General Election, so what? Back to same old' shit!

My physical body may be in Australia but from time to time on a daily basis I do browse through our local newspaper web page, The Star Online. Political hyped up again as the UMNO General Assembly Meeting commences on the 24th March 2009 till 26th March 2009. Well let me redefine the word 'everyone'. First and foremost I bet no one in their rightful mind cares about the upcoming UMNO internal general election, although in exact we're looking at the selection process of a future Prime Minister or to be more precise, the handing over of power between current Premier to his successor. There is no difference between now and after the handing of power. Nothing to be anticipated about. No revolution, no reformation, whatsoever compared to the previous handing of power ceremony between Mahathir Mohammad and Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. During that time, people in general as in the working classes are hoping for a new era of heavy reduction in corruption among the bureaucracy of our administration. Reduction of red tape, and so forth, but unfortunately Abdullah himself had landed his ass in the hotpot after the 12th General Election. According to some statistic which I can't really prove because I can't find it but I'd certainly read it couple of days ago, that 65% of the Malaysian population do not agree that Najib bin Razak would function as a good Premier. As they say, he may have excellent pedigree lineage or we call it 'blue blood", from having a father and an uncle both being former Prime Minister before and a younger cousin as the current Education Minister, yet he lacked the primary drive to further push his position upwards in the eyes of many rakyat and that is people's support. I placed my bet that the upcoming three by-elections would be swoop up by the oppositions, unless some hanky-panky happening. Which ever, I am never proud of my nation's caretaker (a.k.a. government). Speaking of that who does? Bruno, Marco, and Ellena from Italy hated their government, especially their Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi. Ellena once told me "We're never proud of our government, especially Berlusconi". And my reply "I'm also never proud of my government". Romain aspirant to be a future politician, currently studying Master of Political Science, stress that he never really bother the work of his President, Nicolas Sarkozy. Eddie Moore from Bendigo, Australia, hated their previous government under the leadership of John Howard. According to him, he's the worst Prime Minister Australia had ever had. Justifiable with the tremendous humiliation at the loss of a general election. The Australian government under the Rudd administration is just slightly better. Eddie stresses that, he doesn't agree with the remark and programmes of Kevin Rudd to curb global warming because it gives privilege to the industry players which ultimately means giving them opportunity to pollute the environment, which is back to square one again. Over the years, democracy may just be a form of government that is slightly better than Dictatorship or Monarchy rule. However the case, we can never satisfy everyone with one solution.

"No man breath the same amount of air with another man at the same time" (THUM, 2009)


For a moment of thinking, I kind of thank Dr Santha for teaching and grilling us on citation and referencing when we're back doing SAM at Taylors. She will usually get so boiled up, when we can't cite correctly. The horror in her class, but then again we manage to pull through. S7 people can tahan punya from harsh treatments. HAHA!

'One world one dream', Indeed!

A little article I found from bloomberg's website (To commemorate the Beijing 2008 Olympic). China had done a splendid job in hosting the 'world games' amid the various distraction aiming to derail their quest from performing a superior and flawless olympic games. Congratulations! to the Chinese nation, and now my best of wishes! to the United Kingdom to try and outperform China's current standing legacy.

``He is just a normal person, although he maybe from a different planet. A planet from a different galaxy.'' -- Russian swimmer Alexander Sukhorukov on Michael Phelps.
``It would be nice if historians talk about Michael Phelps winning seven gold medals, and losing the eighth to some guy. I'd like to be that guy.'' -- Serbian swimmer Milorad Cavic on trying to stop Phelps's in the 100 butterfly.
``I'm stoked with this. I don't want to fight this.'' -- Cavic, after losing to Phelps by 0.01 second and disagreeing with his team's decision to file a protest.
``I don't even know what to feel right know; there are so many emotions. I kind of just want to see my mom.'' -- Phelps after breaking Mark Spitz's record with an eighth gold.
``I gave it my best shot and I'm thinking maybe I shouldn't have filed my nails last night.'' -- U.S. swimmer Dara Torres after losing her final by 0.01 second.
``It was the most impressive athletics feat I've ever seen in my life.'' -- 400-meter world-record holder Michael Johnson on Bolt's world-record run in the 100 meters final.
``I blew my mind and I blew the world's mind.'' Bolt after winning the 200 meters in world-record time, breaking Johnson's 12-year-old standard.
``The secret of the team's success? Reggae power.'' -- Women's 100-meter champion Shelly-Ann Fraser after Jamaica swept the medals in the race.
``He could be a 400-meter runner as well, but he's just lazy.'' -- U.S. sprinter Wallace Spearmon on men's 100 and 200- meter champion Usain Bolt.
``I am not Flash Gordon or anybody. My name is Bolt, Lightning Bolt.'' -- Bolt dismisses Johnson's suggestion that he is Superman.
``Whenever he stood up, he fell down.'' -- Liu Xiang's coach after the defending 100-meter hurdles champion from China withdrew in the first round because of an ankle injury.
``There are so many people caring for me and who have done a lot for me. I am really sorry.'' -- Liu speaking in an interview with China Central Television about his withdrawal.
``The sky is my only limit.'' -- Women's pole vault champion Yelena Isinbaeva after setting the 24th world record of her career in the final.
``It was a race of attrition. I can count on one hand the number of races in which I've started to sweat before the race starts.'' -- U.S. cyclist George Hincapie after finishing 40th in the Aug. 9 road race in hot and humid conditions.
``We have been training in Baghdad, we train two sessions a day, it's sometimes very dangerous as there can be explosions. Before it used to scare us but now it's part of everyday life.'' -- Iraqi rower Haidar Nozad on his preparation for the Games.
``When I was about to do the third (lift), I kept in my mind that the Dear Leader would be watching.'' -- North Korean weightlifter Pak Hyon Suk after winning the women's 63kg event.
``I was here in February, I don't see no blue sky. To keep such clear air, that's fantastic.'' -- Men's marathon world- record holder Haile Gebrselassie rues his decision not to run the race as Beijing experienced its lowest pollution in a decade.
``You see those five little rings there? This is the Olympics. This is it. It takes all of you to win.'' -- New Zealand hockey player Blair Hopping after re-entering a game following a head injury.
``My performance was perfect and ideal. I would have been baffled if you do not say that was perfect.'' -- Japanese swimmer Kosuke Kitajima comments on his successful defense of the 100-meter breaststroke title.
``I had a chat with Natalie Coughlin. It's nice to know the people you race against aren't as scary as they look.'' -- Australian swimmer Alicia Coutts on competing at the top level.
``Unfortunately that's our sport. Here you do your performance and turn it over to someone else's hands.'' -- U.S. gymnast Nastia Liukin after placing second in uneven bars with the exact same score as gold-medalist He Kexin of China.
``The swimmers have to carry not so much body fat. They're awfully popular with the other gender.'' -- Australian beach volleyball player Joshua Slack.
``He's a gangster. It was street combat.'' -- French fencer Fabrice Jeannet on his epee bout with Sergey Katchurin of Kyrgyzstan.
``I'm very proud of having a son-in-law who can score two goals against Brazil and then gets fouled in the box for a penalty.'' -- Argentina soccer icon Diego Maradona on Argentine forward Sergio Aguero.
``There's a lot of unity and a lot of strength in this group. I don't know if that's of any interest to America, but that's what they're missing.'' -- U.S. men's volleyball coach Hugh McCutcheon after returning to the team following his father-in-law's Aug. 9 murder at a Beijing tourist site.
``It hasn't been easy. When you throw in the emotional load that the team has had to bear through collectively, for them to come through is a wonderful achievement.'' -- McCutcheon after guiding his team to the victory in yesterday's gold-medal match.
``It's a storybook ending for us,'' -- U.S. volleyballer Gabriel Gardner after helping the U.S. win the gold medal.
``I don't know about dynasty. Maybe legends.'' -- Misty May-Treanor, half of the gold-medal winning U.S. beach volleyball team, on how she'd describe herself and Kerri Walsh.
``Sometimes I work as a hairdresser through the day to make money and train at night. I train very hard, but our training situation is not good. We cannot shower in the training place.'' -- Taekwondo bronze medalist Rohullah Nikpai after winning Afghanistan's first Olympic medal.
``If the world were to draw any lesson from what I did, there would never be any wars.'' -- Georgian shooter Nino Salukvadze after sharing the medal podium with Russia's Natalia Paderina. They embraced while their countries exchanged gunfire.
``I proved the existence of Georgia in the world with my gold. It means a lot, especially in this difficult time.'' -- Georgian Greco-Roman wrestler Manuchar Kvirkelia after winning the 74-kilogram division.
``My opponent did not behave in a sportsman-like manner.'' -- Arman Chilmanov of Kazakhstan comments after Cuban opponent Angel Valodia Matos kicked the referee in the head after being disqualified from their taekwondo bronze-medal bout.
``I'm going to keep it until I die. I will show it to my son, he is 13 months old. When he grows up I will show him my gold medal, and my dirt.'' -- South Korean pitcher Bong Jung Keun explains why he filled a water bottle with dirt after his team beat Cuba 4-3 to win the gold medal.
``There is great disappointment in the whole population. They really feel that there is something about mighty America against us.'' -- Imro van Wilgen, secretary general of the Netherlands Antilles Olympic Association, after Churandy Martina was stripped of the silver medal in the men's 200 meters following a U.S. protest.
``The parks are a little like plastic fruit and we wouldn't want to take a bite of them. Freedom of speech isn't something you can put in a box.'' -- John Hocevar, co-founder of Students for a Free Tibet, on the designated Olympic protest zones.
``The reason was for the nation's interest. The child on camera should be flawless in image, internal feelings, and expression.'' -- Chen Qigang, musical director of the opening ceremony, on why producers replaced 7-year-old Yang Peiyi with 9-year-old Lin Miaoke to lip-synch to Yang's recording of ``I Sing For My Country.''
``I just lay on my bed and watched soap operas.'' Zhong Man on his preparations for becoming the first Chinese male fencer to win an Olympic gold medal.
``China does have some problems with defense, but we also have problems with our attacks and our passing.'' -- China handball coach Kang Jae Won after his team lost to Kazakhstan.
``It is a very big concern. We cannot blame China for being so strong as it is their national sport. Other nations have to become stronger.'' -- Adham Sharara, president of the International Table Tennis Federation, after China's gold medal sweep in is sport.
``I think Chairman Mao gave me the power.'' Chinese badminton player Lin Dan after winning the men's singles.
``I'm a veteran. I've never dropped a stick in my life.'' -- U.S. sprinter Tyson Gay after the 400-meter relay squad was eliminated in the first round because of a botched baton change.
``They're taking a lot of medals but they didn't take it out from our hide,'' Peter Ueberroth, chairman of the U.S. Olympic Committee, on China's performance after the Americans matched their Athens tally of gold medals.
``My message isn't just for disabled people it is for everyone. It's to use the negatives in a good light.'' -- South African swimmer Natalie Du Toit after becoming the first amputee to compete in the Olympics in the women's 10-kilometer event.
``It taught me to think step by step and be patient. When you are in so much pain lying in a hospital bed, you aren't thinking about the next month, but the next hour.'' -- Maarten van der Weijden of the Netherlands, a leukemia survivor who won the gold medal in the men's 10-kilometer swim.
``It was one of the goals of the season for me to do well here. So obviously the quarterfinals is not going to do it for me.'' -- Roger Federer after losing to James Blake for the first time in his career in the Olympic men's singles.
``The number of gold medals is a big surprise. The U.K. has a tendency to win big at large events and then become complacent. That cannot happen this time.'' -- John Steele, chief executive officer of UK Sport, on Britain's best gold-medal haul in a century.
``It is more important and more special than any championship that any of us will ever win.'' -- Kobe Bryant, a three-time NBA champion with the Los Angeles Lakers after helping the U.S. win the gold medal.
``It's the biggest meeting of East and West, in peaceful circumstances, in the world's history.'' -- International Olympic Committee member Kevan Gosper, who helped oversee China's preparations, on the Beijing Games.
``These were truly exceptional Games'' -- Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee, in his closing ceremony address.
``It's been nothing but an upwards rollercoaster. It's been nothing but fun.'' Phelps on his eight gold medal haul.






(Bloomberg, 2008)

The dark side of a developed nation

Funny as it seems, that developed countries across the globe are often heavy criticiser of international human rights abuses, effect of barred media/ freedom of speech/ freedom of expression, etc of other developing countries. Being the s0 called "big brothers" of the world, entrusted to lead the world into the new era of globalisation, solidifying diplomatic ties of other developing countries and even to an extent of interfering several nations' political landscape. Yet they had failed to look themselves into the mirror and ask "who the real losers are?". Russian Federation illegitimate invasion into the heartland of Georgia clearly shows that such a large nation that was often at the limelight of the world (Post-era of the grand Soviet Union- USSR) is still unworthy to correct and criticise others. It is better for a developing country to wage a war against another developing country than a developed country waging a war against a developing country. Shameful for a leader who speaks often of peace and harmony, is now flagging its dark side to a minor country that is being limited in terms of weapon technology and human power.

34th G8 Summit

The 34th G8 (Group 8) Summit held at Toyako, Japan had ended with another useless piece of conclusion. Yes. I am anti-G8 summit. I believe it is a total waste of time and resources. Since 1976 till now, nothing much had been done. The whole summit is used to promote the strength and influence of the 8 industrial-powered countries (USA-Bush, Russia-Medvedev, Italy-Berlusconi, Japan-Fukuda, France-Sarkozy, Germany-Merkel, United Kingdom-Brown & Canada-Harper). The United States still refuse to rectify the Kyoto Protocal, one of the key to address the pressing issue of climate destruction. Australia, under the new leadership of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd took a bold and suppresive move to rectify it finally after winning a whooping landslide victory in the recent Australia General Election, eliminating the ruling pro-United States government of John Howard. There is no point of addressing trivial issues when the big fishes are yet to be solve. Moreover this year there would be additional problems to be tabled upon such as the food crisis, fluctuation of oil & gas price, Zimbabwe political issue-Robert Mugabe and USA Sub-prime Mortgage crisis.

Some laughter to spill

The 2008 Beijing Olympics have put the spotlight on China, bringing attention to the conflict in Tibet and all the human rights abuses. Protesters disrupted Olympic torch relays in San Francisco and other western cities, many of them holding signs with stern messages for China such as "Free Tibet!" "Stop human rights abuses!" and "Give us cheaper TVs now!"
Indian soccer star Bhaichung Bhutia declined to run with the torch as "my way of standing by the people of Tibet," while actor Aamir Khan vowed to run with the torch "not in support of China" but "with a prayer in my heart for the people of Tibet."
Inspired by Khan, long jumper Anju Bobby George announced that she will protest China's human rights abuses by participating in the Beijing Olympics. "I am participating in the Olympics not in support of China," she said, "but with a prayer in my heart for the people of Tibet."
She pledged to lie on the ground before every jump, extending her legs outward to form a 'T.' "It may look like I'm stretching," she said. "But I'm showing my support for Tibet."
Just a day before the torch relay in India, cricket star Sachin Tendulkar pulled out of the event, saying that he had a groin injury. It's believed that he suffered the injury while running away from Tibetan activists.
Indian officials were so worried about protests that they drastically shortened the route of the torch relay, asking Khan to run with it from his bedroom to living room. He handed the torch to tennis star Leander Paes, who took it all the way to the kitchen. Other celebrities then did mini-runs from one appliance to another.
The video was doctored for Chinese television to show Khan and Paes running in front of the Taj Mahal, cheered on by thousands of people, including Mahatma Gandhi.
Meanwhile, CNN's Jack Cafferty is in trouble with the Chinese for calling them "goons and thugs," two of the worst insults that the FCC allows on American TV.
Saying that America imported Chinese-made "junk with the lead paint on them and the poisoned pet food," Cafferty added: "They're basically the same bunch of goons and thugs they've been for the last 50 years."
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu demanded an apology, saying, "We are shocked at and strongly condemn the evil attack by the CNN anchor on the Chinese people. How dare he call us goons and thugs? Not all of us are goons and thugs."
Indeed, a New York Times investigation has found that only 1 percent of Chinese are goons and thugs -- and all of them work for the government.
Cafferty's words have upset many of them, according to Jin Yao, president of the National Association of Goons and Thugs. "He say we same goons and thugs for last 50 years," Yao said. "Is not true. We better goons and thugs than before. We take government course."
In other news, some folks in Britain are trying their best to boycott everything from China. Harvey Wilson of London has stopped buying toys from China, John Rowling of Oxford has stopped buying electronics from China, and Linda Scott of Birmingham has dumped her boyfriend, Chang Lee.
In Winnipeg, Canada, Gerald Smith, a retired bus driver who spends most of his evenings at the local casino, said he's getting rid of everything he owns that's made in China, including all his appliances, furniture, clothes and teeth. Asked if he's protesting a particular Chinese policy, Smith nodded and pointed to the words on his T-shirt: "Free to bet!"



So this is the group picture taken during Pei Chern's suprise birthday
(left: Lam-in black; Jo Wee-in red; Chieh Ai- inblakc plus red; Andrew; Yong Hao; Chen Siang-in white all the way back; CX
bottom row: Lisa-in green; Carynn; Pei Chern-in white; Esther; gua; Kar Kien; Beng