Susu Kacang Cafe

東山飄雨西關晴

2008-12-25T14:53:00.000-08:00

Nice show here....keeps me busy during Xmas..

When Easterly Showers Fall on the Sunny West (See Wiki)

P.S. Hey, why not do something nice this Xmas and help donate to a schoolhere.....

VERY IMPORTANT TO NOTE : These links are provided and hosted from a third party server. Please be aware that i found this using a search functionality, helping you discover publicly available websites and their content. I do not host the movie nor is responsible for the content.

Amazing video of a dog rescues another dog

2008-12-17T20:25:00.000-08:00

Just happened to see this video clip while browsing.....what an amazing act!

Sad state of affairs in Malaysia

2008-12-03T22:03:00.000-08:00

Today, as I was browsing the alternative media in Malaysia, I read an article by Lim Kit Siang on the sad situation with universities in Malaysia. Then I went to google for the facts. If you don't believe what he said about Malaysian universities rankings, you can see for yourself in the THES-QS website. What can I say? Malaysian government and the power-that-be really screwed the country big time. Did they forget that education is the key to progress in society? Now, unless the situation is reversed, Malaysia will fall behind even more in the global rat race. Good people will leave for greener pastures. Australia, New Zealand, England, US...wait, Singapore. I wonder what is the population of Malaysians and ex-Malaysians in Singapore.

UM - 230
UKM - 250
USM - 313
UPM - 320
UTM - 356

Other Unis known to me:
NUS - 30
UCLA - 30
UCB - 36
Monash U - 47
UCSD - 58
NTU - 77
Curtin University of Technology - 232
IIT - Kanpur - 242

NUS is leading the pack here. NTU is also not bad. So I am proud of my schools, haha. Hmm, what about UMIST? Hmmm, Seems like it is out of the list. What about University of Life? Not even there. Being a university graduate will not necessarily make you a better person. Only better advantage in landing a job. I know, because I am rather eccentric. Anyway, looking at the list, it does seem to me that Malaysian Universities find some good companies in the 200-300+ division, like Curtin University. Don't know much about the place except that an ex-classmate graduated from there and lectured there.

Maybe the list means that Malaysian Universities need to publish more papers in reputable journals (in English, please!), produce Noble prize winners and other honours. NUS is very capable of publishing papers. It's the publish or perish mantra.

What does that mean for me? Maybe easier for me to go back home and find job?

Women Soccer

2008-12-03T19:56:00.000-08:00

Women soccer is a big thing in US. More than Malaysia, I guess. There is a very good recreational park not far from here by Lake Hodges. I see young girls training on the soccer field regularly. Well, there is a player that made the news on Malaysia's The Star newspaper. A 17-year old girl who can do acrobatic throws. See report here. So I dug up some videos from youtube. Very impressive.

Now let's see how boys do it....

Girls rule!

Here's a video clip which is so funny I have to post it here.

How to fix laptop screen

2008-11-29T20:09:00.001-08:00

Just surfing to see how much lcd monitors cost. I thought the smaller the size goes, the cheaper it should be. Apparently not. Smaller LCD monitors are used in vehicle rearview mirror monitor applications. And they are not cheap. While surfing, came across a useful video on how to replace your laptop screen.

First time listening to Feynman's voice!

2008-11-23T23:25:00.000-08:00

And it's pronounced as "Fineman". I came across one particular website as I was trying to refresh my memories on Feynman-Dirac statistics and its application on the semiconductor PN junction. There I found out that Britney Spears is actually a pro in physics! Wow, that is one good reason to love physics. There are nice links on the site and that is where I found BBC's interview with Richard Feynman. As you know, I am a big fan of him and it excited me when I found new materials about him.

Internet power on Malaysia politics and Global stock market

2008-09-14T21:43:00.000-07:00

What are some of the most important things to watch out for during this month. For Malaysians, maybe the dates 16th or 20th will be the days to keep an eye. Incidentally one of the chapters in a book I recently briefly read called Freakonomics mentioned something about politics, real estate brokers, insurance companies and Ku Klux Klan having something in common. It is very interesting to note that all three groups derived their powers from their possession of information. When they lose grip with information, they are rendered powerless.

With Ku Klux Klan, there is this guy who joined the group and learned everything about them, and then have what he learned broadcasted over the radio. Soon kids even played around with the secret passcodes that the KKK group used, much to the embarrassment of their member fathers. Eventually, the group membership dwindled.

I see a similarity with the crisis faced by the present BN-led government in Malaysia. I guess the hero in this story would be RPK who exposed many of the weaknesses in the coalition government via internet. If you want to read more, go to the Malaysia Today website (it is no longer banned).

As the book pointed out, it is the breakdown of information control that led to the downfall of those groups mentioned above. Today, if you want to get more information about insurance policies or real estate properties, you can do your research on internet. Well, in some places, however, the internet revolution is developing at a slower pace.

If you want to know what is going on with the stock market, you can always do your research on internet. However, I think the biggest challenge is to distinguish good information from bad ones.

Some of the websites I visit which I deemed useful are:

Billcara
Here is where I learned about Joanne Hruska on Market Call with BNN,among others. Most of the time, the recommendation is to buy energy stocks. Check this out.

Wallaston Investments
There is a recent entry which links to some articles which examines the relationship between corporate and government bonds which I find to be very educational. It will help you understand how the market is moving.

Mish
Don't forget this blog too. A lot of interesting articles.

Last but not least, to those who are planning to buy some stocks, I think the time is about right. Probably go for gold, energy stocks......

Others:
Precious Metals

Just my personal update....

How to watch youtube/beijing2008 in US?

2008-08-24T23:55:00.000-07:00

After fiddling for an hour or so, I finally managed to watch Beijing Olympics 2008 in US. I found out from the badminton forum that you can watch nbcolympics outside US using the program from ultrareach website. For more information, see here. By the way, badminton forum has a new welcome page!

If you like to watch youtube/beijing2008 in US however, you have to something about the cookies. Here's the website which explains very well. It in turn points to another website - Valleywag. Nonetheless, for my own record, the steps are:

1. Open YouTube.com in your browser.

2. After the site loads, find the option in your browser for editing cookies. Here's the instructions for Firefox 3.0:

* Click the Tools->Options (Windows) or Firefox->Preferences (Mac) menu option
* On the Preferences pane that appears, click the Privacy Tab.
* In the Privacy panel, Click on Show Cookies...
* In the Cookies panel that appears, search for "youtube" in the search box.
* Look for a cookie named "youtube.com GEO"
* Select the GEO cookie and click Remove Cookie

3. In the same browser window that has YouTube loaded, set your own GEO cookie by trying to open this URL in your browser. Do not break line.

javascript:alert(document.cookie="GEO=
bb84fb3cd7df0311bb5026df4d6b524fcxkAAABLUix
ubyByZWdpb24sc2VvdWwsLCwsLC0x;path=/;domain=.youtube.com")

You should get a dropdown dialog box that says "The page at http://youtube.com says GEO=bb84fb3cd7df0 ..." This is not an error message, it's a notification that you've set the cookie successfully.

4. You should have a rigged GEO cookie for YouTube now. Try opening http://www.youtube.com/beijing2008.

Now I am going to watch the recorded play of the closing ceremony which I missed this morning!

By the way, NBColympics website has a very good archive of the badminton matches. Now, I wonder how one can record the matches?

Zoey is 3 Years Old!

2008-08-23T00:00:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to our beloved little daughter. It's amazing how fast you have grown up. Hope you like your birthday presents from all of us. A Hello Kitty school bag, a beauty and the beast musical box and chocolate birthday cake. I know what a small party we had for you. Apart from the grandparents and us, and your baby sister, Amy's friend, Saroja, was the only birthday guest we manage to invite. Seeing how much you still enjoyed the occasion makes me very pleased. Grandma fried some prawn crackers and some fishes which you would like to eat.

You know, Zoey, you made a big difference in our lives these past 3 years. You brought me and your mother together. You taught us how to care for babies. You showed us how little patience we adults have, and how to be more patient. Yes, babies are so delicate and yet powerful - you taught me to tap the source of love within myself to overcome angry emotions and rage. (So much like the story of the beauty and the beast)

It was a joy to see how you began to roll over, sit up, crawl, stand up, and eventually walk, run and talk. First we played counting numbers while you sat on the edge of the mattress and lifted up and down. Then when you were a little older, you started standing on the mattress and jumping up and down as we count one to one hundred. You have so much energy. I became more tired counting than you jumping.

I hope you take the best of me and your mother. Nothing is perfect in this world and I think it will be tough to pretend that it is. What makes the world more beautiful is that we learn to deal with the imperfection in good ways. Thus, when you see me and your mother disagreeing, I hope you see the strength of love and power of forgiveness that transcends above our intrinsic flaws. Your mother is a more patient person and always gives in to people. I, on the other hand, believes in the development of self-discipline even at tender age, and that is why I tend to be more authoritative and demanding. I hope you will understand when you are older.

I believe parents will be a strong influence in developing their children's voice of conscience. Funny thing that as I try to help you build that voice of conscience, I find my own sometimes flawed. I think as we grow older and encounter more situations and witness other people's behavior, our values and virtues are put to the test. Shall I or shall I not compromise? It is so easy when you are a child. It seems so.

Maybe that is the secret to being happy. Maybe I have been so busy wondering what to teach you next that I forget to learn from you. I remember having to teach you the concept of today, yesterday and tomorrow. I had to say like, yesterday we went to Black Mountain Gym and did so and so, today we stayed at home, tomorrow we will be going to the zoo or something to explain to you the concept of time. Later I had to explain to you what we mean by time. 12 o'clock means lunchtime, 10 o'clock means sleeping time, latest. Morning is when the sun rises and evening is when the sun sets.

I suspect that to you everyday is just an opportunity to have more fun and learning. Perhaps you don't even think in terms of days. There is no past or future, only now and present. I believe you are quite right there. There is only opportunity to treat ourselves and others well. There is only opportunity to do good and think well of ourselves and others. In order to stay young, we must not be afraid or lazy to learn new things. This means your relationship with nature around you is always refreshing. When your relationship stays stagnant or ceases, it seems to say you are tired of life already. So, if I want to stay happy, I must not forget to learn something new every moment I have.

You are always asking questions. Sometimes your questions really amaze me. Like many grown-ups, we have taken so many things for granted. For instance, one of the questions you asked me was why we need to drive on the freeway and I replied so that we could get home. Home is far away and the freeway will connect us quickly. And you asked again, why is home so far away. Sometimes questions like require me to answer in a loopy fashion. I probaby say because it is there and you ask again why it is there and I reply because it is far away and you ask again why it is far away and we get into this do-while loop. Actually I think it is a very good question because we are trying to understand the concept of space and why space exist. I encourage you to continue your inquisitive ways because that is the way to learn about the truth. You will meet people along the way who are discouraging or cannot help you, but do not give up. If you look for it hard and long enough, you will find the answers. Or Or maybe the answers will find you instead.

By now, you can hit the shuttlecocks pretty well at your age. Your mother has done a great job in exposing you to various kinds of sports activities. Apart from badminton, there is soccer, basketball, table tennis and swimming. I can only wish I had those kind of activities when I was younger. I guess I get a second chance now as I get to enjoy these games with you. You won't make a lot of money with badminton, unlike tennis or golf, if you choose to be a professional player in future, but I can assure you it will be a fun as a recreational sports. There is a mental aspect to the game too - maybe the mental aspect is more important than the physical aspect. Remember, the grip is very important.

If there is something lacking here, I think music is it. It seems we haven't spent enough time on this. In spite of this, I see that you enjoy singing your "everything is..." song. And you enjoy dancing too. When you were little like Justine now, your nanny used to feed you the bottle of milk while playing the instrumental music CD. When you were older, we introduced you to the "Sound of Music" on youTube website (the original one seems gone). I thought Do-Re-Mi was a suitable song to begin with. Actually the first song I remember singing or humming to you was Teresa Teng's "The Moon Represents My Heart". Try picking up a musical instrument. A piano, guitar or harmonica. It will be your good companion along the journey of life.

Don't forget your caring and sharing ways. Your mother noticed that this is an intrinsic quality in you. A person who keeps everything to himself will be afraid to lose them all. It can be a burden. Better to share what you don't really need. This way, you gain something else in return. I am not sure how much I understand this but maybe I should learn from you.

You brought us many sweet memories these past three years. August 23rd is a special date to many people. To Irene who works at Balboa Park, it is her birthday too. To Saroja and Sandeep, it is their wedding anniversary date. To us, it is a day you came into our lives, bringing with you, the vigors of life and lots of joy. That is how we named you.

Ultimate badminton fan

2008-08-11T16:35:00.000-07:00

This is so amazing that I want to post it here....

97-year-old travels 2,400km by bike to see badminton

(Source: CCTV website)

A 97-year-old grandmother has travelled 2,400 kilometres (1,491 miles) by tricyle to watch the Chinese badminton team in action at the Beijing Olympics.

Xiao Xincui, affectionately known as old Xiao, sat in the back while her grandson Liu Xianghui provided the pedal power on their mammoth journey from Henan province in central China.

The epic trip took five weeks and they arrived to see women's singles champion Zhang Ning play on Sunday.

"I'm very excited to be here," said Xiao.

Her grandson said he wanted to make the trip as a thank you to Xiao for bringing him up after his father died when he was young.

Their journey has caught the imagination of the Chinese media and public and they now have tickets to see the 110m hurdles final at the National Stadium where the whole of China will be willing Liu Xiang to win another gold medal.

Copyright © 2008 Agence France Presse

source :
badminton forum
cctv

Watching Beijing Olympics 2008 live on internet

2008-08-07T17:16:00.000-07:00

For some of us, the olympics games will provide a relief from the current economic woes. At least for the duration of the games. For badminton fans, we want to see good, inspiring games and wish our favorite players will win.

Surfing through the internet, I found a list of websites/programs where you can watch the games. It's easy - just google "where to watch beijing olympics live on internet". One search result is from alleyinsider site. Check the comments section.

Better still, check out this vastly improved blog. Specifically, if you are a diehard badminton fan, you will be able to find play schedule and how to watch.

Let me summarize:

If your country allows it, you can watch on youtube via http://www.youtube.com/beijing2008.

Links:
myp2p
ppstream
p2p tv players

Interesting dream....Part II

2008-08-04T06:11:00.000-07:00

(I feel I have to put this down now because I will forget as soon as the new day begins)

Like most of the time, I forget my dreams. They are like the morning dew that eventually disappears as soon as the new day begins.

As of now, I have mild recollections of my dreams last night. I remember being with my father - or whom I associated to be my father (he probably didn't really look like my father but felt like one) and we were probably walking through some school compound looking for the restroom. Not sure if any of this make sense at all.

In another scene, I remember telling him how, earlier I have witnessed an execution order carried out on a group of people from a platform that looked like a truck or something. I can vaguely remember a particular scene where I was flying in a plane. This all seemed like a war story of some sort. It is all jumbled up, definitely. There is a particular scene where I told my father that when the casino (Las Vegas? Genting?) first opened, it was clothing optional. In fact, I pointed out in a video I watched about the place.

What prompted me most to quickly record down what I have dreamed is this particular scene.

I think I was visiting a very old house or a ship or something like that. I think I was going through the different rooms. I went to this particular room and saw a lot of old stuff. I began to examine some of the items there. I think they were from the Victorian era or something like that.

Suddenly I heard voices of two women arguing over something. There was nobody around, that's for sure. But the voices seemed to be talking about me. I looked around.

Behind me, there was an old phone by the wall and a long oval mirror just next to it. The voices seemed to come from the phone. I went to the phone and maybe picked up the receiver or maybe I didn't. Then I glanced in the mirror.

I saw a lady looking straight at me. She was wearing a black Victorian-style dress with the headgear. I think she had black hair as well. I think she was angry at me for messing with the stuff on the table. Stuff that probably belonged to her late husband or something.

I think we probably communicated a bit. I cannot remember.

I had an understanding that I had just stepped into another world. Through a doorway or perhaps a series of doorways. This understanding came to me as soon as I told myself not to be afraid. They are not ghosts at all. Are they spirits just trapped in a world that did not belonged to them? No, I told myself it did not have to be this way.

As soon as I understood things this way, I realized that I have just visited another world.

And that explains why I had this feeling of emptiness or voidness when I was putting Zoey to bed. Indeed, it could very mean that I am already dead after all. The life that I am now living could already have been over.

What about that noise that I heard earlier? Was that just the sound of furniture cracking? Did it have to squeak at the most inconvenient time?

That was probably myself. That was probably me trying to tell myself something. You know, like in the "Terminator" movie, it was me from another place and time, trying to get a message to me, here and now.

Probably, this is the closest thing I can get to experience shifting your focus....

"...there are many possibilities and the reason you are here and now is because your focus is here."

Interesting dream....Part I

2008-08-04T05:49:00.000-07:00

As usual, it is hard for me to finish my blog entry. After a while, my mind has wondered far enough for my words to catch up. I left the earlier post unfinished and decided to quit for the night.

It was already 2.30 am in the morning.

As I lay on my spread-out sleeping bag in the living room, I told myself to try to switch off and not allow my mind to actively wander. It is quiet here and I have deliberately turned off the lights in the corridor so that I could sleep better.

Minutes passed but I am still lingering in my wakeful state. Maybe I am drifting back and forth between here and dreamland. I am not sure.

Earlier, when I was putting Zoey to bed, I experienced a sense of emptiness or is it voidness? Can't be sure. Instead of feeling upset about it, as I occasionally did when I wondered if it had anything to do with my feeling loss sense of purpose or something, I used my current state of mind to reach for a doorway. A doorway that perhaps can teleport me to another part of the world to visit my friend.

It is a crazy idea. Minutes after trying, I gave up. I thought if I could just shift my 'focus' away from 'here', I would be able to travel different places and time.

I quickly forgot about my experiment.

Here I am, adjusting my sleep position, cannot make up my mind whether to pull up my 'sleep blanket' or not. Suddenly, there was some sound next to me, by the computer table side. I thought maybe it was the sound of my glasses falling off the table. I laid still there. Not sure if I heard correctly.

Quietly, I surveyed the room. I was half expecting to see a shadow or something in front of me.

Seems there wasn't anything. Before I knew it, I guess I had already teleported to dreamland......

Self-defense mechanism?

2008-08-04T01:30:00.001-07:00

Before I go to bed, there are some thoughts I would like to write down.

Maybe I should begin by asking you: how do you measure your own success? how do you measure your own happiness? This seems like a common and over-discussed subject. These questions came to my mind after observing certain human behaviour. And those behaviours lead me into thinking that the individuals are not very happy people or at least, cannot achieve complete happiness.

Let me first point out that I am not a pscychologist, merely trying to understand why certain behaviours exist. So, my views and analysis may not be true and accurate.

I have come across people saying bad things about other people (mostly behind their backs). Well, it happens all the time and it didn't really bother me so much in the past. But when people you know very well behaves that way, you really wonder why they have to behave like that.

Most people don't even realize that they are saying bad things about other people. They don't even realize that they are saying bad things about strangers or even objects when the opportunities arise. Alas, when these behaviours are reinforced regularly, they become habits.

There are good habits and bad habits in life. Bad habits are the ones that impedes one's progress and higher development in life. I believe talking bad about other people and objects creates a negative view of the world you live in. And hence frustrates your efforts to find complete happiness.

Why do people have bad things to say?

This reminds me of some stories in the bible. Roughly, some so-called Christians always have bad things to say about the non-Christians, specifically, the Pharisees. Seeing this, Jesus was angry and began lecturing them about how the Pharisees are better than them in certain ways. Other similar incidents took place where he defended the tax collector and the Emperor. (My apologies for my vagueness here. True, I don't remember the details.)

I think such behaviours are developed as a result of having to defending oneself constantly.

It seems in life, there are so many times you need to defend yourself...........

Randy Pausch's inspiring messages

2008-07-25T23:13:00.000-07:00

Today happened to be the last day of Prof Randy Pausch. As usual, I was going to the Yahoo mail website when I saw the sad headlines this morning. I have to admit that his messages have enlightened me on several aspects on how to live life right. That's it - if you live your right, your dreams will come to you. The brickwall is there for a reason. It is not there to stop you but to let you show how badly you wanted something. The brickwall is there to stop others who do not want it badly enough. Be patient with others. They will surprise and impress you.

I bought his book entitled "The Last Lecture" from Vons supermarket a few weeks ago. I wanted the book especially for my father to read. He has a number of problems - physical and emotional - and I thought the book would do him a lot of good. Well, unfortunately, I think he is not taking any interest in the book. Not much. Not enough. Anyway, I myself also would like to finish his book. I am sure it will inspire me.

I realized that I am only 7 years younger than Randy. At 47, he already has three kids and a successful career and life. I guess he pretty much knew what he wanted to do in life and went for it. As the title of his last lecture goes - Really achieving your Childhood Dreams - he has achieved (almost) all that he dreamt to do. As for myself, I think I also pretty much achieved what I wanted to do in life.

If I were given 7 more years to live, what else would I like to do? Well, I would like to see my children grow up wonderfully. Yes, I mentioned the plural word, children. We have a second daughter on May 29th. Her name is Justine. Yes, her mother was crazy over the tennis player. More on this later. Maybe I would like to travel a bit. Visit some places on earth. Maybe visit the remaining 5 wonders of the world.

If I had been given 3 to 6 months to live, I wouldn't know if I have enough courage to go through it. Randy did it. In the short WSJ clip I just watched, he said there were two things he wanted his children to know, that is, he never gave up and that he really loves them very much.

Inspiring messages......

Link: The Last Lecture Book

The Art of Being Well

2008-04-29T23:11:00.000-07:00

I haven't been blogging for quite some time. I have even forgotten how to make a new post. I am still waiting for my right arm to get better. I think I am suffering from RSI - short for repetitive strain injury.....not the other RSI used in technical analysis of the equities (stock) market....Relative Strength Index.

Anyway, I have been wanting to post in the past few days but just wanted to give my arm a rest. A good friend sent me an email with a nice message that staying healthy. Maybe it will help my arm as well as other assorted health problems that I am bound to encounter.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Art of Being Well

Dr. Dráuzio Varella

If you don’t want to be ill...
...Speak your feelings.

Emotions and feelings that are hidden, repressed, end in illnesses as: gastritis, ulcer, lumbar pains, spinal. With time, the repression of the feelings degenerates to the cancer. Then, we go to a confidante, to share our intimacy, ours "secret", our errors! The dialogue, the speech, the word, is a powerful remedy and an excellent therapy!

If you don’t want to be ill...
...Make Decisions.

The undecided person remains in doubt, in anxiety, in anguish. Indecision accumulates problems, worries and aggressions. Human history is made of decisions. To decide is precisely to know to renounce, to know to lose advantages and values to win others. The undecided people are victims of gastric ailments, nervous pains and problems of the skin.

If you don’t want to be ill...
...Find Solutions.

Negative people do not find solutions and they enlarge problems. They prefer lamentation, gossip, pessimism. It is better to light a match that to regret the darkness. A bee is small, but produces one of the sweetest things that exist. We are what we think. The negative thought generates negative energy that is transformed into illness.

If you don’t want to be ill...
...Don’t Live By Appearances.

Who hides reality, pretends , poses and always wants to give the impression of being well. He wants to be seen as perfect, easy-going, etc. but is accumulating tons of weight. A bronze statue with feet of clay. There is nothing worse for the health than to live on appearances and facades. These are people with a lot of varnish and little root. Their destiny is the pharmacy, the hospital and pain.

If you don’t want to be ill...
...Accept.

The refusal of acceptance and the absence of self-esteem, make us alienate ourselves. Being at one with ourselves is the core of a healthy life. They who do not accept this, become envious, jealous, imitators, ultra-competitive, destructive. Be accepted, accept that you are accepted, accept the criticisms. It is wisdom, good sense and therapy.

If you don’t want to be ill...
...Trust.

Who does not trust, does not communicate, is not opened, is not related, does not create deep and stable relations, does not know to do true friendships. Without confidence, there is not relationship. Distrust is a lack of faith in you and in faith itself.

If you don’t want to be ill...
...Do Not Live Life Sad.

Good humor. Laughter. Rest. Happiness. These replenish health and bring long life. The happy person has the gift to improve the environment wherever they live. “Good humor saves us from the hands of the doctor". Happiness is health and therapy.

OK, my 5 minute on the mouse and keyboard is up....

What? No more badminton in Olympics after 2008!

2008-04-14T23:23:00.000-07:00

And the ridiculous thing is that it (and judo) will be replaced with croquet and chess. This is what the president of the ICF has to say about badminton.

"Unlike judo, croquet has a distinguished and civilised history," said Laer Diputs, president of the ICF. "It's also not like badminton where you simply run around wildly, hitting back and forth. Croquet is very competitive and depends on a combination of physical skill and careful strategy. Most of all, success depends on a cool assessment of risks and probabilities, yes, much like chess."

I know what chess is and whatever battle there is to the game, it happens in the mind only. It doesn't test your physical prowess except maybe your ability to sit long in the chair and periodically use your hands to move the chess pieces, set the clock and scribble some letters and numbers. It is a respectable game and I enjoy playing chess, mostly chinese chess, however. But I don't think it deserves to be included as an Olympic sports.

When I think of Olympics, I think of the training the athletes have to go through. They train both physically and mentally. Physically, the athletes train for strength, speed and endurance. They will refine their skills and techniques in their respective disciplines - sprinting, long jump, high jump, long distance running, javelin, archery etc. Also, they will spend a lot of time analyzing their mental weaknesses and how to work on those. The mental part separates the champion from the rest.

Now, I play badminton and I can tell you that it requires you to be good at everything that I just mentioned. Sometimes it feels like sprinting across the court to retrieve the shuttlecock. Sometimes you need to jump to execute certain quality shots. To win points, sometimes you have to be really sharp and accurate. Your technique needs to be correct so you don't waste your energy unnecessarily. You need to be super-fit in order to stay in the championship. At the highest level, where all players have equal chance to win, it is the person who is strongest mentally more likely to triumph. The beauty of the game is that even a small kid can beat an adult.

And so what is this croquet game all about? I searched for it in youtube and here's what I found.

I can't believe that this game will replace badminton and judo in the next Olympics. Don't be surprised that the beauty pageant or any dance routine will feature in future Olympics as well.

Meanwhile, I still enjoy the game of badminton. Whoever wins in Beijing in August - best of luck! And to badminton fans out there, don't miss the last Olympic badminton event.

links:
http://www.badmintoncentral.com/badminton-central/content/view/125/2/
http://en.beijing2008.cn/spirit/beijing2008/graphic/n214068254.shtml

Rice bucket

2008-04-07T00:35:00.000-07:00

Yeah, that's what they sometimes call you in Cantonese 'Fan Toong'. The nice version means that you eat a lot of rice. The mean version means you are stupid. Well, I don't care what you mean when you call me 'fan toong' as long as I still get to eat rice. With prices of commodities rising, folks like you and me will feel the pinch not in the far future. Rice will not be spared.

And beware of the sack of rice in your cupboard. It may disappear when you wake up the next morning. It seems as income grow as Asia is expanding economically, rice is getting more expensive (actually a combination of driving factors such as higher oil prices, lower food reserves and growing consumer demand in China and India).

When rice is too expensive to eat, maybe we should think about other profitable uses for rice. What about rice as an art? For this, maybe we can turn to the Japanese farmers for idea. How about this one?

or more here. Maybe it is a good idea to start a planting rice paddies - in a large scale. One guy in China switched from autoparts to rice and making two to three times more money than selling car spare parts (see here).

Okaylah, as long as soybean remains cheap. Otherwise, my cafe also gonna suffer business drop. Wait, soybean prices also going up. Maybe don't even get to drink, because your cars will be needing it. Corn, soybean will be planted to produce biofuels. Better stock up on my susu kacang! Darn.

Can we vote for the guy who truly understands the US economy?

2008-04-05T00:19:00.000-07:00

Everybody is talking about Obama vs Clinton, but maybe not so many people talk about Ron Paul. He seems to be the only person who is addressing the real issues with US economy. This man has already campaign himself via internet long before anyone else. I think he should get a good mark for this.

I admit I have not been following much of the US presidential election campaign. I don't know nuts about the candidates. However, just watching Obama and Clinton on youtube, I find that Obama is more charismatic and can connect better with the people (just my viewpoint, no offense to Clinton supporters).

From what I gather reading people's comments on some sites, however, Ron Paul seems to be the only guy who understands the problems with US economy. He knows how to ask the right questions as you can see in the following videos (politely but maybe not as strong as some people preferred here).

The five minute management course

2008-04-04T01:15:00.000-07:00

Who says you need an MBA degree? Learn some solid management principles in under five minutes below here and let your career soar. Thanks to my friend for sending me this very important article.

THE FIVE MINUTE MANAGEMENT COURSE

Lesson 1:

A man is getting into the shower just as his wife is finishing up her shower, when the doorbell rings.

The wife quickly wraps herself in a towel and runs downstairs.

When she opens the door, there stands Bob, the next-door neighbour.

Before she says a word, Bob says, 'I'll give you $800 to drop that towel.'

After thinking for a moment, the woman drops her towel and stands naked in front of Bob, after a few seconds, Bob hands her $800 and leaves.

The woman wraps back up in the towel and goes back upstairs.

When she gets to the bathroom, her husband asks, 'Who was that?'

'It was Bob the next door neighbour,' she replies.

'Great,' the husband says, 'did he say anything about the $800 he owes me?'

Moral of the story:

If you share critical information pertaining to credit and risk with your shareholders in time, you may be in a position to prevent avoidable exposure.

Lesson 2:

A priest offered a Nun a lift.

She got in and crossed her legs, forcing her gown to reveal a leg.

The priest nearly had an accident.

After controlling the car, he stealthily slid his hand up her leg.

The nun said, 'Father, remember Psalm 129?'

The priest removed his hand. But, changing gears, he let his hand slide up her leg again.
The nun once again said, 'Father, remember Psalm 129?'

The priest apologized 'Sorry sister but the flesh is weak.'

Arriving at the convent, the nun sighed heavily and went on her way.

On his arrival at the church, the priest rushed to look up Psalm 129. It said, 'Go forth and seek, further up, you will find glory.'

Moral of the story:
If you are not well informed in your job, you might miss a great opportunity.

Lesson 3:

A sales rep, an administration clerk, and the manager are walking to lunch when they find an antique oil lamp.

They rub it and a Genie comes out.
The Genie says, 'I'll give each of you just one wish.'
'Me first! Me first!' says the admin clerk. 'I want to be in the Bahamas , driving a speedboat, without a care in the world.'
Puff! She's gone.

'Me next! Me next!' says the sales rep. 'I want to be in Hawaii , relaxing on the beach with my personal masseuse, an endless supply of Pina Coladas and the love of my life.'

Puff! He's gone.

'OK, you're up,' the Genie says to the manager.
The manager says, 'I want those two back in the office after lunch.'

Moral of the story:
Always let your boss have the first say.

Lesson 4

An eagle was sitting on a tree resting, doing nothing.

A small rabbit saw the eagle and asked him, 'Can I also sit like you and do nothing?'
The eagle answered: 'Sure, why not.'

So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the eagle and rested. All of a sudden, a fox appeared, jumped on the rabbit and ate it.

Moral of the story:
To be sitting and doing nothing, you must be sitting very, very high up.

Lesson 5

A turkey was chatting with a bull.

'I would love to be able to get to the top of that tree' sighed the turkey, 'but I haven't got the energy.'
'Well, why don't you nibble on some of my droppings?' replied the bull. They're packed with nutrients.'

The turkey pecked at a lump of dung, and found it actually gave him enough str ength to reach the lowest branch of the tree.

The next day, after eating some more dung, he reached the second branch.

Finally after a fourth night, the turkey was proudly perched at the top of the tree.

He was promptly spotted by a farmer, who shot him out of the tree.

Moral of the story:
Bull Shit might get you to the top, but it won't keep you there..

Lesson 6

A little bird was flying south for the winter. It was so cold the bird froze and fell to the ground into a large field.

While he was lying there, a cow came by and dropped some dung on him.

As the frozen bird lay there in the pile of cow dung, he began to realize how warm he was.

The dung was actually thawing him out!

He lay there all warm and happy, and soon began to sing for joy.
A passing cat heard the bird singing and came to investigate.

Following the sound, the cat discovered the bird under the pile of cow dung, and promptly dug him out and ate him.

Morals of the story:
(1) Not everyone who shits on you is your enemy.

(2) Not everyone who gets you out of shit is your
friend.

(3) And when you're in deep shit, it's best to keep
your mouth shut!

THUS ENDS THE FIVE MINUTE MANAGEMENT COURSE

Leslie Cheung's last joke

2008-04-01T22:53:00.000-07:00

And I thought it was an April Fool's Day joke when they said he leaped into the next world. Such a talented actor and singer, I guess no one really knows why he decided to quit life. No matter how hard life is, one should never give up.

Have you ever known anyone who committed suicide? I guess I have. It was someone I knew from the church choir many, many years ago. It came as a surprise to me when I heard about her demise. What I can remember about her is how active she was during one of our church choir committee meetings. I guess growing up in New Zealand and studying in an international school (?) made her a more expressive and vocal person than the rest of us. I can faintly recall another brief encounter with her. Nothing that hinted to me the fate that awaited her.

I remember thinking to myself then - damn, why didn't I recognize any signs of her troubled life. Then I thought the least I could do now was to dedicate a song to her - 'In His Time' and hope that she would be watched over.

Well, that was many, many years ago already.

So what should I say here? I guess family members and friends can help those who are in need of help. Probably they just need a listening ear and a shoulder to cry on or some friendship.

Personally, I have met a friend who had gone through 'hell' in life and was fighting hard to survive. I guess I did help her in some ways. In the process, I also saw how fragile human lives are, how resilient humans can be and how we can touch peoples' lives by the simple gesture of a friendship - laced with sincerity.

It goes without saying that there are certain 'dangers' when you attempt to help people who are already vulnerable. You have to be very clear about yourself and what you are doing. For instance, your relationship with the person you are trying to help can evolve into something else. I know - you have seen those frightening stuff in movie plots but thankfully, I did not experience such dramatic finale. True, eventually she confessed certain feelings, err, let's say, about the situation and that was it. Maybe I was naive (and still am) but I think I did a good thing for someone.

April Fool's Day is meant to be a day for funny jokes. Something like Kenny Sia's joke about quitting his blog for good is good humor. Yes, all we need is some measure of good humor in a world that is too serious. So don't let anyone ruin it for us.

The Job

2008-03-31T06:15:00.000-07:00

I have often wondered why there were these clusters of male Mexican strewn along the gas stations and roadsides, even on Sundays. Now I know why from this recent video. Except that the roles are now reversed in light of the current economic crisis.

What is the reason for inflation?

2008-03-21T23:02:00.000-07:00

We hear this term over and over again. According to investopedia.com, inflation is ....

The rate at which the general level of prices for goods and services is rising, and, subsequently, purchasing power is falling.

As inflation rises, every dollar will buy a smaller percentage of a good. For example, if the inflation rate is 2%, then a $1 pack of gum will cost $1.02 in a year.

Most countries' central banks will try to sustain an inflation rate of 2-3%.

Now I know that when I first came to San Diego seven years ago, gas prices were so so cheap at USD1.30 per gallon. Today, it is USD3.60 per gallon. It is forecasted that the gas price will rise to USD5+ this year and USD7+ next year. A pizza will cost USD40 next year.

So when you feel a pinch, you know it is inflationary effect.

US recession is already here. Even Warren Buffett says so. There are people out there still denying that technically the gross domestic product(GDP) has to be negative for two consecutive quarters for the economy to be said to be going through recession. That's the official stand of the Feds. By then, it would be too late to act.

I have also been hearing the term stagflation. What is stagflation? According to investopedia again,

A condition of slow economic growth and relatively high unemployment - a time of stagnation - accompanied by a rise in prices, or inflation.

Stagflation occurs when the economy isn't growing but prices are, which is not a good situation for a country to be in. This happened to a great extent during the 1970s, when world oil prices rose dramatically, fueling sharp inflation in developed countries. For these countries, including the U.S., stagnation increased the inflationary effects.

Ah, it seems that the slow growth somehow has offset some of the inflationary effects in US. Slow growth means people cannot afford to spend, which reduces the demand for the goods and services and keep the prices from escalating, as is inflation.

Recently, the term deflation has been used repeatedly to describe the current US economy. Wow, what is deflation? Investopedia says deflation is

A general decline in prices, often caused by a reduction in the supply of money or credit. Deflation can be caused also by a decrease in government, personal or investment spending. The opposite of inflation, deflation has the side effect of increased unemployment since there is a lower level of demand in the economy, which can lead to an economic depression.

Declining prices, if they persist, generally create a vicious spiral of negatives such as falling profits, closing factories, shrinking employment and incomes, and increasing defaults on loans by companies and individuals. To counter deflation, the Federal Reserve (the Fed) can use monetary policy to increase the money supply and deliberately induce rising prices, causing inflation. Rising prices provide an essential lubricant for any sustained recovery because businesses increase profits and take some of the depressive pressures off wages and debtors of every kind.

This is getting serious. Deflation indicates the arrival of depression. What is the difference between recession and depression? Depression is defined as a negative GDP of greater than 10%. In the last Great Depression in the 1920s-30s, the GDP was something like -18%. In case you are wondering what is the Great Depression, watch this:

If you search the keyword "The Great Depression" on youtube.com, you will find some videos mentioning the second Great Depression. There are people who believe the current economic situation will inevitably lead to a depression era far worse than the 1920s. During the 1920s Great Depression, there was also a massive liquidity crisis and banks went bankrupt in great numbers.

Those days, there were bank runs - the general public panics and rushes to the bank to collect back their money. These days, it seems the government protects your bank savings deposits through the FDIC program. That is, you are insured up to USD100000, anything more will be defaulted. Now, I wonder, what if the government itself goes bankrupt as well. This is no laughing matter. Indeed, the US government was declared bankrupt during the Great Depression era.

Many people were homeless during that era. Today, people are also forced out of their houses as banks confiscate them to be auctioned away, a process known as foreclosures. I have seen a video somewhere where families are staying in tents and caravans in some patch of land in Los Angeles.

I was thinking, I am learning so much more about the financial world today than I ever did during my secondary school days. The 'perdagangan' (commerce) subject wasn't very appealing to me. Whatever you didn't know, you could figure out using some common sense. Like, they teach you to memorize the pros and cons of advertisement (iklan). After a conversation with Amy - where she reiterated her similar feelings about engineering subjects - I realized it is because the textbooks never try to answer the 'why', only 'how'.

If you love maths or physics, you will understand what I mean. Those subjects encouraged you to ask why and find out the answer to your why question. Actually (by the way), the question is more important than the answer. Anyway....

I have run through some definitions here and we are seeing these happening right here and now. I think we will know very soon how severe this financial crisis is going to be. I think it is so bad it is going to affect everyone in the world. Just a guess.

Going back to the title of this post. Why is there inflation? The investopedia only tells you the mechanism of inflation. It doesn't tell you the source or root of the problem. To understand this, click on this link and click on the first video icon on the website that says Money, Banking and the Federal Reserve. Or click here. It is a very interesting video that also covers the origin of banking and the fractional reserve system - which is responsible for inflation. In other words, the Federal Reserve System is the culprit for inflation. It caused inflation by printing money. Yes, money out of thin air.

Well, I am still digesting the information - not sure if it is true or not. But it makes me wonder if Malaysia and other countries also adopts the same banking system and monetary policy. If so, I think we are doomed to always have to work for money. And our children will have to work even harder as their income and savings cannot catch up with inflation. Remember the time when our parents and grandparents have been telling us to get a degree and then have a better and more comfortable life? When I look around, most of the people I know, the married couples - both people have to work and they pay others to take care of their children.

I think I can go on and on tonight but I will save it for another day. As for this post, I am not an economics professor lah. Just expressing my thoughts and what I have learned these past few days. Which prompts me to ask you - if you know your currency is going to devalue big time, what are you going to do about it? Buy treasuries/bonds? Or buy gold? A one million dollar question but of course, I don't have that much money - after adjusting for the damn inflation.

Crazy bear market

2008-03-20T11:52:00.000-07:00

It has been a crazy week for the stock market. The Dow Jones Index went up by more than 400 points on Tuesday (3/18) quite unexpectedly, especially when the market had expected a 1% (100 basis points) rate cut by the Fed. The futures market before the opening bell has priced in a 1% cut. Instead, the Fed chose to reduce the rate by 75 basis points to bring the interest rate down to 2.25%. Perhaps helped by "better" earnings report by Lehman Brothers and Goldman Sachs, and other factors, the market rallied.

Dow Jones Industrial Average

Can you believe it? Lehman Brothers and Goldman Sachs first quarter profits plunging by -57% and -53% respectively, their stocks can still go up. Shares of Goldman Sachs soared by 16.3%.
Only last Friday (3/14), the market (especially the financial sector) panicked and plummeted as news of the fifth largest US securities firm, Bear Stearns, reported significant "deterioration in liquidity position". When Bear Stearns fall, this could mean many more firms are in similar crisis.

Bear Stearns Chart - $150 to $2 per share in one year.
How many more stocks will plunge like that?

On Sunday night (3/16), the Fed had an emergency meeting to cut the discount rate by 100 bps to 2.5%, as well as opening the discount window. It is also injecting $30bil funds to Bear Stearns through J.P. Morgan Chase. The arrangement is like this: J.P. Morgan buys Bear Stearns for $2 per share with the $30bil financial backing of the Federal Reserve Bank. (Wow, this is a desperate act).

The Fed is also taken other measures such as injecting $200bil funds into the market by letting Fannie and Freddie Mae cut down on their capital reserve surplus.

On Wednesday (3/19), the Dow Jones Index plunged down over 290 points but recovered by over 200 points on Thurday (3/20). VISA managed to raised $19bil (?) on Wednesday. Pundits believe that the rallies during early this week has a lot to do with banks owning a stake in VISA. I read somewhere also that in fact there is no free market. The market is manipulated. Now, where did I find that article.

It has been a very volatile week. This financial volatility is also felt around the world like a wave moving out of US. Now, it seems UK banks will be having problems next week. Let's see if the rumors are true.

Some interesting links:

Treasuries offer negative yields! First time in 30 years?

The bottom is here? Analyst talking nonsense

UBS next to go? A forum discussion.

What is subprime mortgage? Let the comedians explain to you. Very funny but easy to understand.

Interview with Jim Rogers - bailing out Bear Stearns is wrong when the executives are paid $39bil in bonuses.... plus commodities talk

Fed is too easy on Wall Street?

JP Morgan and Fed rescuing Bear Stearns. What is the connection between JP Morgan and the Fed?

Banking history

Pensioners suing Bear Stearns

Goodbye, Arthur C. Clarke....last of the sci-fi trio

2008-03-19T23:04:00.000-07:00

Arthur C. Clarke (1917-2008) and Isaac Asimov (1920-1992) made a bet on who would lived longest. Clarke won by a big margin. Together with Robert A. Heinlein (1907-1988), they were the greatest science fiction writers of all time. At least that was what my varsity roommate told me. From him, I began to read some of Asimov's works - fiction and non-fiction.

As I recall, Asimov has written about 500 books in his lifetime, starting at early twenties. That's an average of ten books per year! One of his books was turned into a blockbuster movie (starring Will Smith) using the same book title - 'I, Robot'. Well, apart from the 3 Law of Robots and the positronic brain, the rest of the movie has little resemblance with the book, but it was still an exciting thriller. An older movie titled 'Bicentennial Man' starring Robin Williams follows more closely with the book.

Clarke's books were also turned into movies, most famously, '2001: A Space Odyssey'. The movie theme song has been played in many places. We also see his ideas being used in other movies, such as the black monolith and chilling HAL supercomputer. I tried to grab some of his Rama books to read but never quite finished them due to distractions. Such a shame but I know I have a lot to catch up on his books. I know a few things about him, like he lived in Sri Lanka. And he shared his vision of the cluster of geostationary satellites orbiting earth, which inspired the construction of Motorola's Iridium satellite system (I think).

One of his famous quote must be "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." He left some instructions before his passing - "Absolutely no religious rites of any kind, relating to any religious faith, should be associated with my funeral". Like Asimov, Clarke has a low opinion of religion and chose the atheist view of the world. In fact, I think most science fiction writers (and scientists) adopt this stance.

You can read about him in today's headlines:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/20/books/20clar.html?ref=science
http://www.latimes.com/features/books/la-et-clarke20mar20,0,6129446.story

and some youtube videos:

His legacy will continue.....