Farhan singing the blues on AF4

Yesterday, some relatives came over to the house. There were a lot of people and we had a buffet nasi lemak lunch. It was delicious. Anyway, this post is not about the food.

Someone put on the TV and the Akademi Fantasia show was on.

I am so out of touch. This was the first show of this season that I watched. For those who didn't know, Akademi Fantasia is a Malaysian reality song competition, somewhat similar to the American Idol format.

Most of the performers were unimpressive. However, one lady made me stop eating and listen. Maybe I am biased because she was singing Gary Moore's Still Got The Blues. Gary was a hard rock/heavy metal musician in the 70's and 80's and later on crossed over to blues-rock. One of my all time fav. singers.


Still got the blues (1990)

Farhan (Nur Farhan bt Azizan) really did a good job and her vocals were really impressive.

However, I am not going to waste my money voting for her or anyone else. One thing I realise is that no lady is ever going to win in Akademi Fantasia. The reason: Majority of the voters are predominantly girls. And they are voting for "who looks the cutest" instead of "she has got talent".

* Added this video of Farhan singing the song on 22 Aug, 2006 due to requests from some of my guests. Enjoy.



Anyway, here are the lyrics for Still Got The Blues

Used to be so easy to give my heart away
But I found out the hard way
There's a price you have to pay
I found out that love was no friend of mine
I should have known time after time

So long, it was so long ago
But I've still got the blues for you

Used to be so easy to fall in love again
But I found out the hard way
It's a road that leads to pain
I found that love was more than just a game
You're playin' to win
But you lose just the same

So long, it was so long ago
But I've still got the blues for you

So many years since I've seen your face
Here in my heart, there's an empty space
Where you used to be

So long, it was so long ago
But I've still got the blues for you

Though the days come and go
There is one thing I know
I've still got the blues for you.

Watch this video and you will understand why I think Gary is one of the World's greatest guitarists.

So long, it was so long....



Related Links:
- Guitar chords
- Wikipedia

Tags: Akademi Fantasia Blues Gary Moore Music Rock

Ending up in a different sector

Some people are skeptical when they see that I have undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in forestry but am doing something totally unrelated to forests right now.

Yes! I received my forestry training somewhere in the Indian foothills of the Himalayas. Those were wonderful adventurous times and will always remain in my heart. So what happened, you ask?

Well! After spending nearly 7 years in and around the forest, I suddenly realized that it was not what I wanted to do all my life.

Anyway, this post is not about me. I was wondering whether the educational background of a person really matters. I ask this question because I see a lot of people doing things quite different from what they had been trained for and they are good at it.

For example, one of my friends trained as an accountant and ended up in the IT business. Another friend who’s a qualified medical doctor is now teaching tourism in a local university. My father’s colleague (and neighbour in Kelantan) was trained in atomic engineering but later on decided to become a medical doctor.

Of course we can’t forget Tony Fernandes, a former Warner Music executive and now Group Chief Executive Officer of AirAsia.

I don't think the basic educational degree really matter. What really matters in the end is whether you love what you do. If you love it, you will find ways to improve that knowledge. I am not boasting but I honestly feel that I know a lot more stuff relating to information comunications technology (ICT) than some of my friends with degrees in ICT, especially related to web techonology. No offense guys.

So what do you think?

Tags: AirAsia Education Forestry ICT

Creepy crawlies

I don't know why but all short of strange creepy crawlies seem to turn up either in or near my office. It may be due to the fact that our building is very near to a forest.

Among the many strange creatures I encountered near my office.

A beetle


A moth disguised as a leaf.

Yesterday I came across this, not your average, wall lizard. Found it just outside my door and thought that it was dead at first. Prodded it a bit but it still didn't run away even though the limbs moved a bit.

It was almost translucent in colour with pink dots and about about 20 cms (around 8 inches) long.

Can anyone identify the reptile?

Tags: Beetle Creepy Crawly Lizard Moth

Singapore the city of Sikhs

Had an interesting discussion with my friend yesterday about the meaning of Singh. My friend was under the impression that all guys with the name Singh in their names are Sikhs.

Actually, Singh is derived from the Sanskrit 'Simha' meaning 'Lion'. It was originally used in names by the ancient Hindu martial classes kshatriya of Northern India such as the Rajputs. FYI, the Malay term Satria is derived from kshatriya (also name of one of the Proton car models).

Sikhs only adopted the name "Singh" due to the wishes of Guru Gobind Singh, the last guru of the Sikhs in 1699.

Now you know why Singapore is called the "Lion city". It is made up of two Sanskrit words, Singa = Lion + Pura = city. It doesn't mean the city of Sikhs.

However, I have no idea why many Malaysians still refer to Sikhs as Bengali. Bengali are ethnic group of people from the state of West Bengal in India and Bangladesh whose mother tongue is Bengali. The great Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore was a Bengali.

Related posts: Malaysian-Indian identity

Tags: Kshatriya Rabindranath Tagore Sikh Singapore Singh

Tesco convert

A look around the house reveals that (without realising it) we have converted to Tesco.

I am talking about the some1,400 own brands of products and not other brands carried in their stores. These items are divided into three main categories, namely:
1. Tesco Value range
2. Tesco Choice range
3. Tesco UK Imported range

How did we get converted?

Its not difficult to explain. We love shoping at their Damansara outlet because it is near and also because of the wide choice of "low priced" products. The Bonuslink points are extra.

At first we were a bit worried about the quality of their own-brand products because we have always subscribed to the "pay peanuts, get monkeys" philosphy. However, we were taken aback after we tried a few items and discovered that the quality didn't differ much if not better as compared to more expensive brands. And as they say, the rest is history.

Now, some of the Tesco products we use everyday in the house: toothpaste, mouthwash, toilet cleaner, face tissue, hand washing liquid, dish washing liquid and anti-bacterial washing liquid for baby clothes.


In my Office: Disgestive biscuit, wet tissue wipes and mineral water.

I also carry a crate of mineral water and a pack of face tissue in my car. All from Tesco.

For your information, Tesco PLC is the largest British retailer, both by global sales and by domestic market share, and the fourth largest retailer in the world behind Wal-Mart of the United States, Carrefour of France, and The Home Depot of the United States (from Wikipedia).

Tesco Stores (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd was incepted on 29 Nov 2001, as a strategic alliance with Sime Darby Berhad (which holds 30% of total shares). It's first store was officially opened in May 2002 in Puchong.
Now they have 13 stores all over Malaysia.

Related posts:
- The Hypermarket Price Wars

Tags: hypermarket tesco

Naming consultant blog

One of my all time favourite blogs is not a personal or tech blog but the blog of a naming company.

"What the hell does naming company mean?", you might be wondering. Well read on...

Strategic Name Development Inc. is a company based in Minneapolis, US. It is involved in developing product and service names and their clients list includes several well known companies.Their blog which is updated almost daily carries naming/ branding case studies and related links.

BTW, one of their posts had a link to my Autolah post on the Proton Chancellor.

Their url should be a recommended bookmark for marketers and business students.

TAGS: Blogs Branding naming Proton

Jail those buggers

The recent disaster in Kampung Pasir, Hulu Klang buried four people and destroyed three blocks of longhouses (occupied by 232 people, mostly Indonesians).

No! I am not going to start blaming people or pass judgment nor am I going to try to analyse what went wrong.

As noted by Property Malaysia, 5 of the most biggest landslides in Malaysia occurred around the same area.

All 5 locations where within about 2km along the same stretch of Middle Ring Road II:
Dec 11, 1993 – Highland Towers
May 15, 1999 – Athanaeum Tower
Oct 5, 2000 – Bukit Antarabangsa
Nov 20, 2002 – Taman Hillview
May 31, 2006 – Kampung Pasir

Here are some of my suggestions:

1. STOP, I repeat stop any development (as in housing) in the area.

2. Make the river catchments protected natural reserves (which cannot be de-gazetted easily in the future) with minimal human interference.

3. Survey existing housing areas for weak points and rectify them.
For example, I read somewhere that the houses above the kampung where the landslide occurred don’t have a proper drainage system.

4. Start a massive afforestation programme in the area. Trees and plants are the best ways to prevent soil erosion.

5. Remove all illegal kampungs/ squatter settlements. Throw the owners/ developers in jail.
If the residents are illegal immigrants, deport them. If they are permanent residents (PR) or Malaysian citizens, give them low cost housing. If they refuse to leave – throw them in jail too.

Remembered a joke one of my friends told me - about Selangor becoming an Indonesian colony by the year 2020.

In a related news the Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid announced today that developers and consultants may go to prison if their projects damage the environment or trigger landslides and other disasters.

Related links:
- Excuses! Excuses! Excuses!
- Next time there’s a landslide...: Builders may go to prison

Tags: disaster environment Hulu Klang Landslide