Monday, April 28, 2008

Blogging For Money...

I'm impressed. A full time housewife is also a professional blogger. Samantha Yeap, a 36 year old mother of two earns money from advertising through her blog at myorganiclife.blogspot.com. Her story was published in The Star newspaper today http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2008/4/27/sundaymetro/20972501&sec=SundayMetro.

“What gives me so much satisfaction is that I am able to do and say what I want in my blog (within moral and ethical boundaries, of course). I am under nobody’s rule,” said Samantha. This is a good example of self regulation and being a responsible blogger. She can sit in front of the computer until 4 to 5 o'clock in the morning and write about everything from cooking and how to prevent white hair.

What amazes me more is how people can really be a fan of certain blog sites. They are loyal surfers and reading blogs are like food for their soul. See how strong this new media influences our society. The pen is mightier than the sword they said. Now we can say that the keyboard is mightier than the pen! Amazing really.

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Flat Battery, Birthday, Leaky Water Pipes, 3 Stiches, Michael Bollocks!.

Absolute Bollocks!... Saturday was a bad day for me. I was supposed to celebrate Raidi's 8th Birthday but too many mishaps occured. It started with my car battery went dead. I got stuck at Menara Telekom and had to wait for my mechanic to come and replace the dead battery. The battery is less than 12 months old, still under warranty. So I'm going to claim from C&C for the replacement cost. Then, at home that evening, the water pipe in the bathtroom suddenly burst! Rushed to the hardware store and came back to do some plumbing work. Raidi and Zidani were running around and I did warned them about the slippery floor. As I was working, MU & Chelsea match was live on Astro and I'm not supposed to miss that game and you know why. Ayu was away in Korea so I had to look after the kids.

Just after I finished with the plumbing work, as I was about to sit infront of the TV, I heard a loud thud near the bathroom followed by Zidani's harrowing scream. He was really in pain. Raidi quickly told me that Zidani slipped and fell backward hitting his head on the floor. I quickly rub my hand on his head trying to ease the pain and I was shocked to see my palm covered with blood! At that time Zidani was still crying and kept on saying sakit, sakit, while pointing his finger to his head. Blood started to run down his left ear and at that point I knew I had to take him to the clinic. I saw a deep gash on the left side of his head and I thought the wound require some stitches. Rightly so, at the clinic, Zidani had 3 stiches on his head. We had to held him down on the bed as he was frantically trying to escape. Zidani has an allergy to doctors due to some traumatic experience when he was still a baby. Alhamdulillah, Dr Suraya managed to stich up his wound. I'm sure this will add to Zidani's list of traumatic experience with doctors. He is only 6 years old but I'm amazed with his strength. Three adults had to held him while the doctor calmly finished her job. We head back home and after putting Zidani to bed, I got to watch the football match.

It was the game where MU needed to win to clinch the premier league title. Things were going well untill the 86th minute. Chelsea was given a penalty kick when the ref spotted Carrick handling the ball inside the penalty box. TV replays didn't clearly show Carrick handled the ball. It wasn't MU's night and they had to concede defeat after two goal line clearance by Chelsea in the dying minutes. So now it's down to the wire and the team has another crucial game this coming Tueday. Please la..don't fumble when it matters. MU's game suddenly dropped couple of notches.

Happy 8th birthday Raidi! Inspite of all this mishaps, We will celebrate your birthday on Sunday after Mama comes back from Korea. And yes, as promised, you will get your Optimus Prime robot.

Thursday, April 24, 2008

KL-Singapore High Speed Train?...What about High Speed Broadband?

The proposed high speed train project between KL-Singapore had been shelved, though not indefinitely I believe. Number of reasons behind this decision. According to the press, it's too deep for the govt's pocket. This new mode of transport could cut railway travelling time between KL and Singapore to just 90 minutes. But it would cost a bomb and it is uncertain whether there will be enough passengers to use it. Plus, I'm sure there's plenty of political reasons behind it.

I wonder how our Bullet Train would look like?

I think instead of building new infrastructure, they could use the Subang Airport as a gateway for the SG-KL route. This is much cheaper and perhaps if we can fly out from Subang, it could match the total travelling time with the bullet train. In other words, the current transport infrastructure is sufficient to serve both country's requirement. Alternatively, I feel we should link up with Indonesia instead. That's where the future market is. With Indonesia's huge population and growth potential, there would be plenty of trade opportunities. We should build bridges and tunnels to connect both countries.

YTL's MD, Francis Yeoh said in the AFP that this new rail link could save government tens of billions of ringgit in fuel subsidies in the long run. This suggest that the track will be electrify and he hopes to capture passengers who are road users. If this is what he stands for, I have a better option for him. He is harping on reducing gov't fuel subsidies. He intend to reduce the number of private vehicles on the road which will lead to lower fuel consumption and carbon emission. My question is why limit to south bound road users? By introducing the train, we will only remove private vehicle that travels between this two destinations. From the total number of South bound commuters, how many are actually directly driving to Singapore?

If he really wants to help gov't to reduce fuel subsidies he could do this via Teleworking. Being a corporate body, YTL can work together with the government and be the champion of Teleworking. YTL is one of the 4 Wimax operators in the country and they can really capitalise on this technology via Teleworking solutions. If they do this properly, we can see drastic reduction of road vehicles as people only meet up at their work place when necessary. They can hold meetings and discussions from their home using broadband. Teleworking is seen as a solution for traffic congestion. Imagine the amount of carbon emission that we can save? People say this is a cultural thing as many don't really fancy the idea of working from home. That is why it is even more important for gov't or corporate figures to take the lead and adopt this concept. It requires strong political and cultural will for this concept to take off.

Fiber strands that connects the world....

So do we really need high speed train to Singapore? Personally, the answer would be yes if I want to go shopping. I'm sure they don't have baggage limit like they have in the airline industry. But for normal or social commuters, current transportation is adequate. As for business travellers, flying seems to be the best choice. But if we really think about it, do we really need to travel when we are so connected in the cyberworld? I think there's alot broadband can offer than just being a place for web browsing. With enough bandwidth, hyper connectivity can make the world truely a global production floor with everyone acting in unison.


p/s: I don't want bullet train to Singapore because people will not stop over at Kluang Station and have kopi and roti bakar...Yumm Yummm

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Thank You Tevez....

Thank you for being at the right place and at the right time. Your leveller against Blackburn could be the decisive goal for MU this season. I knew the game was going to be difficult. That's always the case whenever they are up against teams coached by an ex-player.
Next week will be one of the most challenging period for MU. Semi final game with Barca and the title deciding fixture against Chelsea within the span of 7 days. I know I should believe in the team but sometimes, it can give me the jitters. I guess that's the reality of the game. It's football and players do make mistake. After great performances over the season, I just hope they don't fumble when it matters.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Busy busy busy and busy...

Looking at the number of my blog postings this year, it could only tell one thing. I'm busy with work. Every time I go back home, I got to entertain the household. When the kids are asleep, I watch Astro or read some books.

Things that I want to blog now is quite a heavy topic. Lately, my mind had been thinking. Thinking about things that I can do to change the world (perrgghh..macam bagus). But seriously, until I can let it out, I won't feel satisfied.

I don't know, its just that too many news going around about climate change, security, corruption, world food crisis...etc. I wonder what kind of a world that our kids will live in in the future. What makes me want to do so much is because the industry that I'm working in. Telecommunication is the enabler of information exchange. When you get to see how telecommunication impacts the economy, politics and even climate change, it makes me want to push so much ideas that can slowly but surely change the reality. I believe that the era that we live in is the era of being informed. Anxiety and uncertainty are usually brought about when there is lack of information. Lacking in information only generates risk and there's a high price to pay for the uncertainty. Soaring oil prices are due to speculative outcomes based on current events, food crisis are probably due to booming demand from China and India and the volatile climate adds to the variable. Just to cite some examples.


There should be better coordination among major food producers that could have avoided this crisis. Nobody saw it coming kaa? I'm sure somebody must have seen the warning signs but everybody seems to ignore it. When the world is already so connected, there should be more active engagement between industries, governments and the citizens. It is no longer the time when you just look at yourself and try to fulfill your own country's need. Humanity cannot afford to be selfish if we want to strive to reach the next equilibrium point. What better way to enable equitable and sustainable growth among nations then to continuously engage with each other, exchanging critical information and coordinating efforts based on informed judgement. We can do this efficiently if we embrace the power of ubiquitous communication. People say that two heads are better than one. What if we can connect 6 billion heads?

With prevailing crisis, who benefits from all this? Does the benefit reach the poor? I bet in the case of food crisis, the middle men gets most of the profits! So the rich becomes richer, and the poor becomes poorer. Not equitable at all and definitely unsustainable.

An informed society is a pre-requisite to knowledge based economy. The challenge is how do we differentiate between information based on facts and Hollywood. So many stories came out from the internet during the last GE but nobody could validate or verify them. Even if one can deny the accusations, who can validate that too? Taking this question aside, the value that the internet connectivity can potentially create should be measured beyond the economic boundries. It's about how it enables the speeding up of innovation cycle. When the innovation wheel spins faster, we can get to our desired destination sooner. We just need some check and balance to ensure the destination or vision that our civilisation is heading to is shared and embrace by all humanity. So please, reach out, speak out, collaborate and engage.

Haiya...I found myself a topic to write for my thesis..heheehe.. But first, I got to sign up for a post graduate course laa!

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Sabah Trip..

Last week, I attended a meeting cum workshop in Kota Kinabalu. It was organised by the Costing group from TM. The visit was part of the awareness programme on the service costing approach that TM is adopting. Unlike other network costing methodology, this framework has a direct link to value creation. It could help the company to position it self as a value creator rather than just becoming a sales channel for equipment suppliers to the customers.

The visit was an eye opener. We get to discuss on real operational and strategic issues for the state with HSBB being the focul subject. We had the opportunity to visit some of TM's site equipment. This helps to give greater appreciation towards the business as it provides the substance. Most of the time we only get to model the equipment in the cyber world.
This is where the Customer's Access Network crossed connect with the Core Network...

I came back from KK with running nose and a bad sore throat. Maybe I had too much seafood. The flight back to KL was full with people sneezing and coughing, spreading out viruses. I felt more like being strapped in a sick bay rather than in an aircraft!

Look at the size of those Udang!

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Long Weekend It Was...

It's Sunday and i'm currently at the office with the kids. Decided to drop by the office and did some house keeping which is long overdue. Plenty of documents to file in and knowing how bad I am at documentation, I just had to do this on weekends avoiding the normal weekdays 'distractions'.
During the CNY holidays, we took the kids to the Cherating beach. What was supposed to be a 2 hours drive I ended up driving for 4 hours to Cherating. The traffic was crawling from Batu Cave right to the Karak toll highway. It took us nearly 2 hours to reach the East Coast highway toll plaza. I wanted to go to this little resort along the Kuantan-Kemaman east coast road but unfortunately, it was full. I didnt expect it to be full as the last time we went there for a day trip, it was empty! We were the only guest then and we had the swimming pool and the beach to ourselves. So instead, we head down to the beach next to this resort. Me and the boys had a great time and Zidani this time wasn't afraid to play in the water. Ayu and Momy picknicked by the beach enjoying the south china sea seabreeze.
We head back to KL at about 6pm after we stopped by this stall eating Keropok Lekor and fried rice. Slightly after 2 hours of driving we reached KL and the kids spent the night at their Wan's place.
There is something about the east coast that makes me sooo want to come over again and again. Especially terengganu, it makes me feel like home. The beach, food and the laidback lifestyle fits me well. My dream is to have beach house somewhere along the Merang beach near Kuala Terengganu. I know it's only a dream because for Ayu to live there, I need to build a 'Pavillion' grade shopping mall nearby. If not she will be mati kutu. So I guess, occasional visits to the east coast is a good compromise.

Friday, September 07, 2007

Mazda 6 2nd Generation...

Wow! I'm speechless! Don't know when this car is going to be available in Malaysia, but I better start saving money for the downpayment. The current 6 is already an absolute beuty on the road. The ride and handling is one of the best that I've experience so far and I'm pretty sure I will accumulate high mileage with the car. The higher the mileage, the lower the ownership cost per kilometre. And that applies to any vehicle.


Monday, July 30, 2007

Telecoms Cost Modelling & Accounting Conference in Hong Kong

I attended a conference in Hong Kong last month. We learned plenty of things from this seminar and it is something that you can’t find in any university textbooks. These sorts of literatures are usually in short supply as it is a highly specialized subject. I can say that those who gain the knowledge can consider themselves as a unique ‘community’. Telecoms cost accountant don’t usually belong to the mainstream accounting profession. The knowledge is not something that you can’t grasp in a short period and it requires a lot of industrial experience to be considered as an expert.


We had participants from all the continents and we shared issues from regulation to commercial practices. The main subject that we discussed was about building cost modeling capabilities for the Next Generation Network. By the end of the seminar, there were still arguments about what is the right approach in building the models. This is crucial as the models are usually used by the operators and the regulators either for service or product pricing. We argued about the right methodology and principles that should be applied when developing such model. Failing to adopt the right approach, the value that the industry should create cannot be achieved. We in Telsoft have our own methodology and one of the main reasons I went to this seminar is to see how the others are approaching this subject. Just to gauge how far the others are behind us! Hehehehe



Thank you Dr Jude for allowing us to attend this seminar. Pn Hairiah and Azhar from TM were there too and we made many new friends as well. I have a feeling that the next seminar will at least be attended by the same participants. Everyone is eager to learn from each other and many felt that the Telco industry in Malaysia is considered as advance. Competition is alive, technology proliferation is happening and Telco’s are announcing big profits on a quarterly basis. Many feel that this is healthy for the country. The question is, is it sustainable? If this is healthy, why then after more than 10 years of market liberalization, we are still stuck with the basic service of voice and sms’s? By this time, voice and sms should already be a complimentary revenue streams for Telcos and Data services should be Telco’s bread and butter. Hhmm….just hope things will change for the better.

This is what happens when you leave Mafiz 7 days in Hk!..hehehe

We had a great time in HK as HK was on sale last month. I’ve never had this shopping experience before. We didn’t get to see much of the tourist sites as we were very busy ‘touring’ the malls. HK is a very vibrant city. Everything moves fast including the escalators! Transportation in HK is very efficient and they serve different segment of the commuters. I thought the MRT in Singapore carries long carriages of passengers, but the one in HK by far, the longest I’ve seen so far. Prices of goods are expensive but their citizens can afford them as their GDP per capita is 3 to 4 times higher than Malaysia. HK is known to have the highest concentration of Rolls Royce car owners in the world. On the road, Merc and BMW brands are considered as their staple choice. Pastu keta dia semua berkilat saje! I saw many Mazda6 too! hehehe

Monday, June 11, 2007

ONE DAY TOURNAMENT

The next day after my picnic trip with Talisman, we took Raidi to the Alice Smith International School in Serdang for his one day football tournament. This is the football league that Raidi had been attending since January. That day, Raidi and his team Rangers had to endure 5 grueling football matches played under the hot sun.


Kids in action...

I have to say I was really impressed with the school's facilities. They even have a lightning warning system installed (something that should be mandatory in all public school in Malaysia). The alarm was triggered in the afternoon and we were told to vacate the field immediately and because of this, we had to stay indoors at the school's sports hall. Wow!! The sports hall is fantastic! It reminded me of my pre-school hall in Cranfield, Portsmouth. Different class and standards if you want to compare with our local school halls. I guess that's why parents are paying big bucks to send their children to private schools. They provide top notch facilities.


In between games, the boys played some games with each other...

Ok back to the football. That day I saw glimpes of Raidi's potential. This is the first time when Raidi did concentrated on the game instead of playing with the sand, picking and throwing stones on the field and loughing at his friends when the game is still on. The condition of the football field are miles better than what we've been playing on for the past of couple of months. The kids played really well that day. I'm sure the pitch had something to do with their improved performances. No sand or stone for Raidi to play with. His mind was at least in the game and not somewhere else. At times he managed to make some twist and turns with the ball. No one was injured that day and that is something new. So it must be the padang... seriously.. it looked and felt really good!


His team did not make it to the final. But it was close. Due to the goal difference, Rangers took the 3rd place in the Junior League. Whatever it is, Abah and Mama had a great time watching you play football. When I asked you whether you still want to play next year, you told me that you wanted to play next week. I never thought that you would say that. Unfortunately, the league will start again next year. So we have ample time to prepare you for next season. We will go to the padang and practise.

ZOOOMMMM - ZOOOOMMMMM

Hehehe...manyak lawa la ini kereta!! Manyak sukeeeeee woooooo



PICNIC AT SG CHILLING WATERFALL..

Couple of weeks ago, myself and DrM joined Azad along with his colleagues from Talisman Energy for a picnic at Sg Chilling. It took us about one and a half hour of jungle tracking before reaching this beutiful waterfall picnic spot. I had a great time getting in touch with mother nature and I was also amazed by the clenliness of the river and waterfalls. We had to cross the same river four times at least and the view was breahtaking. It reminded me alot of Taman Negara Pahang.

Mafeitz was a bit unfortunate as he had a bit of a plunged during one of the river crossing and got his handphone submerged under water. I thought he wanted to check how strong the cellphone signal is underwater..hehehehe.. His camera was ok though. Dr.M and myself assisted Azad that day as sweepers. Azad even brought a pair of walkie talkie and we really had fun communicating. Nampak macam bagus.. hahaha

It was a good outing and I hope to come back here one day with the kids. I bet you boys are going to love the freezing and pristine water while Mama goes shopping elsewhere..hehehe


River crossing number berapa tah...

At the waterfall... to my right you can see Dr M (in yellow) in the water doing apa tah..hahaha


Fuyooooohhh..sejuuukkkk!!!




Nak balik daaaahh...

Friday, June 08, 2007

WAAAHH..SUDAH LAMA LAAA...

Let me see, it's been 2 months since I last posted an entry. I think the car jacked incident really affected me. It shows how busy I was replacing all that was stolen and following up with my car theft insurance claim. I'm also busy with work and especially with the kids during the weekends.
This is just a warm-up entry after the 2 months break from blogging. Maybe tonight at home, I will put up an entry or two. For now, I want to continue reading this interesting book and keep my self occupied before I go and play badminton with my TM's friend.

Friday, March 30, 2007

ROBBED & CAR JACKED AT KNIFE POINT

I was robbed last night. After I reached my house in TTDI around 9.30pm, as I was about to enter my house, out of nowhere, two robbers ran straight towards me. One of them pointed a knife towards me while the other guy took away my wallet, my PDA phone, my wrist watch and my car keys. I didn’t retaliate as I told them to take whatever they want. At that time I saw Raidi coming out to the porch and I prayed hard for him to go back inside which he did.
Yes…yesterday my 3 months old Civic was carjacked right under my nose at knife point. Don’t really know how to express my feelings now.

After they sped away with the car, I quickly went inside the house and told Ayu to call the police and I gave my car details to them. About 7-8 minutes after that, a patrol car arrived and I followed them to the police station to make a report. The officer in-charge told me to go to Brickfields to do the complete report with the Investigating Officer. I drove back home at 2am after I’ve made my statement. Thank you Dr Jude for accompanying me at Brickfields police station. He took a Taxi from the Hotel and he waited for me till 2am despite knowing that we have a workshop to conduct today in TM.

If anyone of you see my car anywhere, please call me or my wife. For now, you won’t be able to reach me on my mobile. So try to call Ayu or my house phone or Insp. Suhaimi at 016-22248011.

Please be careful even if you are at the front of your house. Better still, install an automatic gate so that you don’t have to go out of the car to open the gate. Be vigilant. It could have been worst for me or even for my family. Thank God Raidi was not with me. He got home 10 minutes earlier with Ayu who was driving the Inspire. Thank God it didn’t happen to them. So Ayu, there’s a hikmah why I didn’t let you drive my new Civic. I cant’ imagine if this happens to you.

I don’t know whether I will get to see my Civic again. If I do get to see it, it will never be the same as the one I originally bought. They’ll strip the car and sell the parts. Or maybe they’ll try to sell it in Motortrader. Hhhhmm. If they find the car, I would be lucky if it’s still in its original condition. If not, might as well don’t find it and let the insurance company pay for my car loan. Still, due to the red tape and all, for the next 2-3 months, I will still have to continue paying my car installment.

I’ve got plenty of things to do after this. Car insurance claims, Driving License, ATM card, Credit Cards, Identity card, Mobile Phone..the whole mumbo jumbo…I got to replace all of them. I’m glad that nobody was hurt during this incident. I hope the people who did this can be caught and brought to justice. Lepas tu, I hope they will rot in hell….

Sunday, March 11, 2007

Civic ku Dah Pakai Bodykit...

Hehehe…I just had to do it. My Civic is now aerodynamically enhanced by the Mugen style bodykit. The car looks a bit bigger and more stylish. That’s not the only modification that I made though, I’ve changed the numbering plate as well. The older plate looked flat, dull and common. So to stand out from the ‘crowd’, I opted for the Singaporean style template. It gives a stronger visual impact to the car’s dramatic frontal profile.
I’m still thinking about putting on a rear spoiler. I have to choose between the menacing Mugen style spoiler and the more subtle Modulo design. But looking at the car today, I think the car looks just fine to me. My next project is to change the car’s wheels to a bigger and sportier setup. Currently the car is fitted with the 16” Honda 5 spoke alloy wheels. I’ve been browsing the net for the best and affordable set of wheels. But I think I will wait until the tires are worn out before I change to a new set.

I don’t know why but I’m now into car mods. Not so much for performance, but I just want the car to look better. Radzlan just bought a new 2.0 liter Ford Focus and I hope he will join me and start to ‘bikin’ his new baby. Despite being a patience and courteous driver like me, I know deep inside him, this boy racer can’t wait to go out and modify his car for a more stylish and spirited drive. So Lan?? Bila kita nak race?? 2 Fast 2 Furious – Athinahapan Drift…hahaha


Monday, February 26, 2007

My Confession...

I’ve been tagged by Ibdil. Ok, do I really need to do this? I thought you’ve known me well enough? Ok lah…for blogging sake. Here you are, six weird things you might not or already know about me:

1. I’m a rule abiding driver. I don’t make illegal u-turns, I don’t park my car indiscriminately, I don’t jump the queue, I don't mind driving in circles to find the perfect parking space…As a Malaysian driver, I think this is weird....
2. I love making sound effects…especially when I play with my toys..(not adult toys ok??)..I think my kids are lucky…
3. I like to do house chores very much…I think this is weird and my wife is lucky.
4. I sometimes talk to myself… there were instances when Raidi asked me “Abah cakap apa tadi bah?” hahahaha
5. I buy perfumes but I never wear them.
6. I like to complicate things and I don’t like to give simple answers. To me, life should not be simple…it should be errmmm..weird??..hahaha

There you go..actually I have more, but 6 is enough la. Hmm…maybe we can start writing about someone else instead. Yang pelik dah jelik about Ibdillilah for example…that would be fun! Hehehe. To be honest, if I have the time, I would love to write about other people in my blog. While we still have the time and the place to do this, before it is too late, I think we should somehow let the other person know what we think about them. Hmm…good idea Mafiz, now whom should I write about first…

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

My Sister Is Engaged…

Last Sunday my sister Natasha got engaged. Her future husband’s name is Iyadzlee and his family lives in Bangi. If everything goes as planned, the wedding is set in August this year. Most of our closed relatives were present to witness this engagement ceremony. Congratulation to Natasha and her fiancĂ© on their engagement. Now everybody can’t wait for the big day to come in August. Come to think of it, it’s like 6 months to go and I think preparations should be done from now. Tasha is my only sister so it would be the first and the last time for us to welcome and witness the entourage from the groom side. So I hope everything will go well. I didn’t get to take many pictures though as I was busy taking care of Zidani. Besides, we depended on Tasha’s fiancĂ© to take all the pictures. He’s a part time wedding photographer!


Officially engaged.....btw, the photographer on the right is Tasha's fiance

The only way to witness your own engagement ceremony, is to become a photographer! haha


Ayu can't wait for the wedding day...can't wait to 'tempah' her new baju...

Barang-barang hantaran.....tak tahan tengok strawberry tu!!

Thursday, February 01, 2007

Let's Talk.....

If you have seen this Let’s Talk advertisement from TM for the past weeks, you should consider subscribing to it. I signed up yesterday during the launching ceremony at Bangsar TMPoint. This is the call plan that we have been working on for the past couple of months. To me it is not that I’m obligated to subscribe to it, but if I’m a ‘normal’ customer, I would surely take it. If you have not seen this call plan, you can visit http://www.lets-talk.com.my/package.html for details.

I signed up the Let’s Talk 108 package. With this plan, I get unlimited local calls. In other words, I can call another fixed line number within the local call boundary and talk non-stop. Apart from that, I can make unlimited calls to other part of the country during the weekends and they charge lower call rates to mobile numbers. All this at a fix monthly cost of RM108 inclusive of rental. Depending on your monthly bill pattern, you can choose the right package that suits your requirement. This plan provides some level of certainty to my monthly phone expenses. On average, I’ve been spending about RM100 on the house phone bill but with this package, I get more value! I’m will still pay the same amount money like before but this plan actually gives me more calling capacities! Perhaps more than twice the talking time. The good thing is, I get to upgrade my Streamyx bandwith to 1Mb as well, just by signing up to this package!

Now whenever we’re at home, we will use the fixed line. I’ve already paid for it so we should use this. It’s cheaper than mobile phone rates and we can save on our mobile phone charges. You see, mobile phone should be use when you’re in ‘mobile’ mode. But when you’re in a fixed location, especially at home, just pick up the fixed line and talk for hours at a fixed cost.

This new pricing scheme is a glimpse of what the future of telecommunication service pricing will be. They are preparing the customers towards the Next Generation Network (NGN) environment. In the future, communication charges are going to be set on session basis, no longer the usage minutes. This call plan is just the beginning from TM to encourage their customers to use the fixed line. Later, product bundling i.e packaging Fixed Line, Broadband and Mobile services at a fixed monthly costs could be TM’s next strategy of pricing. I hope they can consolidate our bills as well. All our communication and multimedia needs charged in a single bill at a fixed monthly rate with unlimited call time. That would be fantastic wouldn’t it?

Hmmmm…this sort of thing is long overdue in this country. The industry is just so saturated with minutes based charging. I’m glad that TM is spearheading this flat based call plan charges. Now I just hope that it can be accepted by the consumers. Our next task is to monitor the take up of this offering on a daily basis. Feel free to comment and provide your views on this latest offer from TM.

Monday, January 29, 2007

Goooooaaaallllll!!!!!

I’ve registered Raidi to the Subang Jaya Community Youth Football League (SJCYFL). So last Sunday, I took Raidi to Subang Jaya and he played his first ever league game! Hahaha….imagine this, when we first arrived, Raidi has zero knowledge about the football game. All this while he only knows how to kick a ball. So the first rule that I thought him that Sunday was you should not handle the ball. Goosshhhh…

With no knowledge of football, it was like throwing him into the rough sea and just let him learned to swim by himself! He didn’t know who his team mate was or which one is his opponent. At first I wanted to expose and slowly introduce him to the game. But the opposite happened. The coach decided to bring him on and I saw Raidi running up and down the field trying to kick the ball in what ever direction. And when he didn’t get the ball, he just grabbed the player’s shirt in anger. A couple of times Raidi just shouted at me that he didn’t understand the game at all. I understand Raidi’s feeling and I felt sorry for him. It was obvious that he didn’t enjoy the game. He was completely confused by everything and it was a tough introduction for him. His team didn’t win the game but it was not about winning or loosing. I just wanted him to enjoy the game.

After our first league game, I know what to expect already. Raidi must first know the rules of the game. I was surprised to see the level of understanding from other kids about the game. Raidi was in the 7-8 years old league. They not only play within the stipulated rules, but they play with passion! And not to mentioned the parents! Everybody was screaming from the top of their lungs, cheering away and giving out instructions to the kids! It was fun for everybody! Not to worry Raidi, I will help you play football and we’ll start from the drawing board.

Raidi is part of the Ranger’s team. So the Ranger’s lost their first game against the Hobbit’s. But we will meet them again in the return leg. The league will run until May. I hope by then, Raidi will develop some basic football skills. More importantly, I want to instill positive values from all this. The Youth League has its own broad objectives. But my objective is simple, to fill up our weekends with valuable quality time. But who knows, maybe this could lead to something else. Please visit http://www.sjcyfl.com/ to know more about this community league.

Monday, January 22, 2007

Malaysia Boleh!

The stadium was packed to the brim..

Syabas to the Malaysian pair who just won the men’s double Malaysian Open Title. It was amazing to see how this pair, ranked 119th in the world going against all odds to emerge as champions. Let’s just hope that they could win more titles for Malaysia in the future. This year, it was my first time ever watching the tournament at the stadium. I and Zaini joined thousands of other fellow Malaysian’s cheering the players at the Cheras Badminton Stadium and I must say, it was quite an experience. We just saw the quarter finals when Wong Choon Han lost to Boon Lai from China. It was a lethargic display from the world no. 2. Disappointment for many fans that came to watch him play. Nevertheless, we did saw and ‘learned’ a lot of trick shots and both of us can’t wait to try it this coming Tuesday! Hehehe. I’m definitely going again next year. It would be fun to have many other badminton friends joining us. Besides we want others to develop their game as well. Bukan apa, takut nanti aku dengan Zaini je makin terror! For full report refer to http://www.thestar.com.my/sports/story.asp?file=/2007/1/22/sports/16642256&sec=sports

The calm before the storm... nasib tak bawak raket.. kalau tak dah masuk court dah,..