7th Blog Anniversary

Today, I have been blogging for 7 long years and this is my oldest blog. I started blogging on the ah ok lah blog on the 8th of September 2003 and it has been an amazing journey.

I started blogging anonymously and late went public. I opened up my heart, shared my happy and sad moments, my anxieties and hope, made fun off, ranted and made friends all around the World.

I have been with Blogger all this while and though I did consider moving to Wordpress, I am glad I didn't.

Looking at the statistics, I can see that my most popular post is 'Freemasons in Malaysia' with 4,143 Pageviews and 42 comments. Check out some of my more popular posts and I realise that I actually write about anything under the Sun.

A big Thank You to all my visitors.

A cardboard box can be great fun

It's really funny when you spend loads of money to buy your kids the hottest toy in town and they only spend a few hours playing with it before they get bored with it.

They then find an old card board box and seem to be having more fun - the new toy lying under the sofa.

Ricoh Arena

The Ricoh Arena is just a couple of minutes drive from my house. It is the home of the Coventry City F.C. and has a stadium that seats 32,609 people. Japanese company Ricoh paid £10 million to get it's name on the stadium for 10 years. However, the stadium which will be one of the football venues during the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, will be known as the City of Coventry Stadium as sponsorship names are not allowed.

The first and only time I have been inside the stadium was when I attended the Academy of Marketing Conference 2010 last month which was held here. I quickly took some pics using the Nokia N900 before my presentation.








The Bryan Adams bar
This was taken using my Samsung Galaxy Portal and you can clearly see the difference in the picture quality.

Email from Margaret

I receive a lot of scam mails every day but this one caught my attention because of the picture they attached with the mail.

Margaret Steven
sender time Sent at 06:53 (UTC). Current time there: 22:48. ✆
reply-to margaretsteven22@hotmail.com
to Windows Live
date 24 August 2010 06:53
subject FW: Please Help!!
mailed-by hotmail.com

Dearest friend,
Am Margaret Steven from England, when i saw your Email contact on internet when searching, i decided to tell you about my situation, i have been diagnosed with cancer and i need your help in distributing my funds of $7.5M to charities. I contacted you because i strongly believe you are in a position to handle this project. Please get back to me soon if you will help me so that i can give you all the details on how to receive the fund without any delay.


Here is the picture of Margaret, that was attached with the email:

Classic Motorbikes

The Academy of Marketing conference 2010 had it's final dinner at the National Motorcycle Museum in Solihull. This was my first trip to this museum.

They have an amazing collection of classic motorbikes from different eras.

There were Triumphs, Nortons, Zeniths...

Wonder where all these British companies have gone.

My favourite pizza

Right now I am in the process of writing up my thesis and this means sitting in front of the pc most of the time. This means that I don't have much time to do most of the things I love - like blogging (the reason why this blog is not updated regularly), gardening (the lawn is is need mowing) let alone cook. My wife is in the same boat and she is writing up her thesis as well. We only cook for our son who needs a special diet and occasionally for ourselves. Thank God for Domino's Pizza which is just around the corner and of course the Internet.

Domino's became our favourite just because of the convenience and as for my favourite pizza - nothing fancy, the Original Cheese and Tomato. They also have subs and dessert as well. I am always on the lookout to save money and I usually go to the Voucher Hub - my favourite discount voucher site. They have online as well as printable voucher codes. The site updates vouchers available in the UK daily for high street stores such as Debenhams as well as online retailers like Littlewoods among others.

They have dominos discount codes as well and I always save some money every time I buy online by using their codes. All I have to do is click the discount code on the site and the code is automatically copid and I am taken to the site. One great deal I look forward to is Domino's special offer every Tuesday, where you get a pizza free for every one you buy. However, I sometimes get tired eating pizza and might go for a vege sub with a chocolate melt. Yummy!

Yes, you are right. All this rich food and lack of exercise means that I have been putting on some weight. But I am going to sign up with a gym once I submit my first draft and go on a strict heath regime.

Writing this is making my mouth water, and I think I will go down and grab the leftover from yesterday.

my son the photographer

My son loves taking pictures but with my supervision all the time because I was quite scared that he would damage the camera or something. However, I realised that I was telling him what to shoot and thought that it would be a good idea to let him take pictures of whatever he fancied. So I just gave him my digital camera and let him go.

I forgot all about it until I discovered the camera on the floor where he had discarded it - after he lost interest. It was in great shape and the lens was not even smudged.

I looked at the pictures that he had taken all around the house. Most of the pics were of himself - probably enjoying the flash. Some were of his mum and rest of things I would have never thought interesting topics - like coats hanging, behind the radiator, table legs and so on.

Here are some of the pics that came out clearly:










Next project: the garden at the back of our house.

Strawberries with cream

Enjoying the fresh organic strawberries from my garden. I am harvesting like a small bowl a day and wondering how long this will keep up.



My favourite recipe is to cut them into two pieces (after washing them of course). Sprinkle a little bit of brown sugar and pour a bit of cream in.

Tuck in.

Go for a customised t-shirt this summer

Now that summer's truly here, it's T-shirt time again. I am one of those guys who hoard stuff and I have some t-shirts which are more than 10 years old. I sill have a Stonehenge t-shirt that my then wife-to-be had brought back from the UK. Another one of my favourites is the old Firefox t-shirt which always seems to attract a lot of attention.

However, I guess it's time to get some new t-shirts and I have decided that this time there will be no famous brand t-shirts for me. I would like to go for something unique, something that's not available in the stores, a t-shirt that stand out and says that "I am unique".

What can be more unique than to have your own picture or design on your t-shirt. Now there are a number of sites online where you can have them printed out on a t-shirt. And if you are the entrepreneurial type, you can even set up a store. Just take a look at some of the customized tshirts on Cafepress. As a long time user, I am quite satisfied with their services. You do not have to worry about payment or delivery. All you have to do is upload your designs and select the apparel you want your designs on.

I just came across a page that lists all the fan created Eclipse apparel and I am thinking of getting her a t-shirt before the movie comes out. As a Twilight fan who's eagerly looking forward to the movie, I am sure she will appreciate it. One of the designs I found quite interesting are the Edward/ Jacob loves Bella t-shirts. You can personalise the design by cutting out Bella's name and putting up your own name.

You can also check out the fabulous designs on the T-Critic blog as well. Some of the designs are really amazing - would be like wearing a work of art. I won't be seen wearing some of the others but I am sure you will find one you like.

Read 'The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner' for free online

Looks like Stephanie Meyer's latest book in the Twilight series "The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner" is going to be another best seller. She's literally milking the cow while she can.

Anyway, as a gift to her fans, you can read the story for free online till midnight EST on July 5th. Thanks Stephanie.

I told my wife but she plans to buy the novella anyway.

Buy "The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner" on Amazon.com $7.54

Speak up for the oppressed people

You might have read one version of this poem by Pastor Martin Niemoller. Various versions that exist around the world have added or substituted one oppressed group of people or the other. I really like this poem because it reminds us to speak up against oppression, even when you are not the target.

While discussing about recent developments in Europe, a friend who sees a rise in anti-Islamic rhetoric everywhere, commented that we should probably have one version with "Muslims" as well.

"First they came for the Jews.
But I didn't speak up because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for the communists.
But I didn't speak up because I was not a communist.

Then they came for the trade unionists.
But I didn't speak up because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Catholics.
But I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant.

Then they came for me.
And by that time no one was left to speak up."

Free books

Quite recently I received an unexpected gift, or should I say gifts - four great books for free. These were books we had reviewed as part of the initial judging panels of the Inaugural 2009 Warwick Prize for Writing. Of the four, three were actually in the long list, namely, Glister (fiction) by John Burnside, Planet of Slums by Mike Davies and Brasyl (Sci-fi/ fiction) by Ian McDonald. I particularly liked Brasyl.

The one that didn't make it is 'Dry Store Room No. 1: The Secret Life of the Natural History Museum' by Richard Fortey which is kind of interesting in a way.

Naomi Klein ultimately took the prize for her book 'The Shock Doctrine' (I have her signed book as well).

These books should keep me occupied for a while.  Looking forward to the books they have short-listed for next year's prize.

Get professionals to review your CV for free

Right now I am in the process of writing up my PhD thesis and I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. I have also started applying for jobs at different Universities. I have no idea why but ads for most academic jobs in the UK come out around this time with successful candidates starting work around the end of September- early October. You miss the boat this year and you have to wait for the next round next year.

So far, I haven't had even one interview, meaning that I had not been able to get through the first round of screenings. I had been expecting it as I still haven't got my PhD and due to the fact that I am from outside the EU. Getting a job here in the UK for non-EU people has become really hard, almost impossible.

Recently I attended this seminar for those interested in an academic career and I showed my CV to one of the experts. The lady who had a look at it made some suggestion but overall she was quite impressed with it. If it had not I would have been very disappointed.

Even though my English language skills are quite good, if I may say so myself, I feel that I need professionals who have experience in evaluating CVs to have a look at mine. This is because often, it is the CV that decides whether you get to the interview sessions.

I actually paid to get my CV and reference letter checked at this site called the CV Centre. They really did a good job and when I was not entirely happy with the first draft, they actually incorporated my comments and sent the revised version to me the same day itself.

Right now they are currently offering completely free CV reviews to potential new customers. Do take advantage of this offer as it is for a limited time only.

Fundraising Made Easy

I am a member of a student society at my University and a couple of months back we organised an event whereby we invited some consultants to come over and talk to the students. At our first committee meeting, the members came up with a number of great ideas. Unfortunately most were shot down due to one main factor - the lack of funds. The funds allocated to us seemed quite a lot but when we broke down the expenses involved including the refreshments (very important), the funds suddenly seemed like pocket change. This made me realise the importance of having a fundraiser before we organise any event to make sure that we are not limited by funds.

In the end, we did organise the event successfully but I was not really satisfied with the student turnout and the way the event was managed. It could have been much better had we started working on the event much earlier and more importantly, had we had more funding. This made me think of various ways to raise funds for the next event.

It seems so easy but from experience I know it's easier said than done. How do you convince people to part with their hard earned money?

The Fast Track Fundraising site has so many ideas and tips to make your fundraiser easy. One of the ways I use to evaluate a service is by looking at the customer testimonials and reviews. Frankly I am quite impressed by their track record. Quite recently one guy actually raised $4,030.40 with a Lollipops fundraiser while another raised $3,000.00 with a dinner and movie card fundraiser. There are so many other fundraising products listed on the site. They have been featured in Forbes, CNBC, and SmartMoney. What I found quite surprising was the fact that they don't take any money upfront and provides 100% free shipping for their products. The company uses the MacAfee secure system and gurantees 100% safe fundraising. Another great feature was the fundraising thermometer which allows you to track and display your fundraising goal online. All you have to do is note your fundraising goal and the money you have raised so far. Just clicking a button will generate a code which you can then put on your site.
So if you are thinking of doing your own fundraising for an event, or for some charity or it may even be for a school trip, do drop by the Fast Track Fundraising site.

Visit to Ash End House Childrens Farm

Sometime back, my son had a school trip to Ash End House Childrens Farm in Tamworth and I accompanied him. We both had a few firsts. Here are some pics:


Feeding ducks for the first time in my life


Giving milk to a calf .... for the first time in my life again




Both of us feeding the goats
My son was initially quite scared but in the end he was really into it.


The Boy Who Stare at Goats

St George was Palestinian

23 April was St. George's day and my daughter came home with loads of pictures of crosses and questions about St. George. I only told her what I knew - the legend of him killing a dragon and rescuing a princess. I also know that he is the patron Saint of England and that his emblem, a red cross on a white background, is the flag of England but nothing more than that. Being curious, I went over to the best source of information on the web - Wikipedia.

The racist BNP extensively uses the St George's Cross in it's campaigns and I actually thought that it was their symbol. It's not.

Boris Johnson, the mayor of London recently called for Londoners to reclaim the "St George flag from the BNP". I do realise that a lot of BNP supporters display the flag in their cars and windows.

Anyway, I was quite surprised to learn that according to historians, the real St. George was actually born in Lydda, Palestine (now Lod in Israel) and he never actually came to the British Isles. Wonder how many people know about the actual origins of St. George?

David Attenborough's season on Eden

With a career spanning nearly 50 years, Sir. David Attenborough is one of the World's greatest naturalist film-maker.

To celebrate their David Attenborough season, Eden (Sky channel 532 and Virgin TV channel 208) is now featuring a number of natural history programming, including some of Sir David's greatest works. They are also running a competition where you have to guess what Sir David is describing in a short video clip for a chance to win an Olympus digital camera.

This is the fourth and last week and the last chance to win the Olympus TOUGH 3000 digital camera. Go over to the Eden contest page to take part.

Before you send in your answers you might want to take a look at the clip here:



Visit Sir David Attenborough's BBC website.

Thanks for the info Sophie.

The demographic segment that politicians in the UK forgot

Had a few reactions to my previous post "Blame the foreigners" but mostly offline. Some agreed with me while others felt that as foreigners, it was not our concern. I have to disagree because as long as we stay here, whatever decisions the Government makes, does affect us.

Some new regulations introduced since we first arrived has already had an impact. Among the new regulations that affect us directly, includes the stricter requirements for visa renewals along with the required minimum amount of money in our bank accounts for each family member when we renew our visas even though we are in our final stages of our study, the introductions of identity cards and the new points system.

As I pay tax on what little I earn, I feel that I have the right to decide how that money will be put to use. More so considering the fact that we are not eligible to receive any benefits from the council.

Also a lot of people (including some politicians I think) are not aware that since 1949, citizens of Commonwealth countries are eligible to vote in the UK .  We are the demographic segment that everyone forgot about but with the potential to make a huge difference.

In Coventry alone there are a few hundred potential voters but have been largely ignored by all political parties. And as we know elections can be won or lost by a single vote.

Blame the foreigners

If you examine recent history, you will notice that whenever there's some crisis in any country, the foreigners are inevitably used as the boogeyman most often than not. I guess they are easiest and most convinient target to place the blame on. This has happened in India, in Malaysia and now in the UK as well.

It has probably been shimmering below the surface for some time but it has just come out into the open now. Or should I say forced into the open after the BNP made immigration THE issue (they always have) and suddenly they got an audience. Now the Conservatives and Labour both acknowledges that it is an issue of concern in the UK as well. Now foreigners are blamed for almost every problem ranging from unemployment, crowded school places, housing issues, NHS problems, crime and maybe the banking and financial crisis as well. It sounds ridiculous until you realise that a large number of people do really believe that foreigners are the cause of all these problems in the UK.

Who are the foreigners?

I am not really sure what people mean by "foreigners". I assume they mean everyone from outside the UK but talking to people and reading comments on articles, realise that there is a wide range of views. Officially, the term refers to people from outside the EU. They also lump those who are here legally and illegally along with the asylum seekers.

Moreover, reading comments on any article on immigration, you can see that a lot of people actually mean "South Asian and African". Though a lot of people don't admit it but clearly colour of skin and country of origin, is an issue. Hardly anyone talks about Americans, Eastern Europeans, Australians, etc. And if you read all the comments you will find at least one or two comments talking about the rise of Muslim population in the UK.

From time to time, the authorities do try to correct the picture but they are not really doing a good job.There is a need to clear some of the misconceptions.

So are foreigners really taking away the jobs of locals (read EU)?

I seriously doubt it. I know personally how tough it is to get a job here in the UK. You won't get a job unless you are really good and there's no local to fill the job. Of course there are those unscrupulous employers who employ foreigners because they can get away with paying minimum wages (sometimes less) and a lot more. Citizens from other EU countries can travel and work freely here in the UK without the need for any visa and vise-versa of course.  

Many foreigners are students
A large proportion of the non-EU foreigners entering the UK legally are actually students. They pay almost three times as much as the students from the EU countries and I do believe that the education Industry is one of the largest foreign exchange earners for the country regardless of economic climate. Like the US, British universities have been able to attract the brightest brains from all around the World (some countries like India and Malaysia is trying to reverse this brain drain to varying levels of success).

Students are allowed to work part time for a few hours every week (one of the attractions of working in the UK) but the jobs include waiting staff, translators, cleaners and the like if you get what I mean. I was fortunate to get a job as a web developer and later as a part time teacher in the University of Warwick but as I mentioned earlier, depends on your capability and if there's no local around to fill the post. Some students do eventually settle down here and contribute to the intellectual capital and economy of the country (I mean most end up paying taxes and not on the dole). But it getting much tougher after the Government introduced the points system (copied from the Australians?)

Foreigners protecting local jobs
Actually foreigners have created jobs by rescuing or taking over failing British businesses. Talking about failing British companies, they are the main cause of unemployment not foreigners but many don't see it that way. I guess they need to blame someone and the global economy is too vague to blame. Thank God for the welfare state here or there would have been serious problems. The economy is improving but the country is not really fully out of it yet. Hopefully people would be less negative once businesses start thriving and unemployment starts falling.

Anyway, I recall that a number of people here were unhappy when Malaysian car company Proton took over Lotus but I hope they now realise that Proton actually rescued Lotus and saved British jobs in Norfolk. They have recently brought back the British marque back into the Formula 1 with a little help from the Malaysian Govt. There were a lot of snide remarks as well when Tata of India took over Jaguar and Land Rover. With minimum job cuts, they actually made a profit - something Ford had been unable to do in the past. Jaguar Land Rover announced a net profit of £55m (US$140.7 million) end of last year. There are more examples.

Some unsolved issues
I am not saying that there is no immigration issue because there is. The hundreds of illegal immigrants waiting in France to cross over across the channel is an indicator of the problem. For every one caught I am sure a few get through and they are here somewhere. Another issue is that of the asylum seekers. I recently read an article about how many of them (several with families) were left in limbo for several years, unable to work and no certainty about the future. The Govt. definitely needs to look at these issues.

What I hope is that people here would realise that foreigners are not really the source of the problems.

Lush soaps and inspirational words

My wife is a big fan of Lush soaps and we were running low on our stock of bath bombs and soaps. This Monday, on our day out at Coventry city centre with our daughter who's having her Easter break, we took the opportunity to drop by the Lush shop at the Lower Precinct.

For your information, Lush was started by husband and wife Mark and Mo Constantine, who originally supplied cosmetics to Bodyshop. Their handmade soaps are really popular and they now have more than 600 stores in 43 countries. What we like about the company is that they are totally against animal testing, are hand made and they support a number of ethical issues.

After we got back home I was reading what was written on their shopping bag. I am not sure how many of you do that but as a marketing student, I love reading stuff written on packaging. Anyway, I really liked the part about

"We believe that our products are good value, that we should make a profit and that the customer is always right."

And I do believe them.