Technology

Music can be downloded using MP3

The word technology is probably an over-used word. Nowadays, our life is partly run by technology. But for young people technology is nothing special. It's ubiquitous. They are already exposed to it so much so its not an interesting part of the vocabulary when they discuss about something. It is not uncommon today to see children as young as three years old playing with their Ipads or Samsung tablets at cafes and restaurants. Next to them are their fathers enjoying  breakfast and the mothers  reading the newspaper. However, for mature adults whose age is 50 and above like yours truly technology does not have a positive notion of technology. It's a complex term and   requires a complex mechanism to operate.

One personal device that is full of technology is the hand phone. There are so many applications and uses of a hand phone and  that some of us do not  knowhow to  use it. In my case, I don't even know how to use the BBM of a Blackberry hand phone that I own. I don't even know what it is for. I've  been told that one can in fact send a message to another person using the BBM . It is more like the SMS but more interactive or synchronous. Moreover you will not be charged if one  uses the  BBM. I heard that youngsters love BB for this reason. I also heard that a person  can also use a BBM with another person without a BB using the Whatsapp software. I think that is how  the application is  spelled. You are not always sure at this age.

Another application that one can use is the Skype or Yahoo Messenger. This is a form of video communication between two persons. I have not used the application but it really sounds interesting. A person can Skype- meaning communicating using the video with another person half the world away without paying a sen except for the internet charges. You can also do video-conferencing using Skype. I have not used this application even though I believe we can actually use it for many purposes including for consultations  between a lecturer and a supervisee.

Another form of technology related device that is very popular among children and young adults are the MP3s. You can download songs from the Internet and store them  in the USB. I know my car has a USB socket but I myself have never downloaded songs from the internet and listen to the songs in my car. What I would normally do is  buy the  CD from the CD shop or Pasar Malam  and play them on my CD player in my car or using my audio player at home. For me, its so difficult to use and operate the technology. I rather pay RM 25-35 dollars for the CD at a shop  and listen to the songs .

The problem is not the technology . The problem is with me. I dont know why I find it a bit slow to adapt to  the ever changing technology but it is not something that I would rely 100 %. I can certainly live with  my phone at home and still lead a normal and happy life. But I know some people could not be without their mobiles even for 10 minutes. Without  100 % technology , I can still do my work and do it rather effectively.  But Im not running away from the technology. It is part of our life.

Women drivers

I've attained my half a century "age medal" in January this year 2012. It's just like a surreal thing  to be at that age considering that I am still very healthy aside from some minor irritations to the knees. Yours truly can still jog slowly or do some brisk walking. But one thing that I despise doing now is driving especially in and around KL. I would always offer my children to be the "supir" (driver) if they are back at home from the college. Talking about driving I remember I got my license when I was 18 in the first attempt while  I was studying at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. It was really a milestone and a big achievement for me to be "conferred" the driving license especially at that age.

They wil scream at you first.

I can  still remember that my first car that I shared with my Kedahan friends was a green colour four door Buick Le Sabre. It was  a super smooth 8 cylinder car with a displacement of around 5,000 cc. The car was very quiet at above highway speed limit  and it was sold by a professor at the university for a mere 800 US dollars. But it was a large sum of money for a pauper Malaysian student. We were getting a monthly allowance of 280 US dollars. Since the day that  I got the driving license , I had so much of experience driving not only in the United States but also in the United Kingdom, Mexico, Canada, France, Romania, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia and Hong Kong. I have to say that driving in Indonesia in Jakarta, and Vietnam was not easy. The traffic was chaotic but at least the motorists follow the flow or the traffic system. 

One of the things that women drivers can do

However, I have to admit that I don't like driving in Malaysia. The drivers generally drive  very fast and sometimes recklessly. This is especially true of women drivers. They would just zig zag in between the traffic. This is a common driving feature  of young women drivers especially those driving  Perodua Kancils. They would drive with their dark shades on and sometimes texting or chatting over the phone while driving. The biggest sin  that they they like to do and that I don't forgive them is not yielding to the vehicles that circle the roundabout. By right the vehicle that is about to "enter" the roundabout would have to give way to the other vehicles at the roundabout.   What happens is that these women drivers would just squeeze in and drive straight onto the rounabout without giving way to other oncoming  vehicles. This is one of the major causes of accidents in the country. The girls  just do not know how to yield . They just want to be home on time and fast.

I think that we need to have extra classes for these women drivers. They need to be retrained. I believe that most of the causes of accidents are the result of these drivers. I'm not trying to be sexist but it's the reality. Fast driving does not cause accidents as proven by the autobahns in Germany. They drive exceeding 100 mph but there  are very few accidents. We have among the highest accident rates in Malaysia and those creatures are the main culprits. Dear police officer! please monitor all those  women drivers.

Astro

I am a loyal customer of ASTRO and and I've been  ASTRO's customer for more than 10 years.I spend at least RM150 a month to subscribe to ASTRO channels . This means that I subscribe to most of the channels on ASTRO minus only some of the Chinese channels. But do  you realize that even though you have a lot of channels there's nothing much that you can watch. Most of the documentary channels are useless. Sometimes they repeat the documentaries again and again using different channels. In one instance you have a documentary on food on the History channel. Previously it was on one of the food channels. I think ASTRO has nothing much to offer and it's recycling too much. I'm considering unsubscribing  ASTRO if they just do not improve their channels. 

1) I notice that the movies on ASTRO  are getting from bad to  worst. Sometimes the movie channels show movies that are truly outdated. I remember they showed movies that I remember watching them  in the United States when I was doing my BA degree. I am tired of watching the Poltergeist again and again. I'm also tired of watching the Hercules movies. I am also tired of watching the Avatar . I think I have watched it more than 4 times. They show some   movies dozens of times. ASTRO please do not show any more black and white movies. Please do no show again the movie the Bridge of Remagen. I remember watching the war movie when I was 10 years old at the Ampang Park cinema. Now, I'm more than 50 years old. When I was travelling in Vietnam and Indonesia I noticed that the movies that they show in those countries  are  latest and better. What I can presume is that ASTRO probably pays peanuts to get all those lousy movies for their not so important Malaysian viewers. Sometimes , I find the movies offered by the terrestrial tvs are much better.

2) Despite paying for more than RM 150 a month, Astro now demands more money if you want to watch movies  that are  hot of the oven . But being half a century old you don't really watch Malay movies. Even my children do not watch the movies. This is not to say the movies are bad . It's just that we are more attuned to watching to English movies. I'm not surprised that one day ASTRO will demand more money for us to watch English movies that are two or three years old. I think they will repackage the channels and ask us to pay more. I hope that the contract that  ASTRO has with the government will expire soon. I think we need more competition.  More companies should be allowed to compete with ASTRO.

3) Do you realize that ASTRO will jack up the monthly subscription once they introduce one or two extra channels. The channel they introduced are the channels that people generally do not watch. ASTRO please take care of your customers. You are making the customers running away from you. It's just a matter of time that they will run away in droves.

4) I think another aspect that I notice is that ASTRO just ignores the Malay subscribers. Do you realize that most of the announcements made on ASTRO are in English. They are very few announcements that are in Bahasa Melayu. But do they realize that most of their customers are Malays. I think the Malay subscribers are given  raw deals. I think even Tamil is given prominence. I don't think they have any  respect Bahasa Melayu. Astro is AS..TRO.

Dear AS..TRO I'm making my  decision soon.

Food in Bandar Baru Bangi or BBB

Bandar Baru Bangi is a medium size town not far from Putrajaya and can be considered as an outskirt of Kuala Lumpur. It is an up and coming town. You can see nice expensive houses and cars.  It is also an academic town inhibited by at least 50,000 people. In  BBB, you will see higher institutions such as UKM, UPM, KLIUC, Poly-tech Mara, Kuala Lumpur University and Tenaga University. But did you know that it is also a place where you can have some nice food adventures? There are some nice  places in BBB that you  can have delicious and cheap dishes:

The steak

1) Steak in Bandar Baru Bangi: There is a reasonably nice steak house near Tasik Cempaka and not far from Billion shopping center. I think the place is called D One Steak House (3 stars for the food and 2 stars for service). The price of a steak is quite reasonable between RM 12 to RM 14 ringgit. However, the portion is not very large. The choice and quality of the meat are also not too good. But the best dish at the restaurant is Fish and Chips that costs only RM7.90. The fish is reasonably big and crispy and served with crispy Fries and thick Tartar Sauce. The best time to go to the restaurant is during lunchtime when the dish is freshly prepared. But the best steak in BBB is at a restaurant called Taste (4 star for the food and 3.5 stars for service) which is just a few meters away from Yati Ayam Percik. However, I think the restaurant is closed for renovation. The large sirloin stake there is fantastic just like the one that you see on the AFC channel. It's also garnished beautifully. The brown sauce is thick and tastes delicious and prepared the American way.

Murtabak Daging

2) Murtabak Singapura in Bandar Baru Bangi: There is a place (3.5 stars for the food and 3 star for service)  in BBB which serves nice, thick and succulent Murtabak Singapura RM 12,  Murtabak Marsha RM 5 or Murtabak Daging that costs only RM 6. The murtabak is served with a mixed  cucumber and onions in sweet homemade chilly sauce.  The combination of Murtabak and the sauce is really marvelous. Having the Murtabak is a memorable experience. You will never forget the experience of having the first bite. The restaurant is located near Shell Petrol Station in Section 2 of BBB. The place is next to Sekolah Agama Rakyat that is being constructed.

Mee Bandung Muar

3) Roti Bakar in Bandar Baru Bangi: The best roti Bakar in BBB  is a place called Restoran Tepian Bangi  (4 stars for the food and 3.5 stars for service) in Seksyen 4 Tambahan. The roti is sliced thick from roti Mamak and spread with a generous amount of soft margarine and aromatic Pandan Kaya. The bread is nicely toasted using a special oven. It's crispy on the outside and moist in the inside. It costs only  RM.2:80. (a little on the expensive side for a roti bakar) Normally, you have the roti bakar with telor Ayam kampong (RM 2.00 for two)  that is also served at the restaurant. The eggs are really yellowish red in color. Typical egg color from happy free range chicken.

Roti Bakar

4) Mee Bandung in Bandar Baru Bangi: The best Mee Bandung is not in  Muar but at a place called Restoran Nasi Minyak  (4 stars for the food and 4 stars for service ) in BBB. The restaurant is not far from the Econsave hypermarket  BBB in the section where there is the night market or sometimes called the Uptown market which is held every night. The gravy is very thick and aromatic and rich with Udang Kering and fresh prawns. The portion given is more than enough for a big size man. Really marvelous Mee Bandung

So these are the places that you can enjoy some of the dishes in BBB. You can give your  feedback to me  of your food adventure at salambangi@gmail.com

PTD : Pegawai Tadbir dan Diplomatik

PTD is Pegawai Tadbir dan Diplomatik or the English equivalent is Administrative and Diplomatic Service. KSN or  Ketua Setiausaha Negara  is a PTD officer. ( He, however, claims that he's not and he says that he represents all the different types of service in the government.) So does the KPJPA or Ketua Pengarah Jabatan Perkhidmatan Awam  who made the biggest blunder (amply rewarding the premier group in the  PTDs in the SBPA salary scheme. They were supposed to be given backdated salaries amounting to hundreds of thousands of ringgit)  in the history of JPA is a PTD Officer. Even most Secretary Generals of the ministries or  KSUs or Ketua Setiausahas are PTD officers. The KSUs of Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) and the Ministry of Educations are PTD officers. PTD is synonymous with premiership and power in the country.

The PTDs are everywhere and extending their arms to the uncharted territories. They are now planning a slow but sure way of taking over other ministeries such as  the Ministry of Education. PTD officers are ubiquitous and they are creeping slowly in all ministries that are yet to be conquered. Even in the universities they are playing catching up . They want to be the ones who are in control financially and administratively. Their trick to their conquer is to accuse the nation -PTDs as being inefficient and slow and then they will prise open the posts.  They won't take it right away. They will let others to helm it for 1-2 years.But later they will make sure that the posts are given to the PTDs. Ultimately, they will be in total control.

The PTDs,  however, will never let go their own posts. They will never open up their posts and positions  to others services. If you want a PTD post you have to be a PTD officer. Even for the timbalan   KSU  post for MOHE they will make sure that those  DS officers aspiring to move up higher in the rank would have to convert to PTD scheme before they are given the high rank of PTD posts such as Timbalan KSU or KSU. Meaning some professors in the ministry/university would have to convert their services to the post of Pegawai Tadbir dan Diplomatik. Some of them would have to forego their professorships as in the case of the ex Ketua   Pengarah  Pengajian Tinggi who is now made the UPM Vice Chancellor. He was earlier promised the post of a KSU but never got it because of health reasons.

One thing about the PTD is that they get their promotions very fast, After working for 10 years most will hold the post of at least an M 52. In the Ministry of Higher Education, you will notice that some pengarah posts are being held by PTD officers who are around 35-40 years old. They will be telling and directing the well-educated subordinates some in their 50 with doctorates but did not get promoted. The moral of the story is that if you are a Non-PTD you will not get promoted very fast. If you are a PTD officer, chances are you will be in the premier group holding so much power.

Utusan Malaysia

I've been reading Utusan Malaysia for a long long time. When I was young, it was also the main newspaper that I read aside from Berita Minggu and Bintang Timur, a newspaper that was sold in the northern part of the country.  However, I still  find the Berita Harian /Minggu a better newspaper in terms of coverage and and professionalism. But my heart was, is and will  always be with Utusan.  Utusan Malaysia is supposed to be the beacon of hope for the Malays . This is because to me it's the newspaper that every Malay should read. Utusan Malaysia should be echoing the pulse of the Malay community specifically and Malaysians  in general.  But sad to say ,I think this is newspaper is loosing its integrity and credibility. It is sad when Malay professionals and yuppies are shying away and feel ashamed to be associated with  the newspaper. I feel that Utusan Malaysia is losing its shine. Below are some reasons why its loosing its shine:

1) I think the newspaper is too controlled by the government  and UMNO. The issues that are  played up are orchestrated by people who have vested interests in their political survival rather than the Malay community. I believed there are some of the good editors at Utusan  but  their hands are  tied. And those at the helm running  Utusan Malaysia probably have been fed handsomely by the vested party so as not to poke on sensitive issues that are politically incorrect to their political masters. Some of the editors' hands are knotted  too tight to  hi-light issues that are of genuine concerns to the Malays. Do you know why Chinese newspapers are read by lots of  Chinese. It is because they know that their  papers are  not controlled by the MCA. They will boycott all newspapers that are owned by UMNO or MCA.

2) There's  too much political issues that have been hi-lighted  by Utusan especially on  Opposition members . Utusan Malaysia has focused too much on negative issues  on Anwar and other opposition members that they have a boomerang effect.Instead of hating these leaders, the readers tend to empathize with them. The old way (hitting hard on people you don't like) of winning the hearts and minds of the Malays don't work anymore. The newspaper has become a tool for a political party rather reflecting the interests and concerns of the Malay community. Hence, the Malays readers especially the young who are idealistic are shying away from reading the newspaper.

3) Utusan Malaysia is sorely lacking in editors who have inquisitive and critical minds-editors who are able to work independently of BN, UMNO  or some elite  who have vested interests in the newspaper. Utusan Malaysia needs these bipartisan and professional people to bring back impartiality and credibility to the newspaper. Otherwise it will become just like Harakah or the Rocket. It must be professional and should be a national credible  newspaper.

4) Utusan Malaysia has been focusing too much on entertainment rather that more substantive issues such as education. This has caused a negative perception  to be formed among some readers that it is not a newspaper that is to be taken seriously. Most of the complaints made or hi-lighted in the newspaper are not bothered and taken seriously by the government. The newspaper is seen as  toothless.

I hope those concerned will take this matter seriously. The future of the Malays are in the balance. Utusan Malaysia must be given its voice back. It must be independent and credible.

Yap Sin Tian

Man of integrity?

Yap Sin Tian is the Chairman of the chauvinistic and racist Chinese educationists group called Dong Zong. He is also the Chairman of the New Era College in Kajang with its a very high wall encircling the college that used to have big Chinese characters painted to the wall. The wall  signifies the "Chineseness" of the college. Like the  wall at the ERA college, he has insisted that all the Malays and Indian teachers be kicked out from the Chinese schools to make sure that the Chinese schools are  more Chinese (sadly, the Barisan government has relented to this as mentioned by the Deputy Prime Minister who is also the Education Minister). To him only Chinese puritans with Chinese qualifications could teach there. But how Chinese is so called " Dr." Yap?

Did you know that he obtained his  "PhD" from Kesington University, USA.   He also graduated from University of London for his Bachelor of Arts. These two universities are  not even from Taiwan or China. The so called hard core Chinese educationist in reality is a graduate from an American university. What a joke?

You deserved it "Dr." Yap

 Where exactly is Kesington University, Kentucky ? Personally,   I don't even know where the university is even though I've stayed in the States for more than 6 years. I've not even heard of the university.Is the university for real? I have browsed the internet and read  that the university has been closed by the education authorities in the  US  for  fraud charges. The question  is the PhD that he has obtained is for real or did he just buy  it online from the so called institution. 

If he had bought this online (a bogus doctorate) then he is not a man of integrity. How could the Chinese College (ERA) appoint Dr Yap with PhD from Kesington University, a dubious university . Didn't the ERA college check with the Ministry of Education the qualifications of its Chairman. This is really a big blunder   by  the New ERA college, the Dong  Zong and the Chinese community at large.  "Dr" Yap Sin Tian has all this while portrayed himself  to the Chinese community as a fighter and a man of integrity and a also  die hard promoter of the Chinese language and education.. But after the disclosure of the dubious qualifications of the Chairman of ERA and Dong Zong  , now I'm having reservations about the so called quality of the Chinese education. All the so called quality of Chinese education is just a farce. The truth  is that there is none.   You can lie still and be no 1 in Chinese education . Long live Chinese education. Long live Yap Sin Tian. Long live Dong Zong.

Proton Preve

The different colors to choose from

Soon (16th of April) Proton will be releasing a C class car called Proton  Preve. C class dimensions are the size of cars like Kia Forte, Toyota Altis and Honda Civic. In fact, the specs that I've seen show that the new Proton Preve is in fact bigger than those cars that I mentioned. It is even bigger than the 9th generation Honda Civic the latest model to be releasedin June. The name if I'm not mistaken is taken from Spanish that means "to prove". I don't really know why the manufacturer has decided on that name. It's so difficult to pronounce the name.Some Proton -bashers I believe will call it Proton Pervert. Whatever way it's called, Proton has a daunting task of convincing Malaysians again that it can offer a quality product.

Proton should not take  Malaysians for granted  anymore. It can't afford to think and act  like the old management of  Lada or Skoda. The Malaysians buyers are more sophisticated and are quality conscious. Sometimes they are more critical than non-Malaysian buyers.Malaysians generally  will buy Protons if they can see that the products that they buy have quality. The leadership helming Proton must make quality as their number 1 priority. They must tackle it head on. Quality is perception and product.

The stylish interior

Some Proton buyers will still  remember how the Proton cars they bought had window problems. Sometimes the car would just die down because of the battery problem that is  related to the engine management. I hope the new model would actually be able to erase the negative perception that the majority of Malaysians have. The design of the car although not extremely curvaceous  is quite pretty. The dashboard is made from soft touch plastics. Some say it looks more like Kia Forte.The interior is modern and quite handsome. The car was designed by the Italian designer Guigiaro. The car is powered by the newly designed CFE engine with low pressure turbo) that produces enough power ( 145 hp and more than 205 lb of torque) to propel the car reasonably fast. It's more than enough for the average Malaysian. The torque produced could move the car below 10 seconds for 0-100 Km. My suggestion is to get the CFE version which is slightly more expensive but definitely a better car. The top of the range version comes with a push start button.

Push start button. First for car of this price range

I beg Malaysians to see  Proton in a different light. This is truly the car that can change how Malaysians view Proton. They have started producing good quality cars starting  with the Ixora Bold. Give them the chance they need. We Malaysians must support our own car manufacturer.