To where it all begins. Part 1.

I've been keeping this post for a while now without posting it. I had this policy which I won't allow myself to post anything personal until today, which I realize that I don't have a strong good memories to remember all this stories I had. So I decided to post it. So here it goes.

It was 1998. A year which I realize that I was different. Having straight A's at my Primary School Examinations (UPSR) cost me almost all my primary school friends. I was labelled the 'action' malay guy who are now in the top class. So I decided to start all over again. I wanted to be somebody at school like my sisters did. My eldest sis is very good in her studies, while my second sis was someone important in the military band, and almost everybody knows them.

I joined 'Kadet Remaja Sekolah' (KRS), a military alike body in school which at first is my last choice to begin with. From there I made some new friends, good ones. Mas, Lim CJ, Syahila, Azlan, Elyna, Zaha. By the middle of the year, we became the 'next big thing' in KRS to which Syahila was appointed as the treasurer, and I became the Assistant Secretary at our 1st year. All of us were appointed as Copral (for boys) and Lans Copral (for girls) by the President, Thirumal.

KRS taught me a hard life. We marched almost every week under the hot sun, went camping at school and Pangkor, physical training and most importantly, dicipline. Not to forget, politics. We as the next big thing, thought that we were in control, even to the seniors. We thought we are ruling the body. By the 2nd year, almost every single one of us had a post. Syahila remained as the treasurer, I'm the secretary. This is like a strong ally, because we were the ones who controlled the votes at Annual Grand Meeting. As we thought so. And from there, we started to shape the new era of KRS. This is like our life in school. But aside from that, our bond remained strong. We hang out together most of the time, chatting on the phone and to get to school on Saturday morning was something that I looked forward everyweek because it was the time I could be with them, having fun time together, and being in control.

By the third year, our ego was like a balloon that awaits to explode. Syahila won the Treasurer post for the third time a row, while I remained as the Secretary of KRS for the 2nd year. But the friendship among us were parting their ways. Catfight among the girls, love affair and politics kept us apart, but the three men ally of Syahila, Mas and I remained strong, with Azlan and Lim being neutral by not involving too much. We had a new president at this moment, Lavendra, a very nice guy who is like a big brother to us.

By this time, KRS has turned into one of the biggest cocuricullar body in school. Our marching team was one of the best, we had our 'Perkhemahan Tahunan' at school, Merentas Desa through Bukit Engku Busu, Ujian Kenaikan Pangkat and so on. And, we were still ruling... All of the activities were filled with interesting horror ghost stories which we were popular of for telling it over and over again.

At the 4th year, with us in control, Azlan was the new president, which he truly deserved. I'm still the secretary, Syahila, still the treasurer. We kept this post to ourselves once again. Elyna at this time, had parted her ways. Azlan era wasn't that long. Azlan, Zaha and I scored straight A's at our PMR and were offerded to enter MRSM. Azlan and Zaha left, but I rejected the offer. So there I was, still in ACS at my 4th year. As at this moment, we didn't have a President and were not planning to appoint anyone as we thought we would lost the post to someone other than 'us'. It wouldn't be fun isn't it to have an outsider as our leader, until the next annual grand meeting where we decided it's time to change the appointment of president policy...

We created 5 posts of Majlis Tertinggi, The President, 2 vice presidents, a secretary and a treasurer. We abolished the open suggestions from the members and the candidates were selected by us. This is the moment when we destroyed democracy in KRS. Not proud of it.

I was aware that I was the unpopular candidate compare to Mas. I remember I was this mad guy with bad temper, very strict whom I guess everyone was afraid of. I received bad and terrible comments from the members every time we had a survey but somehow it didn't effect me at all. Maybe this is why I was called the 'King of Ego' during those days. As expected, Mas won the presidency race but I secured my place as the Vice president. Even I knew there were many who were against me, but I also knew that I have my own strong base of supporters.

Through our last year, we re-organised back the activities, according to our needs and thoughts. We created Perkhemahan Kenaikan Pangkat, the camp where everyone needs to go through some test before having their 1st stripe as Lans Copral, Copral. We didn't want anyone to get through the easy was as we did. This would be fair to everyone I think. Besides, having new post like Ketua Kawat made the management to be in more focus aside with having platuns, lead by a copral. I guess we were not that bad after all.

We remained close after the end of our era, but parted our ways when we further our study to the other part of the country.

It feels weird that I did some of that things back then. It seems like I was a stranger to myself. But other than making a strong base of friends and supporters, being hated and having this negative image by some people eventually destroyed me, and from there, I changed...

1 Got Married, 1 Is Now A Father.

Ierwan got married on 12th of February 2011 in Kelantan. 7 of us managed to get there by having 5 hours drive with our new 'kereta kelab'. Sempat singgah Cameron Highland jugak on the way. Hehe.

Ierwan was my 1st year roommate, and without a doubt he's the one who got me connected with those pakciks. He's an awesome friend with super mysterious ways. Congratulations bro. Semoga kekal bahagia ke akhir hayat, dunia dan akhirat. Amin.

2 weeks after, my bestfriend is now a father! Qisha Nur Eryna binti Mohd Nazul Iqwan was born the 25th in Seremban.

Selamat menjadi bapak Nazul. You're gonna be great. :))

Pray for Japan.

Japan was hit with a massive tsunami due to earthquake last week.
A day after, a nuclear reactor exploded followed by a another one the next day.
Not only they lose their homes and beloved families, now they are facing dangerous radiation exposure. With no electricity, no transport and I believe it's cold over there... I wish them well.

Please pray for their safety. :(

Kerana Gadis Itu.

I would like to rephrased this post as I don't really understand what I've written either. :p

Tahu tak kenapa saya tak pernah maki, mencarut atau curse? Semua kerana 13 tahun dulu, saya pernah tercakap 'cel**a' di depan seorang gadis yang pernah saya suka. Selepas mendengar bebelan si gadis dan menyedari perkataan itu telah melukai hatinya, even saya tak tujukan kepada si dia pun, saya berjanji pada diri sendiri, takkan lagi mengeluarkan perkataan-perkataan macam tu... sehinggalah hari ini.

Jadi, apa yang cuba saya sampaikan di sini hanyalah untuk korang tau betapa besarnya pengaruh seorang wanita kepada seorang lelaki. Baik wanita itu, baiklah lelakinya.

Selamat Hari Wanita Sedunia...

p.s. Terima kasih pada gadis itu...

Pakciks at Hatyai, Thailand

We seldom claimed that every trip we had was our last one but none of that was even close to true. So this time, the pakciks decided to go further, Hatyai Thailand. Only the bachelor pakciks were available this time (Ezzanie, Zulkarnine, Amin, Haidi, Amir and myself), excluded one who has already been engaged as well.

Day 1: The journey started off on the 12th of February 2011 with us gathering in Penang, taking a minivan from Butterworth at 9.00 in the morning which only worth RM32 per person. The travelling took us about 3 hours included the lag time we had during immigration check.

At noon, there we were, in the middle of Hatyai town without any knowing where to go or to stay, just because there are some of us who didn't allow the rest of us to make some research on this place as this was going to be a so-called adventurous journey. But luckily, just as we were walking with all the bagages we had, we found a good and reasonable place to stay, Lee Gardens Hotel. The hotel was nice, it was a 3-star, but definitely worth it. It cost us only RM60 per night with additional RM20 for extra bed.

After lunch, which the meal was exactly like ours in Malaysia only with extra sweet and sour taste, we decided to have a walk around the town, searching for something interesting to take home. Hatyai is rich with man-made souveniers, fake branded clothes, t-shirts, watches, cds and electrical stuffs, which everything I found it cheaper than we had back at home. I just got back from Koh Samui the other week, so for me, there's nothing much to look for. Plus, I didn't bring enough cash to get me extra shopping. Duh~ We filled the whole day 1 with shopping and walking, and shopping... and walking. We even get ourselves the same t-shirt which has the word 'Hatyai' on it to be wore on the last day. And at night, we had our grand meal together at 1 Muslim restaurants, and the food was superb and I'm out of words to describe it. The services are excellent as well.

Day 2: We decided day 2 was going to be the sight-seeing day. After breakfast, we took a 'tuk tuk' to get us to 3 interesting places. And the first one was, Wat Hat Yai Nai, where a huge reclining Buddha with the size of 35 metres long, 15 metres tall and 10 metres wide. As some people didn't know, which include us, this was claimed as the 3rd largest reclining Buddha in the world. Seriously, it's huge. Then we moved on to the next place, another Buddhist temple which I didn't remember the name was, but with another huge Buddha. This place includes cemetary, tower and tons of idols. Our 'tuk tuk' driver was curious that having Muslims went to a Buddhist temple, but it was just for sight seeing as I guess these kind of temples is very rare to us in Malaysia, and I don't there's nothing wrong with it. After lunch, we proceed to our last checkpoint, which I think is the best one of the rest, the floating market of Hatyai. The concept is similar as the night market as what we have here in Malaysia, it's just that they were selling delicious and unique delicacies which we never tried before, on a boat. The food was incredibly awesome. It's the first place I would recommend to anyone who is visiting Hatyai to come to, this market opens at 2pm till midnight. Simply awesome. I miss the meatball already...

After maghrib, we had our dinner at different Muslim restaurants, and as usual, the meals are never dissappointing.

Day 3: On the last day, with us wearing the same t-shirts, boria, we had our last shopping trip around Hatyai town once again for last minute buy-off. I got myself a backpacker bag, which only cost me about RM85 and those pakciks bought a seriously huge amounts of stuffs for their loved ones. We checked out at 2.00pm in the afternoon and push off back to Penang with minivan at 3.30pm.

We treat ourselves with a movie afterwards, The Green Hornet, which is very very very cool. A must see movie. Hehe.

Previously we always claimed every trip we had is our last one, but I doubt it. That was never true. And I'm sure there's more to come with pakciks with us already having our holidays fund on the line. So, thank you pakciks for this awesome trip. I lebiu and miss you guys already. "None other than with you guys, I am genuine"

Cantik Tapi Kotor.

‘Malaysia cantik tapi kotor’

2011/01/24

LABIS: Menteri Pelancongan, Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen, berkata majoriti pelancong asing ke negara ini mengakui Malaysia sebuah negara yang cantik, namun mempunyai masalah dari segi kebersihan. Beliau berkata, antara aspek kebersihan yang sering dibangkitkan pelawat membabitkan gerai makan, longkang dan tandas.

Bercakap kepada pemberita di sini, Yen Yen berkata aspek kebersihan itu akan kekal menjadi masalah jika rakyat negara ini tidak menjadikannya amalan kehidupan.
“Kementerian Pelancongan mengambil kira aduan yang ditimbulkan pelancong. Jadi, kita perlu mengambil kira aspek kebersihan ini,” katanya selepas melancarkan program ‘1Malaysia Green, 1Malaysia Clean’ peringkat daerah Segamat di Pusat Rekreasi Kolam Air Panas, semalam. Mengenai pusat rekreasi itu, Yen Yen berkata, kajian untuk menambah baik kawasan berkenaan akan dilakukan bagi menarik perhatian pengunjung, terutama rakyat Singapura.

***

Ok. This is totally true. We don't need review from outsiders to realize this, even the Malaysians know that and I do feel ashamed about this. 'Some people' wants to be just like Singapore, but they never act like them. The streets and drains are their bin of rubbish and never felt guilty about that.

I would suggest that these 'uncivilised' people are taken to court, and ordered to wear clothes with writing "SAYA MEMBUANG SAMPAH MERATA-RATA" while cleaning the public park. Oh! And must not forget the photos of them are taken while doing so are published on daily newspaper.

Bagus kan idea ni? I think Singapore did this.

All We Need Is Some Support.

Why I keep on thinking that it's already 2012?

Anyway, Happy New Year everyone! It's 2011 yo~

So I was watching Anugerah Juara Lagu 25 last week and Ana Raffali won with the song Tolong Ingatkan Aku. Well, it was indeed a surprise. Truly, I thought Faizal Tahir would win big this time. But I really don't mind actually with Ana Raffali winning it all, the song is good. I like it. Maybe the vocal and performance were not as good as some are, but she won the best song award, not the vocal nor performance.

But as usual, we Malaysians would never be that supportive if what we want didn't come to reality. So here and there, people were criticizing the judging and condemn this poor new singer songwriter. Who are we to judge?

What we are lacking now here is some support.

The same goes to our brand. Take Proton for example. Why are we Malaysians never give any credits to our own national carmaker, instead, Proton is always considered as 'Expensive but No Quality'. The worse case, Proton is a joke to some people. Yes, maybe there are a lot of improvements that need to be done, but give them chance. They are family. They are Malaysians. Whoelse they can rely to if not us?

So guys, be proud of what we have today. Please support... We could go somewhere... far.

Satun, Thailand

I went to Satun, Thailand the other day for a business trip. It was my first time being in the country and it only took me about 2 hours plus from Penang, driving.

Going there through Wang Kelian Immigration is totally a different experience for me, far different from Singapore or KLIA or Manila immigration which I am used to. The checkpoint is very narrow, as I think lorries or busses are restricted. The custom also is not as strict as Singapore is. As for that, I didn't spend much time here, which was pleasant I guess.

After the checkpoint, everything was different. The road, the people, the building, their paddy field. How amazing it was, even after metres away, there is a lot of changes between the border. Many of the Thais in Satun can speak Malay, but some of the don't and Muslims are the mojority citizens of Satun. Buddhist temples here are very shining and big, which was amazing and different from what we have here in Malaysia. Is it? Or is it me who is not exposed to what Malaysian Buddhist temples look like? Hehe, sorry sorry...

And as I was very much interested on the economy status of the province, from what I can say is, it is difficult to for us Malaysian to compete with the price here in Satun, as their stuffs and food are very cheap. Besides, the buying power and economy status for most of them are not as strong as Malaysians. So I think, to get our products here is not a really good idea, but to have a collaboration with them would be great, as their manpower and materials are cheap and sourceful, plus with our skills, brand and knowledge, the economy between the the state and the province would be a boost, with the help of good relationship between these 2 governments.

Philippines check. Singapore check. Thailand check... Next please ;-)

The legendary Doraemon.

Remember this guy? Or this robot?

Doraemon is a manga series created by Fujio F. Fujiko. which later became a TV series by Asian Series. Doraemon is a cat robot which travels back in time to his master's ancestor, to change their destiny. The 1st appearance of the series is back in 1969, with 1,344 original series.

Back in 2002, Doraemon was selected as one of the Asian Heroes, listed by TIME magazine

After all this time, Doraemon is still my all time favourite cartoon series and comics.

Even after 41 years, Doraemon is a phenomenal to many, including myself. A true legend indeed.

p.s. Doraemon doesn't have an ending, but this video of comic page is created by a cartoonist which is the most suitable one for a perfect end.

The Best Service.

It has been a while since my last post huh? Quite busy with work and I've been outstationed for some time.

I was in Singapore the past 2 weeks for a task, and during my visit there I past by a competition on waiting service joined by some elite hotels and restaurants which have their waiter or waitress representatives.

It made me realize that waiter is actually a professional job. Well, ok, I do realize it way before that, but this time, it really knocked my head, saying that being a waiter is not that as easy as it seems. They have protocols and serving hospitality services to the customers. It's just that I didn't have the chance to have that kind of service quite often.

You'll never experience it if you eat McD or mamak stalls the whole time, but I think this kind of attitude of providing the best service not only covers well-known hotels or restaurants, but also everywhere. It is difficult to see someone greet you at 7 eleven, with a "Good day sir" or "Please come again", even a smile seems like an expensive treat.

As currently Datuk Ng Yen Yen is doing a great job in promoting Malaysia outside, then I think it is better for us to be prepared to give the best service to our guests. If you are not able to provide a protocol training to your worker, ask them to greet and smile would be enough :-) We are Malaysians after all, a friendly community...