India Commonwealth Games .. Negotiation skills!

I learnt so much from this Commonwealth Games. I have to give my hats off to the organiser of this games. Today the organiser commented this after a string of popular athletes pulled out from the games. The "organiser" said something like this 'There will be more top athletes coming into India. That's why we have Commonwealth Games where there will be more top athletes created in this upcoming game'. Who said thick skins does not work. Even when you think it's bad it can be overturned with clever twist! Now pusing pusing pusing!

How to peel the banana, the Japanese way!

During my breakfast today in Taipei, I sat next to a table where a family of 3 was from Japan. The japanese girl was trying to peel a banana. What she did she lift up a one hand holding the banana and the other hand holding a knife trying to cut the trunk of the banana. She tried a few times but it's not working! I found the entire action was so polite, excessively polite, but not achieving anything.

Finally, the husband or boyfriend just snatch the banana, use his fingers, break the trunk and peel! Sometimes, the conservative way may be the best way!

India Commonwealth Games chat! So Farny!

This just came in today! Both internet media and local Indian paper reported that a South African athlete found a snake in his room!!! The question then directed to the officials and the official answered 'The snake is not poisonous!'

Later on the local TV, they showed a snake charmer try to catch the snake, and they found it's a cobra! Now how can a cobra not poisonous?? Kepala Pusing!!!

Delhi Commonwealth Games 2010

Since last year, a local Indian told me that he thinks India is taking a gamble of the Commonwealth Games. He has a feeling that it may become an embarrassment. I wasn't sure at that time because this is a good time to showcase the country. However, as the games getting closer, I became more and more skeptical. In fact even since last year, the progress was very slow. Every time when I passed by the games area, I still see empty land without much progress. The metro was still in progress but I heard now it's ok. Certain things became last minute.

Anyway, today the BBC news reported, the games was estimated at 400million USD to build. Now, the official confirmed it has cost them 2 Billion, but the non official reported it has ballooned up to 6 billion! Now without putting any possible reasons in one mind but how on earth the figure it has gone 15 folds? Oh well, I guess sometimes greed is good like the movie 'Wall Street 2' advertised!

Finally, Lee Chong Wei beats Lin Dan!

Congratulations to the Malaysian player Lee Chong Wei. To be honest, I have seen Lin Dan beaten Chong Wei many times, however, today in the Japan Open, Chong Wei did it!

Hooray!

For The Love of Money - 2 years went on

I recently saw a BBC channel with the title 'The Love of Money'. It was such an engaging documentary and a lot to learn from. The show slowly build up the time line from the 20's up to the recent global financial crisis. However, it was not on DVD yet, which I like to keep as this incident happen in my lifetime.

I searched the net and found an impact after the recession. You can click on the link to read the full article or read part of the column posted on the site here ...

Bankers won, politicians lost1

Posted on 24/09/09 by Alan Shipman2


One year on from their moment of meltdown, rescued institutions are again riding high, while the politicians who rescued them are paying the electoral price. The scale of the mess suggested, at the time, that banks had got onto their crash course through euphoria, miscalculation and madness. Now, the speed and low private cost with which they escaped that mess raises the equally scary likelihood that they were being rational all along.
The Great Escape

Aside from Lehman, banks have bounced back with their businesses and bonuses intact. Many have already returned to profit, with their investment banking units – whose speculative gambles were at the heart of last year’s problems – now helping to support the commercial side as it writes down its bad mortgage debt.

Lloyds, which looked to have bitten off more than it could chew by acquiring HBOS, is now a legally sanctioned giant that controls around one-third of UK mortgages and current accounts and a quarter of its business banking. Barclays, once viewed as perennially ripe for acquisition by a larger group, has now joined their ranks by cherry-picking Lehman at minimum cost. Fortis, facing bankruptcy a year ago, has announced a major UK expansion in alliance with Tesco. Merrill Lynch and Citibank continue to issue their uncompromising analysis of other firms’ finances, having buried the obituaries that were being written on their own a year ago.


Most of the management teams that presided over near-bankruptcy are still in place, enjoying undiminished performance and retention bonuses. Many of those dramatically turfed out of their Canary Wharf offices in September 2008 already have their feet under a comparable desk on someone else’s trading floor. And of the bosses who bet their banks and lost, there is none whose golden parachute failed to open. Even Lehman ex-CEO Dick Fuld is on hire as a consultant, just round the corner from Wall Street. Sir Fred Goodwin’s RBS pension, big enough to be a one-man stimulus package, attracts powerless resentment but continues to flow.

For more click http://www.open2.net/blogs/money/index.php/2009/09/24/bankers-won-politicians-lost?blog=5

If you really really have to shop in Sydney!

I have listed here some link if you really want to shop in Sydney. Most of the link here has addresses to big bargains in Sydney! Enjoy!

Basement books - my favorite and lotsa titles! A must for book lovers.
http://www.basementbooks.com.au/basement-books/home.do

Victoria Basement @ QVB - you browse the households stuffs first then shop when you get there!
http://www.victoriasbasement.com.au

Peter's at Kensington - household stuffs and more class!
http://www.petersofkensington.com.au/Home/

Cheap CDs - used to have a store in city, but you can buy online still.
http://www.dirtcheapcds.com.au

Paul's warehouse - Sporting stuffs
http://www.paulswarehouse.com.au/shop/home.php

For the healthy readers
http://www.chemistwarehouse.com.au/home.asp

More to come .. watch this space

The meaning of life ..what's yours?

I was queuing at the Brisbane Treasury Casino waiting to pay and seated for a dinner buffet. As I was waiting, I started to talk to a friend, why do we need to indulge in such thing like buffet, where we really don't need to eat more than we need.

My friend mentioned that we need to enjoy life like there is no tomorrow. So the more reason we should eat and enjoy now or do anything else you wish to do. However, I replied wouldn't this encourage more capitalisme where we all being raised and living the advertisers' golden dream. The truth was they create this good feel to the meaning of life so you could spend all your money.

I don't know about you, however, the older I grew I realised why we are here. I believed each of us has a reason to be here. For me, I like to leave a legacy whether it's big or small. This legacy could bring goodness to the next generation. I do not wish to live by days and minutes without knowing why we are here. So what's yours? Have you thought about it? It's not too late.

Ikiru by Akira Kurosawa

I am now in Brisbane and finally I found the movie I want! I tried to find them in England but it was too expensive, and when I found them in Taipei, there wasn't English subtitles. Finally I found them at a second hand shop with a reasonable price! The movie is called 'Ikiru' shot in 1952 by Akira Kurosawa. I heard so much of the movie few years ago and it's one of the movie I always wanted to watch. Ikiru means 'to live' in japan language.

Apparently, the movie has moved many people. The story is about a older man found he has cancer and dying soon. With this perception, he tried to find the meaning of life. In a way it was a bit late, but the message of the movie was very strong. Anyone wants to watch it, can borrow from me! Highly recommended.

Modern Babes!

I walked into a train in Sydney, and there I saw a woman with a pram. Inside the pram, there was this cute little girl probably 8 months old which could not stop giggling. Her mom will play with her and the little baby will lift up her blanket as in playing hide and seek. The commuters around the baby was smiling.

Ten minutes later, the baby starting to feel tired, then the mom starting to pull out a IPhone. Then she switched into a cartoon movies, and passed it to the baby. The baby naturally holding it with 2 arms and start looking at it attentively. Modern babes! However, as the event took place, I was thinking to myself. Is this a good thing. What if the baby is hooked to the IPhone, and became addicted to it. The role of the pacifying and interaction with mom has been replaced by a phone! What if it cause poor eye sight of the baby? The baby place the phone really near to her eye.

At the back of my mind, I was thinking it was a cool gadget, but at the same time. While the conservative part of me was arguing, all these gadget may have a side effects which the modern parents have to bare the consequences later.

Universiti Malaysia ranking dropped out of top 200 list

I was reading The Star online, I found once the famous UM has dropped out from the world top 200 list. This is such a sad news. Though I do not have the honor to study there, but it was like one of the 'idolised' university during my school days.

Also, there is an extract from the Education ministry quoting :

Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed told The Star it was normal to see fluctuation in the rankings.

“We do not want to be obsessive about world rankings,” he said.

The ministry, he added, had its own strategic plan which was benchmarked against world’s best practices, and would take note of the rankings.

“We also cannot be ‘ranked’ against other universities whose ‘conditions’ and ‘environments’ are different from ours. It is like comparing apples with oranges,” he said.

I do not know what else to say! Comparisons whether you like it or not generate good conflict, hence you move forward to fix thing up.

If the attitude continue to be 'Tidak Apa', we will eventually missed the boat.

The Times of Harvey Milk

I was watching the SBS channel last night. The documentary was an award winning in 1984 with the title 'The Times of Harvey Milk'. This was the true story of Harvey and also was made famous by Sean Penn in the movie 'Milk'. In summary, it's a story of a very ordinary gay man who championed for not only gay, but for the minorities, like the senior citizens, the Asians and other group which has been discriminated in San Francisco.

In the beginning I wasn't sure if the documentary will be boring, however, as the story unfold, with various friends and allied doing the interview, I began to noticed how extraordinary Harvey Milk was. He was the voice, the minorities groups was seeking in the 70s, and through him they found a right. For example, there was a debate to ban all gay or lesbian from teaching in school, as they were viewed as bad influence and should be condemned. He and few supporters went in with statistics to prove that even non gay men could be bad influences and the percentages were even worst.

He was murdered by another politician, and his loss was so moving in the documentary. I noticed so many people was affected and people remembered the hope he promised to the minorities. It was indeed a very uplifting story and how one ordinary man could change the law against the minorities. I found the documentary was so much better than the movie 'Milk'.

http://www.thetimesofharveymilk.com/

Look and focus!

This 2nd term, I was doing Conflict Management course. In the course, we were told to you use 'I' statements which will make your sentences sounds more assertive. A lot of people tends to use 'YOU' which usually sounds more like an accusation, hence trigger more confrontations.

Today, while ordering my meal and my coffee, I told the waitress to bring my coffee first. After couple of minutes, I still didn't get it. So I waved to the waitress and told her 'I want my coffee to be served first'! I was very conscious with the choice of my sentence. After 10 minutes, my meal came but no coffee yet. I stressed again, 'May I have my coffee?', the waitress walked away hurriedly.

After my meal was over, no coffee!! I began to feel very pissed. In my mind, I kept telling me I must construct my word correctly. I must say 'I feel frustrated, my coffee has not being served yet. I am very annoyed'! Expressing my thoughts and telling the other about my demand and feeling.

When I walked over to the cashier, the waitress charged me the rice and the coffee!!! Immediately I was more pissed. I told her, 'Please remove the coffee. I told you many times about the coffee, but it wasn't served'!!! Then the waitress said 'Sorry sorry'!! At the slip of my tongue, I said 'I don't think YOU want to make that coffee!!!!.. Opps, I did it!

Anyway, the story I brought up here was because, it was so hard to control what we used to say, even I make an effort to try! The waitress simply didn't look at the customer when we speak to her, and neither she's focusing. One hand on the paper, but the face is facing other tables! I wonder how will they do their job?? Anyhow, I need to remove all the 'YOU' in the future!