Sunday, October 29, 2006

David Tao "Love Can" World Tour Malaysia

Went to David Tao's concert yesterday. It was great. The best concert I've ever been to(I've only went to two concert, LOL. Jay Chou's vocal sucks - always sing out of tune!). David Tao have a big voice and vocal and impresses everyone there. The concert started at 8.30pm and ended at around 11.30pm. David Tao sang for almost 3 hours non-stop without any guest artist. This also makes everyone who bought the ticket feel worthwhile.



The climax during the concert would be when David Tao invited one of the female fans on stage to have a duet. Her name is Celine. When she first reached the stage, she wanted to hug David, but David replied "Let's hold hands first...". David holded Celine hands and sang "tian tian" to her. A scene which i feel very "lum"(romantic). I believe there are some female fans down the stage are with a broken heart when they saw this.

This is the female vocalist that duet with David Tao the song - "Jin Tian ni Yao Jia gei wo" (you will marry me today) which was originally sang with Jolin Tsai. She look pretty right? Wonder whether she wil come out with an album on her own.

The encore part is also great. David sang with all of us "ai hen jian dan"(love is simple). The atmpsphere that night is really frenzied, The fans are enthusisdtic and David Tao is simply brilliant. I will never forget what happened during this night.

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Saturday, October 28, 2006

David Tao “Love Can” World Tour In Malaysia 2006

If you still remember, I won two David Tao's concert tickets from 988. I went to 988 to redeem my David Tao’s concert ticket yesterday. 988’s office is just nearby Bulatan Pahang – a place that I’m quite familiar since I’ve been staying in Setapak for a year. However I still took quite some time to reach to 988’s office. It is actually inside MAA Assurance building and the building is located far from the main road. You need to pass by small lanes to reach there, it’s a bit “ulu”.The prize redemption office is in 16th floor.



Look at this, it is the usual office scene we usually see – very untidy and messy. But very often this type of office is the most productive office. It’s just like my study desk – super messy! Lol.



The staff there took my IC and asked me to take a seat. I saw this photo album on the sofa. The photos are taken during the 6th Global Chinese Music Award last year. I managed to snap some photos in the album before the staff passes me the tickets.


Anyone could figure out who is the female artist on the right?


On top of the two tickets, he also gave me some Hotlink merchandises(I thought I only won two tickets!). The staff told me that other prizes - Hotlink top-up ticket and David Tao’s poster haven’t arrived and I need to redeem it at a later date. It seems that I need to “visit” this place for a second time. Hopefully the next time I come here, I could “accidentally” meet some artists.

The ticket I won is the second most expensive(RM 262). Initially I thought I could get a VIP ticket. Now it’s less than 24 hours before I could see David Tao in person(though quite a distance) and I’m getting more excited as I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time.
Oh yea. I just compared the David Tao’s ticket with jay Chou’s – “The One” concert three years ago. That time, I bought the most expensive ticket only at RM222. I wonder why David Tao’s concert costs a lot more Jay’s. May it be inflation or David Tao is the ultimate R&B king?

This is the Proton’s Malaysia Open Final ticket last year. The ticket seller is the same –Axcess Tickets Sdn. Bhd. That’s why the two tickets look almost the same. Even the exemption clause behind the ticket is the same!

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Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Blackjack : How to beat the dealer?

I assume that if you are interested in reading this post, you will know the basic rules of blackjack. Therefore I will not blog about the rules of blackjack in fact I will go straight to the point – how to beat the dealer at the table.


First and foremost there are a few points I think you should take note of. Blackjack in casino is different from the 21 points or “Ban Lat” we play during Chinese New Year. Let me highlight some important points :

  1. Ace could only be counted as either 1 or 11(it could never be counted as 10)
  2. There is no minimum point a player need to hit. You could stand even at 12 points.
  3. The house will always pay you 1 to 1 when you win(even if you get 21 points) except for Blackjack(Ace and 10) 3 to 2.

The dealer is representing the casino. This means that the dealer must follow the rules set by the casino that is the dealer must draw to 16 and stand on 17. Some casino will require the dealer to hit at soft 17(Ace and 6) and this is considered a disadvantage to the player. However Genting requires their dealer to stand on soft 17. I mentioned that in every game the house must have an advantage over the player. There is no exception for Blackjack. Whenever a player bust(more than 21 points), the dealer will straight away collect the player’s chips. Even though the dealer bust later, the chips will not be refunded. This is the only advantage to the house in Blackjack and is not difficult for a player to overcome it.


Advantage could always be on the player side given that a player :

  1. Uses the correct technique in the game that is know when to hit, stand, double down and split.
  2. Keep his composure and stay calm during the game.
  3. Applies the card counting method.

Knowing all these will help you significantly in playing the Blackjack. During the game there are only four decisions a player needed to make that is to hit, stand, double down or split. This is the ultimate golden rule made by Stanley Roberts, a Blackjack expert according to four decks of cards. In Genting, there are two types of blackjack table, one with four decks of cards and another one with 8 decks of cards. Always check whether you are on the correct table.


If you follow this guide, I believe the house’s advantage would drastically decrease and if you apply the card counting method, you will have the upper hand. Before I go to the card counting method, let me briefly go through how you should make your decision according to these tables.


First, check whether you got two similar cards. If you have two same cards, check whether you should split the cards according to the pair splitting strategy table. If you get two different cards, check whether it’s a hard hand or soft hand. If you have a hard hand, only double down when you have hard 9, 10, or 11 according to the doubling strategy table. Lastly, determine whether you should hit or stand according to the standing strategy table. Similarly, if you have a soft hand, check the soft hand doubling strategy table before going on to the standing strategy table. In short, the sequence of the table you should start with is pair splitting strategy, doubling strategy and standing strategy.


Let me explain some of the strategy on the above table. Stanley Roberts said that you must stand on 12 or more whenever the dealer’s up card is 4, 5 or 6. Why is it so? This is because 4, 5, 6 are considered as a bad hand. Since the dealer is required to draw to 16 and stand on 17, there is a high possibility that the dealer will bust. Therefore standing on 12 points is a smart strategy. As for the splitting strategy, why we are not allowed to split a pair of 9 when the dealer’s up card is 7? The reason is that the dealer has a very high chance to get a total of 17 points and stand on it. This means that if you do not split the 9, 9; you have 18 points and you win the game.


Now, here comes the most important strategy of all. If you could master this strategy – the card counting strategy, you could always end up a winner at the blackjack table. You must have a very good memory power to master this strategy. Let me first explain the logic behind this strategy. Whenever the deck of cards contains more cards of big value, it is an advantage to the player. If the cards contains cards of small value(3, 4, 5, 6) it is an advantage to the house. Why is it so? The answer is simple. The dealer must draw to 16 points and stand on 17 points. If there are more big value cards, the chances of the dealer busted is very high. You could argue that if the dealer chances of busted is high, we as player also have a high chance to get busted. No, this is not the case. Since we are not required to draw to 16 and stand on 17 like the dealer, we could always stand on 12 or 13 and let the dealer hit and get busted. All we need to do is to collect the chips. Likewise, if there are more small value cards, it is considered a disadvantage to the player. Since the dealer could hit without getting busted and get a higher point.


Ok, now that we know we have an advantage if there are more big value cards and vice versa. But how do we count the cards? Is it possible to count and memorize each and every card? When I say count the cards, I do not mean by counting it one by one. I mean counting the ratio of big value cards and small value cards. It goes like this :

  • Whenever you see a 2, 3, 4, 5 add a +1 in your heart.
  • Whenever you see a 10, J, Q, K add a -1 in your heart.

If the number in your heart is a positive figure. This means that it is an advantage to you and you could increase your wager. Of course the larger the number is, the more advantage you have and the more wager you should increase! The same goes for a negative number. If you have a negative number, reduce your wager. If the number eventually gets drastically small, for example -30, walk away from the table.


Let me warned you in advance. The card counting method is actually barred in the USA’s casinos. I’m not sure in Genting’s casinos but if you would want to use this method in the casinos you need to disguise yourself. When I say disguise, I do not mean a fake mustache and a big hat. You must let the dealer feel that you win because of pure luck but not using the card counting method. Always stay calm no matter in what situation. Do not get over excited whenever the positive number in your heart becomes bigger. Always stay cool.


If you could apply the above strategy and the card counting method, and you bet using the progressive betting strategy I mentioned in my last post. You stand a very high chance of walking away a winner from the Blackjack table.


Last but not least, gambling is not for making money. Always think of gambling as an entertainment(unless you wish to be a professional gambler). When you exchange money for chips with the dealer, tell yourself that you are buying entertainment from the casino. Enjoy your game. If you win, that’s a bonus. Always remember that the casino could never determine how much you could win or how much you could lose. It’s all in your hand. You determine whether the casino is making money. Be confident of your game and stay calm.


P/S : If you have any other blackjack techniques you would want to share with me or you need any clarification on the above techniques, just send me a mail.

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Tuesday, October 24, 2006

The gambling rule

I went up the hill to test my probability knowledge last Saturday. I started off quite lucky but ended quite sloppy. I have read some books about gambling and I’ve some rough idea about how to gamble smartly. Talking about gambling smartly, I believe most of the gamblers have no idea what is it. Yes, it’s true that there is the element of luck in gambling. However with some basic knowledge, it is possible to increase your chances of winning in the casino.

You might wonder why the house always ended up as winners. The logic is simple. The house always compensates less than what you should get. Take the “Tai Sai” for example. The probability for the three dice total to a “Big” or “Small” is actually 50%. However, the house will not compensate you when the three of the dices has the same number that is either triple 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6. This means that the house has an advantage of 1/36 when you play on “Big” “Small” or “Even” “Odd”. This is because the total combination of the three dices is 1/6 X 1/6 X 1/6. While the probability of a triple one is 1/ (6X6X6). By multiplying this number by 6, you get 1/36 which is the house advantage. This is considered a slight advantage to the house. What a smart gambler will do is to wager on the bid that will give the house the least advantage hence increasing his chances of winning.

I saw some gamblers who kept wagering on the bid that the house will pay 8 to 1. I calculated the probability and found of that it is actually 2/21. This means that the house should pay a 9.5 to 1 instead of 8 to1. This is not considered a good bid. It’s true that you could get eight times of your money if you win. However given the risk that you have taken, you should be compensated more than you should get(9.5 instead of 8). It’s quite similar with what we learn in finance – Return to risk ratio(RTRR) – given the amount of rish you have taken, what is the return you should expect.

Another thing that most of the gamblers do is to double their wager when they lost their last round. This is definitely a NO-NO in gambling. The golden rule is only to double up when you win and reduce your wager when you are losing. I came across some sort of system. The author named it as progressive betting. Say that you start with one unit(may it be $5, $10 or 50). When you win, double your wager to two unit. If you win the third time, keep one unit back and wager on 3 units. This means that everytime you win, you increase your wager, whenever you lose, go back to one unit. By using this method, you could maximize your profit when you are on a winning streak and minimize your losses when you are on a losing streak.
I just played on three tables last week. I didn’t get the chance to play Blackjack or Baccarat(cos the minimum is too costly for me). I’m now studying on how to beat the dealer at the Blackjack table. Blackjack is the only game in casino that might give the player an advantage if you know the correct techniques and methods. I planned to try my luck next week after my mid term exam this Saturday. It seems that I’ve a lot of things I need to study – GMAT, Blackjack and my mid term test.

If you don’t buy my words, it’s fine. After all, I lose money…

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Friday, October 13, 2006

Young Malaysian’s Forum : How to set Pak Lah Free?


I went to the blogger’s forum on Wednesday night. I arrived there quite early at around 7.30pm. I saw Wei Aik there and ask him about the parliamentary rountable that is held early that morning. He showed me the report in Malaysia Kini. He also told me that ASLI had retracted the report that Bumiputera had 42% of equity and the resignation of Prof. Lim. I didn’t online on Wednesday so I’m not aware of this news.

Most of the panelists are bloggers. In fact only one of them is not a blogger. They would definitely blog about their speech in their blogs so I won’t be repeating their speech here. There are however some quotes by the panelists which I find it interesting.

Jeff Ooi said that he voted for Pak Lah in the 2004 General Election. If people like Jeff Ooi could vote for Pak Lah, I think I could understand how BN got the 92% of majority in parliament. Jeff Ooi said that Pak Lah is not a “Bao Qing Tian”(Justice Pao), in fact he is a “Bao Ka Liao”. When the moderator asked whether he is a Mahathir man, he replied that Mahathir is history and could not even make it as a Kubang Pasu delegate so this is why he is not so harsh on Mahathir but to Pak Lah.

Khoo Kay Peng also said something quite humorous. He said two things about Malaysian. First, Malaysian has a “migrant mindset” that they are thinking of migrating to other countries all the while(they know that Malaysia is no longer a good place to live). The second thing is, they feel that they are very “important”. They think they are so important that ISA will come after them if they attended forum like this. Very true indeed, there are lots of friends around me which are having this kind of mindset.

Nik Nazmi also added that, so far there is nobody detained under ISA just because of attending the forum. I believe if they were to detain all the people attending the forum, the Kamunting Camp will need some “extension”. Nazmi also said something about “marginalization”. He said Pak Lah should first reshuffle the cabinet and make some major changes. Basically the cabinet now is still mostly the same as “Mahathir’s Cabinet”. He said that though Pak Lah has to appoint certain people as minister because they are the Party’s chairman, Pak Lah could “marginalize” him in the cabinet by giving him a lower post. Nazmi didn’t mention any name but I believe he is suggesting Samy Vellu.

Uncle Kit also mentioned that the bloggersphere will make its impact in the next general election which will be held within the next 12 to 18 months. He also said that though it is tougher to deny BN’s two third in the parliament compared to 1999. It is still easier(to deny two third) compared to other General Election, given that the opposition put in a huge effort.
Basically, this is a big step forward for DAP organizing a forum of this kind. The response is good, even greater than the previous Chinese forums I had attended. However, I feel that the numbers of panelists should be reduced. Including Guan Eng(speaking as the Secretary General of DAP), there are altogether 8 persons speaking. I feel that they are not really given sufficient time to deliver their best speech as time is short. Besides that, Fong Po Kuan(MP for Batu Gajah) didn’t make it to the forum. I thought she was one of the panelists, but no one seems to mention about this.

Here are the links to the Panelists’ speech on that night :
Jeff Ooi
Oon Yeoh
Nik Nazmi
Sharizal
Lim Kit Siang

Here is Merdeka Review's report on this forum.

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Tuesday, October 10, 2006

What is GMAT?

What is GMAT? This question had been pestering me for a few days. Initially I found this website from a University’s site. But it’s a US company and I’m required to pay USD250 to take this exam. I don’s have any credit card so this way doesn’t work for me. At last I found a company – Princeton Review which has a branch in Malaysia providing this course. I phoned them and got some details.

Actually the course I applied only requires me to take GRE. Just in case I might want to take up an MBA in the future, GMAT might be useful. Most of the universities accept GMAT scores up to five years old. There’re 4 parts in this exam. The first two parts test your English. Both are 30 minutes long. The third part is about mathematics and the duration is 75 minutes. The last part is verbal and also takes 75 minutes. There’s an optional 5 minutes break in between so the whole exam is roughly 4 hours long. This is by far the longest exam I have ever come across.

I went MPH yesterday and found some text reference on GMAT. The books are expensive. It costs from RM70 to RM 130 varying from publisher. Does anyone knows where and how to get cheaper books? The book has got very detailed explanation on the exam and how to tackle it. Part 3 and part 4 is particularly interesting. It’s a multiple choice question which has got 5 options. You have to take this exam on a computer and the tricky part is that you have to answer the question according to the order. This means that you can’t skip the questions that you don’t know how to answer. It actually goes like this. You start with say 500 points; the computer will give you a question. If you answer the question correctly, the computer adds some points to you and you get a harder question. Similarly, if you get the wrong answer, the computer deducts some points from you and you get a relatively easier question. In other words, the computer will try to “adjust” you to the mean points.

I’ve gone through the math questions. It might look complicated at first sight. It however involves only simple basic mathematics. Perhaps only form 5 standard. However it requires critical thinking and reasoning. I like these types of questions the most. After all maths is always one of my favorite. The only problem for me is the language questions. I have not taken any English exams and classes for more than a year.

Princeton Review offers the course at RM3999. Due to the time and financial constrain, I might buy some text reference and do some self study. The exam fees cost RM300. I planned to take this exam by December. This means that I have an extra “subject” for this semester. Lol.

P/S : There’s a bloggers forum tomorrow night. Check out the details in Kit’s Blog and Screenshots.

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Sunday, October 08, 2006

UK Education Fair

I went to the UK Education fair in KLCC Exhibition Centre yesterday. I got quite a lot of information and brochures. Initially I had wanted to find out more about the MBA programme. Most of the MBA requires work experience, especially those good MBA so I couldn’t take a MBA straight away. I might need to consider doing MA or Msc. The duration of the course is 12 months. The tuition fees for MA or Msc is around £10600 and the living expenses there for a year is roughly £7500. When we convert it to Malaysian Ringgit, that’s almost RM130 000. Unless I could secure a scholarship, it’ll be hard for me to further studies in UK. My parents expect me to get a job after I graduate. If I were to tell them I need another RM130 000 for studies, I can’t imagine how will they react.

There’s a couple of scholarship up to grab but it’s very competitive. Take the British Chevening scholarship for example. Last year they received almost 1000 applications, in the end only 28 are granted a scholarship. Most of the scholars have working experience so chances of a fresh graduate without working experience getting a scholarship is low. Now that I’m kinda “lost”. Last time I wanted to do ACCA, then after going to the ICAEW fair I said I wanna work while doing ICAEW. Now I make up my mind to take up a master. Now I’m at a crossroad, really need to take some time to make a good decision.

School starts tomorrow. The timetable is out. I need to wake up at 9.30am tomorrow for tutorial. It’s hard for a person who used to wake up in the afternoon like me. This is my timetable :

Monday 9.30-11am BM(T)
2-5pm PM(L)

Tue 12-2pm BM(L)

Thu 8-11am PM(L)
11-12.30pm BM(T)

Fri 8-10am BM(L)

I will most probably skip PM(it’s a LAN subject). This means that I only need to attend 7 hours of classes a week. On average it’s only one hour a day. If I failed to wake up on Friday morning, this means that I’ll attend only 5 hours of classes a week. This is the best timetable I’ve ever got!

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Friday, October 06, 2006

Early General Election – only option for Pak Lah?

I got a sms from DAP on Tuesday morning that there will be a DAP forum – “Early General Election – only option for Pak Lah?” in New Era College - that’s very near my place! To my surprise, DAP is not sms-ing from any normal phone number. They had computerized the sms system. I wonder when they decided to hold this forum as it was not announced on last Thursday Forum in KL & Selangor Assembly Hall.

Yesterday, before I went over to Kajang, I called one of my Primary Schoolmates who is now studying in New Era College. I do not know exactly where New Era College is. When he told me that it is near the food court in Kajang, I reply him with an “Oh~that place arr?” I’ve been to the
food court for a couple of times but I didn’t know that New Era College was just nearby!



I arrive there at 7pm, half an hour earlier. I was among the first few who reached there. Guan Eng was the first speaker who arrived. He was holding the ASLI Report – it’s a very very thick report. Teresa Kok(Seputeh MP) was there too!

Guan Eng was the first to speak. As what was expected he touched about Lee Kuan Yew’s reply letter to the PM. Besides that he also mentioned the ASLI Report. According to the report Bumiputera has gained 45% the shares in Bursa Malaysia. He added 30% of the shares are in the hands of foreigners. This means that only 25% of shares are owned by non-bumiputera. He questioned “Who is the one that is marginalized?” He also satirizes Khairy who could borrow Millions of dollars at the age of 37. At the same time, he also “kicked” Ling Liong Saik’s son butt for borrowing Billions of dollars during Mahathir’s era.



Prof. Oh is the second speaker. He is also the Chairman of last Thursday’s Forum. He gives some example of other countries where the Leader who wins the General Election not necessarily could control the political party. He uses example that has some similar political and economical climate as Malaysia – England, Canada, Australia and India. He pointed out that the English are having the same thoughts as Malaysians when it comes to Economics. The nations(England and Malaysia) are having good economic growth but the people(English and Malaysians) couldn’t felt it. He uses a phrase “The economy didn’t arrive at my doorstep”. Prof. Oh left after his speech as he need to go on air for a radio station program(Ai FM) at 10pm.

Mr. Huang Jing Fa is the next one to speak. He gave everyone a surprise as he changed the title of the forum to “General Election: where is our way out?” He pointed out nine reasons/areas that we need a way out. Coming after this is the most exciting part of his speech. He asked “Is the General Election a way out for us?” He mentioned that due to the weaknesses in our election mechanism, BN has got 92% of parliament seats though they do not get 92% of votes. In the 2004 General Election, a vote for BN is equal to 3 votes to DAP, 8 to PAS and 28 to Keadilan. A very shocking figure indeed! He also made an assumption that in the 2004 General Election, all election districts that have a 40% votes to the opposition will be won by opposition. Based on this assumption, the opposition still could not deny BN’s two third of majority in the Parliament. He requestioned “Is the General Election still a way out for us?” He said one of the reasons the opposition kept failing in the General election is that they did not focus on one state. He said that if the opposition could put a strong “line-up” for the people to vote for they stand a chance to win a state government. He added that there are a lot of things that a state government could do – introduce the Information Enactment, build new schools, restore the local government election and so on. All the while I was not aware that the State Government has so many powers. I thought only parliamentary seats count in this country! He also told Guan Eng to counter propose PAS if they want to co-operte with DAP in the coming General Election. Tell PAS to restore the local government election in Kelantan before any further negotiations.

Uncle Kit was the last speaker to deliver his speech. He said that the Anwar factor is now second fiddle to the UMNO factor for Pak Lah to bring forward the General Election. He must make use this opportunity to take control his party. He also said that when Pak Lah announced in Cuba “I’m still in control” it was actually the opposite way. If he is in control, he need not announce it while he is overseas! Uncle Kit also mentioned the 18 “sharks” promised by Pak Lah during the 2004 General Election. He said that the “sharks” are still swimming in South China Sea. Uncle kit said that the BN youth meeting on the Khairy issue is another proof of Chinese being marginalized. At the press conference, Hishammudin is the only one speaking(Khairy had runway). When the news reporters ask Liow Tiong Lai(MCA) or Ma Siew Keong(Gerakan) question, Hishammudin reply “This is my press conference, don’t ask them” Uncle Kit said, if that is Hishammudin’s press conference, what are both of them(Liow Tiong Lai and Ma Siew Keong) doing there?



This time, I didn’t record uncle kit’s speech as I know I will not have the time to edit it as school is starting soon. After that we have another “additional speaker” which I couldn’t recall his name. He said that racial politics is still the main concern in our country. He also said something that I couldn’t forget until now. He mentioned that in 1974, Hasnoh made a prophecy that real democracy could only achieved in our country after 25 years. When the Malays come out from Kampung to the City and live a difficult life, they will come out the streets and have demonstrations to demand changes. In 1998, there are a lot of Malays having demonstrations on the street(because of Anwar). At that time, they recalled what Hasnoh had said. They thought that the demonstration would continue until 1999(1974+25=1999) and something might happen. The result was disappointing.

The forum ended quite late at almost 11pm since we have an additional speaker. Before I went back, Uncle Kit told me “You took a lot of time to convert huh!” I smiled and nodded. I reached home in just 15 minutes time. I guess there will be more forums by DAP in the future as General Election is coming soon – everyone could feel the heat!

p/s : Here's uncle kit's speech and merdeka review's report on Guan Eng, Prof. Oh, and Mr Huang's speech

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Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Fire in Chow Kit

Does media freedom still exist in our country? It is very frustrating that when we read the papers, we do not get to read what is really happening in our country. I was just informed that last Saturday(30th Sept), a four Storey building in Chow Kit was destroyed in a fire.

I believe that if the cause of this fire is short circuit or an act of god, it will be stupid to clampdown this news. Therefore any people with some reasonable and logical thinking will know that it is someone who deliberately set on the fire. However, who is this person and what is the motive?

It is very hard for us to guess the whole story if it’s solely based on this independent case(the fire). However if we link it to the Sungai Long incident, then it makes sense.

Just to recall your memory about what happened in Sungai Long.

Last Thursday(28th Sept) : A group of Malays come to Sungai Long was beaten up by a group of Chinese.

Last Friday(29th Sept) : A larger group of Malays come back to Sungai Long and seek revenge. They killed a Chinese.

Last Saturday(30th Sept) : A four Storey building was burnt in Chow Kit.

I’ll leave it for you to use your imagination to relate these two incidents. If you’ve pay attention to the date everything happened, it’s just too hard to convince us that the incident in Sungai Long and Chow Kit are two independent cases. You get what I mean? Things are getting complicated now. When will the government remove the clampdown on the media on reporting these cases?

Besides that, I get to read Lee Kuan Yew’s reply in yesterday’s evening edition paper. However this morning, the letter by Lee Kuan Yew was again taken out in all the papers. What is the government afraid of? Is it that there is some "hidden code" in Lee Kuan Yew's letter such that when you read the second word in every line you will get another meaning?

Perhaps we could still understand why the government clampdown political news that is a disadvantage to them. Now that the government is not only “interested” in clamping down political news but also social news such as what happened in Sungai Long and the fire in Chow Kit! If Fernando Alonso wins the last two Grand Prix(Japan and Brazil) and successfully defends his F1 title, will Pak Lah clampdown this news as a Michael Schumacher fan?

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Tuesday, October 03, 2006

What are the police doing in Sungai Long?

.com
It’s almost a week since the murder of the 16 years old Chinese took place in Sungai Long. Until now, nobody is yet to be arrested. This news is also clamped down in all media. When I went out to town yesterday at 5pm, I saw a police car nearby the secondary school(where the murder took place).

This is the exact place where the incident happened, just in front of the secondary school’s bus stop.



When I was on my way out of Sungai Long, there’s a road block just before Everhome Furniture. What are the police doing here? They should go and arrest the suspects but not setting up road blocks and causing traffic jam. When I came back to Sungai Long at around 11pm, to my surprise the police are still there! This time they flashed the torch to the windscreen(checking the Roadtax) whenever a car pass by. They are trying to conceal the fact that this operation has got something to do with the murder. There is also a police who is holding a gun. It’s not a handgun or pistol but sort of machine gun. This is the first time I see police holding machine gun during road block.



I’ve heard some “unofficial” news. They said that the Malay guy who was initially arrested and handcuffed (but was released later) is the culprit. But his father has some “background” so the police are forced to set him free. During the night where the incident took place, the victim’s uncle received a phone call to “settle” this issue but was rejected by the victim’s uncle. They also said that Sungai Long MCA is pressing the police to investigate this case fairly. The police have dismissed claim about racial element in this incident. But I’m sure that there are some political elements in it.

It is very obvious that the police are not doing their work. They are not allowed to arrest the culprit. What they could do is to “protect” the residents in Sungai Long from the same gang of people to cause trouble in Sungai Long. But how long could the police do this(setting up road blocks and patrolling)? Could they do this for 24 hours a day? Another very funny thing is that, the road blocedk is not the only way to enter Sungai Long. No doubt, that is the main road to enter Sungai Long. The gang of people could still enter Sungai Long using the Silk Highway(there is no road blocks there). Even if the police are so “smart” to set up another road block there, there is still another way to enter Sungai Long – from Mahkota Cheras, passing through a small lane using motorcycles(cars can’t go through).

Right now, UTAR is on a semester break and there are not many students in Sungai Long and this issue couldn’t “hot up”. Besides that since the victim is a school leaver, it is also easier for the police to cover up this issue. Should the victim is still schooling, I believe the media would cover this news on their front page and Hishammudin(Education Minister) will again be the “popular” man.

This is the first time I feel so insecure living in Sungai Long. As long as the culprits are not arrested, there is always a possibility for them coming back to Sungai Long and cause trouble. Who will be the next victim? The residents here are so hopeless. I urged the police to take immediate action against the culprit and give a good explanation not only to the victim’s family but to all residents in Sungai Long.

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Misleading Advertisement from Maxis

I came across this hotlink advertisement in Today’s Sinchew(page 7). According to this advertisement, the call charges is RM0.10 per call to all phone lines and the sms charge is 7 cent to any operators nationwide. I immediately call 123(maxis customer service line), to check whether is there any changes in call charges for my line. Postpaid charges should always be lower than prepaid, or else all the postpaid customers might as well switch over to prepaid.

The operator told me that there are no changes of rate in my Maxis-75 plan. The advertisement I saw is the latest prepaid plan they have - Hotlink Total Mobile plan, the RM0.10 per minute is only limited to active 5 numbers and it is only during off peak hour. The 7 cent per sms is also limited to active 5 numbers.

I told him that the advertisement contradicts with what he told me. According to the ad, it is RM0.10 per call to all phone lines. Note that it is per call but not per minute. This means that if you make a one hour phone call to any phone line(fixed line or other operator), you will only be charged RM0.10. The same thing goes for sms – “any operators, nationwide”.

I asked the operator whether I could file a complaint on this advertisement. She said I could do so. I told her that I have totally no problem for the “RM0.10” and “7 cent” as there is a line of words - “terms and conditions applied”. However the “per call to all phone lines” and “to any operators, nationwide” should be taken off.

This is also one of the reasons I’m still sticking with Maxis. Though their network and mobile services are sometimes interrupted, their customer service is always the best!

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Monday, October 02, 2006

Lim Kit Siang's speech on Chinese Education in crisis - part 3

Finally, this is the last piece that makes up the whole puzzle. Now that everything is done, I think I need to take a break as I'd been sitting in front of the monitor for at least 8 hours a day for 3 consecutive days.

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Sunday, October 01, 2006

Lim Kit Siang's speech on Chinese Education in crisis-part 2

Here you go, this is the second part of uncle kit's speech. I'm still working on the last part of the speech. will get it done as soon as possible.

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