2008 Olymipc Day Run...

Before the race...
One for the album...
pingat tali rafia was awarded half way through the race..hehehe

We ran for 7km yesterday. Today, my whole body is aching! It's painful for me to move around. At times I had to practically drag my feet to walk. But it's ok, I won't blame myself for doing this. It's all part of the therapy. I needed to sweat my stress away!

For about an hour, I only had one thing in mind. To complete the race. Nothing else matters. It's just me and the road. It's one occasion where I get to stay focus and be connected with my whole body. My mind was all about crossing the finishing line that I let my body parts work independently. As if functioning with their own brain! I practically said to my legs, "you know what to do, just do your job, we all have work to do here" hahaha..

We are what we eat

I did my weekly groceries shopping last Saturday at Tesco. I've never seen that place so packed with shoppers like this before. It was 10am but I had to look hard for a parking space. I had to wait to get the trolley as well. The place was just crowded.

I noticed something really different about customers behaviour that day. Everyone was going after the really cheap items. At one isle, I overheard a conversation between a mother and her small daughter. They were looking for the cheapest instant noodle available on the shelves. Hmm...to me Maggi is already cheap, what is cheaper than Maggi?

What a routine....and it's getting more expensive

It never felt so hard to make a decision to buy a pack of 10kg rice. I move up and down the same isle looking for the best bargain. I used to spent about Rm30 per 10kg of Beras Wangi but today they cost me closed to RM50! Price of other essential items will slowly but surely rise. It's a matter of time.

I kept counting my blessings. I'm thankful that I can still manage and absorb this rising cost of living. I said to my self, no matter what happens I will get the best for my kids. I will not compromise on their health, education or safety. I'm prepared to sacrifice and change my lifestyle.

It's hard to imagine what will happen to our country in the next 15 to 20 years. It's going to be challenging. It's going to be super competitive. We need people with super capabilities to manage the country. We need strong and healthy citizens to support and develop the country. But with lower purchasing power today, how can we afford to build future 'hyper citizens'?

There is a need to educate people about nutritional diet. Especially for children. With rising price of essential goods, citizens needs to be empowered with knowledge on what to consume to ensure maximum nutrient intake at minimum costs. We need to be smarter and wiser now. So it's not simply about stocking up kitchen cabinets while saving some money, more importantly, it's about providing our body with a balanced diet.

Knowing what to eat is one thing. Knowing about what you eat is another. With today's IT and network infrastructure, we should be able to know more about what we eat. Nutrietional facts are just the surface information. We should be able to 'drill' down deeper to know other facts like where it's been produced, facts about livestock breed and age of animals. If this is possible, many things would not be homogeneous anymore. It shifts our focus from economies of scale to economies of abundance. It's hyper differentiation at its best.

Many sheep...with RFID technology, we can track, store and distribute data on food sources

It's a bit in the future but with hyper differentiation, I might not need to go to Tesco and shop. They need a bigger retail space to display and store their almost unlimited type of stocks. The best is to display and sell on the internet. Cyber retailing is not limited by shelves space which I think is very good. At least I dont need to go out to buy grocerries and I get to spend more time at home. Lesser carbon mission as well. The 'smart' fridge will stock up on its own, all done via the internet!

I want to do my Masters....

I've been looking around, browsed the internet and attended open days. Last weekend I went to OUM and inquired about their Master's programme.

"Encik submit dulu application form, nanti kita bagitau when we can start the course". I kept quite.

"Maybe January we will conduct the classes" she continued with a very reluctant voice.

Then I asked her "Previous intake ramai tak student for this course?".."Emmm..ada laa"

Not very convincing to me... And the search continues.....

Gunung Tahan...June 1992

Managed to scan some of the photos taken during our expedition to Mount Tahan. It was way back in 92 when me and my school friends led by Ustaz Ahmad embarked on this most memorable trip. Every time the old gang meet up especially with Ustaz, we never failed to talk about it.

At Kuala Tahan...day 1...

We hiked for 3 nights to reach the summit from Kuala Tahan and I tell you, I don't think I'll ever experience this again. Not that I regretted, but the trip was so challenging and fulfilling. We survived on Nasi Kepal (Rice cooked with salt, wrapped in plastic) for lunch and maggi for dinner. I remember one time when me and Mafeitz at Padang Camp ate raw chillis and onions! We were starving! We said to each other.."Ehhh sedap eehh??" hahahahaah. For most part of the journey, we had to ration our food because we underestimated the amount of food to carry. But we hiked along and I'm glad we survived.

We did it! Just by eating Nasi Kepal! One of us wears a shin guard!

Other climbers were equipped with portable stove but we had to make our own fire to cook. Apart from that, we had to cramped ourselves to sleep in the tent. To us, a two men tent is actually for four at least!

Very cold this place...

I don't know when I will climb Mount Tahan again. It would be interesting to have the same gang hiking up again, for nostalgia sake. This time around, rest assured that we would be luxuriously prepared! Kita bawak steak kepal! hahaha

Scottish Highlands...

Landscape photography is one of my favourite interest. The opportunity to visit Scotland is definitely not to be missed, especially to an outdoor or photography enthusiast. When we were studying in Edinburgh, we got the chance to travel north, to the Isle Of Skye. I couldn't believe my eyes as the highlands were just simply breathtaking. We didn't really mind the unpredictable and cold Scottish weather. I just love it.

The fact that we studied geography during our foundation programme, it made my understanding and appreciation towards the British isle geological formation even better. On many semester holidays to the Highlands, I explained to other fellow Malaysians on how the Scottish landscape was shaped and created from the glaciation process.

I want to visit this place again one day. How can you stand looking at these pictures. I feel like packing my bags already.....

"Next stop...TTDI..."

It won't be long until we hear this announcement on the LRT. Great news today as the new Kota Damansara-Cheras LRT line is set to be in operation by 2012. I imagine how I would be able to commute to my office in Bangsar. I don't know where this station would be located in TTDI, but I think the most suitable area would be somewhere close to Aminuddin Baki area. Hahaha. It would be great if we, the residences could have some say on this (Mafeitz, you see how this 'tv' project can play a role here, national news-local perspectives!).

Hopefully, this new LRT line will help alleviate traffic congestion surrounding the One-Utama area. As the train runs on electricity, and knowing that it will run through the most densely populated area in Klang Valley, substantial reduction in carbon emission from private transportation can be expected.

By 2012 they say...we shall wait and see...

I don't know whether the authority realise this or not but we could actually trade the carbon savings from this project in the carbon exchange. Estimate how many vehicles we expect to be off the road and measure the tonnage of carbon emission savings per year. We can sell carbon credits to heavily industrialised countries who would want to offset their carbon surplus.

If the government wants to go 'green', which I think would be very popular in the wake of global oil price increase, they can be actively involve in carbon trading. Tie every development project that has an impact in carbon reduction and start to measure the savings. If we are daring enough, we can extend this model to every citizens of Malaysia, not just to the public and corporate sectors. Imagine if each one of us has a Carbon Account that can later be converted into money. The lesser the consumption of carbon emitting energy, the more carbon credit can be converted into money.

With carbon trading, money does grow on trees!

Today, most government's conservation model is based more on penalties by way of reducing subsidies. The lower income group suffers and it's politically unpopular. I say it is time that we develop a reward system. A reward system that encourages people to reduce carbon emissions. A system that links citizens account to the state level account. Accumulated Carbon credits traded by the government in the global exchange can be distributed back to the citizens. So the more credits that you accumulate, more rewards you can get from the government.

How on earth are we going to implement this model when simple solution like giving subsidies to the right group of people is already difficult. But this is a reward system you see. Not to penalise. It works just like the tax system, but only this time the citizens can redeem their carbon credits for money. To accumulate credits, keep receipts from usage of public transportation or purchases of recycled items or any items that conserve energy, plant more trees and don't own vehicle that uses petrol. These are just examples. It's a sweetener for everyone so support and ideas will come in drove on how best to implement this model.

The time is right because the oil price is not going to go down. I foresee that the carbon exchange would one day be as important as the stock exchange. It's a bold measure but if it comes true, our economy can be shaped and driven by using renewable resources. So wherever our country's next stop is in managing our energy needs, I hope it includes carbon trading.

I Slept The Whole Day....

Yesterday I was like recovering from a jet lagged. Since Friday, we have been busy with Linda's nikah and bersanding ceremony which ended late Saturday. So on Sunday, I was totally flat. I slept the whole day. When I woke up in the evening, I didn't know what day it was! Perghhh..penat gile! Everybody was glad that the ceremony is finally over... I will blog about the wedding later..Oh yess.. After much consideration, I decided to sing a song that night! hahahaha..what an experience! I will post on youtube later!

Mad Rush For 1.92....Where's the solution?

Heard the news about the petrol price hike today. It is official. Tomorrow, 5th Of June 2008, we would be paying 78 sen more per litre of petrol. Like any other car owner in the country, I rushed to the nearest petrol station to fill up the tank. My last 1.92. I'm glad that I did this early because at around 6pm today, traffic at petrol stations were really congested.

the scene at Mobil station taman tun...

My next full tank will cost me about RM47 more. Multiply that by 5, that's RM234 more a month. Times that by 12 months, that's like RM2,808 a year. The cash rebate that I will be given later is RM625 a year. My question is, what about the ripple effects? Wouldn't it result in increase in other prices of goods and services too??

So how to do? Definitely have to change lifestyle. Cycling to work suddenly doesn't sound so ridiculous does it? Personally, I say let the petrol price increase. Let it sky rocket. It is the only way that we can wean ourselves from this addiction. The addiction to oil. Dr Jude said that despite the fact that we are in the 21st century, we are still dependent on stone age technology. He's referring to how our ancient ancestors discovered fire through striking stones and generate spark. Today we use spark plug to ignite gasoline in our engines. We have tremendous advancement in engine development but we still use stone age combustion technology, hence our addiction to fossil fuel.

I simply don't understand why there is little effort in developing and commercialising alternative and sustainable source of energy. Is it too costly? That's what I always heard. It could be costly, but our dependence on fossil fuel has cost us even dearly. You have to take into account carbon emission/global warming effects, political and social economic imbalances and the worst is the cost of human life from the so called war collateral damages. It is far more costly than the cost of developing and supplying alternative energy sources.

I don't deny the role of oil in developing the world economy. In fact, the World War II was won by the Allies simply because they have better control on oil supply to power their war machines. That's why the German's submarine U-Boat targeted merchant ships carrying supplies. The alliance depended on the Americans for oil and it was the major factor why they won the world war. Just to highlight the value of oil in the past.

Today however, it's a different story. We depended far too long on fossil fuel. It's hard to understand why there is no proper transition plan from using oil to other alternatives. I guess people always go where the money is isn't it? Where there is demand, there will be supply. And when there's lack of supply to meet demand, price will go up. Bring in the speculators into the equation, you get havoc. Speculators make money out of people's misery. I say we stop the demand.

With the prevailing condition, people will start to do things differently. They will start to accept things which is beyond their norms or culture. I would really want to push for this Telecommuting concept. It's a concept to encourage people to work from home. With broadband, we only need to go out to work only when it is necessary. Other than that, we can have internal meetings or discussions via web conference. Files and documents can be shared through secured network from the comfort of our home. Lesser travelling means reduction in business operations costs as well as improving our environment through the reduction of carbon footprint. Workers can spend more time at home and be closer to their family too.

working from home...saves money, time and improve productivity

Looking at our current situation today, Telecommuting is an important and timely value proposition that Broadband can give. I believe that the government should take the leadership. Act as an example and the others will follow. If the government succeeded in implementing this concept, they can also trade carbon savings in the Carbon Credit Exchange under the Kyoto Protocol. My bos Dr Jude believes in this strongly and I agree with him.

give telecommuting the green light....

Let the price increase. It's a bitter pill to swallow but who says curing addiction would be easy? Malaysians addiction is worst because it is being subsidised by our generous government. So the pill is not only bitter, but could be acidic to some. We have been subsidised for too long. We have to adapt. This is a stick approach and I'm taking it positively. I'm sacrificing for my son and my grandson's future. I'm doing my part. Come to think of it, now is the chance for Proton to come out with 'Green' cars. As a company that flies the national flag, they can work with the government to make this 'green' car project a reality. Be the first country in the world that has an active engagement between the public and private sector to commercialise fossil fuel independent cars. Perhaps using palm oil. It's not so hard isn't it? What's stopping them? Puzzling....

To China..On A Bicycle?

I stumbled upon this news today, about a senior citizen's attempt to cycle for 9,000km to China from KL. He wanted to make it in time for the Beijing Olympics! You can read about his journey which he updates on his blog.

Now I don't know whether this news was just a coincidence or not, but it came after Mafeitz wrote something about our childhood. About us being adventurous, pushing ourselves to the limit. Today, I can hardly believe that we have actually cycled to Subang Parade from Tmn Tun! We were daring, considering that we were just in our early teens. I can't wait to tell this story to my kids (when they are 13). I don't think they will believe it either. There was no digital camera at that time. If not, I would have taken plenty of pictures! All that memory is locked up in our heads.

Now this guy, a 66 years old veteran is about to face the toughest challenge in his life. At his age, he's going to travel to China and back on his bicycle for 80 days.

"Age should never be a factor, as long as you have the right kind of spirit and passion, you should pursue your dreams. I want the younger generation to be inspired by this" said Adnan.

Yes sir I'm inspired! But to me, age IS a factor. A factor that would push you even further. We havent got much time left isnt it? As far as the body can take it, just push it. So to my friends, how about it? Another trip on the bicycle perhaps? Need to go beyond subang parade or titiwangsa for that matter! Should we wait until we retire??

Atuk Chik On Facebook!!

Hahaha...I'm speechless! My grandmother is on Facebook! Atuk, welcome aboard!!

This is wonderful. Perhaps now I'm feeling what my grandchildren will feel in the future. Being able to get in touch with your grandparent in the Cyberworld is something that we never thought of before. I don't think this will give you the excuse to visit them less. On the contrary, it made me missed her even more! Based on her Facebook status, she's currently in Kota Damansara at my auntie's place. Would love to see her before she goes back to Kluang.

Broadband has a very important application went it comes to health care especially to the elderly. Remote monitoring, sensing and diagnostic can provide great benefits to clinical practises. With Bluetooth and Wifi coverages, my grandmother's health condition can be monitored from a distance. Any abnormality in her body temperature and heart rate, can be feedback and we can attend to her conditions immediately. Imagine if we can receive SMS or email telling us about our loved ones condition? "Your Atuk's body temperature today is...NORMAL..Heart rate NORMAL..". Simple information like this can make you smile the whole day.

Cucu : "Atuk, Atuk demam ke?Saya dapat SMS kata Suhu Atuk tinggi ni?"

Atuk: "Tak ada lah..Atuk kat dapur ni..tengak kacau(masak) HARISA!"...

Cucu: "Ooooooooooohhhh"