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

Jaguar mosaic and I

Yesterday was World Environment Day. It has been, every year, on the June 5th since its inception by the United Nations in 1972.

And again it passed, this time without even false promises.

According to a report by the Word Wide Fund for Nature, international funding for conservation is gradually decreasing.

At a time when the devastating effects of environmental damage are being felt further and wider than ever, governments, including the US, are considering cutting their financial support to the GEF by as much as 50 per cent.

In April 2006, WWF asked supporters to add their faces to create a photo mosaic making the picture of a jaguar. A huge version of the photo mosaic the size of a volley ball pitch was unveiled on 16 May in Berne, Switzerland. It comprised around 12,000 photos of WWF supporters from around the world. One of them was mine. Read The mosaic unveiled.



You can also view the online version here.

Tags: environment jaguar mosaic wwf