Adios 2008...hello 2009

Huh.. today is the last day of 2008, how time flies we always seem to say whenever the year end is on the horizon.Without fail we try to reflect back on the year to pass by and WITHOUT FAIL we have new resolutions for the coming year. One thing for sure we are getting older but any wiser?
So what has the year 2008 been to me ? Overall i am thankful to Allah SWT for gracing me another good year of health and good tidings. You do try to remember eventful events or moments of the year to cherish you always.
Work has been ok ,the usual tribulations that normally a company chief encounters but one learns through the ageing years to take the issues and challenges in one stride.Maybe that's the beauty of getting older , you tend to be more reflective and appreciative of what's been thrown to you both the good and the bad.
Undoubtedly the most cherished and unforgettable moments for the year 2008 has been my SOJOURN in Sarawak football. No regrets!!! I must admit that only fools want to wander on that path that most people(even those with more power and monies) will not dare to thread. All being said i believe i had done my best amidst difficult circumstances. I had met many people during my times in football.Boys(the footballers) that are still young but entrusted with a heavy responsibility of carrying the Sarawak flag and there are some who are unfortunately sell their souls at the detrimental progress of Sarawak football.
I met people from other countries trying to make decent living in our wonderful Malaysia, some from Guinea, Cameroon, Lebanon,Singapore and even as far Morocco.Hopefully in my dealings with them i have shown a Malaysian face that is viewed with respect and trust.
Football indeed has taken a centre stage for me in year 2008. Amazingly i have must made my indelible mark on the Sarawak football despite just involved fully for a year and i admit i have made mistakes but all round i believe that through sincerity and transparency in approach i have done my little part in year 2008 for my beloved state Sarawak
..so adios 2008 it is not an annus horribulus as one tends to fear but as a year for me of appreciation, cementing new friendships and leaving a bit of mark in football. Welcome 2009 ,so awaits us all?

Rhapsody of a thankful life

Diyana... a father's pride

The announcer started the introduction,." this young recipient for the Maal Hijrah SPM award was born in Johor Bahru.." I cant helped feeling a bit emotional as i saw my little girl now a full grown teenager standing up there on stage with the honoured guests including the Sarawak Governor listening to a brief on her and her achievements. It was just like yesterday when still working in Johor Bahru and with the wife pregnant expecting our second child that we decided not to go back to Kuching for the customary Hari raya holidays break because of the imminent birth of Diyana our second child and also due to my heavy work schedule. I still remembered vividly that night when she was born at Johor specialist clinic. No other family members around but the birth was a breeze because of her small size(but how she has grown now!!). The date 15.4 was best remembered for the day Titanic sank but for me and the family it was simply Diyana's birthday. Have we raise her well? I cant really tell in all honesty , sometimes i feel we(read I..) spoilt her but as always we try merely to be her friend and confidante. Her school days were always packed with extra curricular activities, sometimes one wondered how she copes, she was in the school band orchestra,Deputy Head prefect, debating class and takes her piano seriously. She can be absent minded though. I can tell she is not perfect and one hopes that all the discipline and commitment that she learns at her school and now college will bring her in good stead as she face the adult life later. When she got 12A1 in her SPM nobody is more pleased than her two grandmothers and as all grandmothers do they never stop bragging about their grandchildren. Her achievement is owed to the mother of course who will always be there to ferry the children to endless tuition classes, always ferreting if they slacked a bit and giving all manners of encouragement and support. We gave her the name Diyana after that Princess and as she grew tall (for her age) one cant help pondering the right choice of name(just a dad's biased opinion). Her elder brother Azri has also been a mountain of support for her. To Diyana the award is just a small reminder that in life one can be rewarded if one works hard enough and in this sometimes cruel and artificial world, the ingenuity of real achievements is a wonderful solace for one's enhancement and preservation of self esteem. Good luck to you as you continue to counter the roller coaster of a teenager's life towards adulthood.

Christmas...kiasu style

Was in Singapore over the Christmas weekend. Singapore has somehow made a name for itself as a happening place over Christmas in this part of the world. never spent the Christmas weekend at this island city so with the family off we go and try to indulge ourselves in the spirit of festivities promised by all the gung ho publicity.Did we enjoy ourselves? Cant say much except that this to me is just an excuse for the young Singaporeans to fill up the streets(read..orchard road) and taking photos at all nooks and corners like a tourist. How boring that can be? The famous lighting did not enthrall me much not after you have seen Dubai in lights.But Singapore has also its positives..it offers you clean fun and and no mindless "Mat Rempits" scouring the motorways and the simple fun they had must be their highlight of the year in a country that fines anyone that breaks its strict laws(no chewing gums in the MRT please!!!). Somehow my Singapore trip was never complete without a visit to my favourite second hand bookstore at Far East Plaza, cant help again buying a few more books, one that seems interesting is the one on punctuations "Eat,shoots and leaves" ha ha i do need to read this book to see the funny side of the English language or rather its misuse.The other half though will normally have Geylang as part of the must visit itinerary.Geylang is the place for the Malays way way back in the 70's and 80's for its cheap textiles but no longer now for obvious exchange rate reasons. How do you spend your time at midnight if you are a shopaholic in Singapore? Visit Moustapha outlet near Little India ,it is a 24 hour shopping "paradise" but honestly the hype i heard from well meaning friends regarding this place turns out to be a downer..it is just a crammy "with everything you can buy is here" kind of place and unusual for me i didn't buy a single thing and that's at past midnight!!! Hold on, did i say we were in Singapore for the Christmas? Obviously like most trips it"s just going from shopping place to another. The only image that i can hold for Christmas Singaporean kiasu style is an old man wheeling away a string of big beads and i said to my little boy." hey, there's Santa Clause"... possibly the right way to view this Orchard Road Christmas, a real farce.

Simanggang....a town like Alice?

Just came back from Simanggang(or rather its now appropriate name Sri Aman) attending the Maal hijrah function. While all recognise the place now as Sri Aman i still fondly referred it as Simanggang,reminiscent of the great local football catchphrase 'main Simanggang" meaning robust play which Simanggang football team was famous or notorious for!!! It was a short brief visit with just a night stay at its "pristine" hotel, Mega Hotel. i asked a friend where he was staying, the reply,Theatre Inn, what the heck makes one come with such a name at such a place where i cant see much cultural presence. Simanggang though used to be a happening place in Sarawak, for sure during the Brooke Rajahs era ,this place was regarded as a major strategic and buzzing place and history books reflected Sir Charles Brooke great fondness for this "dangerous" outpost. He spent many years there as an officer before taking the helm from his uncle, Sir James. Simanggang those days must even be bigger than Miri,Bintulu or even Sibu and maybe just fractionally smaller than Kuching in terms of importance as well besides the size. What ails you,Simanggang? The only stop i made besides attending the function was to have a cursory look at that great Brooke era outpost, Fort Alice. Bit of a shame to see such an important historic place or rather outpost in such derelict state for Fort Alice can tell us a lot of stories of our past, a past that can be learnt from, a past that can be a source of local pride,i wont say more. Thankfully now the tourism authority is now trying to publicise the unique phenomena , the benak (or tidal bore..) that happens annually at Sri Aman and hopefully you never know it can be a world wide attraction and "cult' event like our another great success,the Rain forest festival. something to ponder on, but at present i can only view this sentimental place as a place in decline, bypassed by the progress of the times in Sarawak ,why even Serian town is more lively!!
Incidentally i was there in Simanggang to attend the Maal Hijrah for my daughter Diyana was given the Maal hijrah award for best student SPM(she got 12 A1 during the recent SPM) and as a proud father the visit to Simanggang was indeed a happy one plus or minus the scant melancholy observations i had of a place that used to be famous for its great warriors and football culture(oops sorry)...Live it up Alice and i know soon you will be restored as a Simanggang landmark.

Economics and the price of roti canai

Economics is like politics, real big word and everyone claims to be an expert. For the most part of my work life one did try to savour the intricate grappling of the so called economic fundamentals and read numerous books on this subject that is understandable at least to a layman like me. Two names spring to mind when we spoke of economics ideas and philosophies..Maynard Keynes and Adam Smith.incidentally both are British(Mr Smith of course as all Scotsmen will say, a proud son of Edinburgh). Keynes theory is made famous by his deep foresight in understanding the great depression and postulate a theory of abundance of money supply within the system by" pump priming the economy",this generally means huge government expenditure to ensure sufficient liquidity within the system.This theory is generally popular with most developing countries or nations that is very obsessed with GDP growth as a main(as sometimes wrongly viewed as the only) barometer of country"s well being. This is made easy for countries that have huge export surplus from commodities trading (oil for one) and the excess monies from such "windfall' can be used for the government to splash and spend to keep the economies rolling as one says even if "white elephants" will be its final outcome from sch extravagance splash.However Keynes theory is more than just mindless pouring of monies to the system but was underpinned by a very fundamental view that money is only its worth if it is spent,and of course spending wisely must be the epitome of a responsible government agenda.Malaysia to a large extent has been propped up by its Keynesian approach towards its economic planning with the ritual 5 year Malaysia plan spelling out to an eager populace on how the Government will spend its treasury monies via mainly infrastructure development and improving of services. This was helped to a great extent by the surplus of our commodities export earnings of oil,palm oil to be more precise. A general antidote to a recession as most economists will agree is to follow to some extent the Keynesian approach IE by pump priming.The challenge for the Government now is that the earnings from our commodities export has dwindled due to low prices...hmmmm we await for the think thank to outline to all laymen like us what will be the plan for 2009.
Adam smith? he believes in the "invisible hand"..IE let the free market dictate the performance of the nation's economy. Competitive edge and an equilibrium on supply and demand will dictate the prosperity of the individual and hence the nation.Adam Smith 's theory spawned the modern day policies as the Thatcherite doctrine( named after Margaret Thatcher) or Reaganomics(Ronald Reagan the actor being accredited to such a policy).This model has somehow driven the world to a higher level of prosperity and well being that was never imagined after the second world war. Emerging countries all try to embrace this policy of free market and generally succeed(read China and India as examples) but the recent sub prime crisis though has also exposed serious flaws on a dictum that is primarily driven by human greed (Greed is good according to Smith) and selfishness. Even USA under Obama later on planned to pick a leaf out of Keynes teachings by promising some massive infrastructure spending to revive the ailing US economy. So? which one is right? Both are right and wrong, the onus in my view is the cultural aspects, these theories are just guiding beacons as leaders attempt to navigate their respective nations towards a prosperous society but any society that is not built and respect hard work,meritocracy, inventiveness and the enquiring mind will never able to leap itself to Mount Everest..the only think i know for sure inflation is the biggest enemy of the ordinary man, I still remembered 30 years ago i can have a meal of roti canai for 20 cents in KL but now it will cost you at least RM1.00 ie a massive 500% increase, has the wages of a worker has the same kind of scale of increase? I doubt it and it never will because it doesn't make economic sense(as experts will say)..Ha , the irony!!!

Are u watching Liverpool?

Nothing i say NOTHING can evoke a greater emotion in football for a Man U fan than to put one up over its Lancashire rivals, Liverpool.So when Rooney "placed' the ball with the most sublime skill into the South American team's net, the smirk i had was spontaneous,"Are you watching Liverpool?" This catchphrase was even coined into a book by Jim White when the Red devils won its first premier league in the early 90s after a long hiatus of more than 20 years . For a United fan that has followed the team since early 70s that win reminiscent of a more wondrous winning goal by Norman Whiteside in its 10 men win against Everton in the FA cup i think in 1984.Hey the plot is similar the world championship win was by the new hero Rooney with a 10 men team as well.
Men(or rather boys,we still are) of my age grew up knowing English football when Liverpool was the all dominant and marauding force, winning everything in their sights with great players like Keegan, Dalglish,Sounness, Rush until the players start to behave as pin up boys (Jammie Redknapp,thank you very much!!!) .For a United fan in that era it has been a real low period,the only spark when they signed the best player in that generation,Robbo(Bryan Robson). So when United do win a trophy,normally limited to FA and league cup wins only and that was only on rare occasions then as long suffering rivals(to Liverpool) the fans cant help coming with various catchphrases and the best and the one that i loved most is of course "are you watching Liverpool?" and now i will normally sms to a very good friend who always tormented me since those early 70s days when we were studying in England together, and until even now whenever United won a big one or put over one over his team Liverpool. Ha ha , admittedly in recent times with the Fergie's re surging team always dominant, it was always my turn and PLEASURE to sms him with non other than a simple text," ARE U WATCHING LIVERPOOL?"

Nullah...stole the Australian thunder

"Mrs Boss! We gotta get those fat cheeky bulls into that bloody metal ship." Remembered this phrase so well because i must admit that i was totally mesmerised by the performance of that little Aboriginal boy Nullah in the latest Nicole Kidman movie, "Australia".When i agreed to come along with the family to watch the movie i was more expecting to see a film to be dominated by Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman performances,well Nicolle got my attention and rapture in her astonishing earlier movie as a demented suffering mother in "The Others" and Jackman,well he is Mr Van Helsing!!
As i settled down to watch the movie "Australia" and being so tired after a very hectic week i was resigned initially to a 3 hours of dreary boredom of a movie.I was wrong and not because of Kidman"s performance(too one dimensional in my view) as she tried to portray herself as an English aristocrat turned cattle breeder ( with not a spot of dirt on her Laura Ashley design dresses i presume) and Jackman tired efforts to look like an Australian macho(to me he seems more European,if you want an Aussie don't go further than crocodile Dundee) BUT i was alerted to attention and began to absorb myself in the movie because of this young boy character ,NULLAH. Not since Bat Latif's smart rendition in that old Malay classic "Nujum pak belalang" had i ever felt astounded by a young talent's performance(not even Mcaulkin home alone performance i wish to consider). His natural portrayal of a brownie eats into you and you have no problem to understand why Kidman's character Lady Ashley was so taken by him and loved him so much that it becomes so infectious.
"Mrs Boss, am no magic "....Nullah roll it.

football in the mud

Publish Post

Was at the football field today to watch the demak league.Actually the idea of organising the demak league was mooted by few of us noting the glaring lack of organised grassroots football in Kuching.We tried to come with a theme "every Saturday is a football day". The league has now entered its second weekend with a total of 16 games already being played.Teams come generally within the vicinity of demak with the likes of the kampongs sejingkat,bako,muara tebas,goebil and sungai bako all participating.Has it been a spectacle so far? Indeed it has been,there has been goals galore, disputed decisions,good vibes from the crowd and the best of all in this rainy weather,FOOTBALL IN THE MUD. I have only seen a few matches but as i observed the standards and crowd pull not that bad either.Demak Rangers is a clear favourite with the likes of Hussein Razak,Safri Amit and Erwan in the team(all former state players). Brooke FC seems to be acquainting themselves well too ,with their thrashing of 9-0 on sg Bako ,maybe the semi final will awaits them.. Well i like to believe that the Saturday is a football day dream will be a reality and hopefully the authorities responsible for the well being of football will put their acts together and organise more Saturday and Sunday grassroots football.

Hindustan.....Gul Panag anyone knows who she is?

One particular craze that i am unable to rationalise to anyone is my obsession with Hndustani movies...creepy isn't it? Maybe it started with the 70's hits that the malays seem to drool on...Andaz,Haathi mere saathi(the crying elephants,remember that?). Growing up in the early 70's was great in my view. TV was just coming in to everyone's households, movie scene has brought out mega hits and mega craze,Bruce LEE,Wang Yu and on the hindustani side Rajesh Khanna and his crying elephants, Rishi Kapoor's Bobby. Hindustani movies though can really be enjoyable to watch because it is like the nescafe packet,3 in 1 that is, you have comedy, action and drama and dont forget the running around the trees with their saris sparkly clean and shining(how did they do that?)Those days my particular favourite actor was Jeetendra but honestly now i cant remember any of his movies.In Kuching the theatre to be for hindustani movies was REX theatre.Somehow in the 80's and 90's i practically ignored the hindustani scene and have not seen another hindustani for ages since the great hit Bobby. Why then this love affair comes back? Blame it on Sharukh Khan and Kajol,yup the kush kush hit brought back that Hindustani bug. The recent Sharukh movie Om Shakti Om was a really enjoyable epic and i loved the choreography of some of the scenes .Actually my real favourite Indian actor is Om Puri but more of his portrayal in the English movies, City of Joy (the Patrick Swayze melodrama) and the salford based movie "East is East".So what does one buy when one in Dubai? Presumably gold at its famous souk,suits that can fit a king but for me? I cherished the dvd that i found at the global village, a hindustani "unknown" but great movie called Dor,it was shown on TV2 a year back and i was always looking for a dvd of that movie and behold my joy when i found it at the Indian Pavillion in Dubai global village. The actress Gul Panag efforts in this movie was worth the full attention, brilliant acting that can be assured.

The lunches at Burj Dubai and..sofitel

where am i now? huh, the past week has been a hectic and roller coaster of a week,starting from a trip to Miri,off to Dubai for few days and last 2 days in JB.At senai airport finally awaiting to go home sweet home.Dubai? What an amazing place, this the second time i went there ,the first trip was too hectic and all business for me to savour the atmosphere(Besides the desert safari ride of course).This time round more time to look at the place in retrospective,it's amazing really how a desert enclave of an area was turned into a mega city and place of excellence.Everything is all BIG BIG BIG ,they ve a 7 star hotel Burj dubai,and an almost complete tallest building in the world. What impressed me though was the apparent pursuit for quality thinking and culture.The place is literally run by foreign Indian workers but can sense that the discipline nature of their outlook and roads? All are sprightly clean. Kudos to the sheikh.Highlight of my trip? a buffet lunch hosted by a Sarawakian who has made it big in Dubai at the burj dubai. Even to go dining there you need to book and you are only allowed access to this prestigious hotel if you had a booking.how does one eat at such a place(wont mention the price per head for the buffet lunch!!). Somehow the grilled meat tasted different!! Another sarawakian friend working there brought me to the global village where they had various pavilions selling things from various countries. First pavilion that was visited India and i got a huge hug from a dvd store seller when i told him i am a Malaysian. You got it, yes they were happy(the Indians i mean) with Sharukh Khan getting a Datukship from Melaka!!! Ha so the criticisms are clearly unfounded,well done Ali Rustam (oops forgot,well done Datuk Ali Rustam).After the highs of that sumptuous buffet lunch in Dubai, my buffet lunch in Senai Sofitel JB yesterday was a real let down. I was down with food poisoning and now still suffered from it!!! Back to reality mate

Badminton, lepak and cup of tea

Last 2 nites i suddenly became an active sportsman(more of an obligation...) by battling myself in our company's badminton competition. can feel all the muscles aching now but then who said that badminton is no fun? The drop shots are still being executed with elegance(of course from my perspective!!!) and the smashes did pass over to the opponents area even if the shuttle seems to be hanging in the air for ages ,hey it's still a smash shot!
In actual fact i did play badminton actively but stopped this healthy ritual almost 2 years ago when i indulged myself with other 'healthy" activity( read...the Sarawak football). We had this motley crew of friends and we called ourselves the GBAT gang and without fail we played twice a week at the KGS courts and possibly for around 2 hours(if you include the chit chat in between games).The badminton though was just a prelude to another more meaningful and useful(to us anyway) activity lepak(or loitering) at Mat cafe. Our "lepaks" can last at times for more than the 2 hours and possibly Cinderella would have missed her midnite deadline if she ever was joining our lepak group. Without miss i would always order "teh O kosong(black tea no sugar please) for coffee is no go for me after 9 pm or else i would just lie awake like a zombie counting sheep as you struggled to lapse into a sleep. What actually did we talk about ? Honestly now i cant even remember a single thing ,one thing i knew that sometimes i do get the usual drubbing for my eccentrics on the court.
So? after the 2 years lapse and getting myself back on the courts i promised that my new year resolution later thsi month will definitely be to join back my GBAT gang for the weekly badminton activities, "lepakking" at Wan's ice cream(no longer Mat cafe,comes with the times maybe) and will still savour my cup of tea,no sugar please!!!

Linut and other indulgences..

Just came back from a ravishing dinner meal.sometimes i have this sudden craving for that sumptuous melanau staple dish,the LINUT(or sago "porridge" for the unawares of the term linut)
see pic... This peculiar habit of eating linut with sambal belacan is a unique Malay ritual of eating this delicious dish. I was told by my late grandmother before that 'musim jepun"(during Japanese occupation) when rice was a scarcity,most Kunchingites or Sarawakians for that matter resorted to have staple dish of linut or potatoes. Well it was my dear old grandmother who first introduced me to this dish and ever since it has always been a craving for me and whenever i had an urge to indulge myself in this palate i must find all ways and means to achieve that or else "kempunan",this is another superstituous Malay belief for this dish."Kempunan" means disaster or bad tidings may befall oneself if such craving is not satisfied or honoured. Well there is only one place that i frequented here in kuching for the Linut dish,at the Masja restaurant!!! Wonder the linut(or gum) will get stuck in your intestines(ha..).Other favourite jaunts in Kuching for me if ican list them include Secret Recipe(boring boring) but honestly this place offer you the best fish and chips and americano coffee(better than starbucks mark my word i am a coffee man). The fish is deliciously fresh.Another favourite dish of mine is the "hepia" or fried prawns fritters, fried tauhu, keribang and other fried (all fried lah) delicacies with chilli paste.The best place to have this?Rex Cucur at Rubber Road definitely a worthwhile place to have your hepia and as a side dish,the mee jawa is not too bad either.The mee siam at the kopi kluang station cafe at the springs not too bad either. Back to the evergreen linut i remembered once when i was a university student in Birmingham i managed to get my mum to send a packet of the sago flour(to make the linut porridge) and when myself and another Sarawakian friend was having our mouths full of this sticky paste,a bewildered housemate(orang Malaya,who else can be that ignorant on linut!!) couldnt believe his eyes and just stood there and stammered uttering the following words(after 20 years i can still vividly remember)..." apa yang hang makan tu?Gum ke?you berdua gila ke?" haha in loose translation what he muttered was "what are you both eating? is it gum? you both crazy?"
ha ha give me a dish of linut anytime man or else bad tidings will befall!!!

Blackberry...a best friend

This week i lavished myself with a new blackberry hand phone,the blackberry bold. This is a real treat and as most blackberry users will testify once you use one you cant possibly revert to another brand no matter what the nokias,samsung are to throw at you with their new offerings.I first used a blackberry 2 years ago incidentally more for access to my emails,well it's still the best for such usage in my view.My only complaint that i had with my earlier blackberry is its camera function which cant offer a worthy picture of sufficient clarity.Nowadays can you imagine a life without a hand phone? Remembered my first ever hand phone way back in 1995 was a nokia and like most consumers(and hand phone makers know this) you tend to change these gadgets as a young man will sometimes do when they savour a better proposition(ahem..).My repeated change of hand phones though was sometimes due to unpleasant circumstances,my gadget tends to get stolen !!!that first nokia i can still recall was stolen when i left it just for a few minutes at a coffee stall.Few years back i started to migrate on usage of PDAs and my first PDA an O2 was taken away when my car was smashed at the roadside while i was having my Friday prayers. What kind of jerks do this despicable act at the mosque precinct? Anyway my second PDA was also stolen ,a Dopod when i left again for a few minutes in a buggy after finishing a round of golfing.PDAs tend to be oversell in its functionality, a laptop in my view is still a better companion and convenience of use for your business work. Can you now imagine a life without a hand phone? Incredible and mind boggling just to think what kind of gadget will be on offer 10 years from now? As for now let me just savour my blackberry bold with its much improved camera functionality !!! a photo taken at Buntal yesterday(testing,testing..my blackberry)..

Coffee anyone?

i have earlier confessed to few obsessions ; football,books,movies and yes coffee.i cant recall when this particular obsession(or is it an addiction?) turns into a passion.Maybe it started during my university days as you struggled to keep awake amidst the pressure of meeting assignments deadline so not surprising if one chose to be addicted to coffee (the other option is a smoke!!!!). Then the discerning taste for a good cuppa takes over. Friends tell me i am crazy as i go great lengths in pursuing this passion of mine. I have sipped and tried to taste all kinds of coffee,i have savoured a great cup of Bali coffee at a beautiful restaurant overlooking a valley at Kitamani Bali. I have tasted Turkish coffee at its original best in the Cappadocia region as the belly dancers strutted their stuff.While most people viewed Indonesia as a place for batik and other shopping extravaganza, for me i pursued its coffee. Indonesia is renowned for its high quality coffee .In a movie scene'the bucket list" Jack Nicholson tried to tell all and sundry the meaning of real luxury..A cuppa of coffee Luwak.(read origin Indonesia).Once on a visit to Bandung i tracked down a famous coffee roaster and grinder shop,Coffee Aroma wow heaven man as you sipped a cuppa with the owner and as he relate to you the history of the place Coffee aroma.By now must have guessed how my day start...what else with a good cuppa of coffee from my machine at home.i though have not yet tasted coffee luwak because it is real expensive believe me!!

Significant other..or also known as Minister of Finance

As we aged and nearing that magic number 50, a favorite pastime is to reminisce of things past. An obvious item to reflect of course was how you met your significant other. One will tell you of his enduring love since at the school bench, one will reflect on that first date watching the bangsawan or one is forever grateful that after few failed relationships finally met the right one for his heart. A marriage is a sanctity that bonds one human being to another , it gives meaning to a life that will normally be just a passing through of navigating a roller coaster of ups and downs. It will be the family that will be our bedrock , it will be our children that spurs us to be an exemplary to the society,in all as I sipped my tea celebrating a dear friend's wedding anniversary of possibly 20 odd years, I can understand his remark that our children makes a marriage, simple but true.
The Susan sarandon scene in the movie' Shall we dance" tells it all, to me great dialogue on that particular scene,watch that movie(not just Jeniffer Lopez great dance moves!!)

Singapore...heaven and hell

Was in Spore for a few days,attending an oil and gas regional exhibition. Stayed around Bencoolen street area, love the mee mamak there at one stall that i will always patronise whenever am in town.ravishing and best mee mamak i believed that i ever tasted..saw an interesting scene at bencoolen street, a mosque side by side with a pub!!!! i did go to that mosque once for my Friday prayers during an earlier visit,couldn't understand a single word of the sermon(being conducted in Tamil! i believe) as for the pub wonder what will be an appropriate activity,hmm do one go first for a pint?? then move next door to repent?? interesting place Singapore. Another place that i will always pay a visit whenever in Spore was this second hand books shop at Far East plaza, wonder why such an enterprise not that popular in Malaysia, because for book lovers you can really find good bargains there. You will always be assured of finding some good old edition books to excite you as you browse through the bookshop. This time though did not buy any,end up buying a good read book(i believe) at the Times "theOutliers" by Malcolm Gladwell,interesting thought provoking book on defining success,was a bit hooked to it last night and finished halfway, reminds me of previous great read books that i bought and savoured, The Black swan and Fooled by randomness both books by Nasim Taleb.
Back to the pub story,if this happens in Malaysia,all well meaning politicians, academicians and the man on the street will be screaming with rage..the only missing jaunt in between the pub and the mosque is a yoga centre,ha that will really complete the story!!! Next time i pray there i make sure that during Isya, the pub is still closed,well they all say the devils is everywhere !!!

The Doc ,is he over the Hill?

Tonite another derby game come a coming.Manchester derby,of course all knows which team i am rooting for. To tell you the truth ever since the overcommercialisation of the game i cant find a great emotional chord with the mancunian Reds as i did when i was first really falling in love with them in the late 70"s.Actually it is not cool at that time for someone to support United,the team is in doldrums,relegated to the second division(after that back heeled goal by Dennis "the king" Law got United relegated,who was playing for the manchester blues then). But to me the team that Docherty the Doc build and fashioned was the epitome of the Manchester United spirit.A team of great attacking flair and my great hero then was the wing genius Gordon Hill. Wow to see him searing down the left flank and popping up crosses for Stuart pearson was a great sight. The team also has Stevie Coppell,the captain Martin Buchan as i remembered in the side. That's the real United,still having great support and the fans causing great "havoc" as they visited the small club ground ,you can see the smirk of a Liverpudlian fan then.How we hated Liverpool. The Doc? What a character,this is the guy that announced a summer after being promoted and finally winning the FA cup against Liverpool(ha ha) that he was in love with the physiotherapist wife. Hence then he got the sack and was over the Hill since then in his football management journey and so was my hero then Gordon(who wouldn't tackle) Hill!!!

Phuket...or is it myamar/Bangla?

Am now in Miri,trying to catch a 2 pm flight back kuching but flight apparently full and overbooked,so have 4 hours to "burn" before my 6 pm flight.At the business lounge at least can hook up to the internet. Has indeed been a hectic week for me,flew to Kl last Wednesday,spent few days (as usual) meeting up with people.Then me and the family took an air asia flight to Phuket for a short 3 nites holidays. First time in Phuket, a real wonderful place to relax and do a bit of 'worthless' shopping. We came in on a Sunday, then loitered around the various shopping markets at Patong beach area and what struck me was that all the shops were manned by either Bangladeshis,Myanmarese or Nepalese. Where were the Thais? Honestly i dont understand this curious phenomena ,Thailand as i perceived is quite an overpopulated country and surely there must be ample hands willing to ply their trade at souvenir shops or markets.The usual junk ended as my shopping haulage ,T-shirts(which i know i will not wear later!!!), cheap DVDs(bought a Benny Hill collection) and the usual little trinkets. Monday though was more exciting as we went on a cruise to Phi Phi island, it was a full day programme ,did a bit of amateur snorkeling,had a good lunch at the island and again a bunch of T-shirts landed as unnecessary possession.Phuket is indeed a wonderful place as i imagined ,clean and has nice beaches to savour.Tuesday we planned to take a Tut tut ride to a tourist gems centre and henceforth to witness the sunset at Cape Promthep.Thankfully no urge by the significant other to buy these overpriced "trinkets" but the awful thing though was our Tut tut driver abandoned us at that place and didnt even bother to collect his dues and left me reminiscing what was the sunset would have been like at Cape Promthep.The gems centre true to Thai hospitality kindly offered us a free ride back to the hotel.At Phuket airport on Wednesday i cant help noticing long queues of foreign tourists at the domestic counters. Lo!! Bangkok airport was closed that day as was informed being invaded by demonstrators, ha this was the answer to my earlier curiosity .My friend when i text him on the influx of Nepalese in Phuket,as he said the Thais possibly too busy demonstrating against the government.Of course it"s not true but then i cant help pondering on the ironic ring to that explanation.
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James Bond and Anwar

Came back from KL yesterday after attending some business meetings and staying back for the MOGSC (Malaysian Oil & Gas Services Companies association) dinner. My oh my they had James Bond as their dinner theme ,it started off well but fritter a bit with guest artistes not as captivating as Ramli Sarip(just an old man being biased!!)>Talking about James Bond few days earlier has chance to bring my son Faizul to watch the latest edition,Quantum Of Solace.Not too bad the plane chase scene was a bit hilarious though but then give me a Daniel Craig movie anytime. From Kl yesterday took an earlier flight than my scheduled one at 12 noon and as i rushed (as the last passenger on board) and settled down with my books, cuppa of tea a man sitting across fidgeting annoyingly with his hand phone and i thought to myself this must a senior civil servant dari Malaya. Only when we were to disembark and he put on his specs that the man was none other than Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. Honestly this is an unbelievable confession i have never met him in flesh before(pardon the pun),i greeted him immediately,he looks like a decent father. Other prominent politicians i have met..even Pak Lah i actually ate nasi ayam on same table with him when he came visiting UK students way back in 1980. I will not divulge in politics but Anwar must be one of the most recognisable face in Malaysia and i didn't recognise him!!! Shame on you Zuraimi. Well i said to myself he"s no James Bond so cant help not recognising him. When i alighted from the plane i met a MAS staff whom i knew and i told him that i was not aware am sitting an aisle across Datuk Anwar and he quipped(by his exact words).."Boss, mun(kalau) Alex Ferguson baru kita kenal" Sigh that has been my destiny always related to football.

hartlepool adventure

received some updates on the boys that are now in Hartlepool doing their training stint.Seems to be well taken care of by the club,thanks Russ and Chris Turner for accomodating them. They were housed in an apartment owned by the football club,the weather a bit cold was informed but then how many Sarawakians or even Malaysians has this kind of opportunity?

A decent Malaysian and othr stories ......

Has been a hectic few days not only with the workload but attending few of those social functions.has the opportunity to attend the dinner do with raja Nazrin delivering a keynote speech on integrity and the role of the Rajahs vis a vis the government and the rakyat.Even though delivered in a monotonous but deliberate and assured tone i was impressed with the substance of his speech. Relating back to the times of the Melaka sultanate and the words of wisdom imparted by the bendahara to the sultan.i am of one who believes in the mantra that HISTORY is always the best judge of one's contributions. Leaders of today are mere holders of trust for future generations. Say no more cos am no politician maybe in future postings of the blog !!Last nite attended the SCCI dinner ie Sarawak Chamber Commerce dinner ,Nik and Daniel band was on show as well, love his baritone voice ,this Daniel Shukri(incidentally my second cousin) quite enjoyable the duck dish was delicious i always be like a man possessed if ever i come across a duck dish during any dinners cos at home duck and lamb are taboos my wife hates them. Read the borneo post as usual interested to read anything related to sarawak football, while happy to see that FAS seems to be making the right moves with R alberts being taken in as coach, am not amused with the statement regarding Sarawak FC by the presnt spokesman of FAS(no names mentioned please). Those who read my earlier posts in this blog regarding Sarawak FC will certainly understand that it is not meant to be a separate entity starting from scratch but a joint collaboration of "separate' management of senior team by state government,FAS and private sector. Now they are coming up with another proposal (read...separate entity) seems same formula like what i propose but with some different flavour,less i talk the better it is. will only reserve judgement when season is at its mid way only then we can see true leadership and capacity to manage as the team will certainly suffer its share of losses and ups and downs.

thanks to a dog!!!

Was in Kl yesterday attending our OSFAM exco meeting being the president. As usual sneek out to buy 2 books, "The world is curved" a tour d'force of trying to explain the intricacies of the present global financial systems and understanding posible reasons for the financial debacle due to the sub prime loans problems. Learn such mouthful word as "securitisation"(being the major blame for the debacle) has just finished reading 2 chapters and have also learned that the author in late 80's was interviewed by the smartest man in the world(according to Lyndon Johnson) Mr Lee Kuan Yew and he dared to stand up to that Singaporean icon. The other book i bought is on the history of manchester United. More interesting hmm and wow if i were to read what the author relate Mannchester United would not be in existent if not because of a dog named Major. You see at that time Man U original name was Newton Heath owned by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway company social club.Funds were at its lowest ebb and if no monies were sought Club has to close down ,man. So the captain of the day a guy named Holt decided to go for a charity drive with his dog,Major. It was a disaster fund raising campaign(reminiscent of theSarawak team ) and to add misery he lost his dog. To cut the story short a certain rich magnate Davies was also looking for a dog for his daughter and through a series of fortunate events they both met at same moment when trying to claim the missing dog.A deal was struck!!! Holt will part with his dog if Davies help out his bereaved team Newton Heath(man U). Thus start a new beginning of the club under the ownership and leadership of Mr davies which include moving to a new place in the Trafford(read Old Trafford) area. I am just on the 2nd chapter as well.No bets needed which book i will finish first!!! So to all man u fans give a yam seng and salute to MaJOR THE DOG!!!

Movies..movies

i confessed to some obsessions to the point of being passionate....football,coffee,movies and books.
Football everyone knows my famous or infamous forays with the sarawak team last season,well only a man of such idiosyncrocies as what i had will do all that but no regrets. Movies i want to write a bit more,just finished watching the movie "across the universe" a string of beatles songs wow great the scouser (liverpudlian) accent of Jude the main character is great to hear,the songs i can relate to and i found myself humming away to some of the tunes to my daughter's sabrina disconcertation. My all time favourite movie? it has still be "doctor Zhivago" a poignant love story tale with the russian revolution as its background,Omar Sharif as dashing as he can ever be.Hmm let me try to list down my all time 10 favourite movies;
1.0 Dr zhivago,2.0 East is east( a funny story of a mixed muslim pakistani family living in salford manchester) 3.0 Terminator(believe it or not but i think this is a real cult movie for me) 4.0 Layercake( a Daniel Craig (aka james bond) gangster thriller with a great twist in the tale) 5.0 Grease( a reminder of those late 70s era when John Travolta is the man) 6.0 Om shakti Om( ha,a hindustani with sharukh khan in his real element) 7.0 gladiator( Russel Crowe epic with a human touch) 8.0 serependity( Kate Beckinsale love story movie ) 9.0 P Ramlee Ali Baba bujang lapok(the apek song routine was hilarious) 10.0 Pirates of the carribean(my fav actor johnny depp at his best) ..well watching movies is a great stress reliever what's more with a nice cuppa coffee as your companion. Pity that i ve yet to watch a recent malay movie that catches my eye but man laksa is not that bad.

My twins birthday today

Twins Nur Sabrina and Faizul turns 14 today,gosh how time flies,i can clearly remember the day they were born at Chin specialist clinic in Miri.It was a caesarian birth with Sabrina keep reminding his brother now that she"s the eldest(even by only 2 minutes).I typically missed the actual delivery event because while awaiting for their birth me and my late father decided to have roti canai...anyway it was a real joyous moment for me and their grandparents and elder siblings.When we moved back to Kuching they were just one year old so they had no real memeories of life in Miri.Have i spoilt them? The wife keeps saying yes i am!!!! Both now in their respective schoolbands,a bit lazy on their books but well still ok i sppose ,fully obsessed with their pc and video games(nothing new for kids these days).Sabrina is a reading buff with her collection of Stephanie Myers books.Faizul??Boys are boys that's all i can say.The twins being not identical are indeed unique and i thank God for such a blessing and i can live with their idiosyncracies possibly as long as they dont disturb my saturnight night football on astro,ha!!!! Sabrina shares my obsession wit movies(besides books) and i teased her the other night when i caught her watching my "mama mia" movie ,so ABBA indeed is still cool.Faizul has this funny obsession with the Chinese 3 kingdoms tv series and anything related to that. What gift shall i give them for their birthday? this year we re not celebrating the occassion with a party at our home as usual possibly will bring them out for a dinne tomrow night. Well happy birthday my twins and i love you both with all my heart(that doesnt mean it is an open cheque policy though!!!)

Durians

the weekend was spoiled by my indulgence in durians,i should have known better,being a diabetic it must be a no go for any sweeet cravings particularly the kings of fruits. Down under the weather you immersed yourself in just reading the tabloids,watch silly movies( national lampoon homo erectus and the rocker) and saw a game of 2 halves between Everton and Man Utd.This is the time of the year when aspiring Datins were all hoping that their other half will get that much sought title because the little detail of the title does not matter dato,datuk or datu what matters how the spouses will be deferred to ,still DATIN!! ha just joking am proud my good friend Wee Yiaw Hin the Shell MD got a Dato. Have time though to chit chat with my daughter Diyana in KL she's doing A levels there hoping and aspiring to be a chemical engineer(wonder whose footsteps she's following),now a time of university interviews and offers. She has to go for a Cambridge U interview and as she moaned,"real difficult dad " well what you expect? My only advice is just enjoy that experience whether you are to be successful or not in entering that prestigious university.Back to durians...man i envy those that has no taboos to indulge in this king of fruits , i must learn to live my life as a diabetic,though not serious yet i must control all those cravings!!! i still cant figure it out whether you should treat durians as any other fruits ie as dessert platter or as the main meal itself.

OSFAM anual dinner

the weekend was spent in kl for our association OSFAM offshore structures fabricators Malaysia held our get together dinner at PJ Hilton. It is an "exclusive" club so to speak for members comprise only of gang of 7 MMHE,Sime Darby Engnrng,Ramunia,Oilfab, Kencana , Boustead penang shpyrd and Brooke dockyard eng. Incidentally i was the president so bit nervous need to give a welcoming speech in front of gathering of around 60 tables of attendees..hmm ada jua berpantun raya and ada orang negur saya hmmmyang when i said,..datuk/datuk blah blah saya ingin bertutur dalam bahasa Inggeris.......the word bertutur is not a bahasa malaysia word tapi kelakar sarawak,betul ke? anyway the nite itself was fun the MC was none other than Mahathir Lokman and our guests artistes Nail raja Lawak and the evergreen Ramli Sarip..wow man Ramli Sarip really captivate the crowd i found myself with all others happily singing the chorus with him all the way. Ramli you are the man!!! OSFAM members is quite a significant entity within the scheme of things for we collectively employ around 11,000 employees ,and sarawak based brooke is the only one from the other side of the south china sea, so quite a proud moment for me (hope in a modest way) to be the president .thanks to the organising committee for such a wonderful nite!!! envy ramli sarip though as we all talked about our young student days and he still can keep his long hair while we all have to defer to theprotocol of growing old ie no long hair please!!!

the hartlepool adventure

The plan to send some sarawak players to hartlepool is going to happen!!!!! an agreement has been reached in principle for us to send kallang,shahrol and zamri for a 2 months training stint with their first team on 1.11.2008.Hartlepool will pay for all thei expenses during their stay there, my only concern is the cold weather~!! but the players more worried on whether they can communicate with the locals there, as zamri said when Richie Humphreys was here in Kuching few months back he cant understand a single word!!! what i didnt tell him is that Richie is a yorkshireman and the accent is not as "foreign" as the geordies up north in Hartlepool or to be more precise a county durham accent. but if we can understand Bryan Robson when he talks(he's frm county Durham) then ok lah zamri!! This will be announced by Ministry in collaboration with FAS.