Merry christmas and happy new year

I'm writing on the bus off new york towards the north right now. Will get back to your emails and messages when i'm back in philly. In the mean time, merry christmas and happy new year!

Self Review

And so..my exams ended last wednesday...... and here's how i think i'm gonna fare aka my self report card this semester:

Business and Public Policy

Effort: F-
(heck, i didn't even touch the textbook. And i only studied 2 days before the finals..sigh)

Understanding: D
(At least i understood what the prof in class...only problem is that i probably forget everything say....2 minutes after class?)

Self Perception: F-

(I still remembered on the last day of class. Tobachman probably sensed my boredom in lecture that day....

Tobachman: yada yada yada yada *something on contractual obligation* yada yada...say..i promise xiang li a Ferrari for christmas..(which i think my eyes lit up for 3 seconds)...but come new year... there's no ferrari..nill..none in sight (sigh... i prob smiled at him).... so can he sue me?...yada yada yada....)


GRADE EXPECTED: F+
(Aih...should put in more effort for legal studies next semester....)


Engineering and Lab:

Effort: C-
(I knew i should have done all the questions in the book...and should have figured out what was wrong with that dysfunctional (yes-dysfunctional) red traffic light)

Understanding: B+
(Until today, i still don't get the norton and thevenin equivalence)

Self Perception: B
(Daniel lee is probably the most engaging professor i've taken a class with.... totally recommend his classes...)


GRADE EXPECTED: C+
(Must do exercises in the book Must do exercises in the book Must do exercises in the book Must do exercises in teh book........)


Corporate Finance

Effort: F-
(I didn't even finish those questions in the book. Andddd.. I didn't even realize there was a 2003 practice paper until a friend told me....)

Understanding: B-
(Why is it that sunk cost are not included in the EAC? I know that Prof. Mackinlay said that it can't be recovered...but pay money is still pay money what!!..)


Self Perception: F

(An email to the TA:

Dear (censored),

I'm just wondering if the tax should be taken into account when calculating the EAC.

For example,

my maintainence cost is USd 100 and my tax is 10%. Thus is my net maintainence cost USD 90 ?

thanks!

regards
Xiang Li

Reply:


Yes the case states:

To do the calculation, prepare a spreadsheet table showing all costs after taxes over each investment’s economic life. Make assumptions as necessary. Be sure to include the effects of inflation. ------------------------.

Regards,

(censored)

(so yes it should be taken considered while calculating the EAC...duh..what was i thinking?!!)


GRADE EXPECTED: C-


Vector Calculus, Linear Algebra and ODEs

Effort: F++
(Google shall be my textbook.... nothing beats google...or matlab...)

Understanding: F--
(It's not that we don't understand but I don't think the majority in class could do Temkin's exam...with the average score at 40% for his midterms...)

Self Perception: F--
(Temkin: the next few minutes, i'll provide some motivation for MATH xxx...... so here's the motivation..... ... if we translate ODEs into vectors and solving using homogenous equations on non-homogeous matrices...you'll get..yada yada yada...

o c'mon temkin...you can't expect us to be all olympiad gold medalist like you)

GRADE EXPECTED: F-



Physics and Lab

Effort: C-
(What... as usual..must do all the problems in the book...)

Understanding: B
(it's not really that hard...just that I wasn't really on-the-go for the first few lessons...)

Self Perception: B+
(the only class where my grades has an upward trend while the class average drops as the semester progresses)

EXPECTED GRADE: B

GPA EXPECTED: 1.5

And obviously this won't get me anywhere....thus i shall create a new academic honors list for myself... lXl's List (as oppose to the Dean's List)...sigh...

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

Absurd but true

Some exam/finals digressions.......

from today's THE STAR

How to become very rich in Malaysia

Connections and the ability to flip assets can get you going places

If you have ever wondered how to get rich in Malaysia – fabulously rich and very quickly at that – here’s a model that you might want to look at very closely. Not easy to do but if you do have a couple of projects in the bag, it will set you up for several lifetimes.

First you need connections – strong ones, the higher the better and if it goes right up to the top all the better. You need this because you need to convince the powers that be that your projects are good.

But you might ask if your projects are so good, why do you need connections? Why don’t you just go out and execute? Good questions, those. Here’s the answer - you need the state to give you something to do the deal that will help the nation.

Still can’t figure it out? See, it’s like this. You want to help the country, right? The country needs say a port. But you can’t build a port just like that. You need land to build a port. You tell the state or federal government you need land – cheap land, preferably free to build the port.

Or to take another example, you want to help the country by building a power plant. But look, you need land too and not only that you need the power to be sold. So you want an agreement – an iron-clad one to sell the power to Tenaga Nasional and to pass through all costs.

You see, that’s your reward as an entrepreneur – you get someone else to build the power plant, they guarantee the performance of the plant and someone else guarantees to buy your power and pay for all your costs. Nice deal? You bet. Billionaires have been made that way.

Or you may want to start an air hub. If you are persuasive enough, you can even convince the government to compulsorily acquire the land and sell it to you cheap. Once you have cheap land, lucrative contracts and concession agreements, the sky’s the limit.

Let’s take it a step further. If you want to realise the value of all of these things that you have and still keep control of them, it’s nice to have a listed company into which you can inject them. Inject one asset for shares and you gain control of the company.

And then inject others over the years for cash, taking the money out of the company. Who says you can’t have your cake and eat it too?

Do it right and get a flow of assets to inject in (you can do anything with discounted cash flow valuations – just change the discount rate, and presto, the value changes!), and you get a tidy flow of profits and cash into your personal accounts over the years. I mean a really tidy flow.

Just how much can you make this way, you ask? Why don’t you take a guess first? Did you say RM500mil? Guess again. RM1bil? How about five times that and you may be getting into the right order of magnitude.

One Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Albukhary actually made some RM4.5bil that way - actually more because he still controls the listed company. (
MMC’s latest RM1.7bil deal irks investors7) We are not saying he is the only one, which makes your chances of joining the ranks better – if you are connected to high places that is.

But then again, if things change – and that’s still a big ‘if’ – you might not find it so easy anymore.

P. Gunasegaram is managing editor of The Star. He thinks it is high time we changed the way we did business

yes, it's high time for change but change to what? U gotto be kidding me...

Over the weekend...

Aha, this weekend has been great! Man U won with 10 men, Chelsea lost and Liverpool drew...Hopefully we'll have more weekends like this especially throughout December.....

Effects of Global warming

Pre-winter Snow....i soOoOo can't wait for thanksgiving =)

Our friendly neighbor and some things Malaysians should be aware of...

And so... i was in New York last Saturday....at the lion's den....gasping to the vision of the tiny little red dot.


It was a wet wet wet wet day and the weather only permitted me to detour over to Ground zero before that..not much progress since 9/11? It's really amazing that the WTC didn't collapse sideways and flattened the surrounding buildings.....



Anyway, here's some take-away from Singapore's Economic Development Board (EDB)'s Chairman, Mr. Lim Siong Guan at the Singapore's Consulate for UN Mission ....

Singaporeans are EXTREMELY paranoid. They are very worried about the future, ...and have every reason to do so.

They boasted that they've 7000 MNCs and another 7000 of rising MNCs in the country.

The government recognized and readily admit to every single weaknesses they have. BUT, in true Singaporean mentality, they will turn it around and make theses weaknesses their strengths. Remember the water fiasco? Singapore got so worried about the reliance on Malaysia that they work arduously to create NeWater. And within those few years of development, the project won the equivalent of the Nobel Prize for Innovation or something (I can't really remember the exact name of it).


Where is Singapore heading to ?

The EDB is rigorously observing China and India, ostensibly because their plans evolve around the economy of these two countries. For starters, they introduced the session with this video by Fareed Zakaria (which i think is a bit brainwashing):




What struck me most was that:

1. EDB does not consider Malaysia a worthy competitor in the long run.
   

• They no longer believe that M'sia is competitive enough to stay afloat in the present economic climate and have shifted their focus to Indonesia, which are now their yardstick to predict ASEAN's direction. EDB has gone as far as to develop urban estates with the collaboration of the Indonesia's authority in Batam. What was interesting to note was that Indonesia is much more independent, free and liberal in their policies. The initial project in Batam was a failure because Indonesia simply couldn't open up Batam as an exclusive site. They claimed that if Batam is that "special", then every piece of land in Indonesia should be subjected to the same treatment. And believe it or not, M'sia took this as the model for Iskandar in johor.



• To illustrate M'sia incompetence in getting in FDI's, Mr. KC, EDB's Director of International Operations explained to us that a major solar company knew that the cost of setting their base in m'sia was way lower than in singapore in 10 years, but because of m'sia's red tape and bureaucracy inefficiencies, EDB snatched them at the very last minute.

2. Singaporeans don't like playing games, so they constantly change the rules of the game.

• "low cost" is no longer their trump card in attracting foreign investors in the wake of rising nations such as India, China and Indonesia.

• To be competitive, they've adopted a different approach, that is, civil efficiency. Firms tend to make decisions at the very last minute and exhaust all revenues to avoid making risky decisions.

• The catch is that they like to start businesses immediately to maximize profit. Here's how EDB comes in. Singapore allows MNCs (which they recognize) to set up base @ Singapore within 24 hours after the decision is made (compared to m'sia, which is 5-6months?). and since time = money......, these firms tend to say bye bye to m'sia most often than not.

3. They are very transparent, straight-to-the point and sometimes ruthless.

• EDB bashed the American economic model (where 70% of the GDP comes from Consumption), and doesn't believe that Economics professors in the West can grasp that of the East. The US and most western European economies are dependent on consumption and that's why lowering the interest rate and bailing out companies seem to be the most effective way to combat impending recession.

• In Asia, countries are investing in the future by flowing their money into education, urban development and research instead of injecting cash into the financial market (with the exception of m'sia, of course). They don't mind suffering now, but these countries intend to and will rise stronger after this debacle.

• To some extent, he was a bit apprehensive of Obama's welfare state policies that benefit the homeless. US rewards a person IF he's not working whereas Singapore compensates a person IF and only if he's working BUT the employers do not commensurate him enough. see the difference.....

• The Japanese, on the other hand, are willing to sacrifice for their country and that's why they are able to consolidate under the government and survive the 90s when there was no/slow growth in Japan.

• EDB readily admits that they are NOT concern about their sluggish share market. They are not bothered if a person lose 10 million but still have 1 million to spare. What is more pertinent are the taxi drivers and hawkers who loss all their savings in the market...which is very true....

• They also believe that the current financial turmoil is timely for price correction, especially on the real-estate market where values of properties in Singapore have ballooned beyond control.

What's their game plan for the next 50 years?


1. To beat Hong Kong (and perhaps shanghai?)and become the premier financial and banking hub of Asia

• EDB reasoned out that Hong Kong's development is heavily influenced by China. For some non-apparent reason (at least to me), they are confident that China is more interested to develop Shanghai rather than Hong Kong

• The Indian and Chinese middle classes, who are getting wealthier by the day, will not want to keep their money in China or India, but instead, they'll invest in "less risky" places, and that's where Singapore will play its role.

2. Capitalizing on India's and China's Growth.

• EDB always tells companies who are setting up factories in China and India that they cannot monitor China activities from India and vice versa (because it'll give a bias point of view). To monitor the market in Asia, Singapore will be the best bet.

• And, since Singapore is a microcosm of Asia (having 70% Chinese, 17% Indians, 10% malays and the rest, others, EDB offers Singapore to be their testing ground for new products.

• This does not mean that Singaporeans are guinea pigs (which i initially thought), instead, they will be the first to have the latest i-phone, i-pod or any other latest gizmos.

3. Capital and Research Development

• Singapore has evolved from manufacturing and capital intensive to human resource development. Their current mission is to have 1000 scientists working with them by 2015. This will be achieved from the A-Star scholarship, which has already given out 700 (of the total 1000) scholarships to date.

• Their research biotechnology park is able to accommodate 10,000 guinea-pigs aka mice in their basement. This will support the 100 over scientists that will be working there.
  

• And of course, they are able to attract the best in the world through their compensation package as they develop NUS and NTU.
  

4. Non-important necessities...

• Singapore doesn't bother whether they can manufacture their own Proton or build their own KLCC BUT they care a lot about having BMW's and Boeing's bases in Singapore with Singaporeans working in these firms.

• The aging population- yes, singapore admits that their population is aging but this is an opportunity for new drugs to be tested and clinical trials to be executed.
  

5. Heck, they've built a bunch of MRT stations that trains will not stop until 7 years time.....




Singapore is the master of planners.
They prepare for anything............
They just like to be ready...............................

It's all part of the grand vision of Singapore...


So Malaysia, where art thou?

Oh and also Thanks to the Singaporeans tax payers for the USD 25 amazon voucher and sumptuous ala Singaporean lunch.


Pictures are all courtesy from the Singapore's EDB presentation, slides and website.

The Boss says.....

What (i thought) the boss said:

1. Growth and the Economy

• Growth in Malaysia will be sluggish for the next few quarters, contradictory to whatever the mainstream media is reporting.
  
• Malaysia is taking a "preventive and preemptive measures" by restructuring 'bad' debts by banks, which most often referred to as bailouts.
• There is active monitoring by the Bank's regulating body and Malaysia should not be hit as hard as those Americans and Europeans.
  
• She however, remain defiant that FDI flow into the country has not decreased over the years.
• The ringgit will remain strong but she did not explain the multi-billion losses in reserve over the last 6 months.
• It is interesting times for the financial sector, so read the newspapers more often =)

2. Politics and the Economy

• The Bank has been playing an NAP role over the years and this will not be different even if there's a change in administration.
• Senior officers have been able to get things around due to their "dinosaur" seniority but once this generation leaves, she implied that she will be proposing the formation of an independent regulatory body (which i believe will be pushed somewhere early next year before Badawi retires for good under the pretext of reform)
• The Boss claimed that she advised the PM to not increase the oil prices so drastically early this year, but the effort was futile (as we all know), emphasizing that such plan has to be done in a gradual manner as to avoid artificial inflation.
  

3. Interest rate and the reasoning behind MOP's decision.

• The overnight lending rate or most commonly referred to as the interest rate will not be revised down or up.
• The Bank will not succumb to the pressure by its European and American peers to raise the interest rate to curb inflation (that is ballooning) or to lower it in the wake of impending recession (which our friendly neighbor has officially declared a few weeks ago).
• The boss reasoned out that there was no justification to have a revision because the inflation is artificial (due to the sudden increased in oil prices) whereas a lower rate will no doubt help growth now, but monetary policies are meant for the long run. The Bank believes that the current rate will reflect the country's economic climate once things are less volatile.

4. The Maybank-Indonesia Bank Bt. Fiasco

• The decision to acquire the Indonesian bank was made after many revisions.
  
• Yes, she admitted that the money paid does not correspond with the worth of the bank now because Merrill and Lehman fell the very next day after the takeover was done but that was due to bad luck.
  
• She, however, holds firm that the analysis done by the Bank leading up to the acquisition was accurate and reasonable at that point of time.
• There were many revisions done before the deal was completed because of the changes and incoherent acquisition regulations by the Indonesia's authorities and not due to the negotiations on the price that were to be paid by Maybank.

5. The Bank's HR, students and scholars.

• The bank would like to, ostensibly, have students who are interested in central banking to consider a stint at the Bank.
• The boss, in her usual manner, was composed (thus i'm not sure whether she expressed her disappointment or disapproval or was surprised or any emotions for that matter although students who raised the issue were rather gung-ho about it) that there were claims on HR inefficiencies in dealing with internship requests and emails, locating scholars in the US for the function, and the lack of guidance, direction and action during the internship stints.
  
• On the issue of scholars pursuing finance bound to the US (where problems are abundant for those who are in the know), she refuted the idea of awarding "major-less" agreements and reiterated that scholarships are given based on the needs of department (and i totally agree with that statement. Those applying should know what they are getting into. Besides, i thought the bank was rather accommodating to "major-changers")
  
• The other issue that was brought up was the Bank's (and i think Malaysians in general) appreciation of degrees related to international relations, psychology or other humanities studies. I'm not really sure what her reaction was, but what i can remember is that the boss side-tracked and said something along the lines of departmental needs.

That basically sums up the conversations we had with the boss over lunch, I probably missed out a lot of other details since i weren't paying attention most of the time. oOoOoOoOooo well...




This is an update from the previous post:

The Boss and I @ Boston..........

Princeton University

My appologies for the immensely late update =(. Been extremely busy the last few weeks trying to rewire my brains et all.

Anyway, I shall continue where i left out with Princeton about 2 months ago? aha..it is that loooOOooOoOong ago....

The fourth oldest college in the United States is the most outstanding undergraduate school in the world simply because :

1. Princeton has the largest castle-quad/dorm I've ever seen in my life with dining halls just a stone throw away.

All their buildings are styled ala Gothic that is synonymous with their ivy tag. They are soo freaking rich that the administration consume money like water.

As an illustration, it seems Princeton hired an enormous bunch of consultants and architects to construct structures that MUST blend into the campus environment and its other Gothic-century old buildings. AND when 1 of the buildings did not cut the grade, they tore it down and hired another bunch of consultants to design and built the whole thing all over again.... .


2. They even have a Gothic-fountain smack right in the middle of classes. Perhaps for cooling purposes? Another show of blatant extravagance.....


3. Oh, and their libraries, each has a distinct characteristic that prominently reflect the department's individual strengths.

For example, the math library which was recently constructed. Any imaginary derivable curves or lines are incorporated in and around the building.

The Firestone library, constructed after WWII, has over 75 miles of bookshelves! For the record, Princeton libraries have the most books per student of any other university in the world.

4. Princeton has a policy of NO frats or sorority on campus. They are BANNED. In exchange, they've "eating-clubs", a very much tone down version of frats (housed in a castle like the one below).

5. Their engineering faculty boasts one of the most advanced underground-labs in the world. And to emphasize on their spending power again, everything is built way bigger than they should be. just look at those those pillars....

6. The most important and probably the most distinguish school at Princeton that heavily contributes credence to its name is the Woodrow Wilson School of Public Policy. Second to none in the world, their scholars are all top-notch, most cited, and influential in the realms of international relations, diplomacy and policy-making.

7. Equally prominent is their natural sciences faculties that consist of 14 Nobel laureates in their rosters whereas their Math department boast 9 Field Medalists. Notable professors include John Nash (the master of game theory) and Andrew Wiles (the math genius who solved Fermat's Last Theorem).

8. Like any other reputable university, Princeton has a culture of itself and their students follow strictly by it. For example, no students walk out of the main gate before graduating, signifying their commitment to the pursuit of academic excellence.

9. Their compound is so surreal that one could actually stop and sit on the lawn to read. The exams are conducted based on the Honor Code, meaning, there will be no professor observing the students while they take the exam. One just need to collect the paper, finish it up at anytime, anywhere within the stipulated time period and hand it in once it's done. Of course, if anybody is caught cheating, they'll be thrown out of the university.


10. They have their own NJIT station that conveniently linked the university with Newark International Airport, New York City, Philadelphia and New Jersey.

11. Princeton placed so much importance on its students intellectual development, creating a buffer zone free of capitalist corruption that there is NO influential presence of corporate firms, starbucks etc on campus. When a company comes for recruiting or if an NGO wants to solicit their students , all their flyers are wholly designed by the students themselves ....and they get paid for it.

12. Finally, who could refuse the tiger? rawr..

=====================================

My laptoppy

My laptoppy just crashed....... =(

The next to fall from grace

The american-financial pandemic has infected europe.

The Guardian

Time runs out for Bradford & Bingley

Last-ditch talks aim to avoid second nationalisation

• Heather Connon and Richard Wachman
• The Observer,
• Sunday September 28 2008
• Article history

The future of Bradford & Bingley is on a knife-edge this weekend, as frantic efforts are made to rescue the buy-to-let lender and prevent it from becoming the next victim of the credit crunch.

The Treasury and the City watchdog, the Financial Services Authority, are seeking a 'white knight' to stave off the possibility that the government will be forced to nationalise the bank in the same way that Northern Rock was put into public ownership in February. A well-placed source said that 'the priority, as with the Rock, will be to protect depositors'.

But there is now a consensus that B&B's days as an independent financial institution are coming to an end, with analysts saying that either a sale, possibly to a 'lifeboat' consortium of rival high street banks, or nationalisation, is the most likely outcome. A break-up sale is also a possibility, as is a combination with Northern Rock.

Although the bank says it is well capitalised, the company is badly exposed to the sickly buy-to-let market and analysts say it may struggle to survive in the current global financial crisis. It was perceived to be 'clearing the decks' ahead of a sale last week when it announced it was shedding 370 jobs, writing off £134m of toxic assets and paying £13m to rewrite the contract under which it had to take on buy-to-let mortgages from rival GMAC. But its share price continued to plunge, closing on Friday at 20p.

Its five high-street banking rivals own 30 per cent of its shares, after they were forced to step in to underwrite its £400m rights issue, and it is believed that the FSA has already canvassed the support of HSBC, Barclays and Santander - which owns Abbey National and has just taken over Alliance & Leicester - to support B&B. While none of the three is likely to be keen to take on B&B on its own, they may be prepared to take on parts of the bank under a break-up deal.

B&B has been under pressure since it launched the rights issue, just weeks after denying that it needed one. Since then, it has revealed mounting bad debts on its portfolio of buy-to-let mortgages - it is the second largest lender in this market - a slump in new lending and a series of asset write-offs. Last Thursday it said that it was removing mortgage advisers from all its branches so that all new inquiries would have to be dealt with at a central processing unit in Bingley.

But the bank denied that meant it was effectively closed to new lending - only a tenth of its mortgages traditionally come from its branches, the remainder through intermediaries. It said that its branches would now concentrate on raising retail deposits.

Bradford & Bingley was formed in 1964 as a result of the merger of the Bradford Equitable building society and the Bingley Permanent building society. In 2000, it demutualised and floated on the London Stock Exchange with former members receiving shares of up to £5,000 each.

Many former building societies that abandoned mutual status have fared badly in the crunch: Santander took over Alliance & Leicester, HBOS was forced into a merger with Lloyds TSB, and Northern Rock went bust.

Economist Review

Malaysian politics

Economist

Bluff and counter-bluff

Sep 18th 2008 | BANGKOK
From The Economist print edition

Playing poker for the right to form a government

EPAFollow me, says Anwar

FOR months the entire country had been nervously awaiting Malaysia Day, September 16th. And not just to celebrate the 45th anniversary of Sabah and Sarawak, Britain’s colonies on Borneo, joining with the Malayan peninsula to form Malaysia. The opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim, had been promising, since his alliance’s strong showing in a general election in March, that by Malaysia Day he would convince more than 30 parliamentarians from the governing coalition to switch sides, thereby giving him a majority and allowing him to take power. Mr Anwar’s sweeping victory in a by-election last month heightened the speculation that he was on track to keep his promise.

The big day arrived. The prime minister, Abdullah Badawi, and his deputy, Najib Razak, ostentatiously went about their business, ridiculing Mr Anwar’s threat as a “mirage” and a “deception” respectively. Mr Anwar called a press conference to claim that he had “firm commitments” from enough government MPs to win power. He demanded a meeting with Mr Badawi to discuss a smooth handover. But still he did not name the supposed defectors. He has since called for parliament to be recalled from recess to hold a vote of no confidence in the government. Mr Badawi seems unlikely to agree to this or to meet Mr Anwar. The ruling coalition, led by the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), has run the country uninterruptedly since the peninsula’s independence from Britain 51 years ago. So is Mr Anwar’s boast the bluff of the half-century?

Malaysians might have concluded thus had it not been for the signs of panic from the government over the threat from Mr Anwar, and its deep and widening splits over Mr Badawi’s leadership. The “sodomy” charge brought in June against Mr Anwar by a male ex-assistant looked suspiciously similar to the bogus charges that brought him down in 1998, when he was the deputy, and chief rival, to the then prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad. Eight days before Malaysia Day, UMNO packed off dozens of its MPs on a supposed study tour of Taiwan, a blatant ploy to keep them away from Mr Anwar.

Then on September 12th three thorns in the government’s side were arrested under Malaysia’s Internal Security Act, a relic of British colonial rule that allows indefinite detention without charge. They included a pro-opposition blogger who had made sensational allegations against Mr Najib and an ethnic-Chinese opposition MP whose supposed offence had been to ask her local mosque to turn down its loudspeakers (she denied this).

The third detainee, released after 18 hours, was a journalist who had accurately reported racist comments by a minor UMNO official. The official had called the country’s Chinese minority “squatters” and said they were power-hungry “like the Jews in America”. The unrepentant official himself was not arrested, just suspended from party membership. This prompted the Malaysian Chinese Association, a party in the ruling coalition, to hint that its patience with UMNO’s ethnic-Malay supremacists was close to exhaustion.

The detentions looked like the start of the wider crackdown that some fear a cornered UMNO might yet launch, to save its skin. But they succeeded only in widening the splits in the ruling party. The cabinet’s leading reformist, Zaid Ibrahim, appointed recently to overhaul the politicised justice system, resigned and announced he now had an “open mind” about joining the opposition. Muhyiddin Yassin, the trade minister, called for the prime minister to step down early (he has already promised to hand over to Mr Najib in 2010). Several other ministers openly criticised the arrests.

Dr Mahathir—who has become a bitter critic of his successor as prime minister and had recently quit UMNO in a sulk—marked Malaysia Day by letting it be known he was rejoining, presumably to foment an internal coup against Mr Badawi. The next day the prime minister said he might hand over to Mr Najib early and, in the meantime, would give him the finance minister’s portfolio, hitherto held by himself. Shortly after, the Sabah Progressive Party, a small Borneo party with two MPs, said it was quitting the ruling coalition to go “independent”.

For the opposition, the prospect of Dr Mahathir helping UMNO destroy itself is “exciting”, as Nik Aziz Nik Mat, a leader of the Islamist Party, a member of Mr Anwar’s alliance, gleefully put it. The disarray in the ruling party will do no harm to the opposition’s hopes of gaining power. But it remains unclear if it has pushed enough disaffected government MPs to make the jump to Mr Anwar’s camp. Malaysian pundits think Mr Anwar has lined up a fairly large group of potential defectors. But they reckon he can keep voters waiting only a little while longer before they start to wonder if he is no more to be trusted than the government he loves to lambast.]

FYI

Freedom (is) when you lift your hand. And then (when the) lifting of your hand touches those of other persons, that's when your freedom ends.

A New Dawn

A new dawn! they exclaimed!
Ah Nua says, THEY will be brought down,
While the rakyat ask and prod,
Have we been conned all along?

OoOoooOoh Boleh-land!
Where art thou?
Flags are already flown upside down,
And you still dare scream "ISA!"?

The economy is in total bull****
Many hope for something new.
With Lehman gone, Merrill gone,
I wonder, who else will be drown?

When tomorrow comes,
A new dawn is lit,
But for me tonight, it's all matrices and cofactors,
And determinants and more numbers!

Because I want and need to score,
to beat those cruel curves!!!
Ahaha, and that I hope,
Is the new dawn for me!

Hello World!

Inexcusable salubrious salutations -- the sundried and sun dried Sunday kind!

For some reason, the night here is much warmer than the day.... this morning's temperature was 75F and it's now 84F???? Hmmm, probably one of the side effects of the pretentious global warming?......(Hail Al Gore! ahaha)

For the past few months, I was rather lazy (its summer okay!!) and did not feel like blogging about anything at all. There's simply nothing interesting in my life to share (i think).

Of course, there're issues in M'sia while i was there , but I'll let you know that those are just idiotic and idiosyncratic statements or comments that have been made by ***** people ahhhh......And none certainly deserved the coverage given ! The papers (and media) have became a tool for mass-intellectual-destruction (MID) through its overly-saturated ****shit to the extent that you feel like vomiting after reading them over and over and over and again and again..... G.W. Bush should seriously consider this MID as a weapon of WMD (though i'm strictly NOT suggesting that he should wage a "shock & awe" assault on --------) ahahahaha...just some random "thoughtless" thought (see, it has affected me already..aha..and of course, don't arrest me under ISA laa)
On a lighter note, my petition to have 7 Course Units has been rejected. I tried overiding it by petitioning against the decision again last week but to no avail. Aha, i guess 6 CU is more than enough for me this semester with 2 labs et al.

Oh, and one more thing, a late "B-lated B'day" wish for my brother's 23rd (very old horr..). For the record, you could also drop by his blog which can be accessed through the Link section (free publicity here =) ) to wish him though i'm pretty sure his blog is as "alive" as mine.

And also to Ryan (another publicity stunt here) who now holds the world-record of "most-censored-comments-by-lXl-on-facebook", for whatever reasons that are *unknown* to me. Ahaha..he's gonna whack me soon ....

So yeah, back to the initial subject, feel free to drop comments if you want my worthless (2 cents) opinion on anything or if you have a question that requires an answer (duh! not like i could provide one anyway). At least that would give me something to blog about =)

Vigil for those in need

Go Light Your World

There is a candle in every soul
Some brightly burning, some dark and cold
There is a spirit who brings a fire
Ignites a candle and makes his home

So carry your candle, run to the darkness
Seek out the helpless, confused and torn
Hold out your candle for all to see it
Take your candle, and go light your world
Take your candle, and go light your world

Frustrated brother, see how he’s tried to
Light his own candle some other way
See now your sister, she’s been robbed and lied to
Still holds a candle without a flame

So carry your candle, run to the darkness
Seek out the lonely, the tired and worn
Hold out your candle for all to see it
Take your candle, and go light your world
Take your candle, and go light your world

Cause we are a family whose hearts are blazing
So let’s raise our candles and light up the sky
Praying to our father, in the name of Jesus
Make us a beacon in darkest times

So carry your candle, run to the darkness
Seek out the helpless, deceived and poor
Hold out your candle for all to see it
Take your candle, and go light your world

Carry your candle, run to the darkness
Seek out the hepeless, confused and torn
Hold out your candle for all to see it
Take your candle, and go light your world
Take your candle, and go light your world
Take your candle, and go light your world

Pittsburgh

In Pittsburgh now from washington using the airport's free wifi. Should be in New York by late afternoon =)

Sodomee Is Back
by TV Smith
29/06/08

Kuala Lumpur - A local instant-noodle manufacturer has denied claims it is re-introducing a failed product to capitalise on a topical but controversial issue. A spokeswoman for Sodomee™ said: "It is just a coincidence. We are revitalizing some of the products and Sodomee™ happens to be one of them".

"We however, will not deny that we hope to get free advertising on the airwaves again. Many of our pretty newscasters mispronounced the OTHER word as So-doh-me, thus giving us free mileage previously". See/hear Merriam-Webster Dictionary for correct pronunciation of the Other Word and also Sex-Lexis for slang definition of sodomee. Asked if the product will stick this time, she explained: "The original recipe is being updated. Although some of the old staff are still around, we have a new chef heading product development this time".

Sodomee™ was introduced to the Malaysian public in 1999 and was withdrawn from the market in 2004. It is widely regarded as the most famous failed product and is the subject of studies at universities worldwide.

© 2008 TV SMITH

Ubah Gaya hidup !

15 WAYS TO NEGATE THE RECENT FUEL PRICE INCREASE*
by TV Smith
13/05/05

Improve your vehicle's fuel consumption - by as much as 40% - by changing the way you currently drive. There is a catch, though. You'll no longer qualify as a Malaysian driver...

1. Pump More Here & Pump Less There
Don't wait until your car senget one side before inflating your tyres. Low tyre pressure forces your engine to work and drink harder. Driving on underinflated tyres also reduces the life of the tyres. A lose-lose situation.

2. Dig Your Nose
Digging your nose is more economical than gunning your engine while waiting at traffic lights. Jack rabbit starts cost you even more. Never floor the pedal unless there's an express bus looming in your rearview mirror. Learn how to accelerate (and brake) smoothly for better fuel efficiency.

3. Pay It Again Sam
You may be using an alternative toll-free road as a sign of protest or as a means of saving money. If the the old route is perpetually congested and longer, you may end up burning more fuel than the toll saved. Sad but often true.

4. Go Look Stop
Are you one of those who frequently get stuck behind a stalled vehicle, crash into road humps or potholes? If you look further than 3 meters while driving, you can better anticipate obstacles and avoid fuel guzzling start-stop situations. Good reason not to tailgate too.

5. Make Up Your Mind
I don't know if it's kiasuness or indecisiveness that makes people drive with the other foot riding the brake pedal. A slight touch might not be noticeable to you but it strains the engine, wears out your brakes prematurely and confuses the poor driver behind. Make sure your handbrake is down all the way too.

6. Get Rid Of Freeloaders
The less passengers the less weight. The less load the better the fuel economy. If you want to car pool, pool the cost. Clear your boot by removing unutilised items like golf sets, prams, barbecue sets, scuba gear, etc.

7. Bear With Crow Shit
Park your car under the shade wherever possible. The hotter your car interior becomes, the harder the air-conditioning needs to work later, the more fuel the engine consumes as a result. The hot sun also increases fuel loss through evaporation.

8. Stay Safe & Save
Fuel consumption jumps dramatically after a certain speed. Keeping to the speed limit saves you more than traffic fines. Driving at 120 kph, rather than 100 kph, may increase fuel consumption by another 25 percent. The dangers of speeding far outweigh the travel time saved.

9. Get A Life
Stop pissing off your neighbours in the mornings and do yourself a favour. Most modern cars have no chokes or carburetors, so there's no need for long, noisy engine warm- ups. Hard revving a cold engine kills it faster than driving it.

10. Let The Bugger Go
There's no need to catch up with an offending driver just to show a finger or fist. You end up either paying more for fuel or a hefty hospital bill.

11. Learn From Your Mistakes
If your wife or girlfriend says she needs to pop into a warehouse sale for a quick look-see, find a parking spot and turn off the engine. Long idling wastes fuel and pollutes the environment.

12. Don't Be A Drag Queen
Remove that empty showoff roof rack or that ugly ill-designed Ah Beng spoiler as it causes unnecessary drag. Smoking with your windows down at cruising speed also increases drag. Newer cars (except the Juara) are aerodynamically designed for fuel efficiency. Stop adding unnecessary external accessories such as jutting elbows.

13. Meter The Meter
Keep track of your car's fuel consumption by monitoring the odometer or tripmeter. A sudden drop may mean mechanical problems. Timely oil change and other maintenance can save you significant amount of fuel.

14. Try A Different Nasi Lemak
All petrol are the same except for the additives and advertising. Contrary to what most Malaysians believe, you can mix your fuel. There's really no need to waste fuel by driving out of the way just to fill up your favourite brand and redemption card.

15. Get A New Boss
Use online banking or find a better employer. Stop driving to an ATM every hour just to check whether your salary is in.

*Your mileage may vary

I Almost Fainted After Doing It
by TV Smith
08/06/08

We were supposed to do it after watching P Ramlee The Musical on Wednesday. The show started late because of some nasty storm and people were stuck in a massive traffic jam all over town.

It was already past midnight when the show ended. We headed to the National Press Club for some drinks and by the time supper finished, I was already too sleepy.

Yesterday was a more relaxing day. Can't hang on to it any longer, we both realised. We ended up at our favorite place. It was deserted when we got there at around 2 am.

Making sure no Mat Rempit gang were watching, I gently pry opened her moist orifice and inserted her. She seemed uncharacteristically quiet and insatiable. I've been with my baby for six long years and I know how she normally reacts.

During our travel together, we have had our fair share of quickies in all sorts of strange places. But yesterday, we were at familiar territory. Heck, we were doing it at the exact same spot where we first did it. Was that not romantic enough?

Sigh. She's not herself, somehow. I was thinking to myself as I held on to her side; maybe she is still mad I forgot the cap the last time.

I yanked it out hastily and the white stuff emerged from the slit. I took a closer look at it and my knees went weak. I almost fainted. OMG! I just pumped one hundred forty six ringgit of petrol !!!!

© 2008 TV SMITH

Who is right?

The Proposition

Inflation rate: Calculations are correct

BEING the Department of Statistics' senior director of the prices, income and expenditure division, Kamarudin is the man of the moment.

Q: There are claims that the way the inflation rate is calculated is wrong. What do you say?

A: Our inflation rate calculation is correct and so are our economic growth figures.

In 2007, the rate of inflation increased by two per cent over 2006's CPI of 103.5. But compared with 2005, there was an increase of 5.7 per cent.

In the first four months of this year itself, there was a 2.7 per cent increase compared with the first four months of last year.

Just for food and non-alcoholic beverages, the index increased by 4.7 per cent in the first four months of the year compared with 2007. The highest increase was seen for milk, cheese and eggs.

Overall, 31.4 per cent of the composition of the basket is for food and non-alcoholic beverages, while 21.4 per cent is for household expenditure and 15.9 per cent is for transport and fuel expenditure.

Some of the other items in the basket include health, education and entertainment.

Q: So are the weights allocated for the categories in the basket proportionate?
A: Yes, they are. We collect 460 main items and 920 sub-items. Using the fish example mentioned, we collect 34 types of fish. I don't understand what other types of fish you want us to collect.

Even for milk, we collect 13 types, including two infant formulas.

We conduct the Household Expenditure Survey (HES) every five years to know what Malaysians are spending on.

The weights used in the calculation of the CPI are obtained from the HES.

There are 12 categories of items in the basket based on the United Nations' "Classification of Individual Consumption According to Purpose".

Q: How do you decide on the weights?
A: We obtain this from the HES. The last one was in 2005 and we surveyed 25,000 households nationwide from all income brackets over a period of a year.

From the data collected, we found that 31.4 per cent of household expenditure was on food. So these weights decided upon are from the people.

Q: Should the HES be conducted more frequently? Isn't five years too long a period?
A: Yes it should, but it costs RM15 million to conduct just one survey. So it is too expensive to conduct one annually and it also involves government policy.

Q: Do the weights change much every five years?
A: Yes they do for certain categories.

In 2000, the weight for food and non-alcoholic beverages was 34.9 per cent, while for the current basket, it is 31.4 per cent.

For transport, it was 13.9 per cent in 2000 and it increased to 15.9 per cent in 2005.

For restaurants and hotels, the figure was 1.9 per cent in 2000, while for 2005 it increased to three per cent.

As people become more affluent, they spend less on food and more on other items.

Q: Malaysia's closest neighbours record much higher inflation rates. Why does it seem that we are isolated from the true scenario?
A: Among the Asean countries, we do have one of the lowest inflation rates. This is without taking into account the recent fuel price hike.

Singapore and Thailand have different scenarios.

When the price of petrol goes up, their governments do not subsidise the rates, so transport costs there are determined by market prices.

Therefore, the rate of inflation rises. But for us, the government subsidises petrol costs up to a limit.

Q: Do you expect our inflation rate to rise with the recent hike in petrol prices?
A: Definitely. At least 16 per cent of a household expenditure is on transport and that was heavily subsidised before.

But now, with the revised subsidy system, we expect a higher inflation rate.

Bank Negara has estimated that the rate would go up by 5.3 per cent.

In Thailand it is up by 7.6 per cent, in Indonesia by 10.3 per cent and Vietnam 25.2 per cent.

Q: Are there any plans to improve the HES?
A: Yes there are, in terms of methodology and coverage.

Redundant items will be removed and new items in the market place will be included in the basket, for example, that of broadband services.

We will also try to cover more households and include a wider spectrum of representation of Malaysian consumers.

On methodology, we are looking at the systems in Canada and Australia and looking at how we can use the latest technology to make the survey process more efficient.

The Rebuttal

Inflation rate: The numbers just simply do not add up!

By : SONIA RAMACHANDRAN and AUDREY VIJAINDREN

WITH a bachelor's degree in economics and political science from New York University in 1973, and a master's in economics from Illinois University a year later, Ismail's accomplishments are no mean feats. More so since the senator is visually impaired.

Q: Why do you say the calculation of the inflation rate is wrong?
A: When you talk to many housewives, who are the ones responsible for the household budget and who go to the market, they will tell you that the increase in prices has gone way beyond what the government claims to be the rate of inflation.

Similarly, when you talk to those who buy durable goods like washing machines and other electronic goods, they too are facing the same situation.

Prices are no longer the same as in the past. This is due to the input going into the cost of production like transportation, oil and electricity tariffs, which have all increased.

You also see increases in medical services and also in education.

How can all this not be reflected properly?

Last year's rate of inflation increased by two per cent over that of 2006. This was such a small increase. But in the market, the prices of chicken, rice, cooking oil and flour are all soaring.

Therefore, there must be something wrong in the calculation of inflation.

Q: Why do you think this is so?
A: Some say one explanation is that some of the items within the basket of commodities remain stable because of price controls. So what rises is the price of only some of the items and thus, when the average is taken, the figure is low. But I think that explanation is incorrect.

Q: How so?
A: There are two reasons for this incorrect calculation of inflation. One is that the weight given to items in the composition of the basket no longer reflects the true household expenditure of that product.

For example, let's say the overall weight for food is 50 per cent, but in the composition of the basket, the weight allocated for food may only be about 30 per cent.

The second reason is that the quality of the products in the basket may no longer be the same.

For instance, you may have been taking the price of fish and all this while it may have been that of the kembong fish. But as the quality of life increases, so does people's taste, and they may go for a costlier variety of fish.

That could be another reason why it does not possibly reflect the inflation rate.

Q: What do you suggest be done to rectify the situation?
A: The Statistics Department should conduct a thorough study of this again, especially the weights and quality of goods in the basket.

This study is important so that people will not have a cynical view of the inflation rates released by the government.

Singapore's inflation rate is 6.7 per cent. Thailand's is 5.3 per cent. How come Malaysia's is only two per cent?

The inflation rate in all the countries is increasing and it's as though Malaysia is isolated from everything.

Q: Why is a correct inflation rate important?
A: A true picture of the inflation rate is very important because you use the inflation rate to measure the persistent increase in price levels.

If there is a persistent increase, it will tell us whether or not our standard of living is being undermined by the rate of inflation.

If the inflation rate is not correct, the growth rate figures released by the government will also be incorrect.

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What say you ?

crappiness

I NEED to brush up on my BM!!! I found it extremely excruciating just to write an email in BM. oh crap....

Champions of Europe

Glory

Champions of Europe 2007/08

Joy and Despair

It's just not their day...

Keepers' best friend : the goal post

Dr. M quits UMNO

From The Star

ALOR STAR: Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad announced Monday at 12.35pm that he is quitting Umno, citing a lack of confidence in the current leadership.

"I am quitting Umno today," he told about 1,000 people, mostly Kedah Umno members, at a talk here on Monday.

"I will write a letter to Umno headquarters to inform that I have quit the party," he said.

He has been critical of his appointed successor Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, blaming the current Umno president for the party's disappointing performance in the 12th general election.

The ruling Barisan Nasional coalition, of which Umno is the largest component party, won the March 8 election with a simple majority, and saw four more states join Kelantan under Opposition rule.

Dr Mahathir urged other party members to quit too, as a way of pressuring Abdullah into vacating his post.

However, he advised those who do quit not to join any opposition party, adding they can all rejoin the party once there is a change in leadership.

Abdullah has so far refused all calls for him to step down, and said he would defend his presidency in the party polls in December.

Umno information chief Tan Sri Muhammad Muhammad Taib said he was surprised at the decision, but added that it was Dr Mahathir's right to do so.

"Every member has the right to join or leave the party," he said.

Asked if Umno would convene an emergency meeting, the former Umno vice-president and Selangor Mentri Besar said that "we will wait and see."

The next Umno Supreme Council meeting is scheduled to be held within two to three weeks.

In MALACCA, Umno veteran and stalwart Tan Sri Aziz Tapa, 85, said that he was shocked at the news and was at a loss for words.

“How can it be when he (Mahathir) says that he loves Umno? I met him only few days ago in Johor and everything seemed okay. What he is doing is not right,” he said when contacted here on Monday.

Umno supreme council member Tan Sri Rahim Thamby Chik described the move as an "interesting but tragic development" for Umno.

"It's shocking news to me. If true, then I would say that it is an interesting yet tragic development for the party,” he said.

Dr Mahathir joined Umno at its inception in 1946.

He became a Member of Parliament in 1964 when he won the Kota Setar Selatan seat.

He lost the seat in the following general election in 1969.

Following the May 13, 1969, riots Dr Mahathir was sacked from the Umno Supreme Council on July 12 because of the widespread distribution of his letter to first Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman criticising Tunku’s manner of handling the country’s administration.

Dr Mahathir rejoined Umno on March 7, 1972 and was appointed Senator in 1973. He relinquished the senatorship post a year later to contest the Kubang Pasu seat in the general elections. He was returned unopposed and was appointed Minister of Education.

In 1975, Dr Mahathir became one of the three vice-presidents of Umno.

Tun Hussein Onn appointed Dr Mahathir Deputy Prime Minister on Sept 15, 1978.

Dr Mahathir was Prime Minister of Malaysia from July 16, 1981, until Oct 31, 2003.

Timeline

1946: Joined United Malays National Organisation (Umno).

1947: While a medical student, he wrote extensive anti-colonial commentaries in Malay newspapers under the pen-name "Che Det".

1957: Resigned from government service as a doctor. Starts private practice.

1964: Entered active politics as Kota Star Selatan MP.

1965-1969: Member, Umno Supreme Council.

Sept 1969: Expelled from Umno for disciplinary reasons. Re-admitted on March 7, 1972.

June 1972: Elected a member of the Umno Supreme Council with the highest number of votes. Lost in the election for an Umno Vice-President post.

Dec 1972: Appointed a Senator by the Kedah State Legislative Assembly.

1974-2004: MP for Kubang Pasu, Kedah.

Sept 1974: Education Minister.

June 1975: Umno Vice-President.

March 1976: Deputy Prime Minister & Minister of Education.

1977: Acting Chairman, Umno Liaison Committee, Malacca.

Jan 1978: Deputy Prime Minister & Trade and Industry Minister.

May 1978: Chairman, Perak Umno Liaison Committee.

Sept 1978: Umno Deputy President.

June 1981: Barisan Nasional Chairman.

June 1981: Umno President.

July 16 1981: Fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia, Minister of Defence (until 1986) and Minister of Home Affairs (until 1999).

July 17 1987: Umno Political Bureau Chairman.

Feb 16 1988: Pro-tem President of Umno Baru. Umno was declared an illegal society on Feb 4, 1988.

Dec 1993: Kelantan Umno Chairman. Chairman, Politics and Constitution Committees of the Supreme Council.

Sept 1998-Jan 1999: Finance Minister. June 2001 - Finance Minister.

June 22 2002: Announced his intention to resign from all political and government posts at the final day of the 56th Umno assembly. Appeals from Umno Supreme Council members.

Oct 31 2003: Retired as PM and Umno president after 22 years.

Sept 2006: Fails in bid to be an Umno delegate for the Umno general assembly coming in ninth out of 15 contestants in the Kubang Pasu division.

May 19 2008: Quits Umno

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