Visit By PT Telkom...

Group photo, Menara TMentrance - (picture taken by Bukhari)

About two weeks ago, we had visitors from PT Telkom, Indonesia. PT Telkom is the incumbent operator and currently the biggest, based on number of subscribers (close to 50 million subs). They came here to look at how TM manages their fixed line businesses in the face of stiff competition from other operators. People who came were VPs led by Pak Nyoman, Telkom's Consumer Director . For two days, we met people from Costing, Pricing, Product House and Billing learning and exchanging ideas. We were honoured went we get to meet Dato' Zam who shared TM's success stories. He provided insights, the do's and the dont's in turning around fixed line business.

I must say that I'm very impressed with TM's hospitality. The guests were overwhelmed not just because TM was a good host, but they were very generous in sharing their experiences. In many ways, I think both sides benefited from this. I would like to thank my staff from Telsoft, Bukhari and Hafiz for coordinating this whole visit. Very well organised. Great job guys!

Telsoft's office..(picture taken by Hafiz)

"Handphones more dangerous than smoking"

This was reported in The Star website today. He should expand his research on other wireless devices namely Bluetooth, WiFi, Wimax, etc.. They could be our No.1 killer disease one day! Please use your fixed line whenever possible.

Wednesday May 28, 2008 MYT 4:52:32 PM
CAP: Handphones more dangerous than smoking
By ANN TAN

GEORGE TOWN: Handphones can be more damaging to health than smoking, the Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) said.

CAP president SM Mohamed Idris said research by award-winning neurosurgeon Professor Dr Vini Gautam Khurana from the United States had indicated that using mobile phones for more than 10 years could double the risk of brain cancer.

Prof Khurana, who has received 14 awards over the past 16 years and has published more than three dozen scientific papers, had conducted a 15-month "critical review" of the link between mobile phones and malignant brain tumours.

The subject in the study were heavy mobile phone users who had relied on handphones for at least 10 years. "Previous studies which found no evidence of a link between mobile use and an increased risk of cancer often did not include enough long-term mobile phone users in their study samples," Mohamed Idris said.

Prof Khurana found that cancer takes at least a decade to develop."The incidence of malignant brain tumours and associated death rate will be observed to rise globally within a decade from now, by which time it may be far too late to intervene medically," Prof Khurana said in his report.

Prof Khurana said smoking kills some five million people worldwide each year, but three billion people now use mobile phones worldwide and the number is growing daily.

Mohamed Idris said children who used mobile phones were at greater risk because they were more susceptible to the radiation than adults.

"Parents should not allow their children to use mobile phones and consumers should use the speakerphone function, so that the phone is held more than 20cm away from the head. Use landlines whenever possible," he said.

CAP also urged the Government to take appropriate measures to address the fact that mobile phones could represent a public health time bomb.

"Government should use the mass media and run campaigns to educate and warn the public of the dangers of radiation exposure from mobile phones," Mohamed Idris said.

Prof Khurana has posted the results of his findings on www.brain-surgery.us and his research paper is currently being peer-reviewed for publication in a scientific journal.

A Conversation...

I had this cool conversation with Raidi last weekend. I just popped this question for him:

Abah: Raidi, bila Raidi nak sunat?

Raidi: December nanti boleh tak?

I kept quiet. More like shocked. I honestly expect Raidi not to answer this question at all. Maybe he doesn't know what's waiting for him?? If he really understands what he's saying, then he answered the question like a man. We'll see how it goes this December!

"I'd rather have a root canal"....

"What's your excuse not to do your scaling every six months?"...

"How old you are now? Your last visit to my clinic was when you're 15!"...

"Now you know why you need to do scaling every 6 months"...

I just kept silence as the dentist repeatedly made those points to me today. I was at his clinic this afternoon and as you might guessed already, it wasn't a scheduled visit. I've been having this toothache for the past couple of days and I just couldn't bare the pain any longer. It hurts and I couldn't sleep at night, concentrate on my work and I can't chew my food well. After taking some pain killers, I went to see this dentist in Tmn Tun. I randomly chose a clinic and to my surprise, I had my name registered there before! More than 15 years ago! Hahaha... Talk about fate...

"You have to decide now, either do a root canal or a tooth extraction" the dentist said, obviously referring to this tooth decay that I have. I asked him further about the options and I decided to go for root canal treatment. He proceeded with the 1st treatment, drilling and filling the unhealthy tooth. It wasn't really painful and I thought the pills that I took earlier at the office helped to reduce the pain further. I have to come back for 2 more follow up visits before the dentist can crown the treated tooth.

An apple a day, keeps dentists away..

I don't know which one is more painful. To suffer from root canal or to know the estimated cost for this therapy? I'd rather suffer from root canal! Haiyaaaa...It cost me a bomb! I guess that's the price I have to pay for not visiting the dentist regularly. Now I'm contemplating whether I should crown all my teeth. It is so expensive! I need to do more research on this. Maybe go to India where the cost could be 10 times lower than Malaysia..hehehe

Hyperconnectivity = Hypertension

I've been blogging about how the world today is so connected in the cyber world. To many, hyperconnectivity brings about phenomenal advancement in product innovation. They call this hyperdifferentiation. Some even believe that it could impact civilisation like how the industrial revolution was sparked by the discovery of steam and petrol engine.

The Netizens, an always 'on' society, continuously sifting through the cyber world, creating, editing and exchanging information transcending race and cultures. Being informed, we allow ourselves to evolve in a more efficient way. We have been innovating before but the speed that we are doing it today is mind boggling. We're transforming society to be collaborators as we've witnessed how state and corporate level policies are being influenced by the people's vote. Democracy are at it's best when decisions are made bottom up.

The world at light speed. Can our mind and body cope with this?

Add mobility with connectivity, you get information exchange in a ubiquitous way. It's a powerful combination. Imagine a world that can be updated at the same time. It gives new and profound meaning to the cause and effect equation. Are we in a brink of a perfect economy? An economy that lives on perfect information exchange?

There's 2 sides of the coin for hyperconnectivity. One side says that it enables K-Economy. However, government's and corporate bodies are increasingly worried about cyber security. The threat is real as it can cripple the economy. But my worry is more on social security. We are witnessing today how the news on oil and food crisis are affecting the world. I believe that this threat could somehow be blown out of proportion. Interested parties could manipulate the situation by creating uncertainties in the market place. With hyperconnectivity, these negative sentiments can infiltrate the mindset of people in a much more effective way. Any sort of crisis can ring alarm bells in people's mind. It heightens anxiety and it could stress up the market. It's a dangerous and most effective propaganda tool.

Today's effort are concentrated more on reducing cyber threat rather than content censorship. People say that there should be freedom of expression in the cyber community which I totally agree. What I don't agree is when people use it for their own gain by manipulating and exploiting others. Freedom of expression is good, but it is those who does this irresponsibly that should be controlled. We need a system or a framework that authenticate contents. Just like how job placement services requires job seekers to authenticate their resume before being posted on the Internet.

How can we achieve this? Certainly, it requires strong political and corporate leadership. Companies like Google and Yahoo should show more responsibility and sharpen their effort on content authentication. What we need is someone or some framework to help net community to choose between fact or fiction materials. Web space like Wikipedia is a great source of information and knowledge as contents are continuously being updated and edited by readers themselves. But the fact is, they are not being authenticated by the correct authorities. I think Wiki should be more honest and start to provide authentication services for their content.

Anytime, anywhere communication....the promise of a digital world..

Uncertainty and anxiety leads to greater risk. And there's a high price to pay for this risk. Hyperconnectivity will force the world to work in unison. The problem is, countries are at their different wealth and social maturity level. It is in my opinion that poor countries will have no time or opportunity to learn from the developed economy as the world is already acting as one. They can never catch up and I'm afraid that they will always be under developed. The rich becomes richer and the poor becomes poorer. Hyperconnectivity will reveal capitalism's ugly face.

I have no doubt on the benefits of the true connected world. I just hope that in our quest to achieve these outcome, there must be mechanisms for check and balance. Connectivity will bring about new business models in the commercial world. Social and political engagement will be taken to a new level too. Thus, we need to continuously review our capability in managing these changes. Not just looking at the technology, but every other aspects the technology impacts on; financial, legislation and especially our social fabric. If we are honest in our quest, we can evolve human race to the next civilisation plateau or move up the value chain in a sustainable way.

Champions Of Europe...Again!

TDM Quits UMNO...

What a shocker! For someone who has been with the party for a long time, his decision to quit UMNO took everyone in the country by surprise! Perhaps he wanted to tell the whole world too. His announcement was made concurrently with the 2008 WCIT in KL today. Delegates from 88 countries meet up in the capital city for what is known as the Olympics for IT. Refer to Tun's blog for his unofficial announcement: http://www.chedet.com/2008/05/pengumuman-keluar-dari-umno.html

Cherating Lagi??

I didn't know what got into me last weekend when I took the kids for a trip to Cherating, again. I woke up on Sunday and I simply decided that I wanted to go to Kuantan. After picking up Raidi from his tuition in the afternoon, myself, Raidi and Zidani headed straight to the east coast leaving behind Ayu. She was busy preparing for her sister's wedding. There we were again, on a very familiar trip, just the three of us. The kids were excited and they didn't really mind the long trip as they slept almost the whole journey. We arrived at Cherating after 2 1/2 hours and checked-in into this little resort. As expected, we had the whole resort to ourselves yet again!

We went to the beach and the kids love playing with the sand. At last we flew the kite that Raidi bought long time ago. He bought it just in case we hit the beach again someday. After the beach, we jumped into the swimming pool. For this trip, I forced Zidani to join us in the pool. He usually sit by the side as he's quite afraid of the water. Not this time I told him. So I literally dragged him into the pool and he enjoyed it in the end.

At 5pm the same day, we head back to KL. So that's 5 hours of driving in a Mazda 6 (Zoom-Zoom factor), about 2 hours of play time with the kids in an empty resort (quality time) and we suffered for couple of days from sunburn (no sacrifice no victory!). But the satisfying smile on our faces? Priceless...Worth it...

Wedding Singer???

On the 6th of June, my sister in-law Linda will be getting married. Her dinner reception will be held at the Dewan Komuniti TTDI. Preparations are under way and everyone are busy doing their part. On that day, I have the task to put up road signage leading to the hall. I was given another task though and I'm still thinking about it.

Linda and Ayu requested me to sing a song in front of all the wedding guest. Me? Singing in a formal wedding reception? Have they gone mad? Are they willing to take the risk that I'm going to spoil the function? Ayu told me that the MC will keep on calling my name until I take the microphone and sing. They said they want 'Anuar Zain' to make an appearance that night! hahahah..tolong laahh..eee tak kuasa. You are talking about a wedding here, not a KTV session! Haaiiyaa..But could it be an interesting experience to Blog about later?? HHmm...I have to think first...gelabah aahh

No Astro?? No Problem...Youtube Kan Ada...

It's been more than a month for us living without watching Astro. The boys have been watching cartoon on DVD alternating with the mother. Who says we can't live without Astro? I myself finding it quite an experience spending more time watching contents from the Internet. And that explains why I'm actively blogging again!!!

I can't wait until this country has another broadcaster besides Astro. Like any other monopoly companies, profiteering is their one and only ambition. Often, customers are forced to accept whatever level of service provided as there's no other alternatives to choose. True that most of the content already belongs to Atsro, to me, this is not an issue. Content is the important pulling factor, but other differentiating strategies can be deployed to be competitive. I wish that movies, sitcoms or programmes could be on-demand so that I can watch whatever I want and whenever I want. I don't want Astro to control my daily schedule but instead, I want to have control on the programmes. We, the customers determine what and when we want to see from TV. The technology to do this is already here and I think TM is conducting some trials with some of their customers in Penang. With IPTV (an IP based TV platform), the experience of watching TV would be more interactive and personalised.

The Americans seems to have everything in abundance, including time to watch TV....

Like any other industry in Malaysia, the government's role is to ensure that the long term interest of the end users are met. Usually, to do this, government tends to break down monopolies to create competition with the intention of improving quality of service and keeping prices low (but not necessarily affordable). In Malaysia, when the government liberalised the telecommunication industry way back in mid 90's, we saw how other players came into the picture and compete for customers. We Malaysian benefited substantially. Although I do have some reservation in this, but in general, today we are constantly being offered and bombarded with attractive call prices and packages. However, for too long, we are being choked with basic voice and sms offers.

My question is, how can the government effectively create the same competitive market in the satellite broadcasting industry. Some might argue that the market is too small for other players to co-exist and the infrastructure cost would be astronomical for the new entrant. Well, there's one obvious solution for this barrier of entry. Tell Astro to open up their network and let other players leased their capacities. New entrants wouldn't have to invest huge money for infrastructure but instead leased unused capacities from Astro. As for content, I think there's enough out there to feed viewers appetite. Malaysia has the most diverse viewing profile compared to other countries. Multi ethnicity and religious background brings about different content viewing preferences.

There's a need for content to be more specialise and specific to meet different market segment requirements. The future of media business is to sell more of less. Today, if I want to watch big movie hits, I've got plenty of options to do so including Astro. But if I want to watch something very specialise and specific like how to play badminton like a pro, I would go to youtube. Youtube is an example of how future of business should be. Selling more of less. Even when there's only a single viewer, the video is still on the cyber-shelf to be viewed.

Are we ready for triple play services?

I'm blogging about this tonight because I think we seriously need a competitor for Astro. The fact that I can't choose any other satellite broadcaster, democratically, it's like denying my rights to 'vote'. To beat a monopoly, the new entrants would require assistance from the government. The government must provide market and regulatory mechanism that creates a level playing field for the broadcasters. However, it is crucial that they only do this with the customer's interest in mind. I hope that the convergence between TV and IP services would happen fast enough to break the dominance of satellite broadcasting in Malaysia. Just Imagine when the current Astro decoder is replaced with your computer's CPU as your lifestyle changing technology. The value it can create for the business community is immense as customer's interaction and engagement would be taken to a new level.

Until the arrival of this new media, I need to find my Astro card. We still haven't found it. If I call Astro for a new replacement card, I'll be charged for it for sure. But so far without Astro, no problem for me at least. I'll just stick to youtube while the kids are happy watching Transformers movies and cartoon repeatedly. We have many cartoon version of Transformers collection by the way. Gosshh..I'm surprised how this missing card inspired me to blog!!

The Devil Drives Mazda??....Arrghhhhhh

I saw an M6 being test driven in PJ today. It was a white 2.5litre sedan(like the one in these pictures) driven by a young chinese lad. I was standing by the roadside when suddenly this new M6 passed by the taxi stand. I couldn't believe my eyes as the car looks way sexier in reality. I cursed myself for not to wait another year to get my hands behind the steering wheel. If I ever want a car that really stands out from the crowd and have heads turning its way, this M6 would be on top my list. An absolute stunner! The zoom-zoom factor is very much alive in me...

p/s: My current M6 is less then 12 months old...Please God, don't tempt me this way...Anybody who wants to go for a test drive, call me pls!!

We Are The Champ10ns!

One down, one to go. It was a glorious day for MU as they won the Premier League title for the 10th time. It went down right to the wire, as MU needed to win the last game of the season to secure the title. I'm very pleased with the result as the team played very well this year. They mixed style with strength. They've got substance and the desire to win trophies. I was expecting a treble this year but looking at the level of competitiveness of the sport today, it is always going to be difficult. The modern game is very tactical and you need to create your own luck to win games.

Congratulations to all MU fans out there. One down and one to go! Next stop, Moscow...

Mother's Day..

I would like to wish all mother's out there a happy mother's day. To Mak and Mommy, I love you very much. You have been very patience with your kids. Nothing that I can do that can ever repay your sacrifices. To Ayu, thank you for being such a caring mother to the kids. There's room for improvement though, hehehe. I know, same goes to me. To my grandmother, I miss you always. Every time I see you, I feel so much love. You're definitely my soft spot. Last but not least, to mother nature. I think the world can be a better place if everyone starts to treat this planet like their own mother. What's the point of calling this place mother nature when we treat her like rubbish?? Hhmm...

Attn: Raidi...

I want to share something. Actually this posting is dedicated to my son Raidi. I hope you will read this one day and understand how I feel. You just turned 8 last week while I'm writing this today. But already you are facing lots of challenges. I'm somewhat surprised by your level of maturity in accepting your responsibilities. You are facing greater challenges not just because you have competitive school friends, not just because of high expectations to perform from your parents, not just because you oftently get confusing instructions from everyone, not just because you are living in the multimedia world and I think your senses are working overtime. But you are also facing the fact that you have a brother that seems to absorb all the attention in the world. Plus, you have parents that comes back home late everyday.

You seemed to be very understanding about Zidani's condition as you don't react negatively whenever Zidani's having his tantrum. I thank you for this. But I missed watching you grow and become the 8 year old boy today. This is my regret. All the attention that I gave to your brother, I felt that you always get less from me. You grew up too fast for me to catch up with you, especially when Zidani is stealing all the attention. But you care for your brother and I can somehow sense that you understand the meaning of sacrifice. Being able to do this at your age, I salute you Raidi. I just want you to know that we do care for you, that we are not neglecting you in anyway.

I hope you will grow up as a responsible boy. Abah only hope and pray for the best. It's a tough world out there and I'm making sure that you are prepared to face the challenges. Respect the elderly and always care for the needy. Have a lot of patience in your life. With your brother Zidani we really need to be patience. He needs our support and understanding. If you think it's difficult for us to go through all this, imagine how it is more difficult for Zidani. It must be very confusing and frustrating for him as he tries hard to cope with us. But I believe he'll do just fine if we just love him a little bit more. He needs the extra attention. I'm glad to know that you understand our situation. Again I want to say thank you for being so understanding. I'm proud of you Zulkarnain Raidi and I always will.

They Don't Care...

I always have this question in my mind. Looking at how oil price has its impact to the human race. Why are we so dependent on this source of energy? Why arent there any alternatives? Why is it so difficult for us to start commercialising renewable, eco-friendly and sustainable energy sources. Oil price is sky rocketing. I wonder how the underdeveloped world is coping with this. Looking at current scenario, even the Americans are feeling the impact. What else the poor countries? Who benefits from all this? Halliburton's stock price reached unprecedented level the moment the American's invaded Iraq. Is it right for me to say that oil & gas producers and military contractors are gainig from all this? Let's not even mention carbon emission and its impact to the environment.

I hoped and thought that Oil companies are seriously looking into this matter. That they are seriously looking at alternative sources. And I thought that they have started to do this long time ago. I was wrong. Read this article below....

Friday May 2, 2008
Rockefeller family calls for change at ExxonMobil

NEW YORK: Members of the Rockefeller family are calling on ExxonMobil Corp to make governance changes and increase spending on alternative fuels, sharpening the focus on the company’s practices as oil soars close to US$120.

John D. Rockefeller founded the Standard Oil Co in 1870 and it became a precursor to ExxonMobil. ExxonMobil is the world’s largest publicly traded oil company based on market capitalisation and is a favourite target of consumer advocate groups and politicians unhappy with record prices for oil and gas and their effect on the environment.

Fifteen descendants of the oil baron are involved in four shareholder resolutions seeking changes at Exxon, including dividing the CEO and chairmanship positions held by Rex Tillerson. Peter O’Neill, great-great grandson of Rockefeller, said 66 of the 78 adult Rockefellers currently supported their stance. Exxon posted the largest ever annual profit by a US company last year and its first quarter results were expected to top US$11 billion and perhaps set a new record.
But the Rockefellers said the company was too focused on short-term windfalls. They said the company’s reluctance to invest in alternative energy could result in lost profits down the road.
Neva Rockefeller Goodwin, great granddaughter of John D. Rockefeller and a Tufts University economist, called on Exxon to reconnect with the forward-looking vision of her great grandfather.

“Kerosene was the alternative energy of its day,” Goodwin said. “Part of John D. Rockefeller’s genius was in recognising early the need and opportunity for a transition to a better, cheaper and cleaner fuel.”

The group, which also seeks to establish a task force to study the consequences of global warming on poor economies, called on Exxon to reduce greenhouse gas emission at its own operations and adopt a renewable energy policy. Exxon said it supports the Rockefellers' right to use the shareholder proposal process to make the family’s views known to other stakeholders.
The company has asked shareholders not to support the proposals and said it believes the most effective leadership structure for the current company is for Tillerson to serve as both chairman and CEO.

It is unclear how many shares the Rockefeller family controls. Exxon was able to identify 12 of the 15 Rockefellers associated with the shareholder resolution and said they collectively own around 332,000 of the company’s 5.4 billion shares – or about 0.006% of outstanding shares.
The company downplayed the importance of the Rockefellers backing the split.

“We’re focused on maximizing the return to the shareholder and profitability,” said Exxon spokesman Alan Jeffers. “Members of the Rockefeller family are well known for their relationship with the company’s founder. But we have 2.5 million individual shareholders.”About 40% of the company’s shareholders voted for the non-binding proposal to split the chairman and CEO positions last year.

Political scrutiny on Exxon has also increased as oil and gasoline prices have soared. Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have both pointed to Exxon’s record 2007 earnings as a symbol of an oil industry run amok. Both candidates are in favour of repealing tax breaks that have been enjoyed by oil companies.

“Last year, Exxon Mobil made US$40 billion in profits. So you paid through the roof and they made out like bandits,” Clinton said earlier this week in North Carolina. “Middle class families are paying too much and oil companies are not paying their fair share.” Analysts noted that, even in a non-election year, it is never easy when oil companies make record profits. “Politicans see Exxon and they see dollar signs. They see it as an untapped resource,” Oppenheimer & Co analyst Fadel Gheit. He noted the record profits have pleased many shareholders.Exxon “must be hiding under their pile of cash,” he added.
Exxon’s annual meeting is scheduled for May 28. – Reuters

Moscow, Here We Come!

After the final whistle, MU won 1-0 on aggregate...

Eto? Messi? Henry? Deco? Big names aren't they? Barca threw in everything that night but MU defended well at home. We're just one step closer to European glory. It was the second leg of the semi final and from what I've heard it was a nail bitting match. Yes, I didn't get to watch the live telecast. We misplaced the new Astro smart card and until today, we couldn't watch Astro. It was an important game and I'm still dissapointed not being able to watch it. Thank God they won. I better replace the card before the final match next month. Oh yes, to Liverpool fans out there, you'll never walk alone. Chelsea might accompany you later! hehehe

Up..up..and awaaayy....Schoey's brilliant 30 yards goal...

Dr M aka Che Det the Blogger...

At last, Tun started his own blog today (www.chedet.com). Welcome aboard sir! One should not underestimate the power of media democratisation. I wonder who's taking care of his blog though? Hhmm..