Shilpa is Celebrity big brother winner

Images from the Official Celebrity Big Brother website.

Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty has just won the "Celebrity Big Brother" UK reality show. She received 67% of the final votes and she deserved to win.

The 31 years old, beat 13 other contestants. My wife was rooting for Jermaine Jackson, older brother of Michael Jackson. She actually voted 3 times for him. I really admire him too - he has this rare positive aura that only certain spiritual people have and he had a calming effect on the other housemates. He came out second followed by actor Dirk Benedict.

It may be a coincidence, but both Shilpa and Jermaine don't consume alcohol as compared to others who were drowning in it whenever they got the chance, leading to some very silly actions and comments.

The results is a clear indication that the British people are for racial equality. There are a few bad eggs but so do other countries. Come to think of it, I personally don't think that it was ever a racial issue. Rather it was a case of some insecure girls with a bad upbringing lashing out against someone who was more cultured and elegant than them.

Wise words from Jermaine:
- "Kindness is a strength"
- "you can't reason with stupidity"

Related posts:
- 2 celebrities evicted from CBB
- Jade evicted from CBB house
- International row over TV show

p.s. Many newspapers and websites have reported that Shilpa received 63% of the votes. My info (67%) comes from the official CBB website.

Tags: Celebrity Big Brother Channel 4 Jermaine Jackson Shilpa Shetty TV

Malaysian kids in the UK

Yesterday we went over to our friend Din's house for the Majlis Kesyukuran to celebrate the birth of his son. He's leaving the UK soon as his wife as already completed her PhD studies. They have been here for nearly 4 and a half years now.

As usual, most of the Malaysian families were there in full force with the kids. Most of the children were born or grew up here including two of Din's kids. It's quite funny because the parents would be talking in a mixture of Malay and Malaysian English with the occasional Lah! thrown in while the kids would reply with a British slang. Most of the kids can't even speak a single sentence in Malay.

I wonder how they are going to adjust to Malaysia and Malaysian schools when they get back. I remember a story one of our friends told us about her kid, who's very bright and talkative. He had a culture shock when they got back to Malaysia. Unlike in the UK where kids are taught to be inquisitive and to speak up in class, the Cikgu (teacher) actually fined him every time he said something in class.

Anyway, I was watching the kids (between 5 and 10 years) playing with the computer and they were searching for a song on YouTube. They finally found it and told me the singer is "Jojo".

I told them, "Sorry! I haven't heard of her."

And they gave me that "where are you from" look.

BTW, JoJo is the stage name of Joanna Noëlle Levesque, a popular American pop singer.

Already see a generation gap here.

Tags: Kids Jojo

2 celebrities evicted from CBB

Now for some UK entertainment gossip.

Yesterday, two of the Celebrity Big Brother housemates were evicted. Ex S Club 7 star Jo O'Meara and actress Cleo Rocos left the house in a double eviction. Jo received nearly 48% of the vote while Rocos got 28%.

Jo was part of the group that ganged up on Indian star Shilpa that blew up into an international row. Now she has to go and defend herself.

Cleo was doing well in the house until she suddenly made a fool out of herself, until it got quite painful to watch her.

My favourite in the show is Jermaine Jackson who now calls himself Muhammad Abdul Aziz, Michael Jackson's big brother. He's been the perfect gentleman and often offers good advise to the other housemates.

Shilpa Shetty is tipped to win the show.

I wasn't be surprised that Jack, the only non-celebrity in the house and Jade's boyfriend was among the finalists. By laying low profile, he's avoided offending or hurting anybody. In fact he's never been up for eviction.

BTW, for those who are not following the show (most Malaysians) Jade was recently booted out too.
Tags: Celebrity Big Brother Channel 4 Jade Goody TV

Singer Songwriter contest

I am sure all of your are familiar with various singing contests where contestants are judged by their ability to sing and perform. However, The Singer/Songwriter Awards is a contest with a difference. It is a song contest for performing songwriters. Yes! That means that contestants not only perform, but they also write their own songs as well.

The latest We Are Listening song contest winners for 2006 (Round 2) are Michael Logen with his song "Amazing", Debra Arlyn with "FIne" and KIFF with "How It Feels".

You can listen to the songs for FREE. I was a bit skeptical but surprisingly, they were great. I especially liked Michael's song. So go over there and vote for your favourite.

If you are an aspiring singer who also writes your own songs, you can also join in. The entry fee is only £15 or the foreign currency equivalent. You are welcome to join even if you live outside the UK. However, all songs must be in English.

Malaysian bloggers meme

Got tagged by Lilian, the (in)famous 5Xmom (just joking). I have to list down five of my favourite Malaysian bloggers. It's quite hard to choose because I visit a lot of Malaysian blogs everyday. Anyway, here are the top 5 (not in any particular order):

1. Chan Lilian - the lady who tagged me is also one of my idols. Her posts are humorous and witty - a great combination. However, may not be safe for kids. he he he. I learned a lot about making money from blogs, through her blogs. That's right, "Blogs". She actually has like 12 other blogs.

2. Kenny Sia - Arguably, Malaysia's most famous blogger. His blog receives like 15k visitors daily and that is amazing. Contrary to what some people say, he does write about serious stuff. Only he writes them in his own humorous way.

3. Lainie - Really creative lady. She write super duper long posts with numerous topics - it's crazy.

4. Azlynne - Another lady who write really long posts. Been a regular to her blog for quite sometime now - maybe because both of us like rock music and sci-fi.

5. Lucia Lai - Writes on some very serious/ controversial topics that I am worried that she might get into trouble with the authorities on day. She's one of my regular visitors (who leave comments ) too.

I am not going to tag anybody. Everyone is welcome to join in. Just leave a comment and I will add you name to a list below:
1. ?

Buying printer supplies online

Some time back one of my friends who worked for one of the biggest office Supplies retailer in Malaysia, was telling me how their e-commerce strategy had failed. They had spent more than a million ringgit (1 Malaysian ringgit = US$0.28 approx.) in developing a system that met with resistance from their customers. I guess they were a bit ahead of it's time in Malaysia where e-commerce hasn't taken of yet as compared to countries in the west.

I for one wouldn't mind buying a toner cartridge from Databazaar.com over the net.

Databazaar.com was ranked as the 5th largest online Office Supplies retailer in the US by by Internet Retailer in 2006. Their business model serves computer and printer supplies consumers in all three segments - B2C, B2B and Wholesale/Export.

With it's headquarters based in Miramar, Florida, it also has group companies in India and Hong Kong and sells to customers in more than 23 countries around the world. That's really impressive.

Their online store carries printer cartridges and toner from almost every brand and make of printer available.

They are also ranked 5 out of 5 by PriceSCAN.com. This is based among others on the fact that Databazaar.com allows customer to place orders online with SSL security. No phone call is required to complete order. Customers can monitor order status on vendor's website. They also receives tracking number so that delivery can be monitored via shipper (FedEx, UPS, etc.)

The company does not charge the Customer's credit card until order is shipped. Best of all, shipping is FREE on every order.

Check out the great deals at their site.

Sponsored

Not junk

Soon after we moved into our house we were really distressed because we need to buy among other things, a washing machine and a microwave. That meant a few hundred pounds.

One day we were out with the kids searching for a clinic who would accept us, when we passed by a second hand shop (some refer to them as junk shops).

We saw a few washing machines outside and went inside the store. It was amazing - the stuff they have in there. We couldn't imagine from the run down facade outside. In the end we bought a washing machine, microwave, vacuum cleaner, rubbish bin and a strange looking clock, which was hanging on the wall - all for £100/


I was checking on ebay recently and found a clock similar to ours listed there. The clock which we bought for only £3/ was being sold on ebay for £51/ It's a Metamec starburst/ sunburst wall clock from the 1960s. It's amazing that the clock is working perfectly even after all these years. Testament to British and German (the clock mechanism was made in Germany) craftsmanship and quality.

Never going to call a 2nd hand store a junk shop ever again.