Stop My Suffering

O'Katz Parang Lading

2014-10-23T21:07:00.001-07:00

Parang Lading is a weapon used by exponents of Silat Cekak and is also an agricultural tool.

This is a sort of generic design from a picture that I obtained from the net. The specific blade that I wanted to talk about is the O'Katz Parang Lading. From what I know, he only made 8 of these, and I am the proud owner of number 8.

I believe there are two differences between his design and the conventional parang lading.
1. His design is full tang compared to conventional rat-tail design commonly found in Malaysian parang
2. His long handle that caters for two handed holding.

My Handmade Knives

2014-08-04T19:24:00.002-07:00

Since I went away, I got involved in some knife group and I was introduced to some knife makers in Malaysia. I have acquired a few handmade knives along the way, and here are some of them.

The first one is made by Kumar. You can search for him in Facebook under the name Vicious Tools, This knife is made using O1 steel. I believe now he has 1095, Elmax and D2 steel too, The sheath comes with the knife. You can check out some of his latest design in his Facebook page. Anyhow this is my first handmade knife. A word of advice, O1 is not stainless steel, so you have to oil it regularly or it will rust.

My pride and joy. This knife is made based on the One-Armed Swordsman movie. The steel is 5160 and the handle is made from kemuning emas wood. It has hammer patterns on the blade. Strangly I named this knife "Happy".

Another of my handmade knife, this one is made with IDK steel, and the handle is super special, it's Indian Rosewood.

If you look closely, you will see the same signature on both knives, the maker of these knives are Katz Tan out of Teluk Intan. He does not simply make and sell the knives to anyone, so you might want to get to know him first. He can be found on Facebook under the same name.

Those two knives does no come with sheaths. For sheaths, you might go for kydex sheath, Nadir from Outdoor Dynamics, based in Penang does kydex sheath. You can even send your blades to him if you are not in Penang.

He also sells an array of parangs under the brand MyParang. You can check out his website for more products.

I'm coming back - 18-August-2014

2014-07-22T23:59:00.001-07:00

I have resigned from my Job and will be back actively from 18-August-2014.

Those are Rick Hinderer knives that I'm holding there.

Chinese New Year is coming at Queensbay

2014-01-05T18:10:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas

2013-12-23T18:20:00.003-08:00

Rurouni Kenshin 2 - The Great Kyoto Arc Official Trailer

2013-12-23T00:00:00.003-08:00

Wah, the Kyoto arc, I don't know how they are going to fit all the characters in one movie.

TIMSS and PISA results

2013-12-22T19:15:00.001-08:00

Some of you might have heard of these 2, if you are in the education field. While some ministers boasts that we have the best education system in the world, the results say otherwise.

The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) provides reliable and timely data on the mathematics and science achievement of U.S. 4th- and 8th-grade students compared to that of students in other countries. TIMSS data have been collected in 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, and 2011. The next data collection is in 2015.

This is not a two cent NGO, the results are acknowledged worldwide, unless you are in denial. Their website if you want to refer http://nces.ed.gov/timss/

Here is the result for 2011, well, part of it anyhow

Here is the full reference in the website http://nces.ed.gov/timss/table11_3.asp

The average score is 500, with Malaysia scoring 440.

What about this PISA? No, it's not the leaning tower that we are talking about

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is a triennial international survey which aims to evaluate education systems worldwide by testing the skills and knowledge of 15-year-old students. To date, students representing more than 70 economies have participated in the assessment.

Their website http://www.oecd.org/pisa/

And the result for 2012

For the full result http://www.oecd.org/pisa/keyfindings/PISA-2012-results-snapshot-Volume-I-ENG.pdf

If you look carefully, you will see that Thailand has a higher score than Malaysia.

Time to wake up..

2013 - The Lost Year

2013-12-22T18:51:00.001-08:00

I have not updated my blog since June 2013. Well, it's not that I was dead or something, but I was busy trying to save the world, actually Malaysia. Currently I am working in an institute that trains Malaysian Teachers, and I "heard" a lot of praise of the good job that we are doing. But, when I look back at the reality, yeah, we can get a student to get 17A in SPM, but there are people who can't handle life, like the 24 years old engineer who commited suicide because he cannot handle the stress of the first job, so i wonder are we really doing a good job, or are we just blowing our own trumpet (syok sendiri). Some ministers even declared our education the best in the world, but timss and pisa results really knock us back to earth.

Looking back, it has almost been 3 years I have left the education field. In these 3 years, I still contact my students, get involved in their projects and regularly visit them. I guess I never left, its just I am not physically there anymore, but I kniw the happenings at the college. I have read somewhere that

"Jerry Jarrett told me when he walked away from the wrestling business, he thought he hated the wrestling business.

Then after he was away from it for a while, he figured out that he didn't hate the wrestling business, he hated who he was in business with in the wrestling business." - Jim Cornette.

Well, I guess that is true, that's why now I am waiting for my change to go back to teach, it's just a matter or time and opportunity. By next year is my target, its just the matter of place in location. Actually since last year, I thought of leaving, but i decided to give people a chance, but I guess it is not worth it. In the end, you should decide what you really want to do in life.

More on that later. But I did evolve since I left education field, so I guess that was the right thing to do at the time. But now, this is the right thing to do.

And yes, I will regularly update my blog again, since I need a reason to live too. Till next time.

Gatchaman aka Battle Of the Planets

2013-06-23T21:13:00.002-07:00

After waiting for years, finally the movie is coming out soon.

Hazy Days

2013-06-23T21:11:00.001-07:00

Finally the haze is back..

My Wish List For Malaysia

2013-05-03T00:10:00.001-07:00

This is my third time voting. For the first timers there, remember to go out and vote because it’s your right. It does not really matter whether your choice candidates wins or lose, but it is your responsibility and to give the message that people are looking and observing what the Government is doing and we will not be bullied anymore and will not just blindly support a symbol without looking at the candidates. Here is my wish list for Malaysia

1.       We have more politicians that are sensible and not talk with their asses or emotions. We had enough of keris waving, name calling kind of politicians here. What we want are politicians that talk with facts and if there is an issue, they should respond immediately and not wait until 300 years to deny it.

2.       We should not have politicians as Education Minister as they will flip flop on certain issue, and the future generations are affected. Education should be politic free, which makes me wonder why school children are on bicycle carrying certain party flag. Can they even vote?

3.       Please don’t be blinded by hatred of certain party. Yes, we can disagree with certain issues, but if you have blind hate, you are no better than them.

4.       Don’t be so fast to call someone who is against you as unpatriotic or enemy agents or out to destroy the country. Listen to what they have to say first and respond without name calling or labeling.

5.       We are all Malaysians. Don’t be so fast to ask the people “If you don’t like it, please leave Malaysia”, because if I see something wrong and keep quiet, it means that I am being unpatriotic. And Malaysia DOES NOT belong to one party only

Its ON

2013-04-03T01:10:00.002-07:00

Finally the Election is coming

I am lost but slowly I am finding my way back..

2013-04-03T01:05:00.001-07:00

I have been busy with work that I almost forget who I am, but slowly I am finding my way back..

It's almost Chinese New Year

2013-02-05T19:56:00.001-08:00

Only a few days more to go. I am looking forward to the break and its time to think and plan for the future again.

Last weekend, I went and bought a new Dockers pants. As people complain that I always wear either black or blue color, now I decided to buy a different color.

The problem now is I don't know what color should the shirt be. Either blue or gray..hmm. Hopefully I can get it today.

Other than that, I finally got my Spyderco back again. I send it to the shop last month when I broke the tip of the blade.

Till next time.

We are listening

2013-01-15T17:37:00.005-08:00

Some creative design from the listen, listen, listen incident.

And here is a funny comic

Some trolls

Malaysian vs SW1M

2013-01-15T17:06:00.000-08:00

It started with a Youtube video that was shared in Facebook.

Normally I don't like to get involved in these kind of things but then I saw the obnoxious posting in the SW1M Facebook page.

From the video, clearly it is known who is being disrespectful. I am a former lecturer and trainer for MNCs, and never in my life I asked my students to stop like that. That is just disrespectful and inconsiderate. Even if you are out of time, you must say, I am sorry, we are out of time, but I will take note of your points and get back to you.

You don't make fun of other people's advice or comments, especially if the points have values and merits.

Now they are accusing the student of using the Government's money, ahem, its the tax payers money ok.

Misleading, it is not even an apology but more rants.

Now they are accusing the student of being a socialist, God forbid they know what that means.

When all else fail, try to use the "threat of Christian", damn pathetic.

And accusing the people that complain of being opposition party supporters. We are just people who can differentiate right from wrong.

On the other side of the story

Another Knife

2013-01-14T21:42:00.003-08:00

I just bought another knife, Kershaw Half Ton, in US its USD20 but here its RM110. Sigh

My assessment, the blade is good, but opening is kinda stiff cause of the location of the thumb studs. I bought this cause two of my knives are in the shop, while my Kershaw Volt II has this mysterious ratting sound which I did not have time to check yet.

To me a good knife is one that you can carry everyday and use and it will not give you any problems like loose screws, rattling sounds and so forth. So in my book, my Swiss Army Knife is still the best.

While on holiday, last December, I went to my old knife shop, and saw this balisong at a discounted price, RM16, I know the quality is not that good but for RM16, what the heck.

Till next time.

Teachers nowadays

2013-01-08T17:36:00.004-08:00

When I was in school. like 200 years ago, the teachers always lament "Students nowadays...". I was reading today's new and now would like to lament "Teachers nowadays.."

And another funny story involving the police. I would like to book this hotel for my company dinner this year.

I'm on a break, but finally I am back

2013-01-07T21:48:00.000-08:00

2011 was a tough and challenging year, and I had a lot of issues to settle before the new year. I am torn whether I want to go back to teaching or stay on what I am doing now, money wise, it better than when I was a lecturer, but I really do miss teaching. Let's wait for some time, and see what people can offer me as a lecturer, salary wise..ha ha

So what have I been up to these past few months? Well, I was busy helping some students with their final year projects, which I will not do again. If you wanted someone to help you with your projects, go contact Mr. G..ha ha

Knives, been updating myself in the knife forum, and I did finally buy a custom knife made by Klonk. Now it is at the shop being sharpened.

Then Christmas came, well it was great, but I am more excited about Chinese New Year next month.

Talking about that, during my Christmas shopping, I bought another Onitsuka Tiger, this time red color. I don't know why I like that brand so much, maybe cause its comfortable or because Bruce Lee used to wear it, and the Bride too in Kill Bill.

Sorry about the whitish image, I think its my camera. maybe need to buy new handphone soon.

Saying money to buy an expensive knife. A guy from the knife forum carries a USD500++ Strider knife.

Till next time, take care.

My new knife

2012-10-29T20:51:00.003-07:00

Just bought a Kershaw Volt II.

Back at my hometown

2012-10-28T22:59:00.001-07:00

I was back at my hometown for Raya holidays, and snapped some pictures of the area near my house.

It's an irony

2012-10-14T23:03:00.000-07:00

It's an irony when people talk about get rich quick scheme and be wary of investment that sounds too good to be true when an advertisement that sounds just like that is just opposite the news.

I'm a Barbie Doll

2012-10-14T19:18:00.001-07:00

Now, this is scary. When people wanted to look like Barbie.

If you wanted to be a cowboy

2012-10-14T19:09:00.001-07:00

Head down to Bukit Jambul Complex, Penang. With a purchase of RM50, you can have a go at their mechanical bull.. he he

Open Conference System Installation

2012-10-09T01:09:00.002-07:00

Basically this is a bit technical, but the installation is kinda complicated and those online help does not really help, so I am going to do my guide here.

Open Conference System is a open source software that can be used to manage conference which includes user registration, paper submissions and many more features. It can be downloaded at http://pkp.sfu.ca/?q=ocs

If you read the manual it says it requires Apache, Php, MySQL. The easiest way is to a software called XAMPP which contains these three things.

Once you download the Open Conference software you have to unzip it and put it in the XAMPP/htdocs folder.

One thing that they did not tell you is you must manually create several folders
1. cache - inside cache you create the subfolders _db, t_cache and t_compile
2. public

If you did not create these folders, you will face problem installing, err, how do you actually install??

You just type localhost/software and follow the instructions.

One common area is the database error, it will say access denied or something like that.

The most common mistake is getting your User wrong. Check it at the MySQL console.

If you done everything correctly, you should be able to install it correctly