Preamble:- On Deepavali, Thursday, November 8th 2007 at around 11am, I was injured in a bicycling accident and admitted to the Seow Clinic at Bandar Damai Perdana in Cheras, Kuala Lumpur. My injuries warranted immediate attention which I duly received. In the letter below, I express my appreciation to Dr. Wu Voon Shiuh, the physician in attendance, and his wonderful and caring staff of the clinic.
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Entertainment on our channels ....Saturday 17th November 2007
Well, its the start of the school holidays. Time to sit back and relax. Watch a few good movies or sitcoms on the tube. But sadly, the offerings now are :-( mostly Indonesian, Filipinos and Thais soap operas. I have nothing against them but what happen to all the good TV series/sitcoms for those who prefer to watch programmes in English{sigh...a big one here) Seriously,our TV channels are a dumping ground for those "sinetron" or whatever crap.And, hello...there are too many unnecessary shows on RTM 2 and I am talking about those singing or band shows...BORING...really BORING and talking about reality shows....yuck and a big haha for those stupid love cornetto bite or whatever they are calling it. And as for our local game shows...sad...really sad....putting up 10cents or less on the board...hahahaha excuse me.....you are making the contestants feel horrible...dah kedekut sangat..tak payah aaaah bagi 1 sen pun. And talking about the overly dramatic tamil dramas the never ending chinese drama,koreans,mexicans and not forgetting our own local malay dramas which are getting bad to worse. AAAAh well....Even the news seems to be more on issues then news....Issues should be discuss in a totally different programme...all those logging,housing,environment issues. And as for the cartoons....OH GOD!!!!! the children of Malaysia today are exposed to theNarutos, Doraemons and what not. Scary!!!!
This is just my opinion. Don't hate me for it. :-)
4.5 million property collapse. Our clever MP said it is the global warming.Clever. Bridge need repair, blame it on Indon. Shouldnt we get the consultants and archictects and whoever sign off the handing over letter to book. And the top brass just let it happen....Clever....it is all in the paper..and yet the mandate guy is only lips service...
It is distressing to realize that we have to resort to such unethical means to punish civil servants who do not perform well. Isn’t it humiliating to award brooms for such high-ranking government officers? How will the Klang Municipal Council president and the Hulu Selangor District Council chief go back to face their subordinates after being humiliated with the broom award? Dr.Khir’s contention that the broom is not meant to shame the officers but a reminder that the government wants all departments to buck up is unacceptable.
We are all for increasing the efficiency of our civil service which of late has adopted a lackadaisical attitude to work. However humiliating a senior officer publicly in front of his staff is not the way to improve the efficiency of any department. On the contrary such high handed and humiliating tactics will only be counter-productive as they would adversely affect the morale of the officers and staff of the affected departments.
In this modern era, there are better and more humane ways that are more effective than awarding brooms to humiliate them in public. This is best achieved by instilling love and passion for the job not fear of authorities. Productivity can only be improved by the concerted efforts of all categories of staff. Better working environment, caring, considerate and occasionally compassionate bosses go a long way to improve the morale of the workers.
Those who excel must be appreciated and rewarded appropriately without favour or prejudice. Above all there is a need to lead by example not by the maxim “Do as I say, not do what I do”.
Despite all these measures, there may be still those recalcitrant employees who need to be disciplined. There are definite provisions stipulated in the General Orders to initiate disciplinary action against those civil servants who do not perform up to expectations. These include warnings, transfers, denying salary increments, withholding promotions and so on. I am certain that conferring “Broom Awards” is not a recommended method.
Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has urged Malacca to re-consider all aspects before deciding if a bridge should be built to link the state to Dumai, Indonesia.
The Prime Minister said this was necessary as the cost involved would be very high
The Melaka Government has been harping on building a bridge to Dumai for a very long time now. What exactly is the economic benefits that Melaka can hope to get out of this bridge Or is it just another hare-brained scheme so that Melaka can appear to be back in its glory days of the Malay Sultanate again? Melaka is filled with Museums of all kinds ( you name it and they most probably have it), man-made waterfalls, proposal for the biggest bowling alley in Malaysia etc. etc.Can the allocation from the Federal Government not be put to better use so that a bigger strata of the Melaka society will benefit? These super projects do benefit the citizens but only those who are very well connected and are thus able to be awarded the contracts for building them. So is the Melaka government really serving the interest of the population or just the selected few?
Harping back to the glory days of the Melaka Sultanate, I vaguely remember Sultan Mahmud and his wish to marry Puteri Gunung Ledang. All sorts of ridiculous conditions were set by the Puteri such as7 trays of mosquito's heart, a bowl od blood from the Sultan's son and a request for the Sultan to build a bridge from Melaka to Gunung Ledang. So is this proposed bridge to Dumai our second episode of trying to get a bride from some gunung in Dumai. Let us not waste our national resources on this dream of a bridge to our RASA SAYANG neighbours. It will just mean we will have more inflow of illegal immigrants over that bridge and to facilitate that, Immigration officials at the point of entry will most probably have to be induced to TUTUP SATU MATA on the coming and going over the bridge.
I am not sure for how long another round of fuel hike can be delayed. So I put on my thinking cap. Below is ways to cut fuel costs.
1. If you put a lot of junks in your car boot, remove them.
2. If you are going to drive in your car alone for more than 20 minutes, think of ways to delay the trip or bring in at least one more passenger. If you are going to buy your grocery, combine a few shopping trips into one. If you are going out for lunch, invite your colleagues. If you are going to work, drive to your colleague's home and share a car.
3. Talk to your boss about telecommuting. Saturday is a perfect day for working from home.
4. Use phone banking, download forms from websites, demand online services.
5. Install natural gas tank for your car.
If you have other ideas on cutting fuel costs, let us know!
This is regarding the letter at http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/11/14/focus/19453592&sec=focus.
50 citations for the rank of associate professor?! Are you kidding? Do you know just how hard it is to get a peer citation? I mean a real peer citation. Not some bypass or freeloader method of getting a peer citation. How many citations for professorship then? This kind of ruling will only make things worse, as you will only have the dishonest people getting the promotions. It would be better to judge by how many international publications the person has made.
(the Award).
Although I do not always agree with Datuk Seri Dr. Mohd Khir Toyo's
ideals and actions, I would like to make an exception here. I think he
is very bold to explore this new territory of publicly humiliating
under-performing local councils. It is a very controversial decision he
made and drew the expected flak from various parties, especially from
those who think that they or their members may be next in line to
receive the Award.
Before they start criticizing the Award, they should ask themselves why is the award given and how not to receive the Award. To denounce the Award is tantamount to denouncing an employer's rights to discipline a staff for poor performance at work. Such people obviously have not worked in the harsh working environment in the private sector, where good work may not necessarily lead to rewards and poor performance would definitely lead to some forms of disciplinary actions from the employers. The people working in the public sector has been too pampered with their easy-going work environment and are ill-prepared to face reality.
IMHO, this blogger feels that all state and the federal government
should emulate the Selangor Mentri Besar in motivating their agencies
or department to achieve excellence and punish those which lack
achievement.
A joke that goes around the private sector's workplace reads, 'if you
want an easy life at work, go work in the public sector'. Some
employers prefer not to hire former public employees because they
believe those who worked in the public sector are less efficient with
their work and thus not suitable to work for them. These are the
perceptions of the private sector against the public sector and who can blame them?
The public sector employees should prove to their peers in the private
sector that they are just as good and worthy as their peers, if not
better. If they do not want to be made a laughing stalk among other
government agencies and the public, they should find ways to meet their given KPI. Do not always expect the government to give annual bonuses and salary increment but are unwilling to heed the call to improve productivity.
In fact, this blogger thinks those who received the 'Broom Award'
should count themselves lucky that Mohd Khir did not use the broom to sweep them off from their jobs into the national unemployment
statistics dustbin.
On another note, this blogger would want to join in the call for not
rewarding top government agencies with holidays trips or other monetary rewards. If we do not want to punish poor performers to the extreme then we should not reward high performers to the extreme too. These top performing agencies should be given recognition awards in the forms of achievement plaque or certificate (like those given to top performers in insurance and multi-level marketing industries), receive wide media coverage of their achievement and use them as examples for other agencies to follow or perhaps if their achievement is quantifiable, then set their achievement as a benchmark for other agencies to beat.
Those who make it happen should be given priority in their career
advancement. Achievement should be given priority over seniority in
promotion to a more senior level.
Note: This blog entry is not intended to generalise all public sector
workers as being poor performers at work. Only those who are guilty
would feel the knock on their heads. This blogger personally know of
some public employees who are courteous, hardworking and cooperative but are disillusioned with some of their peers' lackadaisical attitude towards their work and the public service's promotional scheme which they alleged is unfair to some of them.
Never thought I'd say good things about Malaysian politicians ( and I still won't - hehe ) but for once, I have nothing bad to say about them :)
[1] The Selangor Mentri Besar's awarding of brooms to under-performing local councils and state agencies to remind them to buck up may have drawn a lot of flak from many quarters, but I for one am backing him up on this practice. Too long have we waited for someone with authority to crack the whip on inefficient local councils and government agencies and most of the time, the punishment just fail to convince these inefficient parties to buck up. Humiliation works better than anything else, I say ( just as rapists should be publicly humiliated with public whipping ). The practice of giving face should be abolished if we hope to be an efficient nation. So, well done with the courage to actually serve these infamous awards. I believe we'll see at least some changes in the efficiency of local councils if this practice persist.
[2] Government Administrative Building Collapse at Belum : For once, our YAB Works Minister didn't blame God for this incident :) That is clearly a step forward to combatting inefficiency within the Ministry. However, it remains unclear how the Works Ministry will curb this poor quality of construction which is all over the country. One small act of "Not Blaming God", one huge step towards an Efficient Malaysia!
Wanted to get this out more than a few days back but was caught up with work, but it's just as important as any issue that I'm fighting for.
I would like to say "Well Done" and "Thank You" to Capt. Zaim and Puan Asma for their exemplary show of honesty. Returning an envelope containing GBP 1500 to the rightful owners of the money ( Chef Teoh ) is not a small feat - it is a real achievement in a sense. I'm pretty sure many others out there would have simply give in to temptations and pocket the money for themselves. To some of you, this is probably just another case of honesty, but let me remind you - there is a huge difference between returning a lost wallet containing a few hundred ringgit and returning over RM 10K in cash. It would have been so easy to walk away with that huge sum of money, but this couple chose to return it.
To those people who have sent SMSes to this honest couple and labelling them stupid, I beg to differ overwhemingly. They are definitely not stupid but because they are thinking humans with compassion, ethics and honesty, and they choose to do the right thing without succumbing to temptations. I cannot blame those people who think otherwise because greed is just the nature of most human beings.
So, to Capt Zaim and Puan Asma, you have done your race, your country and mankind proud with your honesty. You have earned my fullest sincere respect and believe me, you won't be able to buy that kind of respect with any amount of money in the world. ( and to those jokers who says I'm being a hypocrite for saying my respect is not for sale - please note the word "sincere" in it )
1. Electoral Commission
I think they should be given brooms for every single dead electorate still listed in the next general election. And if there are reports of phantom voters, give them a mop as well.
2. JPJ and Ministry of Transportation
Mass transportation still sucks. Our buses are still not up to par, and the companies' are still not stringent in their selection of drivers.
3. JKR
Courthouses falling apart, cracks in the wall, whole buildings collapsing. If God wills it, perhaps God wills Uncle Sammy get a broom as well.
4. Pemuda and Puteri UMNO
Jeanne had to fill in the organ donor cards first?! Brooms to all of you.
5. Bersih
Well, the name says it all....
6. MBSA
Trash on the sidewalks, MBSA! Here's your broom.
7. Maybank
This one is rather personal. The continuous 50 cent charge per withdrawal is getting to me.
8. Police
To help them sweep crime away. And perhaps replace those tear gas launchers and batons for riots.
I'll vote for Barisan Nasional, unless the Opposition puts someone other than PAS in my constituency of Shah Alam., since PAS will never put a moderate Young Turk member here. It's that simple. I don't support full conservatives, and I never will. It's a matter of principle.
However, in other constituencies, I would actually recommend who you think can serve you the best throughout the five years, and not just during the electoral campaigning period.
Don't be fooled by suddenly tarred up roads, fixed up streetlights, sewing machines or even free food at KFC. Instead, ask the tough questions that really matter.
Where has your member of Parliament been while your constituency needed him?
Also, what's being said in Parliament is your voice. Your representative. So for the people of Jasin and Kinabatangan, if you wish to promote an image that you all 'close one eye' and have no respect for women, then go ahead.
For those in Klang, who think having a castle in a low cost housing area should make it into MTV Cribs, then by all means, support Dato' Zak.
If you feel that Theresa Kok shouldn't have to apologize to our Chinese ambassador for him having to explain the situation to the Chinese government after the nude squat issue, then go ahead, vote her in.
Oh, and if possible, please, don't vote Kayveas. Ever. Forever ever. Don't even think it. The continuous arguments are not worth it.
Perhaps we could get the Perak State Park to tell him that it was God's will.
That they had no control over the weather. That if God wanted the building to fall there was nothing we can do about it.
Sounds familiar, doesn't it, Uncle Sammy?
This is regarding the letter at http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/11/14/focus/19461298&sec=focus.
Very funny... How short-sighted can people get? What use is learning Mathematics and Science in Malay? The rest of the world does it in English. What use is knowledge if you cannot communicate your own knowledge to others properly, nor can you understand other people's knowledge properly, due to your using a different language and hence a completely different set of terms and jargon? Nothing! Do not believe the short-sighted who think that an insular approach to Mathematics and Science will work. Knowledge is global, so please use a global language.
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