Simple Life 简单的生活

Anything : Whatever

Posted on Thursday, July 24, 2008 No Comments
Labels: Others

Anything and Whatever are very commonly used response from people.

Sometimes, when you asked them what you want to have for lunch.

The response normally would be "Anything" or "Whatever"

Next time when someone replied you like that, you can find an item that match their response.

It is a new drink from Singapore.

If they want Anything. Give them this.

And this will be for those who asked for Whatever.

One is carbonated and one is non-carbonated. The taste are not really great. Try it and you may like it.

In Aid of Kasih Hospice Care Society & Dharti Kangsten

Posted on Wednesday, July 23, 2008 comments (3)
Labels: Buddhism

This is a long overdue post. This event was held on 1st July, 2008 and I only post it up now. This was a Charity Event in Aid of Kasih Hospice Care Society & Dharti Kangsten @ One World Hotel, 1U. It was my 1st time to One World Hotel.

Some of the holy and auspicious items to be auctioned off.

People who are at my table. Shirley and friend.

Mr & Mrs Gary.

Shirley & Hubby.

Kah Soon, Ron and me.

The Guest of Honour, Datuk Ong Tee Kiat, Minister of Transport giving his speech and donated RM10k.

My camera is not good enough for indoor night shooting or my photography skills very bad. Beauiful performance by a loacl female singer, I cant remember her name.

The Popular and successful Musical Broadway show - "Forever Plaid"

The dinner ended with all the items been acitioned off.

Visit to Putrajaya

Posted on Monday, July 21, 2008 comments (4)
Labels: Government

It has been awhile that I have set foot on Putrajaya. Recently, I went there to submit some fuel subsidy application to the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry @ Prescint 2.

Below is the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry.

Some of the government buildings along the main road.

It is pretty quite with very light traffic.

The gardens within the ministry offices are beuatiful and well maintain.

Petroleum companies offering their fleet cards just outside the food court.

It ws a long wait, it took us two hours to submit and obtain the letter for the subsidy entitlement.

Trailer Accident @ Subang Airport Road

Posted on Monday, July 14, 2008 comments (4)
Labels: Accident

I took this pictures on July 06, 2008 while on the way to Saujana Golf & Country Club for my weekly golfing session @ 7.32am.

While heading towards SGCC around 7am, I saw this big trailer lying by its side and some curious peoples were watching the ambulance team which had just arrived. I stopped my car by the side and check out what happened.

The ambulance was ready to send the injured driver or attendant to the hospital.

I heard the medical asking the Indian driver or attendant whether he is ok. I heard him said that he is OK and not need to refer to hospital. He is very lucky that he suffered no injuries and no other vehicles were involved.

Buddhist Foundation Course Exam (2nd Semester)

Posted on Monday, July 14, 2008 No Comments
Labels: Buddhism

This evening, I attended the BFC 2nd Semester Exam @ Losang Drogpa Centre together with a big number of students. The 2nd Semester started in April and ended in June 2008. we have a break of three weeks before the exam. During the break, Geshe-la has nominated some seniors to hold discussions on various subject.

Prior to the exam. Geshe-la briefed us on the exam rules and regulations and rejoice seeing so many turn up for the exam.

Students listen attentively to the briefing/

Racial politics and Brain Drain

Posted on Monday, July 14, 2008 No Comments
Labels: Others

Someone send me this email about Racial politics and Brain Drain. You may agreed or disagreed what have been written.

The most important asset of a country is not its natural resources, but rather human resources. This is especially true in a knowledge based economy, which of course will be the trend in future if not already the trend in most of the westerncountries.

My daughter, who is in her final year medicine in Auckland, told me that a team of Singapore recruitment officers have just visited Auckland and talked to the Malaysian students there, offering job and training prospect for the final year students once they graduate. My daughter also told me that over the last few years, quite a lot of her Malaysian seniors, after graduating from medical courses in NZ, have gone to Singapore to work as house-officers and subsequently stayed back in Singapore for their postgraduate training.
Similar teams are sent to Australia and UK for recruiting Malaysians there to work in Singapore.
About a year ago, in one of the articles in Reuters, this was reported:
Malaysia is counting on bright, ambitious people like Tan Chye Ling for its future, to lead it away from manufacturing and into the knowledge age.
But the 32-year-old scientist, a post-graduate in molecular biology, is not counting on Malaysia to look after her future.
"I felt very suppressed in Malaysia," said Tan, who moved to neighbouring Singapore, the region's pace-setter for biotech investment, after a decade of study and research in Malaysia.
"I have benefited from the better research environment and salary scheme here. Things are much smoother," she said by phone from the National University of Singapore where she is studying dust mites and allergies.
Tan estimates that 60 percent of the research teams she works with in Singapore are from Malaysia, despite her country's efforts over several years to develop a biotech industry.
The Malaysian government unveiled plans last March to spend $553.3 million over five years to boost research, attract foreign investment and build new facilities. But its efforts are wasted unless it can retain more talented people like Tan.
"Bythe time we have the research environment in place, every other country would have taken a slice of the biotech investment pie," said Iskandar Mizal, head of the state-run Malaysian Biotech Corporation which oversees the government's strategy.
There is a serious problem facing Malayia and that is the problem of Brain Drain.
Why are Malaysians overseas not coming back to work?
Well, pay may be part of the reasons but is not the main reason. Singapore recruitment team offered Malaysian students there a salary which is a few times they would expect to get in Malaysia….S$40,000 a yr for houseman after tax (equivalent to RM86000) which is about 5 times the pay of a houseman inMalaysia.
But, as I say, pay is not the main problem. The living expenses overseas is higher. And for a person working overseas, the loneliness and the stress level is also much higher. So not everyone opts to work overseas because of pay. Many would not mind to work for lesser pay if they can stay near to their loved ones.
Why do people choose to work overseas, away from their loved ones ?
Malaysia has many state-of-the-art hospitals and research centres, which may even be the envy of many overseas countries. But hardware alone would not attract these experts o come home. In the medical fields, I have so many friends /classmates working overseas, many in world renowned centres. Why do they do that?
Some of my classmates and friends did come back as specialists. After working a few years ( many lasted a few months) , most get disillusioned and went off. There is really not much prospect of career advancement. How many can hope to become a professor, even when they are an acknowledged expert in their field? On the other hand , lesser beings are being promoted to professorship for doing much less.
How many of them can have any say about how things are to be run? How many of them can blend into the local team where the work attitude is vastly different from that overseas?
There is an unwritten rule that even if the person is very good, the head of the team has to be someone from a certain ethnic group who may not even be half as good as him.
In everyday life, some become disillusioned with the corruption, the red tape and tidak apa attitude of the officialdom. For an overseas doctor applying to work home, the application can take up to 6 months to get approved, whereas, Singapore sends teams overseas to recruit them on the spot, giving them forms to fill and offering them jobs immediately as long as they pass their final examination. See the difference?
It is the sense of being wanted and being appreciated that make these people stay overseas. Back here, they are often made to feel that they are of a lower class; they do not feel wanted and they do not feel appreciated…. That is the main reason.
For those with children , the education system puts them off. Even school children can feel being discriminated, one glaring example is the 2 systems in PreUniversity education.
All these make them pack their bags and off they go again, leaving behind their parents perhaps, siblings,friends they grew up together, favouite food that is often not available overseas. No one likes to be like this; circumstances and a sense of being recognised for their worth make them go away…It is really sad.
Parents spend huge amount of money educating them, but the ones who benefit are the Singaporeans, the Americans, the Australians, the British and so on. As long as race politics is not done away with, this problem of brain drain will continue and Malaysia will always lack behind the advanced countries, no matter how many twin towers and Putrajayas we build.

About Supertravel Ski

Posted on Saturday, July 12, 2008 No Comments
Labels: Money Generator

Interested in having a luxury ski holidays in Europe this coming winter season? It will be exciting and fun to embark on such a trip rather than the normal sightseeing type of trips.

If you are seriously considering such a Luxury Skiing holidays, you will be able to find Luxury ski chalets and top class hotels at Supertravel Ski which has the best chalets and hotels in top ski resorts. Just to name a few such as Courchevel, France, Meribel, France and St Anton, Austria.

The Meribel chalet is located in the picturesque village of Mirabel which is a perfect skiing destination for people from around the world. There are many luxury chalets here for you to choose and you can visit Supertravel Ski site to check the full description and photographs of the chalets before you make a booking. Check it out now.

Eat at Khmer Restaurant @ Siem Reap

Posted on Friday, July 11, 2008 No Comments
Labels: Food Reviews (Cambodia)

During my Siem Reap trip, our tour guide, Jackie brought to this Eat at Khmer Restaurant to try Khmer foods. According to him, this restaurant is quite new.Khmer cuisine is closely related to her neighboring countries Thailand, Vietnam but not as spicy compared to Thai cuisine.Curries, stir fried vegetables, rice, noodles and soup are their staple diet.

We were at this restaurant around noon time and it was still empty, we were their 1st customers, I guessed. The foods here are really simple and nothing special.

This dish is like cold salad and I did not try it.

Fish soup.

Mixed veges.

Sweet and sour pork.

Fried Beef with vegetables.

Car Theft

Posted on Friday, July 11, 2008 No Comments
Labels: Others

On Monday morning, my friend discovered that his Honda CRV parked at his garage was stolen as the thief managed to open the main gate and took away the car without them realizing until they woke up early in the morning to get to work.

Car thefts are so rampant this day in Klang Valley and they are becoming very daring by stealing cars that are parked inside the house garage. Some months ago my friend lost his Proton Waja parked ouside his house at Taman Megah but it was later found more than a month later.

What is happening to the security in our country.?? It is getting from bad to worse. Be careful where you park your car.

Artisans D'Angkor

Posted on Wednesday, July 09, 2008 No Comments
Labels: Travel (Siem Reap/Angkor Wat)

On the 3rd Day, we visited Artisans d’Angkor (AA), a phenomenally successful company that was set up to help young people find work in their home villages making traditional arts and crafts.

The Chantiers-Écoles de formation professionnelle, a professional training school, was founded to help young Cambodians rediscover traditional handicrafts and give them the opportunity to take part in the rebuilding process their country had undertaken.
The CEFP is a public institution which was established in response to an urgent need to train disadvantaged young people with little formal education, living for the most part in rural areas, and offer them a job entry program.

Artisans d'Angkor was established as a natural offshoot of the Chantiers-Écoles project as a school-to-work transition for the young craftsmen that had been trained. The skilled artisans could thus be organized into a self-sustaining handicraft network