In Loving Memory

This coming Sunday, August 3rd, will the seventh year anniversary of my aunt's passing. Back in 2001, she passed away suddenly and until today, I still can't get over the fact that she's not with us anymore.

To my beloved Say Ee, I am so proud and honoured to have been your nephew and I miss you so very much. Looking down from heaven, I know you will bless me and guide me through turbulent times. Life is never the same without you with us.

Empty Cans Make The Most Noise!

Some empty cans just love to contribute to the already deafening sound of the local media and political drama!

I'm from Sarawak (and will always be a Sarawakian first, a Malaysian second) and no matter how proud I am of my state's rich natural heritage and its rainforests, I'm sure the proposed dam projects are all within the appropriate environmental limits. The people who have been making a lot of noise should do their research first and not start talking shit even before they know their facts. Sarawak is a land filled with rivers and therefore, it is most suitable to make dams. So, get your facts right first! I'm sure all rainforests will be preserved accordingly.

Just one thing though, to the loud mouths of the peninsula - you guys just love to make so much noise and yet do you know that all these dams are for your own good? Do you think Sarawakians need so many dams for our electricity? We have more than enough already now and the government know that! It's because we have to sacrifice our land to provide for you, that's why we have to build these dams. So, perhaps, just shut your mouth!

Ditto Kak Marina!

LOOKING BEYOND THE WHITE BLOUSE - MARINA MAHATHIR

There are many different ways of thinking about the same thing, and if we insist that our way is best, we need to defend it with sound arguments.

I would nominate for “Small Mind of the Year” the announcement by a female student that our schoolgirls’ uniforms are too transparent, and therefore would lead to them being raped, have unwanted babies and all sorts of evil things. I’m surprised they didn’t mention that these white blouses would also make them corrupt and power-hungry. It’s nice that a student association is taking an interest in issues. But one would have thought it would complain about the general state of education in this country, rather than school uniforms.

In France, students are taking to the streets to protest against the poor quality of the education in the state schools. It would be far more impressive if our students complained about the same. After all, they must wonder why they cannot get jobs after studying. Or do they blame it on the alleged state of undress of other people as well? Perhaps complaining about the education system would reveal that this is why they have become so small-minded.

Instead of breeding big brains with the capacity to think issues out clearly and then hold their ground with solid arguments, we get grey matter that has been squeezed into tiny boxes by an education system that lauds small minds and thinks brains that think expansively are dangerous. The easiest and cheapest counter-attack is however to use the “freedom of speech” argument, where hole-ridden proposals are recast as opinion, never mind how silly. But these are the same people who would never allow anyone with contrary opinions the same freedom to speak.

It’s an argument that took the Education Ministry rather too long to put down. And nobody seems to have noticed that neither Minister nor Special Adviser on Women said anything either. When there are statements like these, nobody should be so polite as to not simply say that it’s silly. Why should we be afraid of offending people who patently have not thought things through? But we allow it for only one reason: they mentioned religion. Instantly this puts such dubious arguments out of bounds. I have heard people claim that drinking hot water is haram.

If someone proposes a ban on anyone drinking hot water because it is not allowed by a certain religion, do we simply let it pass? Once upon a time, someone said that it was impossible to land on the moon. If someone still says that today, do we still treat it with reverence? We see small-mindedness everywhere, with simplistic arguments and solutions to everything. Nobody seems to want to do the hard work of bolstering arguments with hard facts and evidence.

We seem to be proud of not using our brains, as if it’s an organ that is meant just for show. Never mind that in some people, once they open their mouth, the size of the brain becomes evident. The assumption is often made that the smallness of mind is in direct proportion to the amount of education the person has. But we often see so-called educated people displaying the same narrowness of thinking. Perhaps it is a factor on how much exposure someone has. I think we should take someone like those who say things like “clothes cause rape” and put them in forums where they have to defend their arguments.

If their arguments can actually stand up to the test, then they’re worth talking about. But how much should I bet that they won’t take up the offer? I once witnessed the total shock someone with a dubious argument received when he was invited to defend his policies at an international forum overseas. He was so confident he was correct; it did not occur to him that there would be counter-arguments. Left unable to defend himself, he started to blame others and the organisers for “setting him up”. This is what happens when one lives in an environment where small-mindedness is encouraged, where debate and discussion is discouraged.

If we truly want to develop, we need to teach our children that there is a big world out there; and to be part of that world, we need to learn how to think differently. We need to realise that there are many different ways of thinking about the same thing, and if we insist that our way is best, we need to defend it with sound arguments, not retreat into the realm of opinion. Even opinions must have a sound basis, not plucked from the air.

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I couldn't agree more with the above! And as you all know, I admire Marina Mahathir a lot for what she has to say and all that she stands for. Perhaps, if we have more people like her here in Malaysia, the world would be a better place! I'm so happy for this article! Ruffle some more feathers! Can't help but feeling so great! The above article was extracted and taken from The Star. I do not own the article, I'm just merely posting it here for everyone to read. Oh yeah, if you want to read more and be inspired with what Kak Marina has to say, point your mouse here.

Green Peas

This is quite a random post but I know I must say something about green peas. Anyway, have any of you out there bought/eaten Ayam Brand's Green Peas before? Have you guys/gals realised that there seems to be something amiss about the green peas? In my personal opinion, I believe those are not green peas at all. In fact, they're "kacang kuda" dyed green. If you don't believe me, go buy one yourself and check the water these green peas are soaked in. It's all green and I also believe that if they're really green peas, I don't think they'll discolour that much to even colour the soaking water green. Besides, green peas don't taste like those produced by Ayam Brand. Even those frozen ones we get packaged together with sweet corn and carrot are much better. What do you guys think? Just a thought, a random one at that.

I don't know if I'm being paranoid but I trust that many companies out there, especially big ones, are resorting to cheaper productions and larger profits these days. It's quite a norm actually, so I won't be surprised if what I said above is true. It's just too bad that our consumer associations are not doing enough like those in the European/North American countries. If we happen to have a society like those in the UK, one complain and there goes everything for the company. Don't look at me like I'm some kind of shoe polisher for all things West. I'm just saying the truth, I've lived four years in the UK and I know how good their government is. Trust me, I'm still proud to be Malaysian but I just thought that Malaysians ought to/must be better off.

The Concept Of Class

It's quite sad really when you think that our world today is divided into many different classes. You've got the upper class who feels like they're everything in the world and then, there's the lower class where people is struggling everyday for their survival. If everyone can be like children and never have to think about the importance of race, creed, culture, class and religion, the world would be a much better place. When I was at the University of Hertfordshire, I attended a class called Human Space and Society. For the syllabus, we had to write a paper on the concept of class and its importance in today's society. The paragraphs that follow are my thoughts.

Mahatma Gandhi once said that “there is enough in this world for everyone’s need, but not for anyone’s greed.” This statement would have been true if not for the fact that the concept of class in today’s society has always been considered the utmost importance. People all over the world feel the need to be categorised in groups that share the same qualities. When social classification is in place, the upper class of any society in the world will not want to have anything to do with the middle and lower class of the society. Eventually, this will only lead to inequalities and discrimination among the citizens of a society. Revulsion and hatred will be considered a norm in society that feels the need to have such magnitude towards the concept of class.

In today’s world, the concept of class is a comprehensive perception that has a number of related dimensions and it can still be considered a useful categorisation in the following Marxist sense: “the history of capitalism is a history of the creation and reproduction of a social order.” Presently, the concept of class has three significant dimensions – economic, political and cultural. These dimensions can be measured in terms of indicators such as the wealth, income, status, power, lifestyle and levels of education of a particular individual. Matter-of-factly, the economic dimension is seen to be the most socially and sociologically important of the three. Throughout this article, the importance and the need for the concept of class in today’s world will be discussed. More importantly, the very basic division of sex and its consequences will also be presented in this paper.

The world has always perceived that in today’s modern age, men and women all over the world are equal in every aspect and the demeaning of women are a thing of the past. Nevertheless, in some societies all across the world, the inequalities between men and women are still very apparent. When men and women are treated differently and unequally on the basis of their sex, this produces a form of social stratification – the very basic concept of a two class model. For centuries, men have always been considered to be at the top of society while women belong to the other end of the spectrum. Many people all over the world believed the fact that developed countries are open-minded societies but the selection of their leaders are still very much limited to the much-believed stronger sex.

The presidents and prime ministers of many developed countries are men and this is evident in countries such as United States of America, Japan, Russia and France, just to name a few. The citizens of these countries still believe that men are leaders and women are followers. This social inequality occurs when ideology and power are combine to make men superior and women inferior. Eventually, this has led to the reflection of the importance of the concept of class in today’s society. In contrast, some developing countries that are considered to be ancient have championed the rights of women. Although this cannot be said of the majority of these countries, the people of Indonesia, the Philippines and Sri Lanka have made bold steps by choosing women to lead their countries. President Megawati Sukarnoputri and President Gloria Arroyo have showed the world that inequalities have not stopped them from success.

The need for the world to classify everyone and everything into specific groups and classifications has shut out the possibilities for women to be in the same level as men. For example, majority of children today will take quite awhile to answer this particular question – “A doctor and a nurse are trapped in a deserted island. A year later, a baby was born. Neither the doctor is the father nor is the nurse the mother of the baby. Why?” In schools all over the world, children are taught to believe that only men can be doctors and nurses are always women. This has resulted in confused children when told that the doctor is the mother of the baby and the nurse is the father. It is a simple and harmless question and answer but because of the concept of class, it has turned out to be a complicated matter for children.

Many people have speculated the relevance of two classes in today’s society but truthfully, the society today still feels the need for three classes even though it is already the 21st century. Nevertheless, according to Wright in 1997, the world today can be seen as a society of two main opposing classes – “the ruling class which controls all the power and wealth, and the working class which the rulers exploit to maintain this.” The upper or ruling class of the world are considered to be the people who are of power and status. Kings, presidents, prime ministers, politicians and directors of companies are among the groups of people that fall within this frameset. Essentially, the upper class of today’s society is no different than the upper class of the society of the past. These people who are in the so-called upper class are those that imposed work and instructions on the rest of the communities that are from the middle and lower class.

As mentioned earlier, wealth and levels of education are also taken into consideration for social stratification. Ultimately, only power, status and wealth plays vital importance. This is due to the fact that a well-learned individual is not always a person of power, stature or wealth. The majority of the world’s population belongs to the middle class of the social stratification. Many poor countries have most of their citizens belonging to the lower class. The communities from these countries usually have to suffer for the rest of their lives and there will be no chances for advancement and even if it exists, the possibilities are limited. Nonetheless, the communities from developing countries have a brighter future and the opportunities for betterment are always attainable.

The concept of class in today’s society is still as important as oxygen is to the survival of the human race. Without the existence of middle and lower class, the upper class will never survive because with every single person belonging to the same group, there will be no one wanting to be the follower. The competition to the top among the upper class communities are always in existence and the concept of the survival of the fittest are a norm in these societies. The race to be the best can be considered the indispensable part of the concept of class in today’s society. Wealth, power, stature and education are the four utmost weapons in attaining the membership of the upper class. With none of these available, citizens from poor countries can only hope for enough money to buy food to live for another day.

By looking at the countries of the world, the world’s population can also be classified according to their countries of origins. Developed nations can be considered to be the upper class, developing and poor countries are the middle and lower class respectively. It is very obvious that developed nations used their power and wealth to exploit the communities from developing and poor nations with the promise of a better life. Major companies from countries like the United States of America, United Kingdom and Russia set up huge factories and plants in developing countries like India, China and Malaysia because the citizens in these countries need the work and money. Discriminations and exploitations are common due to the fact that most of these workers have very low level of education as compared to their Western neighbours.

One good example is the disaster that happened in Bhopal, India more than a decade ago. Until today, the chief executive officer of the company responsible for this calamity never went back to India where he is charged for first degree murder. The company knew the defects and problems that the plant in Bhopal had after the annual maintenance. Nevertheless, the parent company in the United States of America decided to ignore the problem and the warnings from engineers. With the belief that the problem will go away in due time, the company also deemed that even though a catastrophe is about to strike, it will not be life threatening. Not only did a catastrophe happen, it left behind a lifetime of suffering for the workers of the plant and the people of Bhopal.

Since decades ago, the concept of class has always been seen as a way of self-identification for people across the globe. The upper class identified themselves as the powerful and the rich, the middle class knew themselves as the working force of the communities while the lower class thrived to be a part of the world. Being in the middle and lower class has encouraged people to liberate themselves for advancement and betterment into the future. People from the middle and lower class have worked hard to ensure a better life for generations to come. The middle and lower class communities have the opportunities to move from one class to another. This concept of self-identification have made these people to be more independent and determined in their common struggle towards success.

With more people getting better education by the day, the number of people categorised as those that belong to the lower class will also reduce. Many people believed that in the future, the lower class of society will be totally wiped out. This may be possible but it is completely wrong to consider that the world’s population will only be made up of those that belong to the upper and middle class. The lower class of society will always be present even with the increase of levels of education. This is because the acceptable standard of the world will also rise. Moreover, levels of education are not considered to be essential in the classification of society as compared to wealth, power and stature. If the world is only made up of citizens from upper and middle class, then it has to depend on robots to do works that used to be done by people from the lower class. It is still a long way to go before the world can assume such status of technological advancement.

Ultimately, the concept of class is still very important in today’s world. However, no matter how important it is, this concept is not essential and should be demolished from the mindset of the people of the world. It should be killed and this concept can only die with the capitalism of which it is a part. Discriminations and exploitations have always been the result from the enforcement of the concept of class in today’s society. Throughout this paper, it has been shown that women are considered to be weak and passive because of the age-old concept of class that men are leaders and strong. Besides that, the middle and lower class have also been used extensively by the people from the upper class for various purposes. Conclusively, the upper class can not survive without the middle and lower class and the middle and lower class can not survive without the upper class.

No matter how open-minded the society today is, this concept of class will always exist to recognise the general situation that draws the attention of the world. However, it can be seen as a perception that allows the citizens of the world to liberate themselves from the obligatory commonality of the collective life sentence to hard labour. More importantly, this concept of class should be seen as a guiding principle of diversity within which the people of the world can realise their potential in so many different ways. Lara Dutta, Miss Universe 2000 once said – “every man dies, but very few really live.” Every human being should live life to the fullest and social stratification should never be a deterrent for anyone to succeed. It may be an important concept in today’s society but it should not be a way of life.

Gayu Guru Gerai Nyamai

To all my fellow Sarawakians, Gayu Guru Gerai Nyamai! Have a wonderful celebration on this day that truly represents us! I couldn't have hope for a better homeland! Here's to the day that we're finally known as only Sarawakians!

HHHMMM...Need I Say More?

KUALA LUMPUR: A Malaysian group condemned the uniform worn by girls at government schools, saying it encouraged rape and pre-marital sex. “The white blouse is too transparent for girls and it becomes a source of attraction,” National Islamic Students Association of Malaysia vice-president Munirah Bahari said in a statement.“It becomes a distraction to men, who are drawn to it, whether or not they like looking at it,” she said, calling for a review of uniform policy so that it did not violate Islamic ideals.

In multicultural Malaysia, home to majority-Muslim Malays as well as ethnic Chinese and Indians, female students at government schools have a choice of wearing a white blouse with a knee-length skirt or pinafore. They may also wear a “baju kurung” and a headscarf is optional for Malay students. Munirah said that “covering up” according to Islamic precepts was important to fend off social ills, including “rape, sexual harassment and even premarital sex.”

“This leads to babies born out of wedlock and, to an extent, even prostitution,” she said. “Decent clothes which are not revealing can prevent and protect women from any untoward situations,” she said, suggesting that girls wear a blouse of a different colour or with an undergarment.However, the girls themselves also came in for criticism, with the association saying that some used the white blouse to lure men. “This is the source of the problem, where we can see that schoolgirls themselves are capable of using this to attract men to them,” Munirah said. “This could see them getting molested, having premarital sex and all sorts of things.” – AFP

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OK, I'm all for reducing the rates of crimes against women and girls here in Malaysia. With the amount of rape cases and premarital sex increasing by the year, it's quite scary to think that in a country where religion and values are of utmost importance, such insanity should be the least of our worries. But it seems otherwise.

Anyway, changing our school uniforms (to something less sexier? how more can it be changed?) is definitely not the way for us to reduce such crimes or to even prevent them. I believe education is key and that perhaps is the single most important thing for everyone to look into when it comes to solving such crimes in Malaysia.

There's also the other thing. Isn't it just true that it's human nature when we're told not to do something or prevent from doing something, we just love to do it more? Well, the more controlled a human is, the wilder they'll get. Trust me, it's certainly true. Case in point - how many more anti-piracy programs do we need? Are the consumers even afraid of being caught? Worst still, are these VCD/DVD peddlers even afraid of the government/officers-in-charge of anti-piracy? Sad to say, they're having a ball actually. If you happen to visit a shopping centre in USJ, the whole place is dedicated/filled with pirated goodies. Whatever you want, just name it, you got it.

May Buddha Bless Everyone

Peoples, join me in honouring and remembering all the victims and their families of the Myanmar cyclone and China earthquake. May Lord Buddha bless everyone in these difficult times!

FHM 100 Sexiest Women In The World 2008

Megan Fox is #1! Congratulations!

Anyway, I may have been a little late in posting anything about this annual poll for the sexiest women alive. But hey, better late than never. However, unfortunately, no matter how late I am in posting/announcing that Megan's #1 in the world...I'd still be considered earlier than the local issue of FHM Malaysia. Ever since the whole Ning fiasco, the magazine has been tone terribly down and these days, sad to say, it's not even worth it to buy the magazine anymore.

When I was in the UK, FHM is like so great and it still is! The 100 Sexiest List is a book there but here in Malaysia, all these gorgeous ladies are all cramped into ten pages or so. How sad! And guess what, no matter how measly it may be, the issue with the list is the only one I buy. When FHM first started out in Malaysia, it's like a must buy for me every month. But now, only one issue per year. Anyway, for more information on the list and more on FHM UK, point your mouse here.

F.U.R.K. (Fuck You RapidKL)

Never in my life have I ever need to wait for a bus for nearly two hours! Thanks to RapidKL and Metrobus, only in West Malaysia you get this kind of fucking service! Rapid indeed! And guess what, after two painful hours of waiting and wasting my time standing like a fool in the middle of nowhere, the bus never came and I have to take a taxi.

And as you've read from my previous post about the best and most luxurious taxi service in the whole world, you'd know that only in West Malaysia you can get the best service. West Malaysia, Truly The Best!!! Seriously, I wonder what the tourists would think of this kind of service. Oh yeah, I forgot. There's another bunch of taxis that help to protect the good name of West Malaysia. They go around being so kind to the tourists and so polite and well, you get it! Polish shoes all the way!

And we Malaysians, it's just too bad we're not fair-skinned and light-haired (Jinjang bengs and lians notwithstanding, sorry fellas!).

Sustainable Development And Its Consequences

Have you ever wondered how come suddenly the world seemed so interested in our environment and everywhere you go, you'd hear people talking about global warming, greenhouse gases and sustainable development? Well, I'm glad that people are actually starting to worry themselves about the state of our planet. Nevertheless, it's a little upsetting to know that Malaysia is still not doing enough to protect our environment. However, it's comforting to know that we've actually signed the Kyoto Protocol. That is a start and should be looked as a little encouragement. Anyway, the following essay that follows is a paper I wrote during my time at the University of Hertfordshire. Enjoy reading!

In recent years, many people across the world have started to realise the importance of conserving the natural environment of the Earth. Nevertheless, many parts of the world today still seem a little unfazed about the environment and its chronic conditions. Most people consider it to be somewhat of a trivial issue – something that does not need our attention just yet. However, environmentalists and conservationists beg to differ and argued that it is about time the world starts paying attention because in the years to come, this crisis will be worsening if there is nothing done to prevent it.

Indisputably, there are many factors to the deterioration of the world’s environment but of all these factors, human activities and the exploitations of nature seems to be the utmost factor. Fundamentally, this has resulted in a worldwide concept known as sustainable development. Sustainable development has become an important phrase within the environmental community as well as world citizens alike. Briefly stated, it means that in order to protect the Earth and its environment from destruction of its resources, we need to learn to live so that we can sustain our environment as we forged ahead for development.

In 1987, The Brundtland Commission defined it as the ‘development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.’ A global concept that it is, sustainable development encompasses all aspects of life, requiring the participation of everyone. Most importantly, the issue that involves every nation today is human overpopulation. Single-handedly, this issue has brought upon countless impacts to the world and its environment.

This global calamity of human overpopulation is inevitable. In this essay, this issue will be discussed along with its effects towards the Earth and its environment. Noticeably, the concept of sustainable development has evolved around this issue due to the fact that many impacts of human overpopulation are interrelated. The need for the world to sustain the natural resources that are, in recent years, becoming less is almost an issue on its own. Nevertheless, with the increase of the world’s population, pollutions are unavoidable and this only adds to the weight of the current worsening situation. The biggest challenge of sustainable development is the need for the world to find a new way forward.

The world’s population only reached one billion in 1830 and this took all of recorded history to happen. Today, the world has an approximate population of 6.4 billion people with the three most populated countries being China, India and United States. The concept of sustainable development calls for the need to stabilise the world’s population in regards to its carrying capacity. Common knowledge states that the world has a limited ability to accommodate the number of inhabitants in this planet. Unfortunately, the world population figure is increasing by the day.

According to a research conducted by the United Nations Population Fund, the current figure will grow by an estimated 100 million people every single year. As mentioned earlier, this issue is the root of so many problems especially those that are environmentally-related. Unbelievably enough, to sustain the needs of six billion people actually means that the world is losing an estimated 70,000 species of plants and animals each year. The world is faced with a problem of mass extinction in which the human population is held responsible.

The world’s population of six billion people is not sustainable because the living community cannot indefinitely sustain the loss of 70,000 species a year. As the number of people grows, the number of extinctions will also increase. This has become an eerily scary statistic and there is nothing appropriately enough that can be done to curb this problem. World leaders are faced with the difficulty of deciding on which is better – controlling the number of children their citizens should have or controlling the amount of resources their countries should use or maybe even both. Conclusively, the world’s population will never have to be a problem that bothers everyone if there were unlimited land, resources and water.

The Earth that we live in now is a very rich one albeit unevenly spread. There are so many natural resources that the human population can use for further development. Abundant amounts of petroleum, coal and metals, just to name a few, are found easily all over the world. Nevertheless, fossil fuels that are petroleum and natural gas are running out in the years to come and if nothing is done to maintain its availability, it will just perish even before the end of this century.

As it evolves around the issue of human overpopulation, the concept of sustainable development is also closely related to sustaining the world’s natural resources. Unquestionably, sustaining and stabilising the world’s population as well as the natural resources is a complicated matter. The more number of people essentially means the need for more natural resources being exploited. This is due to the fact that more people will definitely consume more resources. Sustainable development has influenced the rise of alternative energy sources lately. This appropriate consequence from the interpretation of this concept has resulted in a more manageable and acceptable exploitation of the Earth’s resources.

Many countries across the world have now stopped using coal as their main energy source for their power plants and have instead turn to cleaner sources like nuclear, water, wind and solar. Nevertheless, the mention of nuclear power plants will certainly spark a debate on its safety but this is another topic altogether. The vital point is that everyone is responsible for understanding the need to sustain the natural resources that is becoming less by the day.

The study of the Earth’s natural resources has made it possible for everyone in the world to truly appreciate what the Earth can provide us. Nonetheless, it is the study of sustaining the Earth’s natural resources that is far more superior in today’s world. The over usage of these natural resources would result in a severe threat to global society in the near future.

The outcome of this serious predicament actually means that the future generation might not have the resources that are needed for further development. Apparently, this illustrates the importance of sustainable development in today’s world even more. It is so imperative to respect the limits of the world’s environment. Mahatma Gandhi once said, ‘there is enough in this world for everyone’s needs but not for anyone’s greed’.

Moving on, the significance of respecting the limits of the world’s environment conjures up another issue – pollution. This issue can be considered an age-old dispute in today’s society. Seriously enough, the rapid population growth only contributes to an even more chronic situation. Both air and water pollution as well as other forms of pollution continues to be a severe crisis. World leaders across the world have worked closely with their respective governments to enact tighter laws and regulations to counteract with these catastrophic conditions. One of the first pollution regulations dates back to the fourteenth century when King Edward I banned the burning of sea coal in lime kilns. Nonetheless, despite all these efforts, pollution is still a serious local and worldwide problem.

One of the principles of sustainable development that was set up by many nations all over the world is to make the parties involved in pollution pay for what they have done to relentlessly threaten the environment. Environmental pollution and social depletion happens because those accountable are not those who bear the aftermath. If the polluter or the consumer is made to pay for these costs, in essence, this can actually reduce the devastation of pollution. Ultimately, this will mean that the world’s inhabitants, at large, will not have to bear this burden alone. Nevertheless, ensuring that this principle actually works is a difficult task. At all costs, precautionary actions should be considered. With the full cooperation of all the parties involved, only then this particular principle of sustainable development can be achieved.

The world depends on its human population to flourish into the next generation. Unfortunately, it is this population of people that might bring about the fall of the Earth. Sustainable development is one concept that was set up to ensure that this disastrous consequence will never happen. It is a dynamic progression that enables everyone to realise their full potential and to improve their quality of life along the way.

Nevertheless, this enhancement can only be successfully achieved with the assurance of simultaneously protecting and improving the Earth’s life support systems. Millions of dollars are spent each year on sustainable development across the globe. If a balance can be maintained between sustainability and the development of the world, many experts actually agree that in the future, the world can achieve economic, social and environmental objectives at the same time.

Wake Up!

Have you ever taken a taxi in Malaysia and get so frustrated with the service provided? Indeed, I'm very sure it's very common and without a doubt, of the ten taxis you take in Malaysia, all ten provide the world's lousiest service!!!

I'm really pissed with the level of service these taxi drivers provide. Some don't even bother to use the meter and charge so excessively, you thought you'd bleed from the neck without anything cutting it. And worse still, these taxi drivers push their seats so far back, people sitting behind can't even sit and there's no leg room left at all!!!

What's more, these taxis smell so bad even my unwashed socks smell like French perfume!!! Anyway, the government ought to do something about this but then again, what more can I say. Sigh!!!

Lights Of KL Part Two

Here is the second part of the "Lights Of KL" photo series taken by my friend. Enjoy!

Lights Of KL Part One

The photos below are a series of photos my friend took. I found these photos extremely unique and different. The series is called "Lights Of KL" and if you agree with me or perhaps are interested to purchase any one of these photos, just leave a comment.

Happy New Year 2008!

Happy New Year to all of you. I hope 2008 will bring the greatest joy and happiness to everyone. May all of you be granted a wealth of good fortune, abundant prosperity and immaculate health. May all that you wished for be fulfilled. May all that you hoped for be achieved. May all that you dreamed for be realised. Here's to a wonderful year ahead!

Thank God I'm Fat!

I was walking around at one of the shopping centres here in Kuala Lumpur the other day and it happens to be the Year End Sale Carnival here in Malaysia. And as you can expect, everyone was rushing to shop until they drop. Buying all the things that are available without taking a moment to stop and think whether they really need it or not.

And then it got me thinking...I thought that I am really thankful that I'm fat because I won't need to shop for new clothes and follow the fashion trend all the time. Because for most of the time, I'm always wearing the clothes that are most comfortable to me. Even though I enjoy following fashion trends and hopelessly devoted to Vogue, Vanity Fair, W and InStyle, I still am thankful that I'm fat.

Perhaps, I'm just not that vain or maybe I'm just fat.