Utopia.net

Me, Myself and I

2005-11-19T16:36:00.000+08:00

Life's too short to be looking back isnt it? I know, its been a while since i last posted anything on this blog and the last entry was pretty depressing. However, i read a recent hoo-ha about what classifies an actual blogger.

2 pretty girls (and a journalist...2 kinds of people you dont want to mess with...journalists and lawyers. they'll screw you over pretty bad) were involved and one was saying the other one is not really much of a blogger. Just a cute chick with a blog. Hmmmm, reason being she didnt make her name due to her blog. So i guess since no one reads my blog (except for a few poor souls who're prolly bored to death...), i'm not considered a blogger as well!! Just a cool, handsome, studly (ahem..) guy with a blog. But hey, i cant argue with someone whose professional JOB is a full time blogger! But it did get me thinking, what purpose would my blog be if no one reads it?

One of the reasons stated on a recent survey of my blog readers (there was no such thing..) was that i didnt have an interesting blog. it was all full of ramblings and no photos! Okay, so now there you go. thats a photo of me with something black in my mouth. Was a bit drunk when i took that photo and believe it or not, its a winery in Napa Valley! looked more like a castle to me.
Well, juggling between work and learning and just being lazy, its beginning to wear me out. People say i dont have much of a glow in my eyes anymore.....i'm actually putting on weight for the first time in my life. Damn Americans eat like horses! Well, this post is so completely about me!! And i'm beginning to like it! Maybe my life is a little bit more interesting that the state of affairs in Malaysia, but I'm mindful that Malaysia is alot more important than me.

Deepest Condolences

2005-10-21T13:17:00.000+08:00

There'll be no bullshit from me in this post. My deepest condolences to all Malaysians. The battle was well fought...her efforts and story will help us win the war.

My dear Malaysia.............

2005-10-14T09:36:00.000+08:00

When i was done reading everything that was posted on this link, my heart sank to a new low. It would have been a very very very bad situation to be in. Some people would be sceptical and say that this sort of thing will only happen in mediaval times when there was a class divide between counts, barons, warlords and of course, the serf. There were also castes, meaning people who're born into the same world, were treated differently based on only ONE criteria, the colour of their skin. Different classes of people exist due to their religion or even because who their father was!

Hmmm the last few sentences felt very familiar...oops~! Oh wait, that still exists today..... right here in my backyard.

I love you Malaysia, but very soon few would appreciate what you've given them because you were badly abused by people who claim you as their country. It is so ironic that the very people who are responsible for you, abandon and abuse you for their own gain. Here, some people would prefer to have a broken country... rather than share a glorious country with others.

William is dead~! (not...)

2005-10-09T13:17:00.000+08:00

Its been 4 months! Can you believe it? 4 months since i last updated this beloved blog of mine. I was so determined to make this a weekly...if not a daily effort. The thing that got to me was when i finally got the guts to have a look if my blog was deleted or deemed obsolete, i found comments posted by trolls asking me to go speed-dating online!!! The internet is not the safe place it used to be when i started going online when i was 15. Not only are there tons of viruses and worms and scams and spams.............there's scums!

Well here i go with my ramblings again. Plenty has happened in the past 4 months. Malaysia's AP policy came under scrutiny (sort of, kinda lost it steam recently... damn forgetful Malaysians~!), a few deadly hurricanes hit the coasts of the US (katrina, rita...stan?!?! <-- a guy?!?!) and the resort island of Bali was attacked (yes...again). A few bloggers in Singapore were also arrested and put in jail for posting politically incorrect statements online. These events sadden me. It was the embodiment of corruption, catastrophe, insanity and brutality. We dont have to wait for doomsday or the apocalypse to know that this world we live in is going to the dumps due to our own stupidity.

Oh well, back to some not-so-sad news, i'm in the US! Currently typing in a hotel in Hillsboro, Oregon. Sent here on a job assignment (a fancy way of saying c***p labour?) for 2 months. Life's okay, the United States is not really my favourite country in this world, but i'm getting acquinted with it. The good news is....i rented one of my favourite cars at the expense of my company!!! AN M6.........yes!! an M6~!! Hahahaha...~! At first i wanted an M3...but hey...since the M6 was available...I'll take it!! I cant believe i actually sacrificed the GPS sat nav for this car! For those guys who're drooling already, no its not a BMW~! Its the Mazda6.

I have a few photos to share, but i still cant figure out how to post a picture in blogspot. There were a few ways....and they were all too troublesome. So for now, good night!! (good afternoon for folks back at home...i miss you all)

Largest data security breach

2005-06-20T00:17:00.000+08:00

According to CNET , this could be the largest data breach ever! I've always been very guarded when using credit cards either online or for other purposes besides swiping at the mall or petrol station.

Did you know that when you call up to reload your Digi prepaid credit, you're actually calling 3rd party companies to process your transaction? This is due to the fact that many banks outsource their data processing to centers with lower costs. This also means that your data that you entrusted to banks is also given to 3rd party companies such as this.

Life is on an all time low for me ..................

Finders Keepers?

2005-06-19T16:36:00.000+08:00

WOW~! This is great news! I wish to congratulate all my friends who have these PTPTN loans to repay. Looks like you dont have to pay them back after all?!

Something as absurd like this can only happen in our country of Malaysia. No transperancy and accountability would ultimately lead to complacency. I believe this incident is telling a very very sad truth about the kind of people entrusted with government funds. So what about it my fellow countrymen?? How long are we going to allow people such as this handle our hard earned tax money?

The rot may be too deep for ANY rescue operation. BUT, as usual, the newspapers will ignore this event soon and by sensationalizing another irrelevant and insignificant event, they hope to 'guide' our forgetful Malaysians to darkness once again. I sometimes wonder if anyone actually realize that we dont ever hold ANYONE in high office accountable.

Phishing~!!

2005-06-10T00:12:00.000+08:00

Wow, this looks so legitimate until you actually open the email~! I just got an email from admin@yahoo.com warning me about my account being frozen until i fill up and return the attached FORM~! Well, seasoned surfers will know straight away that its a hoax. For the not so fortunate souls....my deepest sorry for ur lost~

Phishing and spoofing are all new forms of spam that attempts identity thefts. PLEASE... PLEASE do not open attachments in emails with weird titles or from someone you DONT know. Delete them ASAP.

Look what the PG government did~! Wow, i wonder why KTK has been going around telling people the state government has no money to do any developments. Was he actually forced to give all that money back? Or this never existed in his knowledge in the first place!!

Funny how a car can be driven with the driver blind-folded/sleeping. When will this car crash? Soon..... so the passangers better realize they may need to change the driver to get to their destination................

Intelapple (IN-teh-la-pal)

2005-06-08T21:38:00.000+08:00

Some of you probably have heard about the recent announcement that Apple will start using Intel microprocessors (and architecture). Its all well and good, with Apple ditching long time partners Motorola and IBM (who made the PowerPC proc) for another company that is deemed to have a better roadmap in future. The truth is Apple is pretty pissed with IBM for its inability to scale their PowerPC core to greater speeds and making it run more efficiently (for notebooks). Intel is well known for its Centrino platform that reinvented the way notebooks were sold.

Before this, people either got a Toshiba or IBM or Acer or Compaq or Dell notebook. Nowadays, they dont really care if its a Sony or not, as long as it had the Centrino and Intel inside signs advertized with it. Today, the notebook sector is growing alot quicker than the desktop markets.

I used to be an AMD supporter, a small part of me still is. Why do i support their arch-nemesis Intel now? Well, those who know me well will know why.......lets just say i've joined the DARK SIDE~!

PS. People say that i havent been updating this blog as often. Seems like hangat-hangat tahi ayam. I assure you i'm not~! Just very busy this week with work (i'm talking as if i draw USD20k salary....). Frequent readers would say "this is weird...william isnt complaining about anything in this blog!" Ok...here's my complain: "MY HOUSE FRONT PORCH WAS BROKEN INTO AND MY FAVOURITE BASKETBALL SHOES (ADIDAS) TAKEN AWAY FROM ME!!" Security is getting from bad to worse in Pg, with the crime rate going up and up...unlike the stock market. Lets just see when the rot stops.

I sing(cry) myself to sleep

2005-06-01T21:07:00.000+08:00

Here's something 'new':-

PLAY NEGARAKU IN CINEMAS~! Hahah~! I couldnt help but laugh while reading that news. Older folks will remind me that in the 70's, before a theatre or movie starts, there indeed exist a time when our beloved national song is played! That was when it was first created and the government wanted everyone to hear its glory. During those times, many were proud to be Malaysians. They know how their country was formed, how the British wanted to make Malayan Union, how coorperation and determination brought all the races together to form the first government after the Japanese were chased away. We even made it through an armed uprising by CPM (Communist Party of Malaya).

I've once spoken to a friend who keeps condemning Chin Peng whenever the topic of him bringing his case to court to allow his (and his comrades) return. I boldly asked him "Did any of your immediate family members die due to the communists?" He thought hard........but in the end he lowered his head and admitted that no communist had wronged him before (he was just too young! Including me!). I reminded him that when Malaya was under Japanese occupation, the CPM fought for Malaya's freedom, long after the British had surrendered and left this homeland of ours. AND, post-occupation, the CPM was used by then prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman as a barganing chip to allow Malaysian independence should he convince the CPM to lay down arms. The rest, as they say, is history.

Back to the story about a suggestion to play our national song in cinemas. The objective? This is what another dear minister of ours said :-

“We need to acculturate the citizens to always stand at attention and sing along proudly.

“The respect and appreciation for the national anthem is waning and the blame is on us if the future generation can’t sing Negaraku,” he added.

Yes Sec-general of Information Ministry Datuk Seri Dr Arshad Hashim~! I agree that respect and appreciation has dropped to worrying levels. But this is NOT the right way to ACCULTURATE the citizens. You can spend billions on crappy campaigns like TAK NAK! and all but if you do not follow through, gauge the responds and effectiveness of the campaign, nothing will be accomplished! ALSO, HOW DO YOU EXPECT PEOPLE TO LOVE THE NATION WHEN YOU ARE PROVIDING MORE JOBS & EDUCATION TO INDONESIANS AND PAKISTANIS? I'm not a redneck or a racist. I just think that the current handling of foreign workers and education is not benefiting locals, in many cases depriving them exactly that. More jobs are created for them than there are for our poor unemployed graduates! I just think Malaysia needs to clean up its own house before inviting so many people in.

Dont be surprised if one day, an Indonesian PR's son/daughter will be given priority over YOUR children for an overseas scholarship. At the same time, people who fought and risked their lives for this country are not even allowed to come home to visit their parent's grave.

I cry myself to sleep (for Malaysian future)

Challenges and Problems

2005-05-28T04:01:00.000+08:00

This piece of short story is forwarded to me by a close friend. Too bad i dont know who the author is or i'll credit him for this work. If any of you know, please email me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Here I grow again"

Don't worry if you have problems! Which is easy to say until you are in the midst of a really big one, I know. But the only people I am aware of who don't have troubles are gathered in little neighborhoods. Most communities have at least one. We call them cemeteries.

If you're breathing, you have difficulties. It's the way of life. And believe it or not, most of your problems may actually be good for you! Let me explain.

Maybe you have seen the Great Barrier Reef, stretching some 1,800 miles from New Guinea to Australia. Tour guides regularly take visitors to view the reef. On one tour, the guide was asked an interesting question.

"I notice that the lagoon side of the reef looks pale and lifeless, while the ocean side is vibrant and colorful," a traveler observed. "Why is this?"

The guide gave an interesting answer: "The coral around the lagoon side is in still water, with no challenge for its survival. It dies early. Thecoral on the ocean side is constantly being tested by wind, waves, storms - surges of power. It has to fight for survival every day of its life. As it is challenged and tested, it changes and adapts. It grows healthy. It grows strong. And it reproduces." Then he added this telling note: "That's the way it is with every living organism."

That's how it is with people. Challenged and tested, we come alive! Like coral pounded by the sea, we grow. Physical demands can cause us to grow stronger. Mental and emotional stress can produce tough-mindedness and resiliency. Spiritual testing can produce strength of character and faithfulness.

So, you have problems -- no problem! Just tell yourself, "Here I grow again "

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Obstacles in life and problemetic circumstances are necessary to make us more resilient and strong. Take control of the circumstances, dont let it control you. Hence, people who're shielded from harm and challenges seldom make it through when they face competition. Due to the circumstances ALWAYS being MADE to suit their needs, they have no ability to take charge of the situation themselves. Think about it in the context of Malaysian society. Makes sense doesnt it?

Rotating Chief Minister?

2005-05-25T20:36:00.000+08:00

When i first saw the news on theStar online portal, i couldnt help but laugh at how these politikus go around claiming that BN's power sharing formula is immensely successful and start soliciting support to serve their own agendas. Obviously the only state left that does not have an UMNO Chief Minister in Peninsula Malaysia is coming under great pressure from all quarters. Alot of people, and i repeat, ALOT of people want to see dear Dr. Koh step down. Why? MCA wants to be the sole representative and appear to serve the Chinese community at the fullest and be their main hero. Hence, they very much want the honour of the only Chinese Chief Minister in Malaysia. UMNO, on the other hand, has been pulling the strings behind the development (or rather, under-development) of the state for the past decade as they await a suitable time to jump in and save the day. Opposition parties obviously think he's doing a very bad job (and i agree, many penangites will agree too). Therefore, i truly feel for him as he is facing a myriad of challenges in trying to get his job done. The end result? Penang continues her slow decay into a has-been, with the main electronics industry moving to greener pastures such as China AND Kulim.

I can list down the things that the Federal Government did to slow or stop the development of Penang into one of the regions finest cities. First the free port status was taken away and given to Langkawi (i'm still searching for a valid and sensible reason for that decision), The Penang International Airport was almost closed down and denied sufficient funds for development over the last few years, Georgetown's city status remains in a limbo (historically, it is the FIRST city in Malaysia) as the Federal Government procrastinate on the matter and use technicality to deny it the rightful status. In the mean time places like Alor Setar, Ipoh and Miri are made into cities by pumping money into developing the lacking infrastructure. I'm not saying its wrong but dont deny Penang it's city status just because not many interests are served for the powers-that-be.

The days when Gerakan was an opposition party and Penang was under opposition rule is long gone. Those days, Georgetown had a mayor, who could be Chinese or Indian or Malay as long as they were credible. Georgetown was a thriving city with companies like Intel spearheading the electronics sector since 1973, making Penang the FIRST offshore plant of the world's largest chipmaker. The streets were clean and potholes were few and far in between. Now, the digging never stops and the holes are never filled. Dr. Lim Chong Eu's retirement tooks its toll on many aspects of Penang life as Dr. Koh struggle unsuccessfully to manouver in Dr. Mahathir's government.

Federal Constitutions were amended time and again to centralize all decision making powers to the Federal Government. Even the MPSP's (Majlis Perbandaran Seberang Prai) president is elected by the Federal Government now, regardless of who Dr. Koh's candidate is. Now, all development projects are under the jurisdiction of the Federal Government so no matter much taxes Penangites contribute, it all goes somewhere else for development. I wont be surprised if one day, the Election Commision will redraw and alter the relevant electoral boundaries to increase the number of state seats in Seberang Perai. UMNO has a much stronger holding there. When that time comes when UMNO holds significantly more state seats than Gerakan and MCA, it will not hesitate to install a Chief Minister subservient of their interests. When that time comes, why dont you try telling them to honour the BN power sharing formula and rotate the Chief Minister post? Look at Sabah, the post was rotated and when a FAVOURABLE candidate claims the hotseat, the idea is abolished.

Penang is an eyesore, both for those who hate it and for those who love it (most Penangites like me).

PS. The more roads u build, the more cars people buy. Building roads is not a solution to the problem Dr. Koh~! You've told us many times that the LRT/Monorail is coming. In fact since the late 90's. But where is it now? Think about how many motorbikes + kancils it would take off the road. It is extremely viable for a place like Penang that has the highest population density per square area.

Apple's iBook and PowerBook G4 battery recall

2005-05-22T21:28:00.000+08:00

Well well well.....and what do we have here? It seems like Apple's battery problems are BACK! It was announced 2 days ago that certain Apple notebook models sold between October 2004 and May 2005 had overheating battery problems. Those affected include the 12-inch iBook G4, 12-inch PowerBook G4 and 15-inch PowerBook G4.

According to the press release, those batteries were manufactured by LG Chem. Ltd., South Korea. Affected readers are encouraged to visit the link or contact their local supplier to find out how 'voluntary exchange' can be done with their batteries. If you leave it unattended, it might pose a fire hazard.

Both my dad and brother are avid Mac users. Shame on both Apple and LG though.

PS. I shun Apple products. They are expensive and we pay mainly for the looks and brand. Check out how expensive their iPod Shuffle is.....

Unemployment

2005-05-22T12:34:00.000+08:00

Much has been said about the 80,000 unemployed graduates that this country has. Some think that this is due to the decaying education system in this country and the attitude among these young jobless people. I agree that the education system is on the slump. I compare myself with people educated in the 50's; my dad and his peers, in the 80's; my elder brother and the product of the education system in the 90's.....ME~!.

What surprises me most is how my dad and his friends can talk about anything under the sun with each other regardless of their racial or political backgrounds. Nowadays, we can only whisper to each other and sigh in disbelief when racial sentiments are raised. It has become an accepted circumstance for ethnic chinese and indians in the land of Malaysia to be subjected to unfair playing field. My dad is one of the few luckier first generation malaysians who managed to get a University degree (in Physics) and in those times, it was a rarity. He subsequently became a teacher, a profession revered then and retired as an Inspector of Schools. Now he's enjoying life (i hope). The major difference between then (the 50's) and now was few Malaysians were given the opportunity to get proper education. My grandfather, who came from the Fujian Province in China (that makes me a Hokkien), came ashore with only a shirt on his back and when he passed away, managed to leave a piece of coconut land in the name of my father and brother (i wasnt born yet). My dad told me that my grandfather insisted on sending him to school no matter the circumstances and costs. Those were truly hard times with the Japanese invasion of Malaya and the subsequent Communist uprising.

My brother is a brilliant man. He attended one of the best secondary schools in Penang; Chung Ling High School and graduated from the McMaster University in Canada with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. Despite his good results in SPM, he was denied a place in local universities. Now, he's doing well in his job and has established himself a household; complete with wife and child. He speaks perfect english and i notice that compared to the younger graduates, he is more willing to grind out hardwork. People then were instilled with a hardworking attitude that i can only imagine. My brother too had been through hard times (the 1997 economic slowdown) and he came out a tougher man.

I grew up schooling in the 90's. I was english educated in Penang Free School and speak relatively good Mandarin. I can barely recognize 30 chinese characters and please do not ask me to write anything else besides my name. My dad decided to experiment with me after sending all my other 6 siblings to Chinese schools. I recently graduated from Multimedia University and i'm currently employed (luckily). I've yet to receive my first paycheque but beginning this new chapter in my life has been trying as well and i begin to see many things differently, hence my need to start this blog.

Readers would now be compelled to ask: "So? How does everything stack up?". Firstly, graduates now dont put too much emphasis on education. They often say "I just want to get that piece of paper" A bachelors degree is a norm and once we're done with that, we are not so willing to go on. We are also picky with our jobs. We want a job that pays well, give good benefits, have a conducive workplace, etc. This is all well and good but we forget that this should all commensurate to our experience and ability. There is NO PERFECT WORKPLACE. Learn to live in it and dont expect circumstances to suit you, YOU would have to either do something to change it, or adapt to it yourself. Last but not least, we want to work less. We complain when we have to work overtime or get placed on-call. Money isnt much of a motivation anymore because we have never been poor before. Everything was provided for. How did it become this way?

This is what i heard over the radio one fine morning: "The government has decided to restart the skills training program for unemployed graduates to solve the problem of unemployed graduates in this country......." followed by "The education ministry is proposing to lower the criteria for admitting students into public universities so that rural students are given a level playing field......"

I burst out laughing. Can we place ALL the blame on unemployed graduates for their attitude? Or did government education policies go very wrong?

PS. Note that graduates in the 60's earn almost RM2000 a month and a 2.0L Toyota Cresida (my dad's second car) costs RM16,000. Graduates earn RM2500 (if they're lucky) now and a 1.5L Toyota VIOS would set us back slightly more than RM80,000. Something seems VERY weird isnt it?

Techno-gadgetry

2005-05-19T19:17:00.000+08:00

Today's post will be more informative on the gadget side of things.

Anandtech (a tech site i frequent) has a good coverage of Sony's recent announcement of PS3's specifications.

Of course the direct competition to this device would be Microsoft's XBOX360 (announced sometime ago) and Nintendo's Revolution. All aiming to get a piece of the big yummy gaming console pie. Its been almost exactly 10 years ago when i got my precious 16-bit Super Nintendo(US)/Nintendo Super Famicon(Japan)/Super NES(Asia) with all its cool 2-D graphic games like Street Fighter.

Now onto handhelds:-

My choice of a perfectly converged device comprising of phone+pda functionality is this small guy. What else would be coming along? I'm drooling over THIS~!

Are there any hardcore computer geeks out there who actually use a Macintosh and have enough money to play with it? Here.....try modifying it into a Mobile Computer!~

Who says a Policeman cant be rich ?

2005-05-18T23:59:00.000+08:00

I'm sure most of us have had our 'experiences' with the Royal Malaysian Police Force. Recently the buzz is all about the newly released full report of the Royal Commission to enhance the Operation and Management of the Police Force.

In the report, there's been a BIG DISCOVERY of a Royal Malaysian Police who has assets amounting to RM34 million!! All you people out there who discouraged me when i said i wanted to be a cop (before i decided being a pilot is alot better) should eat your words! Damn, here i am after years of working+suffering for my engineering degree and now you tell me its more rewarding to be a police officer? All of Penang's tech company share options combined probably wouldnt give me this amount of assets even after i'm 55!

A friend said "Come on, you are the one asked me not to believe everything i read in the papers!" I said : "Hey, this is definitely more convincing than news about corruption NOT being rampant throughout this country. And time will tell my friend, time will tell...."

An old chinese saying goes like this : Papers can never be used to cover up fire

Another thing i forgot to mention in my earlier post is that all my readers are encouraged to post comments and email me your thoughts to be shared in my blog (should it be appropriate of course) if you encountered any near-death situations or experiences you just NEED to tell someone about before you suffer a stroke. Substantiation and proof will be needed in accusations that require me to expose in this blog.

Service A and Service B

2005-05-18T21:58:00.000+08:00

Yesterday i went on and on about why and what prompted me to create a blog. Today's post will contain more information as to the traumatic experience i had to go through in these few trying days. I apologize to my early readers who came by often since yesterday in anticipation of the second posting in this blog. I had to work (new worker ant in this big cruel world) and i was so engulfed in dissatisfaction yesterday that i decided it was best for me to cool it off for a day before spitting venom on the internet.

Let me tell you a story about Service A and Service B:-

SERVICE A is a renowned broadband service here in Malaysia provided by a largely government owned telecommunications company. The unavailability of other choices for broadband service is due to this particular company having near monopoly for their fixed line services. Hence, ADSL (link to a paper by Kimmo K. Saarela in 1997 about ADSL) can easily be provided by this said company since the whole nation's copperwire telecommunication grid is under them. A wireless broadband alternative IS available, offered by the first company in the country to offer Internet connections back in the 90's, but the monthly subscription fee is high and the technology used is based on a proprietary one, meaning EXPENSIVE implementation on the part of the consumer (link). The wireless station that new subscribers are required to purchase are well above what many ordinary Malaysians can afford and the availability of this service is very much limited to the Klang Valley ONLY. Why is it so? The answer is simple, technology services in Malaysia are very lucrative and profits and permission to operate them usually go to the well connected. This is evident as i continue one with Service B.

SERVICE B is another common household name (sometimes a necessity given the limited number of free TV channels available to Malaysians using UHF and/or VHF antennas) that provide satellite TV to the common Joe Malaysian. The channels advertized are well over a hundred, but the catch comes when you have to pay for certain 'packages' that are usually bundled in sets of a few channels each. How much for all of them? RM124.95 per month. Lucrative aint isnt it? Considering that their subscriber base is now 1.5million households(you do the math). You may argue that not all will subscribe to the complete package, but the absolute minimum you'll have to dish out from your wallet is RM49.95. This satellite TV is based on This company partially owns a few satellites up in orbit (bragged about as a major milestone for the country when it was first brought into public light that a few billions of ringgit has been spent by the government to support this project) and again, they have near monopoly as no viable alternative is available to the common Joe Malaysian (Link to a search of Jeff Ooi's blog for posts related to this satellite TV operator. He does a very good job investigating it from different perspectives and discloses emails circulated to him about customer care offered by this said company) . Informed readers will say "How about MiTV?". I'll say "I will call it an alternative service, when i actually am ABLE to subscribe to it". Anyone out there who has managed to do so, please email me to tell me about it. Oh, another thing about this PAID satellite TV service can be described in these 5 words: RERUNS, RERUNS and MORE RERUNS!

This is what happened; after a very long day (note long day, not necessarily hard working day) at work , i decided to come home and watch some TV. Turning on a favourite channel of mine that shows ALIAS (a season behind compared to the ones showing on American TV, for other series, its possible that it is a few seasons late!), i sat back and relaxed. After 15 minutes of watching all the action (bombs and bras), the TV suddenly TURNED BLACK! An info tip appeared at the top of my TV screen displaying the dreaded message "The service is currently not available". I looked outside the window and it wasnt raining (for readers from developed countries, please do not laugh as to the fact why satellite feed can be interrupted due to weather. Its based on KU-band technology and C-band is NOT chosen due to higher costs needed for the decoder). Hence it was very weird as to why service could experience outages. I pressed and push several buttons on the controller hoping that a reset of the decoder will help. It didnt and finally after half an hour trying, i decided to call Customer Service. "Hello, i'm having a service outage although it not raining and i've tried resetting the decoder to default settings + restarted it and my smart card was removed and replaced but i'm still not getting any live feed." CustCare:" Can i have your account no. sir?" Me: "My acc number is ..." CustCare: "Could you please press Menu on the remote control and reset the decoder to factory defaults?" Me: "Erm...yes i've already did that but it still doesnt work, let me try it again just in case, hold on" AFTER 1 minute... Me: "No it still doesnt work. i even did a hard reset to it for 15 seconds" CustCare: "Have you turned off your decoder for 15 seconds and turn it back on again?" THE TONE WAS GETTING UNBEARABLE AND IT SEEMS LIKE SHE WASNT LISTENING! Me: " yes i did that as well, is there a problem with my account? It doesnt seem to be equipment related" CustCare: "your account is ok sir. is it raining in your area?" Me: "Miss, i've already told you that its not raining and i've tried everything you told me to." CustCare: " I will submit a report on this and in 3-5 working days a technician will come by to look at your equipment. There's a minimum charge of RM50" Me: "What? How can the dish or decoder be ruined when nothing happened to it? And 3-5 working days is too long. Its one of the few pleasures my dad enjoys at home. Could you make the technician come quicker? What is the RM50 for?" CustCare: "No sir. These hi-tech devices are very fragile and since you are not trained in this matter please leave it to the experts. 3-5 working days is standard...if you cant wait, repair it yourself"

At that instance i was trying very hard not to curse or shout back at her as i'm taught better than that. However, i did state my dissatisfaction with her tone and service before hanging up. What irritated me was not the service outage now as i understand shit happens. I was very pissed with her tone of speech and the way she treats her customers. Not only was she unwilling to listen PROPERLY as to what i was saying, she sounded like I WAS SUPPOSED TO LISTEN TO HER! I finally got called the family electrician the next day and he advised me to leave it off for a few hours, dont touch it, and if i'm lucky it'll be back up. Sure enough after i got home from work today it worked like a charm. I called up my electrician again to thank him and asked for the cause of this weird occurance. He said "Made in Malaysia, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesnt. These feeds are very prone to outages due to the overloaded bandwidth" Enough said i guess.

After feeling like the Sat-TV Customer Service lady ALMOST tricked me into paying RM50 for NOTHING, i felt that i should let the matter rest and go upstairs to check if my Streamyx application had finally gone through after 3 weeks on the waiting list. I called up the nearest 'clickers' outlet. Me: "hi, i'ld like to enquire if my application is being processed?" CustCare: "hi, can i have your service order number sir?" Me: "sure, its ....." CustCare: "i'm sorry sir, you're still on the waiting list" Me: "How long more do i have to wait?" CustCare: "i dont know, it depends on the operations department as to when they want to open new ports" Me: "Shouldnt they open up ports to suit the rising demands? I live in the Bayan Lepas CYBERCITY" CustCare: "i'm sorry sir, but there's nothing i can do about it because its under another department in TM" Me: "Then please give me the person to contact if i want to enquire about when the ports would be available" CustCare: "I'm sorry i dont know who to direct you to" Me: "Sigh, alright thank you for your time"

I pity the thousands of Malaysians on the waiting list for broadband internet. I also pity the customer service lady of 'clickers' for being so helpless about this matter and probably getting all the stick from irritated Joe Malaysians who have been on the waiting list for months. Bottom line, if theres no competition; meaning no alternative broadband service available throughout Malaysia, the basic principles of supply and demand can be defied. The arrogant company executives can slack all they want because no one will grab their business. They just wait for a long waiting list to accumulate (demand) before they decide on their whim where and when they would supply. In the mean time they would still run promotional activities throughout the country, conning Joe Malaysia into signing up instead of having a steady supply first before soliciting for demand. The same goes for the satellite TV operator. They raise prices according to their business needs (for example funding expansion operations in other ASEAN countries) and their existing customers cant do ANYTHING about it because THEY ARE THE ONLY COMPANY THAT PROVIDES PAY-TV CHANNELS!

I BEG ALL THE YANG BERHORMATS + DATUK SERIS SITTING IN GOVERNMENT POSITIONS AND NEWSPAPER EDITORIAL OFFICES TO RECOGNIZE THIS PROBLEM AND ACT UPON IT~!

Frankly, i have little to no respect for many of them for their unwillingness to DO SOMETHING about it except "talk" + "lip service" + "spin-doctoring". I just hope more Malaysians realize that they're very much victimized due to the lack of competition in many sectors to create all the "hoo-ha" about how well the Malaysian economy is performing. Disagree with me? Ask yourself, How much do you owe the bank for your car? How many of you bought a Malaysian branded car recently? Why did you make such a decision? Was it due to CHOICE?

I am not a pengkhianat negara. In fact i consider myself very patriotic because if citizens dont see the grave issues linked to all this LITTLE THINGS in our life that make up Malaysia's artificial GDP growth, it will implode soon and WE will be the ones paying for it.

Malaysia MEMANG Boleh......

My Very First Post

2005-05-17T22:03:00.000+08:00

I've been prompted and encouraged to start my own blog many times by my friends after i confessed to them that i've thought about starting one. Before i get accused of succumbing to peer pressure, let me assure my first few readers that i am anything but easily influenced (many people who know me will willingly put their heads at stake to confirm that) and my posts here in future will be done entirely on my own free will (its hard to claim you have free will nowadays isnt it?).

The reason why i finally succumbed to the urge and started this blog is because i needed an avenue to make my views heard, or more accurately read, by people whom i may or may not know. Simply put, i just want to rant and talk on and on and on about things that matter or affected my life and offer it to the internet community at large for consumption. The good thing about blogs are readers are given a choice which part to read and they may choose to ignore statements that may offend them. Hence, folks who cant take a joke about anything under the sun (i even joke about a stray dog's genitalia with my friends before...), please leave, or learn how to accept a joke in good faith. i can never stress this enough because in malaysia, learned politicians may be offended by a TV commercial or a movie that will never in anyway affect their lives. They think its important enough to even raise it in parliament, and spend hours debating on these trivial matters, that is until all hell breaks loose when the roof of the august house starts leaking!! I guess SEMUANYA OK~!

More matured readers will find this inaugral post a little childish. It may even sound as bad as a spoilt child whining about matters that he knows little or nothing about. i respect the individual right of anyone who visits this blog in future to feel that way, but i'm confident that my readers will be convinced soon enough that my arguments will be presented with substantiation and sound + valid observations.

I will conclude this post for the time being before it gets boring, but my second post will follow soon regarding my experiences and thoughts about a few high-tech services provided to my fellow contrymen and women.