Fight Recession

Apparently, this piece of advice comes from CIMB Group:

Recession is coming ... make your own judgment, don't panic !! Do what is wise.
The recession looks very eminent. It is really time to take pro active steps to avoid a painful time in the next two years which is how long the recession is expected to last.

Suggestions:
1. Don't take any loans, buy homes, properties with loans, or even cash. Keep as much cash as possible.
2. Pay off as much of personal loans, private loans, as debt collection will be hastened.
3. Sell any stocks you can even at lower prices.
4. Take money off from Trust Funds.
5. Don't believe in huge sales forecast from customers, be extremely prudent, lowest inventories, reduce liabilities.
6. Don't invest in new capital.
7. If you are selling homes/ properties/ cars , do it now, when you can get good prices, they are going to fall.
8. Don't invest in new business proposals.
9. Cancel holiday plans using credit cards.
10. Don't change jobs, as companies will retrench based on 'last in first out'.
Stay cool, wait, and if you took all of the above actions and more, you probably will be better off then many.
This is not a rumor. Bear Stearns is the first of many banking and financial institutions that will start falling in the not too future. If Bear Stearns can fall, so can JP Morgan, Citibank, HSBC, and the whole world.
US economy falls, the rest will crumble. India and all those self economies will be the most protected, but not gullible. Europe may be a little stronger, but not China , another giant! Malaysia will see significant impact.

Make sense, isn't it?
No wonder KL stock market is taking a beating this morning... down 27 points after 15 minutes!!

Sell now, especially stocks of GLC Companies!

New NS Expressway 3rd Lane Highly Dangerous!

Received this from a friend.

Dear TV3 and The Star,
I am a frequent user of our North-South Expressway and I have this
IMPORTANT experience to highlight and share:-
I was driving back to Penang yesterday afternoon (24 June 08) when I saw
the unfortunate accident in the opposite direction involving the passenger
bus that skidded and overturned at Tanjung Malim. I didn't know that the
skidded bus was from hometown Penang untill I watched TV3 news later in the
evening and was shocked to learn that the accident took two lives.
Now, this is what I need to share:-
I am a building contractor with over twenty years of experience and I have
been driving my 5 series BMW (latest generation and a dammed solid road
holding car) each time
I travelled to KL. Lately, the new extended 3 lanes highway had been opened
up for use and since then, I have also been using it quite oftenly.
HOWEVER, when I used it each time it is WET, I can really 'feel' that
the
new road surface is extremely SLIPPERY! To share with some of you, my car
comes with a built-in traction control mechanism (skidding prevention
mechanism) and you can feel it each time it is activated. Previously, I
don't come across this kind of slippery feel except when I drive over a
paddle of water at certain speed.
From my observation as a building contractor, the 'wearing course' of
the
new road surface could be TOO FINE OR TOO SMOOTH and TOTALLY UNSUITABLE for
highway use!
The wearing course (top premix layer) mix design for highways should be of
minimum 20mm coarse aggregate mix that will give us the required bond
between the surface and our tyres. Fine wearing course (14mm coarse
aggregate size and below) is only suitable for normal road. (A proper test
need to be carried out to determine the mix design of the wearing course).
Since the opening of the three lanes highway, I had seen cars skidding in
front me or in the opposite direction and approximately 2 weeks ago, one of
my friends who is also a frequent user of our NSE, came to share with me
about his slippery feeling as well as the many skidded cars he had seen
lately.
I am highlighting this to TV3 and The Star with the hope that a thourough
investigation could be carried out immediately to find out how or what
causes the bus to skid. A proper and independent test need to be carried
out urgently to determine the design mix of the wearing course. THIS CAN
SAVE LIVES.
FOR THOSE BCC RECIPIENTS, PLEASE SHARE THIS WITH ALL YOUR FRIENDS.
IF YOU ARE USING THE NEW LANES AND IF IT IS WET, MAKE SURE YOU DRIVE
SLOWLY!!!!
Regards,
Jensen Yeoh
012-4826163
Penang.

Girl students and their white blouse uniform

I would like to share this excellent article written by a fantastic writer , Foong, from Penang.
It is so "relevant". (These days, everybody is talking about being "Relevant", so do pardon the pun, which is definitely intended).

That’s right, blame the white blouse for social ills and sex crimes

"While you are at it, why not blame little children for daring to play in playgrounds as they are inviting perverted pedophiles to kidnap them by blatantly displaying themselves in such a public place.

Also, blame the women for even daring to step out of their homes as it could be construed as they are ‘inviting’ attention to themselves by blatantly displaying themselves in public places.

Don’t forget to blame all the clothes manufacturers for their audacity in producing clothes of any colour except for black such as yellow, blue, red, pink, purple, green or any other shades lighter than black could be construed as sexy.

While we are on a roll here, might as well reintroduce the chastity belt and impose laws to lock up all women and girls behind windowless rooms so that they do not tempt any men just by being there.

Finally, blame God for creating women in the first place to tempt men to commit evils of all kinds.

Seriously.

The root of social ills and sex crimes is more than just a white blouse. It is more than pirated porno materials available everywhere. It is more than the so-called negative western culture presented through the television, internet, etc.

Does this uptight, ignorant Munirah Bahari of the National Islamic Students Association of Malaysia even know what nonsense she is spouting before opening her mouth?

Other bloggers, Lilian and PabloPabla, have already pointed out her foolishness and blatant ignorance.

I however wish to point out that she is but an example of many others in the society who tend to blame everyone and everything from clothing to the victims EXCEPT for the perpetrators and lack of education when it comes to sex crimes.

So, the rapist / pervert / sexual predator were not pinpointed for their sick aversions but the victims were pinpointed for their dressing and their looks.

No rape / sex crime victim ever ‘asked for it’ no matter how she looked like or dressed like. Do you think Nurin asked for it? Do you think the countless young children who were sexually abused and raped asked for it?

In rape cases, it is often about control and not about sex. Even in sexual abuse cases, it is often about control and less about sex. How could raping an eight year old be about sex when the poor child hardly have any breasts? Rape was also one of the main actions in times of war, again, it is about power and control. Not about sex.

It is sad indeed that despite efforts by womens’ organisations like Women’s Centre for Change to change the mindset of the people to think about educating the people to respect women to reduce sexual crime rates, there are still those in society who preferred to blame it all on the victims than on the lack of education to prevent the perps from doing this.

It is also the same for social ills. Education and religious teachings play an important part to curb these. It is not about clothing or lack thereof. If adults, parents and teachers alike, do not play their roles to teach the young and lead by example, what could a simple white blouse do?

If I remember correctly, the Sisters (nuns) in the convent school I went to were dressed in white habits too. I hardly think those are sexy in any way!

On another note, I wore white blouses throughout my schooling days. So did my classmates and schoolmates. Amazingly, none of us were raped or sexually assaulted because of our ’sexy’ attire.

Shucks, if we knew white blouses are sexy, we would not have bothered going to all that trouble smuggling our own clothes in our school bags to change into so that we could go lepak-ing after school in ‘cool’ attire!

Shiissshhhh…how come no one ever told us this all those years ago? Ceh, the guys then must have been blind while the guys now must probably have x-ray vision which can only be thwarted by black or darker coloured clothing."

By Foong.

Please visit her blog here.

Lali, the girl with two faces

Tribune wire reports

12:24 PM CDT, April 8, 2008

SAINI SUNPURA, India - A baby with two faces was born in a northern Indian village, where she is doing well and is being worshipped as the reincarnation of a Hindu goddess, her father said Tuesday.

The baby, Lali, apparently has an extremely rare condition known as craniofacial duplication, where a single head has two faces. All of Lali’s facial features are duplicated except for her ears–she has two. Otherwise, she has two noses, two pairs of lips and two pairs of eyes.

“My daughter is fine–like any other child,” said Vinod Singh, 23, a poor farm worker.

Lali has caused a sensation in the dusty village of Saini Sunpura, 25 miles east of New Delhi. When she left the hospital, eight hours after a normal delivery on March 11, she was swarmed by villagers, said Sabir Ali, the director of Saifi Hospital.

“She drinks milk from her two mouths and opens and shuts all the four eyes at one time,” Ali said.

Rural India is deeply superstitious and the little girl is being hailed as a return of the Hindu goddess of valor, Durga, a fiery deity traditionally depicted with three eyes and many arms.

Up to 100 people have been visiting Lali at her home every day to touch her feet out of respect, offer money and receive blessings, Singh told The Associated Press.

“She is the reincarnation of a goddess,” said Lakhi Chand, a 65-year-old farmer who came to see Lali from neighboring Haryana state.

“Lali is God’s gift to us,” said Jaipal Singh, a member of the local village council. “She has brought fame to our village.”

Village chief Daulat Ram said he planned to build a temple to Durga in the village.

“I am writing to the state government to provide money to build the temple and help the parents look after their daughter,” Ram said.

Lali’s condition is often linked to serious health complications, but the doctor said she was doing well.

“She is leading a normal life with no breathing difficulties,” said Ali, adding that he saw no need for surgery.

Lali’s parents were married in February 2007. Lali is their first child.

Singh said he took his daughter to a hospital in New Delhi where doctors suggested a CT scan to determine whether her internal organs were normal, but Singh said he felt it was unnecessary.

“I don’t feel the need of that at this stage as my daughter is behaving like a normal child, posing no problems,” he said.

Japanese Buffet Dinner

Yesterday was my darling wife's birthday and we decided to go for Japanese dinner. We had tried Tropicana Kin Shui Tei Japanese Restaurant during our 21 Anniversary. The kids suggested to go for buffet... all-you-can-eat dinner... so I googled for the information. Listed below the restaurants serving Buffet Dinner, in no particular order:

1. Saisaki Japanese Restaurant, Unit 1-9 1st Flr, UOA II, Kuala Lumpur
Tel 03 21663728 RM43++ (No Oyster)

2. Shin Nichi Japanese Restaurant, Grd Flr, Kompleks Antarabangsa
Tel 03 21423318 RM49++

3. Jogoya Japanese Restaurant, 3rd Flr, Starhill Shopping Centre
Tel 03 21421268 RM88++

4. Ichi Ban Japanese Restaurant, Grd Flr, Wisma MPL, Raja Chulan
Tel 03 21488988 RM40++

5. Miyako Japanese Restaurant, Sheraton Subang
Tel ?? RM85++

6. Eyuzu Japanese Restaurant, 4th Flr, Eastin Hotel, Petaling Jaya
Tel 03 76651111 RM68++

7. Momo Japanese Restaurant, 1st Flr, Centre Point, One Utama
Tel 03 77259688 RM49++

8. Gen Japanese Restaurant, Legend Hotel
Tel 03 40429888 RM62++

As we lived near Bandar Utama, our first choice was Momo. I called to make reservation but the phone was ringing off the hook and no one answered. So we decided the next nearest, Eyuzu at Eastin Hotel. We got our table reserved at 8pm.




The setting was so so, and due to the crowd, it was quite cramp as the tables were very near to each other. But the food was so good, especially the SHUSHI! Here's some pics and I will let the food do the talking!










The bill came to about RM390 after adding 10% for service tax and 5% for government tax.

Good value for money as we paid more than RM500 for the a la carte dinner at Kin Shui Tei restaurant in Tropicana last December.

Go check it out!

Happy Lunar New Year and Happy Valentine's Day

Petition for our rights for safer roads and travel

Please post this on your blog now to help:

Chung Lern and Nian Ning’s families would like all families and friends of the victims, dead or alive, in the Slim River Bus Crash to come forward and join them in taking action against the bus company. Stand up to seek justice for these three innocent individuals, who were all so young and full of life.

If you have a blog, please call out to ANYONE who knows someone who survived or did not survive the crash to come forward to join the Lee family.

Make a huge difference, make a huge fuss.

For now, you may contact Lee Chung Lern at chunglern@gmail.com or preferably on his handphone at 012-6670368.

What a laugh !

May God save us all if this is TRUE!
(click to enlarge)