Pulling the horn to get the milk

Sometimes, we complain that we don't get what we wanted although the request has been submitted. But have you ever wondered, whether you asked the right person, the right question?

Just imagine, you want to know average sales quantity per month of a carbonated drink producer and you throw the question to Human Resources dept. The HR personnel may give you a figure but it maybe invalid. Then  you move to finance dept and ask the same question, and that personnel gives you another figure. Then you move to legal dept and ask the same question again. If the personnel answers that will be good, else..

But, soon meeting these 3 dept personnel and getting 3 types of figures/answers, do you fell satisfied or complain that you tried hard but no proper results. The fault is on you because you didn't ask the right question to right person.

It's something that I witnessed recently in my Toastmasters experience, when someone would like to have some info but, ended with wrong info. Hahaha.

When you want to get the milk from the cow, no matter how hard you pull, you will still not get the milk, I mean pulling the horn. 

Gong Xi Fa Chai

Who caused USA to go high Debt?

Massimo vs Gardenia

Gardenia used to buy the flour from FFM Berhad (company owned by Robert Kwok). Till beginning of last year, Gardenia was bought over by Bernas (GLC-owned by Albukhari), and they have changed their flour provider to Malayan Flour Mills and Prestasi Flour Mills. Both mills are UMNO related company. But the reason they gave was "due to reputation purpose".

Thus, Robert Kwok decided to have his own bread company. In order for them to match the quality and reputation, they bought the franchise from Italy which is Massimo.

Indirectly, the goverment is triying to reduce the wealth of Robert Kwok (whom is still number 1 richest man in Malaysia) and get the UMNO related rich man to the top.

That's how the chronism came about.  

Proton gets new Owner

Finally, it's resolved that DRB Hicom will be the new shareholder of Proton after Khazanah Nasional sold their shares to them.

Now its up to DRB Hicom, whether they want to revive the image of the company which is running on a loss though it's a cash cow.

Furthermore, we just wonder, if they can produce a car which is equavalent to Honda or Toyota.

World Player of The Year 2011

Men
1. Lionel Messi (Argentina, Barcelona)
2. Christiano Ronaldo (Portugal, Real Madrid)
3. Xavi (Spain, Barcelona)

Women
1. Homare Sawa (Japan)
2. Marta Silva (Brazil)
3. Abby Wambach (USA)

Coach (Men)
1. Pep Gurdiola (Barcelona)
2. Alex Ferguson (Man United)
3. Jose Mourinho (Real Madrid)

Sharizat goes on 3 weeks leave

Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil will be taking a three-week break from her duties as women, family, and community development minister starting today.

In a statement yesterday, Shahrizat said this was to facilitate investigations by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) into her possible involvement in the National Feedlot Corporation (NFC) case. “I have submitted my request for leave to

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak,” she said.Meanwhile, MACC investigation director Datuk Mustafar Ali said it was finalising investigation papers on the NFC case, before making a recommendation to the Attorney-General's Chambers.
Shahrizat's husband Datuk Seri Dr Mohamed Salleh Ismail is the executive chairman of NFC and their three children are also directors of the company. The controversy surrounding NFC started after the Auditor-General's 2010 Report described the project as "messy" and said it had failed to meet targets set by the government.


Source: New Straits Times

My comment:
Why can't she leave/quit her position straight away rather than going on leave to create more mess. She already lost the GE12 to a young leader. In addition, a goverment project should be lead by public and not by her own family member. What kind of Corporate Governance is that.

Malaysia Will Go Bankrupt by 2019

Confirmation By Malaysian Institute of Economic Research (MIER) That Malaysia Will Go Bankrupt By 2019 With Debt To GDP Ratio Of 100% Demonstrates The Importance Of Change Of Government At The Next General Elections For PR To Save Malaysia From Bankruptcy.


Malaysia will become a fully indebted nation before the end of the decade at the current rate of massive borrowing and irresponsible spending by the BN Government.

The Federal government debt to GDP (Gross Domestic Product) ratio has increased yearly from 53.1% in 2010, 53.8% in 2011 and 54.8% in 2012. This is extremely alarming and nearly touching the national debt ceiling of 55%.
According to Malaysian Institute of Economic Research (MIER) fellow Mohd Ariff Abdul Kareem, if the Federal Government continues to borrow at the current rate, our debt to GDP ratio will be 100% of GDP by 2019!
In absolute terms, Federal Government debt rose by 71% in 4 years to RM456 billion at end 2011 from RM266 billion at end 2007. At the same rate of expansion, our national debt will be RM780 billion by 2016, and RM1.3 trillion by 2020.
Mohd Ariff also noted that what is more worrying is that our rate of borrowing is far outpacing our economic growth, so much so that he was quoted as saying, “If nothing is done to reverse the current trends in government expenditures and revenues, extrapolation suggests that Malaysia’s national debt will explode to 100 per cent of GDP by 2019.”

This is extremely dangerous, and even more disastrous when coupled with statistics from Bank Negara’s Annual Report 2010, which revealed that Malaysia’s household debt at the end of 2010 was RM 581 billion or 76% of GDP, thus giving us the dubious honour of having the second-highest level of household debt in Asia, after South Korea. In addition, the Malaysian household debt service ratio stood at 47.8 per cent in 2010, meaning that nearly half of the average family’s income goes to repaying debts.

Not only are Malaysians debt-laden, cost of goods are also skyrocketing while income and salaries have stagnated. While infant milk powder has risen by nearly 50% in recent times, other basic commodities have also gone up by leaps and bounds, such as:

1. Sugar: RM1.45/kg (Jan 2010) to RM2.30 (May 2011) – 58% in 18 months.



2. Eggs: B grade RM9/30eggs (sept 2010) RM10/30eggs (now).


3. Electricity tariff: average increase of 7.12% in June 2011.


4. The tarik and kopi susu: increase RM0.10 to RM0.20 (9.1% to 18.2%.


5. Gardenia bread: 5%-14% hike (2011).


6. Service tax increase 1%: additional RM720 million in taxes to Federal Government.


7. Onions: price up 17% (Dec 2010).


8. Milo: up 5% 1st half 2011; 4% 2nd half 2011.


9. Nescafe: price went up further 6% in 2nd half 2011, when price is already >RM20 per 300gm


10. Favorite food items like roti canai, char koay teow and nasi kandar have become smaller even portions at the same price.


But all this can be changed if we can do the change in GE13 in 2012.

When to drink water?

Correct time to drink water... Very Important. From A CardiacSpecialist!
Drinking water at a certain time maximizes its effectiveness on the body:
2 glasses of water after waking up - helps activate internal organs
1 glass of water 30 minutes before a meal- helps digestion
1 glass of water before taking a bath - helps lower blood pressure
1 glass of water before going to bed - avoids stroke or heart attack

Nine Healthy Habits that One should posses

1. Eat your vegetables.
 Unless you're following the most stringent first stage of the Atkins Diet, you should be able to consume 60-120 grams of carbs a day (depending on your weight and exercise level), and you'd have to eat a stockyard full of spinach to get to that amount. Every major study of long-lived, healthy people shows that they eat a ton of plant foods. Nothing delivers antioxidants, fiber, flavonoids, indoles, and the entire pharmacopia of disease fighting phytochemicals like stuff that grows.

2. Eat fish and/or take fish oil.
The Omega-3's found in cold-water fish like salmon deserve the title of "wellness molecule of the century". They lower the risk of heart disease, they lowerblood pressure, they improve mood and they're good for the brain. And if you're pregnant, they may make your kid smarter!


3. Connect.
In virtually every study of people who are healthy and happy into their 9th and 10th decade, social connections are one of the "prime movers" in their life. Whether church, family, volunteer work or community, finding something you care about that's bigger than you that you can connect with and that involves other people (or animals) will extend your life, increase your energy, and make you happier. Only always.


4. Get some sun.
At least 10-15 minutes three times a week. Interestingly, a recent study of four places in the globe where people lived the longest and were the healthiest noted that all four places were in sunny climates. Sun improves your mood and boosts levels of cancer-fighting, performance-enhancing, bone-strengthening vitamin D, a vitamin most people don't get nearly enough of.


5. Sleep Well.
If you're low in energy, gaining weight, grumpy and looking haggard, guess what?- chances are you're not sleeping nearly long enough nor well enough. By sleeping "well", I mean uninterrupted sleep, in the dark, without the television on, in a relaxing environment. Nothing nourishes, replenishes and restarts the system like 7-9 hours sleep.

6. Exercise every day.
Forget this 20 minutes three times a week stuff. Long lived people are doing things like farm chores at 4:30 in the morning! Our Paleolithic ancestors traveled an average of 20 miles per day. Our bodies were designed to move on a regular basis. New studies show that merely 30 minutes a day of walking not only reduces the risk of most serious diseases, but can even grow new brain cells!



7. Practise Gratitude.
By making a list of things you're grateful for, you focus the brain on positive energy. Gratitude is incompatable with anger and stress. Practise using your under-utilized "right brain" and spread some love. Focusing on what you're grateful for - even for five minutes a day - has the added benefit of being one of the best stress -reduction techniques on the planet.


8. Drink red wine or eat red grapes.
The resveratrol in dark grapes is being studied for its effect on extending life, which it seems to do for almost every species studied. (So does eating about 1/3 less food, by the way.) If you've got a problem with alcohol, you can get resveratrol from grapes, peanuts or supplements. (And if you're a woman, and you choose the alcohol option, make sure you're getting folic acid every day.)

9. Get the sugar out.
The number one enemy of vitality, health and longevity is not fat, it's sugar. Sugar's effect on hormones, moods, immunity, weight and possibly even cancer cells is enormous, and it's all negative. To the extent that you can remove it from your diet, you will be adding years to your life and life to your years.

All this are said by Famous writer Stephen Covey.

Neil Warnock is Sacked

Queens Park Rangers which is owned by Tony Fernandes, has sacked it's coach/manager, Neil Warnock. Actually he was the one whom brought the club to the Premier League after being in the 1st division for the past 15 years.

However, being in EPL, performance comes first and not sentiments. So now, who's going to be succesor?

Can we have K.Rajagobal ;D.

General Evaluator at Klang Bilingual TMC

Yesterday, I went to this club as General evaluator. It's my 4th time going there. Some may wonder why I need to go there from the struggle of traffic jam and traveling over 50km on motorcycle.

But for me, I'm a Toastmaster and a club respect and recognise me as a Toastmaster and my achievements. Furthermore, they actually booked me 3 months ago. Leave all this aside, this was the 1st club which honoured me and gave me a chance to be Toastmaster of the evening (TME) aka MC.

Normally, TME will be the member of their own club, but the excos would like to have external TME, so that, they can learn, witness and equip themselves with skills.

Furthermore, I have seen Ivy Chern(past president) working very hard to maintain the club at this status now. When I went there yesterday, I saw strong ladies were setting up the meeting room. They had various types of members.

I was astonish with the current president whom was energetic and enthusiastic, Michael Wong. I could see this guy as one of the potential district officer in future.

It's good to see the club moving forward. I definitely don't mind going there again to share my experience skills with that club. 

My sweat and tears started to reap

It was September 2010, when Mr.Kamarul (Partner, Deloitte Malaysia & advisor for the club) gave me the task to revive the club as the Vice President of Education cum acting President. I told him, I will do my level best to get new members and start the meeting going on after long break.

When, it came to July 2011, Mr.Kamarul gave me the honour and challenge to lead the club and to get it back to its hey days like 3 terms ago. It was me and haslini whom took the challenge then assisted by Kwoon Yuen (my current VPE).

The tough part was:
1. to get new members to the club and sustain them.
2. getting them to have the patriotism and ownership towards the club
3. to have adequate role players for every meeting
4. to have members to do speeches

after 6 months of pushing members and motivating them, we have reached charter strength of 20 members and DCP goals of 6, which brings us to Distinguished Club Status.

It's half way through and I need to maintain the momentum to bring the club forward.

My friend said, "When you clean the drain at your home, definitely there will be mosquitoes biting you. Just ignore and carry on cleaning. Else, we wont get it cleaned".

So whatever rumours and emails (on negative publicities), I encourage you all to continue to do it as I'm treating it just as mosquito bites. 

Anwar not Guilty

Today, the judgement was made on former Deputy Prime Minister cum current opposition head, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. He was charged for sodomising his former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, then 23, three years ago.

Should hew was found guilty, he would have been jailed for maximum of 20 years which would have ended his political career.

However, the judge gave his verdict and acquits and discharged from the accuses of sodomising. Judge Mohd Zabidin Mohd Diah - "After going through the evidence, the court could not be 100% certain that integrity of DNA samples was not compromised, and finds that it is not safe to rely on DNA evidence.


"As such, court is left only with Saiful's testimony. As this is a sexual crime, the court is reluctant to convict based entirely on Saiful's testimony, which is uncorroborated. The accused is thus acquitted and discharged."

At least, we can expect a good fight for the upcoming General Election.

I really appreciate the supporters whom has been there as early as 4.30am and patiently waiting though rain poured.

But it's only the sodomy case is settled, but there's another case which is the sex video which is still under investigation.

2011 Review

It's definetely a rocky year for me, but at the end I realise how strong was I after going through the hurricane.

Career
It's the year where I finally decided to move into commercial line after 5 years of auditing. I could say that's a sweet ending. At the begging U had to face challenges by incompetent audit clients, irresponsible junior staffs whom made me to perform their task and getting scolded at least twice a week from my bosses. I had to stay back late almost every weekday for the 1st 6months and worked at least 1 weekend every week. This includes working during public holidays i.e Chinese New year and Awal Muharam.

Whatever it is, I proved myself and to my previous manager (hope she reads this) by managing 40 over clients including 3 listed companies. in 2010, I was given verdict that I'm not fit to handle listed company, but put ash on their faces by handling UOA REIT, Goodway Rubber and AISB.

I also learnt much on recent updates on Accounting and Auditing standards which puts me where I'm now and ensured I'm marketable with my hard skills.

Tough moments don't last but tough people do. It happen to me when interviews that I attended all were not responded except for the final one. Some even demotivated me with their sarcastic words. But rather than responding to them directly, I maintained my patience and reached to the max as I could. Well that's on career. Finally I landed on a job where work life balance is appreciated and at least I have the weekends and Public holidays for me.

Toastmasters 
It was a year where I took the challenge to move the club to the next level or revive the club. Thanks to Mr.Kamarul whom entrusted me with the task and gave full support from the behind the screen, especially during critical moments.

It was the year, where I recruited 15 members within 12 months and raised the club to charter strength by Christmas. However, there were also resignation of exco, members leaving the club, meeting without venue, clashes with exco and district officer (including negative publicity). But all this gave me the boost, tonic, courage to move forward and ensure the club goes to heights which it was during term 2007-2009.

If that's on black side, something for me which even I didn't expect was the Division title for International speech which brought me to Penang District Contest. Though I was disqualified and that became another moment to be forgotten (although some said I deserve top 2 position). But at least I can proudly walk among the Toastmasters and call myself as Division Champion. It really taught me method on speech preparation for the contest.

In addition, it was also achievement for me to grab 2 runners up title in Humor & evaluation contest, which was my personal best.

I was also the Emcee for the inaugural Klang Valley Tamil Clubs Installations which really tested my skills on humor and audience control.

Furthermore, I was 1st time in my Toastmasters journey that I attended 2 meeting on same day and both as General evaluator.

Running
It's definetly a personal achievement by achieving my personal best of 3:58 in my marathon, erasing my previous record of 4:01. In addition, I was also the pacer for the runners where, they made me as their inspiration to do better.

While in training, it's common for me to do 30km in a week, but last year, I even went up to 80km in a week which really tested my endurance and mental strength.

That achievement made me to be too comfort and I was unfit for the 2nd half of the year, which brought me to injuries and flu.

Others
1. Being invited again for special deepavali talk show
2. Meeting writer, Janakey Raman, TV host Vinoth and Jeya and FTAAA coach, Arunandy
3. Performing dance show in Penang Convention

For those whom showered with support, thank you. I will never forget it. For those whom throw stones at me, keep throwing it, because I want to show how strong I'm.

What happended to my targets for 2011?

1. Complete marathon below 3 hours 59 minutes.


Achieved - 3:58 in KL Marathon. It's my personal best.


2. To be Area Champion (Humor, Evaluation, Table Topic, International Speech)

Achieved - Area B1 International Speech Champion & Division B Champion


3. Complete audit file for a listed company

Achieved - UOA REIT, AISB, GOODWAY


4. Reduce weight to 58kg.

Failed - Achieved 58kg in June but lack of dicipline made it to shoot up to 65kg in December.

5. Take up swimming class and able to swim 800 freestyle within half hour

Failed - went for 3 classes, then did not continue.

6. Buy road racing bicycle before Christmas

Failed - I did light scouting but I lost focus on getting it after that.

7. Recruit 7 members for DKC TMC

Achieved - recruited 11

 
Things which I failed, I atleast tried something. Of course all those which failed will be carried forward to year 2012 as my targets.

NEW Logo for Malaysia Super League

They changd it again after a year. You can go through my blog posted on 27 January 2011. They always claim, they wants a better image.

It's not the logo that has to change but the mentality of the FAM which needs to change for the better of the natinal team.