Sayonara 2008

It's the last day of 2008, and I feel obliged to put in a few words. Heck, I started the year with the resolution post, and reminded myself about it again by the end of January 08. After that, I have totally forgotten about them. But rejoice, it's not a total failure! At least my financial goals have been achieved! Housing loans has been reduced to a more manageable balance (thanks to contribution from Mrs Banana) and I have managed to put aside some meager savings.

For me, my working life in 2008 has been a flat plateau, not much ups and downs. In other words, boring. I'm not complaining, but in the long run I need a push to go further. Maybe it's time to look for better opportunity.

Been to many places this year, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, Taiwan and Assunta Hospital. Yeah, that was where Mrs Banana was hospitalised. Scared the hell out of me. Luckily it was nothing major.

Neglected a lot of friends and missed many parties and gatherings. Sorry about that mates!

Upset Mrs Banana many many many times, but she's still sweet. Sorry Honey, but computer games are also part of entertainment, ok.

Annoyed and taken for granted the sacrifice by the mum and dad and sis. Sorry lor.....

Thank you for the past 364 days, 2008. Sayonara.

Merry Christmas

He didn't warn us

2007 - Subprime mortgage crisis
(what prime? some robots from Transformers??)

March 2008 - Bear Stern collapse
(stupid fella, never heard of fengshui)
(why named after Bear. should change the name to Bull Stern)

Middle 2008 - Oil price soar
(aiyoh, oil price is a risk. my E class is a petrol guzzler. approve the petrol allowance increment for senior management only)

Early September 2008 - Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
(i'm sorry, is it new burger from McD?)

Mid September 2008 - Lehman Brother, Merrill Lynch
(hmmm..... seriously, would it really affect us?)
(nah, it's still far far away)

Late September 2008 - AIG
(ohoh! the kiasuland people are queing up to cancel their policy)

October 2008
(shit. we could not meet sales target.)
(what happened?? i thought govt said our economy still strong??)

November 2008
(Where is the risk manager? why he didn't warn us?)
(Recession is coming! Cut cost. Cut training. Cut everything.)
(No bonus, no increment, no more new intake.)

December 2008
(Better axe the lousy risk manager)


The bracket represents the senior management's thought at the point of time. I hope their December thought will not be like that cause I'm the risk manager.

Why People Hate Consultants

I rest my case.

Cruise away

I'll be off to Singapore for this weekend. Yes, yes, I just came back from there not too long ago, but this time it is different. It will be on a cruise, baby. And best of all, the cruise fee is subsidised by the Company's Sports Club.

Wedding bells are ringing

Congratulations to Peter and Sharon, and Chrislyn and Eu-Jin.
So far there's two, but I suspect more 'red bomb' are coming along :)

Update 24/10/08:
Just received another red bomb in the mail box. Congratulations to Yin Mei and Hock Wei too.

My sincerest apology

I know. It's been a long while. Without updates. Not befitting with this blog's name. Second to Minute my foot! Nearly a month without a single entry.
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I am sorry.
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I was lazy.
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But more importantly, I was busy.
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Busy with work.
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At this place.

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Busy tasting wines.
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That come straight from the vineyard.
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Then I got myself drunk, with a sweet young thing sitting on my lap.
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I will post more when I am sober. Hick.

Silly questions

If you work for Coke, can you drink Pepsi?

If you work for Proton, can you drive a Toyota?

If you work for KFC, can you enjoy McDonalds?

If you work for HP, can you use a Dell?

I'm not sure whether the staff of these companies are allowed to consume/use a competitors' products. Chances are these people won't, not because of restriction by company rules but because normally, they would be entitled for free products or hefty staff discounts.

Companies like Colgate, Unilever, etc. have lots of freebies for their staff. I know BAT gives monthly cigarette rations to its staff. I work for a property developer and if the same rules applies, where is my free house!!???

Tricked

Context:
Yesterday, Uncle Cheong, who did the renovation for our house, came by and commented our car porch and front gate are in dire needs for some make over. Indeed, the paint at the gate had faded and the porch is defiled by black oily grime from our cars. At first, I tried to get rid of them, but all my rubbing and cleaning efforts were proven futile, these stains are meant to stay. After some time, I just leave them as it is. Later that night, while I was helping Mrs Banana with some laundry, we had this conversation.

Mrs B: "You know, I think Uncle Cheong is right. We need to repaint the gate and clean up the front porch."

Me: "I know...... But it'll cost money."

Mrs B: "At the very least, we need to clean the tiles at the porch. The black stain is an eyesore."

Me: "Can be cleaned one.... Just use the water jet spray, the powerful water should be enough to get rid of them."

Mrs B: "Are you sure?"

Me: "Of course! I borrowed a unit before and used it before to clean mum's porch. Moss, dirt, you named it, everything will be out in no time. Too bad I don't have one now."

Mrs B: "Don't really believe you. Hmmmm..... Let put it to a bet. If you could get rid of the black oily stains, I'll pay for the whatever water jet spray thingy".

Me: "Ok. It's a bet!"

She left the laundry room with a smile.

*Blink*Blink*Blink" [Deep thought] I was tricked! I have promised her to clean the porch!

Google Olympic Logo (Part 3)

With such a grand and magnificent opening, I'll make sure that I won't miss the closing ceremony tonight. 16 days (or is it 17 days) of glory and it's time to close the curtain. Equally interesting is the Google Olympic Logo series, which ends with all the 12 Chinese Zodiacs, each bears a gold medal. Here is the final part of these remarkable logos:

Highjump - (Rabbit) Appear on 21 August.









Martial arts - (Tiger vs Monkey) Appear on 22 August. Everybody does kungfu fighting....








Baseball - (Chicken) Appear on 23 August.









And finally, the Closing Ceremony, with all the 12 Animals appear on 23 August.

Google Olympic Logo (Part 2)

More Google Olympic Logo for the Beijing 2008. Looks like the designers are not confine to reuse the same animal from the Chinese Zodiac. Dragon, Horse and Rat have appeared twice already. And there's the cute and funny looking Rabbit, running animatedly on the track, which reminds me of the Rabbit and Tortoise story.

Ok, here's the Part 2 of the logo:


Badminton - (Tiger) Appear on 15 August.








Soccer - (Horse and Snake as the Goalkeeper?) Appear on 16 August.









Rowing - (Dog and a ???) Appear on 17 August.








Ping Pong - (Dragon) Appear on 18 August.









Swimming - (Snake) Appear on 19 August (Resembles Michael Phelps?).








Track & Field - (Horse and Rabbit) Appear on 20 August.







What else is missing? Chicken, I supposed.

Google Olympic Logo

If you have been visiting Google homepage lately, you would have seen these images already. I set it as my default page, and every morning, the first image I see is the ever changing GOOGLE Olympic logo.

The logos are based on different sporting events and being a Chinese, you will be surprised to see the players are actually animals from the Ancient Calendar zodiac. That's killing two birds with one stone.

Like it or not, there's one undisputable fact: These guys are so creative!

Cycling - (Goat/Ram) appear on 9 August.









Weightlighting - (Mouse/Rat) appear on 10 August.








Diving - (Pig) appear on 11 August.









Rythmic Gymnastic - (Cow) appear on 12 August.








Ring - (Monkey) appear on 13 August.








Basketball - (Dragon and a little Mouse) appear on 14 August.

I'm not sure about the sport event that will be featured over the next few days, but I'm putting down my bet on the appearance of Horse, Snake, Dog, Tiger, Rabbit and Chicken are definitely in place.

080808

It seems like a long wait but it's finally here. I will be glued to the tv tonight to watch the opening of Beijing Olympic which boast to be the best olympics ever. I got to admit I am not a sport fan, heck, I don't even watch football games (EPL, Premier League, or even the World Cup). But Olympic, that's a different story. Olympic in Beijing? All the more the reasons.

Favourite events? Hmmm, athletics, swimming, volleyball and probably gymnastics. And not forgetting badminton. Our only hope to clutch a medal. Will keep my fingers crossed.

It's been a dreadful long week. Things are not that smooth in work, (which explains why the long absence of posting new entry) and I am kind of tired of dealing with people. Long story short, it's just office politics. Someone tries to be a hero at your expense. Period. That's why Olympic would be a God-given diversion for me to focus on something more energetic, more satisfying.

By the way, have you checked out the google page today?















UPDATE: Awesome. Jaw dropping. Absolutely brilliant. This is the best opening Olympic ever!

Happy 1 Year Old

It all started when a friend casually reminded Mrs Banana and I, "Don't just enjoy the process, mind the final product as well!" We agreed it was high time to settle down and have a baby. I thought, hmmm.... wouldn't it be nice to have a blog to record down the baby's journey after when he/she is born? That was what prompted my to experiment with this strange thing called blogging.

70th postings later and still no baby, but this blog is already 1 year old! I still remember the hardest part of all was to choose a name for this blog. I chosed Second to Minute, as a journal to record the happenings of the supposedly baby. As it turns out, this blog has became my personal ramblings!

My little brother-in-law first reaction on hearing this blog was "Wow! Can get rich already. Sign up some advertisement and repeatedly click on the link." No. As you can see, there's zero advertisement in my blog and I don't even care about the readership. This blog is to share with my friends some of my latest happenings and interesting stuff. I did not and will not want to be a celebrity blogger, though I got to admit that there are some repeated readers lurking in and out.

Thanks for dropping by!

Trust

Heard something interesting from the radio this morning. Lite FM deejays were asking listeners to call in and give a two cent about trust.

Normally, I would not be able to catch these conversations very well because of the traffic jam. If you have driven on streets of KL during moring rush hours, you would know what I mean by that. But today, for some strange reason, the traffic was unbelievably smooth and I could enjoy a relaxing cruise to office.

Back to Trust. A listener called in and gave a thought provoking insight of his view about trust. The essense of his view is that trust is like a bank savings account. In the begining, it was full and it is our nature to trust people completely and whole-heartedly. But being human, we eventually experience lies, betrayals and dissapointments. Each incident is like an expense, to be deducted from this account. Many lies and dissapointments later, the account would be empty and it will take a long time to build this trust again.

But then again, he stressed that trust is a multi-faceted account. He gave the example that if his wife cheated on him before, he may not trust her words anymore but at the same time, he could still trust her in taking care of their daughter.

That's pretty deep for a Friday morning. But he got me thinking and I could relate it personally.
I used to trust people easily and had my fair share of betrayals and lies. Once I realised that person can no longer be trusted, I will build a shield and be extra cautious when dealing with him again.

Do you agree with what he said?

This is worrying

Average worker will have RM120,000 in EPF

By ZULKIFLI ABD RAHMAN

KUALA LUMPUR: An average worker will have about RM120,000 in his Employee Provident Fund (EPF) account by the time he reaches the age of 55, Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah said in Dewan Negara on Monday.

He added that the amount, which was calculated based on the person's working life of 30 years, would provide him with an average of RM500 in monthly returns for 20 years after reaching 55 years.

Ahmad Husni said the amount would enable him to meet basic expenditures.

However, the person must contribute more than RM120,000 to his EPF account to enjoy a more comfortable retirement life, he told Senator Ikhwan Salim Sujak.

Ahmad Husni said the EPF had strategies to ensure workers were prudent with their savings and they should invest their savings in proper schemes.

He also said EPF contributors were allowed to withdraw from Account II to buy a house or a second house if they had settled the loan on their first house.

To a question, Ahmad Husni said there were no plans to compel contracted or part-time workers to contribute to the EPF.

If the Minister thinks a person can retire with just RM120,000, he must be living in somewhere else. RM120,000 can't even get you a decent house in the Klang Valley today, let alone 20 years down the road. Hell, RM120,000 is barely enough to pay for a Civic or Altis!

I read in an article not too long ago highlighting the adverse condition of our pensioners. It showcased the plight of single pensioners, those without children or widowed. You see, in the past, a lot of government servant opt for pension instead of savings in EPF. The promise was that, upon your retirement, you will be paid half of your last drawn salary every month. If your last drawn salary was RM5000, then you will receive RM2500 every month until you die. Sounds good?

The problem was that most of these pensioners were at clerical level and back then they only receive about RM600 to RM800 a month. Back then, RM600 could feed an entire family. But now, RM600 could get you nowhere. Imagine getting half of that. Try to survive 30 days with a monthly income of RM300. And I am not talking just about food. Consider electricity, water, medical, clothing and other essentials as well!

We need to take inflation into the big picture. Last year, a bowl of noodles cost about RM3.50. Begining of this year, it was RM3.80. After the recent petrol hike, it sky rocketed to RM4.00. And that is just one year apart.

Live for another 20 years after reaching 55 years old with just RM120,000? You must be dreaming, Mr. Minister. The only solution is that either you die earlier or keep on working like a donkey. Sorry for such a grim fact.

Funny signs

It's been over 2 weeks since I updated this blog. No excuses, no lies. I was plain lazy. And on top of that, I felt like a zombie and didn't even has a slightest motivation to blog. Actually, I still feel like a constipating bulldog - restless and full of angst!

But since it is Friday, I guess it is better to laugh off it. Here's some funny signs I Ctrl C + Ctrl V from the internet. Enjoy :)

Royal Park Hotel

This is the hotel that my subsidiary company booked for my stay in Hong Kong last week. Royal Park Hotel, a 4 star hotel located in Shatin, Hong Kong. For the uninitiated, Shatin is located way north of Hong Kong and Kowloon and the main reason I stayed there was due to the proximity of the hotel and the company.

To my surprise, my room was very spacious. My last encounter in a hotel in Hong Kong was claustrophobic (the room was so cramped and packed with the fittings). But to be fair, that was a 3-star hotel and was situated in Mongkok. Guess you get what you pay for.

The lobby is well lighted and its elevators give you a nice view of the hotel's surrounding through the glass doors. I thought the smartcard security access at the elevators was very thoughful to provide privacy for the hotel's guests because the hotel is connected to the adjacent New Town Plaza.

For a corporate rate of HKD880 per night, I think it was quite worth it. Not forgetting to mention that it comes with a welcoming fruit plate (an orange, an apple and a pear) and drink at the bar, daily buffet breakfast, complimentary mini bar with daily replenishment (just beers, soft drinks, and mineral water) and a complimentary shuttle bus to Tsim Tsa Shui (didn't even use it due to the typhoon). My only complaint was that they should throw in the internet connection as well.


The elevators

The 8th floor

Spacious room, with LCD tv, and full of mirrors



















The sofa was tucked nicely at the corner


















It even has a long bath, considering space is scarce in Hong Kong


















The WC and rain fall shower. Check out the disability friendly designed.


















An external shot of the hotel when the clouds were away


















The nearby Shatin Town Hall


















And incidentally, the hotel is the official hotel for the Olympics games in August. Hong Kong will be hosting the Equestrian events in Shatin and major refurbishment works were visible. Here a mascots still under assembly, shot from my room window.


















And the best surprise of all, after a full day work, I got back to my room at 10.00pm. Then, the phone in the room rang. I picked it up and the hotel staff wished me happy birthday and told me they were sending a cake up to my room! Wow! I was speechless. Talk about Customer Relationship Management. They noticed it during the check-in and made a note of it. Guess not many hotels in Malaysia will do the same.

While I received many birthday wishes from my friends in Malaysia, I purposely kept it from my Hong Kong colleagues. They have been treating me well and I didn't want them to spend more than they should.

Anyway, back to the cake. It was a big strawberry cake and there was no way I could finished it by myself. I called Mrs Banana to tell her that this hotel was really great!


















The birthday card


















Looks delicious


















Time to make a wish


















Very berry strawberry



















Yummy and happy

Would I stay there again? Of course I would. In fact, when I left for the airport, the bellboy who hailed down the taxi for me gave me a note. He has written down the taxi number and the hotel contact number, just in case, if I were to leave something in the taxi. Now that's customer service.

P/S: Not to worry about the cake. I managed to finished it the next when I was trapped in the hotel due to the typhoon.

Snoopy's World

I found this interesting playground near my hotel in Shatin. A mere 3 minutes walk from the Royal Park Hotel in Shatin, lies the Snoopy's World next to the New Town Plaza. No, it's not a theme park with roller coaster rides, but a well designed and colorful playground for the children and other young-at-heart. It is a large outdoor Snoopy playground covering 40000 square foot with more than 60 Peanut figures in many sizes. The best part, it is free to all.

The weather was rather poor due to the Fengshen typhoon. The Hong Kong Observatory even raised the typhoon warning to level 8. Subsequent days after the typhoon were all gloomy, cold and wet. But this playground managed to bring out the bright side from its visitors. I'm sure Shin Hui would love this place.

According to Wiki, it was completed in September 2000 and has 6 zones, i.e. Snoopy Huse, Peanut Academy, Canoe Ride, Peanut Dugout, Peanut Boulevard and Party Pavilion. Again, due to the weather, not all zones were operational. Here's some shots I took.

The entrance


















The welcome notices


















Another angle of the entrance



















Even the covered corridor is decorated with Snoopy and gang


















Assortment of Peanut figures


















The Peanut Academy - musical band


















Slides, school bus, pool and many more!















































With Charlie Brown


















Visitors taking snap shots with high rise towers as backstage


















The dark clouds and gloomy weather