Merdeitis

2008-02-24T17:45:00.001+01:00

“To be is to do”–Socrates.

“To do is to be”–Jean-Paul Sartre.

“Do be do be do”–Frank Sinatra.

-gAvIn-

2008-02-22T20:03:00.002+01:00

That's so sweet :)

-gAvIn-

2008-01-03T01:32:00.000+01:00

爱情转移(陈奕迅)

曲:christopher chak 词:林夕

徘徊过多少橱窗住过多少旅馆
才会觉得分离也并不冤枉
感情是用来浏览还是用来珍藏
好让日子天天都过得难忘
熬过了多久患难湿了多长眼眶
才能知道伤感是爱的遗产
流浪几张双人床换过几次信仰
才让戒指义无返顾的交换
把一个人的温暖转移到另一个的胸膛
让上次犯的错反省出梦想
每个人都是这样享受过提心吊胆
才拒绝做爱情待罪的羔羊
回忆是抓不住的月光握紧就变黑暗
等虚假的背影消失于晴朗
阳光在身上流转等所有业障被原谅
爱情不停站想开往地老天荒
需要多勇敢
烛光照亮了晚餐照不出个答案
恋爱不是温馨的请客吃饭
床单上铺满花瓣拥抱让它成长
太拥挤就开到了别的土壤
感情需要人接班接近换来期望
期望带来失望的恶性循环
短暂的总是浪漫漫长总会不满
烧完美好青春换一个老伴
你不要失望荡气回肠是为了
最美的平凡

It's rare when a song speaks to you, and to you alone. (at least that's what you feel :) )

gAvIn
It's been some time, happy new year everyone!

2007-09-02T17:54:00.000+02:00

Why Coca Cola is the most valuable brand in the world.

-gAvIn-

2007-08-21T17:08:00.000+02:00

Few random quotes

"Bigamy is having one wife too many. Monogamy is the same."
Oscar Wilde

If your wife wants to learn to drive, don't stand in her way.
Sam Levenson

"By all means marry. If you get a good wife, you'll become happy; If you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher."
Socrates

The most beautiful translations, like the most beautiful wifes, are not always fidèle.
Esaias Tegner

I speak to God in Spanish, to women, Italian, to men, French and to my dog, German.
Charles Quint

-gAvIn-

2007-08-09T05:09:00.000+02:00

I use to hate Bill Gates for Microsoft's monopoly of our operating system, and yet I deeply admire his work in the combat against illness, poverty and even more, the general apathy of this world's privileged towards the greater problem of humanity.

This is a long speech by him someone forwarded to me, it’ll take some time, like 10 minutes or so, but make an effort to read it. He quoted his mom towards the end: “From those to whom much is given, much is expected.”

And returning from a squatter house home stay program and mingling with a few of the so called “elite Malaysians” who volunteered their time for it, I felt that there is hope that this generation will make Malaysia a better place for all.

Remarks of Bill Gates - Harvard Commencement

(Text as prepared for delivery – 7 June 2007)

President Bok, former President Rudenstine, incoming President Faust, members of the Harvard Corporation and the Board of Overseers, members of the faculty, parents, and especially, the graduates:

I’ve been waiting more than 30 years to say this: “Dad, I always told you I’d come back and get my degree.”

I want to thank Harvard for this timely honor. I’ll be changing my job next year … and it will be nice to finally have a college degree on my resume.

I applaud the graduates today for taking a much more direct route to your degrees. For my part, I’m just happy that the Crimson has called me “Harvard’s most successful dropout.” I guess that makes me valedictorian of my own special class … I did the best of everyone who failed.

But I also want to be recognized as the guy who got Steve Ballmer to drop out of business school. I’m a bad influence. That’s why I was invited to speak at your graduation. If I had spoken at your orientation, fewer of you might be here today.

Harvard was just a phenomenal experience for me. Academic life was fascinating. I used to sit in on lots of classes I hadn’t even signed up for. And dorm life was terrific. I lived up at Radcliffe, in Currier House. There were always lots of people in my dorm room late at night discussing things, because everyone knew I didn’t worry about getting up in the morning. That’s how I came to be the leader of the anti-social group. We clung to each other as a way of validating our rejection of all those social people.

Radcliffe was a great place to live. There were more women up there, and most of the guys were science-math types. That combination offered me the best odds, if you know what I mean. This is where I learned the sad lesson that improving your odds doesn’t guarantee success.

One of my biggest memories of Harvard came in January 1975, when I made a call from Currier House to a company in Albuquerque that had begun making the world’s first personal computers. I offered to sell them software.

I worried that they would realize I was just a student in a dorm and hang up on me. Instead they said: “We’re not quite ready, come see us in a month,” which was a good thing, because we hadn’t written the software yet. From that moment, I worked day and night on this little extra credit project that marked the end of my college education and the beginning of a remarkable journey with Microsoft.

What I remember above all about Harvard was being in the midst of so much energy and intelligence. It could be exhilarating, intimidating, sometimes even discouraging, but always challenging. It was an amazing privilege – and though I left early, I was transformed by my years at Harvard, the friendships I made, and the ideas I worked on.

But taking a serious look back … I do have one big regret.

I left Harvard with no real awareness of the awful inequities in the world – the appalling disparities of health, and wealth, and opportunity that condemn millions of people to lives of despair.

I learned a lot here at Harvard about new ideas in economics and politics. I got great exposure to the advances being made in the sciences.

But humanity’s greatest advances are not in its discoveries – but in how those discoveries are applied to reduce inequity. Whether through democracy, strong public education, quality health care, or broad economic opportunity – reducing inequity is the highest human achievement.

I left campus knowing little about the millions of young people cheated out of educational opportunities here in this country. And I knew nothing about the millions of people living in unspeakable poverty and disease in developing countries.

It took me decades to find out.

You graduates came to Harvard at a different time. You know more about the world’s inequities than the classes that came before. In your years here, I hope you’ve had a chance to think about how – in this age of accelerating technology – we can finally take on these inequities, and we can solve them.

Imagine, just for the sake of discussion, that you had a few hours a week and a few dollars a month to donate to a cause – and you wanted to spend that time and money where it would have the greatest impact in saving and improving lives. Where would you spend it?

For Melinda and for me, the challenge is the same: how can we do the most good for the greatest number with the resources we have.

During our discussions on this question, Melinda and I read an article about the millions of children who were dying every year in poor countries from diseases that we had long ago made harmless in this country. Measles, malaria, pneumonia, hepatitis B, yellow fever. One disease I had never even heard of, rotavirus, was killing half a million kids each year – none of them in the United States .

We were shocked. We had just assumed that if millions of children were dying and they could be saved, the world would make it a priority to discover and deliver the medicines to save them. But it did not. For under a dollar, there were interventions that could save lives that just weren’t being delivered.

If you believe that every life has equal value, it’s revolting to learn that some lives are seen as worth saving and others are not. We said to ourselves: “This can’t be true. But if it is true, it deserves to be the priority of our giving.”

So we began our work in the same way anyone here would begin it. We asked: “How could the world let these children die?”

The answer is simple, and harsh. The market did not reward saving the lives of these children, and governments did not subsidize it. So the children died because their mothers and their fathers had no power in the market and no voice in the system.

But you and I have both.

We can make market forces work better for the poor if we can develop a more creative capitalism – if we can stretch the reach of market forces so that more people can make a profit, or at least make a living, serving people who are suffering from the worst inequities. We also can press governments around the world to spend taxpayer money in ways that better reflect the values of the people who pay the taxes.

If we can find approaches that meet the needs of the poor in ways that generate profits for business and votes for politicians, we will have found a sustainable way to reduce inequity in the world. This task is open-ended. It can never be finished. But a conscious effort to answer this challenge will change the world.

I am optimistic that we can do this, but I talk to skeptics who claim there is no hope. They say: “Inequity has been with us since the beginning, and will be with us till the end – because people just … don’t … care.” I completely disagree.

I believe we have more caring than we know what to do with.

All of us here in this Yard, at one time or another, have seen human tragedies that broke our hearts, and yet we did nothing – not because we didn’t care, but because we didn’t know what to do. If we had known how to help, we would have acted.

The barrier to change is not too little caring; it is too much complexity.

To turn caring into action, we need to see a problem, see a solution, and see the impact. But complexity blocks all three steps.

Even with the advent of the Internet and 24-hour news, it is still a complex enterprise to get people to truly see the problems. When an airplane crashes, officials immediately call a press conference. They promise to investigate, determine the cause, and prevent similar crashes in the future.

But if the officials were brutally honest, they would say: “Of all the people in the world who died today from preventable causes, one half of one percent of them were on this plane. We’re determined to do everything possible to solve the problem that took the lives of the one half of one percent.”

The bigger problem is not the plane crash, but the millions of preventable deaths.

We don’t read much about these deaths. The media covers what’s new – and millions of people dying is nothing new. So it stays in the background, where it’s easier to ignore. But even when we do see it or read about it, it’s difficult to keep our eyes on the problem. It’s hard to look at suffering if the situation is so complex that we don’t know how to help. And so we look away.

If we can really see a problem, which is the first step, we come to the second step: cutting through the complexity to find a solution.

Finding solutions is essential if we want to make the most of our caring. If we have clear and proven answers anytime an organization or individual asks “How can I help?,” then we can get action – and we can make sure that none of the caring in the world is wasted. But complexity makes it hard to mark a path of action for everyone who cares — and that makes it hard for their caring to matter.

Cutting through complexity to find a solution runs through four predictable stages: determine a goal, find the highest-leverage approach, discover the ideal technology for that approach, and in the meantime, make the smartest application of the technology that you already have — whether it’s something sophisticated, like a drug, or something simpler, like a bednet.

The AIDS epidemic offers an example. The broad goal, of course, is to end the disease. The highest-leverage approach is prevention. The ideal technology would be a vaccine that gives lifetime immunity with a single dose. So governments, drug companies, and foundations fund vaccine research. But their work is likely to take more than a decade, so in the meantime, we have to work with what we have in hand – and the best prevention approach we have now is getting people to avoid risky behavior.

Pursuing that goal starts the four-step cycle again. This is the pattern. The crucial thing is to never stop thinking and working – and never do what we did with malaria and tuberculosis in the 20th century – which is to surrender to complexity and quit.

The final step – after seeing the problem and finding an approach – is to measure the impact of your work and share your successes and failures so that others learn from your efforts.

You have to have the statistics, of course. You have to be able to show that a program is vaccinating millions more children. You have to be able to show a decline in the number of children dying from these diseases. This is essential not just to improve the program, but also to help draw more investment from business and government.

But if you want to inspire people to participate, you have to show more than numbers; you have to convey the human impact of the work – so people can feel what saving a life means to the families affected.

I remember going to Davos some years back and sitting on a global health panel that was discussing ways to save millions of lives. Millions! Think of the thrill of saving just one person’s life – then multiply that by millions. … Yet this was the most boring panel I’ve ever been on – ever. So boring even I couldn’t bear it.

What made that experience especially striking was that I had just come from an event where we were introducing version 13 of some piece of software, and we had people jumping and shouting with excitement. I love getting people excited about software – but why can’t we generate even more excitement for saving lives?

You can’t get people excited unless you can help them see and feel the impact. And how you do that – is a complex question.

Still, I’m optimistic. Yes, inequity has been with us forever, but the new tools we have to cut through complexity have not been with us forever. They are new – they can help us make the most of our caring – and that’s why the future can be different from the past.

The defining and ongoing innovations of this age – biotechnology, the computer, the Internet – give us a chance we’ve never had before to end extreme poverty and end death from preventable disease.

Sixty years ago, George Marshall came to this commencement and announced a plan to assist the nations of post-war Europe . He said: “I think one difficulty is that the problem is one of such enormous complexity that the very mass of facts presented to the public by press and radio make it exceedingly difficult for the man in the street to reach a clear appraisement of the situation. It is virtually impossible at this distance to grasp at all the real significance of the situation.”

Thirty years after Marshall made his address, as my class graduated without me, technology was emerging that would make the world smaller, more open, more visible, less distant.

The emergence of low-cost personal computers gave rise to a powerful network that has transformed opportunities for learning and communicating.

The magical thing about this network is not just that it collapses distance and makes everyone your neighbor. It also dramatically increases the number of brilliant minds we can have working together on the same problem – and that scales up the rate of innovation to a staggering degree.

At the same time, for every person in the world who has access to this technology, five people don’t. That means many creative minds are left out of this discussion -- smart people with practical intelligence and relevant experience who don’t have the technology to hone their talents or contribute their ideas to the world.

We need as many people as possible to have access to this technology, because these advances are triggering a revolution in what human beings can do for one another. They are making it possible not just for national governments, but for universities, corporations, smaller organizations, and even individuals to see problems, see approaches, and measure the impact of their efforts to address the hunger, poverty, and desperation George Marshall spoke of 60 years ago.

Members of the Harvard Family: Here in the Yard is one of the great collections of intellectual talent in the world.

What for?

There is no question that the faculty, the alumni, the students, and the benefactors of Harvard have used their power to improve the lives of people here and around the world. But can we do more? Can Harvard dedicate its intellect to improving the lives of people who will never even hear its name?

Let me make a request of the deans and the professors – the intellectual leaders here at Harvard: As you hire new faculty, award tenure, review curriculum, and determine degree requirements, please ask yourselves:

Should our best minds be dedicated to solving our biggest problems?

Should Harvard encourage its faculty to take on the world’s worst inequities? Should Harvard students learn about the depth of global poverty … the prevalence of world hunger … the scarcity of clean water …the girls kept out of school … the children who die from diseases we can cure?

Should the world’s most privileged people learn about the lives of the world’s least privileged?

These are not rhetorical questions – you will answer with your policies.

My mother, who was filled with pride the day I was admitted here – never stopped pressing me to do more for others. A few days before my wedding, she hosted a bridal event, at which she read aloud a letter about marriage that she had written to Melinda. My mother was very ill with cancer at the time, but she saw one more opportunity to deliver her message, and at the close of the letter she said: “From those to whom much is given, much is expected.”

When you consider what those of us here in this Yard have been given – in talent, privilege, and opportunity – there is almost no limit to what the world has a right to expect from us.

In line with the promise of this age, I want to exhort each of the graduates here to take on an issue – a complex problem, a deep inequity, and become a specialist on it. If you make it the focus of your career, that would be phenomenal. But you don’t have to do that to make an impact. For a few hours every week, you can use the growing power of the Internet to get informed, find others with the same interests, see the barriers, and find ways to cut through them.

Don’t let complexity stop you. Be activists. Take on the big inequities. It will be one of the great experiences of your lives.

You graduates are coming of age in an amazing time. As you leave Harvard, you have technology that members of my class never had. You have awareness of global inequity, which we did not have. And with that awareness, you likely also have an informed conscience that will torment you if you abandon these people whose lives you could change with very little effort. You have more than we had; you must start sooner, and carry on longer.

Knowing what you know, how could you not?

And I hope you will come back here to Harvard 30 years from now and reflect on what you have done with your talent and your energy. I hope you will judge yourselves not on your professional accomplishments alone, but also on how well you have addressed the world’s deepest inequities … on how well you treated people a world away who have nothing in common with you but their humanity.

Good luck.

-gAvIn-

2007-08-01T12:28:00.000+02:00

ermmm... true...?

Don't date your close neighbors, don't date anyone related to a close friend, and DON'T DIP YOUR PEN IN THE COMPANY INK. All of these are VERY likely to wind up being bad, long-term investments.

true anot...? what do u guys think...?

-aDRiANo-

2007-07-31T16:04:00.000+02:00

Charles Trenet
Hop hop

Je suis seul, sans amis.
Dans les champs endormis,
Il fait noir, il fait nuit.
Tout est tranquille, aucun bruit
Dans le soir merveilleux.
Un oiseau monte aux cieux.
C'est mon cœur qui s'en va.
C'est mon cœur, c'est ma joie.

Hop, hop !
Monte plus vite mon cœur là-haut, vite,
Hop, hop !

Monte plus haut qu'il fait bon là...
Dans un nuage sage,
Bleu blanc rose et doux
D'où vient ce paysage ?
Il n'est pas de chez nous.
Non Hop hop.
Quel est cet air qu'on fredonne là ?
La la la la la la la la la la la,
Est-ce la voix des anges ?
Est-ce vous, est-ce moi ?
Hop hop !
C'est la chanson d'une époque, d'autrefois...
Hop hop !
C'est la chanson d'une époque, d'autrefois...

Il suffit d'un soleil
Qui tombe à l'horizon
Il suffit d'un regard,
D'un aveu, d'une chanson
Pour comprendre la vie,
Pour comprendre l'amour.
Il suffit de ces riens
Pour faire des beaux jours.

-gAvIn-

2007-07-31T13:52:00.000+02:00

they'll never hear the words u have to say

was it all worth it? after all that he's done... after all that he's given up...

life's funny... people tend to appreciate things only after they're gone...

and that's a known fact, and knowing such a fact, why do people still let things slip them by?

"if there's someone u know, ur loving them so, ur taking them all for granted, u may lose them someday, someone takes them away, and they'll never hear the words u have to say"

jude, everything i own

weird people are sometimes... the worse feeling is regret itself...

if ur reading this, and very few people actually do, let the person u love know that u love them... and more often than not, actions speak louder than words...

-aDRiANo-

2007-07-28T18:45:00.001+02:00

What Are Totems Really For?

In our everyday life, how other people view us and what’s our perception to it plays a very important role, according to 2 German researchers.

They conclude that the fact of knowing that other people are observing you makes you more altruistic.

For example, a tips box in a restaurant is more likely to generate tips if the image of a pair of eyes is stick unto it. (Versus, say a picture of a flower)

This phenomenon has biological explanations: Your brain reacts differently in the presence of eyes, even animated ones.

This explains the presence of fierce totems among the ancient civilization. Some smart guy must have decided that having false eyes DO benefit the community.

-gAvIn-

2007-07-24T15:05:00.000+02:00

The Belgians

Our friend use to tell us a story about the belgians

The Belgians are usually rediculed among europeans because they are not very bright, so one day, the Belge president asked the french government to build a flyover out of nowhere, say a jungle so that people will see that it's not only the Belgians who are stupid.

So the French president, ever so kind, acquiesced. He built one and people all over the world started laughing at the french. So the Belge president was satisfied, he observed that now that everyone has made fun of the french, they're now equal, and it's time to take down the flyover.

The French president says that he couldn't, since there are still Belgians that continue to pay tolls to use the flyover.

..........

Anyway, I just read the news (yeah, it's real) : When asked to sing the Belge national anthem,
Yves Leterme, the probable future Belgian prime minister burst out the French national anthem, la Marseillaise.

Gaffe Yves Leterme sur l'hymne national belge
envoyé par gumaes

-gAvIn-

2007-07-24T05:06:00.000+02:00

cutest couple...

-aDRiANo-

2007-07-23T09:54:00.000+02:00

Music and Lyrics...

if u haven't watched the movie, please do... here is a snippet of it with one of the nicest songs i've heard in a long long long time... the lyrics are somewhere on this page too (further, further, further down...) i noe it probably takes a while to 'get' the entire footage below (especially with a connection like mine), but bear with me cause it's damn worth it...

enjoy...

P/S; check out the message at the end of the video...

for my con lon... moah...

-aDRiANo-

2007-07-21T13:34:00.000+02:00

Dans la vie on ne regrette que ce qu'on n'a pas fait » (Jean Cocteau), par Ava

I read this at a very nice blog called Mon blog de fille, if you could understand French, you'll want to read this, it's a touching story that might very well remind you of your time in High School...

« Il y a quelques mois, je suis tombé amoureuse. Le coup de foudre. J'imagine déjà les sourires de certaines quand elles apprendront que j'ai seize ans. S'imaginant juste la petite bluette sentimentale de l'adolescente naïve ?

Ca a commencé par des amies qui ont été lui parler sans m'en avertir, lui dire que "je parlais TRES souvent de lui". Et lui, après s'être excusé d'avoir déjà quelqu'un, il m'a invité à prendre un café, il a dû se sentir obligé, le pauvre.
Inutile de vous détailler cette heure et demi, je n'osais même pas parler ce qui ne facilite pas les choses pour "faire connaissance".

Dès le lendemain de ce rendez-vous qui n'en était pas vraiment un... Je l'ai évité.
La honte/la gêne/le malaise/la timidité/la stupidité, appelez-ça comme vous le voudrez. Je l'ai évité durant tous les mois qui ont suivi, repérant tout de même des regards ou des sourires de loin parfois...

Il était entré dans ma tête, et malgré cela je continuais à l'ignorer tout en le cherchant constamment dans le lycée.
Chaque fois que je passais à proximité de lui (par des hasards que j'avais bien souvent provoqués...), je persistais à faire semblant de ne pas le voir et simulais des conversations de la plus haute importance avec mes amies qui avaient la mission de le surveiller du coin de l'oeil pour voir s'il me regardait. C'est vous dire le niveau.
J'espérais désespérement qu'il me prête un peu d'attention alors que moi même je ne faisais rien pour mériter l'intérêt que j'aurais aimé qu'il me porte.

Lui, est entré dans mon jeu, me regardant de temps en temps, me souriant les jours fastes et m'ignorant pendant plusieurs semaines. Et moi, stupidement, je lui en voulais d'imiter le comportement que j'avais pourtant initié, soufflant le chaud et le froid au gré de mes humeurs.
Ca a duré environ deux mois. Et les trois mois suivants, il m'a carrément ignorée.
Et moi qui ai tendance à suivre à la lettre le précepte du "suis-moi, je te fuis; fuis-moi, je te suis", je peut affirmer que j'ai eu mal, très mal de n'avoir parlé qu'une fois à ce garçon qui me tenait tant à coeur.

La dernière semaine de cours, il s'est passé une chose étrange...
Une suite de regards échangés entre nous, des regards qui se fuyaient quand ils se croisaient, des sourires avec le rouge qui monte aux pommettes.... Je ne sais même plus combien de discours et de lettres j'ai pu préparer pour lui avouer la vérité, pour dire que j'étais amoureuse, parce que, bien que j'ai tenté de le nier à maintes reprises, c'était bien d'amour qu'il s'agissait.

Le dernier jour de cours j'ai ronchonné toute la journée pour le voir et avoir l'occasion de lui parler. Je traînais dans un couloir avec des amies en fin de journée et j'avais perdu tout espoir quand je l'ai aperçu de loin.

De dos, il ne m'avait donc pas vue.
Mes copines m'ont prises par les poignets et ont commencé à courir pour le rattraper (Dieu merci le couloir était vide!) seulement voilà, j'ai paniqué et j'ai fait une chose stupide. Je me suis mise à courir.
Dans la direction opposée.

C'est la dernière image que j'ai de lui.

Aujourd'hui, je le regrette amèrement, il va partir faire ses études et il ne saura jamais rien de ce que j'aurai tant aimé lui dire.

Vous vous demandez pourquoi j'ai réagi ainsi ?
L'orgueil bien sûr. Je me suis sentie stupide d'espérer quoique ce soit d'un garçon de deux ans plus âgé. Je ne voulais pas me "mettre à nu", exposer un côté de moi que personne ne connaît par peur qu'il ne me juge, ne rigole de moi, me fasse une "mauvaise réputation", se moque ou Dieu ne sait quoi d'autre alors qu'il s'agit d'une personne adorable qui a agi avec beaucoup de gentillesse.
J'ai toujours eu trop de fierté : celle qui m'empêche de demander pardon aux personnes que je heurte, celle qui m'empêche d'essayer d'aller vers les gens mais me fait attendre que les gens viennent vers moi.

Aujourd'hui, certains me disent de l'oublier, comme si c'était simple. D'autres me disent de le rechercher. Mais je ne suis pas une héroïne de cinéma sur qui l'amour tombera dès qu'elle ouvrira son coeur.

Moi, jeunette de seize ans j'ai tiré des leçons de tout ça, de ma naïveté et de ma peur :
1. L'orgueil, on le laisse aux pétasses
2. Mieux vaut passer à côté d'une bonne réputation que d'une belle histoire d'amour (même triste)
3. Last but not least... On laisse les copines en dehors des histoires de cœur.

Signé : Ava »

-gAvIn-

2007-07-20T15:15:00.000+02:00

Adrian,

I have a better version, one which I've witnessed myself.

Man: So, lets go grab something to eat.
Woman: Any suggestion?
Man: Ok, I've heard about the new chinese restaurant at Jalan Yap Kwan Seng, wanna go try there?
Woman: No needla, it's too far away.
Man: Ok, in this case what about Ali's Corner, it offers authentic Penang Nasi Kandar?
Woman: Duwanla, curry's too heaty.
Man: What about the the vegetarian shop just behind Wisma Genting?
Woman: Not nice one, lets go eat at The Steamboat.
Man: ....If you have an idea why not say it out straight.
Woman: Well, I asked for ideas, but you did not offered any.
Man: (wtf...)

2007-07-19T03:35:00.000+02:00

HAhAhahHhHAHHhhaAhha...

(Whatever)

Men: What to have for dinner?
Women: Whatever..
Men: Why not we have steamboat?
Women: Don't want la, eat steamboat later got pimples in my face
Men: Alright, why not we have Si Chuan cuisine
Women: Yesterday eat Si Chuan, today eat again?
Men: Hmm..... then I suggest we have seafood
Women: Seafood no good la, later I got diarrhea
Men: Then what you suggest?
Women : Whatever..

(Anything)

Men: So what should we do now?
Women: Anything
Men: How about watching a movie? Long time we havn't watch a movie
Women: Watching movie no good la, waste time only
Men: How about we go bowling, do some exercises?
Women: Exercise on such hot day? You not feel tired meh?
Men: Then find a café and have a drink
Women: Drinking coffee will affect my sleep
Men: Then what you suggest?
Women: Anything

(You decide)

Men: Then we just go home lo
Women: You decide
Men: Let's take a bus
Women: Bus is dirty and crowded. Don't want la
Men: Ok we will take taxi then
Women: Not worth it la... for such a short distance
Men: Alright, then we walk lo. Take a slow walk
Women: How to walk with empty stomach?
Men: Then what you suggest?
Women: You decide
Men: Let's have dinner first
Women: Whatever...
Men: Eat what?
Women: Anything

(Man looks around... no one here, gonna kill her....)

-aDRiANo-

2007-07-04T14:38:00.000+02:00

2007-05-18T23:33:00.000+02:00

Things like this should never exist. Not in my beloved country.

-gAvIn-

2007-05-18T12:12:00.000+02:00

Chinese traditionnal music: Pipa

Pipa is one of the traditionnel chinese music instrument which is played like a guitar, held vertically.
Apparently, the player is a chinese woman whole immigrated to Canada...She played beautifully, with very good strumming technique, playing the pipa requires you to strum a single string with all five fingers and she is able to do that with the same amount of energy and precision for each of her fingers!

Another one is called the 12 stupid abeit-good-looking gals team playing
El Condor Pasa
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lETkMaTOkP4

It's very famous, I think you know the music.

The original version, sung in spanish
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fd3Qpr5jrxM

If you got time,
The piece is called 'The horse race', but he's not that good, i've seen better.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6V9JinlbpHw

-gAvIn-

2007-05-12T21:16:00.000+02:00

i was just up to my mum’s waist and i was holding her hand...

As far as i can remember, i have always had a very high standard of “happiness”… a standard that i have yet to meet or find in the past few months...

I tried hard this morning to remember when the last time was when i was just plain and simple ‘happy’, and my memories took me back to one fine morning a long long time ago... i can’t really remember what day it was, or even what year it was but i can remember the ‘scene’... it was very early, the sun wasn’t out yet, my mum had me dressed for school and we were walking down the street in front of our house to the end of it where there was a kuih-muih stand... then, i was happy, i was content... i remember i was just up to my mum’s waist and i was holding her hand... oh how i wish i could go back to that day... or those days... when life was simple and mummy did everything for me... =)

The mornings we’re pretty much the same, i can remember gobbling down a bowl of cornflakes for example... every morning if my parents had bought a box of cornflakes, my brother and i had a bowl of it set on the table awaiting us and a cup of milo each that my mum would pour onto my cornflakes and my brother would do his himself... i remember being jealous that he could do it on his own... =)

That was a time when i could remember being content... i guess for me, happiness is something that i value in terms of quantity versus quality... as in, i guess i would rather be content every single day than have a chance of being very happy at one moment, coupled with the risk of being heartbroken the next... very much like i’ve been for the past seven months here in Bordeaux...

Sometimes i wish i never came here... never met the people i met, never known the things i know... never had the feelings i have... but all this is a part of life isn’t it? As we grow older, we realise that life isn’t just as simple as it once was...

-adriano-

2007-05-09T16:57:00.001+02:00

Way Back Into Love
Hugh Grant & Hayley Bennett

I've been living with a shadow overhead
I've been sleeping with a cloud above my bed
I've been lonely for so long
Trapped in the past, I just can't seem to move on

I've been hiding all my hopes and dreams away
Just in case I ever need em again someday
I've been setting aside time
To clear a little space in the corners of my mind

All I want to do is find a way back into love
I can't make it through without a way back into love
Oh oh oh

I've been watching but the stars refuse to shine
I've been searching but I just don't see the signs
I know that it's out there
There's got to be something for my soul somewhere

I've been looking for someone to shed some light
Not somebody just to get me through the night
I could use some direction
And I'm open to your suggestions

All I want to do is find a way back into love
I can't make it through without a way back into love
And if I open my heart again
I guess I'm hoping you'll be there for me in the end
oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

There are moments when I don't know if it's real
Or if anybody feels the way I feel
I need inspiration
Not just another negotiation

All I want to do is find a way back into love
I can't make it through without a way back into love
And if I open my heart to you
I'm hoping you'll show me what to do
And if you help me to start again
You know that I'll be there for you in the end
oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

a beautiful song from music and lyrics by hugh grant that i went to watch with the most beautiful girl i know... =)
ermmm, forgot how to upload songs liao...

-adriano-

2007-04-21T15:56:00.000+02:00

The Star has some news about some popular get-rich-quick investment scheme in Malaysia.

Since high school, I have seen lots of similar schemes, too many of them in fact that distracts students from their studies and destroys relationships.

The classical signs that the latest "investment" fad is a pyramid scheme in disguise:
-Schemes promising 2 to 3 percent interest per day.
-schemes promising 300% or you know, up to 1000% of gain per year. (mind mind, even Warren Buffet, the world's second richest guy has consistantly got returns in the mid 20s%)
-They use bombastic terms like investment consultant, leverage, natural resources play, credit default swip, derivatives, options that basically mean nothing in the context they're using.
-They claim that they are from Swiss/USA/UK/-insert your favourite advance nation- with a professionnel investment team but they actually are just from Malaysia.

If you really want to invest but don't know much about the stock market, bond market; no loads (or rather low fees) mutual funds are the way to go. A very good example is Fidelity (although their performance is not as good as before recently) and for people in Malaysia, TA Investment Bhd (I don't really like their high entree fee though).

If not, if you really want to get rich quick, join the pyramid scheme, but with the condition that you get in early and get out before it collapse. Or much better, start your very own scheme and name if after yourself .
If not, you can join UMNO and get rich quick.too :)

Gavin

2007-04-20T18:50:00.000+02:00

I live in Bordeaux and what that surprises me is that the tram here are connected to an overhead power line in certain stations and nothing at all for the others.

The stations whom the tram is connected to an electric source is numbered at around 4 stations while the rest, like 20+ of them is without any connection.

Is this possible given that the on board battery looks inexistant to me?

And after some research: (from wiki)
[quote]
There are other methods of powering electric trams, sometimes preferred for aesthetic reasons since poles and overhead wires are not required. The old tram systems in London, Manhattan (New York City), and Washington, D.C., used live rails, like those on third-rail electrified railways, but in a conduit underneath the road, from which they drew power through a plough. It was called Conduit current collection. Washington's was the last of these to close, in 1962. Today, no commercial tramway uses this system. More recently, a modern equivalent to the old stud systems has been developed which allows for the safe installation of a third rail on city streets, which is known as surface current collection or ground-lev.el power supply; the main example of this is the new tramway in Bordeaux.[/quote]

and http://citytransport.info/Bod.htm

Apparently, the tram here is the world's first second-generation tram that draw's power from the ground, instead of overhead electrical cables. The choice is mainly due to aesthetical reasons (to not distrupt the architectural views) but the drawback includes frequent distruptions (as the techonology isn't perfected yet), which really do annoy people here.
The manufacturer, Altrom signed a contract with CUB (communauté urbaine de Bordeaux) which promises to share future profits from sales of this kind of tram in return for us being the guinea pig.
Recently, the on time rate is getting better and better, and according to a website, reaches 99% already.
Cities like Anger, Reims and Orléans will have this kind of tram soon.

Gavin again

2007-04-19T19:06:00.000+02:00

Recent news:

Ijok is up for by-election
The Selangor government has allocated RM36 million for various development projects to be implemented within these two weeks in Ijok.
Our MB, Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Khir said the projects were not aimed to fish for votes as claimed by the opposition as they had been planned by the state government for quite some time.

Hmmmmm...how come I have this feeling that this idiot thinks that we malaysian are stupid and bribable?

Another tragedy of an indian man being seperated from his family (wife and six children) because the local Islamic police thinks that his wife is a muslim. *_* His family is now in a reeducation camp I believe.
How can barbaric things like there still happen in Malaysia?

I quote a well know malaysian lawyer:

Sad as it is, and as difficult as it is to say, we are no longer the learned or mature society that we perhaps once were. In place of sophisticated and objective analysis of crucial issues, there is now a regime of sensationalist ignorance and belligerence.

Worse still, we live in a state of denial, insisting that we are more advanced and intellectual than we really are. Look at the issues that figure prominently in the arena of public discourse. How many of these relate to the fundamental aspects of our lives as Malaysians. Admittedly, civil liberty issues such as nude squats and burial rites are important, but where do a lack of coherent economic policy, a lack of coherent governance, a lack of political foresight, an overemphasis on vested interests, institutionalised and crippling corruption and a lack of direction for this great country of ours figure? They do not, in any meaningful way. In having allowed these crucial issues to fall by the way side, in having allowed ourselves to become more interested in being titillated by insane billionaires, sex scandals, Mawi and Academia Fantasia, we have begun throwing away our future.

I used to think that this was due wholly to a media block by the authorities, implemented in tandem with a policy of de-education. I have reconsidered my view and believe that a large part of this is due to an inability, and a lack of desire, on the part of Malaysians to articulate themselves anymore. This is why our media is devoted to gossip and our broadsheets reduced to tabloids. We are all to blame.

Malik Imtiaz Sarwar

The least we can do is to voice out our opinion this coming general election.

Gavin

2007-04-19T18:54:00.000+02:00

Foreign products

I bought a bottle of hair shampoo and body shampoo back in Prague because I thought that prices were cheaper there. Recently, when I moved house, my current shampoo/body wash was with Adrian, and wanting desperately to clean myself, I took the 2 Czech products and happily went into the bathroom.

The hair shampoo smells weird, and it doesn't produces foams. Ok, nevermind, maybe it is a shampoo for coloured hairs, as it says in it's label: vivid colours.
The body shampoo is even more weird, it smells nice, too nice to be a body shampoo, and mind, it does not spread when you rub it. @_@ I took a better look at the bottle and I saw some polar like house surrounded with ice and hot sun. SUNTAN LOTION!
It took more than 30 minutes trying to rub the cream off my body.

Trust me, it isn't nice at all when you're all smelly and you desperately wants to be clean, next time, don't buy some foreign products if you're not sure if you understand the label.

Gavin

2007-03-20T18:40:00.000+01:00

Long time no post already hor

This few photos that I've put are from Nice and Monaco that I went with Wani and Adrian. I didn't take much photo there, not even 1 in Tours for Chinese New Year, maybe I just got tired of snapping photos.

Anyway, will be going to Paris this 22 for a career talk by some Petronas GM, will head to London this Sunday for the annual scholar's meeting. (which in my opinion, more pork barrel spending :p) Seems glamorous? Nope when you have lots of homeworks and tests hanging down your back.

-gAvIn-

2007-02-10T11:37:00.000+01:00

I've always loved Italian songs, because you can make up your own lyrics to suite your mood of the day (it works when you don't speak Italian). However, the translation of this song is so very beautiful. (I know it's in french, too bad if you don't speak french :p ) I'm trying to upload to song and link it here, but I kinda forgotten the html codes...

Sarà perché ti amo - Ricci e Poveri

Che confusione, sarà perché ti amo
È un'emozione che cresce piano piano
Stringimi forte, e stammi più vicino
Se ci sto bene, sarà perché ti amo.
Io canto al ritmo del dolce tuo respiro
È primavera, sarà perché ti amo
Cade una stella, ma dimmi dove siamo
Che te ne frega, sarà perché ti amo.

E vola vola si sa, sempre più in alto si va
E vola vola con me, il mondo è matto perché
E se l'amore non c'è
Basta una sola canzone,per farconfusione
Fuori e dentro di te.

E vola vola si va, sempre più in alto si va
E vola vola con me,il mondo è matto perché
E se l'amore non c'è
Basta una sola canzone, per far confusione
Fuori e dentro di te.

Ma dopo tutto, che cosa c'è di strano
È una canzone, sarà perché ti amo
Se cade il mondo, allora ci spostiamo
Se cade il mondo, sarà perché ti amo.

Stringimi forte, e stammi più vicino
È così bello, che non mi sembra vero
Se il mondo è matto che cosa c'è di strano

E vola vola si va, sempre più in alto si va
E vola vola con me,il mondo è matto perché
E se l'amore non c'è
Basta una sola canzone, per far confusione
Fuori e dentro di te.

E vola vola si va, sarà perché ti amo

Io canto al ritmo del dolce tuo respiro
È primavera sarà perché ti amo
Cade una stella ma dimmi dove siamo
Che te ne frega, sarà perché ti amo.
Na na na na, na na na na na na na
Na na na na, sempre più il alto si va.
È primavera, sarà perché ti amo
Cade una stella, sarà perché ti amo
Ed è per questo, che canto piano piano
Una canzone, sarà perché ti amo.
E canto al ritmo del dolce tuo respiro
È così bello, che non mi sembra vero
Se il mondo è matto che cosa c'è di strano
Matto per matto, almeno noi ci amiamo.

Traduction:
Quelle confusion, ce sera parce que je t'aime
C'est une émotion qui grandit doucement doucement
Serres moi fort, et viens plus près de moi
Si je suis bien, ce sera parce que je t'aime
Moi je chante au rythme de ta douce respiration
C'est le printemps, ce sera parce que je t'aime
Une étoile tombe, mais dis moi où nous sommes
Qu'est ce que ça peut faire, ce sera parce que je t'aime

Et on vole on vole, on le sait, on va toujours plus haut
Et vole vole avec moi, le monde est fou parce que
Et s'il n'y a pas d'amour
Il suffit d'une chanson, pour faire confusion
A l'extérieur et à l'intérieur de moi.
(bis)

Mais après tout, qu'est ce qu'il y a d'étrange
C'est une chanson, ce sera parce que je t'aime
Sl le monde s'effondre, alors on se déplacera
Si le monde s'effondre, ce sera parce que je t'aime

Serres moi fort et viens plus près de moi
C'est si beau, que cela ne me semble pas vrai
Si le monde est fou qu'est ce qu'il y a d'étrange

Et on vole on vole, on le sait, on va toujours plus haut
Et vole vole avec moi, le monde est fou parce que
Et s'il n'y a pas d'amour
Il suffit d'une chanson, pour faire confusion
A l'extérieur et à l'intérieur de moi.

Et on vole on vole, on va, ce sera parce que je t'aime

Moi je chante au doux rythme de ta respiration
C'est le printemps, ce sera parce que je t'aime
Une étoile tombe, mais dis moi où nous sommes
Qu'est ce que ça peut faire, ce sera parce que je t'aime
Na na na na na na …. on va toujours plus haut
C'est le printemps, ce sera parce que je t'aime
Une étoile tombe, ce sera parce que je t'aime
Et c'est pour cela que je chante doucement doucement
Une chanson, ce sera parce que je t'aime
Et je chante au rythme de ta douce respiration
C'est si beau, que cela ne me semble pas vrai
Si le monde est fou qu'est ce qu'il y a d'étrange
Fou pour fou au moins moins nous nous nous aimons

-gAvIn-

2007-02-03T21:51:00.000+01:00

Our Diet habits

Since when do we human beings look at intangibles like carbs, fats, protein, beta carotene, vitamin when choosing our foods? Are they even food or simply edible food-like substance? Confused about which diet to follow, or which food actually brings us benefit, which doesn't? The New York Times has a very pertinent article that everyone is highly encouraged to read, even if you are a lazy teenager, a busy adult or whatever… (Ran out of ideas of example…)

Here’s the link to it.

Here are some rules of thumb, according to the author, to follow when choosing our food.

1. Eat food. Though in our current state of confusion, this is much easier said than done. So try this: Don’t eat anything your great-great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food. (Sorry, but at this point Moms are as confused as the rest of us, which is why we have to go back a couple of generations, to a time before the advent of modern food products.) There are a great many foodlike items in the supermarket your ancestors wouldn’t recognize as food (Go-Gurt? Breakfast-cereal bars? Nondairy creamer?); stay away from these.

2. Avoid even those food products that come bearing health claims. They’re apt to be heavily processed, and the claims are often dubious at best. Don’t forget that margarine, one of the first industrial foods to claim that it was more healthful than the traditional food it replaced, turned out to give people heart attacks. When Kellogg’s can boast about its Healthy Heart Strawberry Vanilla cereal bars, health claims have become hopelessly compromised. (The American Heart Association charges food makers for their endorsement.) Don’t take the silence of the yams as a sign that they have nothing valuable to say about health.

3. Especially avoid food products containing ingredients that are a) unfamiliar, b) unpronounceable c) more than five in number — or that contain high-fructose corn syrup.None of these characteristics are necessarily harmful in and of themselves, but all of them are reliable markers for foods that have been highly processed.

4. Get out of the supermarket whenever possible. You won’t find any high-fructose corn syrup at the farmer’s market; you also won’t find food harvested long ago and far away. What you will find are fresh whole foods picked at the peak of nutritional quality. Precisely the kind of food your great-great-grandmother would have recognized as food.

5. Pay more, eat less. The American food system has for a century devoted its energies and policies to increasing quantity and reducing price, not to improving quality. There’s no escaping the fact that better food — measured by taste or nutritional quality (which often correspond) — costs more, because it has been grown or raised less intensively and with more care. Not everyone can afford to eat well in America, which is shameful, but most of us can: Americans spend, on average, less than 10 percent of their income on food, down from 24 percent in 1947, and less than the citizens of any other nation. And those of us who can afford to eat well should. Paying more for food well grown in good soils — whether certified organic or not — will contribute not only to your health (by reducing exposure to pesticides) but also to the health of others who might not themselves be able to afford that sort of food: the people who grow it and the people who live downstream, and downwind, of the farms where it is grown.

“Eat less” is the most unwelcome advice of all, but in fact the scientific case for eating a lot less than we currently do is compelling. “Calorie restriction” has repeatedly been shown to slow aging in animals, and many researchers (including Walter Willett, the Harvard epidemiologist) believe it offers the single strongest link between diet and cancer prevention. Food abundance is a problem, but culture has helped here, too, by promoting the idea of moderation. Once one of the longest-lived people on earth, the Okinawans practiced a principle they called “Hara Hachi Bu”: eat until you are 80 percent full. To make the “eat less” message a bit more palatable, consider that quality may have a bearing on quantity: I don’t know about you, but the better the quality of the food I eat, the less of it I need to feel satisfied. All tomatoes are not created equal.

6. Eat mostly plants, especially leaves. Scientists may disagree on what’s so good about plants — the antioxidants? Fiber? Omega-3s? — but they do agree that they’re probably really good for you and certainly can’t hurt. Also, by eating a plant-based diet, you’ll be consuming far fewer calories, since plant foods (except seeds) are typically less “energy dense” than the other things you might eat. Vegetarians are healthier than carnivores, but near vegetarians (“flexitarians”) are as healthy as vegetarians. Thomas Jefferson was on to something when he advised treating meat more as a flavoring than a food.

7. Eat more like the French. Or the Japanese. Or the Italians. Or the Greeks. Confounding factors aside, people who eat according to the rules of a traditional food culture are generally healthier than we are. Any traditional diet will do: if it weren’t a healthy diet, the people who follow it wouldn’t still be around. True, food cultures are embedded in societies and economies and ecologies, and some of them travel better than others: Inuit not so well as Italian. In borrowing from a food culture, pay attention to how a culture eats, as well as to what it eats. In the case of the French paradox, it may not be the dietary nutrients that keep the French healthy (lots of saturated fat and alcohol?!) so much as the dietary habits: small portions, no seconds or snacking, communal meals — and the serious pleasure taken in eating. (Worrying about diet can’t possibly be good for you.) Let culture be your guide, not science.

8. Cook. And if you can, plant a garden. To take part in the intricate and endlessly interesting processes of providing for our sustenance is the surest way to escape the culture of fast food and the values implicit in it: that food should be cheap and easy; that food is fuel and not communion. The culture of the kitchen, as embodied in those enduring traditions we call cuisines, contains more wisdom about diet and health than you are apt to find in any nutrition journal or journalism. Plus, the food you grow yourself contributes to your health long before you sit down to eat it. So you might want to think about putting down this article now and picking up a spatula or hoe.

9. Eat like an omnivore. Try to add new species, not just new foods, to your diet. The greater the diversity of species you eat, the more likely you are to cover all your nutritional bases. That of course is an argument from nutritionism, but there is a better one, one that takes a broader view of “health.” Biodiversity in the diet means less monoculture in the fields. What does that have to do with your health? Everything. The vast monocultures that now feed us require tremendous amounts of chemical fertilizers and pesticides to keep from collapsing. Diversifying those fields will mean fewer chemicals, healthier soils, healthier plants and animals and, in turn, healthier people. It’s all connected, which is another way of saying that your health isn’t bordered by your body and that what’s good for the soil is probably good for you, too.

-gAvIn-

2007-02-03T21:13:00.000+01:00

1. What does your name mean?
Gavin
origin: Welsh
meaning: White hawk (though I don't think my parents were even aware of this :)
Hunn 汉 : man (yeap, that's right, in a good sense)
Jinn 仁 : benevolence; kindheartedness; humanity; sensitive (that's true :D )

2. What's your current problem?
Finance, relationship

3. What's your middle name?
I still don't know what a middle name is...

4. What is your current relationship
status?
Single ;)

5.Honestly, does your crush like you
back?
hmm...aucune idée

6. What is your current mood?
Upbeat

7. What do you love most?
Em..hehe :D

8. What makes you happy?
Accomplishing little things in life

9. Are you musically inclined?
Yes, but I'm not that mainstream

10. If you could go back in time, and
change something, what would it be and
why?
Braver when dealing with members of the opposite sex :)

11. If you had to be an animal for one
day, what would you be?
I don't even want to think of it

12. Ever have a near death experience?
yeap :(

13. Name something you do a lot.
surfing, reading *cough*

14. What's the name of the song that's
stuck in your head right now?
Il mio canto libero - Laura Pausini (Io canto) + Juanes
It's a reprise of a 70s song by Lucio Battisti, simply sublime.

15. Who did you copy and paste this
from?
Zarf's blog - thanks ye

16. Name someone with the same b-day
as you.
Qi Ting..wait, but I know plenty who are 1 week within my birthday

18. Have you ever sang in front of a
large audience?
yeap, when I was like...4 years old, trust me, it didn't went well

20. What's the first thing you notice
about the OPPOSITE sex?
cute ke tak

25. Do you still watch kiddy movies or
TV shows?
Yes :)

26. Do you have braces?
Nope

27. Are you comfortable with your
weight?
Yeap

28. Do you speak any other languages?
Malay, penang hokkien, chinese, french and a bit spanish.

29. What's your favorite smell?
Nasi Masak Merah

30. Who do you think will re-post this?
On s'en fout cette question :)

-gAvIn-

2007-01-14T19:36:00.000+01:00

Accounting in china, from the economist.

An equally large problem is the lack of accountants to process the raw numbers. In no other place in the world, and probably at no other time in history, have accountants been so sought-after as they are in China. By even the most generous reckoning, the country has fewer than 70,000 practising accountants, trying to do the work of anything from 300,000 to a million bean counters. To be an accounting student at a reputable school is to have a good job waiting. But even after several years of education, accountants require an apprenticeship, especially if they are to get to grips with international standards based on intellectually demanding principles rather prescriptive rules. Accountants in Britain, acknowledging the difficulties, are helping with the training.

Conclusion? It is good to study accounting.

-gAvin-

2007-01-14T19:31:00.000+01:00

From Gary Mankiw, a harvard econ prof
Once you read this, you'll understand why econs is called the dismal science. They analyse too much ;)

Case Study
Gifts as Signals

A man is debating what to give his girlfriend for her birthday. "I know," he says to himself, "I'll give her cash. After all, I don't know her tastes as well as she does, and with cash, she can buy anything she wants." But when he hands her the money, she is offended. Convinced he doesn't really love her, she breaks off the relationship.

What's the economics behind this story?

In some ways, gift giving is a strange custom. As the man in our story suggests, people typically know their own preferences better than others do, so we might expect everyone to prefer cash to in-kind transfers. If your employer substituted merchandise of his choosing for your paycheck, you would likely object to the means of payment. But your reaction is very different when someone who (you hope) loves you does the same thing.

One interpretation of gift giving is that it reflects asymmetric information and signaling. The man in our story has private information that the girlfriend would like to know: Does he really love her? Choosing a good gift for her is a signal of his love. Certainly, the act of picking out a gift, rather than giving cash, has the right characteristics to be a signal. It is costly (it takes time), and its cost depends on private information (how much he loves her). If he really loves her, choosing a good gift is easy because he is thinking about her all the time. If he doesn't love her, finding the right gift is more difficult. Thus, giving a gift that suits the girlfriend is one way for him to convey the private information of his love for her. Giving cash shows that he isn't even bothering to try.

The signaling theory of gift giving is consistent with another observation: People care most about the custom when the strength of affection is most in question. Thus, giving cash to a girlfriend or boyfriend is usually a bad move. But when college students receive a check from their parents, they are less often offended. The parents' love is less likely to be in doubt, so the recipient probably won't interpret the cash gift as a signal of lack of affection.

-gAvIn-

2007-01-13T16:47:00.000+01:00

Some more photos from Vienna

yeah, there are damn nice, no need to tell me ;p

-gAvIn-

2007-01-08T13:07:00.000+01:00

fuckin holz... (wrote this three days ago... what i thought and felt at that time...)

Well the holidays went by pretty fast… two weeks... and here i am three days from the re-start of uni... three days from our marketing examinations that is followed up by tons of other mid-terms... while my frenz went on an around the world trip, i stayed back in bordeaux... for the entire holidays, i stayed back in bordeaux. Why? Because of a gurl, that’s why... i kinda do really stupid things because of gurls... i haven’t actually thought of a New Year’s resolution, but now i think i have one... as far as i can remember, i have always been a fool around gurls... being used by them... a fren of mine once said that it’s probably because i’m too kind... i think it’s just because i’m too stupid... so, this year’s resolution, don’t fall in love, don’t be used, don’t be a fool...

U see, I spent the entire week with her, an entire week trying to get close to her... to make her realise that i am the guy for her... an entire week... and it worked out fine, i swear to u that it was perfect, that is till her boyfriend showed up... well, an entire week of hard work just vanished, in a blink of an eye... everything went back to the way it was... me loving her from afar... i could have gone around the world, studied for my examinations (which now i am trying to do with so little time meft and a heavily broken heart; i mean seriously torn and tattered), read the numerous books i promised myself i would read, but no, i stayed back for her... come to think of it, it was pretty much for me, knowing that she loves another, i still tried... a bit of a fool... a bit of a bastard... but then again, how can one manage his feelings? I know, there’s no excuse there, nor am i trying to find one or justify what i did, just telling u what’s been up with me oki...

Each time i see her, i want to hold her, touch her, kiss her... but what for? The fact is, she will never leave him... even though she says she feels the same way about me, there is so much between them... the fact is i am just digging a deeper and deeper hole for me to fall into...

I would love to say that that one week we spent together would be enough to last me a lifetime (as so well said in ‘A Walk To Remember’)... but it isn’t, it isn’t enough to last me to tommorow... and tommorow it starts all aver again... till the day i leave bordeaux...

I’ve been doubting myself a lot lately... need some sage advice from u guys... am i really fighting for the gurl that i luv? Or am i actually just trying to steal someone else’s gurl away? What should i do? Keep in mind, i see her every day one way or the other... we’re in the same friekin class!!! Which makes it so much more difficult... seeing the person u really really love, knowing that u will never be with that person...

I know, i speak of love like i know what i’m talking about... but what is love? Is it being comfortable with the person ur with to the point where u dun wear that mask u put on daily... is love thinking about that person the first and last thing of the day? Is it having ur heart ache when she’s not around, and having it beat just a little bit faster when she is? Honestly, i don’t know, but if that is love, then i do love her...

-aDRiANo-

2007-01-04T17:44:00.000+01:00

Love with no boundaries (translation of a previous post entitled "Un amour sans frontière" by Do Huong Tra)

One fine day, a young gurl travelled to Mars by rocket with her dog. That day, Pierre, a Martian was resting in his tent. The first time he saw this young gurl, he was taken in by her undulating gestures (dunno what the heck that actually means, i’m just a humble translator...). It was love at first sight... He then placed the words “Invitation of my Love” and placed it on his tent. Then, taking his flute he started to play a beautiful traditional Martian tune. He waited, and waited... The young gurl listened attentively... the tune bringing back long lost memories of when she lived with her large family. She approached the tent, climbing upon the rocks, her little dog always close by her side. Pierre, being behind the curtain, heard her deft footsteps approaching, and out he came. Four eyes met for the very first time. Each finding their equal halves.

A year flew swiftly by, and they decided to wed on Earth, where they returned to by a highly modern elevator (makes me think of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory). Birds sang, and both worlds wished the newly weds happiness, great health and longevity.

An event marking the very first marriage between two people from totally different worlds. Simply signifying love with no boundaries.

comment; while tis is a beautiful story inspiring young lovers out there that there is such a thing as love with no boundaries, one has to wonder whether it really exists... love with no boundaries? come to think of it, there always is something holding u back... keeping u apart... language barriers, distance... don't u think? well, i would really like to know what u guys out there think about tis, so keep em ideas and opinions flowing in the comments section oki...?

tis story was written by a mum of a fren... found it a lil amusing and really moving... especially the last line... which is why i decided to place it here...

-aDRiANo-

2007-01-01T03:43:00.000+01:00

Christmas holiday - Prague, Vienna and Paris From the 23th Dec to 1th of Jan, I went to the 3 places mentioned above along with Alvin, Wani, Zaid and Yilie...it was a really nice trip, with lots of laughter, card playing, binge drinking, crap talking and nice places to visit. (ok, the drinking part isn't true)
v
To be brief, we took a 14 hour trip from Paris to Prague, which I would never take again because it's really tiring...People in the Czech Republic do not use the euro, so we needed to convert our euros into CZK - Czech Republic Koruny, at a rate of 1euro to 27.4czk. Feel rich? Abitlor...things there are generally cheaper, especially the food...

There, we meet 3 of Yilie's friends: Amelia, Xin yi and Winnie the pooohhh. They were very friendly with lots of humor...you won't get bored travelling with them. They are first year med student in the Czech republic. Anyway, we visited Prague abit: Charles bridge, the Astronomcal Clock, Prague Castle and the old town. The buidings there give you the impression that you're in the 17th-18th century.

To quote wikipedia:

Since the fall of the Iron Curtain, Prague has become one of Europe's (and the world's) most popular tourist destinations. It is the sixth most visited European city after London, Paris, Rome, Madrid and Berlin.^[2] Prague suffered considerably less damage during World War II than some other major cities in the region, allowing most of its historic architecture to stay true to form. It contains one of the world's most pristine and varied collections of architecture, from Art Nouveau to Baroque, Renaissance, Cubist, Gothic, Neo-Classical and ultra-modern.

According to the receptionist in the hostel we stayed, this year marks the warmest winter in Prague since everyone could recall, about 10 degres above average, which is around 2 degres...Hmm...blame it on global warming or whatever, but I am certainly not against it, coz it was reallly cold there...Next time,I'll avoid travelling during winter :)

It's 4.35 am now, got to catch some sleep, I'll write more later, ciaoz!

-gAvIn-

2006-12-21T13:21:00.000+01:00

Food for thought

"The vice of capitalism is that there is an unequal share of blessings; the virtue of socialism is that there is an equal share of misery."

In my opinion, this basically sums up the left-right debate, with the leftlist arguing for more equality and in the process, less efficiency; the rightlist, more effciency and less equality...

I vote for the right ;)

-gAvIn-

2006-12-19T13:25:00.000+01:00

阿拉伯传说中有两个朋友在沙漠中旅行，在旅途中的某点他们吵架了，一个还给了另外一个一记耳光。被打的觉得受辱，一言不语，在沙子上写下："今天我的好朋友打了我一巴掌。"他们继续往前走。直到到了沃野，他们就决定停下。被打巴掌的那位差点淹死，幸好被朋友救起来了。被救起後，他拿了一把小剑在石头上刻了："今天我的好朋友救了我一命。"
一旁好奇的朋友问说：为什麽我打了你以後，你要写在沙子上，而现在要刻在石头上呢？
另个笑笑的回答说：当被一个朋友伤害时，要写在易忘的地方，风会负责抹去它；相反的如果被帮助，我们要把它刻在心里的深处，那里任何风都不能抹灭它。
朋友的相处伤害往往是无心的，帮助却是真心的，忘记那些无心的伤害；铭记那些对你真心帮助，你会发现这世上你有很多真心的朋友...

Found this from a chrismas message people send to friends...how true it is!

An early Merry Chrismas to everyone!

-gAvIn-

2006-12-19T13:24:00.000+01:00

寂寞，字典里形容成冷清孤单，也是我近几天来的感受。
当平时跟你很好的两位朋友开始谈恋爱时，你就像旧袜子
一样被丢到一旁去。。。实在是很无聊！
唉，只好借酒消愁了 J

汉仁

2006-12-17T14:29:00.000+01:00

Some pictures of Bordeaux (okla, not that beautiful....need to borrow Zarf's SLR)

2006-12-15T16:25:00.000+01:00

城市：未命名的辭海作者: 王沛芬

當列車交會，我俯身看你
語言飛翔在窗口的瞬間
化作一雙灑落微光的翅翼
掠過黃昏的書頁，輕輕圈點

你的呼吸是永恆的潮汐
溫柔地撫愛我赤足的信任
單行道流動如無聲之河
光與影清澈了擁擠的分貝

星光漂流，穿越細密建築
月色是一張探險的風帆
你悄悄尋覓未眠的燈塔
為我索引湛藍的遠方

旅人的鄉愁回到了航向
失落的記憶重新拼圖
而你成為我生命的部首
刻印著夢想的出處

我翻閱線裝的風景
沒有難以檢索的想像
湧動的語言拍岸而來
你是未命名的辭海

第八屆台北文學獎現代詩佳作

I wish I could write poems as beautiful as this...can someone explain the title for me...wo can lai kan qi kan bu dong...

-gAvIn-

2006-12-07T13:08:00.000+01:00

Found this on the net... translations on the way...

Un amour sans frontière

Un jour, il y a une jeune fille qui fait le voyage sur Mars avec son chien par la fusée. Dans ce jour – là, Pierre – un Martien est en train de rester dans sa tente. A première vue, il est très étonné par les gestes ondulants de cette fille. Un coup de foudre qui vient à lui. Il coupe une lettre " Invitation de mon amour " et la colle sur la toile de tente. Il prend la flûte et souffle une chanson traditionnelle de Mars. Il l’attend, l’attend…. La jeune fille écoute attentivement cette chanson et elle se souvient tous les bons souvenirs quand elle vivait dans sa grande famille. Elle s’approche de la tente, elle doit grimper difficilement sur des rochers blancs avec son chien. A ce moment là, Pierre est derrière le rideau, il entend des pas très légers. Il sort de sa tente. Cette fille est surprise devant sa beauté et son géant. Quatre yeux se voient. Ces deux personnes trouvent leur moitié.Après un an, ils décident de se marier typiquement sur la Terre. Ils y retournent par l’ascenseurs très moderne. Tous les oiseaux chantent, tout le monde des deux planètes souhaitent à ce couple bonheur, bonne santé et longévité. C’est le premier mariage de deux personnes qui viennent de deux planètes différentes. C’est un amour sans frontière.

Do Huong Tra

-aDRiANo-

2006-12-02T20:50:00.000+01:00

Time flies

The first semester is going to end soon, or has it already? No idea. The point is that time flies, it has been more then 3 months since we quitted Colmar, yet, the time there seems so distant. In 3 months, we have moved to different places, met new friends, had new classes, speak better French, I would never dream of returning to life in Colmar, even if I miss some good friends and teachers there. Life just continues, swiping you along whether you like it or not.

-gAvIn-

2006-12-02T20:09:00.000+01:00

Birthday
Although there were many people who came to my birthday party on the 25, the thing that actually matters the most were the few close friends that were there with me…the others…they are the others, they are there to enjoy only. I treasure my good friends as they have helped me immensely, you know, friends that are willing to stay back with you after the soirée to help you clean up ;)
For my part, I always hope that I can be a trusted friend.

PS: I received a birthday card from my family and I can say that I was very touched…it is very different when you write to someone with your handwriting than some plain emails.

2006-11-20T15:39:00.000+01:00

fuck feelings!!!

they're there to eat the hell out of u... lately i've been feeling like crap... the worst part of it is having no one to fuckin talk to...

sorry for the language... i noe gavin's dad reads this... so excuse me...

but have u ever felt so lonely and at one side uve got to think rationally coz u have responsabilities and on the other u just want to break down and cry or just scream... that's the fucking feeling i have now...

sometimes u doubt urself... sometimes u doubt others... things seem normal and real... and at times, they seem like a lie... feel betrayed, lied to... not knowing what is real, and what is not... i don noe wut im doing here... gtg... got a fucking group work to get done...

u c, before u can get some time to shout out and cry... ur already burdened with other responsibilities... and those hurt feelings get pent up so deep that finally u end up in a mental ward... if not u really start doubting ur fuckin sanity...

-fucked up-

2006-11-19T16:17:00.000+01:00

Idiot

I washed my handphone in hot running water with a handsome dose of soap yesterday...idiot!
It happened after playing football in Mériadeck which as you guys should now by now, is full of dog shit. I had inevitably got some in my hand and as I handled my handphone before going home, I wanted to sterilize it alongside with my watch and specs. For some unknown reason, I though handphone nowadays are water proof, so whosh, I did what I did and now my phone is dead. I am such a genius.

-gAvIn-

2006-11-19T15:37:00.000+01:00

The following article was writen by an Australian that was published in theAge...It's always interesting to see what foreigners have to say about Malaysia.

While Malaysia fiddles, its opportunities are running dry

Michael Backman
November 15, 2006

MALAYSIA'S been at it again, arguing about what proportion of the economy each of its two main races — the Malays and the Chinese — owns. It's an argument that's been running for 40 years. That wealth and race are not synonymous is important for national cohesion, but really it's time Malaysia grew up.

It's a tough world out there and there can be little sympathy for a country that prefers to argue about how to divide wealth rather than get on with the job of creating it.

The long-held aim is for 30 per cent of corporate equity to be in Malay hands, but the figure that the Government uses to justify handing over huge swathes of public companies to Malays but not to other races is absurd. It bases its figure on equity valued, not at market value, but at par value.

Many shares have a par value of say $1 but a market value of $12. And so the Government figure (18.9 per cent is the most recent figure) is a gross underestimate. Last month a paper by a researcher at a local think-tank came up with a figure of 45 per cent based on actual stock prices. All hell broke loose. The paper was withdrawn and the researcher resigned in protest. Part of the problem is that he is Chinese.

"Malaysia boleh!" is Malaysia's national catch cry. It translates to "Malaysia can!" and Malaysia certainly can. Few countries are as good at wasting money. It is richly endowed with natural resources and the national obsession seems to be to extract these, sell them off and then collectively spray the proceeds up against the wall.

This all happens in the context of Malaysia's grossly inflated sense of its place in the world.

Most Malaysians are convinced that the eyes of the world are on their country and that their leaders are world figures. This is thanks to Malaysia's tame media and the bravado of former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad. The truth is, few people on the streets of London or New York could point to Malaysia on a map much less name its prime minister or capital city.

As if to make this point, a recent episode of The Simpsons features a newsreader trying to announce that a tidal wave had hit some place called Kuala Lumpur. He couldn't pronounce the city's name and so made up one, as if no-one cared anyway. But the joke was on the script writers — Kuala Lumpur is inland.

Petronas, the national oil company is well run, particularly when compared to the disaster that passes for a national oil company in neighbouring Indonesia. But in some respects, this is Malaysia's problem. The very success of Petronas means that it is used to underwrite all manner of excess.

The KLCC development in central Kuala Lumpur is an example. It includes the Twin Towers, the tallest buildings in the world when they were built, which was their point.

It certainly wasn't that there was an office shortage in Kuala Lumpur — there wasn't.

Malaysians are very proud of these towers. Goodness knows why. They had little to do with them. The money for them came out of the ground and the engineering was contracted out to South Korean companies.

They don't even run the shopping centre that's beneath them. That's handled by Australia's Westfield.

Next year, a Malaysian astronaut will go into space aboard a Russian rocket — the first Malay in space. And the cost? $RM95 million ($A34.3 million), to be footed by Malaysian taxpayers. The Science and Technology Minister has said that a moon landing in 2020 is the next target, aboard a US flight. There's no indication of what the Americans will charge for this, assuming there's even a chance that they will consider it. But what is Malaysia getting by using the space programs of others as a taxi service? There are no obvious technical benefits, but no doubt Malaysians will be told once again, that they are "boleh". The trouble is, they're not. It's not their space program.

Back in July, the Government announced that it would spend $RM490 million on a sports complex near the London Olympics site so that Malaysian athletes can train there and "get used to cold weather".

But the summer Olympics are held in the summer.

So what is the complex's real purpose? The dozens of goodwill missions by ministers and bureaucrats to London to check on the centre's construction and then on the athletes while they train might provide a clue.

Bank bale outs, a formula one racing track, an entire new capital city — Petronas has paid for them all. It's been an orgy of nonsense that Malaysia can ill afford.

Why? Because Malaysia's oil will run out in about 19 years. As it is, Malaysia will become a net oil importer in 2011 — that's just five years

away.

So it's in this context that the latest debate about race and wealth is so sad.

It is time to move on, time to prepare the economy for life after oil. But, like Nero fiddling while Rome burned, the Malaysian Government is more interested in stunts like sending a Malaysian into space when Malaysia's inadequate schools could have done with the cash, and arguing about wealth distribution using transparently ridiculous statistics.

That's not Malaysia "boleh", that's Malaysia "bodoh" (stupid).

-gAvIn-

2006-10-20T14:58:00.000+02:00

now that i've got time on my hands...

pretty ironic, how the phrase works for me here; now that i've got time on my hands... u c, i just got operated on on thursday, it waz a correctional operation on my right hand for an injury i got three bloody months ago!!! so now that i've got time on my hands to write this piece of crap of a blog entry, i kinda have no hand!!!

yeah, not as funny as i tot it wud be... newaaaaay...

i wuz hospitalised on wednesday right (there was a tv in the room and One Tree Hill was on, so i was alright... just for the record, Sophia Bush is a babe!!!), and the operation was thursday... thursday morning at approximately 6 sumthin, the nurses wakes me up for a bath. gotta use this medical soap thingy u c before the operation. then they let me go bek to sleep. the next thing i noe, i get woken up by this male nurse and he starts wheelin me off... got the whole ER scene in my head. the lights from the lamps on the ceiling and all that jazz. only thing is in ER there aren't holes in the ceiling and there are a whole load of hot 'female' nurses around... damn shows that give false hope!!!

i am taken to a room where they try to cheer me up telling jokes and makin a fool of themselves (the nurses)... only thing is, the jokes were in french, and i dun reli think the french are funny... except Gad El Maleh that is... well, they r funny, i just dun get their jokes sumtimes...

then the jokes stop, and they get serious. an anaesthesists (i dun noe how the hell u spell that and frankly i don give a damn now, as my hand hurts and i forgot to take my pain killers with me... and i gotta get home!!! dun noe y i am xplainin this coze it just takes up more time!!!) arrives. they spread me out. both hands spread wide open and on the left one, they poked in a bloody huge needle (i am not too fond of needles) and attached a tube into my arm!!! the right hand they numb it and voila!!! redi for operation...

the operation lasted about an hour and then they wheeled me bek to my room. i dun reli noe what happened as i kinda dozed off durin surgery, which is not supposed to happen, coz they didn't actually drug me... i was just bored, and seeing as to how powerful the anaesthesicsesxsss was that they injected into my arm, i cudn feel jack... i slept!!!

after that i was totally out!!! my right arm was totally "senseless" and my left one was also un-movable thanks to the tube in it and i felt the weakest i have ever felt in my entire life!!!

flashback to when Lucas Scott was hospitalised in Tree Hill... only difference was, his was a near death experience and he had frens hu actually visited him... me on the other hand... ehem...

so thatz it, i got half the experience of all that shit for half the pain... there were no frenz at my bedside going; "yo man, u gotta get better man, we miss u here back down at the river court", and no gurl squeezing my LEFT hand going "i wish u cud hear me... i... i... i love u..."

but then again, i wasn't reli in a coma now was i??? so thatz that. one thing ive learnt from all this; NEVA CLIMB A FENCE!!! and if u do, at least wear reli thick leather gloves...

merdeitis is back in business baby...

signing out,

aDRiANo

2006-10-01T18:08:00.000+02:00

Yo

This blog was not updated for more than 1 month because both of the authors were without home (12 days) and still without internet connection. I am writing this from a McDonald (Wifi, thanks to Starbucks for this wonderful idea) in Rue St.Catherine, Bordeaux. Got to go for now.

gavin

2006-08-27T21:09:00.000+02:00

Three decades ago, in 1973, 78 percent of the students attending the nation’s public schools were white and 22 percent were minorities, a category including blacks, Hispanics, Asians and Pacific Islanders, and “other,” according to Education Department statistics. In 2004, the last year for which numbers were available, 57 percent of all public school students were white, while 43 percent were minorities.

From an article in the NY Times, Here.
Such is the strengh of the USA, diversity.

-gAvIn-

2006-08-23T13:30:00.000+02:00

An interesting perspective on the Mahathir-Abdullah spat.

Monday, August 21, 2006
Malaysia and its discontents
VIEWPOINT

William Pesek Jr.
Bloomberg News

Journalists in Asia have missed Mahathir Mohamad. The region has been pretty colorless - leader-wise, that is - since Malaysia's firebrand prime minister stepped down in 2003. His successor, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, is the anti-Mahathir: press-shy, affable, soft-spoken and diplomatic. Asia in general features a paucity of larger-than-life, charismatic leaders who speak their minds and, at times, dare to take on the global elites. Blandness often pervades the halls of power from Seoul to Singapore and from Beijing to New Delhi.

So you'll excuse us journalists for rejoicing at Mahathir's return to the spotlight. Yet many Malaysians are less than thrilled. Ditto for investors monitoring Asia's No.10 economy.

Mahathir, 80, has returned with a passion to criticize his handpicked successor, and it's tantalizing this nation of 27 million people. Mahathir's gripe: Abdullah is reversing some of his decisions, including a massive project to build a bridge to neighboring Singapore.

"I gave him time," Mahathir said this month. "I didn't say anything for two years. I was quiet. I observed his promises. I had high expectations. I expected his view to be different from me, but I don't see the government doing what it promises to do."

The former prime minister's impolitic comments may prompt investors to avoid one of Asia's more underappreciated economies. In recent years, most of the surprises in Asian markets came not from reports on growth or inflation, but politics. Asia has seen all too many market-shaking spats, scandals, disputed elections and impeachment efforts.

And so Mahathir's rebukes of the prime minister are unsettling Malaysia's markets, too. "It seems now to be having some effect on a domestic economy which is already slowing," Gerald Ambrose, managing director of Aberdeen Asset Management's Malaysian business, said in an interview in Kuala Lumpur.

Record oil prices are weighing on Malaysia's $131 billion economy, slamming consumer and business confidence. Add to that a slowing U.S. economy and concern about the nation's ability to compete with Asia's upstarts. Malaysia could be too affluent to outperform China; too underdeveloped to join the ranks of Japan or South Korea. It also has a public relations weakness.

That became clear in interviews with investors in the United States and Europe over the last couple of months. There was, of course, huge interest in China and India. Yet in cities like London, New York and Stockholm, I found great interest in economies such as Thailand and Taiwan. In Chicago, Paris and Lisbon, folks wanted to talk about Korea, Singapore and Vietnam. In Brussels, San Francisco and Washington, it was Indonesia and Japan.

Oddly, Malaysia didn't come up unless I mentioned it first. Given its rich resources, technology industries and unique status as a moderate, predominantly Muslim nation, you'd think Malaysia would be a bigger blip on investors' radar screens. It's not, and politics bear some of the blame.

In his 22 years in power, Mahathir morphed a tropical backwater into an Asian tiger. While it doesn't excuse him for bizarrely blaming Jews for Malaysia's troubles in the late 1990s, Mahathir had his economic successes. Yet Malaysia has been too slow to boost entrepreneurship and move beyond manufacturing and resource-based industries.

Whether it's wounded pride, an attempt to look out for associates hoping to profit from his megaprojects, or anger at the release from prison of his former rival, Anwar Ibrahim, Mahathir is back with a vengeance.

Mahathir has a point on at least one thing: Abdullah can be painfully indecisive. Many Malaysians are disappointed by how timidly Abdullah has attacked corruption and policies giving preferential treatment to the ethnic Malay majority. Abdullah should also go further to convince Malaysians that his family hasn't benefited from government contracts, as Mahathir has alleged.

Many of Mahathir's other protests are weak, at best, relating to megaprojects that seem more about pride than necessity. If the former prime minister is upset that Abdullah is unilaterally scrapping his initiatives, he has himself to blame. It was Mahathir who masterminded the centralization of power that Abdullah wields. In Malaysia, for example, one man acts as both prime minister and finance minister. It's an awkward arrangement that should be reconsidered.

Even if Mahathir's concerns are legitimate - and one certainly meets businesspeople who share them - he needs to learn to bite his tongue for the good of Malaysia's economy.

"It might be difficult to swallow at first, but for the sake of keeping his dignity intact and sparing us unnecessary embarrassment, he should disabuse himself quickly of any notion he might continue to harbor about his indispensability to the Malaysian body politic," Tunku Abdul Aziz, a former head of Transparency International Malaysia, wrote in the New Straits Times on Wednesday. Mahathir must learn to "eat humble pie once out of office," he said.

Mahathir is anything but a spent power. He still has charisma to spare, and retains a clear vision of where Malaysia should be in 2010, 2020 and beyond.

Yet along with tarnishing his legacy, his tirades could unnerve investors and dent the government's credibility abroad.

Fair or not, Malaysia still has a lot of work to do on its public relations. The economy deserves more attention from international investors than it receives. It won't get much - at least not the kind it wants - with its present and former leaders trading barbs.

-gAvIn-

2006-08-21T23:52:00.000+02:00

Damn hilarious, damn true.

-gAvIn-

2006-08-21T23:30:00.000+02:00

月亮代表我的心 -经典

Found this in youtube (i was bored...), beautiful voice and girl, what can you ask for more? It's just the voice and some simple guitar chords, nothing fancy, but it's sublime!

-gAvIn-

2006-08-21T14:48:00.000+02:00

Some TV is worth watching

From Google Video, we can now watch the classic (which means the eighties) Milton Friedman television series Free to Choose. Watch them if you want to understand more about economics.

Volume 1: Power of the Market
Volume 2: The Tyranny of Control
Volume 3: Anatomy of a Crisis
Volume 4: From Cradle to Grave
Volume 5: Created Equal
Volume 6: What’s Wrong With Our Schools?
Volume 7: Who Protects the Consumer?
Volume 8: Who Protects the Worker?
Volume 9: How to Cure Inflation
Volume 10: How to Stay Free

-gAvIn-

2006-08-19T21:49:00.000+02:00

http://www.google.com.my/

As a Malaysian user, I am really surprised that http://www.google.com.my/ is only offered in English and Bahasa Melayu. If we would take a look at the demographics taken from the CIA World Factbook, the population is composed of : Malay 50.4%, Chinese 23.7%, Indigenous 11%, Indian 7.1%, others 7.8% (2004 est.) Although it is right that the majority of us do speak English and Bahasa Melayu, the usage of Chinese (simplified) and Indian (tamil) are widespread, and thus, should be offered.

If you were to use the argument that there are not enough potential users or that it does not make economic sense, we just have to simply take a look at http://www.google.ch/, which offers English, Français, Italiano and Rumantsch, although the population speaking Italian and Rumantsch are only 6.5% and 0.5% respectively. I do hope that they add the language options soon.

-gAvIn-

2006-08-18T20:39:00.000+02:00

Food for thought - schadenfreude

Schadenfreude is a common english word borrowed from German, it means enjoyment obtained from the troubles of others. While at the superficial sense it seems terribly immoral, most of us, if honest enough, would remember occasions in which we practiced schadenfreude. According to classical evolution theory, we should feel happy if our rival took a fall; however, a newer generation of evolution scientist actually found some compelling reasons for teamwork, rather than the old fashioned adage of "every man for himself".

I for one, would commit myself to be as un-schadenfreude as possible.

-gAvIn-

2006-08-14T17:54:00.000+02:00

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Many Malaysians are well aware of the 1992-1995 war that engulfed Bosnia. It was a three way conflit between the orthodox Serbs, the muslim Bosniaks and the catholic Croats. It was by far the bloodiest and most widely covered of the Yugoslav wars. I remember the massive donation drive in our newspapers and TV and the military and humanitarian aid our country offered to them later.

A fews days ago in a volunteer work in Sondernach, near Metzeral, I had the opportunity to actually meet a bosnian political refugee. When he knew that I come from Malaysia, he warmed up immediately and we had some good chat together. According to him, the serbs, croats and bosniaks are actually of the same origin, the same root; the only difference between them is their religion. This was enough to actually cause the bloody war and the ensuing sufferings. After 3 years of war, 100 000 are killed and 2 million displaced, which is a very significant proportion of the population considering that their habitant is only around 5 million.

In his family alone, his brother, whom he says to be the smartest fled to the US in 1993, just 1 week before the war. His second brother fled to Sweden after the war ended while he came to France in 2004. He bemoans the fact that his country is in a deep mess now: with 3 seperate government and ruling councils in his country, massive corruption, more than occasional violence and massive sell out of Bosnian assets to foreigners.

I asked him if he plans to settle down in France since things are alot better here, he shaked his head and told me that he does not like France. He says that people are more friendlier in Bosnia, with neighbours having lively debates around BBQ and children playing animatedly around whereas here, the buildings are beautiful, households are affluent but where are the children and what happended to the camaraderie among neighbours? He told me that although his son, who speaks fluent french may want to stay back, he will always return to Bosnia. What a true patriot!

Talking about Malaysia, he told me that our country greatly aided Bosnia and he is very indebted to us. He mentioned also about a big mosque that the malaysian government donated for them in Sarajevo. He also asked about "sarong", "nasi lemak", our former pm mahathir and also talked about how blessed malaysians are. Frankly, I am humbled that whatever contributions that Malaysian gave did not go unnoticed by the Bosnians amidst the great sufferings they have gone through and I am very proud to be a Malaysian. Throughout the day, sadness and regret were clearly written on his face, I wish him the best and that one day he could go back to Bosnia in peace. Shalom.

-gAvIn-

2006-08-07T18:50:00.000+02:00

Top 10 Most Strange Monuments

-taken from http://archibase.net
-gAvIn-

2006-08-05T22:57:00.000+02:00

Grand Corps Malade
Les voyages en train

J'crois que les histoires d'amour c'est comme les voyages en train,
Et quand je vois tous ces voyageurs parfois j'aimerais en être un,
Pourquoi tu crois que tant de gens attendent sur le quai de la gare,
Pourquoi tu crois qu'on flippe autant d'arriver en retard.

Les trains démarrent souvent au moment où l'on s'y attend le moins,
Et l'histoire d'amour t'emporte sous l'oeil impuissant des témoins,
Les témoins c'est tes potes qui te disent au revoir sur le quai,
Ils regardent le train s'éloigner avec un sourire inquiet,
Toi aussi tu leur fais signe et tu imagines leurs commentaires,
Certains pensent que tu te plantes et que t'as pas les pieds sur terre,
Chacun y va de son pronostic sur la durée du voyage,
Pour la plupart le train va derailler dès le premier orage.

Le grand amour change forcément ton comportement,
Dès le premier jour faut bien choisir ton compartiment,
Siège couloir ou contre la vitre il faut trouver la bonne place,
Tu choisis quoi une love story de première ou d'seconde classe.

Dans les premiers kilomètres tu n'as d'yeux que pour son visage,
Tu calcules pas derrière la fenêtre le défilé des paysages,
Tu te sens vivant tu te sens léger tu ne vois pas passer l'heure,
T'es tellement bien que t'as presque envie d'embrasser le controleur.

Mais la magie ne dure qu'un temps et ton histoire bât de l'aile,
Toi tu te dis que tu n'y est pour rien et que c'est sa faute à elle,
Le ronronement du train te saoule et chaque virage t'écoeure,
Faut que tu te lèves que tu marches tu vas te dégourdir le coeur.

Et le train ralentit et c'est déjà la fin de ton histoire,
En plus t'es comme un con tes potes sont restés à l'autre gare,
Tu dis au revoir à celle que tu appelleras désormais ton ex,
Dans son agenda sur ton nom elle va passer un coup de tipex.

C'est vrai que les histoires d'amour c'est comme les voyages en train,
Et quand je vois tous ces voyageurs parfois j'aimerais en être un,
Pourquoi tu crois que tant de gens attendent sur le quai de la gare,
Pourquoi tu crois qu'on flippe autant d'arriver en retard.

Pour beaucoup la vie se résume à essayer de monter dans le train,
A connaitre ce qu'est l'amour et se découvrir plein d'entrain,
Pour beaucoup l'objectif est d'arriver à la bonne heure,
Pour réussir son voyage et avoir accès au bonheur.

Il est facile de prendre un train encore faut il prendre le bon,
Moi je suis monté dans deux trois rames mais c'était pas le bon vagon,
Car les trains sont crapricieux et certains sont innaccessibles,
Et je ne crois pas tout le temps qu'avec la SNCF c'est possible.

Il y a ceux pour qui les trains sont toujours en grèves,
Et leurs histoires d'amour n'existent que dans leurs rêves,
Et y'a ceux qui foncent dans le premier train sans faire attention,
Mais forcément ils descendront dessus à la prochaine station,
Y'a celles qui flippent de s'engager parce qu'elles sont trop émotives,
Pour elles c'est trop risqué de s'accrocher à la locomotive,
Et y'a les aventuriers qu'enchainent voyages sur voyages,
Dès qu'une histoire est terminée ils attaquent une autre page.

Moi après mon seul vrai voyage j'ai souffert pendant des mois,
On s'est quitté d'un commun accord mais elle était plus d'accord que moi,
Depuis je traine sur les quais je regarde les trains au départ,
Y'a des portes qui s'ouvrent mais dans une gare je me sent à part.

Il parait que les voyages en train finissent mal en général,
Si pour toi c'est le cas accroche toi et garde le moral,
Car une chose est certaine y'aura toujours un terminus,
Maintenant tu es prévenu la prochaine fois tu prendras le bus.

Grand Corps Malade is a slameur. What does a slameur, or rather slam means? A slam is a text sung a cappella, which means without melodie. A slam can have music accompanying it, but the song itself is read aloud. A slam lasts generally no more than 3 minutes and it is before all a mouth that gives and ears that receives. Thats not really my point anyway, my point is that this is a really nice song with beautiful lyrics and meanings. It talks about how our quest to find love is like taking a train, with friends waving goodbye at the station, finding your right compartement and destination, how love fades after a certain time etc etc...if you speak french, you should not miss this one.

-gAvIn-

2006-07-26T15:25:00.000+02:00

A picture a thousand words

You probably won't understand this picture unless you are a Malaysian/Singaporean. :D

these chinese words meant "bring puki home".

PS: This picture was taken in a Metro station in Taiwan.

-gAvIn-

2006-07-22T09:44:00.000+02:00

Shame in UPM

http://www.sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=14837

Mob heckles seven undergrads in UPM
Pauline Puah and Charles Ramendran

PETALING JAYA: Gangsterism reared its ugly head in Univerisiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) when about 50 "pro-establishment" students took the law into their own hands and manhandled seven students who are members of an organisation perceived to be "anti-establishment" last Monday (July 17, 2006).

A video clip obtained by theSun showed the large group surrounding and pushing about six members of the UPM Student Progressive Front (SPF) in the campus canteen.

Giving an account of the incident to theSun today, third-year Chinese Studies student Lim Sok Swan said she and six other friends were manning a help counter for new students when the incident started.

Lim said a group of about 50 students led by a student council leader suddenly surrounded and scolded them for setting up the help counter when the SPF is not a registered body.

"They demanded we leave within 10 minutes, saying we are not allowed to be there to disturb students.

"We replied that we were just helping students' welfare and denied disturbing anyone as it was in a canteen that is open to everyone," she said.

"We had done nothing wrong ,so we declined to leave. They then pushed us away and removed our tables, chairs and flyers," she added.

She alleged that campus security officers who were present did not offer any help and merely watched.

"I was very scared," Lim said, adding she called the police as she felt the tension was escalating.

"They only stopped harrassing us when police officers arrived," she added.

Another student said she was pushed and fell on the floor when trying to take some photographs of what was happening.

The student who said her camera broke when it fell lodged a police report at the Seri Serdang police station.

"A similar incident took place on July 11(2006) where a group of 'pro-establishment' students tore up our materials at the help desk," she added.

Meanwhile, Suaram coordinator Chang Lih Kang urged the Higher Education Ministry, the police and UPM's authorities to investigate and take action against the culprits.

"It's a crime to intimidate someone," he said, adding that at least 15 police reports have been lodged over the incident.

Meanwhile, Subang Jaya police chief ACP Mohd Fuad Talib said police have received five reports from the students.

He said investigations revealed that the incident arose as a result of a misunderstanding over an event organised by the students.

He said apart from some pushing and jostling among the students at the time of incident, no one was reported to have been assaulted.

Mohd Fuad said police have spoken to UPM officials and have left the matter to be resolved internally.

"But our officers will continue monitoring the situation to avoid any untoward incident in future," he said.

UPM vice-chancellor Prof Dr Nik Mustapha R. Abdullah and deputy vice-chancellor (student affairs and alumni) Assoc Prof Dr Azali Mohamed could not be reached for comment today (July 20, 2006).

for the video, click here.
for more context, visit malaysia today.

Things like this should not be allowed to go unpunished...those involved should get a severe warning at the very least, even an expulsion should not be ruled out. Shame on those officers that stood silently and did nothing. I salute the 7 students who stood up against those monkeys, they are courageous.

-gAvIn-

2006-07-21T10:47:00.000+02:00

Yap- the place where you can buy things with stone

Yap is an island in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, the westernmost state of the Federated States of Micronesia. The "island" of Yap actually consists of four continental islands (hence the alternative name of the Yap Islands).

Yap is notable for its stone money, known as Fé (see photograph at left): large donut-shaped, carved disks of (usually) calcite, up to 4 m (12 ft) in diameter (most are much smaller). The islanders know who owns which piece, but do not necessarily move them when ownership changes; their size and weight (the largest ones require twenty adult men to carry) make them very difficult to steal. There are five major types: Mmbul, Gaw, Ray, Yar, and Reng, this last being only 0.3 m (1 ft) in diameter. Their value is based on both size and history, many of them having been brought from other islands, as far as New Guinea, but most coming in ancient times from Palau. Approximately 6,800 of them are scattered around the island. As no more disks are being produced, this ceremonial money supply is fixed (Washington Post, 1984). The United States dollar is the currency used for exchange in Yap.

Yap Proper (known as Wa'ab or Waqab) was initially settled by ancient migrants from the Malay Peninsula, the Indonesian Archipelago, New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. The Yapese language is related to the Malay languages of Southeast Asia, though with strong New Guinean influences. In contrast, the people of Yap's outer islands are descendants of Polynesian settlers, and as such have significant ethnic dissimilarities from the people of Yap Proper. Their culture and languages (Ulithian and Woleaian) are closely related to those of the neighboring islands of Chuuk.

taken from wikipedia, here.

-gAvIn-

2006-07-18T18:59:00.000+02:00

Creating a Sustainable Business among South Africa's Poor 'One Bite at a Time'

Take a look here. The cookies looks very tempting and the website, succinct, cool and professional. Alicia Polak was an investment banker who worked for Merrill Lynch, in the course of her work, she had the chance to visit Africa and she realized how ineffective and wasteful charities and NGO aides are. Determined to do something, she went to Khayelitsha (a poor and violent quartier in South Africa) and started a cookie company which markets to the high end market. (hotels, restaurants, etc)

The ladies of the KCC ( Khayelitsha Cookie Company) were formerly unemployed. They survived on a small grant from the state. Since joining KCC they have been trained in baking, packing, labeling and customer service. We have seen the effect of full time employment on their quality of life and self esteem. The mere act of commuting to work they have said has made them feel part of mainstream society. They love what they do.

Bridge the gap between poverty and profitable business, and you'll get a virtuous cycle of wealth creating activities, lifting thousands out of poverty. These activities are definitely more "sustainable" (yeah, its cliché) than throwing billions in the form of aid which encourages the feed-me attitude. As Kong Zi said (cliché again, but who cares? :) ), give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day; teach a man to fish, he'll never go hungry. I salute her work.

-gAvIn-

2006-07-16T09:53:00.000+02:00

MEET THE WORLD

Icaro Doria is Brazilian, 25 and has been working for the magazine Grande Reportagem, in Lisbon, Portugal, for the last 3 years. He is part of the team (with Luis Silva Dias, João Roque, Andrea Vallenti and João Roque) that produced the flags campaign which has been circulating the Earth in chain letters via e-mail.

taken from http://www.brazilianartists.net/home/flags/index2.htm

-gAvIn-

2006-07-15T16:13:00.000+02:00

Zizou!

Back in Malaysia when the europeans played during mid night, I never had the chance to watch him play, what a pity. Well, this video speaks for itself why this guy is so good...

2006-07-13T19:02:00.000+02:00

Sad.

After one year living and studying together, we are leaving Colmar soon. Everyone, yes, everyone was very nice, warm, tolerant accomodating and humorous. I can say I learnt alot from them. The profs here are like...our mothers...haha. (My mom in Msia, don't be jealous as no one will ever replace you :) ) Well, as I was walking back home, a poem came to my mind...a very famous chinese poem usually read during Mid Autumn's day...well, although 中秋 still have like one month to go, I guess it doesn't matter that much:

水调歌头

苏轼

明月几时有？把酒问青天。不知天上宫阙，今夕是何年。

　　我欲乘风归去，又恐琼楼玉宇，高处不胜寒。起舞弄清影，何似在人间！

　　转朱阁，低绮户，照无眠。不应有恨，何事长向别时圆？

　　人有悲欢离合，月有阴晴圆缺，此事古难全。但愿人长久，千里共婵娟。

Translation:

"Thinking of You"

When will the moon be clear and bright?
With a cup of wine in my hand, I ask the blue sky.
I don't know what season it would be in the heavens on this night.
I'd like to ride the wind to fly home.
Yet I fear the crystal and jade mansions are much too high and cold for me.
Dancing with my moon-lit shadow
It does not seem like the human world
The moon rounds the red mansion Stoops to silk-pad doors
Shines upon the sleepless Bearing no grudge
Why does the moon tend to be full when people are apart?
People may have sorrow or joy, be near or far apart
The moon may be dim or bright, wax or wane
This has been going on since the beginning of time
May we all be blessed with longevity Though far apart, we are still able to share the beauty of the moon together.

- Poem written during the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival of
1076 by Su Tung Po (Translated by Shun-Yi Lee in 1998)

-gAvIn-

2006-07-11T21:52:00.000+02:00

Berlin!

I just came back from Berlin, what I wonderful 4 day trip. (actually, 2 full days only, but nevermind) The first morning, Berlin was ironically empty! Amir, Ali, Hadi and me went to Alexanderplatz to see the Weltzeituhr (the TV tower) and Fernsehturm (the World Time Clock): Surprise, it looks more like Permatang Damar Laut (pick any half dead town haha) than a city who will be hosting the World Cup finals that night, maybe its due to the fact that everyone partied the whole night after German's victory against Portugal and eveyone is trying to catch some sleep ahead of tonight's match.

Taking bus n.100, we past the Berliner Dom and Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche. The Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche or Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church is one of Berlin's most famous landmarks. The damaged tower is a symbol of Berlin's resolve to rebuild the city after the war and a constant reminder of the destruction of war. We proceeded on foot along the Ku'damm shopping street towards KaDeWe (Kaufhaus des Westens), the second largest shop in Europe (after Harrods), and sells practically everything you want but barely anything you could afford.

Feeling hungry, we headed towards Stadmitte where Checkpoint Charlie (the most famous of the checkpoints between east and west germany lies. I bought some postcards to send home here. We ate lunch at a Turkish restaurant, which serves cheap and tasty kebabs, unlike the ones we find in Colmar. :) Btw, Berlins hosts a large number of turkish immigrants, which went there in droves during the recontruction of Berlin after WW2. Kreutzberg alone hosts up to 100 000 turks. I had the chance to stroll around Kottbusser Tor while my muslim friends performed their prayers...everywhere, signes and names where in turkish.

After lunch, we walked from Stadmitte towards the Brandenburger Tor (Tor means gate...Strasse means road btw). Since the fall of the wall, the Brandenburger Gate has become the symbol of a reunified Berlin. The desolate area that Pariser Platz was during the cold war, is now completely redeveloped and has regained much of its 19th century grandeur. Here, the atmosphere is hot. Supporters from both sides, chanting "força italia" and "allez les bleus", singing their national anthems , waving flags and compete to see which side make their presense felt the most. So far, Italy seems to be winning.

To be continued...
ps: pls bear with me the gibberish photos...

2006-07-06T21:56:00.000+02:00

Some photos from the France-Portugal match
taken from AFP pictures

-gAvIn-

2006-07-05T23:50:00.000+02:00

Berlin here we come!!!

France have done it again!!! Zidane, having scored two headers in the final of 98 against Brazil to help Les Bleus lift the title then, once again proved the hero of the night striking a penalty hard and low into the bottom left (or right, depends on where ur lookin on from right???) corner of Ricardo's goal after Henry had won the penalty going down from a Carvalho challenge as early as the 33rd minute (i think...). And as he did eight years before, hopefully Zizou will be able to end his glorious career with another win on the world stage...

That being said, i have to say also that in fact, it was the defending prowess of the french team that basically stole the show with one special Lilian Thuram at his best... Being capped for the 120th time for France (duh...) Thuram steered the defense well and Les Bleus managed to hold on to their early lead to advance to their second final in eight years...

Though France started this Cup campaign rather shakily during the group stages, they have managed to come into their own over the last few games with aspiring performances from players the likes of Sagnol, Viera, Thuram, Ribery and one very scintilating Zidane who was absolutely awesome against Brazil... of course the others play well too, Barthez and Makelele workin their asses off and the rest of the team... (damn it's difficult to please everyone ain't it...?)

In short, it was an awesome match between France and Portugal and though the latter fought hard and nearly got back into the game a couple of times, they were just lacking in flair and creativity... oOoOooooOOOooooOoo... =p

P/S; I also lost all my respect for Cristiano who went down numerous times in the penalty box with hardly any contact from the opposition... asshole!!! and oh yeah, we're goin to Berlin for the finalé!!!

-aDRiANo-

2006-07-05T23:45:00.000+02:00

WOW!!!

Enron founder Ken Lay who was awaiting sentencing for conspiracy and fraud has died in Aspen Colorado...

-aDRiANo-

2006-07-04T20:58:00.000+02:00

LES FEUILLES MORTES
paroles: Jacques Prévert
musique: Joseph Kosma

Oh ! je voudrais tant que tu te souviennes
Des jours heureux où nous étions amis.
En ce temps-là la vie était plus belle,
Et le soleil plus brûlant qu'aujourd'hui.
Les feuilles mortes se ramassent à la pelle.
Tu vois, je n'ai pas oublié...
Les feuilles mortes se ramassent à la pelle,
Les souvenirs et les regrets aussi
Et le vent du nord les emporte
Dans la nuit froide de l'oubli.
Tu vois, je n'ai pas oublié
La chanson que tu me chantais.

{Refrain:}
C'est une chanson qui nous ressemble.
Toi, tu m'aimais et je t'aimais
Et nous vivions tous deux ensemble,
Toi qui m'aimais, moi qui t'aimais.
Mais la vie sépare ceux qui s'aiment,
Tout doucement, sans faire de bruit
Et la mer efface sur le sable
Les pas des amants désunis.

Les feuilles mortes se ramassent à la pelle,
Les souvenirs et les regrets aussi
Mais mon amour silencieux et fidèle
Sourit toujours et remercie la vie.
Je t'aimais tant, tu étais si jolie.
Comment veux-tu que je t'oublie ?
En ce temps-là, la vie était plus belle
Et le soleil plus brûlant qu'aujourd'hui.
Tu étais ma plus douce amie
Mais je n'ai que faire des regrets
Et la chanson que tu chantais,
Toujours, toujours je l'entendrai !

{Refrain}

Old songs are sentimental, meaningful and many a times, beautiful. Hmm...as I want to watch world cup now, I'll give a rought translation later. Ciao!

Translation:

Oh, How much I want you to remember,
The happy days when we were friends.
The days when life was more beautiful,
And the sun shines brighter than today.
The dead leaves that gathered at the shovel,
The memories and regrets
And the northen wind that sweeps away,
In the cold nights of neglect.
You see, I have not forgotten,
The song that you sang to me.

This is a song that brings us together,
You, you loved me and I loved you.
And we lived together,
you who loved me, I who loved you.
But this life separates those who love each other,
Very softly, without making any noise.
And the sea erases on the sands,
The footprints of lovers disunited.

The dead leaves that gathered at the shovel,
The memories and also the regrets.
But my silent and faithful lover,
Always smiling and thankful for life.
I loved you so much, you were so pretty.
How would you want me to forget you
The days when life was more beautiful,
And the sun shines brighter than today.
You were my sweetest friend,
I have only regrets
And the song that you sang,
Forever, forever I will be hearing!

-gAvIn-

2006-07-04T19:38:00.000+02:00

Foreign Accent Syndrome

People waking up from a stroke sometimes find themselves acquiring foreign accents, its called the Foreign Accent Syndrome. The syndrome was first identified during World War II, when a Norwegian woman suffered shrapnel damage to her brain. She developed a strong German accent, which led to her being ostracised by her community. Since then we have people who never speak french acquiring french accent, canadian accent, spanish accent and whatever accent you want. Bizzare but true! From what BBC says, victimes generally hates their new accent: that I don't know why because foreign accent is actually quite cute and funny...its boring hearing people who have the same accent with you speak.

-gAvIn-

2006-06-30T17:55:00.000+02:00

Monkeys in Kruth

Last friday, we went to some place where we return to our natural habitat (jungle)...not all of us of course, but people who come from Sabah and Sarawak like Ed and Daniel. They were very adept at climbing trees, just like the orang-utans from their hometown. I didn't managed to take much photo about the actual event itself as my camera ran out of battery...Check out the photo of Amir with his retro-car.

-gAvIn-

2006-06-29T22:43:00.000+02:00

Jasin MP alleges mishandling of confiscated luxury cars by Customs Department

News here.
Jasin MP Datuk Mohd Said Yusof is no stranger to us Malaysians. He was investigated earlier (as usual, without any results) this year for asking the custom department to "close an eye" to some timber shipments into Malaysia.

Nothing surprising here...until I read this:
Later, Mohd Said told reporters that he had proof of the Customs officials’ alleged corrupt practices, but he would not lodge a report with the Anti-Corruption Agency.

What the f*** is wrong with this guy? Either he got the guts to prove what he alleges or just shut the f*** up and go home. I think we Malaysians are tired of allegations of whom and whom are so corrupted that they stink but refuse to provide prouve or testify for the ACA. I have read that Mahathir, Anwar, Semi-Value, Daim and tons of people are all corrupt but not charged because no one is willing to stand up and prove it. Unless proofs are given, none of those allegations should be believed.

-gAvIn-

2006-06-26T11:29:00.000+02:00

54, '74, '90, 2006 Sportfreunde Stiller

That is the name of a very popular song that currently tops the german music chart. The germans are superstitious, according to the date of their past 3 world cup victories 1954, 1974 and 1990, you can prouve that they are going to win this time (or so they say).

54 x 74 = 3996

3996 - 1990 = 2006

Voilà...I'll keep my fingers crossed, the song is not that nice also btw. :)

-gAvIn-

2006-06-25T11:41:00.000+02:00

Peculiarities in the French language

When I first started learning French, I always wonder why the word that means "today", "aujourd'hui" is that looong. I just found out that it means actually twice the same thing: The latin for today is "hodie", which gives phonetically "hui" in ancient french. Etymologist have found out that we tend to reinforce our words, so "hui" in itself becomes "au jour d'hui" (meaning at the course of today). As time passes, the phrase lexicalized and became "aujourd'hui".

The french have the expression "au jour d'aujourd'hui" which means "these days"...will that be lexicalized in a few centuries time to become "aujourd'aujourd'hui"? God knows...

-gAvIn-

2006-06-24T12:42:00.000+02:00

more pics...?

jus to pick up a little where gavin left off with the pics from the trip... i myself took a couple of photos, not that many thanx to my stupid camera!!! shutter problem... here they are;

<---the 'robotic birds' that gavin was refferin to...

the toy spider that gavin also spoke of...--->

patricia (left) and rosy... our guides...

trekkin uphill...--->

lost!!!

monyet malaysia!!!--->

<---amir and gavin (the oranje team...)

cameramen in action...--->

<---at the summit... enfin...

and thats it for the trip...

-aDRiANo-

2006-06-24T09:15:00.000+02:00

I found this in some website...with the usual culture stereotyping. :)

2006-06-20T20:49:00.002+02:00

Different IUTs for this September.

For some strange unknown reason, most of us still don't know whether we are accepted or not by our universities this coming rentrée. (or start of academic year) A check on IUT de Bordeaux's website shows that most admission decisions are made by July, thus our situation. The funny thing is that all the JPA students seems to know their destination very early, which I believe is partly due to their couse selection and relationship with the IUTs and grandes ecoles...

As you can see on the map to your left, we are quite dispersed but no one has chosen the north-west and south-east part of France. 4 of us have confirmed their placings: Zaid: Amiens, Ali, Kamil, Luk: Annecy
The rest of us are still unsure: Amir: Lyons, Eijas: Lille, Adrian: Bordeaux, me:still torn between Bordeaux and Toulouse...Will keep you all updated.

Update: Adrian and I got Bordeaux, the problem is housing, what Martin proposed to us is very expensive...I'll see if I can find some cheaper ones...
Update: Eijas and Zarf got Lille, Syafiq and Amir got Belfort. Good luck :)

-gAvIn-

2006-06-18T08:38:00.000+02:00

More stunning pictures from the trip. lol, tak tau malu...

2006-06-18T07:33:00.000+02:00

Randonnée à Hohrodberg, Munster (10 Juin)

Last saturday, we went for some tracking in the Voges with 3 of our French teacher: Gio, Pat and Rosy. Munster is famous for its cheese, but thats not the point here since we're not visiting those caves in which they "matures" the cheese. We departed from Colmar at 10.15 am, arrived there at nearly 11, where Rosy joined us. Zafran had a field day scaring the teachers with a toy spider that craws he found along the way. =.= Pat and Rosy leads the way, as they tracks alot during their freetime and thus, considered the veterans.

We spotted some birds atop a municipal building, they were at least 6 nests for them, with them flapping their wings once around. It sure looks like some robots to me, but Adrian and Zarf disagreed...well, it seems robotic to me, until I noticed a family of this dunno-what-name bird. A family of robots I would say! Well, I was wrong, they were real birds...Rosy told us that they were caged to prevent them from migrating to the Afriques during winter because of the fear of poachings.

We continued our journey and saw some houses and villages along the way. I wonder why some people chose to live that high up in the mountain. I suppose they like the view, the clean air and the pristine surrounding more than they hate the possible inconvenience. Along the way, Ali performed some dances à la Bollywood and we were all abit worried for his saneness. :) Well, to make a long story short, it was nearly a six hour track with lots of pauses and laughters in between. The trip was well worth it.

-gAvIn-

2006-06-17T23:03:00.000+02:00

Italy vs USA 1-1

What a strange match, with 3 red cards, 2 goals from the same team, and an italy that just couldn't beat a 9-man USA team. Mind you, its just the forth time in the World Cup history that 3 man got sent off. Kudus to the USA team, especially their goalkeeper who made some wonderful saves and Mc Bride who played brilliantly despite his head being covered with blood ealier in the match by a reckless elbow by De Rossi. The race to qualify for the next round is wide open in Group E following the win by Ghana against Czech Republic.

1.	Italie	4
2.	République tchèque	3
3.	Ghana	3
4.	Etats-Unis	1

-gAvIn-

2006-06-14T20:57:00.000+02:00

法国念书昨天算起可说有了一年。一年内也少说华语，更不用说读与写，不禁感到可惜。我毫无方向的在网际网路中游览，猛然遇见一些涉世忠告，想与大家分享。

少走弯路的10条忠告

如何在涉世之初少走弯路，有一个好的开端，开始一番成功的事业？以下是一些先行者积累的10条有益的涉世忠告。好好地遵循、把握这些忠告和建议吧，比起所学的课堂课程来，它毫不逊色！

1. 买个闹钟，以便按时叫醒你。
贪睡和不守时，都将成为你工作和事业上的绊脚石，任何时候都一样。不仅要学会准时，更要学会提前。就如你坐车去某地，沿途的风景很美，你忍不住下车看一看，后来虽然你还是赶到了某地，却不是准时到达。“闹钟”只是一种简单的标志和提示，真正灵活、实用的时间，掌握在每个人的心中。

2. 如果你不喜欢现在的工作，要么辞职不干，要么就闭嘴不言。
初出茅庐，往往眼高手低，心高气傲，大事做不了，小事不愿做。不要养成挑三拣四的习惯。不要雨天烦打伞，不带伞又怕淋雨，处处表现出不满的情绪。记住，不做则已，要做就要做好。

3. 每个人都有孤独的时候。
要学会忍受孤独，这样才会成熟起来。年轻人嘻嘻哈哈、打打闹闹惯了，到了一个陌生的环境，面对形形色色的人和事，一下子不知所措起来，有时连一个可以倾心说话的地方也没有。这时，千万别浮躁，学会静心，学会忍受孤独。在孤独中思考，在思考中成熟，在成熟中升华。不要因为寂寞而乱了方寸，而去做无聊无益的事情，白白浪费了宝贵的时间。

4. 走运时要做好倒霉的准备。
有一天，一只狐狸走到一个葡萄园外，看见里面水灵灵的葡萄垂涎欲滴。可是外面有栅栏挡着，无法进去。于是它一狠心绝食三日，减肥之后，终于钻进葡萄园内饱餐一顿。当它心满意足地想离开葡萄园时，发觉自己吃得太饱，怎么也钻不出栅栏了。相信任何人都不愿做这样的狐狸。退路同样重要。饱带干粮，晴带雨伞，点滴积累，水到渠成。有的东西今天似乎一文不值，但有朝一日也许就会身价百倍。

5. 不要像玻璃那样脆弱。
有的人眼睛总盯着自己，所以长不高看不远；总是喜欢怨天尤人，也使别人无比厌烦。没有苦中苦，哪来甜中甜？不要像玻璃那样脆弱，而应像水晶一样透明，太阳一样辉煌，腊梅一样坚强。既然睁开眼睛享受风的清凉，就不要埋怨风中细小的沙粒。

6. 管住自己的嘴巴。
不要谈论自己，更不要议论别人。谈论自己往往会自大虚伪，在名不副实中失去自己。议论别人往往陷入鸡毛蒜皮的是非口舌中纠缠不清。每天下班后和你的那些同事朋友喝酒聊天可不是件好事，因为，这中间往往会把议论同事、朋友当做话题。背后议论人总是不好的，尤其是议论别人的短处，这些会降低你的人格。

7. 机会从不会“失掉”，你失掉了，自有别人会得到。
不要凡事在天，守株待兔，更不要寄希望于“机会”。机会只不过是相对于充分准备而又善于创造机会的人而言的。也许，你正为失去一个机会而懊悔、埋怨的时候，机会正被你对面那个同样的“倒霉鬼”给抓住了。没有机会，就要创造机会，有了机会，就要巧妙地抓住。

8. 若电话老是不响，你该打出去。
很多时候，电话会给你带来意想不到的收获，它不是花瓶，仅仅成为一种摆设。交了新朋友，别忘了老朋友，朋友多了路好走。交际的一大诀窍就是主动。好的人缘好的口碑，往往助你的事业更上一个台阶。

9. 千万不要因为自己已经到了结婚年龄而草率结婚。
想结婚，就要找一个能和你心心相印、相辅相携的伴侣。不要因为放纵和游戏而恋爱，不要因为恋爱而影响工作和事业，更不要因一桩草率而失败的婚姻而使人生受阻。感情用事往往会因小失大。

10. 写出你一生要做的事情，把单子放在皮夹里，经常拿出来看。
人生要有目标，要有计划，要有提醒，要有紧迫感。一个又一个小目标串起来，就成了你一生的大目标。生活富足了，环境改善了，不要忘了皮夹里那张看似薄薄的单子。

汉仁

2006-06-08T10:55:00.000+02:00

Different prices of a same item all over the world

Apple 4GB iPod Nano

New York City: $249
Buenos Aires: $592 (1,799 Argentine pesos)
Cape Town: $321.77 (1,956 rand)
London: $286.802 (152.34 pounds)
Moscow: $299 (8,074 rubles)
Paris: $295.80 (231.61 euros)
Shanghai: $299.74 (2,400 renminbi)
Tel Aviv: $371.68 (1,649 shekels)
Tokyo: $248.83 (27,800 yen)

Coca-Cola Classic

New York: $1
Buenos Aires: $0.65 (2 ARS)
Cape Town: $0.73 (4.55 ZAR)
London: $ 0.77 (0.41 GPB)
Moscow: $1.41 (38 RUB)
Paris: $0.82 (0.64 EUR)
Shanghai: $0.44 (3.50 CNY)
Tel Aviv: $1.12 (5 ILS)
Tokyo: $1.36 (150 JPY)

Marlboro Reds

New York City: $7.30
Buenos Aires: $1.15 (3.50 Argentine pesos)
Cape Town: $2.38 (14.70 rand)
London: $9.74 (5.14 pounds)
Moscow: $1.08 (29.17 rubles)
Paris: $5.45 (5 euros)
Shanghai: $1.87 (15 renminbi)
Tel Aviv: $4.14 (18.35 shekels)
Tokyo: $2.73 (300 yen)

Motorola Razr Cell Phone

New York City: $269.99
Buenos Aires: $513.691 (1,559 Argentine pesos)
Cape Town: $195.32 (1,182.16 rand)
London: $243.58 (130 pounds)
Moscow: $300 (8,100 rubles)
Paris: $126.53 (99 euros)
Shanghai: $249.64 (1,998 renminbi)
Tel Aviv: $290.207 (1,285 shekels)
Tokyo: $261.333 (28,800 yen)

Nike Air Structure Triax Sneakers

New York City: $90
Buenos Aires: $98.85 (299.99 Argentine pesos)
Cape Town: $181.59 (1,099 rand)
London: $139.44 (75 pounds)
Moscow: $126.71 (3,420 rubles)
Paris: $113.117 (88 euros)
Shanghai: $89.93 (720 renminbi)
Tel Aviv: $100.73 (449 shekels)
Tokyo: $88.85 (9,815 yen)

Ever wonder why the same products are priced differently around the U.S. and the world? Why does a 4-gigabyte iPod Nano cost $249 in the U.S., but the equivalent of $333.45 in Britain? These are virtually identical products aimed at exactly the same audience, but one costs 33.9% more.

LOCAL ISN'T ALWAYS CHEAP. That Argentinean wine costs more in New York than Buenos Aires should come as no surprise. It has longer to travel and more associated costs in getting it to market. The same applies to oil and auto parts. In general, the closer the product is to its source, the less it will cost.

But that rationale does not apply all the time. Let's look at Apple's (AAPL) iPod again. It is made in China or Taiwan for U.S. and British markets. The costs associated with bringing it to market in either country are relatively similar. So why does one cost so much more?

A lot of it has to with tariffs -- or lack thereof -- which can affect the price. In certain countries, such as the U.S. and Britain, taxes on tobacco sales are high, doubling and even tripling the cost. In other countries, such as China, prices are fixed to hold the cost down for many products. As a spokesman for Philip Morris International wrote: "As with many consumer goods, the prices for cigarettes vary from one country to another. This reflects varying levels of consumer purchasing power in individual countries, as well as in the case of cigarettes, varying levels of tobacco excise taxation. In fact, in most countries tobacco excise taxes are the major contributor to the retail selling price."

NOT JUST TAXES. Another reason is currency valuation. Right now the U.S. dollar is weak compared with many other currencies, so it buys less. The iPod Nano may seem more expensive in some countries but in terms of actual purchasing power the outlay is comparable.

Then there is relative price structure within a country. Generally speaking, this means that for most things prices tend to be lower across the board in poorer countries and more expensive in wealthier nations. This is not always the case. In South Africa, for example, the iPod Nano retails for the equivalent of $321.77, or over $70 more than what the same unit costs in the U.S.

A fourth factor is corporate pricing strategy. According to Angus Deaton, Dwight D. Eisenhower Professor of International Affairs at Princeton University, "companies have a lot of discretion when it comes to setting prices. There is nothing to stop them setting dramatically different prices in different places in order to make the most profit."

In other words, a company will charge more for a product in one market than another because it knows consumers have no alternative. Retailers can also charge more if they feel that consumers will bear the cost.

excerps from http://www.businessweek.com/index.html

-gAvIn-

2006-06-04T21:29:00.000+02:00

Malaysia in foreign news

This morning I was pleasently surprised to hear Malaisie being mentioned in Europe1, France's largest radio channel. It is about our country's plan to send out an astronaut next year: As the autorities planned to send a malay muslim (as usual ;) ), the problem comes out as to the direction of the kiblat (pointing towards the Kaabah in Meccah) when that guy is performing his solat (prayers). With the spaceship orbiting at speeds of a few thousand kilometers per hour, the polemic is not an easy one.

The second news is written by me that is published by the BBC World news...haha, not me la, my namesake. Its about Malaysia's vision 2020.

-gAvIn-

2006-06-04T13:20:00.000+02:00

USMAN AWANG

I remember reading about Usman Awang, one of malaysia's finest poet in my secondary chinese textbook (translated version). The following is a poem in malay, I have no idea why I picked this.

KEKASIH

akan ku pintal buih-buih
menjadi tali
mengikat mu

akan ku anyam gelombang-gelombang
menjadi hamparan
ranjang tidur mu

akan ku tenun awan gemawan
menjadi selendang
menudungi rambut mu

akan ku jahit bayu gunung
menjadi baju
pakaian malam mu

akan ku petik bintang timur
menjadi kerongsang
menyinari dada mu

akan ku jolok bulan gerhana
menjadi lampu
menyuluhi rindu

akan ku rebahkan mentari
menjadi laut malam mu
menghirup sakar madu mu

kekasih, hitunglah mimpi
yang membunuh realiti
dengan syurga ilusi

-gAvIn-

2006-06-03T20:37:00.000+02:00

The Lessons of Market History for Novice Investors

~Use knowledge of the past to set your expectations and control your emotions~

an interesting article i stumbled upon at http://news.morningstar.com/article/article.asp?id=160379

basically says...

Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Every mutual fund you own says something to that effect in its literature. And yet, ignoring the past--in investing or in any other field--is rarely a wise move. I don't mean you should be a performance-chasing hound. Buying funds that sport the gaudiest one- and three-year returns, for example, can easily lead you astray. However, knowing something about stock market history can help you set expectations for your investments. That can be extremely useful for novice investors who have little experience navigating the turbulence of the markets.

The Lessons of History Armed with our knowledge of history, we can, however, reach a few helpful conclusions.

1. For long-term money, stocks likely remain the best investment. They may not return what they have in the past, but another asset class that can keep pace with inflation as well as stocks has not presented itself. Because of their volatility, however, stocks remain bad investments for short-term money (cash that you'll use for a down payment on a house in six months, for example). In fact, Siegel says that stocks are inappropriate investments for money that you're planning to spend within five years.

2. Knowing history can help you manage your emotions, which may be the most important part of investing. Just when you want to throw in the towel after a period of stock market decline, those stocks may bounce back. Also, just when you're likely to feel most confident in them is when they're prone to disappoint. Keeping a long-term perspective and trying to focus more on your time frame than on the daily and yearly fluctuations can make you a better investor.

3. Broad-based mutual funds, including index funds that track the S&P 500 or Wilshire 5000 indexes, give individual investors a good chance to capture much of the market's return over time. Stick to these kinds of investments with the bulk of your assets, and try not to pay attention to various sectors that may be running hard for short periods of time. It's easy to feel like a dolt at a cocktail party when you don't own the latest high-flying sector, but armed with history you'll realize that periods of unusually strong performance can't continue for the market as a whole or for an individual sector.

4. Fees matter. Because beating inflation, especially for bonds, is difficult, paying a large expense ratio on your mutual funds is effectively asking you to fight with one hand tied behind your back. Look for low-fee mutual funds.

-aDRiANo-

2006-06-03T19:31:00.000+02:00

Wedding Rules for Every Bride 2

...this is a continuation from a previous blog post of the same title (taken from

http://www.lifescript.com/articles/5771.asp?page=3)

Wedding Rules: The Don'ts

1)Don’t assume anything from a wedding planner or other vendors. Make sure you get everything in writing so that you know exactly what you both have agreed on and know exactly what every penny is going toward.

2)Don’t get too distracted by advice from the many people who will be eager to give it, especially when it’s unsolicited. You may get good advice and new ideas, but just make sure they’re in line with your vision. You and your groom know yourselves the best, and you want your style reflected in the wedding.

3)Don’t feel pressured to comply with all of your families’ or wedding guests' requests. Sometimes they don’t realize just how unreasonable or unfair a request might be. Naturally, you’ll want to please everyone, but it’s just not possible. Accommodate specific, reasonable requests the best way you can, but remember, it’s your wedding and your money.

4)Don’t forget to send wedding invitations to your parents, bridal party and even the officiant. This small detail is surprisingly often overlooked by brides, but hugely appreciated by the recipients.

5)Don’t make your wedding guests pay for anything, such as an entrance fee to the park where your wedding is held. If you have chosen a destination wedding, decide what you’re willing to pay for in regards to your guest’s or wedding party’s arrangements. Keep in mind that you can’t expect everyone to be able to afford the traveling costs, so if you really want them there, you might have to help accommodate their needs.

6)Unless you and the majority of everyone else have GREAT relationships with your ex, wedding rules dictate that it’s usually not a good idea to invite them to the wedding.

7)Don’t be late to your own wedding. It shows a lack of regard for the groom, your guests as well as your vendors (think melted ice sculptures and other bookings). To avoid being late, give yourself plenty of time just in case something goes wrong.

Pulling off a fabulous wedding is no easy task. But following proper wedding rules can actually make your wedding day that less stressful and make it that much more enjoyable for you, your groom and your special guests.

and that's it...

-aDRiANo-

2006-06-03T00:08:00.000+02:00

Rendez-vous in Berlin!

That FIFA has decided to play the Final Match in Berlin, beside being a wonderful stadium, also sends a signal to the world. No other European city stands for history as Berlin does. From here two world wars were instigated. Then, or more than 40 years, two political systems had to coexist in such narrowness. Check point Charlie and the old DC-3 “Rosinenbomber” airplanes still tell their stories to visitors from all over the world.
Now as the city is re-born, Berlin stands for the reunification of Germany and more peaceful times.

Woohoo, I will be in there for the world cup finals from the 8th to 11th July along with Zarf, Amir, Kamil, Adrian, Syafiq, Eddie and his friend. The easyjet flight costed the few of us who just booked today 98€. I am sure we would get a cheaper price if we book like...3 months before the actual event itself. Although none of us have the actual tickets to the match, we are rather looking forward towards the atmosphere itself: The overcrowded city, the overbooked hotels, the overpacked bars, the estimated 1.2 billion spectateurs of the match, and most importantly, the spirit of football that unites everyone. (strangely, a german minister just warned black people not to visit certain part of germany because of the fear of racial discrimination, so much for the spirit of the "beautiful game" zzz) Heck, the 4 of us don't even know where we're going to stay, I don't mind sleeping in the park though :) .With hindsight, I realize that we have not asked permission from our french teachers because there is no holiday in France during the finals...anyway, they'll understand, normalement...

-gAvIn-

2006-06-01T23:38:00.000+02:00

Good news for all those studying for engineering degree in France, for us students of commerce subject (accounting, admin, econs, finance etc etc), everthing is still not clear yet in terms of degree/bachelor/master recognition in Malaysia. The following is an email from pierron forwaded to me by alexandre.

Bonjour à tous,

Pour éviter de répéter très souvent la même chose, je vais faire le point sur les diplômes français en Malaisie.

Lors de ma prochaine mission en Malaisie( début juillet), j’ai demandé au JPA d’organiser une session de travail avec l’Ambassade de France sur ce thème de « reconnaissance » des diplômes. Actuellement le point est le suivant.

1. Diplôme d’ingénieur

L’accord entre le Board of Engineers of Malaysia » et la « Commission des Titres d’Ingénieurs » (CTI) est en cours de finalisation et devrait être signé d’ici Septembre. J’ai rencontré récemment à Paris ces deux institutions. Cette reconnaissance mutuelle permettra de reconnaître le Diplôme d’Ingénieur français, comme « Master of Engineering ». Le titre d’ingénieur sera toujours décerné par le Board mais les périodes professionnelles en France (stages) seront prises en compte comme expériences professionnelles.

2. Diplômes professionnels

La difficulté vient du terme « professionnel» qui, dans les disciplines des sciences de l’ingénieur, devrait être traduit par « Engineering » et non « Professionnal» qui a une connotation trop technique en anglais. A ma connaissance, à ce jour, les Licences françaises, quelques qu’elles soient sont reconnues comme BSc et les Masters, quels qu’ils soient, sont reconnus comme MSc. L’objectif est de faire accepter ces diplômes comme des diplômes « of Engineering », afin de vous permettre de travailler comme ingénieurs.

* En ce qui concerne la Licence cela pourrait aller assez vite car, d’après le « Board of Engineer », une sorte de licence «professionnelle» va être créée au MFI.
* En ce qui concerne le Master nous allons discuter avec le JPA en juillet

Je vous rappelle que l’accord signé enter le JPA et SFERE évoquait clairement les deux possibilités :

* Diplôme d’ingénieur

Ou, si impossible,

* Utiliser la voie IUT + IUP

Il n’était aucunement fait référence à la réglementation Malaisienne des emplois comme ingénieur.

N’importe comment, aujourd’hui ceux d’entre vous qui ne sont pas acceptés en Ecole d’Ingénieurs n’ont pas d’autre solution que de suivre la voie Licence pro puis Master Pro. Nous essayons d’en placer le maximum en Ecole, mais cela dépend évidemment de vos résultats.

Enfin, dans le nouveau système LMD les IUP ont tendance à disparaître et sont « remplacés » par Licence et Master professionnels. Donc inutile de compliquer les choses en parlant d’IUP, en ce qui me concerne les diplômes évoqués lors de la réunion avec le JPA seront

Ø DUT

Ø Licence of Engineering

Ø Master of Engineering

Ø Diplôme d’Ingénieur

Bonne fin d’année scolaire et bonnes vacances.

Cordialement

Georges PIERRON

Directeur Gestion des Programmes

SFERE
8 avenue des Minimes

94306 Vincennes Cedex

Tel : 33 (0) 1 41 74 70 00

Fax : 33 (0) 141 74 70 38

www.sfere.fr

Those who can read the email above or those who dealed with SFERE before would probably remark that they refer almost everything to the contract they signed. From what I feel, they are most unwilling to do something that might help us( like admission to those ecoles, iuts in the parisian area) if its not in the contract...Thats perfectly understandable but I sometimes hope that they go a step further to help us instead of keep repeating the contract. Talking about long term client satisfaction. :)

-gAvIn-

2006-06-01T17:27:00.000+02:00

Wedding Rules for Every Bride

hey, phew, its been a while since ive written in here... anywayz, here's somethin i got from http://www.lifescript.com/articles/5771.asp?page=1...

As one of the most important days of your life, a wedding can be a simple, intimate ceremony with your closest of friends and family, or an all-out, all-night extravaganza. From the dress to the cake to the party favors - planning a wedding and all of its details becomes overwhelming for most brides. Because each wedding is so individual to the couple, there aren’t too many wedding rules when it comes to a theme, style or location. However, anyone who has ever been involved in a wedding or the planning of one knows that weddings can get out of hand very quickly. So for any prospective bridezillas, it’s time to read up on your wedding etiquette so that you can make the wedding more enjoyable for everyone involved…

Wedding Rules: The Do’s

1)Budget, budget, budget! Create a budget before doing anything, even before hiring a wedding planner. You will probably exceed your initial budget once you start shopping around, which will help put a perspective on how much weddings can cost. How much are you willing to spend on what? How many wedding guests will be attending? Also factor in the little costs that are often missed, like postage for RSVP’s and tips for the vendors. Remember that a wedding doesn’t have to break your bank account and that there’s always less-expensive, and often just as nice, alternatives.

2)Do your research and do it in plenty of time before the wedding date. Being prepared with price matching is a great way to keep the costs down and explore all options you have. When deciding on a menu, you should not only meet with the caterer and baker, but make sure they offer sample tastings.

3)Do include your groom in the wedding planning as much as possible or as much as he wants to be. Weddings are a union, and details should be decided on together.

4)Wedding rules dictate that you should make table visits during the ceremony so that your wedding guests feel important and appreciated. After all, they came to see you!

5)Do write personal thank you notes! Individualizing your thank you notes shows your guests that you were paying attention and really appreciate their gift and their presence at the wedding. If you don’t have time to write long, individual notes, at least mention the specific present that was given. Personal thank you notes are also important to let the guests know that their present made it into your hands.

6)Do think of your wedding as a very special day in your life, but remember that it’s only ONE day, and chances are that everything won’t be perfect. If something doesn’t go according to plan, have a sense of humor about it.

7)The biggest “do” a bride can make is to remember that the wedding is a celebration of the marriage, and the marriage is what matters the most.

i'll post the DON'Ts later okiez... read up ppl...

-aDRiANo-

2006-05-28T13:45:00.000+02:00

Price differentiation in everyday life

Lets say that you are a company that sells products: You have all kinds of customer, some rich, some poor, some price oriented, others service oriented (yaya, from our marketing class). To maximize profit, should a company charge the same price for everyone or should they charge different price for different customer? The answer of course is that you charge higher price for people who are less price sensitive and lower price for people who are more price sensitive.

Amazon.com has experimented with this kind of multi level pricing a few years ago by charging different type of customer different price. This, however, has provoked a public outcry because it is illegal and they have since stopped doing that. But does it mean that discriminatory pricing is non existant in our society?

Take a look at the picture at our left. The upper one is a discount coupon you receive when you buy certain things while the one below is a fidelity card in which you accumulate points for future purchase voucher. As a customer, it usually means an extra hassle or even embarrassment (if you want your cool image to remain cool, you don't want people seeing you use all these things :) ) to use these promotional items. If the supermarket really want to reward their "loyal" customers, why not just reduce the price straightaway instead of creating a few more unwanted hurdles?

The answer lies above, discriminatory pricing raises profit: People who uses coupons and fidelity cards are usually mid to low income earners while those rich customers or rich-wannabes won't even bother using them. By making sure that different customers, according to their price sensitivities, pay different price indirectly, they maximize potential customer and profit.

-gAvIn-

2006-05-21T12:50:00.000+02:00

Artist: Akon
Song: Lonely

Lonely
I'm Mr. Lonely,
I have nobody,
For my owwnnn

I'm so lonely,
I'm Mr. Lonely,
I have nobody,
For my owwnnn
I'm so lonely,

Yo, this one here, goes out to all my
Players out there man, you know
They got to have one good girl who's
Always been there like,
Took all the bullshit
Then one day she can't take it no more
And decides to leave

I woke up in the middle of the night
And I noticed my girl wasn't by my side,
Could sworn I was dreaming,
For her I was feening,
So I had take a little ride,
Back tracking over these few years,
Trying a figure out what I do to make it go bad,
Cause every since my girl left me,
My whole life came crashin' and I'm so...

So lonely (so lonely),
I'm Mr. Lonely (Mr. Lonely)
I have nobody (I have nobody)
For my own (to call my own girl)

I'm so lonely (so lonely)
I'm Mr. Lonely (Mr. Lonely)
I have nobody (I have nobody)
For my own (to call my own girl)

Can't belive I had a girl like you
And I just let you walk right out my life,
After all I put you thru
You still stuck around and stayed by my side,
What really hurt me is I broke your heart,
Baby you were a good girl and I had no right,
I Really wanna make things right cause,
without you in my life girl i'm so...

Lonely (so lonely)
I'm Mr. Lonely (Mr. Lonely)
I have nobody (I have nobody)
For my own (to call my own girl)

I'm so lonely (so lonely)
I'm mr. Lonely (mr. Lonely)
I have nobody (I have nobody)
For my own (to call my own baby)

Been all about the world
Ain't never met a girl that can take the
Things that you been
Through
Never thought the day would come
Where you would get up and run
And I would be out chasing you
Cause aint nowhere in the globe I'd
Rather be,
Aint no one in the globe I'd rather see
Than the girl of my dreams that made me be
So happy but now so lonely...

So lonely (so lonely)
I'm Mr. Lonely (Mr. Lonely)
I have nobody (I have nobody)
For my own (to call my own girl)

So lonely (so lonely)
I'm Mr. Lonely (Mr. Lonely)
I have nobody (I have nobody)
For my own (to call my own girrlll)

Never thought that I'd be alone,
I didn't hope you'd be gone this long,
I just want you to call my phone,
So stop playing girl and come on home
(Come on home),
Baby girl I didn't mean to shout,
I want me and you to work it out,
I never wished I'd ever Hurt my baby,
And its driving me crazy cause I'm
So...

So lonely (so lonely)
I'm Mr. Lonely (Mr. Lonely)
I have nobody (I have nobody)
For my own (to call my own girrrlll)

I'm so lonely (so lonely)
I'm mr. Lonely (mr. Lonely)
I have nobody (I have nobody)
For my own (to call my own girrrlll)

Lonely, (so lonely),
So lonely, (so lonely),
Mr. Lonely, (so lonely)
So lonely, (so lonely),
So lonely,
Mr. Lonely.

-aDRiANo-

2006-05-17T17:56:00.000+02:00

please read this... got this as a forwarded mail... please read it... and say a lil prayer for the little one...

MAKES WHATEVER COMPLAINTS I HAVE NON-EXISTENT. Have a close look at both the photographs & read the messages below them. Its our moral duty to be concerned... towards humanity; to care...

The PHOTO shown is the "Pulitzer prize" winning photo taken in 1994 during the Sudan famine. The picture depicts a famine stricken child crawling towards an United Nations food camp, located a kilometer away.

> The vulture is waiting for the child to die so that it can eat it. This picture shocked the whole world. No one knows what happened to the child, including the photographer Kevin Carter who left the place as soon as the photograph was taken.

> Three months later he committed suicide due to depression.

This was found in his (Kevin Carter's) diary,

Dear God, I promise I will never waste my food no matter how bad it can taste and how full I may be. I pray that He will protect this little boy, guide and deliver him away from his misery. I pray that we will be more sensitive towards the world around us and not be blinded by our own selfish nature and interests.

I hope this picture will always serve as a reminder to us that how fortunate we are and that we must never ever take things for granted.

thank you for reading... pass this on to as many people as u possibly can... u may ask what for???

so that we can help and to do that, we first need to be aware of the suffering that is going on around the world today... when u feel down and sad, think about this picture, and then u'll see that whatever short-comings or bad luck or whatever u might call it that u might think u have is nothing in comparison with what tis little child went through... if he or she (for i do not noe the sex of the child) is still alive, i pray for him or her to be healthy and happy and if by any chance, he or she is not, i pray that his or her soul rests peaceful...

thank you...

-aDRiANo-

2006-05-16T18:18:00.000+02:00

Contact lenses and me

I hate contact lenses and I believe I will always do :)
In France, to get a new pair of contact lenses or specs, you can not get it straight away in an optician...you need to first see an eye doctor, called an ophthalmologists here. Needless bureaucracy? Of course! (You know, all those ophthalmologists lobby for this law so that they can be kept busy and keep their jobs) To make matters worse, we have to wait like 1 year to see one ophthalmologists because there is an acute shotage of them.

Anyway, to make matters short, I wanted to try contact lenses because I have been wearing a spec for like....6 years....I got my trial pair of contact lenses today and happily took them home after the optician demonstrated to me how to put it on and take it off: Its roughly like this:

How Do I Insert and Remove My Contact Lenses?

Correct

Incorrect

Checking if your lens is right side out

If the edges of your lens turn out, it is inside out. To correct this, apply a few drops of OPTI-FREE® Express® Multi-Action Solution on your lens and reverse it.

Inserting lens

Inserted lens

Inserting your lens

Close nearby drains.

Pour the right lens and storage solution from the case into your palm. (It is a good idea to get in the habit of always working with the right lens first to avoid mix-ups).

Make sure your fingers are clean and dry. (Dry fingers facilitate the handling since soft contact leneses tend to stick to wet fingers.)

Place the right lens on the tip of your index finger.

Using the middle finger of your other hand, pull and hold your upper lid so you cannot blink.

Pull down your lower eyelid, using the middle finger of your inserting hand.

Look up and place the lens gently on the lower white part of your eye.

Look down to position the lens correctly.

Slowly release your eyelid and close your eye for a moment.

Blink several times to centre the lens on your eye.

Sometimes, small dust particles trapped behind the lens during its placement can cause discomfort. To remove dust, slide the lens off and then back onto your cornea.

Insert left lens following the same procedure.

Slide lens down

Remove lens

Removing your lens

Wash and dry your hands. Close drain.

Make sure your lens is centred.

Looking up, pull down your lower eyelid with the middle finger of your inserting hand.

Bring your index finger close to your eye until you touch the lower edge of the lens.

Slide the lens down to the lower white part of your eye.

Gently squeeze the lens between your thumb and index finger and remove it from your eye.

Follow the lens care procedures recommended by your eye-care professional.

Remove left lens following same procedure.

Dude...sounded so easy....
I tried 3 times...The first time, I blinked even before the lense is remotely in place; it dropped out. The second time, same thing happened...ditto for the third time.
Fine...I have patience and I'll keep on trying....so I tried to overturn the lense to see how it's shape like in the wrong side...turned back and....f*** it....it actually broke! Guess like I need to wait one more week before I can get another lense for my right eye.

Any contact lens users here with advices for me? My eyes blinks naturally when I try to insert the lens and I am afraid of not letting it blink. Either I am too nervous or that my grip of my upper lid lead isn't strong enought. And also,how to avoid breaking the damn thing...(I think it was because I just cutted my fingernails). I have tried a few more times for my left eye but to no avail....I guess I'll try again tonight. Wish me luck, please. :)

-gAvIn-

2006-05-16T17:24:00.000+02:00

Artist: Sarah McLachlan

Song: In The Arms Of An Angel

Spend all your time waiting for that second chance
For the break that will make it ok
There's always some reason to feel not good enough
And it's hard at the end of the day
I need some distraction oh beautiful release
Memories seep from my veins
They may be empty and weightless and maybe
I'll find some peace tonight

In the arms of an Angel fly away from here
From this dark, cold hotel room, and the endlessness that you fear
You are pulled from the wreckage of your silent reverie
You're in the arms of an Angel; may you find some comfort here

So tired of the straight line, and everywhere you turn
There's vultures and thieves at your back
The storm keeps on twisting, you keep on building the lies
That you make up for all that you lack
It don't make no difference, escaping one last time
It's easier to believe
In this sweet madness, oh this glorious sadness
That brings me to my knees

In the arms of an Angel far away from here
From this dark, cold hotel room, and the endlessness that you fear
You are pulled from the wreckage of your silent reverie
In the arms of an Angel; may you find some comfort here

You're in the arms of an Angel; may you find some comfort here

in the jiwang mood... hahaha... enjoy...

-aDRiANo-

2006-05-13T23:12:00.000+02:00

Mai 13 1969 Racial riots in Malaysia

Today marks the anniversary of the darkest day in my country's history. To know more about the incident, see Adrian's post below. What saddens me is that even today, from what I see in various blogs, people would think that the malays and the chineses are still waging war with each other. Don't believe me? Visit http://www.bakrimusa.com/ or http://blog.limkitsiang.com/ and take a look at the comments section by some (albeit a minority) readers of their blog.

Allow me to speak my mind: Racial segregation is very real in Malaysia. For example, I studied in a chinese school before coming here. My school is called an independent high school as it does not receive any financial aid from the government (because the government do not support chinese as a medium of education, we don't have the same syllabus and that does not promote unity among races etc etc). To make things short, 99% of the students in my school are chinese and I think 90% of us don't have any malay friends. (I was one of them) And I have to admit that quite a number of them are actually racists. Was it their fault? I don't really blame them....how can you appreciate and love someone without actually knowing them? I propose that our schools advertise in malay newspapers and increase the number of malay students studying there. With the advent of China as a world economic superpower, I think that there will be an increasing number of malay parents who will appreciate their children learning mandarin.

Back to the point, it is saddening that even today, our history textbook records little of the actual cause and effect of the May 13 racial riots. Excuse me for saying this, but the authors of our history book, all malays, are quite happy to devote half of the book to Islamic history and civilization. While it is true that Islamic history is very important and their civilization had given mankind some of our most important discoveries, half of book is too much and we lacked other aspects of world history. Our politicians likes to use May 13 as a tool to provoke fear among races (for example: Be careful of what you say, say the wrong things and may 13 will happen again, and I am sure you don't want it to happen), instead of respecting it and try not to repeat history. I want to request forgiveness for those who are offended reading this, I apologize if I have not been sensitive enough but I think racial relations should be something that is open and discussable. I blame the chineses as much as the malays for letting all this happened. Don't get me wrong though, we malaysians still live in harmony and peace and things are not as bad as I sounded :) PS: I personally likes malay cuisine more than chinese one, my family would attest to that.

Anyway, May 13 was bad. It brought out the uglier side of Malaysians. But May 13 also showed us that Malaysians can be compassionate, tolerant and understanding when the situation demands so. Below is a heart warming tale told by Raja Petra Kamarudin of an incident that happended during may 13:

My late father, Raja Kamarudin bin Raja Sir Tun Uda, was a director of Lever Brothers (now called Unilever) during the May 13 era. One of his Chinese managers lived in Jalan Raja Abdullah (yes, THE Raja Abdullah, partner of Yap Ah Loy) in Kampong Baru, the epicenter of May 13. And his family was at home that afternoon of 13 May 1969.

When the Malay residents of Jalan Raja Abdullah heard that trouble had erupted along Jalan Raja Muda, they quickly ‘smuggled’ their Chinese neighbours into their homes. When some Malays started going house-to-house searching for Chinese, the Malays dressed the Chinese in Baju Melayu (Malay costume) and brought them over to the Kampong Baru Mosque -- which by then had become a sort of refugee centre for all those stranded in Kampong Baru due to the curfew that had been imposed. No one could enter or leave Kampong Baru so the mosque was the safest place of refuge.

In the meantime, the Chinese manager was stranded in Lever Brothers’ office in Jalan Bangsar. He could not go home because of the curfew. Anyway, to go home would have been suicide because Kampong Baru and the areas surrounding it saw some of the worst racial skirmishes. The manager phoned the police who went over to his Jalan Raja Abdullah home and found the house burnt to the ground and the family missing. He assumed they had all been killed. The distraught manager did not know they were safe in the Kampong Baru Mosque dressed as Malays. Imagine his relief when many days later he found his family alive thanks to his Malay neighbours.

In Pasar Borong, an all-Chinese wholesale market (then along Jalan Ipoh behind the old Tabung Haji headquarters) it was the other way around. There was this lone Malay trader who was stranded there when trouble broke out. The Chinese traders at the market hid the Malay in some fish boxes, safe from the marauding Chinese who were looking for Malays to kill -- just like what the Malays in Kampong Baru were doing.

He had to suffer the stench for a couple of days but the Chinese kept him alive until it was safe for him to emerge from his hiding place and go home to his family who had given him up for dead.

These are but two though by no means the only ‘good’ stories of May 13. Taman Seputeh was then (and still is, I think) a mixed Malay-Chinese neighbourhood. The residents got together to form a guard unit (equivalent to the Rukun Tetangga before the word was even invented) to patrol the area. When any armed Malays came to the neighbourhood, the Malay residents would go face them to negotiate safe passage for the Chinese and if any armed Chinese came instead, then the Chinese residents would reciprocate. Taman Seputeh saw no bloodshed the entire period.

-gAvIn-

2006-05-13T22:14:00.000+02:00

May 13th incident

Well i'm pretty sure that most of u would noe what today signifies; 14 May, Mother's Day of course!!! Well at least in Malaysia and a number of other countries...

Mother's Day, be it a day of joy and happiness and respect and reflection for mothers all around the world...

Mother's Day, be it a day for greeting card companies, and florists and giftshops to double their revenue...

Mother's Day, be it a day to hide the bleak events that happened just a day before, exactly 37 years ago... That's right, while most of u noe that 14 May represents Mother's Day, what most of u would not noe is that May 13th (yesterday) marks the anniversary of a bleak event that scars Malaysian history... a bleak event in 1969 that most of us have forgotten or worse still, most of us do not noe of...

What has come to be known as the May 13th incident was the worst racial riots to have been recorded in Malaysian history, a riot that would cost around 190 lives...

Some history lesson... on May 10th 1969, the Alliance Party lead by the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) suffered an upset in the elections to the DAP and GERAKAN (mostly chinese) and the former secured a permit for a procession... a procession that would be the spark of the racial riots... the DAP and GERAKAN drifted off course from the initial procession route and entered into a malay district where they shouted 'anti-malay' slogans and started jeering at the inhabitants.... though an apology was issued the day after, UMNO went on with a counter procession in which they received information that malays had been attacked by the chinese community and imediately retaliated by killing two passing chinese motorcyclists...

Now, who was to be blamed? was it the chinese community that shouted "Semua Melayu kasi habis"? or was it the malay community that did no better by reacting violently? the answer... it doesn't matter who is to be blamed... what matters now is that today, only a minor 37 years later, despite minor racial 'sentiments', we Malaysians have found a way to get along well with one another... We have found a way to work together, to thrive together... and that has made all the difference...

What is surprising is the fact that most of our youth of today noe not much about the May 13th incident... what is more surprising is that this particular event, with the magnitude it held and still holds occupies only a small mention in our history books... are we tryin to make them forget how vulnerable we once were and how much progress we've made in such little time? isn't it only thru history that we improve and learn from our mistakes?

i have used the limited information i could find in the process of writing this article and cannot be held responsible for any misleading facts...

-aDRiANo-

2006-05-09T22:15:00.000+02:00

estrogen supplements x 15 years = higer risk of breast cancer!!!

"Women who take estrogen-only pills for at least 15 years run a markedly higher risk of developing breast cancer, according to a study of nearly 29,000 nurses. But no increased danger was found among those who took the hormone for less than 10 years."

taken from

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060508/ap_on_he_me/estrogen_breast_cancer

Hormone supplements like the estrogen pills mentioned above are mainly used to relieve postmenopausal sympstoms for example, hot flashes, vaginal dryness, and urinary problems and to lower the risk of brittle bones (osteoporosis).

At one time, estrogen supplements were also believed to lower the risk of heart attacks and other heart related problems in women. That however has been proven to not be the case as the following states...

"Hormone supplements were once thought to help postmenopausal women postpone age-related ills. But the government's Women's Health Initiative study in 2002 contradicted those beliefs for estrogen-progestin supplements, finding an increased risk of breast cancer, strokes and heart attacks. That led millions of American women to stop taking supplements."

taken from

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060508/ap_on_he_me/estrogen_breast_cancer

for more information on this issue, please visit the following sites...

http://www.healthandage.com/default.cfm?curr_navi=02&curr_content=02&spr=en&framedef=1&curr_paramlist=healthandage;2692;2;haa_online_from;2;1;3;-;dsp_tooldetail

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/hot-flashes/HQ01409

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/medmaster/a601041.html

-aDRiANo-

2006-05-08T17:19:00.000+02:00

nuthin is impossible

XCUZEEEEEEEEE ME... in response to ur previous article... to be more precise, ur last line;

PS: Sorry la Adrian, since you're not born in the first 3 months, its abit hard for you to play alongside with Ronaldinho.

i happen to be born on the exact date as french football superstar Thierry Henry exactly a decade after he was born!!! and rumours are circulating (just rumours...) that maybe, just maybe this Arsenal's all-time leading scorer with over 200 goals, and "Golden Boot" (most goals scored) in 2002, 2004, 2005 and 2006 receiver will be transferring to Barcelona (where Ronaldhinho playz, after the World Cup!!!)

so ahem... it's a bit hard, but nuthin is impossible... hehehe...

a couple of interesting quotes found about Henry...

"Ronaldinho is a special player, but Thierry Henry is probably technically the most gifted footballer ever to play the beautiful game." - Zinedine Zidane

"Henry is a beautiful player and has got complete technique,I adore watching him. I respect him very much as a man and as a footballer. He reminds me of myself. - Ronaldinho

-aDRiANo-

2006-05-08T12:25:00.000+02:00

Anomaly in soccer

In an article written by STEPHEN J. DUBNER and STEVEN D. LEVITT ( auther of a very refreshing and inspiring economics book called the Freakonomics ) in the New York Times, a question was asked: Why were a big majority of football stars borned in the first 3 months of the year?

Quote:

If you were to examine the birth certificates of every soccer player in next month's World Cup tournament, you would most likely find a noteworthy quirk: elite soccer players are more likely to have been born in the earlier months of the year than in the later months. If you then examined the European national youth teams that feed the World Cup and professional ranks, you would find this quirk to be even more pronounced. On recent English teams, for instance, half of the elite teenage soccer players were born in January, February or March, with the other half spread out over the remaining 9 months. In Germany, 52 elite youth players were born in the first three months of the year, with just 4 players born in the last three.

What might account for this anomaly? Here are a few guesses: a) certain astrological signs confer superior soccer skills; b) winter-born babies tend to have higher oxygen capacity, which increases soccer stamina; c) soccer-mad parents are more likely to conceive children in springtime, at the annual peak of soccer mania; d) none of the above.

Anders Ericsson, a 58-year-old psychology professor at Florida State University had made some studies and concluded that what we normaly glorify as talent are simply overrated.

When it comes to choosing a life path, you should do what you love — because if you don't love it, you are unlikely to work hard enough to get very good. Most people naturally don't like to do things they aren't "good" at. So they often give up, telling themselves they simply don't possess the talent for math or skiing or the violin. But what they really lack is the desire to be good and to undertake the deliberate practice that would make them better.

I would tend to agree with what he said from my personal experience: When I was in Malaysia studying my maths, I have to admit that I got horrible results. I often told myself that maths was not my forte and that I would probably be better off giving up on it. For 6 long years, I hardly did any homework and unsurprisingly, I sucked at maths ;). In the past few months in France, I got the opportunity to repeat the maths that I have done in Malaysia, determined not to suck again for a second time, I took the time to at least do the homework our professor gave to us. And at the end of the day, I think I got some good results. Was it due to my talent in maths? No way, hard work played a much more important role.

For the conclusion of the question above:

Since youth sports are organized by age bracket, teams inevitably have a cutoff birth date. In the European youth soccer leagues, the cutoff date is Dec. 31. So when a coach is assessing two players in the same age bracket, one who happened to have been born in January and the other in December, the player born in January is likely to be bigger, stronger, more mature. Guess which player the coach is more likely to pick? He may be mistaking maturity for ability, but he is making his selection nonetheless. And once chosen, those January-born players are the ones who, year after year, receive the training, the deliberate practice and the feedback — to say nothing of the accompanying self-esteem — that will turn them into elites.

This may be bad news if you are a rabid soccer mom or dad whose child was born in the wrong month. But keep practicing: a child conceived on this Sunday in early May would probably be born by next February, giving you a considerably better chance of watching the 2030 World Cup from the family section

PS: Sorry la Adrian, since you're not born in the first 3 months, its abit hard for you to play alongside with Ronaldinho.

-gAvIn-