Ip Man

To the Hakka readers in Sabah, check out this interesting video clip of our very own version of Ip Man from youtube.

By the way, just in case you're wondering, I've never been a big fan of sideburns.

Drugs Warning

I was going around to take some pictures of signboards meant for the treasure hunt next Friday, when I saw this interesting sign. It made me laugh in my car. If anyone had seen me then, maybe they'd think that there was laughing gas in the car.

Not exactly in perfect English—perhaps there's still room to improve, grammatically—but I suppose we can more or less get the idea of the warning. A good example of the "Communicative English", i.e. if you can understand it, then the sign has served its purpose.

BM Quiz

If you think I sound like I would rather home-school JJ if I had a choice, that's because I would really do that if I had a choice. But unfortunately, both Mia and I are working full time. However, whenever it is exams time for JJ, Mia would actually take a few days off from work to supervise JJ's revisions. I don't think that's entirely necessary, but Mia would panic if JJ gets a red mark on her report card.

Tomorrow will be the Bahasa Malaysia (BM) papers, and so mom and JJ were doing final revisions. I would usually refrain from butting in; merely observe from a distance, and pretend to have no interest whatsoever in what's going on. But sometimes I just can't control myself—I swear to God I try my best, but I'm not successful all the time!

The BM questions these days are more "modern". They are not really about the language; not even about grammar (nahu). No—at times they're about some conceited people trying to force the kids to know about motor vehicles. Bear in mind that we're dealing with 8-year-olds here. And of course we're not talking about just any vehicles—it has to be our beloved Proton cars which are, when looking at the big picture, not really something we can be proud of. Even an MP from the government is not very impressed with the Proton cars [The Star].

Here's a sample question from JJ's book which caught my attention this evening. If you are viewing this in an average-size monitor, then that's about the right size of how it appears in the book. And yes, it is in black and white too. As you can see from the available choices, A to D, Mitsubishi Lancer is most certainly not the answer. I will leave it to you to pick the correct one. Good luck.

As for JJ, she has gone to bed. She's been revising the whole afternoon and this evening, with a one-hour break for her compulsory afternoon nap. I hope she has done enough for tomorrow. Perhaps the examiners will save the questions about, say, Malaysian Airlines System (MAS) and the likes for next time. Keeping my fingers crossed...

Predators—Trailer

Many of my close friends would know that I am a big fan of both Aliens and Predators. I have seen all the sequels of both these movies—several times.

In some of the sequels, these two alien species actually fought against each other. However, I did not like what's been done. I feel that it was a bad idea to mix them up into the same movie. I like it much better if humans are put up against either one of them, but not both.

In terms of physical abilities, both these creatures are way more superior than us humans. So I love to see how we can beat them somehow with our wits and courage! But whatever the movie makers do, they shouldn't mix them into the same movie.

And that's why I'm very happy to know that there is a third installment of Predators (note the plural noun) arriving at the cinemas soon. This movie will feature only Predators, and not those huge insect-like Aliens.

But of course it won't be the same without Arnold Schwarzenegger, who starred the original Predator over 20 years ago.

Check out the trailer below for the movie Predators (make sure you turn up the volume):

Recommendation For Eric

Normal human sperm cells as seen through a microscope, enlarged by a few million times. Notice the huge heads and long tails. The latter are used for swimming through a thick viscous medium all the way to the egg. The journey has been likened to swimming across the Pacific Ocean in a thick sugary water!

And these are my own perception of how Eric's sperm cells look like. I have not been able to get a sample of the real thing though—not that I'm really keen to get it.

Eric, my friend, if you are reading this, let me remind you that you are over 30 years of age. Go find a girlfriend or a wife. You desperately need to get laid soon, man!

Godsend Richness

An email from my spam box:

"FROM THE DESK OF MADAWI ATASSI
BILL AND EXCHANGE MANAGER,
BANK OF AFRICA (B.O.A) OUAGADOUGOU ,
BURKINA FASO WEST AFRICA .
RE-TRANSFER OF ($10.500.000.00 USD)
(TEN MILLION FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS)

Dear ,

As-Salaam Alaikum

Transfer to overseas ($ 10.500.000.00 USD) Ten million Five hundred thousand United States Dollars) from the Bank of Africa, I want to ask you to quietly look for a reliable and honest person who will be capable and fit to provide either an existing bank account or to set up a new Bank a/c immediately to receive this money, even an empty a/c can serve to receive this funds quietly.

I am MR MADAWI ATASSI, the accountant personal confidant to Dr. Ravindra F. Shah who died together with his wife Dr.Mrs. Manjula Parikh-Shah in a plane crash on the 1st Oct. 2003 on their way to attend wedding in Boston.

Mr. Rainer F. Shah, is an American, a physician and industrialist, he died without having any beneficiary to his assets including his account here in Burkina Faso which he opened in a Bank of Africa in the year 2000 as his personal savings for the purpose of expansion and development of his company before his untimely death in 2003.

The amount involved is (USD 10.500,000.00)Ten Million Five Hundred Thousand USD, no other person knows about this account, I am contacting you for us to transfer this funds to your account as the beneficiary, I want tofirsttransfer$1,500.000.00( One million five hundred thousand USD) from this money into a safeaccountabroad, after which we will transfer the remaining (9M) but I don't know any foreigner, I am only contacting you as a foreigner because this money can not be approved to a local person here, without valid international foreign passport, but can only be approved to any foreigner with valid international passport or drivers license and foreign a/c because the money is in US Dollars and the former owner of the a/c Mr.Ravindra F. Shah is a foreigner too, and as such the money can only be approved into a foreign a/c.However, I am revealing this to you with believe in ALLAH that you will never let me down in this business, you are the first and the only per son that I am contacting for this business, so please reply urgently so that I will inform you the next step to take urgently.

Send also your private telephone and fax number including the full details of the account to be used for the deposit. I need your full co-operation to make this work fine. because the management is ready to approve this payment to any foreigner who has correct information of this account, which I will give to you,upou your positive response and once I am convinced that you are capable and will meet up with instruction of a key bank official who is deeply involved with me in this business.

At the conclusion of this business, you will be given 40% of the total amount, 50% will be for me, while 10% will be for expenses both parties might have incurred during the process of transferring. I look forward to your earliest reply . madawi_atassi@voila.fr

Sincerely,
ALLAH BLESS YOU.
MADAWI ATASSI
BANK OF AFRICA"

On average, I receive at least 2 such emails per day. Of course there are also other junkmails promoting all sorts of things, including free pornographic website passes, cheap Viagra pills from online pharmacies, medications and natural food supplements (with money-back guarantee) to enlarge the size of my manhood, lottery winnings to the tune of millions etc.

But the above email is still the evergreen. At a rough count from the many, many similar emails I've been receiving over the years, there must be thousands and thousands of dormant accounts in the Bank of Africa. And all those dormant accounts are worth millions!

I can only guess that it's still worthwhile for these people to continue this kind of modus operandi to con people. I guess greed is a common human weakness. Out of the billions of people in the world, even if 0.00001% fell for this scam, that is good enough.

This particular email is more unique than the rest in that the author is attempting to rely on religious approach on me (a very, very wrong thing to do!). I am the last person in the world who'd be affected by what appears like religious people.

I enjoy this line:

"However, I am revealing this to you with believe in ALLAH that you will never let me down in this business..."

And I like the closing too:

"Sincerely,
ALLAH BLESS YOU.
MADAWI ATASSI
BANK OF AFRICA"

I wonder how does Mr Atassi's god feel about him stealing money owned by somebody else... HAHAHA!

Tight Shorts

Photo from StrangeCosmos.com

Teo, if you're reading this, I'm not saying that I will take up your challenge and join a triathlon one of these days. But if ever I can summon enough courage to do so, I swear to God I won't be putting on one of these tight shorts, even if I don't have such a big problem to deal with.

Picking Up Girls At Bar

Damn! I knew that there's a valid reason why I can never be any good at picking up girls at the bar—not before, not now, not ever!

I only managed eleven out of sixteen. Scary what I'd do with the wrong picks! But how about you? See how much better you can do than me. Click here.

Jazz Festival 2009—Pictures

I was looking forward to the Jazz Festival 2009 which was held a little over a week ago at the Sutera Marina Club. Unfortunately, Murphy's Law wouldn't allow it—I came down with a bad flu. I didn't think it was amusing to be present among all the people; I'd probably scare them all away. But—no, it's not the A(H1N1), thank goodness!

Just this late morning, I was finally able to copy the pictures from Rtn Tan Yew Lim, and I'm publishing them here. Of course I've resized them all, so I'm afraid they're not so good for printing into hard copies. Because I wasn't there in person to witness the event, I'm afraid there will be very little I can comment (which is not like me!).

And of course I wouldn't do justice if I do not include the photos of my hard-working fellow Rotarians who made this event possible.

And what's a Jazz Festival without some beers, right?

Not forgetting some shots of the audience having a good time.

Never For Love?

Forwarded to my emailbox recently. Click on the picture to read the article.

Miracle

Yesterday morning, a forwarded email arrived in my emailbox. It came from a close friend. Below is an extract of the email:


"Subject: Recent miracle in Egypt!

Broadcasted in CBS...

A Muslim man in Egypt killed his wife because she was reading the Bible and then buried her with their infant baby and an 8-year old daughter.The girls were buried alive!

He then reported to the police that an uncle killed the kids. 15 days later, another family member died. When they went to bury him, they found the 2 little girls under the sand - ALIVE!

The country is outraged over the incident, and the man will be executed at the end of July.

The older girl was asked how she had survived and she says:- 'A man wearing shiny white clothes, with bleeding wounds in his hands, came every day to feed us. He woke up my mom so she could nurse my sister,'she said. She was interviewed on Egyptian national TV, by a veiled Muslim woman news anchor. She said on public TV, 'This was none other than Jesus, because nobody else does things like this!

'Muslims believe Isa (Jesus) would do this, but the wounds mean He really was crucified, and it's clear also that He is alive! But, it's also clear that the child could not make up a story like this, and there is no way these children could have survived without a true miracle. Muslim leaders are going to have a hard time to figure out what to do with this, and the popularity of the Passion movie doesn't help! With Egypt at the centre of the media and education in the Middle East, you can be sure this story will spread. Christ is still controlling and turning the world. Please let this story be shared.

The Lord says, 'I will bless the person who puts his trust in me. (Jeremiah 17)

Please forward to all on your list and God will reward you abundantly.. ..spread the Good News!"


A very interesting email, and I have some comments on it. But I will only post further later outside office hours. In the mean time, I'll let you dwell on this story for a bit.

Later...

______________________________________________


Now where was I? Ah! yes, on the miracle!

The first thing, of course, is that this story is a bunch of craps. If Jesus wanted to prove his existence to the world, he'd probably do something more profound—perhaps saving some of those kids in Gaza is a good start.

I have posted something about chain mails not too long ago. Some people are just not quite right up there. Maybe it has a lot to do with craving for attention. Or some people get their kicks by spreading falsehood or scaring others. I dare say it's some kind of mental disorder, although I must hasten to qualify that I am not professionally trained to make such an assessment. Therefore, this is just my personal opinion.

The "miracle", as far as this particular email is concerned, is that so many people actually believe the story! Looking at the history of email addresses, forwarded from one to another, is just amazing.

Just looking at the email from an unbiased point of view, one is quickly able to tell that it's plain rubbish.

"Broadcasted in CBS"

If there is any truth in this story at all, it would have been broadcasted all over the world by now, not just CBS.

No names have been provided, neither the man, nor his wife nor his children—zilch! We are therefore unable to trace the story. No specific location was given. "Egypt" is an extremely large area. No dates were given so we are unable to trace when exactly did this event occur.

But the most compelling "evidence" that this was a hoax was that appeal:

"Please let this story be shared.

The Lord says, 'I will bless the person who puts his trust in me.(Jeremiah 17)

Please forward to all on your list and God will reward you abundantly.. ..spread the Good News!"

Always remember, folks, whenever you receive forwarded emails appealing you to forward to others, chances are you are being taken for a ride. These are sickos out there trying very hard to make fools out of you, I don't know why. Like I said, I strongly suspect it's some kind of mental disorder. So please resist to automatically forward these kind of rubbish the next time they arrive in your emailbox. Be curious and raise some common sense questions; and then you will know that someone is making fools out of you!

Bakat Interact 2009

I haven't been updating this blog for a few days now. Apart from work, playing some online chess, engaging in some interesting forum in Hope's blog, Rotary meetings, I have been very, very busy leading up to the Bakat Interact 2009 which was held this afternoon at the Auditorium Tun Raffae, Yayasan Sabah.

As the New Generation Director 2008-2009, I was responsible to organise this year's Bakat. What may appear to be a very simple task, actually it is not so easy to organise this event. Earlier this week, I was somewhat getting worried about the poor ticket sales. The Auditorium can accommodate approximately 1,300 people, yet we were only able to sell about 700 tickets. However, a few more days of hardwork together with the Interactors, we were able to finish the entire 1,300 tickets by the time the show started.

The Bakat Interact is an annual project by the Rotary Club of Kota Kinabalu (RCKK). It is essentially something of a musical contest amongst the five Interact Clubs sponsored by the RCKK, i.e. SM La Salle, SM St Francis Convent, Maktab Sabah, SM All Saints and SM Lok Yuk. However, this year, we have also invited an additional competition from Maktab Nasional.

From left: Rtn Dr Ravi Mandalam, DG Edward S. Burongoh, President Warrence Chan

The Guest of Honour was President Warrence Chan, but we were lucky that DG Edward Sung Burongoh was able to spare some time from his busy schedule to grace the occasion. Some other Rotarians and their spouses also came to support the event.

Fellow Rotarians (from left) Rtn Frankie Fu, Rtn Chiang Wei Chia, PP Datuk Vincent Pung, Rtn Dr Ravi.

Wild cheers


Although the event was scheduled to start at 12:30pm, it only started at 1:00pm. When the MCs announced the start of the show, the kids went wild—it's a wonder the ceiling did not cave in. I was still running errands and missed most of the earlier part of the show. During the break I was able to have a short chat with the judges who lamented that it's so difficult to judge the singing, as the voices of the singers were overwhelmed by the cheers of the hysterical audience. I think by tomorrow many students would seek medical help for sore throat.

Costume dance by SM Lok Yuk

Of course, we had plenty of shouting on stage which they called singing; and those jerky movements which they called dancing. However, I kinda like the above performance by SM Lok Yuk which lasted about 2 minutes. After that short-lived pleasant performance, they sort of took off those outfits, and underneath they had sexy dancing costumes. Then the boys emerged from the curtains and did that thing they called dancing.

Well, I wouldn't actually say that I had fun watching these modern-day entertainments, but it was obvious that the kids had a wonderful afternoon at the Bakat Interact 2009. President Warrence Chan and DG Edward Sung Burongoh gave away the prizes. Maktab Sabah emerged Champion, whereas SM All Saints won the Best Showmanship prize.

Champion, Maktab Sabah

Best Showmanship, SM All Saints

I guess I am just too old-fashioned, but I thought the singers from SM St Francis Convent were the outright winners. They sang wonderfully, and if I were to judge the show, I would have decided for them in a heartbeat.

So now it's time to prepare for the next major project, the I.U. Bazaar. That will be in June. I hope it's gonna be equally successful. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Current Economic Situation

Forwarded to my emailbox today.

So far I haven't seen anything like this in KK, and God help us all, I hope our economic situation won't become this serious.

First Time Flying

Thought this is an interesting photo forwarded by some friends recently entitled First Time Onboard The Plane.

Those forsaken safety belts are such a nuisance, don't you think? They can be very confusing to some people.

Tofu vs Cucumber

Well, I'm so glad that I'm still far from the depressing level of the tofu. Otherwise, I suppose I won't be happy or have a positive outlook on my relationship with my wife.

But on the other hand, neither am I anywhere comparable to the level of the cucumber. Just imagine, folks—freakin' cucumber! That's like you can beat up a dog with it and kill that dog in the process! I'll be damned!

Fitting Into The Shoes Of Lara Croft

I used to be a big fan of the video game, Tomb Raider, featuring the role-playing character, Lara Croft. I sort of accidentally found the game when I bought the first Playstation console. The first version of the Tomb Raider series was very crude—the graphics were nowhere close to what they are today. But one was still able to make out the intention of Lara's creator—that Lara was to be a very sexy archeologist. Some years later, the graphics have improved substantially, and the above is an illustration of Lara Croft.


And this is another view of Lara in an acrobatic maneuver.


A few years after the launch of the Tomb Raider video game, it was adapted into a movie, and the role was acted by none other than the godsend Angelina Jolie. Before the Tomb Raider movie, I must admit that I didn't really know Angelina Jolie. I've read about her a couple of times, but I did not know what she looked like back then. When I saw the movie, I was very impressed with Jolie. In my opinion, she fitted into the shoes of Lara Croft the video game character perfectly. She's sexy—pretty, long legs and all that. That first Tomb Raider movie became a huge success, and soon after that another sequence followed, although apparently not as successful as the first one.

Those were the only two Tomb Raider movies up to now. Then last week there was a stir amongst the Tomb Raider fans when rumours had it that a new Tomb Raider movie is in the pipeline. However, Angelina Jolie will not be in it. Instead, the Lara Croft character will be acted by Megan Fox.


And again, I don't really know Megan Fox. Apparently she's been famous for a while now, but I only know her from the movie, Transformers. In that movie I saw her as a beautiful and sexy girl.


Being a die-hard Tomb Raider fan, I don't really favour Megan Fox as Lara Croft. I can't see her fitting into the shoes of Lara Croft. For one thing, I think she's too young for that character. But of course the story teller can easily make a movie of a young Lara Croft. The other reason I'm against Megan Fox is, although she's a very sexy woman, somehow I think her legs are just too short for the Lara Croft of the video game. Perhaps the many photographers are not doing justice to Megan Fox—maybe the angle of the shots had resulted in short-looking legs, I don't know.

Thankfully, however, subsequently to those wide-spread rumours, it's now been confirmed that Fox isn't involved in the up-coming Tomb Raider movie after all. Maybe it's still possible that Fox will be chosen in the end, but if it's not her, I wonder who's gonna be the next Lara Croft.

Underworld

Note: This is NOT a spoiler to the latest Underworld 3: Rise of the Lycans.

In 2003, when the first sequel of the Underworld movie was released, I thought I'd have a change of taste. Vampires and warewolves are a bunch of craps, but perhaps there're some special effects worth watching. Well, indeed the movie had lots of special effects in it.

The story of that first Underworld movie basically revolved around some sort of war between vampires and warewolves. But at the end of it, I found myself somewhat lost. I didn't quite get the full picture, if you know what I mean. So many questions remained unanswered in my mind. I couldn't really decide who're the bad guys and who're the good guys. Lots and lots of killings, and yet the ending was left hanging.

After watching that movie, I thought the story teller left plenty unexplained. In particular, there was a cloud of mystery on how or why did the two clans clashed in the first place. And so, I was not surprised when its sequel, Underworld: Evolution, came onto the scene in 2006. Because of my curiosity, I went for this second movie too in the hope to get some answers still hanging in my mind from the first movie. Instead, by the end of that second movie, although I became more familiar with the main characters of the story, I also found myself having even more questions to ask. There was still nothing much on where and how it all started. Lots of killings still, and impressive special effects, but if you are like me, you'd insist to know where it all began.

Therefore, I was pleased to know last December, that another sequel of the Underworld would be released this month. Over the Chinese New Year holidays, I went to watch Underworld: Rise of the Lycans. I am happy to report that instead of a sequel, it's a prequel. The story goes back to the beginning, even before the original Underworld story—how it all started; how and why the vampires and warewolves have been fighting all these while. Most of my questions have been answered—I can now appreciate some finer points of the story. Last night I watched the original Underworld again, and this time I was able to enjoy it even more. And it's not only because of that hottie, Kate Beckinsale! I can now decide which side I'd choose as the good guys.

Those of you who've watched Underworld and Underworld: Evolution, I'd recommend that you watch the Rise of the Lycans too. You'll be happy to know that a lot of your questions would be answered; or least your perceived explanations would be confirmed. The only questions remaining in my mind are very petty; y'know, things like how Beckinsale gets into that tight catsuit—whether she needs to take a deep breath in order to pull up the zippers—that kind of stuff.

Manglish = Malay + English

I received an email from a friend this morning. In it he provided a link to the Official Website of our National Registration Department. At the top right hand corner of the page is a catchy tagline: JPN ERA BARU. To those who're not familiar with Bahasa Malaysia, that tagline means JPN NEW ERA.

The subject webpage concerns Frequently-Asked-Questions (FAQ), specifically dealing with the issue of identity cards. Below is a screenshot of the webpage (it will probably be removed or amended very soon):

Click on the picture to get a better view of its contents.

While it is possible—hopefully—to understand what the Department is trying to explain to the public, the standard of English is just awful. Years of neglect and gradual decline of the standard of English in our education system had resulted in such an embarrassing product—in our Government's website.

It's one of the most common reasons why I have to reluctantly reject the job applications of the many graduates from our local universities.

Don't believe those politicians when they appear to defend our education system. If you investigate further, you might be surprised to find that they themselves send their children to foreign universities. That should give you an idea of what they think of our own universities, in spite of what they say.

This is not exactly the kind of "new era" we're hoping for, don't you think so?

First Anniversary Virtual Hunt—Photos

Wow! I have already received some feedbacks on the photos I just posted. For some strange reasons, it is not possible to save them to the hard disk. I don't know why. And that is indeed a big problem! You see, in some cases, it may be necessary to zoom in to those small signs to be able to see clearly.

Now I don't know how else to enlarge these photos beyond the clicking of those photos. So this is what I am going to do now. I will send out these photos to some of you who I know will try these questions, even if you're not going to submit any answers in the end. For the rest of you, please write me an email and I will send these photos to you through emails. Don't worry, still plenty of time to deal with these photos! Remain calm, folks... hehehe

First Anniversary Virtual Hunt—Photo 4