't there when I purchased the Macbook Pro.  So, the owner presence shouldnt be an issue or excuse. But the effort taken by the owner to instill the right approach of customer service wasnt there. I guess if I were to make big purchases in future, I may not consider this shop.

Bear Grylls series have arrived...

I have been youtubing about these gadgets couple of months ago, and always had them in my wish list of "stuffs that my wife will not understand why I should buy them".

I just passionate about these survival stuffs. To me, they bring piece of mind , connecting the dots of the great old days , during my youth , as a scout , as a campers , as a group of friends whom enjoy nature and exploration. Once a scout , always a scout.

Last week, a friend of mine helped me to order these stuffs through on line store, better price and secured delivery. I went to pick them up near his house. In fact, i just drove 800km just to have a peek on the survival store for 30 mins, just to look for a family house tent. Bit dissapointed as they are not available on any of the shops. The one I discovered fit 16 people, way to big ! But I had to consider somehow.

In real life, of course, these stuffs are normally ended as my collectibles , and seldom serves as their true function. But having them in my closet are just like having a pool of energy and scouting spirits within me, which I wish one day can be made converted into some great experience, with my kids especially. And hopefully with some of my friends who shared the same enjoyment and hobby. I am glad that finally my wife found her passion in Foreign Exchange Trading activities, which makes her occupied. So less nagging on me. As long as she has internet, I am free to do my stuffs.

I let my kids hold the "Parang" , and my wife was really  paranoid having to see that. Yes, these stuffs are not toys, but one day they too can join the scouts, and learn the safety and the correct procedures of handling survival gadgets. My father never thought me all these stuffs. But my brother did.

So, Bear Grylls , thanks for the adventourous moments, though I paid for that, but it worth every penny as it brings meaningful moment and hopes in my life as a grown up boy. Once a Scout, Always a Scout.

Toshiba Netbook : Wifee and Kiddee version

Finally, I got this handsome looking netbook model SB520 for my wife to spend her productive time on Forex. Sufficient enough for her to perform the analytical stuffs she always does , which I don't really understand much actually. Well, this netbook model was a big seller during last PC Fair in Penang, sold off just within a day. 2 weeks after that, still no stocks. I even checked in Ipoh, still no stock until end of November 2011.

This machine is quite handy and can last around 5 hours ++, (based on the review forum but in certain forum, it was reported that the 6 cells battery can last up to 10 hours.  My Ipad is still handier by the way, but somehow the software for my wife favorite Forex site doesn't seem to work with iOS. Tried both on Ipad and Mac Book. Though I can do partition for my Mac Book to enable windows, I guess it would be much more convenience for her to have her own mobile gadget. And most importantly, I can have mine peacefully without having to share.

SB520 is pretty cool especially for doing typing work (compare to my tablet of course).  But nowadays, tablets come with dock in station, but cost slidely more expensive than this netbook.  There are choices of tablets from androids, windows , meeGo etc. So, if you are willing to spend more, probably a tablet would be much more practical, especially those who always on the go.

On the other hand, the best part of this Toshiba SB520 machine is the harman/kardon speaker. Louder and better than my Mac Book Pro. My kids enjoy listening to youtube with pretty loud sounds. So it solves some of the internal problem in my house of sharing computers. The kids can alternately use ipad and netbook, the mother will use the desktop while at home, and I will have my mac book. ( I saw the Alienware, quite impressive for gaming and graphic work, but looks a bit bulky, definitely a non Stevie Jobbie)

Still early to say good stuffs about this new machine. Well it runs with Intel Atom dual core , clocked at 1.5Ghz, with 1Gb DDR3 Ram memory and 250Gb SATA.  Still hot from oven, but for gadget less than RM1,000, I don't really put a high hope. My daughter already booked one for her for birthday, but dad always put a rule, of course , to position herself well in school, not just academic , but some extra co-curriculum. After reading & assimilating to Rich Dad Poor Dad dogma, I somehow reserve my expectation on just scoring A's. I like one of my friend's sharing in Facebook; it goes something like this ; A students became doctors, high skill engineers , but then they report to B student who became managers, officers  or CEO, but then these C students became involved in politics and control both A students and B students. And then finally the D, E or F students, whom turned out to be mobs or gangsters, control the C students, or the politician. So they controlled everyone....great food chains...have to think about it..

The Orator of divergence, and convergence

        I used to feel so proud of this troop, where so called intelligence super troopers, made known to some
but the so called intelligence troopers somehow turned divergence, and that's not intelligence was all about.
I knew I could have turned out to be better, and the best , out of all the intelligence troopers, but I knew it would not supersede the divergence, if everyone silent and hungry for solace.

where should I stand in this world to see the same old history , repeatedly , blindly manouvered.
I am sorry that I am part of the divergences , well, I am part of the puzzles.
I am sorry that I could be the clone of the originator , and the so called Great Orator.  

I chose a different path, to prove that the orator is not always right
and it turned out to be right , but those involved in my decisions,
had to temporary suffered the divergences , I am so sorry for that, as some of you are victims of the collateral damage. Some of you are simply clueless and sinless.

What is life with lies and ridicules , I dont know why I am so opposite of the orator but yet so being a clone. God knows why I did that
As the orator is still the human , that has limitation over the actions, grievences, slanders and exagerations over my conscious acts.

If the world has to know, and let the world enjoy the show
I am available for them on cable TV, and it is always me that will be the thug and fugitive,
For those who understand , will always understand , I doubt those who should have so ,
Turn around and say ..yes we know...let's forego , and celebrate the divergence

I am on the othehand inspired with this nation, with some men who erode the divergences , with great intelligence and passions , I want to be like them
Though I have to acknowledge, the failure of my own kind
When I see great collaborations, happiness and bondages, it took my breath away
Away from the impossibility of the convergence 
I had to carry it with me , thought some were severely screwed , and brewed ..

              Where and when did the divergence start? Hell I couldnt have imagine it should have started
what so funny of this people , dont even care of your own people ,
your own blood of origin..probably it is only and just only the orator , my orator , that I wish to love and be loved, forever..
The orator thought me to be strong , and here I am , as strong and confidence I could be
The lessons of no mercy, has turned out to be my policy , my dignity ...

If I follow like a cow , I will be loved like a cow , and enjoy being a cow. And be one day, be slaughtered like a cow. Mooooo.....

Ultrabook pulak...

Last night I accidently peeked through an article in my e-mail about the ultrabook from Toshiba. I just spent a significant amount of money on the Apple Macbook Pro last week. But this Toshiba ultrabook is so damn tempting and simply irresistable.  In a more polite word, so freaking sexy. They werent available in the last PC fair, 2 weeks ago.

On the other hand, I am still struggling to make full use of my Macbook. 13 inch screen is now seem too small. After a week. How come I saw it as sufficient last week. Did I make the right choice then? For sure, I couldn't undo.   

Always had a dilemma when purchasing these kind of stuffs. It has this but don't have that, and so on so fourth. If I were to wait, well, I have been waiting ever since Mr Jobs was still around. I want something that is easy and convenience but yet produces a great amount of quality and satisfaction. I am yet to feel that now, with my Mac Book. I do miss some of the interesting features from Mr Gate operating system, free and much easier to get.

 

But a week is a subjective amount of time for conclusive statement to be made about an Apple. I think it much depends on the user level of knowledge, to manipulate and harness this machine. I couldnt wait for the Mac101 class in Jusco, Perda, probably next month. But let's not put to high hope on that class, i don't want to become Angry Birds.

Let's wait a couple of months before I declare, "Dang ...I should have waited for the Toshiba protege ultrabook. 

Eeek, help, Spike, ohh..no...Molly....

I finally chose MacBook Pro, i5

After spending two days at the Penang PC Fair , I finally confused myself of what type of Laptop I should get for myself. My wife had always wanted anything that can log into her Forex application. On the other hand,  I wanted something for my photography and video editing. I knew that for my wife, netbook would be sufficient for her specific request, but surprisingly , the Toshiba netbook were like hot cakes at PC Fair, sold off even in the first day of the PC Fair. Have to wait for 2 weeks before next order.

Frustrated as I was in the first round of the PC Fair, a couple of months ago while I was searching for tablet, again, I have decided to wait look somewhere else. Toshiba Satellite is kind of acceptable mode;l and specs, but the PC fair deal was not much different of what I could get from the PC outlets elsewhere. I tried to close deal for 2 units , Toshiba Satellite L745 i5, 240 Ghz, 4Gb Ram with additional 2Gb free + one Lenovo Netbook with Atom Processor, for RM3,000. But the salesperson wanted additional RM150 for that, without any extra free gifts, which I thought would be a normal price elsewhere.

Having tested and peeked couple of times the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro, i decided to go for another round at one of the Switch store in Sunway Carnival, Seberang Jaya. It was 9pm. Just me and my 7 years old son. The salesperson in charge was quite informative and sincere in answering my queries. I have been into the shops couple of time but somehow this time,  this person could sense that I was a serious buyer. In fact, Steve Jobs demised was still fresh in memory, buying an Apple products was like buying a Nirvana T-Shirt as Kurt Cobain committed suicide in 1994.  I have never used a Mac before, the only experience with Apple was the iPad, which I truly felt value for my money, as Steve Jobs used to say, it connected the dots among my family and friends.

Without much hesitation, I decided that an additional bucks for this device would be worth it, compare to those laptops that I have in mind much earlier. I hope I made the right decision. Anyway, it still uses Intel Sandy Bridge processor. The outlet /store have also made arrangement for Mac 101 class for the beginner, which I am eagerly looking forward to attend. There are so many to be asked, to be unleashed. Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish.

The unsettled struggles towards understanding Malaysian politics

Sometimes Malaysian politics can be fun and exhilirating, like
the Star Wars Saga, we have heroes and villains. And also
wookies that woo with ridiculous facts.

I could vividly remember in 1985, the first time politic was openly discussed amongst the boys at my school. We were all standard five. I have a friend who was fanatically being pro towards Islamic party. He told us that those who didnt support PAS are not going to heaven, and not a true muslim. I was quite aback with his remark as I was raised in a so called an UMNO based family. Prior to his remark, I have never thought about politics of heaven or hell. Though my parents were not so fanatic about being in UMNO and seldom talk about politics,  I have never heard them talking about bad things towards the opposition party or any other leaders. At least not excessively until you can determine the fate  of someone after death.  I always knew that my parents supported the Barisan Nasional candidates. The standard goodies like umbrella , T-Shirt with the "Dacing" (weighing scale) logo indirectly vindicated their political faith. I asked my mother why she did not support PAS as we are all muslims. Eventhough I was 11 years old, my mother took the efffort to explain why we should support the government or the ruling party instead. My father was indeed a government servant. By that time, I supposed a big majority of the government servants had undivided support towards the ruling party.There were no internet based social network during my time back in the 80's. The national TV and Radio stations were the only mean to convey messages or gain information. And of course local newspapers like the Utusan Malaysia, Berita Harian , News Straits Time. All these were actually in favour of the ruling governments. The inefficiencies were seldom announced or published on TV. With these facts, I concluded why the oppositions followers struggled and served more sentimental value to their hardcore followers. They had to go deep into the kampungs to deliver their ideas, make use of religious centers or whatever mean to influence people. Even "Kedai Kopi" talk could be the unofficial parliment debate.

I remember one of the years following my parents during the election day. There were more BN flags and posters in Sungai Petani, compared to the opposition parties. During those time, I don't even know what DAP was. With the overwhelming publicity from the ruling party, my conscious mind as a kid  told me that BN was too strong and just a minority supported the opposition. So the anxiety about who to rule the nation was not at a great height. I still remember the Memali incident where a group of so called religious extremist were killed during the battle with the police, FRU and  army. The name Ibrahim Libya was so famous after the incident. For people like us who lived in a semi-urban area , we heard people talking about this. I remember seeing the news on TV and also in the newspaper the following day. In deed, Memali is not far away from where we live. Probably about 1.5 hours drive if I am not mistaken. That incident was somehow described as the religious extremist who provoked the authority to react. During that time, the Prime Minister was Dr Mahathir, but I was told that the decision to react was made by his Deputy, Tun Musa Hitam, as Tun Mahathir was out of the country. Since then, the religous extremist was also associated with PAS, whom some members in some areas portrayed some similar kind of religiously extreme in nature. I remembered that in one of the elections back in the 80's, vandalism were made towards the government properties and even to the vehicles owned by the BN supporters. To strenghtened the fact, there was an Ustaz , a PAS leader that lived near to our house, whom I remember,  drove a Volvo, had made sarcastic remarks during his speech to the UMNO supporters, particularly to those who lived in our area. Those who supported UMNO and BN were regarded as "Ahli Neraka" ( members of the hell). I remember that during the 80's, fun fairs were common. So this Ustaz used to say that those parents who allowed their children to enter fun fairs are PIGs. My parents were so angry about his remark. It was like the Angry Birds who had their eggs stolen by those PIGS.

With all the evidences and series of issues that I myself saw, heard and experienced , the dogma of the PAS agenda had always been negatives and depriving to me. And I do believe the vice versa of those who heard bad things about UMNO and the BN, would have inculcated the same mental picture. I have sometime asked myself why people are so fanatics about these political parties. Honestly, eventhough I was raised in an UMNO family, I did give myself a neutral judgement or reserve some space about both the ruling and the oppositions parties. What is right should be supported and what is wrong should be avoided and condemned. After leaving the secondary school, I entered the college or Matriculation Program in Universiti Utara Malaysia. Well, for the first time, I had the chance to mix with students from all over the countries, including Sabah and Sarawak. I started to feel the political sentiments had once again been brought up and openly discussed. Ironically, most of my friends were the oppositions supporters, particularly those from Kelantan and Terengganu. As I said earlier, I always remain neutral eventhough my conscious mind still with the UMNO and towards the Malays and the Barisan Nasional, whom for me, made more sense to consider the multi-racial of this country. I have never been taught to be a racist by my parents. I had many non-malays friends and in deed some of them were my best friend in school and during university. So, obvioulsy , I didnt see that believing or suporting UMNO turned me into being a racist person. I dont believe UMNO is an extrene racial party that was trying to outcast other races. Same as any other races , they also have their own political party to look into the welfare of their races. To a certain expect,  the racial based party gain the access to design how certain races to react, accept and tolerate with the social contracts established long before. For me and for some of us , that is a human nature. Why? Because each race has its own value, culture, lifestyles, beliefs and certain traits that have been embedded since the day he was born. This mixed of elements can never be equalized no matter how we tried. That's given a given fact by the Almighty God. There are pros and cons in each race and everyone should respect that. And to have the respect, a strong body encompassing these people must remain in tact. The tolerence should be made based on the subsets of values , give and takes.  

Proton is one of the thing that appear to me as a 12 years Old boy
when I tried to describe Malaysia to a foreign back in the 80's

I strongly against any racial discrimination. Even human to animal discrimation. I have had experience myself though just a small drop of it. In 1986, I had the chance to visit the United States of America for my sister convocation. I was 12 years old, and I was brought into a scene of  racial discrimination. It was in California. Even though I wasn't fluent in English, I could see the racial sentiment that an English lady had againts me while I was entering an ice-skating center. I still remember that she yelled at one of the guard that allowed an Asian boy loittering around the place. I think she probably regards me as a Vietnamese or Chinese. I dont think she knew anything about Malay. I kept this to myself , but deep inside, I felt hurt as an Asian person that has been treated with no respect , even I was only 12 years old. But on contrary, I also met a wondeful Mat Salleh (white man) during the same trip. His name is Mr Calvin A Thompson. I met him at San Fransisco Airport while my parents, sister and I were in transit to Miami, Florida. He sat next to me and asked me to sit on his boxy type luggage. He drew a caricature of me playing my favourite game, soccer. During the flight, he sat beside me and asked me many things, being a common semi-urban typical Malay, I had problem speaking English though I could read and understand English pretty well. But knowing the fact that I was not on a TV show, and definitely not going to meet him again, I pushed myself to speak all the broken english as long as he could understand. Mr Thompson was keen to hear all my stories, about me being the school prefect, play soccer for the school and my BMX team. I tried to explain to him where Malaysia is located but he hardly could make a guess. He had really no idea where Malaysia is. I tried to explain by telling him we had the third longest bridge in the world, in regards to the Penang Bridge. He still had no clue. I told him that we had our own national car , Proton Saga. He still bewildered with all those information and he promised to find all those information. Months after that, he started to send me letters with the articles of Proton Saga and the Penang Bridge he got from one of the magazines in the US. We kept in touch until he really came to Malaysia in 1994. I took the honour to drive him across the Penang Bridge and he had a wonderful stay in Penang Rasa Sayang Hotel. This person had somehow erased my racial sentiments that I had with the lady at the ice-skating center in California.  I still keep in touch with him until now, 2011. I just received a note from him couple of days ago.

Back to my university time , I could see the oppositions supporters friends would spend their time bombarding the government. In certain perspectives, I admired their spirit , of being so inspired with what they believed were the truth. I have no hatred towards them. In fact I had never challenged them in a way to hurt their feelings or sour our relationship. I was in the learning institutional and my objective was pretty clear, to complete my studies, not to jump into any political movements. I guess this was one of the negative traits possesed amongt the young UMNO supporters within the students.Being so complacent about the situation because the government had always had their two thirds majority in the elections. So I just listened to whatever stories about condemning the governments and I learned through that. I had never blocked my mind not to accept their ideologies. I have learned to be an open minded person. Some of their claims were actually true for certain numbers of cases or causes . For example, some corruptions incidents that happened in the government , the complacency of some government employees that took their own sweet time to finish their jobs etc. On contrary, I saw more positive things that the government had injected to help the people of Malaysia, so I reserved my complaints until the time I really had experienced my self of those lacks of service quality mindset amongst the government servant. In fact, I dont have many friends that really supported the government policies , so the political topics were not the priorities in my daily discussions. The pro Islamic party student movement had been seen pretty strong during my time , especially towards the final year of my degree programs. We had our internal elections and most of the candidates that won the seats were obviously somehow religiously character background and supported PAS. Ironically, most of them were also from the East Coasts. It could be truly notice through their attire and beards. For my batch, this could be the start of the new begining of the Islamic generations who combined intellectual and spiritual. If these people became a leader and lead Malaysia one day, I hope that they too can balanced up the needs of economic development and the spiritual needs. But then, I only see some of them make crtitics in Facebook, as usual , what government  are doing are always bad to them.

I have to agree that UMNO lacks of inspirational leaders. Other than Tun Dr Mahathir , the party did not really portray or produced leaders that inspired people. Back in 1995, during my semester break, I did some part time job. I was in the third year of the degree programs, I was working at the Archeological site at Kg Sungai Mas. The job was to supervise two or three  kampung boys to find the artifacts of the Great Chandi .  I work along with some government officers appointed to the project. They were well educated in the archeology but to  my surprise, they were also anti-government at the most. They talked about the corruptions and the inefficiency of the governments. As usual, I listened to them with intellectual reception to learn and gained more input, but still in my conscious mind, I always knew what I stood for. The slanders, complaints and the "Government always wrong " stories kept on from day to day. And only after sometime, when I figured out that back those during the conversations took place, they happened during the working hours. And they were also government servants indeed. So, looks who's talking. I was a student and contract workers, and of course, I didnt categorize myself of being part of them. I made a lot of friends with people of different polical opinions and I have to admit that the new generations of the PAS supporters (some of them) do make sense and portray some intellectual in their thinking process compared to the old generations who spoke about pigs and kafir  terms more oftenly. These generation X and probably Y have a broader view than only talking about implementing Hudud Laws. Probably they were aligned to see things differently and able to compromise some of the policies of the government. Having to meet this people had made me changed my perspective towards PAS as a whole. For example, in the recent time, for the first time, I saw the UMNO Youth Leader(Khairy Jamaluddin)  and the PAS Youth Leader (Nasrudin) , together with  Dr Mohd Asri Zainal Abidin had changed the way political discussions or forum being made and debated. Intellectual discussions were made without having emotional reactions and the supporters from both parties had shown a more matured behaviour. I do not know what had happened before and after the event but I sincerely hope that it was a genuine forum, for the benefits of the Malaysian Muslims. Probably I was too naive before not to involve in this national politics that I didnt notice good people from both side of the parties. Previously, the most noticeable typical of PAS leaders and PAS followers behaviours or characteristic was the aggression use while doing public speakings. Probably they wanted to stress out some important points, but to me, that was not reflecting a positve influence. As a leader , or future leader of the country, one should not be seen as out of control in terms of one emotions. This will serve as a minus points in one own leadership. Unless we are in the war zone or about to go for a battle. You may behave like Hitler. Again, I may be naive on this but I just share what I really feel and see. Unlike UMNO leaders, I seldom see them reacted unprofessionally. The best example would be Tun Dr Mahathir, a person whom appear to be cool and pleasants. Though some say he is very cunning. In my opinion,  sarcastic remarks and tearing down people dignity in public would serve best for a low level of people who had no proper training in diplomacy and liberalism. And sooner or later, these people would apply the same dogmatic in their daily life within the community. But again, as I mentioned early in this passage, the internet plays an important role in todays politic. Not seeing doesn't mean not happening. But evidently, as I experienced my self, for many times, some Khatib during Khutbah Jumaat use aggresion method inside the mosques and instill hatred towards the other fellow Muslims whom having different ideology, particularly the ruling government.

Tun Dr Mahathir - Malaysian CEO of Development
and 3rd World Country Spokeperson

Couple of years ago, my father had asked me to join UMNO as an official member. To tell the truth, I have no interest in politics during those time. I agreed to join because my father was a secretary of that division. During the first so called small division UMNO meeting that took in my brother's office,  I volunteered to be the stenographer since I was pretty fast in typing using computer. And I am still considered a fast typer today by some of my friends. Being so naive about what UMNO is all about, I spontaneously posted a questions to the leader that was chairing the meeting , a friend of my father. I told him that since some of us are still new in UMNO, we would like to hear some inspirational stories and the true spirits and values dogmatized by UMNO. Honestly, I only know about UMNO through the history text book and with a minimal reading, I was pretty naive. I got flambergasted as he told me to read the UMNO manual instead of asking him. For a young person like me, I was looking forward to hearing an inspirational story so that it could at least revive my knowledge of those information I seldomly acquired. Reading in text books or listening to the speech on TV were just not the same as hearing a live telecast and in person explanation. Ironically, I asked my father the same thing after that. And still I didnt get much of the jist that I was expecting. I look around the room and realize that I was the only one whom interested to know about the UMNO legacy. The rest of the members in the room were actually business people or projects dependants whom main objectives were to gain access to higher level politician and the carrots they will offer. Whether it is true or not, that was my personal feeling.  Since then, I just remain as an ordinary member who only attended a once per year meeting. I felt no value of my existence in the small UMNO group. Unlike the PAS or recently the PAKATAN team, they have embedded in most if not every, of their members to be the ambassador of the party. Their words are mostly inspirational and sincere. Their genuinity and sincererity could obviously be seen through their eyes. Though some still portray aggresions or frustations.  I have to admit that the most inspired leaders as of today must be Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (DSAI). I love to see the way he put his words and delivered it to the people around him. The intonation and the body language were compellingly outstanding. Not forgetting the diliberate jokes in most of his speeches. He has the charisma that even Tun Dr Mahathir do not have, which is to charm people with the beautiful phrases, logics and factuals. No wonder he raised and moved up the ladder so quickly while he was in UMNO and gained a big support that almost topple down Tun Dr Mahathir during his premiership. The first time I saw DSAI on TV and papers, probably in the 80's , I happened to tell my brother that I envisage this person will one day become Prime Minister to succeed Dr Mahathir. My brother objected my view saying that the Chinese would not support him as he was portraying arbitrary Islamic influence being from ABIM.

DSAI - One of the best Public Speaker/Influencer
in the Malay World History

While I was 15 years old, my English Teacher who is a Chinese told us how he was impressed by the English of DSAI and Dr Mahathir. Until today, both of them are still the De Facto of their own political group. I wish I could fly back to the future and see what actually happened in the 1998 crisis that led to the detention of  DSAI. Should DSAI maintained a good relationship with Tun, today's political climate would be very much different. Eventhough I admit that I am quite naive in politics and some of the facts of life, I could sense some great Conspiracy Theory during the rise of DSAI, ever since the first day he officially joined UMNO, back in 1982. The plan to stop him from holding the premiership of the country were probably deliberately planned year after year. You'll never know who were actually behind the games . With abundance of information today in the internet and social network , lots of data could have been implausibly provided by bias sources. I have never imagined the political issues like the sodomy cases can be a front page of today. Generally for Malaysian, the act of sodomization is even hardly discussed. Something most of the parents will have hard time to explain to their kids if asked.  Again, the spirits and dedication shown by the oppositions as self ambassador truly amaze me. Something that UMNO should be looking into seriously and learn immediately. Facebooks, Twiiters, Myspace, Youtube  have been use widely by individuals whom I believe has no monetory gain but more towards self satisfaction and inspirational in nature. Malaysia, in deed, in terms of ratio, is among the highest Facebook users with nearly 12 million accounts. It probably mean that every three persons whom you met, one has Facebook account.

Quite a number of my facebook friends openly criticised the government, publish out articles to reflect the bad things about UMNO and stuff like that. This is the example of the self ambassadorship proclaimed by them. Even our talented Nasi Lemak 2.0 director has been actively self ambassador for his political team. He has good talent (after seeing some of his work of art) but it has been used unethically, though he gained much attention after that. How frustrated are you with the government, the religious sentiments should not be taken for granted , the National Anthem (though been claimed as "Mamula Moon") should be respected at all might. I would also condemn Malays who do not respect these values towards other Malays, I have friends like that, but they are not famous or as talented as Namewee.

I have to agree that most of BN/UMNO leaders today are either confuse about their identity or rather still think they are in the comfort zone. In other word, they lost the spark of delivering ideas especially in public speaking or open forums. On the other hand, the independence people like Zulkifli Noordin has been in the arise due to his self confident character, consistency in his struggle and most importantly brave enough to voice out things openly. I would also point out that some religious backgroung figure like Dr Mohd Asri Zainal Abidin has also been viewed as the moderate individual that brings balance to the force of secular and islamic view. These people has the conscience and understanding that people of today are different. In the 80s, government can publish something on newspaper and would expect more than 75% would believe that. In todays environment, the yougsters talk about Malaysia Kini , TV PAS and TV Selangor that counter the governments. Only and only recently UMNO came out with some communication team to balace up these alternatives media, but I can say that UMNO has lost a great premium of being the first to conquer the social network.

The Late Kurt Cobain (1967-1994)  - the influencer of Gen X.

The Generation X and Y are very much different. They evolve almost everyday, they learn new things, and they too can react. They can be easily influence with the rules of fact and evidences. The repetitive reception of these information will form a cloud of beliefs. On contrary, some UMNO leaders are still portraying the superiority or even the supremacy. Having to live thinking that you are superior than others without having the right resources and talents is insane. Something has to done to correct all the bad perceptions of cronysm, corruptions and stuffs like that. These must be genuine else it will only serve as jokes and millions will be wasted for each of these programs. On the other hand, having to promote that only "akhira" or the life after death is important and development is the root of all evil is naive. Without an economically strong government or group, religous schools, books and fund for helping the needies may not be available. Without money, we could not prepare ourselves with good weapons/machinery to protect ourselves from others. Without good economy and knowledgeable people leading this country, this nation will not gain respect and our voice may not be heard at all in the global stage. And similarly, without having a good faith of life after death, heaven and hell, the people will not have the sense of direction to do good deeds. Ultimately the akhira means forever that for a muslim, this should be the priority. But in this world, in order to take care of our religions, we need world knowledges, hardworking people, influence and economic stability. It is time to put a stop to all these squabbles that bring no end.

Sham Kamikaze - The new wave of Islamic Aura
in modern Malaysia, trying to influence Gen X and
Gen Y - i suppose.

The two must be balanced up and compliments each other. How much balance is balance? One should meditate and answer that in his own conscious mind. One should not stop learning and exploring. The history books were written for mankind to learn, dig your history and start to learn from mistakes. Time is not in favour of complacency attitude. Run Forest , Run...