Next DAP ceramah: USJ12

Update 29/2/08 2.02pm:

Teng Chang Kim will also be there, so it's good to have a veteran DAP politician there to support the new faces. But more interesting to me is the fact that Haris Ibrahim of the People's Parliament will also be there to speak! I greatly admire the People's Parliament initiative, which has brought many positive changes to our society: Paper-Free Tuesday, Get an MP initiative, The People's Declaration... I hope I can make it to this ceramah if only to listen to Haris speak!

Remember... March 1st 2008, Saturday, 9pm @ USJ12 Padang. Be there and make a difference!

Original:

The next ceramah will be held as follows. If not for any other reason, it's a great opportunity to listen to the next wave of leaders. Just lend your ears to Tony Pua. He is probably one of the most amazing articulators in the entire party. And for someone as green to politics as Hannah Yeoh, you won't believe your ears when you hear her speak with crystal clarity, sincerity, honesty and above all the passion to make things right in this country. What are you waiting for!

Date : Saturday 1^st March 2008

Time : 9 p.m - 11 p.m.

Main speakers : Tony Pua, Hannah Yeoh, Teng Chang Khim (2 term Selangor state assemblyman), Haris Ibrahim, Guest (TBC)

Location : USJ 12/2 , 12/2F, 12/2E Padang

Parking : Please park along USJ 11/1 on the opposite of the Jalan Tujuan as it will be congested in USJ 12.

Craving for Thai food...

Help! I've been craving for good Thai food ever since my Bangkok trip last November. Anyone who knows any place for authentic Thai food in PJ/KL area?

Election Links

I don't know why, but for this GE2008, I'm really fired up to support the Subang Jaya DUN candidate Hannah Yeoh. Maybe it's because she's so confident, sincere and passionate to serve the constituency.

So, where to get the latest updates on her campaign?

Edward Ling, campaign manager

Hannah Yeoh, DUN candidate

Subang Jayan, fan club

SJ Echo, local e-newspaper

USJ.com.my, online community

DAP ceramah: I was there!

3000-strong crowd on the field!

I know I earlier said that I wouldn't be going because I had a date with elsf.

Well, it turns out elsf also wanted to go to listen to the ceramah. So off we went together with my parents and my aunty.

It rained earlier so the padang was a little wet and muddy. Thank you so much MPSJ for the poorly maintained padang. There were approximately 3000 people in the crowd, so it was a great boost to DAP's morale. Buntings and banners were hung and there were tents for the volunteers and, I suppose, registration to become polling agents and counting agents.

Anyway, first 2 speakers were a little irrelevant and boring. Then when Loh Gwo Burne took to the microphones, everyone was delighted because of the Lingam issue, sniggering "korek korek korek" throughout the speech. However, I must say that Loh still has a long way to go in terms of public articulation and garnering public support for his campaign. His speech was awkward, peppered with too many pauses, and didn't seem to have a coherent story. He pressed on corruption mainly.

Then the stage was stolen by Edward Ling, campaign manager for the Subang Jaya DUN candidate. He also doubled as emcee for the night, and I must say he was really passionate and managed to drum up emotions of the audience. His loud and boisterous voice and his sincerity won the hearts of the audience as he rambled on the countless wrongdoings of the BN government, and reiterated his undying support for Hannah. The audience simply loved him.

Then some guy named Ruben came on stage and sang praises of love to Hannah. The audience was getting impatient. We want Hannah!



She took to the stage, graceful and poised. Hannah Yeoh, DUN candidate for the Subang Jaya state seat, addressed the crowd.

"Salam Sejahtera. Good Evening. Da Jia Hao."

Wow. She really held the crowd! Intelligent, articulate, clear in speech, and most importantly full of substance. I can really imagine her in the state assembly, bashing the BN lackeys for their inaction and ineptness. Being raised in Subang Jaya, she really connected with the residents. She touched on all the points in her manifesto, which is amazingly down to earth and relevant. Overdevelopment, mismanagement of public funds, corruption... these were some of the points she raised. The crowd was very supportive. Hannah really has a chance! I vaguely remember her from SMSU last time, when she was Head Prefect. My, what a wonderful choice for DUN candidate!

When she finished, Edward resumed his long tirade against the BN government, until Teresa Kok arrived and started her speech. It wasn't a long one, and yet somehow it held the most value. You can really see the seasoned politician in her. It is evident in the way she speaks and the words she uses. She went on for around 15 minutes, and then suddenly a surprise emerged. By then it was already 11.40pm.

Guess who arrived? Tony Pua! He wasn't slated to appear in tonight's ceramah, but I guess it was our lucky night. I was dying to hear Tony speak again ever since his debut appearance in the DAP Damansara opening in DU Uptown. Man has he improved tremendously! Now he speaks like a true politician, stirring up the crowd's emotion and response. Tony spoke about Pak Lah's failures and the "lies" fabricated on the economical situation of the country.

The ceramah ended at 12am approximately. The crowd dispersed peacefully. Everyone, I believe, returned home with renewed inspiration and true hope that we will see a positive change in this coming general elections.

"If you see what I see and if you believe as I believe then I ask you to vote for a change."

Tell me honestly...

...do I have the bad habit of folding my arms when I'm standing?

Eye pain

For the past few days I've been staring at the computer screen for hours at a time. I fear for the health of my eyes. Nowadays I get fatigued and stiff neck easily.

The break in PD was a refreshing change to the cramped office environment.

Damn I hope this project gets finished soon!

Tonight I will attend the DAP ceramah in SS18 field

Updated 27/2/08 1.23pm:

I'm not attending liao. I forgot I got date with elsf.

Original:

Haven't you heard? For all you people staying in the Subang Jaya state constiuency (comprising SS12-SS19, USJ1-USJ15, PJS7,9,11), please attend this ceramah to save your constituency! Get to know your DAP candidate Hannah Yeoh. Teresa Kok will also be there, and special guest appearance by the PKR parliamentary candidate for Kelana Jaya Mr. Loh Gwo-Burne, famed cameraman of the infamous Lingam tape.

Date : Wednesday 27th FEB 08
Time : 9 p.m.
Venue : Padang / field at SS18/3D, SS18/6, SS18/4 (Opposite mamak bistro/7-eleven/sukumaran)
Main Speakers : Teresa Kok, Hannah Yeoh
Guest Speaker : Loh (PKR candidate for Kelana Jaya)
Phone no for enquiry : DAP Subang Jaya hotline - 012 618 7643


VOTE BARISAN RAKYAT!

Justification

Agent S told me that if I had waited, I could get the house for less than the asking price by a margin of around 5%.

Agent K on the other hand, having had so much experience in LP selling houses for the past few months, also had a point in saying that the unit is going going going and could be gone before anyone could say cheese.

I believe that if you see something you like, you should grab it and not worry too much about the price differential. As long as the buyer is willing to pay the price that the seller puts up, we have a deal.

So... yesterday I did feel a bit uncomfortable. But today, I think I've overcome the discomfort. I have no regrets. Put in another 20K for fittings, and then slowly build up the furnitures... it will still be below 450K in total.

Moreover, planning to take up the flexible mortgage loan so I can pay it off faster!

Sigh...

Suddenly I feel so weird because the other agent called me up and sort of told me that I could've gotten a better price if I'd only waited for a bit. Now I feel as if I've been shortchanged... and it's making me feel so uncomfortable. I don't think I'll be able to sleep well tonight.

Feng Shui questions

How to overcome the following problems?

1) There's a drain in front of the house with smaller gutters directly pointing towards your main gate

2) Main road in front of the house is higher than the ground on which the house is sited

It's f**king hot!

The temperature in the room must be something like 32 degrees. I mean, why in hell did they switch off the air conditioning?! F***

Po Kuan is back!

Ppl... you asked for Po Kuan, so now she's back! Batu Gajahans... please don't disappoint her. Vote with all your hearts!

Update 22/2/08 2.44pm:

More from TP:



And Mkini:



Original Post:

Saw this on LKS:



So what's the big news!?

Do you believe in The Secret?

According to The Secret, "ask and you shall receive".

The power of positive thinking is not a new concept. Buddhism says "mind is the forerunner of all things". Motivational gurus swear on "begin with the end in mind", "if you think you can, you can!" and many other such things.

I don't 100% believe in The Secret. Asking and hoping is one thing, but actually doing something about it is another. For example, if you really want to ace an exam, you don't just go around saying "I will ace the exam, I will ace the exam", ad nauseum... rather you should go do some intelligent studying, revisions, hanging out with smarter people, etc. so that you can actually have a better chance of acing the exam!

Similarly, if you want to get that dream job, you don't just go around hoping "I will get my dream job, I will get my dream job". You have to update your resume first, upgrade your skills and personality, and of course apply for the job damn it!

Finally, if you want to get your dream home, you don't just go around saying "I will get my dream home, I will get my dream home". You have to go look in the classifieds if anyone is advertising. You have to go ronda-ronda the area that you are targeting to see if there is anyone selling their house. You have to proactively call agents and owners and arrange viewing appointments.

Does that mean that The Secret is fake?

Not necessarily. The Secret is a good start. But it takes so much more than positive thinking alone if you want to be successful and achieve what you want in life. It takes action, perseverance, intelligence and, above all, sincerity. Believe in yourself and not in some external force that would mysteriously bring you goodies. Surround yourself with like-minded friends and soon you will notice a positive change in yourself. You will become more positive, you will find that things get done somehow or rather. You will have a good support system to help you achieve your goals. You will be happier...

Yesterday's party

We had a CNY party yesterday at SS & CCB's house in PH. Siows and Ah Tiu were back from UK but will be flying off this Saturday night. We ate and gambled and I played Nintendo Wii for the first time.

It was fun playing Tennis. I managed to beat Ah Tiu and Ah Kok each one time. But lost to SS. Bowling no need to say. I sucked. But anyway, I think I sustained some injury due to playing Wii. Now my right arm muscle aches and I think I pulled a shoulder muscle.

Happy 15th Day!

Today is Chap Goh Meh (15th Day of CNY) which is also called Chinese Valentine's, where desperate single ladies (DSL) will throw mandarin oranges (probably all those left over and cannot finish ones) where they have written down their telephone number / email address / facebook-friendster URL and throw into lake, river, ocean, pond, puddle, longkang. Then desperate single guys (DSG) will fish the oranges from the lake, river, ocean, pond, puddle, longkang where they hope to get some lenglui's contact details so that they can hook up.

Now, isn't Chinese Valentine's more interesting than ang-moh Valentine's?

;)

PH vs SJ...

Update 21/2/08 5.24pm:

Found a calculation somewhere that allows me to estimate all the hidden costs apart from down payment. Example:

Inputs:
Property Price = 450,000
Down Payment = 50,000
Loan Amount = 400,000

Outputs:
Stamp Duty Govt = 1%*100,000 + 2%*350,000 = 8,000
Stamp Duty Loan = 0.5%*400,000 = 2,000
Legal Fees = 1%*150,000 + 0.7%*300,000 = 3,600
Valuation Fees = 1/4%*100,000 + 1/5%*350,000 = 950
MRTA = 5%*400,000 = 20,000

Total Hidden Costs = 34,550 !!!!!

I'm screwed...

Original:

I am now changing my footing. Planning to look into Putra Heights after all. Subang Jaya... well as much as I love this neighbourhood, I can't seem to find the right house. So, planning to look at Laman Putra houses. Won't be cheap. Close to or exceeding 400K for a basic house. But the pros are that the fittings, tiles and piping/electrical wiring are all new and quite good quality lar. So, for a real basic house, all we need to do is just install grilles and kitchen cabinets. Maybe a skyroof to cover up the courtyard from above. So that's additional 10-15K of reno. Total should be below 450K. I hope we don't have to take 400K loan coz the MRTA will kill us! But nowadays with good mortgage rates (BLR - 2% for the whole tenure), the installments should be more manageable.

So... keeping hopes in check, gonna go viewing this weekend!

What the heck is wrong with DAP?

First, the news that Fong Po Kuan is resigning from the party.

And now news that Pahang DAP chief is resigning from the party as well!

This is sad especially with Election fever rising...

Malaysia Decides 2008

So our local media copied the US elections style (America Votes --> Malaysia Decides). Which party to vote for? Who are the candidates? What are they standing for?

I can't wait to vote. It will be my first time voting. And I'll make sure it counts!

080308 is the date to remember. Make yourselves free on this day!

Experience as wedding photographer...

Thank you to Sie Sing for inviting myself and elsf to Kuching to help photograph her sister's "wedding". Why "wedding" is in inverted commas? Well, it was not really a full wedding ceremony. There was a simplified tea ceremony in the morning, followed by a simplified celebration dinner in the evening.

I borrowed jyon's 400D for the weekend (thanks jyon!) and attached the 50mm f1.8 lens there for portraits and low light natural pics. On my own 350D, I attached the 18-55 kit lens and the 430EX with home made diffuser for portable lighting capabilities and general shooting. My Panasonic rechargeables can be thrown away already. The recycling time is just too slow and the batteries seem to run out of juice too soon.

Well, shooting an event all by yourself is really difficult. With everything happening so fast and sequentially with no repeats, it is difficult to capture everything properly. Some of my pics turned out blur (motion blur) and out of focus (mostly with the 50mm). Fortunately, the group photos, family photos and couple photos turned out OK. I will be passing the DVD of photos to Sie Sing tonight.

Grappling with 2 cameras is not easy. I slung my 350D around my neck, and the 400D was over my right shoulder. With this configuration, I kept pressing the buttons on the 400D against the side of my body, so the white balance and auto focus kept on changing! Fortunately, it did not really affect the shooting process.

During the morning, things were less hectic as there were less people to contend with. And everything happened in a systematic fashion; relatives took their turns to drink tea and present ang pow. But no thanks to my slow-recharging Panasonic batteries, the flash did not recharge on time for some of the shots. Moreover, the 400D was screwing around with the exposure, either locking it too high or too low (I must have ter-pressed some buttons!). But after reviewing the shots, I thought I did manage to capture everybody.

But in the evening, I did not really go around the place (9 tables of the restaurant floor) to snap photos of the guests. My attention was focused mainly on the main table and the stage. I wanted to snap more of the couple and the parents as the photos will be for them and not for the guests. Well, thanks to Canon's orange colour cast, most photos without flash turned out orangey, while those with flash were well balanced. Overall, I think I scored 30% in this shoot, which is not bad for a first-timer I guess.

I hope to have more experience shooting events like this, but clearly having just one photographer is not sufficient to cover every aspect! Even if armed with 2 cameras, I'm just limited to one angle at any particular time. Having an extra photographer covering another angle will be more convenient and less stressful!

It's f**king smelly and unhealthy!

Update 20/2/08 3.40PM:

F**K! Somebody is actually smoking in the room! OMG as if it's not bad enough already! F**K!!!

Original Post:

The place where I work now (my client's office) is quite problematic.

For example: the air conditioning. At times it's really quite uncomfortably cold. But mostly, it seems to be non functioning like right now. To alleviate it we either open the windows or the door. If we open the door, we have some difficulty in maneuvering within the room. If we open the windows, cigarette smoke from outside will filter into the room. Either way, we lose.

It's so f**king smelly, this stupid cigarette smoke, and I predict we will all get health problems from the second hand smoke. Not to mention the smoke coming from the toilets and even inside the office building itself. It really is a stupid problem!

In a swift blink of an eye, CNY is over. Today's Valentine's day and also eve of Pai Tii Kong. Tomorrow I'm flying to Kuching to do some photography work.

All in all, this CNY has not been as fun as previous CNY's. I dunno, maybe I'm just getting older and don't have the energy to siao siao like last time.

I'm still looking around SS18 for my dream home. So far there is one unit renovating but asking for 420K. Another unit behind asking for 450K but full timber flooring downstairs which I find it a waste of money. Another 2 units around but renting, not selling. So, looks like I'll have to wait more.

Activities for CNY

The things I will be doing this CNY:

1) Makan - yes, every Malaysian's favourite past time will be magnified tenfold during CNY. All forms of edible (and inedible) stuff will suddenly appear: sea cucumber, yee sang, mussels, pork knuckle, chicken legs, pigs stomach, candies, cookies, muruku, Ngan Yin groundnuts, Carlsberg, Peace brand longan... and of course... Penang steamboat!

2) Big 2 - previously my family didn't know how to play this game. Only started 2 years back, and now it is the staple game. Occasionally played during weekends, but the big kaboosh comes once a year during CNY. Recently it has been expanded to all sorts of "new years" : Hari Raya, Deepavali...

3) Mahjong - the time passer game, painfully slow but essential during every CNY to liven up the environment with the loud sounds of plastic tiles crashing into each other, the ecstatic cries of "pung", "kong", and "sek wu", chips exchanging hands and not forgetting Ah Kong's super yau yeng gestures during the game!

4) TV - endless droning from Wah Lai Toi, AEC, and other Chinese channels which will show reruns of old Hong Kong movies, TVB variety shows, concerts, and not forgetting the local musical shows with the once-a-year appearance of Mohan.

And, that's it. CNY is so simple. The only painful experience? Giving ang pow >:(

Choi San Dou!

choi san dou choi san dou
hou sam dak hou bou
choi san wah choi san wah
wan chin yi jing lou
choi san dou choi san dou
hou jau faai leurng bou
dak dou keui tai hei lei lei yau chin tou

hap fu hing san seui hei hei ying ying
chai ho lei do fuk yam jong gin keurng ging
yau juk lei gam nin hing wok wing sing
chiu maan do do fun siu gam sau chin ching

yeun fu fu yan oi tai tip yap mei
sing yat yau gat seng chiu baak si mou gei
gung chan yau seung gin seut wah tau gei
chung mun san cheun hei hei fun jeurk yeuk mei

…… la la la ........

choi san dou choi san dou
hou jau fai leung bou
dak dou keui tai hei lei lei yau chin tou

ho so yau yuun lui fah git bing tau
waan mong gok wai gung yau baak yip sing jau
dai ga mou jang dau fai lok mou yau
ting jek go heng sung haa pau keuk han sau

…… la la la ........

choi san dou choi san dou
hou jau fai leung bou
dak dou keui tai hei lei lei yau chin tou

la la la ........

choi san dou choi san dou
hou jau fai leung bou
dak dou keui tai hei lei lei yau chin tou

Dai jung hing san seui mong choi san dou!

Why am I still in office?

I can't concentrate. Today's Tuesday. Tomorrow will be the CNY eve reunion dinner and followed by non-stop gambling till CNY first day. So why am I still slaving away at work? I should be at home catching up on some prepaid sleep so that I can stay awake and eat all the yummylicious food!

I just got all my priorities wrong lah...

The house...

The house in Kemuning Utama is so nice! The owner already done up some basic stuff: lightings, extend back kitchen, back door grille, kitchen counter tops. The price? Similar to basic units. Some more the design is so practical and spacious! 2300 sq ft of living space. Not to mention the goodies: air con and water heater points, auto gates standard from developer, gated and guarded for only RM30 per month, Johnson Suisse bathroom fittings... what more could one ask for?

Sigh... if only the house was located in Subang Jaya!

:(