wonder how they got into the statute books!:
In Romboch (VA), it is illegal to engage in sexual activity with the lights on.
(relevant now with the possibility of hidden cameras)
In hotels in Sioux Falls (SD), every room is required to have twin beds. The beds must always be at least two feet apart when a couple rents a room for only one night. And it is illegal to make love on the floor between the beds.
(an insult to bed manufacturers?)
In Alexandria (MN), no man is allowed to make love to his wife with the smell of garlic, onions or sardines on his breath. If his wife so requests, law mandates that he must brush his teeth.
(no problem where there is no kissing?)
In Los Angeles (CA), a man is legally entitled to beat his wife with a leather belt or strap, but the belt can’t be wider than 2 inches, unless he has his wife’s consent to beat her with a wider strap.
(a haven for sadist-masochist relationships)
In Ames (IA), it is illegal for a husband to take more than three gulps of beer while lying in bed with his wife – holding her in his arms.
(be more focus mah, what an insult to the poor wife)
In Washington, D.C., the only acceptable sexual position is the missionary position.
(I bet many offenders but how would they know?)
In Newcastle (WY), it is illegal for couples to have sex while standing inside a store’s walk-in meat freezer.
(must be due to many people feeling hot)
In Detroit (MI), it is illegal for couples to make love in an automobile unless the act takes place while the vehicle is parked on the couple’s own property.
(must be kinky otherwise, if on own property, is there a necessity for that?)
In London, it is illegal to have sex on a parked motorcycle.
(because it can be seen and will offend others?)
Government fed by the people
Career options
I suggest government... because nobody has ever been caught.
Corruption so prevalent it affects English language?
Corruption is so prevalent it affects English language?
When there's too much dirt...
We need better tools... to cover up mega corruptions.
Prevent bullying now!
If you're not going to speak up, how is the world supposed to know you exist? “Orang boleh pandai setinggi langit, tapi selama ia tidak menulis, ia akan hilang di dalam masyarakat dan dari sejarah.” - Ananta Prameodya Toer (Your intellect may soar to the sky but if you do not write, you will be lost from society and to history.)
Monday, December 03, 2007
Saturday, December 01, 2007
In my humble opinion...for the one with big ears
When I read the write-up on the new Sime Darby, I was almost convinced that now we have an almost invincible entity that can prove its mettle in the global scene.
But being the world’s largest oil palm grower, and the largest public listed company in Malaysia in terms of market capitalization, its fortune depends to a large extent on the world demand and resulting price of palm oil.
While the going had never been so good because of the unprecedented growth of the economies of China and India, we should not be too smug about being continuously successful. I believe our economy has yet to feel the total effects of a major downturn in the US economy and a possible collapse of China’s overheated stock market.
According to S Dali’s article in The Star’s Bizweek, ‘New ‘lenders’ of the last resort’, since the beginning of this year, Citigroup’s shares have lost almost 45% of their value, wiping away US$124billion in market capitalization. This goes to show that even the world’s largest bank was vulnerable to market forces, which was due to the damaging effects of sub-prime loans. As a comparison, Sime's market capitalization of Rm66 billion is only US$19 billion, probably equivalent to an amount to be written off their portfolio.
As an example of the unreliable basis of ranking a company based on market capitalization, before the listing of new Sime, IOI was the largest for a number of days. Many people just could not get over the fact that it was bigger than even Maybank!
In fact, I still believe that the merger to create the largest plantation company, which turned out to be the largest company, had something to do with Malay pride. Before that, IOI and KLK were leading plantation companies, well ahead of GLCs like Guthrie and Golden Hope. Now that Sime is on top, does it in any way affect the Bumiputera’s ownership percentage? No way. Not until a Bumiputera becomes the richest man in Malaysia, and that is the new criterion, set by Pak Lah.
Let’s just forget about the biggest for a moment and look at matters at my level, which is basically, ground level. Recently, I was told about an Indian contractor for weeding, who had worked for a local plc for more than 10 years. He was informed by the company that their new policy required a Bumiputera contractor. Later, he was approached by a company official, that he will be the new contractor, but he is willing to let him continue, if he could have a cut of Rm2 per acre. For 3,000 acres, it translates into Rm6,000 per month, for doing nothing. The deal fell through because of the problem of the sub-contractor having to wait for payment from the contractor, which can be dicey, as many government sub-contractors have experienced. If the policy were to have more Bumiputera contractors, then a serious contender willing to put out capital and sweat it out would have been more palatable. Wouldn’t this Indian feel marginalized?
We were approached by a broker about some 2-acre lots for sale at Rm30,000 in Perak. For agricultural land away from the main road, the price seems at least 20% below market rate. Upon closer look at the copy title, it was clearly stated as for ‘dusun’ (or orchard) and ‘tidak boleh di pindahmilik atau dipajakkan’ (cannot be transferred or leased). When we pointed out this fact, the broker said a certain lawyer has been handling such cases without problem. The likely scenario is some Chinese businessmen, who do not mind taking the risk, so long as they can work on the land for a number of years, hoping that none of the landowners would die during the period. Here again, it defeats the original purpose of giving it to those who have no inclination to work on the land.
I am still unhappy over how Southern Bank was ‘forcibly taken over’ by CIMB under the pretext of globalization. Yet the rules were changed to allow more than one negotiating party, after the take-over. The best part was the allegation that the books were cooked just prior to the take-over! I still remember how Tan Sri Tan tried so hard to fight off and many believed SBB’s real motive for taking over Asia General was in fact a poison apple to make the bank unattractive. It is like raping and then suing the victim for spreading VD to him!
Instead of reducing the number of banks with mergers and acquisitions, we now seem to have all kinds of banks to serve different purposes like SMEs and Islamic banking. I happened to be one for having niche banks like Phileo Allied but then again, politics had its way of changing the scenario. More recently, we have ECM Libra taking over Avenue, which was like a python swallowing an elephant.
Meanwhile, it looks like we have to direct our anger at super rich people like Robert Kuok, Lim Kok Thay, Francis Yeoh and Ananda Krishnan (not necessarily in order of wealth) for taking up a large part of non-Bumiputera shareholdings which made the NEP a never ending policy. But to be realistic, I am stuck with shares in delisted companies like Mbf Corp, Crimson, Datuk Keramat, Metroplex and so on, which according to the government’s criterion (nominal value instead of market value), I am fairly rich!
If Pak Lah does not wish to listen to a nobody like me, at least listen to experts in relevant fields like Dr. Lim Teck Ghee on share ownership and Wong Chin Huat on the electoral system.
But being the world’s largest oil palm grower, and the largest public listed company in Malaysia in terms of market capitalization, its fortune depends to a large extent on the world demand and resulting price of palm oil.
While the going had never been so good because of the unprecedented growth of the economies of China and India, we should not be too smug about being continuously successful. I believe our economy has yet to feel the total effects of a major downturn in the US economy and a possible collapse of China’s overheated stock market.
According to S Dali’s article in The Star’s Bizweek, ‘New ‘lenders’ of the last resort’, since the beginning of this year, Citigroup’s shares have lost almost 45% of their value, wiping away US$124billion in market capitalization. This goes to show that even the world’s largest bank was vulnerable to market forces, which was due to the damaging effects of sub-prime loans. As a comparison, Sime's market capitalization of Rm66 billion is only US$19 billion, probably equivalent to an amount to be written off their portfolio.
As an example of the unreliable basis of ranking a company based on market capitalization, before the listing of new Sime, IOI was the largest for a number of days. Many people just could not get over the fact that it was bigger than even Maybank!
In fact, I still believe that the merger to create the largest plantation company, which turned out to be the largest company, had something to do with Malay pride. Before that, IOI and KLK were leading plantation companies, well ahead of GLCs like Guthrie and Golden Hope. Now that Sime is on top, does it in any way affect the Bumiputera’s ownership percentage? No way. Not until a Bumiputera becomes the richest man in Malaysia, and that is the new criterion, set by Pak Lah.
Let’s just forget about the biggest for a moment and look at matters at my level, which is basically, ground level. Recently, I was told about an Indian contractor for weeding, who had worked for a local plc for more than 10 years. He was informed by the company that their new policy required a Bumiputera contractor. Later, he was approached by a company official, that he will be the new contractor, but he is willing to let him continue, if he could have a cut of Rm2 per acre. For 3,000 acres, it translates into Rm6,000 per month, for doing nothing. The deal fell through because of the problem of the sub-contractor having to wait for payment from the contractor, which can be dicey, as many government sub-contractors have experienced. If the policy were to have more Bumiputera contractors, then a serious contender willing to put out capital and sweat it out would have been more palatable. Wouldn’t this Indian feel marginalized?
We were approached by a broker about some 2-acre lots for sale at Rm30,000 in Perak. For agricultural land away from the main road, the price seems at least 20% below market rate. Upon closer look at the copy title, it was clearly stated as for ‘dusun’ (or orchard) and ‘tidak boleh di pindahmilik atau dipajakkan’ (cannot be transferred or leased). When we pointed out this fact, the broker said a certain lawyer has been handling such cases without problem. The likely scenario is some Chinese businessmen, who do not mind taking the risk, so long as they can work on the land for a number of years, hoping that none of the landowners would die during the period. Here again, it defeats the original purpose of giving it to those who have no inclination to work on the land.
I am still unhappy over how Southern Bank was ‘forcibly taken over’ by CIMB under the pretext of globalization. Yet the rules were changed to allow more than one negotiating party, after the take-over. The best part was the allegation that the books were cooked just prior to the take-over! I still remember how Tan Sri Tan tried so hard to fight off and many believed SBB’s real motive for taking over Asia General was in fact a poison apple to make the bank unattractive. It is like raping and then suing the victim for spreading VD to him!
Instead of reducing the number of banks with mergers and acquisitions, we now seem to have all kinds of banks to serve different purposes like SMEs and Islamic banking. I happened to be one for having niche banks like Phileo Allied but then again, politics had its way of changing the scenario. More recently, we have ECM Libra taking over Avenue, which was like a python swallowing an elephant.
Meanwhile, it looks like we have to direct our anger at super rich people like Robert Kuok, Lim Kok Thay, Francis Yeoh and Ananda Krishnan (not necessarily in order of wealth) for taking up a large part of non-Bumiputera shareholdings which made the NEP a never ending policy. But to be realistic, I am stuck with shares in delisted companies like Mbf Corp, Crimson, Datuk Keramat, Metroplex and so on, which according to the government’s criterion (nominal value instead of market value), I am fairly rich!
If Pak Lah does not wish to listen to a nobody like me, at least listen to experts in relevant fields like Dr. Lim Teck Ghee on share ownership and Wong Chin Huat on the electoral system.
Friday, November 30, 2007
Is he Robin Hood or the Sheriff?
Should we be eternally grateful to this man? He pretends to be Robin Hood but he is actually the Sheriff.
What seems like a goodwill gesture in not increasing toll charges where the expressways are more frequently used appears more like sweetener to the electorate. In not increasing toll rates, he takes from Peter to pay Paul. Peters happen to be those who are taxpayers who may or may not be the users and Pauls happen to be those who may or may not be taxpayers but are the users. It is blatantly unfair no matter how one looks at it.
Looking at the situation in perspective, he actually robs from the poor to give it to the rich!
We should question why he was a party to the original unfair contract and act more like a spokesman for the concessionaires than a government minister. The negotiators for the government acting for the people were dumb for agreeing to such guaranteed super profits for the concessionaires and we know why, don’t we? In fact, the concessionaires would prefer compensation as they get a fat cheque without having to collect the would-be increase in tolls over a period of time.
The people are angry with him for having thrown us into this trap: Either you allow them to increase the toll rates or the government will compensate them. The ‘choice is yours’ but in view of the coming elections, we have made the decision for you.
But for this coming election, we will decide for you too!
Undue rush to keep Rashid for the next polls
In an obvious display of ‘so what’ arrogance, BN decides to change the rules before the election in trying to keep the infamously biased referee. Instead of the usual ‘if in doubt, leave it out’, they are not about to take chances without their ‘lucky charm’.
Tian Chua put it well by saying ‘why change the Constitution for one person’? Why go to such trouble to keep the retiring Chairman and creating suspicion and reinforcing adverse perception of his impartiality?
Raja Petra, in his inimitable style, poked fun at certain aspects of Rashid's so-called reforms:
"BERSIH has asked for free, fair and transparent elections. This is fundamental in a democratic parliamentary system. But Malaysia practices the ‘first past the post’ electoral system. In other words, it is seats and not votes that count.
Yes, Malaysia has free, fair and transparent elections. It is free because you do not have to pay any money to vote. In fact, you can even receive money if you agree to vote for the ruling party. It is therefore more than free. It is profitable as well. And if your area faces a by-election, you will further receive tens of millions in development as the many by-elections thus far have proven.
Malaysian elections have never been transparent. But now the Elections Commission has introduced transparent ballot boxes. So, as far as the government is concerned, Malaysian elections are now transparent as well and there is no longer any reason for anyone to complain about Malaysian elections not being transparent enough. Of course, the people in government are not able to differentiate between a transparent system and transparent ballot boxes. It is like Samy Vellu walking into his office stark naked and declaring to all and sundry that he runs his ministry in a very transparent manner and nothing is hidden from public view."
From Haris Ibrahim’s ‘The People’s Parliament’:
“Rashid is due to retire on 31st December, 2007.
The move to extend Rashid’s term for another year could mean either that the elections will only be held next year or if before the end of this year, then Rashid is still needed to helm the EC if and when there are petitions to challenge any election results.
Pak Lah is pushing for a constitutional amendment to extend the retirement age to 66.
There they go again, messing about with our constitution for their own ends.
On 20th November, 2007, bodoh! bodoh! bodoh! tabled the Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2007 in Parliament for its first reading. This bill seeks to extend the retirement age of EC members to 66.
The bill is scheduled for the second and third reading on 11th December, 2007.
Kim Quek has written an excellent piece on this disgraceful move to tinker with the constitution. It appears in Malaysiakini and you can read it HERE. “
On the day scheduled for the second and third reading of the bill, BERSIH is planning a gathering outside Parliament at 11am to call on parliamentarians to vote against the bill."
Tian Chua put it well by saying ‘why change the Constitution for one person’? Why go to such trouble to keep the retiring Chairman and creating suspicion and reinforcing adverse perception of his impartiality?
Raja Petra, in his inimitable style, poked fun at certain aspects of Rashid's so-called reforms:
"BERSIH has asked for free, fair and transparent elections. This is fundamental in a democratic parliamentary system. But Malaysia practices the ‘first past the post’ electoral system. In other words, it is seats and not votes that count.
Yes, Malaysia has free, fair and transparent elections. It is free because you do not have to pay any money to vote. In fact, you can even receive money if you agree to vote for the ruling party. It is therefore more than free. It is profitable as well. And if your area faces a by-election, you will further receive tens of millions in development as the many by-elections thus far have proven.
Malaysian elections have never been transparent. But now the Elections Commission has introduced transparent ballot boxes. So, as far as the government is concerned, Malaysian elections are now transparent as well and there is no longer any reason for anyone to complain about Malaysian elections not being transparent enough. Of course, the people in government are not able to differentiate between a transparent system and transparent ballot boxes. It is like Samy Vellu walking into his office stark naked and declaring to all and sundry that he runs his ministry in a very transparent manner and nothing is hidden from public view."
From Haris Ibrahim’s ‘The People’s Parliament’:
“Rashid is due to retire on 31st December, 2007.
The move to extend Rashid’s term for another year could mean either that the elections will only be held next year or if before the end of this year, then Rashid is still needed to helm the EC if and when there are petitions to challenge any election results.
Pak Lah is pushing for a constitutional amendment to extend the retirement age to 66.
There they go again, messing about with our constitution for their own ends.
On 20th November, 2007, bodoh! bodoh! bodoh! tabled the Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2007 in Parliament for its first reading. This bill seeks to extend the retirement age of EC members to 66.
The bill is scheduled for the second and third reading on 11th December, 2007.
Kim Quek has written an excellent piece on this disgraceful move to tinker with the constitution. It appears in Malaysiakini and you can read it HERE. “
On the day scheduled for the second and third reading of the bill, BERSIH is planning a gathering outside Parliament at 11am to call on parliamentarians to vote against the bill."
Qualities of Senior Management
Once upon a time, in a nice little forest, there lived an orphaned bunny and an orphaned snake. By a surprising coincidence, both were blind from birth. One day, the bunny was hopping through the forest, and the snake was slithering through the forest, when the bunny tripped over the snake and fell down.
This, of course, knocked the snake about quite a bit. "Oh, my," said the bunny, "I'm terribly sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. I've been blind since birth, so, I can't see where I'm going. In fact, since I'm also an orphan, I don't even know what I am."
It's quite ok," replied the snake. "Actually, my story is as yours. I too have been blind since birth, and also never knew my mother. Tell you what, maybe I could slither all over you, and work out what you are so at least you'll have that going for you."
"Oh, that would be wonderful" replied the bunny. So the snake slithered all over the bunny, and said, "Well, you're covered with soft fur, you have really long ears, your nose twitches, and you have a soft cottony tail. I'd say that you must be a bunny rabbit."
Oh, thank you, thank you," cried the bunny, in obvious excitement. The bunny suggested to the snake, "Maybe I could feel you all over with my paw, and help you the same way that you've helped me." So the bunny felt the snake all over, and remarked, "Well, you're smooth and slippery, and you have a forked tongue, no backbone and no balls. I'd say you must be either a team leader, supervisor, or possibly someone in senior management... "
This, of course, knocked the snake about quite a bit. "Oh, my," said the bunny, "I'm terribly sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. I've been blind since birth, so, I can't see where I'm going. In fact, since I'm also an orphan, I don't even know what I am."
It's quite ok," replied the snake. "Actually, my story is as yours. I too have been blind since birth, and also never knew my mother. Tell you what, maybe I could slither all over you, and work out what you are so at least you'll have that going for you."
"Oh, that would be wonderful" replied the bunny. So the snake slithered all over the bunny, and said, "Well, you're covered with soft fur, you have really long ears, your nose twitches, and you have a soft cottony tail. I'd say that you must be a bunny rabbit."
Oh, thank you, thank you," cried the bunny, in obvious excitement. The bunny suggested to the snake, "Maybe I could feel you all over with my paw, and help you the same way that you've helped me." So the bunny felt the snake all over, and remarked, "Well, you're smooth and slippery, and you have a forked tongue, no backbone and no balls. I'd say you must be either a team leader, supervisor, or possibly someone in senior management... "
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