Goodbye 2009; Good year, 2010

If you have the time, read the various article in malaysia today, and malaysia insider websites. Lots of the things that had gone wrong in Malaysia (yes, at the moment, only looking at the issues in Malaysia) and the various authors had given good accessments to those issues close to their hearts.

The most serious issue that probably is the basis of all the other wrongs is the issue of corruption and the perception of corruption in Malaysia. Over time, most of us have become immune to, if not subscribing to corruption.

In fact a most recent example is this PhD Muslim convert (no bigot) is not only corrupt. He tries to corrupt fellow Malaysians too with his half-baked thesis. Since this fellow can teach at the University of Defense, I wonder how many Malaysians had been moulded into idiots by this chap. Fortunately we have people like blogger 'Art Harun' who writes really well. You should take a peek at his Open Reply to this bigot.

On why I think 2010 will a good year, at least in the political arena. It is the growing support of the opposition as is cleverly worded in my favourite article for today, The indispensable Opposition by blogger 'masterwordsmith'.

Have a great new year.

Multicultural event

I was at a Buddhist event last week (yes, on an assignment), where I saw this -

Where our government gives lip service about multi-cultural society, 1Malaysia and all those sound bites without any intention to follow through with action, this is one where a private event (Buddhist) involves Indian cultural dance. Nice

This dance precedes the Indian dancers

and of course, we see lots of this action

Another Malaysia Boleh - Gadget to measure 20 litres of petrol

Just heard over the news that foreign vehicles cannot leave Malaysian soil with more than 20 litres of petrol in their fuel tank.

I just wonder how this can be done, and why this requirement of 20 litres.

Maybe, just maybe our government has acquired a technology, biotechnology, that can give exact measurements of petrol remaining in a fuel tank. I do not know of any make or models of cars that have a fuel gauge that gives precise measurements of fuel in the tank.

Or, maybe our custom officers need an indirect bonus.

Or maybe our government just do not want tourists and visitors from neighbouring countries, ie Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and Brunei.

Let's see if our Tourism Minister has some comments on this. After all, maybe another ministry is trying to make back the money that our Tourism Minister has given to the various foreign ambassadors.
 
Just heard that for Singaporeans, since they cannot leave Singapore with less than 3/4 full tanks, the custom officers will only make sure that they do not fill more than 20 litres at the gas stations. How silly.

Inflation rate in Malaysia vs GDP

A couple of friends sent me this link on the Real financial situation in Malaysia

How true. I read this article in the morning and was just thinking about this subject when the emails came in. The situation will not change in the short term.

Why? Because politicians are definitely NOT in the MIDDLE INCOME group. They are paid a lot of money to serve their constituencies.

Environmental Protection, the Malaysia way

This advertisement in The Star newspaper yesterday caught my attention. Laudable exercise by Sime Darby. But then again, would their money be better spent working on having more of these coloured bins scattered all over Klang Valley?

Anyone who can read Star would be able to see and read the labels attached to the bins as to what is to be thrown into them?

Let's do some calculation. They have four recycling centres. wonder how much each cost. Would definitely be less than the adverts. Probably at RM40k per page?

and if you were to go into their website, you will first see

Help us reduce the amount of garbage disposal by reusing and recycling everyday items such plastic bags, bottles tins and other recyclable materials. You can take part and make a difference by going to the nearest available recycling centres in your area.then you will see

Sime Darby 'Don't Drive to Work Day'



Thank you for your interest in helping us play a part in environmental conservation. However, the participation period for this campaign has ended. Visit the website soon for more exciting campaigns.



interesting....

Malaysian mob acts while police watches

Came across this article in Malaysia Today, and watched the video posted in U-Tube. Sickening. It spells disaster for Malaysia for a high percentage of potential investors will be turned away. Reminds me of scenes that I saw of South Africa years ago of such brutality. We have not reached that level yet, but certainly creeping there.

I wonder if the police need a formal report before action is taken against the 'bystander policemen' and the hammer weilding man. What if the suspect dies from the beating - noticed lots of blood on the road where the suspect was held for a minute or so. Could bleed to death in the police car.

Sick. Just sick

1Malaysia Sunday Fair

This fair is organised by our ministry of tourism and is held at the tourism centre.

These photographs were taken at 11am. See how crowded this is!

If you have not visited, don't bother. The usual stalls selling some usual handicrafts, in a very noisy environment. Music and DJ blaring announcements on the happenings at the fair.

Questions that pop up with regards to this fair:

- how much did our government spend having those tents (photo's will be updated later, when I get to my desktop) put up every Saturday, and taken down every Sunday afternoon, for about two months. I hope our parliamentarians or The Sun will start asking questions as to the rationale of having such events

Saturday evening,tents up. Sunday evening, tents down. Repeat every week until January 2010. Wonder if Tony Pua can make some enquiries on the expenditures.

- how much publicity is there for the tourists? when I spoke to some stall owners, they said that most of the visitors (like me), are malaysians. I guess this 1Malaysia means what it means, even touristic events meant for Malaysians

- are there studies made as to what tourists look for when they are at a fair? To enjoy the noise, to shop, to know more about Malaysia? Would they stay when the music/noise level is so high?

- group exercise, accompanied by loud music. Really the place and time for such activities? should that not be conducted at the more spacious Merdeka square?

- product mix of stalls (quite a few empty ones too) are not that interesting. food, food, food, and some handicrafts. The two artists that were there last week was not around. Who decides what to have, I wonder.

- what does this do for our tourism?

I could see lots of tourism staff, lots of plastic bags with 1Malaysia logo, literature, brochure, and overtime pay, i guess... welcome to Malaysia.

Yes, more orange T's than visitors.

Oh! I did see 2 middle easterners and 5 caucasians. When I asked one of the caucasian, he said that they happen to be walking towards KLCC and decided to do a quick detour and see if they can find anything interesting - unfortunately for them, and for Malaysia, he did not find anything interesting.

Tren vs Train vs Kereta Api

I really do not understand the mindset of our language experts. On the one hand, the government wants to promote the use of Malay Language to the point of ridicule. Of all people, it is our deputy education minister who wants us to converse in Bahasa Malaysia at the workplace. How on earth are we going to get foreign investors to invest in Malaysia.

Then in the same breath, they start bastardising English language and call it Bahasa.
Examples,
physical becomes fizikal
hose becomes hos
complex becomes kompleks

and you got it, tren

In time to come, train (verb) may well be tren too. How trendy

I believe it was in 1996 when China won the bid to host the Olympics Games in 2008. From the day of the announcement, tens of thousands of Chinese nationals start to learn English. They want to be able to communicate with the visitors to China before, during, and after the Games. No doubt it was a huge success.

In Malaysia, the very well educated minister wants foreigners to use Bahasa Malaysia when they are in Malaysia. Would investors in their right mind want to bother with investing in our country? I doubt it. No wonder Thailand and Indonesia has crept ahead of us in recent years.

Sighted - Royal Malaysia Police cow-herding

This is one sight that is rather emotional. At least to me - to see our policemen helping to clear the road of cows/bulls in Sunway is some positive activities that we seldom bear witness to. Most of the time, we hear of our policemen abusing our fellow citizens, arresting opposition parliamentarians, etc.

Guess what. The cows were not as obedient as Malaysian citizens. They just sauntered along without a care in the world!

Malaysia slides 9 places to 56th spot in 2009 Corruption Perceptions Index

Today's hot topic in various media. Have not read the government controlled print media. To think that Malaysia really, really, Boleh slide to this level...

To a large extent, we are collectively guilty in lending a hand to this.

Most motorist would, at one time or another (or still doing it), give a couple of tens of Ringgit to a traffic police if they are stopped for committing a traffic offence.

For those who complain about corruption in Malaysia, do reflect upon this. Do you, or do you not, give in to corruption by paying of a traffic police. If you do, then STOP. They will then focus on doing their job, rather than looking out for easy money.

Yes, I will ask, if I am stopped, to be given a chance. Failing which, I will just ask them to issue a summons.

Don't know who coined this, I subscribe to the fact that we should "not complain about the dark, but light a candle".

What happens when you discard oldies

I was faced with a very interesting situation with this club - Photographic Society of Petaling Jaya (PSPJ).

I have engaged a model from Europe to pose 'artistically' for photo enthusiast. The organiser and I decided to open up a second session to cater for more enthusiasts and a member of this club where I was once the president (2007) asked that I post in their forum.

Within a couple of days of posting, it mysteriously disappeared. I did not bother to enquire as I am of the opinion that the committee members did not like their members to progress if they are not the people organising such outing.

Today, a member noticed that it is missing, and made some enquiries. Guess what. The reason for removing my posting is that I have not paid my dues, and that forum is for the public. How childish. Does not matter to me, anyway.

My committee would not have acted this way. In fact, most of us (except for some very unreliable, undependable members who is in the current committee - who would then be dozing, anyway) would have welcomed such a posting. In fact, I would look forward to being part of the organising team.

I did not stand for re-election due to the opening of my gallery. Otherwise, I believe my committee would continue to pursue alliances with equipment manufacturers (sponsor $$), giving token prizes for the monthly contest (maybe continue with RM50 each), organise talks by prominent members of the community, etc. Alas, this is not happening.

I guess this is very Malaysian? New team wants credit. Erase the past. Continue with the minimal. PSPJ back to the good old social club.

What is most surprising is that they have not removed this message that was written by me.

"About PSPJ



PSPJ’s core objectives, since its formation in September 7, 1987 are to promote, improve and set the standards of photography among our members. We have, this year, highlighted another very important element, enjoy photography.



The Society was founded by several photography enthusiasts. They are Jennifer Wong, Anis A. Ahmad, Tengku Yunus, Jegathiswari, Wong Loke Lee, Eric Peris and C. C. Liang, and the first president was Arthur Teng.



Over the years, the Society has seen many faces, including some renowned photographers. It went through many changes and has been a source of guidance to many photographers of various backgrounds and interests in the local photography fraternity. Today, it is still one of the most recognized home to photographers in the Klang Valley.



The committee of 2007 has embarked on several changes to the operation of the Society. We have, through Alex Moh, secured financial support from Nikon Malaysia. We tweaked some of its activities, programs and have planned long term continuous projects to meet PSPJ’s core objectives.



We have revived the program of Guest Speakers of different disciplines and interests to speak to our members at our monthly meetings. We have also started working on workshops and mentoring programs for beginners, which in the past has been neglected.



The Society has invited, and now has on board many Advisors and Coordinators who assist in providing directions to the members and committee members.


It is of paramount importance that members continue to participate and be active in contributing towards these objectives of the Society.



Enjoy photography!"

Comparing current Malaysia with the late Sung Dynasty

Heard this on the radio this afternoon where the topic of discussion is the effectiveness of MACC (Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission)

A caller to the station said that we need 108 heroes as depicted in the Chinese novel 'Water Margin'. Interesting. For those of you who have not read the story, the gist of the story is that the officials in the Sung Dynasty were so corrupt that all the good officials were either banished or executed. Half of the country is run by bandits. In fact, one of the bandit hideout became the hideout of these heroes who had run-in with corrupt officials.

Anyway, the dynasty did not last too long.

We do need some heroes now, more than ever as billions of ringgit of poor tax payers had disappeared without anyone being accounted for. First PKFZ and now the double-track rail system. What next, I wonder.

Life as an expat

I was reading an article on The Road to an Expat Life, when it stirred up memories, both good and bad, of my stay in China. Long, long story that will bore the most patient listener. Maybe I will write about my three year stint in China, one fine day.

I think anyone who is going to be an expat cannot ignore this advice in the article, "... Think it through...and do your homework. Be real with yourself about EVERYTHING...Can you do without all the conveniences? The more you make these decisions and address your REAL feelings, the better decisions you will make ..."

Help! Is it in operation?

Is it me, my understanding of English language, or have I missed out on a whole new world of Manglish?

Is 'Work in Progress' out of fashion?

Art Collectors at the "Contemporary Cuban Art in Malaysia" Opening

I had attended quite a few exhibition openings and each and every time I attend, I ask myself - who are the other people at the opening? I was at the above opening last week. Gosh, time really flies. A week had gone by already?!

Anyway, I was in this opening at the invitation of the Cuban Embassy, interestingly, not our national art gallery. Maybe I still do not cause any blips on their radar screen.

Back to my subject. Who are the attendees? I spoke with a few of those, when I was not taking photographs. Yes, will someday upload those taken. They are:

- art lovers (will never buy)
- art collectors (big word, collectors)
- gallery owners (like me)
- artists (very few)
- embassy personnel (in this particular exhibition, not normally in others)
- free fooders (those who want a bite or two, free)
- media (collect some gifts?!)
- fresh collectors - this is one type that I will give my opinion on.

In fact, I saw one of these fresh collectors. He has not collected any, and asked for my input a couple of months ago. Recommended some really good paintings for him. Those that will look very nice at his practise, and will likely appreciate in value over time. This particular artist I represent has works auctioned by Christie's, which normally mean that he is rather good.

Anyway, invitation after invitation, he did not turn up.

At the exhibition, he was all over the place, and actually appeared to want to buy one at RM42,000. Yeah, a whopping RM42,000 from an artist who is not known. No doubt the painting is good, but to pay that price, I don't know.

Dealing with rude customers........ courtesy of Eddie Lim

The following came through the email:

For all Who Work With Rude Customers, shame WE can't actually do this! An award should go to the Virgin Airlines desk attendant in Sydney some months ago for being smart and funny, while making her point, when confronted with a passenger who probably deserved to fly as cargo.

A crowded Virgin flight was cancelled after Virgin's 767s had been withdrawn from service. A single attendant was rebooking a long line of inconvenienced travellers. Suddenly an angry passenger pushed his way to the desk. He slapped his ticket down on the counter and said, "I HAVE to be on this flight and it HAS to be FIRST CLASS." The attendant replied, "I'm sorry, sir. I'll be happy to try to help you, but I've got to help these people first, and I'm sure we'll be able to work something out." The passenger was unimpressed. He asked loudly, so that the passengers behind him could hear, "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHO I AM?"

Without hesitating, the attendant smiled and grabbed her public address microphone: "May I have your attention please, may I have your attention please," she began - her voice heard clearly throughout the terminal. "We have a passenger here at Desk 14 WHO DOES NOT KNOW WHO HE IS. If anyone can help him find his identity, please come to Desk 14." With the folks behind him in line laughing hysterically, the man glared at the Virgin attendant, gritted his teeth and said, "F... You!" Without flinching, she smiled and said, (I love this) "I'm sorry, sir, but you'll have to get in line for that too."

Shut out of the apartment?

Was visiting a friend at Sentral KL when I saw these protruding legs. Upon closer examination, the person was comfortably seated in a sofa placed right outside his front door - SMOKING a cigarette. Guess there is a no-smoking zone behind his door.

What is 'close proximity'?

This was spotted at one of the parks in Selangor. The authorities are more concerned about sex than containing corruption (if not totally eradicate them).

anyway, how close is close? 1mm, 1cm, 1m?

Manglish (Malaysian English)???

This signage is found at one of the busiest road in Kuala Lumpur (the sg besi highway).

I wonder why a beauty centre would put up a "Are you Desired for a Baby" sign.

Our former/current education minister must be very proud of their achievements, messing up our education system!!!!

Photography equipments

Went to Pertama Complex in Jln TAR, Kuala Lumpur to buy a remote trigger. A cheap one that we bought earlier just stopped working in the midst of my assignment - taking photographs of the interior of a hospitality business.

First stop was at Selangor Photo which is situated on the ground floor. They only sell cameras and do not sell accessories. All staff at the shop was really unhelpful. They would not even point me to the shop that does not compete with them - located only a floor above them. I normally stop shopping at such un-neighbourly shop.

Anyway, found what I wanted at International Camera Service, located at Lot 1.99. Recommended. If you wish to check it out, the phone number is 03-26986610. By the way, the trigger works. Managed to complete my assignment late that night.

Photographers on assignment

Took a couple of days to decide to put this in writing, in the hope that I can have your views about this topic.

Was given an assignment by a corporation a couple of days ago. Never liked working alone. Almost always work with at least one of my photographer friend. This particular photographer's skills are good. Some would say better than mine. He definitely think so himself. And as a result of that, there were some uncomfortable moments on issues that I will definitely spell out to anyone whom I invite to work with me in future.

Let me get to the point.

First, if someone, let's say, A, has an assignment and invites me to participate as a photographer, these are a few caveats that I observe:

- no marketing. ie no personal business card to be given. Any request or questions with regards to contact, pricing, etc, will be directed to A

- no showing off. I will direct any unique requirements as request by client to A. I will not pander to client's request without first getting clearance from A.

- no act of sabotage. e.g. not turning up at client's place or shooting location without A. I will normally meet up with A and proceed to client's place, even though the rendezvous may only be 50 metres away.

- always in the 'assist' A mode. I will not tell A that I am independently shooting some scenes/objects after discussion with client. I will always tell client to discuss together with A if he/she wants to add some special flavour to the photographs they want.

This photographer friend of mine wanted to be at site, probably earlier than I. Prevented that.
Showed client some of the images taken (on the camera screen), but reluctant to show me. (Bad).
Wanted him to take a shot from a different position. He ignored my request. (Bad)
Wanted him to shoot a scene he was preparing. He disrespectfully told me that he has set up his tripod for another scene. (Bad)
Was moving studio lights into position. He just sat there. (Bad)

Am I too demanding? Well, I hope to invite comments from you.

Invest in Paintings (visual Art)

Was posed a question on whether the price of a painting will appreciate over time.

Rather difficult to answer this question, but I will try...

I guess we will have to look at art from an emotional standpoint, then financial, and finally, investment. Why do I say that?

An investor will not ask such a question. Very likely, the investor would have studied and followed an artist from the time the artist launch his/her career until the point where the person buys and store with the 'knowledge' that it will appreciate over time. I know of one of such investor (investment manager) in Singapore who has collected a couple of thousands of paintings.

Such a question normally comes from someone who is starting out on this route. As such, I would recommend that he/she first like the painting. One that the person can proudly display at home or in the office and enjoys it every day.

Then, of course, it has to fit someone's budget (or money one is willing to spend). In Malaysia, some people will not blink an eye spending RM20,000 on a sofa that normally do not last more than 8 years, or some minor renovation to the house costing more than RM300,000. When it comes to paintings or pictures, they will flinch at anything more than RM1,000. This might be a global phenomena, but I will need to find that out over time.

Last, but not least, the investment potential. I guess investing in a painting is very much like investing in a property. You never really know, but make an educated guess. That's is when a gallery comes in. Some artists might have made a name, but the artist also have good and bad days. Therefore, some paintings are better than others, and more likely than not, a gallery will be able to filter the 'not so good' ones out.

This is only my view although I believe it is rather universal. Always ready to see another point of view.. any takers?

Quality of Malaysian Broadband services - Celcom -> Maxis

Had some problem blogging due to the inferior quality of service provided by Celcom. Paid for service level that should provide me with speeds of between 1M to 3.6M, but I would be lucky to see 200kb.

Just terminated the service in favour of Maxis. Let's hope they are better.

Then again, already left a rather unsavoury taste when I completed the paperwork.

The personnel gave me some vouchers and said that I will receive RM20 for every client I introduce to Maxis. Of course the person who uses the voucher will enjoy a rebate of RM99. What a brillient marketing program! Wonder if it is only Malaysians who have such programs that gives customers a huge let down as soon as papers are signed.... views?

Been online for the past hour or so - Maxis is, so far, superior to Celcom. Hope it stays that way

Malaysia's 52nd National Day? (2009)

I have placed a question mark on the heading as I now wonder if 31st August is the right date. Ever since I went to school and understand the need to be nationalistic, we never question the date, until recent years.

It was only on 16th September, 1963 that Sarawak and Sabah became part of Malaysia. As we now have 13 states, including Sabah and Sarawak, should the date be moved? I wonder.

This photo was taken last year. Not much to see. This year's worse. Confined to a very small space at Parliament Building, there just isn't too much room to move. Therefore, did not bother taking any photographs this year.

I guess this article will shed some light for those who wants to know why many Malaysians are not happy - 'The Myth of a Modern Malaysia'

Victor Chin's Blog

I had enjoyed reading and feasting my eyes on the images in Victor's blog. I have not asked his permission, but I am rather certain he does not mind my sharing with you guys his website/blog.

Met him very very briefly a couple of years ago at a Lensa Malaysia talk, when I was the president of PSPJ, a photographic society in Kuala Lumpur.

Soothing and beautiful paintings by Melton

A picture paints a thousand words. Let me share a couple of thousand 'words' via the images below. Some are sold, some are still available.

Met the rudest woman this afternoon

Too bad that I did not get to snap a photo of this woman. Malaysian Indian I guess. Her boyfriend/husband gave a curt nod and a smile as they walked into my shop.

How difficult it is to return a smile and say 'hello' when greeted? Especially when you walk into my shop? Really, I must ask these people not to come into my outlet if they do not have any manners. I guess these people do not deserve my paintings nor photographs.

What do you think?!

Where are we in relation to other ASEAN countries?

Inviting comments and views on this.

Feedback that I hear indicate that Singapore is miles ahead of Malaysia in both the production and sale of paintings. Everytime there is an art festival in Singapore, we hear of visitors and purchaser from all over the world.

We had a couple of major exhibitions in Kuala Lumpur and Johor and Penang. Not much written in the media about the success of these events.