heart of the matter

"May the odds ever be in your favour..."

2011-10-28T12:12:00.000+08:00

Personally I believed this will be another big hit following the path of Harry Potter;s trilogy. I have read all the three books, thanks to my kids for propagating it to me, and I did not regret spending the time doing it. It's surprisingly interesting and quite exciting. It has all the necessary ingredients to be another cult following story with the right commercial value for the producers. Not to mentioned that it will an extremely good launching pad for all aspiring actors to be there in the cloud with all the stars. Just want to see if the producers are able to make it as successful as Harry Potter series and instil some excitement in the already lack lustre silver screen industry.. lets see.. "May the odds ever be in your favour..."

"Bukan salah siapa." Mohd Ashraf Hafiz Abd Aziz

2011-08-17T10:49:00.003+08:00

Its quite sad to read about the death of Mohd Ashraf Hafiz @ Aleesha Farhana. Could'nt quite imagine the predicament and hardship he and his family have gone thru since the news of his rejected application to have his name and gender changed came out in the Malaysian press.

And whats makes it even more depressing is that you have people posting comment like this with regards to this real life issues:
"1 comments:
Anonymous said...
...u want to talk about them...its easy...u dont like the way msians treat u pls leave msia by going out of msia or die...its easy for everybody"

Sat Aug 13, 01:38:00 PM 2011

Why so much hatred..??

Personally, I felt the Muslims especially the Malay Muslim are very good in avoiding taboo subject like transgender, sex before marriage, abortion etc etc.. Our mentality is to always sweeps the issues under the carpet and let it be there to rot. And when being forced to face these issues, we get very defensive and uncompromising. Instead of initiating more indepth discussion we just, quote "...pls leave msia or die... its easy for everybody". Yes thats what we always wanted... an easy way out for everything. "Aleesha" case may just be the tip of the iceberg,.. should'nt the community try to be more understanding. May be we should be made known the difference between a transsexual as transvestite. Please go and look it up in the dictionary and get better understanding..

And what Dr Hasanah have written in her blog, is precisely what could have been done. See the excerpt:
1. They are first of all humans
2. They have sensitive "heart"; if you normal and religiously correct people think you have feeling, then multiply or square your feeling to feel a bit of what these special people feel.
3. They are abnormal to your definition, and I guess as a psychiatrist, I could understand that those with more covert personality/moral/religious issues would hit harder at these special people
4. They first knew that they feel like the opposite sex when they were still very young, some even at the age of 4 or 3. Thus, I question the learning factor in this status.
5. The transgender people may consist of heterogeneous type of genetic make up or physical expression, so each case should be formulated individually and we should not generalised them as having similar underlying problem. A very female person physically could be having an XY genes. Also Brain-based studies have concentrated on whether sexually dimorphic brain structures in transsexuals are more similar to their preferred sex or to their birth sex. We are still in the unestablished grounds here, and more researches should be carried out.
6. Those who'd cursed Aleesha, could be the one having children with such problem. It is one example of "Bukan salah ibu mengandung", also "Bukan salah ibu-bapa mendidik", in fact this problem is a "Bukan salah siapa." Yang salah, yang suka menghina dan menghukum!

Read the whole article here: (http://selfprescription.blogspot.com/2011/07/mohd-ashraf-hafiz-abdul-aziz-aleesha.html)

Lastly my sympathy to the family of the late Aleesha and hope the media can put a rest to this episode and let them live their normal life again..

Be a real Idol to someone...

2011-03-01T10:32:00.001+08:00

American Idol contestant Chris Medina was sent packing home but his presence will be felt forever. When I saw his first audition, and the story behind his life with his fiancee, I felt touch. Like most normal people would have felt. Here is guy who have shown a kind of conviction that not many would have been able to do. Personally to me, he is a walking example of what true love, sacrifices, commitment, dedication and lastly an unselfish soul on earth. A kind that you will never meet often in your life. So why does he get to be sent home, you may ask? Why life have to be so unfair? Well, for a start, life have never been and will never be fair. There could be a blessing in disguise here... could it be if his journey continues, he might not be able to spend more time with his fiancee as what he have been able to do now. And with the corrupted, sleazy, glamour world of fame in US, he might changed for the worst... So I guess, to me , he already won the title as the True American Idol, should be.., and now that everybody have seen how he is now, its good for him to go and leave with a message that everyone needs to emulate,.. So go on,.. and be an Idol to the one that truly adore and love you for what you are...

What's Yours..?

2011-02-15T16:49:00.001+08:00

Everybody have a darkside of their life that they kept away from everyone.. Yes, they kept it from everyone, including the one closest to them. They may claimed to have been truthful and opened in the relationship. BUT I am 100% sure that there is always a darkside that you just dont want to share it with anyone.. What could it be? Is it the time you stole from someone who loved you, the time you kick a cat to death, the time you commit adultery, the list goes on... Whats your darkside that you managed to keep it close to you that no one will ever knows.. Will your conscious will ever be clear? Will the burden of carrying this darkside all your life have an effect on you? Will it change you or do you just pretend it doesnt happen? Whats your darkside turns you to be..? Better person or better liar?

Polys or JCs..?

2011-01-12T12:41:00.001+08:00

The dreadful time of "O" Level results are here and gone. I have heard of loss of sleep, nervousness, praying the whole night etc etc. I can understand what these kids are going thru. Its one of the many crossroads of these kids life. The ones that will ultimately shaped you to be who you are.

After the dust have settled... I guess most would prefer the Polys as it seems more interesting and fun to be in. No uniforms, no stressful studies, no GP paper and so on. But dont these kids knows,..? Once you've gone thru JC,. the rest are a walk in the park.. Not that I have experienced it but thats what most who have gone thru it,.. said it.. And you got a chance at a Degree after that... But then again if your results are good enough...:(

So the choice are still theirs to make, and as parents you have a chance to say your views but never impose on them..

But most importantly,.. to all these kids.. go to school again... Yes, thats the way. Get off the already tight labour force market. Stay in school and depend on their parents for another 3years. This will delay the influx of competition for jobs in the workforce. Is this good..? ..or.. bad..? Not sure..

Well, here e go again...

2011-01-05T12:37:00.002+08:00

Well, here e go again... the start of the new year. Whats in it for me in 2011? Will it be the same routine..? I pretty guess it would be for most people. Only they just wont realised it. They have been going thru the motion for too long to note that their life are so mundane. And its been going on for donkey years and they dont even realised it. Why you may ask..?.. Ask yourself then.. could it applies to me?? Let me simplify it for you:

January
Most will pretend to make new resolution but everyone knows it will be a waste of time. We will be too busy for the new school we attend to, new working place. Mothers will be too busy too attend to their kids and so on bla bla bla.

February
Most will be too busy preparing for the Chinese New year. While others will be too busy shopping and going for short holidays & commenting about the Govt Yearly Budget Issue.

March
Parents, especially mothers will be too caught up with stress of their children CA.. And most will be too busy will Chinese New Year preparation

April.
Everyone will busy will the election (I think).

May
All, parents, children & teenagers will be busy with exams, Teenagers will stop bashing each other for a month...

June
Spore will be vacated as everyone will be gone for holidays... For those staying back.. they will be hibernating in their rooms.. Teenagers will start bashing one another again..

July
Every one will pretend to look at what they have accomplished for the past half year... Parents will be busy commenting about the after election. Teenagers will start bashing one another again..

August
Everyone will be busy for National Day and watching the erotic Getai shows..

September
Everyone will be busy with bargains and sales for Hari Raya. Teenagers will start bashing one another again..

October
Everyone will be busy with bargains and sales for Deepavali. Teenagers will start bashing one another again..

November
Everyone will busy for School exams. Teenagers will start bashing one another again..

December
Everyone will be busy with bargains and sales for Christmas. Teenagers will start bashing one another again..

Thats my take for this year for most people with their mundane life.. For me? I love watching mundane people...:)) and watching Teenagers will start bashing one another again..

Dont even have one...

2010-11-25T16:55:00.001+08:00

Reputation is a general perception of how someone view another person. Whether its going to be good or bad, its all depends on how we have lived our life in public eyes. But any good reputation is as fragile as a crystal glass at the edge of a table. A slight mishandling, and it will falls shatters beyond repair. And if by means out of this world, it was put back together, it will never never be the same as it was before.
No matter how well and how long, you have build it up, all it takes is a slight misdeeds and you send your reputation shattered on the floor, beyond repair. Just look at what have happen to some of the reputable person caught in this situation.. the college Principal, the scholar student and am sure there are many more...
I guess the next time you felt like doing a misdeed, look at what kind of reputation you have build up... or it doesnt really matter to you. As you dont even have one to start with..

Putar Alam...

2010-11-19T11:33:00.001+08:00

When I saw this movie review in the net a couple of months back,.. I told myself, hmmm.. this could be the Malay Movie that could give the late Yasmin a challenge for all the good social drama movies that she have done so far. Not many directors have managed to achieved, what Yasim have achieved in her short movie-direction life span. But... was I wrong.

I saw the movie yesterday with my better-half. And yes.. like what a reviewer have written about it.. it was just made for a music video. May be except for the acting of Suhaila Salam (as Adam the main character) and Rosnah Johari (the mother), the rest of the actors performance were probably good enough for Schools Play combining Barney the Purple Dinosaur. There's no depth in the acting, no life, nothing came out even in scene where an award could have been given if carried out well. Its just too shallow not even a goldfish could have survive in. Its shameful to even proclaimed this to movie to be able to pull in million of dollars, Probably milllions of Rupiah could be more realistic target.

No doubt, the Essence and the story line was a juicy topic to start with. Its just needed a good well-rounded director on the par with the late Yasmin to make this a movie to be reckon with. Go on, all those budding directors out there.. take this topic up and make good this DuaAlam movie again. As for the Director who have done this.. I could only say to you: Dont be Putar Alam lah...

Living on the edge...

2010-09-27T16:45:00.003+08:00

The tragedy of a father and son that happen yesterday may not be shocking to us no more. Its have happen before and it will happen again. How do we ever get rid of these grave negative mindset of "I am taking away his or her lives away because its the best thing to do for everybody..." May be we could mirror these incident to reflect on how a person could ever conclude to these dreadful decision. Or could it be those around him have unintentionally helped in making it easier for him to decide?
May be we should questioned ourselves..., have we ever being too selfish, insensitive, ungrateful to our loved ones that we do not realised that he or she is at the edge of making a drastic decision in life? Or are we just too weak and pathetic to face problems together and it requires our other half to do us a great favour by committing these act of sacrifice??
Lets this incident be a sad learning process for those in any relationship problem to ponder... are your loved ones at the edge? Or are you pushing them over the cliff?

Just another piece of the puzzle...

2010-05-31T09:48:00.002+08:00

What matters to us most in life?... Family, Career, Passion, Health?? the list goes on. So how do you balance and allocate the time for each things that is important to you? Here's what you should do... list the things that is important to you. And I believe basically there are 4 things:
1.Spirituality and Personal Development
2.Family & Relationship
3.Career
4.Personal Care & Health.
Try to honestly assess how much time you give to each of these basic needs. Do you for example devote 80% of your time to work and expect that your family life to be rich and rewarding. Do spent 10% of your time caring for your health and wonder why you always falls sick most of the time. Or do you allocate 70% of your time for the family and get frustrated that your career are not taking off in flying colors. Well.. something have to give in, to be sacrifice, to be compromise.
You got to identify and choose your priority. Once you have done that, then give yourself credit, a pat on the back, if you have done well in the chosen prioritised area. Try to cut down on your worries, the thing is to plan your life and not to worry about things that may or may not happen. And the most important thing of all is ... LOVE YOURSELF FIRST... this act of loving yourself will act like a shield that will protect you from those challenges life will throw at you... So try it. Life is like a puzzle, but like what my beloved friend used to say... the picture is up to us to create

You f*%@# greedy, corporate pigs..

2010-05-27T12:21:00.003+08:00

Have managed to win the standoff with blood sucking telco and not signup for the WorldCup subscription. Its a clear cut case of Telcos not able to recoup Advert revenue due to delay agreement, thus get it from the desperate viewers. The mindset of the people working for the Telco are, "Never blame themselves for what they fuckup and never lose a single cents for the company". Pretty f*%@# mindset. Dont they understand, living in this stressful country, things like the WorldCup are avenues for the people get themselves distracted from the reality of living hardship. For heaven sake, we are already living on the edge, why cant they be more sympathetic and let people create bond together with this "Once in a 4 years event". Why dont they help foster bond between people, for once put the monetary issue aside and think about the people. You f*%@# greedy, corporate pigs..

Do You Really Want to See It..??

2010-04-26T18:03:00.001+08:00

Its still exist,.. even now. Some called it Traditional medicine Man others called it Bomoh ... Even with the influx of Integrated Technology, the need for such expertise still exists and in demand. Yes, I was present at one ritual yesterday. It was an eye opener. I have had never seen the practise in real life before. Except for those in movies or thru stories told by people who have gone thru it. But the fact is it is not as dramatic and as elaborate as the one they one they conjured up for commercial reasons on the big screen. Infact it was never meant to be. But nonetheless it was really food for thoughts.

Whether the images you see will be in high resolution pixel format or in spiritual form, I realised, its only when you have attained that certain spiritual level, only then you will be able to see those that was meant for you to see. The next question is: "Do you really want to be able to see it??".. Until now I am still contemplating it..

Face. It..

2010-04-20T16:43:00.007+08:00

As a parent, I am pretty sure atleast one of your kids,(if you have any), would be on a social networking sites. Especially the Facebook. Personally in my earlier blog, I hate this Facebook. But just to keep track on my kids, I created one for myself... Then I realised,..Hey!!!.. I dont really enjoy reading abt what they are doing?? So why am I here..??!! So I wrote an email to all my kids (3 of them) and told them I am delisting them from my "Friend's List". Meaning, I wont care about their Facebook anymore.

And here are the replies I've got.
My youngest say: "YEAAHHH ATLAST, FREEDOM!!!"
My daughter replied: " You sure Papa..??, are you angry with me for not responding to your post???"
And my eldest son say: "Its about time... not cool to have your dad in the friend's list lah...:)"

CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT!!!.. ITS NOT COOL TO HAVE YOUR DAD IN THE FRIEND'S LIST!!! Wazzup lah these kids nowadays. If you dont keep up with them ,they say you are backdated. And if you are at par with them, they say its not cool for them.

But after a few days of souls searching... I realised, hey... they do need some space of their own. Some form of self exploration with a private space. I guess we parents sometimes, unintentionally, tends to be too over protective about our kids. Though the intention is good, I guess the implementation needs to be improved. So to all those parents that is having Facebook account, get your kids of the Friend's list. And you might get the same replies to what I've got.. FaceIt..

You just needs to draw the line...

2010-03-14T02:00:00.005+08:00

Overheard in the radio recently, of how the a new term have existed to describe the existing generation now... “The Online” & “The Offline” Generation.. And I found this to be exactly true in what have existed today.. Well, in my home it does, anyway. I would catergorize myself to be the unique Generation.. the one that survive on both Online & Offline... Just like some species that can survive both on land and in water..

Can these 2 Generation co-exist..? I sure would like to think so.. But who will ultimately overrun the other? I guess the “Online” species will ultimately be the one that will stand last... they are smarter, stronger and very aggresive. But deep down inside, I felt there will be the resurrection of the “Offline” species to make good of what life in this world should be. The world needs that warm human touch, rather than cold steel feeling.

But how will the “Offline” species triumph in the end???. Really Wonder how..? Well, the chosen one from the “Offline” species will battle all odds and tribulations.. going across seas of fire and dodging bullets and cannons... and at the end of it, he just.... off the main power supply... there goes the “Online” species... kapuutt...:)

Excuse me.. are you Mr Tom Cruise..?

2010-03-12T17:11:00.003+08:00

Since the floodgates opened by Mr Tiger himself.. apparently "infidelity" seems to be a favourite pastime for most guys. from famous footballers to our own local "apek" director... I guess they must have gone thru a severe case of deprived childhood to make themselves feel good about doing things like this. Why it isnt so?? Infidelity make a man feels a sense of triumph and power.. it boosted their manhood and ego to the extreme max. Thats the reason why in the case of Mr Jumping Jack.. facing rejection will only makes him want to try on others (..ladies or men it doesn't really matter) even more, thus even a 16year old.. how low can you get.... A man at this state will never comprehend the meaning of "No, I am not interested in you.. even though you got money or power". He will never to able to face himself in the mirror if any lady rejected him. A pure case of inferiority complex due to deprived childhood..

Cmon guys,.. just what do you think you can get from that women that you cant get from your own wife huh.??... or may be you should try to imagine your better half doing that to you.. try to imagine.. imagine hard... feel it..?? Ok to all the Jack Ass out there,.. take a good look in the mirror... Now that you can see that you are not Mr Tom Cruise.. Go back to the one who loved you as who you really are.. and have sympathy on her for loving an asshole like you..

Rolling stones...

2010-02-26T12:01:00.007+08:00

Gall stone is unknowingly very common occurrence in anyone. Just pick someone on the street and run the test on him/her and you bound to see presence of gallstone in them. What makes mine special is that, it tends to creep out from the gall bladder and got stuck in the bile duct... thats when the pain attack will come. This occurred 3 times for the past 10years.. so atlast, got the stone and the Gall bladder removed yesterday..
Now I got a 4 punctured holes and a bloated stomach from the surgery done to removed my gall bladder. Dont believed anyone who says, the procedure was not that bad. It was painfully bad after the surgery. Your throat hurts, you'll felt nausea, pain and giddy for the whole night. Only gets better a day later.
Felling much better now but needs to get this wound dressing changed. There is no way for you to avoid this. But then there are others stones occurrence in your body that you need to worry too... like the kidney stone and the appendicitis. Talking about rolling stones...

What did we actually see...

2010-02-06T10:22:00.007+08:00

Sitting here on my hospital bed.. I recalled a story I heard couple of years back....

There was once a young man wounded during war. Being seriously wounded, he could only lay on his bed n watched others around him. But his attention falls solely on this guy, whose bed was beside a window. Every morning n evening he would gazed outside the window for hours n only falls back in his bed with a satisfying smile of pure pleasure. Like he was just given a new lease of life..

One morning the young soldier could not resist no more and asked him: "Whats it like out there..?.. The guy turns around slowly and said: "Its beautiful, the grass is green, the lakes are beautiful, birds and butterflies flying all over the place..", he smiled n turned around looking out the window again. The young soldier could only thank him with a tinge of envy.. And this goes on daily n every question the young soldier asked, will always be answered with description of beautiful landscapes, sunsets and colourful flowers decorating the fields..

But one morning the young soldier woke up to see nurses clearing the bed of the guy by the window... He instantly asked the nurse: "Where did he go..?". The nurse replied softly: "He died yesterday.." There was silence for a while.. The young soldier felt lost n deprived.. He just cannot help selfishly thinking: "How is he going to know what's going on out there..?" Then he politely asked the nurse: "Can you help transfer me to that bed..?".. The nurse replied: "Ok".. And the young soldier was transferred to the bed by the window.

He lays there for a while.. with his heart thumping.. Like a young child, waiting for a present.. Then he eagerly pull himself up towards the window.. Full of anticipation... But when he reached up the window.. He could not believed what he saw... There was nothing out there but a wornout bricked-wall facing him back.. He stand there stunned for a couple of minutes, with a sole question in his head: "Why did he lied to me all this time?"... Then after a while,.. his frowned slowly turned into a smile.. He realised, that guy was actually saving his life.

We could actually paint as many beautiful pictures we want in our mind, and this could decide how hard we will try to get it in our life.. The need so much to see the beautiful lakes, flowers, butterflies and the beautiful sunset, helps the young soldier to fight injury and live for that moment... We should all create that beautiful pics in our mind and strive to see this at the end of our lives, no matter if there was a grey-brick wall we are facing now..

Keep making the stories...

2010-01-26T17:50:00.003+08:00

I've read the review about this movie longtime ago. And only got a chance to see it yesterday. The good review given is correct. Its got a nice melodramatic touch to it. The gist of the story, is the act of one putting others above oneself.

Not too many going around these days. Though the story revolves around the cancer ridden Kate and her self sacrificial act of love towards Ann (her younger sister). I am pretty sure somewhere out there, these acts of righteousness still do exist.

At least it does for me... How my eldest sister, with grades that makes her to be the first Malay student from a local neighbourhood school to be accepted to Raffles Girls Secondary, have to sacrifice her further studies just to help to bring up 6 other younger siblings of hers. And there could be many more stories out there... Just dont end it yet... keep making the stories..

Going by the numbers..

2010-01-26T12:10:00.002+08:00

"...This is despite the Government's efforts to boost birth rates. As a result, topping up the population through immigration is necessary, Mr Lee said yesterday..." reported in ST Mobile.

Though its not something new, but a press statement to reflect on a "Topping Up" policy to boost population, does clears the air about how Spore Govt is rectifying the population growth issues. Though it looks like a "Short term" problem solving policy. It gives me the impression that we are dire straits to get this corrected. Wonder why?

I, actually, preferred our small island to be less populated... the bigger the family, the bigger the headache. Thus the small family unit from a more affluent couple. More often said, Quantity may not always be better that quality.

As it is, with the present population, there's already too much of negative social issues we are facing now and with added unfamiliar immigrants topping up the masses... I wonder how this would actually helps us in Spore.. besides enhancing numbers...hmmmm?

The Blind Side of Mankind...

2010-01-25T17:11:00.002+08:00

I have seen the movie.. Quite touching and very inspiring. Good movie to reflect that goodness is not dead in mankind after all. Anyway, Leigh Anne Tuohy (the real person, acted by Sandra Bullock) is actually filthy rich to start with. Not an issue to help others when you dont need to help yourself first.

Nevertheless, if the story depicts the actual true events, then Leigh Anne Tuohy act of helping Michael Oher change his life, is an example to be followed. But the again, do we need to be filthy rich first??

Just switch off the lights...

2010-01-14T13:37:00.003+08:00

Differences existed everywhere and in everything. In the way we live, the we way we look, the way we talk and the list goes on and on and on... Why God created us this way..? Well only He knows best. May be He wanted us not to be too monotonous, may be He wanted us to see beauty in being different, may be He wanted to test and see how we could live together being different.

Nevertheless I can only see that we have not really succeeded in living together with all these differences. The powerful will imposed his biased perception of what is acceptable and what's not. The oppressed will see being different as being deprived. While others will live in defensive seclusion while showing facade of pretentious acceptance... only waiting for minute reasons to show violent dissatisfaction in the form of terror and physical harm.

What we really need to see is a common ground, see where the circle overlap,.. or may be we should start living in darkness to be able to accept one another without seeing the differences in skin color or physical defects.

faces among the crowd...

2010-01-11T18:25:00.002+08:00

Here we go again... another new year... another cycle to go thru. The faces you seen in the MRT, buses, cars, taxis, roadsides all shows and depicts a new chapter in the owner's life... or it could be just another routine year to drag their physical body thru the vicious torture again..

For those that experiencing the life of a new school, a new job, a new family, a new home, a new motorbike, a new car... well atleast it could be more a exciting year to look forward to.

For the others... dont let it show too much on your faces.. its difficult.. yeah but try harder.

May be the best is to create something new in your life to look forward to... How about a new job, a new girlfriend, a new boyfriend, a new phone, a new laptop... yeah that will do. Or may be,.. just wear a face mask... then no one can really judge what you are going thru for this year... or can they?

Got to be here again

2009-12-31T09:32:00.003+08:00

My loved for Port Dickson can never fade away. The sun, sea and the variety of food is always something to look out for. And it not too far away to drive from Spore. Even though some people are saying that you can get a similar experienced or better in Terengganu, but the distance travelling is something that have always put me off. My last trip to PD was a little short. Well come to think of it, it was never enough. And I realised this time the locals here are getting more enterprising, there seems to be more sea activities for the visitors. Thats good. Atleast it shows that they are more proactive it making the place a memorable venue to stay and have a good time.

My family do enjoy the scenic view of the sunset. Especially my daughter, she is like me. She loves the serenity of nature's beauty at it best. My boys seems to loves the water activities, the pool, the seas, canoeing the rustic outdoor dinner by the beach.

Got to be here again soon. And try out another hotel by the beach..

"Take That" You iPhone Suckers!!!

2009-12-09T20:44:00.005+08:00

Its nice to see for once the consumer are now at the helm of the pricing war. Be it the launching of the iPhone or the rights to the BPL soccer channels, the service provider are now turning ups and downs in trying to find the best marketing plan so as to woo subscribers over. With names like Flexi-lite, iPhone Value, Power value etc etc..

But I got to admit, M1 seems to comes out with a very peculiar marketing plan that seem to stands out from the rest. Its called "Take 3". And the reason for Plan name is: 1. take a phone, 2. take a plan and 3. take it home.. thus: take 3... How lame can you get..,-.- Ok all you guys at M1.. go an "Take 5" before you ever comes out with another plan like this. And the worst part of it, after going thru the details and waiting for half an hour for a customer service to answer my queries, the plan really sucks. I would just "Take it Back". M1 should just name the plan "Rent-de-iPhone-Service". Okay, the catch is good.. take the iPhone for $0.. yeah FREE!!!!... Only to be informed that you have to return it after the contract ends... Huh ??? ITS NOT YOURS TO CALL YOUR OWN... its the first kind of Plan here..!!! Unique right!!!...:( Well.. "Take that" to all those iPhone suckers... You kena "Take by M1" this time..

Added life...

2009-11-18T13:04:00.002+08:00

The biggest gripe about the iPhone and may be all smartphone is it's battery life. People who have tried the N series, the HP Compac, Samsung Omnia have experienced the same old thing of dwindling battery life within a day or less with normal usage.

But after going thru the Forum and reading feedback and suggestions, I managed to extend my iPhone battery life to 2 days of normal usage after 100% charge. These is what I did:

1. Wifi, 3G & Data Roamimng
I switched all these off when not in use, And on it when I need it. Yes it can be cumbersome but why leave it on? When 80% of the time you are not even using it? Wifi is for internet excess,.. Are you on the net all the time..?, I am not. And the 3G, basically this is for better downloading and faster net excess. So it goes hand in hand with the wifi. And data roaming is yet another element required for net excess. It helps you to connect to the net and when this is off, you wont be able to get excess. This is good practise if you frequent overseas, (like to JB). As the Data Roaming charges can be very high over there.

After switching off these 3 items, I can get the iPhone to be able to last me for 2 days without charging. Yes, there will instances where the usage of the iPhone is not a norm, like if you watch 3 movies, and listening to music for 5 hours or more. But I am pretty sure, these suggestions above will atleast helps you in your abnormal use of the iPhone...

The Snow Leopard...

2009-11-16T10:07:00.001+08:00

For all Apple System's user, the Snow Leopard is an extremely good OS. Its one step up from the Leopard, which have a couple of bugs that lag the system. The Snow leopard is fast and have lots of cool features. And the Snow Leopard can be upgraded directly from the Tiger, no need to upgrade to Leopard. I have tried it and it works fine.

But beware.. it does not support the Freehand Program. So for all those Freehand addict (like what I used to be).. may be you should try to switch to Illustrator before you install the OS. It support other design programs from the CS3 pack, like Photoshop and InDesign well...

Good Apps for iPhone

2009-11-12T10:49:00.005+08:00

Here are two of the Apps that I found to be very useful and good in features.

The first App is the Singtel Data Usage. I have come across cases of people who sign up for Data plan from Singtel but have yet knows how to really gauge on the usage. And there are letters to the forum saying how they being charge as high as $500 - $800 per month for their unintentionally excessive usage of their data plan. So this App (for iPhone only) helps us to keep track of our usage. And I found this to be useful and informative. Make me manage my usage and bills better.

The second App is the "AlQuran" to be mistaken for the "iQuran"... The latter is much better. With better audio and clearer translation, personally, I find this App is a much better version than the "iQuran".

Its that time of the year...

2009-11-06T17:24:00.003+08:00

Its been a while since i put up something here... Been slacking quite abit. Never thought anyone would be interested to read my blog anyway,.. until someone just email me and say:."hey, I have been to your blog...'" and I say: "WHATTT!!! its been about 5 months since my last posting... Talk about having a writers' blog (its supposed to be "Block").. well, yeah ok its lame bigtime... I know. What do you expect from someone who have not been writing for months.. Anyway its year end, I have to attend to stress-up Wife as kid's are having their final exams. Its been routine for every year during this exam period, jittery, sleepless, insomnia and severe headache.. and this is from the Mum not the kids. The kids... well... they are fine.. Revising History with iPods plug-in on both ears.. Wonder how they do it?? I guess they not only able to partition their System hardisk,.. They are able to to it to their brain too.. Cooolll. For me, they are fine... No worries. I just to make sure my supply of cup noodles are abundant at this time..

Thank you for the life experience...

2009-07-05T21:44:00.001+08:00

There will be countless of people that will come into your life in one way or the other. They will be there for reasons beyond your explanations. There are times you may feel some of them are godsend to you. And at times you may feel that their presence in your life is like a punishment for all the wrongdoing you did in the past. But whatever the reason it may be, their presence will be an experienced that will teaches you emotionally or spiritually. But mostly their presence was initiated by yourself either consciously or otherwise. Sometimes they arrived to provide you support, assistance, guidance and many more reasons which only you will know. And sometimes they left you as abruptly as they came. Either they passed away or walk away. Whatever the outcome, these people are the ones that helps gives your lessons of life. With the elements of joy, hate, happiness or sadness you will usually learnt to formed an emotional foundation necessary for you to use in all the coming new relationship that will comes you way. For all those that touches my life, especially my family...thank you.

Just enjoy the coffee...

2009-07-02T08:50:00.001+08:00

There was once a gathering of an Alumni organised by a retired Professor at his home. Upon the meeting of all the attendees the professor saw and heard how these young ex-students of his were complaining about how tough life and career was. Even though there were lines of luxury cars out in the parking lot obviously belonging to all of them, he heard them saying that their pay was too low and how things are expensive these days, and so on and on.... He then ask all of them.."Do you all want a cup of coffee?". And not surprisingly all of them acknowledge the need for some nicotine juice. The professor went to his kitchen and come out later with the pot of coffee and different kinds of cups for them to use. Some are cheap plastic cups, glass mug and an expensive porcelain cups. He then told them. "Okay, help yourself to the coffee.." When all of them are finished taking the cup coffee, he grab their attention by saying: " I heard all of you complaining about how difficult life was. How you just cant get enough from what you have." .. he continues " And I also observed that when I placed the different cups for you to pour your coffee into, most of you chose the expensive porcelain cups for yourself. When all you wanted was just coffee. Just imagine that life was the coffee that you want to enjoy, it does not need to be poured in an expensive porcelain cup for you to enjoy it. You just need to know what you want from life, thats all"

Is this iPhone for you...??

2009-06-10T12:45:00.000+08:00

Its out now... the new iPhone 3GS. Its very very much better then the predecessor. With a better battery life, video capability, MMS, Cut & Paste option, enhanced Camera and a 32gb storage... I guess it getting closer to being a complete mobile device. After using the 16gb 3G iPhone for nearly a year now, I am quite pleased with all the enhancement. It really covers all the grievances that an existing iPhone user like myself are facing now. And with better pricing package, I am pretty sure there will be alot of crossover user from other makes that will be getting their hands on the new iPhone. Thats Apple, placing another nail into the coffin of all the other makers of the mobile devices.
But what I am concerned about are users that just cross over for the wrong reason. Let me explain, I have had met more than 6 users who have tried their hands on the iPhone 3G and revert back to the other makes. Their feedback was that it is difficult to use and not as advanced as the other makes in the market. But after personally talking to them, my personal conclusion is these guys are just not suitable for the iPhone. Yes, the iPhone is for everyone but not everyone are suited for the iPhone. How I derived to my conclusion? Well for one, most of these guys dont even bother to setup their iTunes account. Without this, how are you able to appreciate all the fantastic apps? Second, they are just not into emailing and web browsing, when iPhone are basically created with this in mind. Thirdly, most them are PC users,., this is where they find it a little disoriented with Apple Operating platform. And at the end of it, most of these guys are just not IT savvy enough to appreciate the technology that iPhone is putting in their hands.
So my advise to those that are thinking to crossover to the iPhone... Please look at your lifestyle closely... make sure you know what you want from the devices before you commit into something that you will regret later..

Be a real Family...

2009-06-01T10:44:00.002+08:00

Last Saturday was supposed to be the day that we should have dinner with the family. Another one of those National Campaign to build family bonding. Its a good initiative no doubt, but have we ever tried to look at the whole picture? Or is this going to be another one of those futile campaign where everyone will just go through the motion with no significant meaning in their action. Ok, lets see... mummy & daddy cooks for kids, everyone sits together for dinner,. eat,.. daddy ask son, "hows school?", son replied: "Its still there..., not closed yet", Daddy asked daughter: "hows school", daughter replied: "Yes, its still there too..", Mummy ask son: "Hows the food?" son replied: "its ok, have not suffered the stomach ache yet.." Mummy ask daughter: "Hows food?" Daughter replied: "Not as good as the hawker's centre food that we usually had.." continued eating and wash-up. Thats it family bonding... The real truth is most families just needs to work the extra hours just to make ends meets. And if the family is lucky, where only Daddy will be working, dinner for most daddy will be around 9pm. I just find these campaign a little superficial. The real truth is, I believe, the standard of living here is a little too high for one to have LUXURY moments of having family dinner together for most of the the time. Thats is why as a Muslim I loved the month of Ramadan (the fasting month). During which, most will observe the break of fasting time and have dinner together, be it with family or friends. I guess we need to prioritise with discipline, and may be someone should look into the high cost of living here for a normal average earner could have the time and spend quality time with the family... And create real bonding...

Face it!!!! get a life...

2009-05-27T15:12:00.003+08:00

Its been about 4 months now since I sign-up for the Facebook Account. And I have to admit that I dont really enjoy it that much... except for the fact that it managed to get me in touch with friends that I have not been in touch with for donkey years, automatically via the email addresses... other than that its just not appealing to me. And for that matter, those friends that I have not been in touch with are just those that I dont to be in touch with in the first place. Like this respond I got from the Facebook "Auto-get-in-touch-with-your-friends-thing"... "OOiii!!! Mr Anuar, welcome to Facebook, BTW, what happen to the logo design you promise me 2 years ago huh...!!!"
And I ask myself why would I want people to know what I am thinking and doing now.., unless I am terribly, lifeless that I need the netcitizen, to be my critics and give me their lame comments..
Ok, thats it I am going to quit Facebook and got to start to "Face Myself"...

Terminate the Channels...

2009-05-20T20:29:00.004+08:00

Ok, its time for me to consider terminating my football channel from Starhub SCV... And its abt time too. With Arsenal, not winning any trophy again this year... leave a bitter taste to all the payment made to Starhub for nothing. Thats it I am going to cut my expenses start with this over priced Sports Channel. And with MDA putting a curb to Starhub skyrocketting bid for the exclusive rights to the Sports Channel... may be it a good time to cut them loose. And see whats Singtel have to offer... that if they got the bid for the sports channels. All this while I have always thought that the increase in charges was from the increase in charges from Barclays EPL viewing rights. But with the recent news reports, it was actually due to THE EXORBITANT BID that Starhub paid to get the rights.... then they make all of us pay them back with unjustified increase in charges... shheesh.
Thats it I am going to cut them loose, terminate the stupid sport channels, let them feel the loss in revenue,..... but wait a minute.... ITS WORLD CUP NEXT YEAR!!!!!!! ARRRGGGGG....

Road King...

2009-04-20T14:30:00.001+08:00

"WHATT!!! You did a figure of 8 flat on road??!!... ha ha ha " well this is is what I overheard a guy talking to his friend, who obviously going thru the trauma of getting his class 2b motorbike lessons.. Yup, I have my traumatic experience too... Imagine doing a wheely on a motorbike and then seeing your bloodless face in the rear view mirror while lying on the road. Yeah, that is one experienced that I will never forget... From then on my goal of getting the mere 2B motorbike license was an uphill task... Got marked by the instructors as the "Wheely King" at the driving centre. But perseverance prevail and I got it at last.. Thats was 25years ago.. and I still cherish it. With the high cost of owning a four wheels may be I need to downgrade to a 2-wheeler.. Alas, beware the "Wheely King" is back on the road..

Shern merr..??

2009-04-15T15:59:00.001+08:00

There a buzzzz going around about service sector personnel that couldn't communicate well or not at all in English. I wonder who they are...??? Ok its a fact that we have a number of foreign workers be it professional or just blue collars ones. They are a diversify lot. And colorful too. I can empathise with a friend who GAVE UP asking a service counter girl to lessen his sugar content in his tea, as it may help control his diabetes but... the process of asking INCREASES his blood pressure...sheesh..:(

get it reset....

2009-04-14T17:44:00.000+08:00

Mindset is something that can never be changed easily. And it varies with one person to the other, from one country to another and it goes on and on and on... So what is the right mindset?? Or is there such a thing as one?? Everyone will claim that he or she is having the right mindset. To them others will just be having the wrong, confused or backward mindset. So... whats the correct mindset? My answer to the question is.. The correct mindset is the one that is able to think along the mainstream, be flexible, never narrow minded and always be willing to see new perspective... Yeah that's the one... the correct mindset... and I dont even know what the hell that means...

How do I start??

2009-04-13T16:10:00.002+08:00

When the government warns about the gloomy market sentiments, they were not kidding... I can see that the electronic sectors was the hardest hit. Then the retail, the travel sector, the property and the list goes on... Then my question is... if there is no business to do business... what are we supposed to do??? Then it struck me KAPOOWW!!! haallooo... there are sector that will still be in demand no matter what... People need to eat (just try to avoid Indian Rojak or may be Seafood Steamboat too), we need to get medical treatment, we still need to get education, need to get lawyers for divorce cases (no point living with freeloaders), need to get connected on the net and get those early accidental movie release and save on movie tickets... there you go... the lists goes on. So go into these areas and there will still be money to be made... Now how do I start..????

Pictures only.... for now

2009-04-09T12:02:00.001+08:00

Well done Stevie... with you at the helm, Apple will go very very far. Why I believe so..? Look at how they have been leading and while others are following... The iPhone Application phenomena.. now every phone producers are making applications available for it's unit. More millionaires are created via application downloads. And lastly Apple do listen to consumer's feedback. Look at how the iPhone OS 3.1 updates was created. It obliged what millions of users been shouting for... the mms ability, cut and paste option, forwarding of sms capability, voice recording software and many more... If this is not service, I dont know what is... But I wonder... is anybody there shouting for video recording capability..?? If you do.. then may be it is not loud enough....

Are you a good person...?

2009-04-06T11:24:00.000+08:00

Hours after watching the movie "7 Pounds", I still cant get over the fact about the sacrifice "Ben" - the main character played by Wills Smith, had done after tragedy struck him months before. Though some may find it to be cliche but I was just pondering, will there be such a person..? Yah okay... I am pretty sure the tragedy that struck him can really devastated anyone but would anyone be bother enough to go into the hassle of finding all those people that deserve "my body parts"..?? Well, you can say thats Hollywood... But what struck me most was the irony of his renewed relationship with a dying lady "Emily" who's days are numbered unless she got a new heart... And no prizes for guessing who's heart save her... Some memorable scene for me will be, the time Ben's decided to "do it" because he doesnt want to lose the girl he love again... And the touching moment when Emily got to know whose heart save her life... that scene was really touching.... except may be the dog should not be around licking her face...sheeeshh yuucckk....

Preparation is vital...

2009-02-17T22:36:00.001+08:00

How difficult it was...

2009-02-09T18:18:00.000+08:00

This is always the case for me. As I felt everyone now, be it your clients, friends, colleague, relatives etc etc... will never appreciate the effort you put it for any things done. It will always be taken for granted. They will only appreciates it more, when they try to give the same task to someone else and realised the result is not as good as what you have given them... shhhssh..:(

It looks like work...

2009-02-06T09:13:00.002+08:00

So never be afraid to work hard... Though the best is to get someone to work even harder for you. Now... all I need to is get someone who is crazy enough to work hard for me. Now thats a dream to reckon with...

How you should take it...

2009-02-02T14:33:00.002+08:00

End of the road...

2009-02-02T09:42:00.000+08:00

Its about relationship building...

2009-01-28T11:25:00.001+08:00

Business environment now in a state of doldrums and sometimes it can be due to our own bad business practices. During good times, I do come across companies who rejected "Small Clients" due to "Small profit margins". Dont they understand such bias attitude towards these clients will have a negative impact in the long run? Why be selective in the amount of revenue make when the purpose of doing business in the first place is about building relationship with your client. And when these companies became desperate, these clients with small jobs will gave them a taste of their own medicine by snubbing them with no jobs at all. The thing is, you must help these clients when they are small and growing... and I am sure they will remember you when they have grown to have more "Big Profit Margin" jobs to give away.

Letting go...

2009-01-23T17:18:00.003+08:00

Letting go something you loved can never be easy. It can be emotionally painful, and set you to depressed-mode instantly. But the truth is nothing in this world is ever permanent, what you got is actually temporary bliss and usually we just dont bother when it will end or when it's time to let go. Now I am in amidst of letting a little boy who have grown up to be young adult. He is in a state of wanting space and it feels quite difficult to comes face to face with the fact that he needs to be let go... Well thats parenthood, you just need to know when to let it go. Like what they use to say... they may have gone away physically but the memories will always be close to you. And this I will never let go.

A Book summary...

2009-01-22T18:00:00.000+08:00

The story is about three teenage girls trying to live on their own on an island. One is the mother, another is the mediator and the other is the baby of the group. They face challenges living with each other as all of them have different outlooks on life. The mother of the group, Jennifer, always try to act responsibly and let the plans that she had, for the 3 months there, run smoothly. But, her two friends don't always like the plans that she had. Amy, the mediator, always try to avoid conflicts and confrontation while Chelsea, being the last child in her family, always want things to go her way. So, naturally, there were disagreements and fights, even over petty things. One good thing about the book is that it helps me understand the feeling of independence, as the characters in the book try to lead their live with no restrictions or existence of their parents. They use their own money to pay the utilities bill and handphone bills. They are learning how hard it is when you have things to take care of, things to be responsible about.

However, their island life doesn't go as plan as obstacles, such as boys and strays, get in the way of their summer holiday. As teenagers, it is perfectly normal that they tend to find things to distract them from the norm of their life. Although the three girls have each other, they find other means to have fun and be happy. Throughout the book, i was sad to see that they always view other elements to be more important than their friendship. They each has a boyfriend by the end of the book. I stopped to think whether this is important for the characters, since they are younger than me. (The characters are awaiting their entry to college. So, i assume they are 18 or 19 years of age) Nevertheless, i really like the fact that by the end of the book, they live their life as how one would on an island. As you know, people living on an island are usually carefree and they live and let live. The girls realise that the obstacles that they face help to loosen the gap that had occurred between them and they were serene by the end of the book as they know that grieving is of no point. It definitely help me see that to live life to the fullest, we have to view the positive side of life and not dwell on the past.

summarised by:
adila nurhana

Bad Odour...

2009-01-20T19:05:00.002+08:00

Lastweek after my fishing trip, my car seems to developed a terrible odour. Even after reinstalling new Airfreshener, it doesnt seem to help. So I spent the whole afternoon cleaning up the car interior and boot and sure enough the source was a leftover bait from my fishing toolbox that was not cleared properly. It have stained the boot carpet and it stink big time. So I gave a call to my fishing buddies to check if they have experienced the same problem and here's what they advised me to use to get rid of the smell. All I need are some households items like: Charcoal, Coffee Grounds & Vinegar.
I tried the charcoal and it works. No need for expensive air fresheners or professional car cleaner. Just a simple house charcoal. Here is what I did. After the mess has been properly cleaned the carpet or fabric, I placed a bag of charcoal in the car boot. I left it there for a day and thats it. The smell is gone!! Do you know Charcoal is one of the best natural products that you can use to absorb and get rid of odours, and the best thing is, you can still use the charcoal for outdoor grilling.
As for the Coffee Grounds & Vinegar, I have yet to use it. I hope I dont need to...

Closure,,,

2009-01-19T20:58:00.001+08:00

Closure: "...A sense of psychological certainty or completeness" definition of "Closure" by Dictionary.com. Yes, we all need closure in most of the things in life. And it most cases it always tends to be in relationship matters. Be it with your friends, parents, brothers, sisters and so on. And often not the term "closure" seem to incline to something of a negative or sombre note. Usually it will affect one party more than the other.

It good to have closure in all issues, I agree. As it gives a sense of "psychological assurance". And it gives a chance for oneself to continue life a fresh and with new perspective. Our minds will be able to accept closure more easily if we can act on it. We have to learnt to let it go... literally..., tear it, burn it, buried it whatever fits your needs.

Why are we so insecure that we need closure all the time? Well, it all depends on the issues we are facing. The more emotionally attached we are to it, the harder it will be. Let your heart think for you, at least for some issues in life. Our minds can only do so much in decision making all the time. Let it be heart of the matter.

Nelson mandela used to say: Courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. A brave person is not one who does not feel afraid, but one who conquers that fear.

That dreadful thing...

2009-01-19T11:02:00.004+08:00

The 10 most difficult questions you will be asked in a job interview IF YOU are one of those executive types unhappy at your present post and embarking on a New Year's resolution to find a new one, here's a helping hand.
The job interview is considered to be the most critical aspect of every expedition that brings you face-to-face with the future boss. One must prepare for it with the same tenacity and quickness as one does for a fencing tournament or chess match.
1.) Tell me about yourself?
Since this is often the opening question in an interview, be extra careful that you don't run off at the mouth. Keep your answer to a minute or two at most. Cover four topics: Early years, education, work history, and recent career experience.
2.) What do you know about our organisation?
You should be able to discuss products or services, goals, problems, management style. Let your answer show that you have taken the time to do some research, but don't overwhelm the interviewer, and make it clear that you wish to learn more.
3.) Why do you want to work for us?
The deadliest answer you can give is "because I like people". What else would you like — animals? Here, and throughout the interview, a good answer comes from having done your homework so that you can speak in terms of the company's needs.
4.) What can you do for us that someone else can't?
Here you have every right, and perhaps an obligation, to toot your own horn and be a bit egotistical. Talk about your record of getting things done, and mention specifics from your resume or list of career accomplishments.
5.) Please give me your definition of(the position for which you are
being interviewed).
Keep your answer brief and task oriented. Think in terms of responsibilities and accountability.
6.) How long would it take you to make a meaningful contribution to our firm?
Be realistic. Say that, while you wouldexpect to meet pressing demands and pull your own weight from the first day, it might take three to six months before you could expect to know the organisation and its needs well enough to make a major contribution.
7.) Your resume suggests that you may be over-qualified or too experienced for
this position. What's your opinion?
Emphasise your interest in establishing a long-term association with the organisation, and say that you assume that if you perform well in this job, new opportunities will open up for you. Mention also that a strong company needs a strong staff.
8.) What is your management style?
You should know enough about the company's style to know that your management style will complement it. Possible styles include: task oriented, result-oriented, or even paternalistic
9.) Why are you leaving (did you leave) your present (last) job?
Be brief, to the point, and as honest as you can without hurting yourself. If you were laid off in an across-the-board cutback, say so; otherwise, indicate that the move was your decision, the result of your action.Do not mention personality conflicts.
10.) What do you think of your boss?
Be as positive as you can. A potential boss is likely to wonder if you might talk about him in similar terms at some point in the future.

Another Adobe Power tool..

2009-01-17T09:00:00.002+08:00

I was a Freehand fanatics for alot of my design years to the extent of using Freehand to create publication artwork instead of the publication tool like the pagemaker . But after moving on to using InDesign, I realised this is the design software that works for me. I loved the transparency effect in InDesign much more than Freehand, and the Eyedropper tools is really cool to use. It saves me alot of time. This software is definitely going to be Adobe main revenue puller in the years to come, along with their established Photoshop PhotoDigital Software. The best about InDesign is that, it caters for the end prepress printing setup. It creates pagination imposition for files to be send for offset printing, Hires pdf for print can be accurately setup with all the details required, no more fonts issues like those in Freehand, and this is very important for print product as it will be a case of whether you get paid for the job done or you get rejects and bear the brunt of the print cost incurred. The best design tool for me... for now.

Its a global market...

2009-01-16T12:21:00.001+08:00

I have been using the iPhone for about 5months now. And the only gripe I got with it is the battery life span. Most of its features like:
1. Wifi
2. Video App
3. Email Access
4. Internet
5. Music
they are all fine....
But the best of all are the Applications downloads features.
Most of the points from 1 to 5 will probably available on other phone like the Omnia and others. But the Apps are not, am pretty sure about that, pls correct me if I am wrong. Now I realised that Apps creators are making it good with their creation. With cost as US$0.99, these people can easily make hundreds of thousand if their Apps are popular. This can happen, as the market for these Apps are Global. I, myself have paid for some Apps for my iPhone. May be we should start thinking of a niche Apps that can be marketed to cater for the iPhone... Lets go for it, before it gets too late. And all this can happen only from Apple, thanks Steve Jobs for the opportunity..:)

Never be afraid...

2009-01-11T21:44:00.000+08:00

What's in my Store...

2009-01-07T16:04:00.001+08:00

What are we concern about...?

2009-01-07T12:23:00.004+08:00

What the world are concerned about now are just economics and how it affect one lives. But nothing will ever be equal to what, our Bros & Sisters, the Palestinians are going thru now in the face of hardship. Lets us shares a prayers that all the suffering will be over soon for them and may they have the strength to persevere and face the hardship with Allah's guidance.

The best for all..

2009-01-07T11:05:00.004+08:00

The new year have passed.. be it for the month of Hijrah or Masihi. Some will continue with their life as monotonous as it was before, some will be facing new challenges while some will try new plans to embark on. As how we run our lives, there is no one to say if that is right or wrong. Only you will know whats best for you or your loved ones. But for myself it is time to look at the crossroad again and see where to start from here on... The funny thing is that, I am facing this crossroad again and again. And the priority keep changing with time. I dont know about other people.. Just hope the best for all..

Thank you..

2008-10-25T13:30:00.004+08:00

Bad Temper

2008-10-20T21:22:00.005+08:00

There once was a little boy who had a bad temper. His father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the back of the fence.

The first day, the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Over the next few weeks, as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily gradually dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence.

Finally the day came when the boy didn't lose his temper at all. He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper. The days passed and the boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone.

The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence. He said, "You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. It won't matter how many times you say I'm sorry the wound is still there. A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one."

My Story...

2008-10-20T13:01:00.002+08:00

This happened to me about 9 or 10 years ago. During that time life was quite good to me. Happily married with 3 kids and with a stable job ( as if..) and good life. The only problem is that I was living on borrowed dreams. Literally borrowed dreams... meaning car was on loan, house was on loan, luxury appliances at home was on loan too. Come to think of it my "Happily Married Life" was actually on loan too. So when the internet bubble burst... it practically burst the "Happy Family life" bubble that I have been living all this while. The day I was retrenched, I stayed in my car at the parking lot, still holding on to the retrenchment letter, for about 2 hours thinking what have really happened. Then it dawn on me that borrowed dreams are just not something that you should live on. It was hell after that... adjustment to a different lifestyle was quite a pain. Kids that have been pampered just would not understand why going to MacDonald for a meal was a luxury. Discussion about household issues with the missus always turns into heated arguments. Friends starts to be getting less and less with each passing day. The blessing from all this is that, you will soon be able able to see your true friends from the other. So when life pushed to the corner of the wall, I learned to fight back. Telling myself there is no way I am going to be stuck there and play dead as there are so many people, especially my family, that are depending on me to persevere and pulls them thru all this. And Alhamdulliah I did... with much difficulty. The way I overcome is to work double or triple as hard as before. I taken up low paying jobs.. do alot of freelancing till late nights and to the extent of not even sleeping for 2 days in a row. I learned to be prudent and invest my money on courses to upgrade my skills and equipment relating to work. And yes.. I tried MLM marketing too... from Unicity, Usana, Revell, CNI and many more. The good thing from all these MLM marketing is the was they teach you about business and how to create networking. I have to admit, I benefited alot from their seminars and gatherings. The lesson I learnt from all these experience is that, never be to sure about depending on others to run your life. Even now, being employed, I am still not sure if it is bliss as you will never know when the letter will come. But atleast I will be more prepared. So thats the more reason for me still want to have the freedom of being able to live my on true dreams and not on borrowed ones...

Salawati the movie

2008-10-13T13:35:00.004+08:00

I viewed the movie over the weekend and here is my sincere take on it. Overall the storyline was quite okay. Some reviews states the movie as being a little slow and dragging in pace. But I found it to be quite ok. Though my missus falls a sleep at one point but overall I find it to be quite enjoyable. The use of preparing Sharin ( the dead boy) body for burial as the intro and closure of the movie was quite good. Though some may say a little cliche. I also felt certain part of the movie could be have more impact if the actors could have carried the moment better. Not looking down on the actors' ability, I felt the part where Zaidi (Salawati father in the movie) was relating to his wife, the memories he had with his dead son during his younger days could be better portrayed. He seems to be so much script driven to the extent of being quite unreal and rigid in his acting. Having said that, I realised that most of the actors are actually looks script driven too. But I have to give credit the guy who plays the Despatch rider, I thought he carried his part quite well. And Maznah did well too and I really thought the moment when she was packing her dead son's belonging could have been extended to show more of her emotion. Such a waste of situation to make it too short.
Overall like I mentioned that I do enjoys the show and I was quite surprised to see the muted response from our viewers. This is because I was there with only 3 other couples sharing the cinema hall.., talking about empty spaces..

A unique affair..

2008-10-08T11:26:00.003+08:00

Mixed marriages are inevitable in a multi racial society like Singapore. It can be quite a good thing if look at it positively. It helps to extend the bonding to another circle of community with the loving couple as the link between the two. It can be a unique affair celebrating occasion on different platforms. The only sensitive issue facing the couple ultimately is the way religion govern the relationship. Be it Islam, Christianity, Buddist or Hindu. The couple ultimately have to make grave sacrifices to make the bonding a reality. And these will have an adverse impact on their lives, as I have personally seen happened to a couple recently. I empathise with them as the dilemma can be quite a toll on you. On one hand, you are looking at a lifetime of bliss with the one you loved and on the other hand you need to accommodate the views of narrow minded friends and relatives who may sometimes be just hypocritical judges on other lives. Families torn apart, bonds are broken and shattered, all on the suffice to fit in a community. Please do not interpret my opinion as condoning cohabiting. What I can advise is to couple in this situation is, look at your priority in life. Are you able to sacrifice your life to sustain the relationship?. Only then you are able to make these bond comes true.

Yes... I got it

2008-10-07T21:31:00.005+08:00

I have got the iPhone.... Yes, in my earlier blog, I wrote a negative review about the iPhone but the gadget is far too tempting for me not to own and try it.. or may be I am just a sucker for Apple stuff. Well here is my honest take on the iPhone.
I have signed up the 2gig Data plan and took the 16gb iPhone. As per normal syncing the iPhone to all my other gadget was a breeze. For a start I have been using a Macbook and a G4 station for a while, years infact. The browser is easy to setup. Using the WIFI from my home modem was just as easy as keying in the WEP password, and the iPhone will remembers this and automatically link to this WIFI whenever I am home. Ditto this setup at work too. The 3G gives me access to web anywhere and it works smoothly even when I am in JB. The camera though 2megapixels, do captures quite presentable pixs. Or maybe the large screen does help in making the pix looks good. I have download a couple of movies and viewing it was quite pleasantly enjoyable. Though it does take up the battery life quite abit...then again most smart phones do not have good battery life, rite? And the 3rd party Applications available was amazing. So many to choose from. From education to business to games to softwares and the list goes on...and on. So far after using it for about 3 weeks, I am quite happy with it. What I like most about the iPhone are:
1. Good screen resolution.
2. Many interesting application application can be downloaded via the iTunes. (and most are FREE)
3. Checking emails was never a problem anymore
4. Internet access was not an issue anymore.
5. Personalised ringtones can be easily created in iTunes.
6. All the applications are very userfriendly.
What I dislike about owning the iPhone:
1. SMSing can be quite a pain... or may be I just need to get used to it. (from button to touch screen)
2. The black backing and screen can be easily smudged during handling.
3. Battery life can be quite depressing, ( but there are ways to improve it...)
4. But most of all Singtel charges for the data plan is RIDICULOUSLY EXPENSIVE... :(

Its really okay...

2008-09-29T11:26:00.005+08:00

There was once a gardener who works in a big mansion. His duty was to fetch water daily from the river to be used for the mansion keeps. The river was situated below a hill slope behind the mansion. The gardener uses 2 vases tied to a pole and carries it over his shoulder for this duty. But the thing is, one of the vase got a slight crack and whenever the gardener reached the mansion, the vase with the slight crack will naturally contained less water upon reaching the mansion.
This continues for months. Until the cracked vase voices out to the gardener: " I am sorry that I cant give you the full amount of water that you wanted Mr Gardener. Its just that this crack is making it difficult for me.." saying with a sigh.. But the gardener replied: "Its really okay.. do you know that because of the sight cracked, the plant along your side of your hill slope all blossom with flowers because of the water that dripped out of it. And I plucked them up to decorate the mansion. this made my master very happy, thanks to you.."
Morale of the story is... it ok if you have a "slight crack" in yourself. You never knows what benefit it can brings to others around you.

To all my muslim acquaintance...

2008-09-29T10:09:00.005+08:00

Here's wishing you...

Just a cup of coffee...

2008-09-24T12:27:00.005+08:00

Coincidence...

2008-09-01T19:55:00.007+08:00

Today mark the first day of Ramadan. The fasting month for all muslim. And afters years of producing calendars for clients, this is the first time I came across the dates of Ramadan falls on the exact dates of the Gregorian calendar. Thats is, 1st of Ramadan 1429 is also the 1st of September 2008. Such coincidence, but does it means anything? I doubt so.. But for sure, this coincidence will come back years later.
And to make it more convenient for reference, shown here are the prayers times for S'pore Muslims reference. This was actually taken from Hjh Maimunah restaurant promo material that I printed a couple of days back.

The iPhone...y

2008-08-21T22:33:00.007+08:00

Well, atlast the most hyped-up item in the world is here.. the iPhone 3G. I got the confirmation from Singnet after placing a reservation for the phone but now... I have my "reservation" about getting it too. Like what I mentioned in my earlier posting, the pricing that Singnet tagged with the iPhone plays a vital factor in enticing the real user to the real suckers. Cause if you are parting with your N95, the E71, the Omnia or the HTC Diamond, think real hard.. as what I stated below may help you from putting up your iPhone on Ebay in the coming weeks ahead.
To be constructive in my opinion, I will label the "Lacking features" to 2 segments, the "Wish List" and the "Basic List". This is only fair as you can grab any phone in the market and started to ...."I wish it will have this...bla..bla...bla.." So here are the list:

"The Basic List"
1. The iPhone cannot be used as a hard drive storage device. Why huh? What do you expect to with all the storage space?? Listen to music from here all the way to KL? Are Singaporean that free?
2. No MMS and Video Conferencing facility. And NO VIDEO recording.Talk about lack in basic.
3. You cannot delete individual sms and recent call list. NOW... you got to be more careful with those sms and nos that you call. Not good for those that have alot to hide from.
4. No voice and speed dialling feature. Thats it, no more making those radio dedication calls from the iPhone.
5. No voice and video recording. Bluetooth limited to earphone to talk.
6. FM Radio. This is a basic feature for me as I loved the radio when I travelled on public transport. I guess the iPhone wants me to surf the radio online huh?
7. No Video player... (truth is, I am not sure about this.. got to cheeck again and revert later)
And my "Wish List" are
1. Camera should be updated to 3.2 mega pixel or upto 5 mega pixel.
2. No LED Light for better picture for camera in night. Why stevie??
3. No voice dialling. Some my not like the toucj=h screen, so this feature should be available.
4. No Messanger for Chatting. Ok for those that needs a life...
It is not complete 3G iPhone, thats my take.
There you go.. you decide if you are willing to part with your money and help the retail sector or look at your exisitng phone and see what it got that the iPhone cant do... Just dont compare the looks...

Closure...

2008-08-15T18:05:00.005+08:00

Go Green...

2008-08-09T15:57:00.000+08:00

Just another piece of the puzzle...

2008-07-31T12:25:00.009+08:00

What matters to us most in life?... Family, Career, Passion, Health?? the list goes on. So how do you balance and allocate the time for each things that is important to you? Here's what you should do... list the things that is important to you. And I believe basically there are 4 things:
1.Spirituality and Personal Development
2.Family & Relationship
3.Career
4.Personal Care & Health.
Try to honestly asses how much time you give to each of these basic needs. Do you for example devote 80% of your time to work and expect that your family life to be rich and rewarding. Do spent 10% of your time caring for your health and wonder why you always falls sick most of the time. Or do you allocate 70% of your time for the family and get frustrated that your career are not taking off in flying colors. Well.. something have to give in, to be sacrifice, to be compromise.
You got to identify and choose your priority. Once you have done that, then give yourself credit, a pat on the back, if you have done well in the chosen prioritised area. Try to cut down on your worries, the thing is to plan your life and not to worry about things that may or may not happen. And the most important thing of all is ... LOVE YOURSELF FIRST... this act of loving yourself will act like a shield that will protect you from those challenges life will throw at you... So try it. Life is like a puzzle, but like what my beloved friend used to say... the picture is up to us to create

The young people...

2008-07-30T21:45:00.002+08:00

I dont believe it....

2008-07-28T17:47:00.002+08:00

Dont expect anything fantastic from this new episode of the X-files movie. After the wait of about 6 years, the outcome is totally disappointing. I would have waited another 6 years if Chirs Carter would just comes up with something as extraordinary, as the first movie. The acting is bad, the plot is shallow - to the point of being predictable, though the entrance of "Skinner" at the last few minutes managed to lift the show abit to me, I totally give this movie a 2 thumbs down. Even "Dexter" (new drama series about a guy with psychotic killing problem) is total better in term of plot and acting. Makes me wonder why do Chris Cater would have bothered with all the hype about keeping the plot details a closely kept secret... unless they dont want the viewers to know how lousy-shit the movie is...

Tying the knot or making a noose...

2008-07-23T14:12:00.009+08:00

Marriages, babies, parenthood, careers.. these are issues thats were always binds together as one. Its is something that no guidebook can be created to help one understand the way to face these issues heads on. Why are young dating couples do not have that confidence to walk the path that many dreaded..?. My guess, personally, its all boils down to FINANCES. Just look at the start of the whole affair... The Marriage Celebration.. the $5million wedding ring, the Honeymoon holidays etc etc.. Yes, we can make do with what we can afford... easily said ... But not good enough to counter the peer pressure from relatives and others.

Surprisingly, statistics shows that... "more Singaporeans do want to get married — eight in 10, from six in 10 during a 2004 survey. - Today Paper" And most have reservation about being.. "economically successful" in sustaining a happy marriage. My advise to young dating couples is, please understand the concept of marriage first before you embark on these road of thorn and roses. Dont do it for reasons between the sheets. That will probably last the most 30 minutes.

Have the endurance to face the hardship together. Be realistic in expectation and accept your partner as he or she is... Tying the knot with these simple basic understanding is good enough to avoid creating a noose for yourself...

My personal view..

2008-07-21T10:12:00.002+08:00

After putting up my blog for about 2 months, I realised that it is actually doesn't depict the real picture of me. I am actually quite a old fashioned and conservative guy. And yet I went thru and paid for a course in creating a blog. I guess, may be I wanted to portray a different side of me in a state of anonymity. Some may called it a sign of lacking in confidence while I may called an avenue to be someone else in a different environment.

But now I realised, if we are not careful in what we wrote in our blog or "digital public diary", personal issues may well be, unintentionally, a public discussion topic. Be it relationship issues, office matters, family matters and so on. Unless you want it to be, I think personal issues should well be kept within closed circle of trusted aquaintance. My point is, why put up issues that only reflect the weaker side of oneself and let your character be trampled upon with unconstructive comments? The way I see it is that, if you need the world to solve your personal problem, my view is you need to be careful of what people would think of you.

My comment may be wrong, given the "infant period" that I am in within this new platform. But then again, it is a platform for me to express my personal view rite.. or is it not?

Knowledge...

2008-07-20T20:09:00.002+08:00

As I mature..

2008-07-17T10:04:00.001+08:00

As I mature

I’ve learned that you cannot make someone love you. All you can do is stalk them and hope they panic and give in

I’ve learned that no matter how much I care, some people are just assholes

I've learned that it takes years to build up trust, and it only takes suspicion, not proof, to destroy it

I've learned that you can get by on charm for about 15 minutes After that, you'd better have a big willy or huge boobs

I've learned that you shouldn't compare yourself to others - they are more screwed up than you think

I've learned that you can keep vomiting long after you think you're finished

I've learned that we are responsible for what we do, unless we are celebrities

I've learned that regardless of how hot and steamy a relationship is at first, the passion fades, and there had better be a lot of money to take its place!

I've learned that 99% of the time when something isn't working in your house, one of your kids did it

I've learned that the people you care most about in life are taken from you too soon and all the less important ones never go away

Its tough shit...

They just dont get it...

2008-07-14T23:19:00.006+08:00

The routine that comes after Sunday is something that everyone have to face whether they like it or not. Its WORK, DEADLINE & CHECKING SCHEDULES for submission etc etc etc.

But what really pissed me off is being given a "FALSE DEADLINE". This is when some superior asshole makes you work your butt off, burning your weekend and all only to be told later,: "Its a job well done... but you know what... I got good news for you! I have managed to pushed the deadline 1 week later so we can comes out another visual!!!". And they waited for me to give him a rounding applause.

They just dont seem to realise, that its not a favour done. Its a opportunity lost to maximise your time.. and very demoralising.

And I comes across, one too many "nobrainer", personnel who just dont seem to understand why must they have to give this "FALSE DEADLINE". I get very upset when they did this.

So my advise to "DEADLINE RECEIVERS", pls ask them for the "TRUE DEALINE" before you embark on any project.. because most of these Project Managers dont understand time will makes the difference... they just dont get it...

Where we have been..

2008-07-11T21:32:00.001+08:00

Its a justified concern...

2008-07-10T09:22:00.000+08:00

I have come across articles pertaining to foreign talents in Singapore. And most of it reflects the concern of how these foreign talents are depriving Singaporean of the right to jobs and livelihood. Its a justified concern and as a Singaporean I can empathise with them. I myself am surrounded by a few of them. A couple of them from India, China & Philippines. Its been about a couple of years now since they first came and work in my company.

And after working with them for a while I conclude that there are a few things that I find quite beneficial for me to share with all.

Most of them seems very enthusiastic and full of drive to the extent of forgoing any social life. This I can understand, as most of them are here all alone and their main aim are to earn as much as possible to meet their financial commitment. As most of them took financial loan to work overseas and hope to make good of their endeavour. They are also more willing to try new things and are always willing to stayed longer in office to complete a given task. Kind of reminding me when I started working years ago.

I guess I felt good with all these guys around me as, with all the enthusiasm and drives that they brought with them, it helps to re-ignite the fire within me that got lost somewhere along the road of my career. They also provide me with the challenged to justify my presence in my company as being relevant. That means I cant slackened. That to me is good. So though many may complain about their presence, I on the other hand, are looking at their presence as a time to reflect about oneself attitude towards our working life.

No Air...

2008-07-09T13:47:00.002+08:00

I was with a friend who just got a Macbook Air after subscribing to Singnet Broadband. Well he need to topup about $1.2K to be able to received the Air in that promotion. Usually subscribers like myself will just get the Macbook.

After doing abit of calculations and getting on-hand test on the Air, I think it is quite a worthwhile investment. I never thought the Air can be quite fast in terms of speed in doing work with inDesign and Photoshop.

And of all the new features that they have in the Leopard (the latest OS for Mac), the "Time Machine" is the one that I found most impressive. For those who are not aware, the Time Machine only exist in the Apple Leopard Operating System. It is an application where it auto backup your files or if you ever need to retrieve or recover lost files. This application will virtually takes you back in time to retrieve it. And the interface is cool too.

But to utilise the use of the Time Machine, you need to have an external hardisk for this application. This will segregate the storage away from your main hardisk. That to me is a big set-back. I would'nt want to be carrying extra luggage when, in the first place, the reason of using a laptop is to make myself more light. Though I think you can partition its internal hardisk space to use the Time Machine, but the built-in storage for the Air is not really generous, only 80gb. So to partition it for the Time Machine will be too costly for its inbuilt space.

Another major point to note is that, the Air does not a disc drive.

Though I did not manage to get more time on the Air, (as most Mac owners are very possessive about their Mac products), I still think the Air is great for play and practical for work too. I know some will say that I am bias as I have been a Mac nerd for years but.. hey show a PC product that can convince me to think otherwise.

you are allowed to dream

2008-07-07T22:15:00.007+08:00

Couple of weeks back, I managed to get myself to watched this movie together with my missus and my teenage daughter. Adila. Well, actually I was coaxed into watching this by my other half. But it turns out to be an experienced. As per normal, Adila was enjoying every moment of it and My wife was all teary after the show, which means she enjoyed it too.

But what I found most interesting was the fact that, the movie potrays ladies to be more sensitive, self-sacrificing, deceitful, smart and caring all in one mould. And the guy, well, just say that he had to even give a love letter send to him by an admirer, to his teacher to decide what to do with it... Quite sad huh, for a guy, in this show..

Anyway, looking from a perspective a guy who is good enough to be a father-in-law to someone, I managed to find a message in this movie which will benefit all you guys..( or male youth for that matter ). The message is,.. be good and nice to whoever, wherever as you never know who is watching. But then, it makes your deed kind of fake is it? So the thing is, be sincere and just hope a rich man's daughter is watching you.. Well boys, you are allowed to dream once a while.

But I actually liked the theme song, sang by Rossa. The tune seems nice, checked it out here..

about true friendship

2008-07-06T00:02:00.007+08:00

The thing about friendship is quite unique. It has a no boundariies. The bond that builds up during the process is created along the way from one common interest. Just like my Fishing buddies. They came from all walks of life, Teachers, Technician, Courier Guys, and many more. But here we are coming all the way from different parts of Singapore, in the wee hours of the morning, just to enjoy each other company in a floating vessel, for atleast 8hours, away from land. No tv, no internet, no noisy automobiles and best of all no stress.

I was at the verge of being strike-off from the group list after I got myself distracted with something, that I think, was not really worthwhile for couple of weeks. I neglected them for quite a while. Did not return their call, never reply their sms, That was a big mistake... But I was forgiven. There you go, nothing like your fishing buddies, they are one of a kind. I managed to get myself reconnected again with them yesterday and we are planning for another trip soon. Really looking forward to it.

Thats the thing about true friendship, it can never be easily broken.. unlike most other things in life.

What self-denial is...

2008-07-04T19:04:00.004+08:00

What is self-denial... It is the denying of truth within self, not for the sake of a greater good to self, but for the sake of good to what others will see. This is really denying self.

Some may look at it as a real sacrifice of self-interest, from disinterested motives; that is, from a singleness of eye, to glorify one deed, and do what they think is good to others.

We all do experienced this during the undulating route of our lives.. whether we like it or not. Some are able to do it better than others. And some may use it as a mission to accomplished the glorification of God. While others are just born in self-denial. But whatever it is, there are times when we have to be truthful to oneself to be able to live life full or we will be forever be life's fool...

Not an entitlement but it is a privileged...

2008-07-02T21:08:00.004+08:00

There is alot of things that you can do in this life. But only how much you would get appreciated is the issue. The irony is that, the things that you do out of loved could never be measured in any form, its a selfless act with no strings attached. It could be just a phone call, an email, a postcard or just a note to say “Hi” but the main question is, how is the reaction that comes from the other receiving end.

I personally felt a little disappointed with a couple of people closed to me that I felt was a little insensitive to the whole act of being cared for. Do we need to be taught how to react to someone who show you that they care for you... Or are we too individualistic or arrogant to think that this is something that we should received in the first place. or do we just take advantage of the situation knowing that someone who cares and loved you will always do this act even though you take it for granted. A simple “SINCERE thanks” is not natural respond as I DESERVE to be treated this way. We feel that, we are there at top of the hierarchy and the only way is to look is: DOWN. Is that what we are now?

I think I have had enough of this. To be loved is not an entitlement but it is a privileged given by someone who really cares for you. Appreciate it while you can. May be we are too self confident to think that there will always be someone who cares me... but just imagine if that is not true ..

2008-06-29T23:31:00.000+08:00

Handphones display....

2008-06-27T22:03:00.009+08:00

I am always looking forward for Friday.. especially the nasi sambal goreng at Masjid Hang Jebat. Its awesome and cheap too. But it can get a little over filling so my advise is to take after the solat Jumaat... Takut tak Khusyuk sembahyang nanti dah kenyang. Dengar Khutbah tertidur pulak.. but please do not come to Masjid Hang Jebat for the nasi sambal goreng only.. The ambience is cool too.

But what disturb me the most is the Handphones display when its time for Jumaat Prayer.. I really do not understand why cant we place the phone in our pocket? Do we need to place in front of us when we are praying? It can still be distracting even though it on silent. How can you not to be distracted by a swirling phone in vibrating mode... sheesh.

Sometimes, I try to find a reason for this act... Is it their pants is too tight for then to place the phone in? So when you are not praying, don't tell me you hold the phone all the time.. You have to put it somewhere rite? or what other reason is there...? I could not think of any other reason. Pleaasee dont make it a habit guys.. I will definitely get distracted if I saw an iPhone on the sejadah... habis lah my solat.. minus points.

Good Advise.... or not??

2008-06-25T20:15:00.002+08:00

Will you get it?

2008-06-25T15:23:00.001+08:00

Today, I submitted a reservation for the Apple iphone thru Singtel Webpage. It is not legal binding, as they will call you when the phone is available and you got a week to decide whether to get it or not. Obviously the price will be the main factor in my decision. As Apple have already made known the selling price of the iphone, it wil be interesting to see how much Singtel will markup before they let it go to the market. And what will be more interesting is to see how they will justify their markup.

Just for reference and comparison, the stark lacking in the iphone are:
1. No MMS capability
2. No Video recording
3. No Video Conferencing
4. No Bluetooth connection capability with PC
5. No dedicated ringtone capability (this I am not too sure.. will confirm later)

So with all that lacking, does it still appeal to you?

THINK

2008-06-23T23:12:00.002+08:00

Questions of the Day...

2008-06-22T22:56:00.001+08:00

Nokia N78... Dont buy it yet....

2008-06-20T20:08:00.006+08:00

Today I returned the Nokia N78 phone to hardwarezone office after being a appointed as a "Trial User" for a week. I got to admit, the new features are quite interesting. I was a bit apprehensive about it at first,.. as I got a bad experience from my previous N73 but surprisingly I was beginning to grow into it.

The FM transmitter was interesting but not really beneficial to me. Unless you want to want to fool around in the bus or MRT by changing people's radio channel at your own free will. Cheap thrill, I say.

Personally I would recommend to you guys who likes:
1. Listening to music using your phone
2. Using your phone as a camera
3. Surfing the net using WIFI
4. And changing other's radio channel without them knowing

What sucks (or may be I am sucks technically):
1. GPS setting is hard to configure
2. Transition from one application to the other is slow
3. Feels like a plastic toy phone
4. And the keypads is painful to use

What's cool:
1. The overall looks (at the expense of the keypad design)
2. The 3.5mm earphone jack

I will put up my feedback report to hardwarezone later for you guys ro read. But if you ask me ... To buy or not to buy..??? Go for the E series.. the latest I heard the latest E71 has a 3megapixel camera too.

Trial user for Nokia N78

2008-06-15T21:45:00.005+08:00

For all of you guys, who have plans to upgrade your phone to a Nokia N78, pls do consider reading my blog in about 10 days time. I was being selected by Nokia to be one of their many trial users for that model.

I just got the phone last Friday and in the midst of meddling with It. I have tried using the N73 and it sucks big time.. The worst phone I ever got. And the N78 looks like going down the same road too but its still too early to tell.. Sorry to offend any of you guys that loved the N73 or the Nseries for that matter, but thats personally how I feel.

Anyway I am using the E51 now and love it alot. If you want my feedback about the E51..? Pls let me know, I will put it up for you to read if you want me to. So do come and read my feed back in 10 days time and see the summary report that I will submit to them.

- Certification of Virginity for women.... and men??

2008-06-12T12:25:00.008+08:00

I come across an article in today local newspaper about this private clinic in Paris that provide a medical service that getting popular among women, especially Muslim women. The popular medical service they provide is the ability to "restore" women's virginity for a price of about $4000. Actually quite a reasonable price for restoring one's illusion of piety.

The next question is.. why do you have to go thru all this? Are we in a state of denial? Though we never come across issue of annulment in marriage because of viginity issues here in Singapore. I wonder if the closet have been filled up with quiet dissent.

Not that I condone free sex among women, especially Muslim women but do Muslim men present indirect pressure to women with silent ideology about virginity? Medically proven, there are alot of other issues that can make women lose their virginity. So I dont think this medical practice will be in demand here... I sure hope not.

But you will never know, the next thing Muslim women are needed to submit before they get married, is the “Certification of Virginity”. As what the article claimed being requested by some Muslim ladies now for marriage purposes.

I am quite sceptiical that this article is done to highlight medical services but merely to mock the Muslim perception of issues pertaining to one’s practise as a Muslim. Nevertheless it is an issues that we must be able to openly discussed and not to let it be swept under the rug or the bed for that matter... lame huh?

Lame or not, to be fair to Muslim ladies, as a Muslim guy I wonder if there are any medical services in this world that can cater to prove men’s virginity to balance the proof of piety....?

- Apple new iPhone.. now in 3G

2008-06-10T21:18:00.006+08:00

Phone, iPod, Internet, and more.

Singtel is carrying the phone in but according to 93.8 news the other service provider is bringing it in too. I will probably wait and see what issues they will have operating in this region before getting one. But then again the price is quite affordable I might be tempted just to get it. It will be half the price of the Nokia N95 series.
But as i recall there are alot of issues facing the first generation iPhone that users now are quite sceptical of this new iPhone. Issues like battery life, music files, bluetooth connectivity, files transfer just to name a few.
But as an avid apple user, I am quite impress by the new 3G version.
Look out for more info with regards from users of the first generation iPhone. I will put it up later.

- Design is being able to translate & form...

2008-06-08T20:42:00.021+08:00

The title is what I read somewhere in the net... It makes alot of sense. To be able to potray your message in graphics is a challenge in its own terms.
Just like a writer, a composer and many more professions, its a challenge to be able to make the audience see your message. So expressing your views is the way to go to show your true colors. Never be afraid to.
Here are some of my design works that have been approved for printing. Though I got to admit that some of the works are "Client Driven", nevertheless it is something to be abele to potray what you like and to please the client in the process. These collections span from a period of 1 to 3 years ago.
If you need further clarifications on the works, please do drop me a post and I will be glad to answer any queries pertaining on the matter.

Double click on the image to view it larger.

- Paint brush to mouse

2008-06-08T15:38:00.010+08:00

As a designer I have seen the transition of times in the way artist present heir work. Whether is good or bad is up to us to debate all the way till the cows comes home. Being an artist that have evolved in this transition, I can see the difference in the media have to the way artist look at their work.

I have a couple of favourite fine art artis like Frank Frezzata and Roger Dean. These guys are the ones that create their work using canvas and paint brushes. And some of their work are well known for Movies Posters and Record covers. And most importantly they created a niche in their style and it shows in their work.< Even local artist like Sarkasi Said, who have been using the batik media for years without technology assistance and yet created a name for himself in this industry.

Do the new generation of artist need to find ways to manipulate the technology media to create somethig for this century?

If you want to start to expressing yourself, click here

Design

2008-06-08T15:25:00.002+08:00