My Thoughts

SBPA: Apabila "cerdik pandai" buat skim gaji

2012-01-27T18:33:00.000-08:00

Dengan nama Allah Yang Maha Pemurah Lagi Maha Mengasihani.

Kebelakangan ni kecoh dengan Skim Baru Perkhidmatan Awam (SBPA) yang nak diperkenalkan oleh JPA. Mula-mula ingat ok, sebab dengarnya nak dinaikkan gaji. Tapi tiba-tiba CUEPACS tak puas hati dengan SBPA. Katanya pangkat-pangkat Jusa yang dapat kenaikan melampau, tapi jawatan-jawatan yang bawah dapat kenaikan yang ciput. Padahal tujuan asal DS Najib nak buat pembaharuan ialah untuk beri kenaikan gaji kepada kakitangan awam yang saya rasa lebih 90% bukan Jusa & nak beri skim yang lebih kompetitif berasaskan prestasi. Tapi "cerdik pandai" di JPA yang construct SBPA ni rupanya tak berapa cerdik.

Sebab apa saya kata "cerdik pandai", sebab nak dekat implementation SBPA, satu apa pun tak diterangkan kepada penjawat awam, kecuali kepada kakitangan-kakitangan yang nak implement SBPA. Cari punya cari kat dalam web pun tak ada. Kemudian ada la jumpa satu slide macam kat bawah ni.

Itu sahaja info yang ada pun. Yang ni pun terpaksa dikorek-korek daripada internet. Saya terfikir, apakah penjawat awam hanya berhak untuk terima bulat-bulat skim baru tersebut tanpa mendengar suara mereka? Adakah JPA ingin bersikap seperti "komunis" yang hanya implement & execute, tanpa mengira sama ada skim tersebut viable atau tidak? Wahai JPA, ini bukan 20-30 tahun dulu. Generasi penjawat awam sekarang ada pendidikan tinggi, paling tidak pun ada diploma. Kami generasi yang banyak soalan & nak tahu jawapan.

Kalau dilihat ada pulak skim gaji dilompat-lompatkan apabila nak ditukar daripada SSM kepada SBPA. Maka ada penjawat awam yang hilang senioriti bila "dilompat" ke skim baru & kemudian gred mereka akan sama dengan mereka yang baru masuk. Maka timbullah rasa tidak puas hati. Saya terfikir, kenapa perlu skim yang rumit sampai macam tu sekali. Buatlah seringkas yang mungkin. Bak kata orang "simple is beauty."

Apa kata dinaikkan sahaja gaji secara peratus. Kemudian gaji maksimum dinaikkan dengan peratusan yang lebih dari kenaikan tahunan. So semua akan rasa kenaikan gaji. Berapa banyak nak naik itu bergantung kepada gred (eh sama la macam yang JPA buat tu hehe). So tak payahla dilompat-lompat gred. Tapi janganla sampai gaji doktor pakar sama dengan gaji staff nurse,atau gaji guru besar sama dengan gaji Prof Madya. Dalam erti kata lain, kena logik. Kenaikan antara gred pun boleh dinaikkan dengan kadar yang menarik kalbu. Jadi selesai masalah kenaikan gaji antara gred, kenaikan tahunan & senioriti.

Bab prestasi ni yang susah sikit. Kena tanya, apa reward kalau seseorang penjawat awam dapat capai sasarannya pada sesuatu tahun? Takkan sekadar senyuman daripada bos? Atau pun buah limau lebihan Tahun Baru Cina? Mungkin dibolehkan melangkau satu tangga gaji tahunan, contohnya dari T3 ke T5. Kalau swasta mungkin diberi bonus, tapi pada saya itulah "bonus"nya.

Tapi perlu diingat, semua ni harus berdasarkan kemampuan kewangan kerajaan. Kenaikan sesuka hati tanpa memikirkan kesan kewangan jangka panjang akan bawa kesan buruk pada negara. Jangan sampai jadi macam Greece. Tapi jangan pulak kedekut sangat!

May Allah swt bless us all.

US 2012 Presidential Election

2011-12-27T21:01:00.000-08:00

In the name of Allah, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful.

When you are honest and telling the truth, the chance will be that a lot of people won't like you. This is happening to a Republican candidate named Dr Ron Paul, who is a senator from Texas. He is currently running to be the Presidential candidate for the Republican party for next year's Presidential election. The candidate who will represent the party will be running against Barack Obama, who will try to extend his term for another 4 years (an American president can only be elected twice).

The election basically works like this:There are two parties, Democratic and Republican. The Republican party will elect one candidate for the presidential election. In order to elect a candidate, several candidates inside the Republican party will campaign and try to win the caucuses, which is a term used for elections inside the Republican party to choose this one candidate to represent them in the presidential election. Are you following? :) I hope so. It sounds complicated but it's actually simple. So the same goes to the Democratic party. Only that this time they don't have to do the caucuses because Obama is the candidate for the Democratic party (defending the presidential post).

Back to this Republican (also called GOP) candidate named Dr Ron Paul. What makes him extraordinary? Mostly because of his principles and views on America and he's right on target on most of the issues that he is fighting for. For instance on foreign policy. He rightfully said that the 9/11 event was mostly because on the American foreign policy of interventionist. America intervened too much in the middle east and the rest of the world so this has given a 'blowback' to America itself. So he pointed that America should stay out of trying to police the whole world and start thinking about problems at home. In his opinion, to spread democracy is by setting a good example and earn respect, not by military force. That is right in the face.

Another of his profound views is on the economy. He said that the culprit of the complex problem that the American economy and the whole world is facing now in general is caused by the Federal Reserve (America's central bank). His views on how money works to distort and lower the value of people's purchasing power through inflation has really transformed me. FYI, most economist are from the Keynesian school who believes that the economy can be controlled by the money supply. Dr Ron Paul supports the Austrian school which believes in gold as currency, ditches the fiat money system and believes in minimal government intervention in the free market. This is the main reason why the elites group of the country are hating him. This is also the main reason why he caught my attention.

Next week on Jan 3, 2012 is the Iowa primary/caucus, which is the start of many more caucuses to come. He was not a probable candidate for the Republican until recently more and more people are waking up to his message of freedom and liberty in America. The mainstream media ignored him even though he is a strong candidate to win Iowa. Basically because he is a threat to the establishment. But starting last week independent polls have shown that Dr Ron Paul is leading. Instead of reporting about his campaign the mainstream media tried to find his faults. They can't ignore Ron Paul and his messages anymore. Do not miss the Republican campaign and next year's presidential election. It's going to be interesting if Ron Paul wins.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9B0QPcoTZg8&feature=related

If government pension is not safe,nothing is safe.

2011-12-13T11:38:00.000-08:00

In the name of Allah, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful.

There is a reason why I don't want to depend on government public pension. When governments are in trouble, especially on debt and deficit issues, they will look at the pension fund as one of the ways to cut budgets. I am confident with the current government taking care of the pension (given that they continue the prudent spending), but considering that I'll be working for the next 30 years and say, another 20 years of retirement, which is most probably another 10 general elections, who knows what kind of government will take care of the country's finances. If at the time when I am retired and depending to my small pension payments to make ends meet and then the government cut my pension in order to meet a budget restrain, it will surely make my dream retirement less "dreamy". Pensioners have stagnant income from their pension payment. But the prices of goods and services will always rise every year (thanks to inflation). Some might say, how about "zero inflation"? That will never exist.You can slow it, but you can't make it vanish. Some people will live for another 20-30 years after retirement age, so cutting them will surely affect their standard of living over that period.

Budget cuts affecting pension funds are becoming more common nowadays. The Euro Zone, UK and US problem of government debt crisis and huge budget deficits proved that governments will dig into the public sector pension payments to solve their problems. UK government decision to cut pension payments result in a massive strikes recently, closing schools, hospitals and town councils (click here). Greece is on its way for a cut as one of the measures to save its collapsing economy (click here and here). In the US, most public sector pension funds are state funded. So if a state is facing a budget problem, they will look at the same way to solve it. Recently the Governor of California proposed a cut to the state's pension costs (click here). Even the US federal government is looking forward to cut its war veterans' pensions (click here).

Do these retirees really deserve the pension cuts because of their governments' finance mismanagement? Well it can be debated, at least to me. The people's desire to have highly subsidized prices of goods and services, high wages beyond means and all sorts of wonderful benefits, will force the politicians whom wanted to remain popular, to take up more and more debts. Well, you can have them if you can afford them. It's the same like buying a house, car or using your credit cards. If you think that you can afford the monthly payments, no problem. But the moment you go overboard in spending, you will be in trouble if something bad happens, like a recession in the world economy. This is what happened to Greece. Within 10 years period the Greek government doubled-up the public sector wages, increased its debt spending and hid the debt statistics from the Euro zone. Then the 2008 recession came and hit the economy. Now the government has to cut all the things that it is giving to the people and sell a lot of the government assets to foreign investors/governments, in order to meet the budget cuts imposed by the EU and IMF. The country is turning itself into "slavery".

So what is the point that I want to make here? I do not want to hang my retirement to the public pension fund in the long run. But please be advised that this is just my personal opinion & thoughts. My plan is to keep my pension options in EPF/ASB and make my own pension savings/portfolio. This will include gold, silver, real estate (house,apartment,office spaces, etc), commodity businesses (food demand will always increase) and commodities futures. I will put less into the stock markets because I don't think I have the time to worry about markets fluctuations. This is my rough plan of investing for retirement (so that I can have a peace of mind wherever there is no wifi lol). Keeping all your savings for retirement in paper money form is very risky. If you don't invest them, inflation will "eat" the value ($5 today will not be able to buy the same thing in ten years time). I would like to advise that those who can afford to save, please have a second retirement savings/portfolio besides EPF or government pension. According to recent research, most people who retire with EPF will use up all the money within 10 years time. Retirement is a long term planning but most of young people are not aware about the retirement risks they maybe facing. Besides inflation, medical expenses is also a worrying factor as you go into retirement, especially for those who are not having a healthy lifestyle.

So if you don't have enough for retirement, you might be forced to go back to work after retirement.

Reviving this blog

2011-12-01T04:02:00.000-08:00

In the name of Allah, The Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

I am reviving this blog because I am too bored even though I have a lot to study. SOA exam is waiting in May and I have two thick books to study. I did not sit for any exams this year (2011) so I think I should sit for two exams next year : MLC and MFE. I definitely have to force myself to study. If I don't pass these exams by the time I finish my PhD (InsyaAllah in 3 years time), becoming a qualified actuary(finish all the actuarial professional exams) will be a distant dream. In the actuarial science field, even if you have 3 PhDs, if you don't finish your actuarial exams, the qualified actuaries will look down on you. You will just be an overqualified person.

Please share your thoughts and pray that I'll keep blogging my thoughts, knowledge or anything interesting happening in my small life.

Be happy.

Peace and blessings be upon you.

Turunnya Bala dari Allah Apabila Kemungkaran Tidak Diubah

2010-09-10T15:54:00.000-07:00

Dengan nama Allah Yang Maha Pemurah, Lagi Maha Mengasihani.

Dikongsikan di sini agar kita dapat ambil iktibar dan praktikkan dalam kehidupan seharian.

Running

2010-07-15T20:20:00.000-07:00

In the name of Allah The Most Gracious,The Most Merciful.

Instead of 'jogging' people here call it 'running'. But the reason why they call it like that is because they actually run! In Malaysia people jog for maybe 15 mins or so (and then head to kedai mamak for 3 keping roti canai), but here 'runners' do it like half an hour non stop (at least). An avid runner usually does 5 miles or more at least 3 days per week. A friend of my wife runs 8 miles. That's almost 13km! She can run the 10 km marathon anytime!

Since I'm done with my Masters degree, I decided to give this running thing a try. Besides, my fitness sucks and my belly has started to grow. It doesn't look good in pictures. I started googling through the net and found a program/schedule that is suggested for beginners:

Day 1: 1/1 x 10

Day 2: 1/1 x 10

Day 3: Rest

Day 4: 2/1 x 5, then 1/1 x 5

Day 5: 2/1 x 5, then 1/1 x 5

Day 6: Rest

Day 7: 2/1 x 6

Day 8: 3/1 x 4, then 1/1 x 4

Day 9: 2/1 x 6

Day 10: Rest

Day 11: 3/1 x 5

Day 12: 2/1 x 8

Day 13: Rest

Day 14: 3/1 x 5

Day 15: 4/1 x 4

Day 16: 2/1 x 8

Day 17: 5/1 x 4

Day 18: Rest

Day 19: 4/1 x 6

Day 20: 2/1 x 5

Day 21: 5/1 x 5

This program/schedule is called '3 weeks to 30 mins running habit' simply because if you follow the program until the 21st day, you'll be able to run/walk for 30 mins non-stop. 1/1 x 10 means that you have to run for 1 min and walk for 1 min, do this for 10 times. 5/1 x 5 means that run for 5 mins then walk for 1 min, do 5 times.

It looks easy but doing it is not. You really need to push yourself to get through all the days. Tomorrow will be my 8th day. The first two days were really tiring, because I haven't run for more than 6 months. On the 5th day I did 3 miles (4.82 km). So I hope I'll be able to do 4 miles tomorrow. I wonder how far I can run on my 21st day.

The thing about having a new hobby is that you can get to shop for your hobby equipments =) I need a stopwatch for runners, my current stopwatch is a bit heavy. I'm eyeing a Casio SGW200-1V. It has pace tracker (so that you know how fast you do for a mile), calories counter, pedometer (counts your steps) and it also calculates distance and of course, stop-timers.

I run with my ipod and a Nike sensor. If you have an iPod/iPhone, there is a Nike application that tracks the time, distance, pace and calories burned. So overtime you can track your performance.

Today was my 7 th day. I almost had a leg cramp. But I pushed myself a bit. Tomorrow will be a notch higher than today i.e 3/1 x4 then 1/1 x 4. 3 minutes of running, compared to 2 mins of running today.

Give it a try. It really takes the perseverance out of you. Will update more on my progress.

p/s: Spend about 5 mins for warm up stretches before you start running. And 5 mins of warm down stretches after running (to get rid of lactic acid and prevent cramps).

Jazakallah khair.

Tukar minyak enjin kereta

2010-06-14T19:51:00.000-07:00

Dengan nama Allah Yang Maha Pemurah Lagi Maha Mengasihani...

Benda ni senang jek sebenarnya. Setengah jam dah siap. Dah datang US ni baru aku buat sendiri. Bila dah tau buat sendiri, rasa macam orang sengal pulak bila kat Malaysia dulu nak tukar minyak enjin pun nak suruh orang woksyop buat, padahal kereta kancil jek. Serius senang. Kat posting nih akan ku tunjukkan satu persatu. Pada yang lelaki, kalau anda rasa nak jadik perempuan sila la hantar kereta kat pusat servis. Tapi kalau nak overall servis or takdak masa nak buat benda ni, boleh la hantar. Yela, korang kan kaya..hehe..gurau jek..tak baik marah2..

Step 1: Beli minyak enjin dan oil filter

Kereta pakai petrol biasanya pakai 10W-30 or 5W-30. Apa beza? 5W-30 boleh tahan suhu below zero, so kalau time winter tu takla susah nak start enjin. Since sekarang ni summer, 10W-30 pun dah cukup. Harga sama jek. Minyak enjin yang aku pakai ni jenama Mobil 1. Baru first time pakai sebab orang cakap bagus untuk kereta yang high mileage. Sebelum ni pakai Castrol High Mileage. Bagus jugak. Kalau kat Malaysia boleh pakai Castrol or Mobil, tapi kalau nak lagi best pakaila Petronas Syntium..hehe

This is an oil filter. Tugas oil filter ni untuk filter minyak yang circulate dalam enjin daripada anasir yang tak diperlukan macam pasir dll. Everytime tukar minyak enjin kena tukar oil filter sekali. Yang kat dalam gambar ni dalam USD7, kat Malaysia boleh dapat less than RM10. Beli yang original, kalau tak original nanti rosak enjin.

Ni la rupa oil filter

Yang atas ni namanya oil pan. Penting untuk tadah minyak enjin bila minyak keluar.

Step 2: Keluarkan minyak enjin

Ada gaya mekanik tak? haha

Firstly, locate the engine oil drain plug. Rupa dia macam gambar kat bawah ni. Senang nak jumpa plug ni.

Oil plug is usually located underneath the engine

The oil drain plug for my car

Okeh, bila dah jumpa oil drain plug, guna spanar untuk longgarkan. Kereta kat dalam gambar ni Toyota Camry tahun 1998, so kalau nak bukak kena longgarkan clockwise. Kereta lain pun lebih kurang sama rasanya. Kalau tak tau boleh la tanya En Google.

Sebelum longgarkan oil drain plug, disyorkan supaya panaskan enjin dulu. Sebabnya, minyak enjin yang panas lagi senang nak flow keluar daripada minyak enjin yang sejuk dan lagi senang saki baki yang last2 nak keluar. Hati-hati sebab enjin dan minyak tengah panas!

Bila plug tu betul2 longgar, letak oil pan kat bawah oil drain plug. Kemudian keluarkan plug tu sepenuhnya. Most probably plug tu akan jatuh dalam oil pan, sebab tu saya punya ada jaring. Biar minyak enjin keluar semua sampai menitik slowly ke dalam oil pan. Lepas tu screw balik plug tu kat tempat dia, pastikan ketat, tapi jangan ketat sangat takut next time susah nak bukak.

Step 3: Tukar oil filter

Oil filter inside the hood

Sekarang bab menukar oil filter pulak. Oil filter can be located inside the engine hood. Kalau ketat nak bukak, try bukak pakai kain buruk (kalau nak kain cantik pun tak kesah). Before that, make sure oil pan tadi kat bawah oil filter, so that minyak tak drip kat atas jalan or lantai rumah korang. Bising pulak isteri masing2 nanti.

Bukak dan keluarkan oil filter, gantikan dengan oil filter baru. Sebelum tu sapukan sikit minyak enjin (yang baru or lama) pada 'rubber ring' oil filter tu. This is a normal practice. Jangan tanya kenapa. Kalau korang nak tau sila tanya pada En Google..hehe

Ketatkan (tapi jangan ketat sangat) oil filter tu pada enjin. You're almost done here.

Step 4: Ganti minyak enjin baru

Yang atas ni penutup minyak enjin. Senang jek nak carik benda ni. Open it and pour the engine oil into the engine. Habiskan minyak enjin kat dalam botol tu. Be careful not to spill the oil on the engine block. You can use a funnel. Then of course, you need to put the engine oil cap back to its place.

That's all! Easy isn't it? Now you must be cursing yourself why you pay RM100+ to the workshop when you can do it for less than Rm40.

p/s: My car is now 201,000 miles and running strong.

Summer Trip: Day 3 & 4

2010-05-16T21:21:00.000-07:00

Dengan nama Allah Yang Maha Pemurah Lagi Maha Mengasihani...

Ok updates ni dah looong overdue..hehe

Day 3: Great Falls, Annapolis, Inner Harbor and BBQ

Sebelum datang Maryland kami tak ada specific plan nak ke mana. Datang cuma nak get together jek. Kak Ayu suggest kitorang pegi Great Falls, air terjun kat Virginia. Tapi air terjun ni untuk tengok jela, kalau mandi sure maut =P

So dalam pukul 10.30 am kami bertolak ke Great Falls yang jaraknya lebih kurang 40 mins dari rumah Zary. Kami kat sana lebih kurang sejam. Tempatnya memang cantik. Cuaca hari tu pun memang mantap.

Lepas snap some pictures, kami ke Annapolis pulak. Annapolis ni tempat yang famous kat Maryland ni, even kat US pun famous. Bandar yang cantik, terletak kat tepi laut dan harbor. Kami lepak sini dan snap pictures sejam lebih la jugak. Sebelum balik kami pekena seafood. Suka crabmeat yg dibuat jadik bebola macam begedil!

Mengikut sejarah, Annapolis merupakan tempat pertama mendarat kapal yang membawa hamba-hamba dari Afrika yang pertama dari Zambia. Dari 140 yang dibawa merentasi Atlantik, hanya 90 yang hidup. Antara yang hidup adalah Kunta-Kinte. Pada sesiapa yang tak familiar dengan nama Kunta-Kinte, cerita series Kunta-Kinte ni pernah ada kat TV1 time aku sekolah dulu. Popular jugak. Kisah hamba abdi batch pertama kat US ni. Ikut Wikipedia, Kunta-Kinte ni Muslim. Cucu-cicit Kunta-Kinte ada di US.

Selepas Annapolis, kami ke Chesapeake Bay dekat Maryland jugak. Kami tak turun ke bay, tapi kami cuma nak lalu jambatan yang menghubungkan Annapolis (utara Maryland) dengan Chesapeake Bay. Jambatan yang kami lalu tu actually bukan jambatan 20 miles yang famous tu. Jambatan yang famous tu terletak 4 jam ke selatan dari Annapolis. Jauh sgt so kami decide untuk lalu jambatan yang pendek sikit.

After Chesapeake Bay, we headed back to Zary's place to get ready for the BBQ. Semua letih, so kami start BBQ lebih kurang pukul 10pm. Pukul 11pm lebih camtu baru kami start makan. Thanks to isteri terchenta yang marinate ayam untuk BBQ. Sedap! Kami sempat layan UNO seround=)

Makan-makan habis dalam pukul 2am..next day: Six Flags and ayam goreng 'ala KFC' halal!

Day 4: Six Flags America and Popeye's Chicken

Pukul 12pm kami sampai kat Six Flags. Six Flags ni macam Genting Highlands or Sunway Lagoon. Cuma rides nya wayyy thriller than in Malaysia. My favourite is the "Superman:Ride of Steel'. It will take you up 20 stories high and then drop at 75mph (lebih kurang 110km/h). Memang terangkat!

After Six Flags kami ke Virginia, pick up ayam goreng Popeye's. Kat mana-mana kat US ni ada Popeye's tapi yang ni ada ayam goreng halal. So dah terlanjur jalan-jalan area dekat Virginia ni, kami sapu la ayam goreng. Bukan apa, nak lepas rindu kat ayam KFC kat Malaysia..hehe

Malam tu kami balik ke Penn State Uni hantar Kak Ifah. Esok paginya hantar Jep pulak ke Scranton sebab dia nak balik naik bas ke Ithaca,NY. That's where our short trip ended. Sedih pulak bila nak balik..but InsyaAllah we will definitely meet again.

Sekian update untuk short trip kami=)

Summer Trip: Day 1 & 2 (Wed & Thur; May 12 & 13,2010)

2010-05-13T22:51:00.000-07:00

Dengan nama Allah Yang Maha Pemmurah, Lagi Maha Mengasihani...

Day 1: The 7 hour Journey

Kami mulakan perjalanan ke State College, Pennsylvania;the hometown of Penn State University, tempat Kak Ifah study. Bertolak lebih kurang pukul 4.30pm dari Kingston, Rhode Island perjalanan ambil masa 7 jam merentasi 4 negeri (Connecticut, New York, New Jersey dan Pennsylvania). Saya drive dari Rhode Island ke hujung Connecticut (3 jam), kemudian Murni sambung hingga ke State College (4 jam). Mulanya nak gilir-gilir drive 2 jam seorang, tapi memandangkan Murni dah syok drive, saya biarkan dia drive hingga sampai ke State College. Walaupun perjalanan agak jauh, tak terlalu terasa bila bergilir driving.

Kami cuma berhenti sekali isi minyak (somewhere in Pennsylvania) dan kemudian teruskan perjalanan hingga sampai ke State College lebih kurang pukul 12.05am. State College adalah bandar yang bermula dengan kampus Pennsylvania State University (commonly known as Penn State Uni), kemudian berkembang menjadi township. A very nice and well planned college township.

Owh, one more thing...kami sewa kereta dari Enterprise, mulanya booking untuk kereta saiz ekonomi, tapi kami decided untuk upgrade ke standard sebab kereta ekonomi terlalu kecil untuk 3 orang duduk di belakang. We got a nice Mazda 3 Sedan. Memang mantap kereta ni. At times tak sedar yang kami 'ter-drive' sampai 100 mph!

Sampai rumah Kak Ifah, kami disambut dengan Nasi Goreng pedas..hehe.Makan sambil berpeluh, walaupun pedas tapi sedap! Kak Liya yang berjiran dengan Kak Ifah datang borak sampai pukul 2 am. Housemate Kak Ifah, Liyana join sekali. Kami wrap up first day pukul 3 am.

Day 2: Hershey Park and Baltimore

Bangun lambat sikit sebab malam semalam tidur lambat. Lepas breakfast, plan hari ke-2 ialah untuk ambil Jep di Scranton, Pennsylvania; lebih kurang 2 1/2 hours drive daripada State College. Kemudian kami ke Hershey Park dan berakhir dengan rumah Zary (adik Kak Ifah yang buat PhD di University of Maryland) di Helethorpe,Maryland. Jep datang dari Ithaca, New York. Kami ambil dia di Scranton sebab lebih cepat, mudah dan murah untuk dia naik bas dari Ithaca ke Scranton daripada dia terus ke State College. Hershey Park terletak kira-kira 2 jam dari Scranton.

Dari Scranton kami terus menuju ke Hershey Park, the theme park of the famous Hershey chocolates. Kami tak masuk ke theme park (kesuntukan masa), cuma ambil gambar di Hershey Chocolate World dan beli souvenirs. We spent about an hour there and then we stopped at a nearby Panera Bread to have a quick lunch. It was about 4 pm and everyone was starving. My stomach was a bit cranky today, maybe because of nasi goreng pedas Kak Ifah yesterday.

Done eating, we head straight to Zary's house in Helenthorpe, Maryland; about 30 mins from Baltimore. The drive was around 2 hours and we had 1 stop for gas. We arrived in Helenthorpe at almost 8 pm. Zary is living with a Malaysian family, Kak Ayu; who is also a PhD student and living here with her husband Abang Li and 2 children, Imran and Batrisyia. Zary dah siap masak mee bandung dan nasi beriyani untuk kami. Kami tetap bedal walaupun 2 jam sebelum tu baru lepas makan Panera Bread =)

We wrapped up the day with a round of UNO dan borak-borak sebab lama dah tak get together. The last time was during our winter break in Dec 2009, which we went to Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire. But at that time was without Kak Ifah. The last time me and Murni met Kak Ifah was last year's summer in Malaysia. But Murni and Kak Ifah chat on the phone almost every single day =) So you get the picture how closed are they.

Everybody is asleep, so I need to go now. There is a new place to explore tomorrow. Until the next update, Assalamualaikum...adios...

(Helenthorpe, Maryland; 3.05 am; May 14, 2010)

Late Posting: Circus Weekend!

2010-05-09T20:52:00.000-07:00

In the name of Allah, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful...

It was the Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus weekend! The circus came to our knowledge when we watched 'Project Runaway'. We googled and to our surprise, the circus was coming to Providence in 2 weeks' time. We bought the ticket straight away. It was my first circus (I can't recall I ever had my first circus) and we really enjoyed it! We decided to give the show 4 stars, because we think that it's a typical circus show (tigers,elephants,bike stunts..you know,the expected stuff) . Nevertheless it was an entertaining one! Below are the pictures. Enjoy!

Kena tahan dengan polis

2010-05-07T20:06:00.000-07:00

Dengan nama Allah Yang Maha Pemurah Lagi Maha Mengasihani..

Selasa lepas. Last day aku in school. Lepas exam habis pukul 8 pm aku terus cabut balik rumah (tak sabar nak balik makan masakan isteri). Masa mula-mula drive aku terfikir jugak, confirm tak best kalau kena tahan polis sebab speeding. Tapi aku buat-buat bodoh jela sebab aku selalu jugak good at spotting police patrol car from distance. Kalau nampak dari jauh kilau-kilau kereta polis, sempatla slowkan kereta. Pada aku speeding boleh, tapi kena be responsible (suka hati jek buat definition sendiri hehe).

Jalan yang aku selalu lalu pergi balik campus memang gelap dan ada some part of the route yang tak banyak kereta lalu. Kalau kereta rosak kat situ memang alamatnya kena jalan kaki dalam gelap la. Tambah lagi ada part route tu yang memang signal phone tak kuat, so tak boleh nak buat call. So far Alhamdulillah, kereta kesayangan tak ada masalah.

Lebih kurang 10 miles daripada rumah, jalan dah tak berapa gelap dan ada rumah-rumah kat sepanjang jalan. Malam tu jalan clear kat situ. Aku pun taktau apa yang aku berangan so aku drive tanpa tengok speed meter dan tak teringat yang maybe ada polis tunggu kat celah-celah jalan kecik. Polis kat sini suka menyorok dalam gelap kalau nak tangkap kereta speeding, so kena pandai spot kereta polis kalau nak speeding sikit. Ni skill yang kena belajar kalau drive kat mana-mana pun, tapi sekolah memandu tak ajar. Kalau aku bukak sekolah memandu, "spotting police car" akan jadi subjek wajib lulus.

Kena tahan

So dalam 10 miles lagi nak sampai rumah, jalan yang aku lalu tu speed limit dia 40 miles/hour. Sambil aku berangan hape ntah, tiba-tiba aku aku terperasan lampu kelap kelip warna merah biru kereta dari belakang. Dia tak bunyikan siren, tapi ikut aku slow-slow. Aku dah kena dah. Rupanya firasat aku dari awal kat campus tadi memang betul. Kena tahan dengan polis. Last day at school pulak tu. Dah la aku pakai lesen Malaysia dengan International License. Buatnya polis ni tak nak terima, mau tidur lokap aku malam tu.

Aku pun try to be cool hehe..aku berhenti kat tepi jalan, tarik handbrake dan matikan enjin tapi tak matikan lampu kereta. Aku letak tangan aku kat atas steering wheel. Dalam seminit polis tu keluar dari kereta dengan flash light dia. Dia suluh-suluh kereta aku kemudian pergi kat tingkap kereta.

"What's up?" polis tu cakap dari luar tingkap kereta yang aku belum turunkan. A white guy yang besar juga badan dia. Aku pun turunkan tingkap kereta.

"Nothing. Just heading back home", aku cakap nak try jadik cool padahal dalam dada rasa macam paratrooper nak terjun payung for the first time.

"Do you have your license, proof of insurance and documents ready?"

Sambil seluk poket belakang aku cakap, "Here's my license. I am using an overseas license. My international license is at the back." Aku cakap dengan confident macam orang tak bersalah.

"You use what?"

"An overseas license," aku reply dengan suara yang ada sikit ketaq.

"What's your name?" polis tu tanya. Aku jawab, "Mohd Fadzli." Dia tanya lagi, "Where are you from?"

"Malaysia," aku jawab. Otak aku fikir apa masa tu pun aku tak tau.

"Don't you have a Connecticut license? How long have you been here?" polis tu tanya lagi.

"Been here for 2 years but I am going to take Rhode Island license. But in Connecticut I can use the international license as long as I am a full time student on F1 visa." Fuh kali ni cakap lagi confident tapi suara tetap ketar. "They allow that huh?" confirm la kan dia tak tau Connecticut law.

Nak buat-buat macam mesra aku tanya dia, "Was I speeding?"

"Yes, you were doing 57. No, you were doing 50." Dia ni main hentam ke apa aku speeding? Aku reply OK.

Lepas dia belek-belek license aku dia pun cakap,"OK. Could you slow down a bit for me please." Arahan tu, bukan nak mintak tolong. Aku jawab yes, pastu cakap thank you. Selamat! Alhamdulillah! Kalau tak panjang cerita nak kena pegi mahkamah dan bayar fine. Kalau tak terbang duit aku. Fuh! Aku pun slow-slow drive pastu blah dengan jantung yang berdebar-debar sambil istighfar. Tu la, lalai sekejap dah kena tahan polis. Apa pun, terima kasih pak polisi sebab tak bagi aku speeding ticket. Still rekod bersih =)

An Atheist Professor and his student

2010-04-28T20:30:00.000-07:00

In the name of Allah, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful..

An atheist Professor of Philosophy speaks to his class on the problem science has with God, The Almighty.

He asks one of his new students to stand and asks the following:

Prof: So you believe in God?

Student: Absolutely, sir.

Prof: Is God good?

Student: Sure.

Prof: Is God all-powerful?

Student: Yes..

Prof: My brother died of cancer even though he prayed to God to heal him. Most of us would attempt to help others who are ill. But God didn't. How is this God good then? Hmm?
(Student is silent.)

Prof: You can't answer, can you? Let's start again, young fella. Is God good?

Student: Yes.

Prof: Is Satan good?

Student: No.

Prof: Where does Satan come from?

Student: From....God. ..

Prof: That's right. Tell me son, is there evil in this world?

Student: Yes.

Prof: Evil is everywhere, isn't it? And God did make everything, Correct?

Student: Yes.

Prof: So who created evil?

(Student does not answer.)

Prof: Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things exist in the world, don't they?

Student: Yes, sir.

Prof: So, who created them?
(Student has no answer.)

Prof: Science says you have 5 senses you use to identify and observe the world around you.

Tell me, son...Have you ever seen God?

Student: No, sir.

Prof: Tell us if you have ever heard your God?

Student: No, sir.

Prof: Have you ever felt your God, tasted your God, smelt your God? Have you ever had any sensory perception of God for that matter?

Student: No, sir. I'm afraid I haven't.

Prof: Yet you still believe in Him?

Student: Yes.

Prof: According to empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your 'GOD' doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son?

Student: Nothing. I only have my faith.

Prof: Yes, Faith. And that is the problem science has.

~@~

Student: Professor, is there such a thing as heat?

Prof: Yes.

Student: And is there such a thing as cold?

Prof: Yes.

Student: No sir. There isn't.

(The lecture theater becomes very quiet with this turn of events.)

Student: Sir, you can have lots of heat, even more heat, superheat, mega heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat..

But we don't have anything called cold.

We can hit 458 degrees below zero which is no heat, but we can't go any further after that.

There is no such thing as cold.

Cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold.

Heat is energy.

Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it .
(There is pin-drop silence in the lecture theater.)

Student: What about darkness, Professor?

Is there such a thing as darkness?

Prof: Yes. What is night if there isn't darkness?

Student : You're wrong again, sir.

Darkness is the absence of something.

You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light....

But if you have no light constantly, you have nothing and it's called darkness, isn't it?

In reality, darkness isn't.

If it were you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn't you?

Prof: So what is the point you are making, young man?

Student: Sir, my point is that your philosophical premise is flawed.

Prof: Flawed? Can you explain how?

Student: Sir, you are working on the premise of duality.

You argue there is life and then there is death, a good God and a bad God.

You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure.

Sir, science can't even explain a thought..

It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one.

To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing.

Death is not the opposite of life: just the absence of it.

Now tell me, Professor.

Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?

Prof: If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, yes, of course, I do.

Student: Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?
(The Professor shakes his head with a smile, beginning to realize where the argument is going.)

Student: Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor, are you not teaching your opinion, sir?

Are you not a scientist but a preacher? (The class is in uproar.)

Student: Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the Professor's brain?
(The class breaks out into laughter.)

Student: Is there anyone here who has ever heard the Professor's brain, felt it, touched or smelt it?

No one appears to have done so.

So, according to the established rules of empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain, sir.

With all due respect, sir, how do we then trust your lectures, sir?
(The room is silent. The professor stares at the student, his face unfathomable. )

Prof: I guess you'll have to take them on faith, son.

Student: That is it sir... The link between man & god is FAITH.
That is all that keeps things moving & alive.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is a true story, and the student was none other than.... Avul Pakir Jainulabideen Abdul Kalam, the 11th President of India.

Taken from MAHAGURU58

Baca dan baca dan baca...

2010-04-24T11:15:00.000-07:00

Dengan nama Allah Yang Maha Pemurah, Lagi Maha Mengasihani...

Bila terfikir bab membaca, sekaligus terfikir surah pertama yang Allah swt turunkan kepada Rasulullah saw melalui Jibril as yang bermaksud:

"Bacalah (wahai Muhammad) dengan nama Tuhanmu yang menciptakan (sekalian makhluk); Dia menciptakan manusia dari sebuku darah beku; Bacalah dan Tuhamnu Yang Maha Pemurah; Yang mengajar manusia melalui pena dan tulisan; Dia mengajarkan manusia apa yang tidak diketahuinya."

Al-Alaq: 1-5

Pernahkah kita bertanya kenapa Allah swt menurunkan perintah 'baca' sebagai ayat yang pertama? Mengapa tidak 'sembahlah Aku' ataupun 'Aku Tuhanmu yang Maha Esa'? Melalui bacaan/ilmu kita dapat mengenal Allah swt. Ayat ini juga memberitahu kita pentingnya ilmu pengetahuan. Kalau bercakap pasal ilmu pengetahuan, kita tak dapat lari daripada berkata mengenai membaca dan buku.

Soalan sinis: Berapa banyak buku yang kita habiskan tahun lepas?

Kalau ada, Alhamdulillah. Kalau takda, eloklah mula sekarang. Aku tertarik dengan budaya masyarakat Barat yang 'tak lekang' dengan buku. Bila kita takut-takut nak beli buku di kedai buku, mereka ni beli buku pakai troli! Memang agaknya mereka ini tak sayang duit kalau bab membeli buku. Mereka boleh habiskan 2-3 buku dalam masa satu hari. Padahal kita terkial-kila nak habiskan satu buku dalam masa sebulan.

Ramai pulak antara kita yang berkobar-kobar nak mengajar anak membaca sejak dari kecil. Tapi macam mana anak nak ikut kalau ibu bapa tak pernah tunjuk mereka 'kaki' membaca dan selalu tercongok depan TV? So, kalau nak anak-anak kita ikut budaya membaca, kena lah kita mulakan budaya itu dahulu. Sama macam solat, kalau mak bapak tak solat, macam mana lah anak nak ikut solat, ya tak?

Aku start serius membaca bila aku masuk Kolej Yayasan Saad waktu Form 4. Waktu tu terpaksa membaca sebab kena bersaing dengan kawan-kawan yang memang English dah advance. Memang liat,merangkak. Sebelum tu aku cuma rajin baca surat khabar, terutama sekali ruangan yang tengah-tengah, sebab surat khabar jela yang ada kat rumah. Sampai sekarang boleh dikatakan aku ni 'news freak'. Sejak ada iPhone ni lepas solat subuh jek bukak Twitter, scroll news kat Bloomberg, jengah blog politik dan surat khabar Malaysia. Magazine pun aku subscribe: Nat Geo, Fast Company, Budget Traveller, Bloomberg Markets.

Masa zaman baru-baru habis sekolah aku baca novel, tapi sekarang ni dah tak lagi. Macam susah pulak nak masuk otak, maybe sebab dah kena 'tune' baca benda-benda berat. Buku-buku sekarang banyak berkaitan dengan perbandingan antara agama, politik, ekonomi dan bisnes. Kalau miss rasa macam rugi. Kadang-kadang surat khabar alas meja time makan kat rumah yang dah kena kicap dan segala lauk pun aku boleh tertarik nak baca kalau ada cerita yang best. Label kat belakang kicap pun aku nak baca. Memang sah aku ada 'penyakit'.

Bukan apa, ilmu ni kita tak tau bila akan digunakan. Mungkin apa yang kita baca tak penting sekarang, tapi akan jadi penting pada masa depan. Contohnya bila temuduga kerja, bila disuruh bagi ucapan ataupun masa temuduga dengan bakal pak/mak mertua. Buatnya bakal pak mertua bercerita pasal politik, takkan nak ternganga jek..hehe.

Biar kita miskin harta, tapi jangan miskin ilmu. Bila ilmu penuh di dada, harta benda akan datang dengan sendiri.Wassalam...

Finally, my final semester

2010-04-22T08:52:00.000-07:00

In the name of Allah The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful...

This August will complete my 2 years duration here. It's been wonderful, exciting and married (hehehe..). If everything goes well, I'll be graduating this May. Yeay! Thankful to Allah swt who has given me the opportunity to study here. And not to forget, thanks to the government who awarded me the scholarship to study here. I'll do my best to give back to the country.

Made some wonderful friends here and learned a lot of useful and eye-opening things. And the best of all I met my wonderful wife here in the US. We first met in New York City, when we had our first NYC visit with Jep. We became good friends and a year later we decided to get married! And how fortunate I am! To my wonderful Murni, I love you with all my heart. Thanks for the support that you gave me all this while.

So I will need to go back to Malaysia for a few months before I can continue with a PhD program here. I am aiming to get into Boston University's Financial Mathematics program, possibly doing something on pension/insurance investment or bond's credit rating modelling. This PhD thing is still a question mark. But if I won't get accepted by the university, I might take unpaid leave until my dearest wifey finishes her PhD and I'll find a job here. Hopefully with the Master's degree that I have and a few professional exams that I have passed, I'll be able to land a good job. While working, I'll continue to take my SOA(click here to know more) exams and I'll do my PhD when I get an offer or after my wife finishes her PhD, whichever sooner. In my field, it's more important that one finishes his/her professional exam than getting a PhD. But since that I am working with a university, a PhD is a must. It'll give a great advantage, since I haven't heard any Malaysian actuary with a PhD.

So that's how the story goes. Last words: Eventhough we can't see and predict the future, we must plan and remain optimistic, and pray to Allah swt that everything goes well. Always think positively.

Jazakallah khair.

My 2nd blog!

2010-04-21T20:36:00.000-07:00

In the name of Allah The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful...

Believe it or not, this is my second blog! While my first blog touches on serious things(did you say boring?), I will use this blog to write about my life and interesting things that pass my mind in my everyday life; my studies, the travelling that I do during holidays, pictures that I take....simply anything. Life is a journey, here I will write it down.