Bush's Farewell in Iraq

The video clip shows President Bush being thrown 2 shoes from a journalist at a press conference.



What a farewell indeed.

My Latest Favorite Song - Here in My Home

I believe that, for Malayians to be united, what we need is 'modernization' of the mind. Where, we are proud of our diversity. This can be done mainly through education. Good education that opens up our minds will eliminate 'extremism'. Extremism in terms of race and religion.

Contrary to what others might believe, I honestly see HOPE in Malaysia. Those who think Malaysia has no future are those who choose to complain instead of fighting for a better future.

Where else on earth can you find a country with such diversity and hardly any history of racial riots? The answer is ONLY in Malaysia. That is what makes Malaysia so special.

Al Jazeera's Interview with RPK

The interview will feature Riz Khan, asking questions about Malaysia's freedom of speech to RPK and two other guests from the media industry. During the interview, home minister Syed Hamid Albar is contacted through phone to explain his side of the story regarding the issue.

Part 1






Part 2

What I will miss about Brisbane

This post will be personal. In about 20 hours' time, I'll be boarding a plane back to Malaysia! It has been approximately 9 and a half months since I came over to Brizzy on 14 Feb 2008. Back then, very little did I know that this 9 1/2 months would be one of the most amazing journeys in my life.

So, here is a list of what I'll miss about Brisbane:

1) Housemates



Number one has to go to my housemates. Thanks to people like Andy, Tom, Janice, Erika, Hector, Marimar, Sharif, Marie, Fabian, Wan and Benni... Haven't I learned so much from them. I had the luxury of first living with my fellow Malaysians (Andy, Tom & Janice), who helped me settle down in the new environment. Then, I started to hang out with the lively and passionate Latin housemates (Hector, Erika & Marimar). For my last semester, I was living with the crazy and fun Europeans (Marie, Fabian & Benni). To balance things up, there were Wan from Thailand and Sharif from Iran/Emirates. Living with these guys made me felt like I was learning something new everyday. Perhaps, the best thing they taught me was to express myself, to bring out my passion and emotions which I often kept within. Through these awesome housemates, I got to know theirawesome friends as well: Sofia, Ramees, Svenja, Jorge, Jeffrey.


2) Coursemates



Well, we go to class together, skipped class together and studied together in the library before exams. Didn't we skipped many classes huh? I have to specially mention the two ladies, Kay Eann & Eva, whom were my closest university companions during my stay here. Too bad I won't be joining you guys for graduation. Then, there's Jeremy whom I had the pleasure of working with for The Deal. I have to also mention guys like Colin and Patrick.

Although not exactly my coursemate, but Kuan Ming was kind enough to lend me his car while my parents and girlfriend came over to Gold Coast and Brisbane for holidays.


3) Soccermates

Have to start by mentioning the our great captain Teppei who is always very passionate about the team. The other wonderful teammates were Teddy, Tony, Neo, Hiro, Shintarou, John, 2 Ben(s), Julian, Ryu, Harris, Brett, Van... I will never forget the game against the German cum European team whom we beat them 4-3 with only 9 players! That was the best football game in my life.


4) YAW




I wanted to join YAW because I thought that would be the best way to learn the working culture, and get to know some local Aussies. For 6 months, we ran a T-shirt company. We learned, worked, rushed for deadlines, argued, laughed... The final rewards are Awards from YAA, friendship and experience that will give us the confidence to dare to dream to be an entrepreuner in the future.

The company consist of Ming, James, Tim, Yean-Joo, Jason, Tameka, Li, JiaLing, Sharon, Bowen, Kesley, Claudia, Yee Li, Sylvia and me. There were also influential mentors like John, Berhane, Saurav, JB, Peter and Pepper who were consultants for Accenture. I was very lucky to have had the chance to work with every member from the company. I will highlight Ming and Yean-Joo, who earned a great deal of respect from me.

Interestingly, it was through Tim whom I got to know my soccermates. Cheers.


5) Toastmasters



Gosh...I will definitely continue Toastmasters back in Malaysia and recommend it to anyone. Thanks to Toastmasters Indooroopilly, my public speaking has improved by a great great deal. I no longer speak with "um"s and "ah"s; and my confidence has skyrocketed.

I owe this improvement to all the members of the club. Special thanks to John Wells, Carolyn Phillips and Derek Miller. If I ever become a public speaker one day, you'll know where it all began.

It it through this club, where I met really nice people: Tiro, Milena, Yean-Joo (who brought me to YAW), Jason, Alvin, Rathi, Greg, Andrew, 2 Peter(s)......

I often spoke about my passions in my speeches. And, after speaking about them for everyone to hear, I feel the extra desire to fulfill them. Awesome!

(It's now 5.30am...*yawn...... To be continued)

Barisan National vs Pakatan Rakyat | Who's winning?

VS

(As I upload these pictures, I can't help but feel that OTK and SV are rather insignificant.
It might be more appropriate to put pictures of Albar and Hishamuddin or Muhyiddin or Ali Rustam......)

Much has happened since the last time I made a post in this blog. To simply summarize the situation of the politics in Malaysia, it is a mess for both parties.

Both parties are having conflicts within themselves. For BN, this is very well noted in Wanita UMNO and MCA. There are also conflicts between UMNO and MCA regarding Ketuanan Melayu issues. With Najib pretty much confirmed as the next President of UMNO, the calls for Abdullah to resign earlier seems to have died down.

As for Pakatan, cracks and problems within the party is for all to see. The most obvious ones are in Kedah where PAS and DAP are trying to settle the issue regarding the 50% bumiputera quota for housing; and PAS' disagreement with PKR's Selangor MB decision to promote a non-bumi as PKNS head. While Anwar is busy trying to recruit more MPs to join the Pakatan Rakyat coalition, the cracks in the coalition seems to be widening.

It takes a very imaginative mind for anyone to believe that Pakatan Rakyat's 3 main parties would gel together immediately. While they seemed unstoppable after March 8, they now seem to be trippling over themsleves. It is very natural for any new organization to go through conflicts. The rakyat has to be patient with them while they try to sort things out.

So, with all this mess around, is anyone winning? My answer would be, the Rakyat is winning. While all sorts of things are being said in the parliment, and lawsuits flying around...when they get back to their offices, they feel pressured to perform and find ways to 'serve' the Rakyat.

Thanks to that, we see improvements made. Put aside all the argy bargy. RPK has been released by the court, against the minister's decision. BN has agreed to declassify highway contracts, thus agreeing to the demands of the Opposition. BN has also loosen up on the 30% bumi equity quota for listed firms. 10% discount for night riders during the festive season......

So, my conclusion is, we are winning!

While it is true that UMNO has not shown any signs of implementing major reforms, people are still being arrested for peaceful demonstrations, racial politics and racism still exists... but we rakyat has to understand that Rome is not built in one day. It will take time.

To ensure that both government and opposition are kept on their toes, we Rakyat has to keep up the pressure on them. Remember that 'People should not be afraid of the government, Government should be afraid of the People'? (<--- This blog post is one of the most popular in Thoughts and Ideas) All we need to do is frown and they will feel the pressure. ;p

Though the next general election is still quite some time to go, I hope that there will be no landslide victory for either party. I am sure you know why.

RPK Released! One step ahead for Malaysia!

By now, almost everyone will have known that RPK has been released from ISA.
This is one huge step forward for Malaysia. The judiciary dare to disagree with the Internal Security Ministry. A victory for all Malaysians.

However, the we still have to fight to have ISA abolished. the Hindraf guys and many more are still inside.



Woohoo! Cant wait to read RPK's post on Malaysia Today again.

Obama, an ethic minority, becomes the PM of USA. UMNOputeras! Take heed!

Barack Obama
President of the United States
source: http://www.eni.ch/

So, Obama is now the PM of USA. The first black American President in fact. This truly shows maturity in thought by the voters. Although Obama's winning margin in terms of popular vote was not that large (52% to McCain's 48%), it is still a great achievement in human history.

What say you now UMNOputeras? The world's most popular and advanced country has learned to see past the idea of 'race'. Surely, if Malaysia wants to join the group of developed nations, our political system has to learn to do that as well.

Lately, our out-going PM has said that, a non-Malay can be PM. But, come on... are you serious? Because if you are serious, let's put an end to NEP. Open up UMNO to non-malays too, so Malaysians from all races can sit down in one table and decide on Malaysia's affairs and future. (Not UMNO discuss first, then tell MCA and MIC.)

Obama's success is built upon the foundation of equality and human rights in the American society and political system. So, if you are to say a non-Malay can be a PM, you have to preach human rights and equality first. (2 things that are seriously lacking from your administration lately) Do not put the cart before the horse!

By the way, thanks to globalisation, the trend now is to support human rights and equality. If UMNO does not reform, they will only head towards the drain eventually.

Leaders do two things, 1) Influence the minds of people and 2) Act in the best interest of people. Can you and UMNO convince Malaysians that 'unequality' is good for Malaysians? If you can't then act in the best interest of all Malaysians, which is to end race based policies and politics. Take heed...

Attention: Good News! RPK has been freed by the courts from ISA! See the trend???


Watch Lim Kit Siang fire the BN MPs about whether a non-Malay can be PM of Malaysia:
(I don't 100% admire his machine gun style in Parliment. But sometimes, he can make the BN MPs speechless, which is really entertaining.)