Ah So! Mori San. So desu ka?

don't think it makes Japanese sense, but sounds like it. Perhaps Cheng can correct me.

This is a true story from the Japanese Embassy in US!!!

A few years ago, Prime Minister Mori was given some Basic English conversation training before he visits Washington and meets president Bill Clinton...

The instructor told Mori Prime Minister, when you shake hand with President Clinton, please say 'how r u'.

Then Mr. Clinton should say, 'I am fine, and you?' Now, you should say 'me too'. Afterwards we, translators, will do the work for you.'

It looks quite simple, but the truth is...

When Mori met Clinton , he mistakenly said 'who r u?' (Instead of 'How r u?'.)

Mr. Clinton was a bit shocked but still managed to react with humor: 'Well, I'm Hillary's husband, ha-ha...'

Then Mori replied 'me too, ha-ha.. .'.

Then there was a long silence in the meeting room.
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Chin Huat's take on PKR's decision on Elizabeth

Ketuanan Parti atau Ketuanan Rakyat? Party or People is supreme? With a name Parti Keadilan Rakyat, it is such a coincidence that the question Chin Huat poses is on whether the party leaders consider the P or R is more important and this rests on K, Keadilan which is Malay for justice. One thing is sure in politics, and that is, they cannot please everybody. Which is why decisions on such a situation have to be based on certain principles and they have to be consistently applied to earn people's trust and approval.

The Nut Graph PKR’s moment of truth (excerpts):
By Wong Chin Huat
editor@thenutgraph.com

PARTI Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) will face its moment of truth tomorrow, 15 April 2009. The party will decide whether it will accept Selangor executive councillor (exco) Elizabeth Wong's offer of resignation following the distribution of intimate photos of her.

Wong has done the honourable thing by offering her party a choice about whether to retain her services or not. PKR's choice would not only signal its electoral strategy; more importantly, it would indicate the party's political belief on two important questions.

If PKR accepted Wong's resignation, it would be sending the message, loud and clear, that while ordinary citizens are entitled to privacy, public figures, especially public office bearers, are not. They are condemned to live with Big Brother or in Truman's
world if they cannot avoid the camera or afford the protection of police and intelligence services.

Wong has proven her worthiness not only to Bukit Lanjan as its state assemblyperson, but also to many more bukits within Selangor as the exco in charge of environment. She is not a mediocre politician.

Neither has she been implicated in any corruption cases. Instead, she might have frustrated many who hoped that corruption would help in the approval process for some hillside projects. And of course, she does not have an aide or bodyguard
implicated in a murder case or for stealing C4 explosives.

The insistence on comparing Wong with other politicians who are charged with or implicated in corruption and power abuse is akin to comparing rape survivors with criminals.

Secondly, if PKR accepts Wong's resignation in a bid to showcase its moral purity, the party is in fact welcoming attempts by just about anyone to expose their representatives' private lives.

The last time I counted, PKR has 71 elected representatives — 31 in parliament and 40 in the state assemblies. If PKR "rewards" what was done to Wong by accepting her resignation, the party is effectively inviting detractors to target all 71 PKR representatives whose private lives will be up for grabs. Can the party be certain that none of its representatives will be the next
"weak link"?

Ketuanan rakyat or parti?
The other political belief PKR would be displaying over its decision on Wong's resignation is an old one in political theory on democracy. Who do elected representatives owe their primary loyalty to? Their own conscience, their party, or the electorate (the people)?

Wong's constituents in Bukit Lanjan have made clear that they want her service. Mind you, they are of different ages, gender, and economic and sociocultural backgrounds. So far, we have not heard anyone calling for her to quit.

And so, the people have spoken, if you like.

Now that Wong has put her party before her own conscience, will her party put the people before itself, or more precisely, before the vested interests of certain quarters in the party?

Malaysians have no doubt that PKR believes in Ketuanan Rakyat over Ketuanan Melayu.

It will be a real test now whether Ketuanan Rakyat will also prevail over Ketuanan Parti.

The Truth hurts...

'Behind every great man, there is a surprised woman.'
This implies the woman did not look up to him in the first place.


'The reason men lie is because women ask so many questions.'
In other words, to cut a long story short!

This reminds me of someone who survived a horrible car accident. He found his wife’s subsequent cross-examination more painful than the actual injuries!
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A very good "80/20" Rule to remember

A very valuable lesson to learn...

Interesting quote from the movie 'Why did I get married?'

In most cases, especially in relationships, you will only get 80% of what you NEED and you will hardly get the other 20% that you WANT in your relationship.

There is always another person (man or women) that you will meet and that will offer you the other 20% which is lacking in your relationship that you WANT And believe me, 20% looks really good when you are not getting it at all in your current relationship.

But the problem is that you will always be tempted to leave that good 80% that you know you have, thinking that you will get something better with the other 20% that you WANT
But as reality has proven, in most cases, you will always end up with having the 20% that you WANT and loosing the 80% that you really NEED and that you already had. Be careful in deciding between what you WANT and NEED in your life.

I have taken the liberty to cut the story short and instead show this Wishing Well, which I think is relevant, instead:



Then I have inserted this unrelated story which I wish to refer to it as the Elusive 20%:

Housework

Housework was a woman's job, but one evening, Jenny arrived home from work to find the children bathed, one load of laundry in the washer and another in the dryer. Dinner was on the stove, and the table set. She was astonished! It turns out that Ralph had read an article that said, 'Wives who work full-time and had to do their own housework were too tired to have sex'.

The night went very well. The next day, she told her office friends all about it. 'We had a great dinner. Ralph even cleaned up
the kitchen. He helped the kids do their homework, folded all the laundry and put it away. I really enjoyed the evening.'

'But what about afterward?' asked her friends.

'Oh, that..., Ralph was too tired..'

Has it got to be mutually exclusive upon switching roles?

Credibility at stake

Don’t be afraid to criticize police: CPO, a headline in The Star, quoting Penang police chief, DCP Ayub Yaakob, who encourages constructive criticisms.

But what comes to my mind, is 'be very afraid, after you have criticized them!'

We have come across so many cases of people reporting about corruption or more serious crimes relating to VVIPs but ended up getting into trouble themselves! The perception of 'shooting the messenger' cannot be erased so easily.

Like freedom of speech, the people are more worried about whether there is freedom after speech.

I can still remember when Daim became the Finance Minister, one of his brilliant ideas was the amnesty offered to Malaysians with undeclared incomes stashed overseas. I wonder how many Malaysians, especially the Chinese, took up the offer. Most of them said, “No, thank you!” They believed, rightly or not, that the tax authorities promised not to tax nor penalise you during the period, but what about after? Just imagine, Tong, Lek and Ah Lee, suddenly brought in Rm millions when they didn’t even have tax files before! Wouldn’t the tax authorities keep a close tab on them after that? Surely, there is no promise of amnesty for an indefinite period.

On the other hand, we cannot stop people thinking probably some crony VVIPs themselves brought in tons of money during the period! I wonder who were in charge of VVIPs’ tax files then. Should be interesting… very interesting indeed.
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