Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Happy Merdeka




Tuesday, August 30, 2011

New Toastmasters Logo



OLD

NEW



Richest Person in Malaysia




Selamat Hari Raya




Saturday, August 27, 2011

I LOST to him AGAIN !

Damn, I lost to Dennis Wee again in both the contest (Humorous Speech & Evaluation contest) in today's Area B1 contest.
I thought I gave him a good fight for evaluation but dont know what happened. I knew he dramatised the speech that caught the audience. But how far can he go with such drmatisation without a proper message.

I was the 2nd speaker today for both the contest. However, the 1st speaker from UNITAR pulled out for humorous speech contest, so indirectly I had to take the stage 1st. When I started, it suppossed to be humorous, but, nobody laughed and that made me to be scared. Maybe I was in tension before the contest.

I tried my level best to get laughters and but still had some disatisfaction. It could be either due to lack of practise and overtensed.

When Dennis came in to speak as 3rd speaker, I went out of the room as I didn't was to loose my focus. I didn't asked for any evaluation from others as I was focusing on my evaluation.

Came evaluation contest, the test speaker was horrible that I didn't knew how to evaluate him. As I walked in towards the stage for my presentation, I had some confidence, yet still have tension.

Then the results time. I knew, if I was not disqualified, I will for sure finish in top 2.

The results was announced and I got 2nd place for both the contest and Dennis won both. Damn...

It's ok, I still have International speech and Table Topics next year. If I still loose it, damn, then I should just take a break for a while.

Apart from it, today's contest is also a bit screwed.

1. Water finished before the break itself. Looks like they just ordered exactly as per the headcount.
2. No proper signage at the venue until I had to asked the security guard.
3. Quarantine area was outside at corridor and no proper sitting area or quiet area.
4. I had to call the area governor to confirm the date of the contest on last wednesday as there were no info abt it at all by the AG.
5. The deputy AG was very casual in dressing rather than to be in proper dressing.
6. We didnt had writing pad and AG gave us magazine to use it as pad.
7. The AG didnt communicate to the Contest Chair on the contest forms. She even asked Contest chairs to find out the contestants name on their own rather than she providing it.

Looks like our AG has a lot more to learn.


Friday, August 26, 2011

CLASH of TITANS




If Badminton, it will be Lee Chong Wei vs Lin Dan


If Tennis, it will be Nadal vs Federer


If athletics, it's Bolt vs Powel




But for Area B1, it will be always Meyya vs Dennis.


Our outcome favors Dennis at 5-3.


Here are the previous clashes and outcome:



2005 WINNER


DKC Humorous Speech Contest Meyya




2007


DKC International Speech Contest Dennis


DKC Table Topics Contest Meyya



2009


DKC Humorous Speech Contest Dennis


DKC Evaluation Contest Dennis


Area B1 Humorous Speech Contest Dennis



2010


Area B1 International Speech Contest Dennis


Area B1 Table Topic Contest Meyya



It's time for me to reduce the gap. Tommorow we will be meeting again at Area level for Humorous Speech & Evaluation contest.



Hope something positive will turnout to me.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

KKK's Bullshit

Khoo Kien Kiat lost the doubles match against the youngsters of Korea and said that he didn't had adequate sparring partner to improve his game.

Damn, when he won the Asian Games Gold Medal in 2006, he didn't say out this reason. Only now he is telling this crap reason. What I saw was, he was playing a fancy badminton, just like an exhibition match. Maybe he should be separated again. I feel sorry for Tan Boon Heong.

Pacemakers Aniversary Run 7 - 14 Aug'11



This is my 3rd shot taking part in the event. After going into the medal position for the last 2 years, I wanted to ensure we maintain the momentum. Thus, I choose Sheila (my campus mate whom use to run with me in Uni days). As Thurei was not fit, I took Ghejan who is on form now and since Suresh was preparing for his marriage, thus I had no other choice but to go for Selvaganesh (active marathon runner in Singapore races).


Ronnie already putting pressure on me by saying that we have Sheila and we need to do good to get into top 6 for trophy finishing. Furthermore, I started training from 2 weeks ago after break from the KL marathon.


When the race started, Sheila paced well and proved her power by finishing 2nd place and passed the baton to Ghejan. The challenge for him was to run with great runner like Jasni, Richard and Murali. But he didn't disappoint us by finishing the race at 3rd place.


Therefore, my confident was still there that we can still finish within the top 6 position. When Selvaganesh started the race, I thought he will maintain or at least finish the race at 4th position. But at the end, he came at 6th placing and the 7th placing was just behind him.


When I took over the baton, just after 200M, the 7th placing guy overtook me as he was one of the great runner too. Thus, I maintained my position till the finishing. I tried pushing and was assisted by Sheila and Ghejan at the end but I could do any better.


What a agony ! We started strong and ended in a misery. I told my apologies to the team. But I promised to come back stronger next year.

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

What Does debts rating means?

Only 13 countries in the world have an AAA and stable rating, among them Switzerland, Hong Kong, Britain and Australia. Malaysia is rated A- and stable while Spain is rated AA and negative. Only four (non-financial) companies in the US still have an AAA credit rating: Automatic Data Processing, Exxon Mobil, Johnson & Johnson and Microsoft. These ratings, rooted in a certain conservatism, have become more of an economic straightjacket than an actual path for progress. They are there to maintain the status quo. To keep both companies and countries in check, to maintain a certain level of certainty and reliability.

For Standard & Poor's, making the call is a reaffirmation of their relevance. In that they could not just make the threat and then not follow through. How would that look? It was a power play. It was them telling America to get its act together, to sort out its politics or face further downgrades. It was them seeing just how far they could stretch their influence. It was them grasping for some kind of independence. Especially when one is in a pay-to-play relationship with those they are rating. This downgrade is more than just a warning to American politicians, it is Standard and Poor's acknowledgement of an inevitable shift in the global balance of economic power.

For America, their reaction to the downgrade will ultimately determine what it means. Because they could very well ignore Standard & Poor's and just carry on with business as usual. They could underplay their influence (much like they do from time to time with other institutions like the United Nations), thereby making the world choose between them and the ratings agencies.

For the politicians, America losing its coveted AAA rating is a blow to national pride, which, ironically, could turn out to be more damaging for President Barack Obama than any increase in interest rates and borrowing costs. For it has emboldened the Right who, for the moment, seem to have conveniently forgotten that it was their rampantly out-of-control spending over the past decade that resulted in America's dire straits. Their statements, from John Boehner's denigration of Washington's spending habits to Michelle Bachmann's call for Timothy Geithner's resignation, smack of electioneering and political leveraging rather than providing any actual insight or constructive criticism. In fact, it displays such a lack of self awareness that it borders on the ridiculous.

For China, it was a coming out party. The Xinhua news agency reported: "China, the largest creditor of the world's sole superpower, has every right now to demand the US to address its structural debt problems and ensure the safety of China's dollar assets. To cure its addiction to debt, the US has to re-establish the common sense principle that one should live within its means."

It was an unprecedented statement. Why? Because friends and allies don't tell each other off. Despite how much money they owe you. This was the opportunity that China was waiting for. To test the waters. To make a leadership statement. To see how the world reacts.

The silver lining in all of this is that such a downgrade may just be what America needs to kick start a proper conversation about fiscal policy. To go beyond the ideologies of Right and Left, and maybe find an alternative. Because what they're doing now clearly isn't working. Because what they need is a new discourse on spending. Because what they need is a more intelligent tax policy.

Sunday, August 7, 2011

KNOW This Sports Person - Morten Frost Hansen





During his career, Frost won almost every championship, except the World Badminton Championships where he scored a silver medal twice (1985 and 1987). When he lost his second World Championship in the finals, the headlines rang out "The World's greatest badminton player may never be World Champion."

While this may be the enduring footnote to his career, Frost dominated at the much coveted All England Open Badminton Championships (comparable to Wimbledon in tennis). He won that tournament in 1982, 1984, 1986, and 1987. He also was European champion in 1984 and 1986.

Frost is also distinguished by winning all of the invitational Grand Prix tournaments at least once. Morten Frost represented Denmark on the national team from 1976 to 1991, longer than anyone else.

Noted for his exceptionally smooth and fluid footwork, Frost's playing style was something of a cross between the traditional singles game featuring numerous clears (lobs) and drops, with smashes often reserved for weak returns, and the modern singles game featuring more smashing from the outset of a rally to create openings.

After his playing years were over, he went on to successfully coach the Danish national team. During his tenure as coach, the Danish national squad achieved over 20 major international wins, including an Olympic gold medal in 1996, six gold medals and three silver medals at the European Championships in 1996, the men's singles titles at the 1995 and 1996 All England Championships, and a gold, two silver and four bronze medals at the World Championships in 1995. He later coached the national teams of Malaysia and South Africa.

His capability was, when he was trailing at 14-0, he would not loose the game. That's what happended in 1986 All England Finals, when Misbun Sidek was 1 point to win the title but Morten Frost came from behind to beat him 17-14.

Morten Frost was inducted into the BWF Hall of Fame in 1998