Malaysian election results - my comments

Quite a number of people have asked me why I haven't blogged about the recently concluded general elections in Malaysia. This may not be entirely true as I did blog about Jeff Ooi getting elected. Even though I blog about issues I am not happy with from time to time, I prefer to keep politics out of my blog.

That is also the reason I am among the few Malaysian bloggers who you will not see jumping around with joy with the recent results. As I mentioned before, I am really interested to see how it will all work out.

Will the DAP and PAS, two parties with almost totally opposite agendas, get along within the opposition coalition?

How will UMNO and other BN component parties respond to this?

What role is Anwar Ibrahim going to play in this whole drama?

I would definitely like to see the opposition parties fulfilling the promises they made - namely that of eliminating corruption, nepotism and cronysm in the states they control. They have to. Everyone is looking up to them now.

However, I am not sure they can actually do anything about the inflation and rising prices of goods, one of the reasons why a number of people voted for the opposition. This is a Worldwide phenomenon and people here in the UK are complaining about it as well. The already high fuel prices are set to increase even further.

So, I am adopting the "wait and see" policy.

Lets join the Earth Hour Movement

Just wanted to inform my readers about the Earth Hour movement. Join me and millions of other people around the World who will turn off their lights for an hour from 8 to 9 p.m. on March 29.

The movement was initated by WWF to highlight the need for action on global warming.

Blogger enters Malaysian parliament

Image source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/joi/9914840/

Jeff Ooi, Malayasia's most famous political blogger was voted into parliament in the recently concluded Malaysian general elections.

Standing under the opposition Democratic Action Party (DAP), Jeff Ooi won the Jelutong parliamentary seat with a 16,246 majority beating two other candidates.

One of the indications of the growing political clout of bloggers. I may be mistaken but I think he's the first blogger to get elected to a parliament in any country.

Didn't get the job

I was in the middle of class today when I received a call from the Unitemps office. I didn't get the job. It not something that you like to hear on your birthday but there you go.

Felt a bit down because I was extremely confident I would get the job. I was excited even though the job was only a part time and temporary, because I had done the research and felt that I could show them immediate results in just a couple of weeks.

The lady on the line was telling me that the choice had been extremely difficult and that they had a hard time deciding between me and another candidate. That was even more upsetting because then I start thinking that probably I didn't sell myself enough or that maybe I shouldn't have been too honest.

A simple "Sorry! You didn't get the position you applied for" email would have sufficed.

Anyway, that's life. You win some, you lose some.

What the British Really Mean

Received this forwarded email from a friend and wanted to share it with you guys because it's so true.

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It is well known that the British do not always say what they really mean. So, with the growing international nature of business, the definitions below may help people from other nations understand their British counterparts better.


♦ I hear what you say
What They Mean: I disagree and do not wish to discuss it any further

♦ With the greatest respect
What They Mean: I think you are a fool

♦ Not bad
What They Mean: Good or very good

♦ Quite good
What They Mean: A bit disappointing

♦ Perhaps you would like to think about…./it would be nice if….
What They Mean: This is an order. Do it or be prepared to justify yourself

♦ Oh, by the way/Incidentally
What They Mean: This is the primary purpose of our discussion

♦ Very interesting
What They Mean: I don’t agree/I don’t believe you

♦ Could we consider the options
What They Mean: I don’t like your idea

♦ I’ll bear it in mind
What They Mean: I will do nothing about it

♦ Perhaps you could give that some more thought
What They Mean: It is a bad idea. Don’t do it

♦ I’m sure it is my fault
What They Mean: It is your fault

♦ That is an original point of view/brave option to consider
What They Mean: You must be crazy

♦ You must come for dinner sometime
What They Mean: Not an invitation, just being polite

♦ Not entirely helpful
What They Mean: Completely useless

Thanks Christina.

A taxi ride

Yesterday evening I was attending a seminar on new digital media at the University of Warwick when I received a call from my wife. Our son had a really high temperature and we might have to send him to the drop-in clinic.

I didn't have the car and as a bus ride back would lake too long, decided to take a Taxi. Fortunately there were several parked besides the Rootes building.

The taxi was one of the new generation TX4 built by LTI vehicles based in Coventry. I just realised that it was my first time ever in one of these so called "London Taxis". Quite roomy and comfortable.

The taxi driver was polite and tried to make some small talk but I was not in the mood and he soon got the point I guess.

I don't know why but the journey (which is around 3.9 miles) felt like it took ages. I guess I was worried about my son. It cost me £12.80 for the journey. Though I love the idea of efficient public transport, blah blah blah, it is in situations like this that you makes you realise the advantages of having your own vehicle.

Found out that my son's temperature had gone down and we didn't have to send him to the clinic.

Peace Tag

I got tagged again, this time by Baizurah of Prozak Nation. Didn't really know what to write.

Rules:

1. If you get tagged or not (and want to play along), take some minutes to meditate about love and peace, pray for countries that are facing troubles, for those people you love and those you don’t.
2. Write a post with links to blogs that you think would like to participate
3. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme

Looking at the times we live in - with the fear of terrorism everywhere we go, wars in various corners of the Earth, hatred and mistrust, it is very easy to be pessimistic about the future our kids will inherit.

But we must not give up hope. Let's pray for peace and love on the Earth - not only for ourselves, or for our kids but for everyone. I hope for a future where people won't have to keep guns in their houses to protect themselves, where people won't have to blow themselves up for any issue, an end to never ending "an eye for an eye" cycle of violence and differences of language, skin colour, religion and region won't matter.

I tag anyone who's interested to further spread this message.