Malaysia boleh, tapi tak cekap...

My company just posted an ad. looking for programmers to boost my R&D team recently. In just 3 days, there have been 20+ applications on my desk. When we came out with the same ad. a few months ago, we only got 2 or 3 applicants. Is there an apparent glut in the current job scene (as in, too few jobs, too many jobless programmers)?

It's also interesting to note that among the applications, a quarter of them are Indian nationals, one or two from Thailand and the rest Malaysian. It is only after putting the CVs side-by-side that you notice an apparent gap separating Malaysian graduates from foreign graduates. (P.S I'm comparing grads with about 1 or two years work experience)

Spelling/Grammatical errors
Malaysian : Present in all but one CV. Yet they all claim an "excellent command of English". Some are expecially proud of being able to converse in "Mandarin, Hakka, Hokkien, Cantonse and Foo Chow". Err... I didn't thought it mattered since we wanted good English communicators. This particular guy had English at the bottom of the list (above BM).
Foreign : Spotless (given English is also a second language for them).

Skillsets
Malaysian : Whatever they picked up from universities + more (gained from a few personal projects) [applies to only 5 of them]
Foreign : Whatever they picked up from universities + more (gained from a large repertoire of personal projects) + specialisation (in two or three skills)

Academic qualifications
Malaysian : All have Bachelor degrees (only 4 had their CGPAs listed)
Foreign : Only 2 have Bachelor degrees, the rest just certificates/diplomas (all complete with results summary)

Presentation of CV
Malaysian : Almost a quarter of them printed their CVs for submission directly from Jobstreet's "Preview your online CV page". One used an electronic typewriter with no formatting. Only 5 had cover letters attached. Most have 6 to 8-pager CVs due to loose formatting and irrelevant information.
Foreign : Properly formatted for easy reading. Only 1 didn't have an accompanying cover letter. Max. 3 pages, tight, concise and to the point.

Miscellaneous
Malaysian : "Demanding" for high wages. Highlighted unrelated work exp. (e.g. babysitting, waitressing, etc.)
Foreign : Highlighted projects/previous work exp. related to job being offered.

One Malaysian even applied for "System Engineer" when we wanted "Programmers". DUH?!

Another actually highlighted the problems he had with his previous employers, saying "i left because they didn't pay me on time" or "i got a better offer from company Y". I mean, how shallow is that?! At least if it needs to be mentioned, there are better ways of phrasing 'em.

This is of course, not meant to be a generalisation as I'm confident there are brilliant Malaysian graduates out there who can write excellent CVs. But from what I've seen to far, I gather that quite a portion of Malaysian graduates out there seem lacklustre when it comes to job applications. It really surprises me how these people seem to claim "boleh-ness" in their CVs when in fact, there is a lack of "cekap-ness" to it.

Cyberjaya = Cyber success?

An article in The Star today just got me thinking... is there really technology transfer between multinational companies in the MSC?

Given the current economic gloom, I can't help but feel skeptical that there's somehow an "udang di sebalik batu" in carrying out technology transfer by multinationals. Already in the US, there is a growing worry that multinationals are beginning to cut American jobs and transfer the vacancies overseas. Although India remains the top destination, Asia in general has much to offer from lower wages, and better perks from the local government (e.g. tax reliefs, etc.).

This does obviously include Malaysia - who's being really nice in offering a multitude of benefits including super-fast bandwidth, beautifully landscaped and cheap offices spaces, tax reliefs, cheap workforce, warm weather and great food. Being such an sweeter than honey, it's no wonder multinationals swarm to setup their bases in Cyberjaya.

Heck - even the media's all so excited that the multinationals have landed!

But honestly, have you read much about multinationals contributing towards the "technology transfer" that's supposed to happen? I'll just pick a few and let you decide:

DHL & HSBC - Service and operations centre
Fujitsu - Sales and support office
NTT - Sales office for the ArcNet Internet Service, data warehousing, webhosting
Microsoft - Sales and operations

I fear the words "technology transfer" may just be the halo multinationals need to take advantage of the cheap Malaysian workforce... all in the name of cutting operational costs and maximising profits.

If all the multinationals do here in Malaysia are setting up sales, service or operations centres, in no time will Cyberjaya feel like a giant business park, rather than a creative, innovative and research driven Sillicon Valley it's supposed to be.

The mother of all routines

Is this what Mon - Fri for the next 30 years is gonna be like?

AM
7:30 - Get up and rush to work
8:30 - Start rambling and cursing about the traffic
9 - Start work

PM
8 - Go home
8:30 - Start rambling and cursing about the traffic
9 - Dinner
10 - Read papers
11 - Knock out for the day

Hmm - there's gotta be a better way to work-life...

Chronicles of a caffeine addict in the office

*uh oh... losing focus... must concentrate...*

Unlike many other Malaysian office bees (nicer name than workers, no?), I have to work a little extra to get that dose of caffeine everyone needs to get their engines running for the workday. For one, I have to actually "mine" for coffee thanks to a damp 20-year-old coffee bottle which we use to store the coffee powder. The dampness causes the coffee powder to clump together into rocks at the bottom end of the bottle. So to extract some coffee powder out, I'll have to scrape the bottle's bottom with my really short teaspoon and 2 fingers (since my hands are too big to fit into the bottle).

After struggling for about 3 minutes (which is when I usually give up with mangled fingers) just mining for coffee rocks, I will then roll the stones out into my cup and crush them with my teaspoon so that they're fine enough for easy dillution. After another 2 minutes odd gleefully crushing them, begins the 2nd phase in coffee production... getting milk powder. Thankfully, my boss didn't decide to buy a cow, so this becomes as easy as opening the dark, ant infested food cabinet and looking for something that rhymes with "milk powder".

Mixing the powders together, the last thing in the list of ingredients is of course, sugar. Now, I don't know details about the actual tenancy agreement my boss signed when we moved into this office, but I have a feeling somewhere in the fine print, there probably was a clause stating that "in addition to monthly rental payments, we are also required to offer/share whatever sweet minerals we have with the co-tennants and their colony". I remember us having a whole bag of sugar when I first started a few months back. Now, the entire bag has disappeared (can't be my colleagues as none of them look jittery and hyperactive to me) and I suspect the bag of sugar has been offered to the Queen Ant in a peace truce to leave the rest of our food alone.

Being adaptable humans that we are all, my colleagues and I managed to establish a steady alternative supply of sugar to our office courtesy of McDonnalds just below our office. McDs are always so generous with their sugar they give us 2 or 3 packs of sugar with each McDs cuppa in the mornings. With sugar in such short supply, how can anyone not accept such generous givings?

So, with coffee and milk powder in my cup, I walk back from the pantry to my desk's locked and booby-trapped drawer and key in a disarming code longer than Microsoft's WinXP Product Activation code. In there... lies the most precious commodity of all... sugar! Thank God I like my coffee bitter, so sugar is used very sparingly.

Finally, with the completed mixture, I move back to the pantry towards the hot water dispenser to chemically transform the powdery mixture into a golden dark brown concoction known all over the world as "Coffee". Unlike durians, this smells like heaven, and tastes like heaven. Heck... if drank in large quantities, it'll probably feel like heaven too!

*sip* Ahhhh~~~

ok... looks like my mind's getting straight again... back to work!

Helvetica vs. Arial

Helvetica - invented by the Swiss in the 1950s
Arial - invented by Microsoft with very similiar Helvetica typeface.

Result = Arial is bundled with almost every computer today and has overtaken Helvetica as the standard font in practically every document.

Take the role of Helvetica... and let Arial know we don't need his type arounod here...
Kick Arial's ass!

Neo, I need an exit!

The Japanese seem to have been bitten by a larger Matrix bug than anyone on Planet Earth...! Checkout:

... more Agent Smiths than Neo can handle?
[ The Matrix Reloaded Priemier in Tokyo ]

... two table-tennis players battle it out Matrix style ;-)
[ watch ] (requires Windows Media Player)

LOL!!!

One of my all-time favourite Spanish songs!

OK OK, this blog isn't about to change into a music lyrics server :p But since I love you guys, I've decided to share it with ya'll.
Quite sure a couple of you have heard this number before... excellent lyrics & rhythm, but I'm sure lame English translation :D (so put on your headphones, close your eyes and blast away!)

Volare - The Gypsy Kings Pienso que un sueno parecido no volvera mas Y me pintaba las manos y la cara de azul Y me improviso el viento rapido me llevo Y me hizo a volar en el cielo infinito Volare, oh oh Cantare, oh oh oh oh Nel blu dipinto di blu Felice di stare lassu Y volando, volando feliz Yo me encuentro mas alto Mas alto que el sol Y mienstras que el mundo Se aleja despacio de mi Una musica dulce Se ha tocada solo para mi Volare, oh oh Cantare, oh oh oh oh Nel blu dipinto di blu Felice di stare lassu Pienso que un sueno parecido no volvera mas Y me pintaba las manos y la cara de azul Y me improviso el viento rapido me llevo Y me hizo a volar en el cielo infinito Volare, oh oh Cantare, oh oh oh oh Nel blu dipinto di blu Felice di stare lassu

(To fly) I think that such a dream will not return and so it painted my hands and face blue but unexpectedly the wind came and carried me away and carried me soaring into the infinite sky to fly oh oh to sing oh oh oh oh in the azure sky painted so blue happy to be so high and flying, flying happily I find myself going higher higher than the sun and while the world slowly gets further away from me a sweet tune plays only for me to fly oh oh to sing oh oh oh oh in the azure sky painted so blue happy to be so high I think that such a dream will not return and so it painted my hands and face blue but unexpectedly the wind came and carried me away and carried me soaring into the infinite sky to fly oh oh to sing oh oh oh oh in the azure sky painted so blue happy to be so high

Groove to the beat! ;-)

SEPTEMBER
Maurice White, Charles Stepney & Verdine White
� 1975 Saggifire Music/Eibur Music

Do you remember the 21st night of September?
Love was changing the minds of pretenders
While chasing the clouds away

Our hearts were ringing
In the key that our souls were singing.
As we danced in the night,
Remember how the stars stole the night away

Ba de ya - say do you remember
Ba de ya - dancing in September
Ba de ya - never was a cloudy day

My thoughts are with you
Holding hands with your heart to see you
Only blue talk and love,
Remember how we knew love was here to stay

Now December found the love that we shared in September.
Only blue talk and love,
Remember the true love we share today

Ba de ya - say do you remember
Ba de ya - dancing in September
Ba de ya - never was a cloudy day

Ba de ya - say do you remember
Ba de ya - dancing in September
Ba de ya - golden dreams were shiny days

It's been a while since songs like these are being written... simple without being soppy and boy-bandish...
Songs these days are just full of hate, anger and frustration. It's too real! I wanna lose myself and get dreamy with music!

Anyone's got any other "antidotes" to last till the weekend?

The sound of silence?

Just got myself a brand new THX-certified Audigy 2 soundcard...

... among the software bundled with the soundcard... "Hitman 2: Silent Assassin"

LOL~~~

The Ace on my deck of cards?

I was at the ATM the other day to withdraw some cash for the weekend. I approached the lonely ATM noticing the bank's guard sitting at the corner watching over the bank. I took my wallet out and started looking for my card. I've got quite a small wallet, (with not many pcokets) so all my cards were stacked together in three pockets...

(translated to English)

me: "ok let's see... Driving license, MyKad, Touch & Go, ISIC, AAM, Insurance, GIRO, Coffee Bean discount card..."
*guard steps over and jokes with me*
guard: "whoa... that looks like a lot of cards!" :D
me: "haha - take a look... " (and I showed him the whole stack of cards that I had...)
guard: :O whoa... you look like you've got enough to play Blackjack!
me: LOL~
(flips through the rest... MPO Subscriber's card, Starbucks discount card, aha! Bumi-Commerce ATM, puts the card in and goes on with ATM transaction)

Having smartcards are a good thing - they reduce clutter in your wallet and reduce the complexity of transactions... but not when you have so many cards in your wallet! The variety of smartcards in Malaysia is astounding... Touch & Go, FastTag, SmartTag, ATM cards, MyKad, Insurance, AAM, ATM, Driving License, MEPS (e-cash), Putra TravelCard, credit cards... etc. etc.

In our rush towards a "smart" and tech-savvy society by 2020, it'll be a mistake if we don't pause to ponder upon the societal implications of technology use. A "rush" to collect and implement technologies without fully understanding their implications towards the society can be disasterous.

MyKad's mine... mine... MINE!!!

MyKad for example, is really a good idea indeed - a single card integrating the national identity card, driving license, MEPS electronic cash, passport and health information. But about 2 years into its adoption and there are already signs that the implementation may not have been thought out well enough.

Firstly, there has been revision after revision of the MyKad and citizens are constantly reminded to change/upgrade their identification cards to the latest MyKad. Revisions are understandable as the concept and technology is new to Malaysia. However, upgrades should be consistent and the public should be informed about it loud and clear. I keep reading about what MyKad is supposed to have, but my version of the MyKad doesn't have anything but my Identification Card! Some Malaysians now have their driving license in the MyKad.. and even going through the application process is a hassle. Does that mean that I have to upgrade mine (via a card writer) too, or do I have to re-apply for a new card to get all these features in it? Worse still, even with the integration of the driver's license into the MyKad, it seems drivers still will have to carry their old paper-laminated driving licenses around - simply because "not all of the authorities have the smartcard readers yet!" (Read TV SMITH's hillarious take on our MyKad).

And that's just a fraction of the picture. What about the other cards?

Who's that trip trappin' over my bridge?

The Malaysian toll collection system is no less than a joke... first it was cash, then there was cash and 'Touch and Go'(T&G), now there's cash, T&G, FastTag and Smart Tag! Oh... and wait... soon, there'll only be cash and T&G. But wait! PLUS (contractor for Malaysia's North-South Highway) was just ordered to study a *new* toll collection system! Will there be more? Or will the strongest prevail? Only the Malaysian government can tell... stay tuned!

Making Malaysians pay for toll is a problem... but burdening them with different payment systems is even worse. What puzzles me more is why the government decided to wipe out all the other more advanced toll collection technologies (e.g. Smart Tag and FastTag - which doesn't not require the driver to stop, wind-down the window and stretch his/her hand to the toll booth).

Morning grouches?

Adopting technology for the sake of claiming the "tech-adopters" title is very shallow. 2020 is indeed a short timeline to claim ourselves a first-world, but we may have to rethink that deadline if we still can't shed the third world mentality. With no proper planning, lack of standardisation, little law enforcement, no prior impact-assessment studies (or they're ignored), bad managers and corrupt politicians, any technology can fail no matter how advanced.

Have you ever heard the morning traffic report? Notice how you hear roughly the same lines everyday?
- "Federal Highway jam around Kerinchi"
- "Sunway toll is congested heading towards Motorola"
Any motorist travelling daily on these roads can tell you precisely what the problem is. Take the Sunway toll for example... traffic from 2 highways (6 lanes) get piled up at the toll plaza (12 lanes) only to squeeze into 3 tiny lanes right after the toll (which soon after divides the traffic into 2+1 lanes). See the logic? Hmm... what logic? One can't deny that inconsiderate motorists are a source of the problem... but it usually takes a situation to bring out such dirty behaviour. Oh... and after the toll, an electronic signboard (could be part of the KL Intelligent Transport Information System) will remind you to "Kindly drive carefully, be patient". wtf?!

Collapse of the wired schools?

In our bid to have all schools wired to the Internet, we have shamed ourselves yet again. We rushed towards finishing the computer labs and at the same time risk murdering our Malaysian children in shoddily built facilities. I hope never to read the following Malay Mail headlines...
Today's newspaper headlines:
"East Coast tech-injection... 487 new computer labs built!"
Tomorrow's newspaper headlines:
"Computer labs at East Coast schools crumble overnight in classic 'now you see it... now you don't' fashion!"

You know what? While we waste our time and taxpayer's money bickering with Singapore over petty water issues, the Thais may just secretly beat us to it.

I'm not trying to shoot down every government initiative to push us forward as a country. They have done well enough just bringing the concept to the public. But my point remains that we should ready ourselves before we put a system in place. It's not like we don't have prior experiences to learn from. Look around us... mistakes are abound from which we can learn and not repeat. A little thought goes a long way into injecting quality and order into the world around us...

Sesat SARS Art?

In a world where yesterday's news seem like a century ago, the topic of SARS may be a lil' passe already. Anyhow, the SARS Art Project started off during the peak of the SARS worldwide spread, and a few readers to popular online blog BoingBoing.net began contributing posts with digital art carrying the SARS theme. More contributed and eventually, a "spin-off" blog was established as a digital art gallery dedicated to SARS.

Take a look... some of the digital paintings are somewhat wierd, freaky and sesat-ish!

Why do some societies make disasterous decisions?

Sometimes having no prior experience can be disasterous when faced with a new situation.
Situations like these have wiped-out entire civilisations (e.g. Mayan, Easter Island and Angkot Wat).

Jared Diamond, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of the widely acclaimed Guns, Germs, and Steel: the Fates of Human Societies (also author of The Third Chimpanzee, which won The Los Angeles Times Book award for the best science book of 1992) describes why in the following article... read "Why do some societies make disasterous decisions?"

Better still, watch the video! (Requires RealPlayer)

Great stuff around the web...

• New fashion and design ideas from IDEO



• Rustboy
  Steve, Boingboing reader says:
  "Fantastic site describing the ongoing production of a computer animated short film, Rustboy. The samples on the site are gorgeous, and I'm looking forward to seeing the finished article. All the work is being created using off-the-shelf hardware and software (Apple G3 & G4 Macs along with Infini-D, Premiere and Photoshop) by one guy called Brian at home in Scotland."



• Palm cooling mouse!

Lava lamps on Korean subway

Beautiful, ain't it? DC_Sivar... seen any of that around? They seem to be Lava lamps on Korean subway trains.

Echoing Ryuu's boredom killer, here's another two which I found interesting...

Animal, vegetable or mineral?

Art or crap?

The science of building a paper aeroplane

I didn't realise building paper aeroplanes evolved into a science by itself!

I was at an art bookstore recently and there was a whole rack on origami and folding paper planes. Only then did I realise how much science actually goes into the construction of a paper plane. There were books on the aerodynamics of flight, paper plane design and folding... from helicopters to "military-jet" paper planes!

I'd always had an interest in paper planes... remembering how challenging it was to overcome some of the problems (e.g. aerodynamics, roll, tilt, nose dives, etc.). Best done with a group of friends... it did feel like we were building a bomb at times :p
At times, paper clips will do the trick, while twirling the wings may work just as well other times.

Plus there's the design "coolness" factor to consider... the sleekness, colour, etc...!

Well FYI, Ken Blackburn currently holds the current world record for his paper plane's time aloft: 27.6 seconds! His site, Paper Airplanes, has links to his record-winning design, a great explainer on the aerodynamics of paper airplanes, and heaps more! (also don't forget to read the criteria set by Guiness to judge paper plane records)

Also, have you ever heard of a kamikaze water-bomb paper plane? >:) Muahahaha

... and try building the best paper airplane in the world!

Lastly... here's other unique paper airplane designs

Break free!

TIME dotCom and AtlasONE have recently been awarded a 2.5 GHz MMDS spectrum by the Malaysian Communications & Multimedia Commission .

The entry of these two players to the Malaysian wireless broadband scene will be a welcome change indeed. Their technology is far superior and practical compared to existing DSL services (we know who that is)... the reasons are simple:

• ADSL cannot reach anyone anywhere... you'll have to be staying within a certain range from a telecom exchange, and the cables to your house need to be copper, otherwise the DSL bits won't reach you.


• There are a very limited number of ports at the exchange and upgrades by TM Net seem to take forever


• The killer app in broadband adoption is getting access "anywhere-you-go". I had an opportunity to chat with an American engineer dealing with these wireless equipment and he was showing me the size of the ADSL modem (receiver in this case)... it's so tiny it can fit in your pocket! (well, at least the ones adopting the PCMCIA form factor).
  
• You can't bring your Streamyx DSL connection around!


• Signup can be made almost instantaneous and hassle free - it could be even possible to just buy these shrink-wrapped wireless receivers off-the-shelf! You would also not have any telecom people knocking on your door to "test phone lines" before initialising your DSL connection.

Do keep in mind that MMDS does not equal wi-fi. Wi-fi rides on the 2.4GHz band whereas MMDS uses the 2.5GHz band. Broadband over MMDS has much greater range compared to wi-fis (approx. 20 kilometres per base station as opposed to a 100 metres)... which is one reason why I think wi-fi hotspots don't work. It'll only take a few MMDS base stations to completely blanket the entire Klang Valley. Wi-fi hotspots are pretty pointless in the larger scale of things since they confine customers to a single "hotspot" premise. I mean, wouldn't it be pointless if each time I travel, I'll have to head to a cafe (not just any cafe, but a cafe with a wi-fi hotspot!). No wonder existing Internet Cafes don't feel threatened.

It'll be exciting to see how well TIME and AtlasONE roll their services out (both promise to do a Klang Valley rollout by the end of this year). TIME, at the time of this posting (no pun intended), has so far only rolled its services in the Sri Hartamas and Mont Kiara whereas AtlasONE's existing customers are mainly a few corporate companies around KL.

TM Net remains as sluggish as ever with new applications. I've applied for Streamyx three months ago... still no news from them... looks like I should start pitching my tent in front of TIME/AtlasONE already.

Fried butt on the dinner plate!

*quiver* WHOA!!!! *quiver* *pant*pant*

Given my limited vocabulary, this is all I can say after a gruelling drilling session presenting to a technical committee for a grant application.

With cash amounting to more than two million ringgit at stake, I'll become jelly all over whenever my boss throws me anything technical during our rehersals. No matter how prepared you'd be, first-time experiences will always fill you up with nervousness for the fear of the unexpected (especially when there isn't anyone else who would be able to save my ass, being the only technical person in the team). To compound that fear, the presentation *had* to be scheduled after lunch (and we were made to wait for over an hour for our turn!). So, I was already a walking zombie even before the presentation began... sleepy and sluggish from digesting lunch.

In the special "soapbox" session (with the grant's technical committee), I was gleefully shot over and over again with technical questions. I think excellent candidates for the committee must be people with an affinity for S&M.

But thankfully, past knowledge saved my day, and I was calm enough to somewhat recall some of the basic principles of what I studied before in order to demonstrate that I would be able to carry out a research. At the end of it, my hands needed defrosting, my butt was like well-done steak and my legs were jelly.

After wobbling out of the presentation room knowing that the ordeal's over, I'll probably celebrate by eating my fried butt, jelly legs and raw defrosted hands for dinner! mmm~~~

Beauty from afar

Beauty is all around us. Some things look good up close, while others are better seen from afar. While there is much beauty around us in the world that we live in, we often take it for granted since it's so readily accessible. There is however, another beautiful perspective to mother Earth - from 45 miles above. Unlike those lucky (and rich - Dennis Tito) few of us who make it that high above the Earth, the rest of us will have to rely on satellites to catch a glimpse of that stunning beauty.

Surfing across the web, I stumbled into a website offering just that - high-resolution satellite photo images of Earth! And if you'd think NASA satellites only snap pictures of American terrain, think again... because here it is, in all its glory - the Klang Valley!



Image generated by the Earth Science Application Directorate


More images of Earth can be viewed online. To learn how you can view these images, visit this TechTV site.
Happy viewing!
(Try locating the Great Wall of China - the only man-made structure clearly visible from space)

Anyway, I made references to actual maps of the Klang Valley to compare and actually mark out the areas as you can see above. Subang Airport's runway is an unmistakable tiny strip of line running diagonally across the box marked above.

Casually, it should be obvious now why this is whole land area is called the "Klang Valley". The mountains from the Titiwangsa Range create a valley which seems to "cradle" the city of KL and all it's satellite cities (PJ, Subang, Shah Alam all the way to Klang). At Port Klang, notice how the Klang River slowly finds its way to the see. Notice too, the formation of a horseshoe bend along the river (somewhere after Shah Alam).

The small white patches on the top right of the map are clouds, and the Genting Highlands mountain resort is just a wee bit above this map (but it's completely covered with clouds at the moment this photo was taken).

As you can see, development in the Klang Valley today is quite extensive. Just squint your eyes and notice how much light green/brown patches cover the image. The only true wildlife sanctuaries left are obviously forest reserves as marked by the dark green areas. Makes you wonder doesn't it... that it's only a matter of time before another politician will say "whoops... looks like we've run out of land... let's clear a small portion of forest for further development"... and naturally, we can "trust" their judgement because as all's done "for the good of the rakyat". Don't you just love politics?

Earth From Above

Well, coming closer back to Earth, one of my favourite nature photographers is actually Yann Arthus Bertrand. Yann Arthus Bertrand (he's French) was studying lions in Africa when he boarded a balloon flight and discovered how beautiful Earth was from afar. He then became a photojournalist and developed a passion for aerial photography. Thankfully, I was lucky enough to checkout his photo exhibition "Earth from Above" outside the Natural History Museum in London last year. All the photos in that exhibition as well as in his online photo gallery were taken from anywhere between 5 metres to 2000 metres above the ground. Stunning is all that I can say...

Replying spams could be fun!... sometimes :p

Haha - I don't normally respond to spams, but here's one which I found difficult to resist (plus, I'm sure my boss'll agree that 10 mins of break for each hour of work will make me a *very* happy boy :D )

Anyway, here goes:

"Okay, here's what you're supposed to do ... and try not to be LAME and spoil the fun. Just give in. If not, don't worry - friends understand. Copy (not forward) this entire e-mail and paste it onto a new e-mail that you will send. Change all of the answers so that they apply to you. Then, send this to a whole bunch of people you know *INCLUDING* the person who sent it to you. The theory is that you learn a lot of little known facts about your friends and family. It's fun and easy.

1. WHAT COLOR ARE YOUR KITCHEN PLATES?
Transparent glass with floral embossed designs.

2. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW?
The Third Chimpanzee - Jared Diamond
Billions and Billions - Carl Sagan
New Ideas About New Ideas - Shira P. White
(very inspirational!)

...quite the books for nerds like me :p

3. WHAT'S ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?

Malaysia: Don't have one - occasionally, I use my lap, my chest or my dog (I've got an optical mouse) >:)

4. FAVORITE BOARD GAME?
Monopoly! >:) It'll probably be the closest thing any normal, sane human being can get towards feeling like Warren Buffet.

5. FAVORITE MAGAZINE?
WIRED

6. FAVORITE SMELL?
NOA perfumes - gets me high each sniff!

7. LEAST FAVORITE SMELL?
Anything along Malaysian longkangs... *bleah*

8. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU THINK OF WHEN YOU WAKE UP IN THE MORNING?
Is this heaven? Hmm... not yet? Dang!

9. FAVORITE COLOR?
The colour of an azure blue sky ;-)

10. LEAST FAVORITE COLOR?
Anything that looks like puke.

11. HOW MANY RINGS BEFORE YOU ANSWER THE PHONE?
3 minimum, max. 5 (after that, you might as well hang up since I'd probably be ignoring your call anyway) :p

12. FUTURE CHILD'S NAME?
Toh Bee One Kenobi

13. WHAT IS MOST IMPORTANT IN LIFE?
Live it to the fullest!

14. FAVORITE NON-ALCOHOLIC DRINK?
Sparkling grape!

15. CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA?
Used to be chocolate... not anymore
Vanilla'll always have to go with choc ;-)

16. DO YOU LIKE TO DRIVE FAST?
Yea - when there's nobody around, it's a straight road where the speed limit's a ridiculous 30km/h (e.g. Jln. Multimedia, Cyberjaya) and you know there aren't any bushes for cops to hide in - only palm trees... but that would be too thorny, no? >:)

17. DO YOU SLEEP WITH A STUFFED ANIMAL?
God forbid... no! Anything stuffed around me has to look & feel totally non-animal (eg. a square pillow) so that I don't end up eating my own pillow... you'll never know where your dreams might take you >:)

18. STORMS - COOL OR SCARY?
Scary in movies, cool when I'm in the middle of it... hmmm... or was it the other way round? *grins and taps fingers*

19. WHAT TYPE WAS YOUR FIRST CAR?
The white sub-atomic knight! (Proton Satria la :p )

20. IF YOU COULD MEET ONE PERSON DEAD OR ALIVE?
Newton - so I could push him aside just before the apple falls onto his head and claim my fame to discovering Gravity! Muahahaha!

21. FAVORITE ALCOHOLIC DRINK?
Orange Margheritta

22. WHAT IS YOUR SIGN & YOUR BIRTHDAY?
Sagi, 20th Dec

23. DO YOU EAT THE STEMS OF BROCCOLI?
Sure I do

24. IF YOU COULD HAVE ANY JOB IN THE WORLD?
Nature Conservationist (no, not the Greenpeace kind) & Photographer (yes, the NGEO kind)

25. IF YOU COULD HAVE ANY COLOR HAIR, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
Silver, perhaps? :D

26. IS THE GLASS HALF FULL OR HALF EMPTY?
Half full

28. FAVORITE MOVIE?
Vanilla Sky

29.DO YOU TYPE WITH YOUR FINGERS ON THE KEYBOARD?
Blindfolded

30. WHAT'S UNDER YOUR BED?
Never checked... a hungry monster maybe?

31. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE NUMBER?
8 (yea, yea... I know what you're thinking... typical Chinaman, rite? Like 8s only because it looks really good on black billard balls - complete, round and symmetrical)

32. FAVORITE SPORT TO WATCH?
F1, Snooker, Table Tennis, Tap dancing (especially Irish)

33. YOUR SINGLE BIGGEST FEAR?
Dying a virgin :p

34. SAY ONE NICE THING ABOUT THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU?
Been an excellent conversationalist ;-)

35. PERSON MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND?
-

36. PERSON YOU SENT THIS TO WHO IS LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND?
-

37. FAVORITE CD or DVD?
Lord of the Dance - I wanna dance like 'em!

38. FAVORITE TV SHOWS?
Frasier, Futurama, Scrubs, Sex in the City

39. KETCHUP OR MUSTARD?
Ketchup - lycopene from tomatoes (protect against cancer!)

40. HAMBURGERS OR HOTDOGS?
Hamburgers

41. FAVORITE SOFT DRINK?
Irn Bru!

42. THE BEST PLACES YOU HAVE EVER BEEN?
Anywhere with good travel company, but UK, France, Amsterdam, Germany and Switzerland in particular.

43. WHAT SCREEN SAVER IS ON YOUR COMPUTER RIGHT NOW
None - takes up too much resources on my pre-historic pc"