Concert of the year:
1. Digi All American Rejects live in Bkt Jalil
2. NTV7 live concert featuring Kelly Chan, Richie Ren
Movie of the year:
Missed too many movies this year. Seldom see me in the cinema.
Song of the year:
It's a Climb (Miley Cyrus), Paparazzi (Lady Gaga).
Hotel of the year:
M Hotel. I like.
Sunday, December 06, 2009
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Malaysia's 100 leading graduate employers 2008
*Tied position
Friday, May 01, 2009
Drinking US$5 cups of tea show you're a true postmodern Asian
My friend Andy told me he goes to Starbucks every day. I told him he was a coffee addict. He shook his head. "Actually, I can't stand the stuff," he whispered. "I order tea."
Andy is your typical modern Asian yuppie fashion victim, or what I prefer to call "an idiot." You may think that's harsh, but anyone who pays US$5 (HK$39) for a cup of tea - just to look good - deserves to be dissed.
But then I realized I was no different. I go to trendy Western restaurants, but sneak in a bottle of chili sauce to give the food a chance to bite back. (Warning: If you do this, DO NOT keep the chili sauce in your trouser pocket. Accidents can cause inflammation of the underpants, which can painfully damage your chance of fathering multitudes).
It's funny: the inhabitants of Asian cities look totally Westernized these days. Yet, scratch the surface and you find traditional Asians underneath.
So here is a list of Signs That You Are a Postmodern Asian.
If you haven't eaten rice at least once a day, you feel hungry. You have black hair, but think of it as dark brown. Many members of your family have politically incorrect nicknames, such as Fatty-Uncle. Your No1 guilty secret: you enjoy karaoke.
You have lived next door to someone for five years, but know nothing about them. Your older relatives still think that you have to shout into phones to make yourself heard. You drive a German car in your dreams, and a Toyota in real life. You think wearing a Rolex Oyster is a legal requirement for Asian businessmen.
You have Western pills in your medicine cabinet, but also strange smelling rocks, seeds and a bit of sliced deer antler. You have never even thought about paying full price for a DVD or CD. Your parents don't realize that there are other things you can study at university other than accounting, business, medicine, law and engineering. You have at least one friend whose first name is a noun, as in Diphtheria Chan.
You never realized that solitaire could be played without a computer. There are jars of dried leaves in the pantry of your family home. Your mobile phone has a different ring tone for your main spouse and your "minor" spouse.
You know more European designer labels than any of your European friends. You have no time for organized religion, but take the fung shui of your office seriously. You think there's nothing odd with an adult buying a Nintendo DS or a PSP for his or her own use.
You think of all software as freeware. Several of your friends use what they think are trendy, popular Western names, such as Winnie, Gilbert, and Fanny. You are amazed what your Western friends pay for designer Asian clothes that look like stuff in your grandmother's wardrobe. You have no interest in classical music, but were forced to do piano or violin all the way to grade eight.
All your Western friends think you are a whiz at maths. And lastly, you are reading this in a designer coffee shop - drinking a US$5 cup of tea.
Andy is your typical modern Asian yuppie fashion victim, or what I prefer to call "an idiot." You may think that's harsh, but anyone who pays US$5 (HK$39) for a cup of tea - just to look good - deserves to be dissed.
But then I realized I was no different. I go to trendy Western restaurants, but sneak in a bottle of chili sauce to give the food a chance to bite back. (Warning: If you do this, DO NOT keep the chili sauce in your trouser pocket. Accidents can cause inflammation of the underpants, which can painfully damage your chance of fathering multitudes).
It's funny: the inhabitants of Asian cities look totally Westernized these days. Yet, scratch the surface and you find traditional Asians underneath.
So here is a list of Signs That You Are a Postmodern Asian.
If you haven't eaten rice at least once a day, you feel hungry. You have black hair, but think of it as dark brown. Many members of your family have politically incorrect nicknames, such as Fatty-Uncle. Your No1 guilty secret: you enjoy karaoke.
You have lived next door to someone for five years, but know nothing about them. Your older relatives still think that you have to shout into phones to make yourself heard. You drive a German car in your dreams, and a Toyota in real life. You think wearing a Rolex Oyster is a legal requirement for Asian businessmen.
You have Western pills in your medicine cabinet, but also strange smelling rocks, seeds and a bit of sliced deer antler. You have never even thought about paying full price for a DVD or CD. Your parents don't realize that there are other things you can study at university other than accounting, business, medicine, law and engineering. You have at least one friend whose first name is a noun, as in Diphtheria Chan.
You never realized that solitaire could be played without a computer. There are jars of dried leaves in the pantry of your family home. Your mobile phone has a different ring tone for your main spouse and your "minor" spouse.
You know more European designer labels than any of your European friends. You have no time for organized religion, but take the fung shui of your office seriously. You think there's nothing odd with an adult buying a Nintendo DS or a PSP for his or her own use.
You think of all software as freeware. Several of your friends use what they think are trendy, popular Western names, such as Winnie, Gilbert, and Fanny. You are amazed what your Western friends pay for designer Asian clothes that look like stuff in your grandmother's wardrobe. You have no interest in classical music, but were forced to do piano or violin all the way to grade eight.
All your Western friends think you are a whiz at maths. And lastly, you are reading this in a designer coffee shop - drinking a US$5 cup of tea.
IRB servers overwhelmed
Done my 1st tax filing cum e-filing at 5am, 30 Apr.
Thursday April 30, 2009
By TEH ENG HOCK,KNG ZHENG GUAN and RACHEL LAU
PETALING JAYA: For the second year in a row, taxpayers filing their tax returns online at the last minute have caused the Inland Revenue Board’s (IRB) computer servers to jam up.
On a normal day, filing the returns online would only take a couple of minutes but the process took hours in the last few days as today’s deadline approached.
IRB has acknowledged the problem, and advised that the best time to access the e-Filing system is between 1am and 7am.
Last year, the servers were also jammed up in the last few days before the April 30 deadline.
Taxpayers crowding the IRB office in Kelana Jaya yesterday as the deadline for filing their tax returns nears. - GLENN GUAN / The Star
About 1.2 million people - almost half of the 2.5 million taxpayers in the country - used the e-Filing system last year.
When the system was first introduced in 2006, only 187,000 taxpayers responded to online filing of taxes. The number grew by more than 350% in 2007, with 876,000 e-filers.
Counter services at the IRB headquarters in Jalan Duta, Kuala Lumpur, were extended to 10pm yesterday and will be extended until midnight today. More than 70 computers have been set up at the headquarters to assist taxpayers to file their taxes.
At 8am, there was already a growing crowd at the Shah Alam office while at noon the Kelana Jaya office was packed.
Kelana Jaya IRB public relations officer Noorhaya Ibrahim said there was an average of 3,000 people daily for the past week and the crowd had doubled in the last two days.
Thursday April 30, 2009
By TEH ENG HOCK,KNG ZHENG GUAN and RACHEL LAU
PETALING JAYA: For the second year in a row, taxpayers filing their tax returns online at the last minute have caused the Inland Revenue Board’s (IRB) computer servers to jam up.
On a normal day, filing the returns online would only take a couple of minutes but the process took hours in the last few days as today’s deadline approached.
IRB has acknowledged the problem, and advised that the best time to access the e-Filing system is between 1am and 7am.
Last year, the servers were also jammed up in the last few days before the April 30 deadline.
Taxpayers crowding the IRB office in Kelana Jaya yesterday as the deadline for filing their tax returns nears. - GLENN GUAN / The Star
About 1.2 million people - almost half of the 2.5 million taxpayers in the country - used the e-Filing system last year.
When the system was first introduced in 2006, only 187,000 taxpayers responded to online filing of taxes. The number grew by more than 350% in 2007, with 876,000 e-filers.
Counter services at the IRB headquarters in Jalan Duta, Kuala Lumpur, were extended to 10pm yesterday and will be extended until midnight today. More than 70 computers have been set up at the headquarters to assist taxpayers to file their taxes.
At 8am, there was already a growing crowd at the Shah Alam office while at noon the Kelana Jaya office was packed.
Kelana Jaya IRB public relations officer Noorhaya Ibrahim said there was an average of 3,000 people daily for the past week and the crowd had doubled in the last two days.
Saturday, March 07, 2009
Motorcycles help keep you young
Mental condition can be improved by using motorbikes to commute, says software expert. -AFP
Thu, Mar 05, 2009
TOKYO - Riding motorcycles helps keep drivers young by invigorating their brains, the scientist behind popular "Brain Training" computer software said Wednesday, citing a new scientific study.
"The driver's brain gets activated by riding motorbikes" in part because it requires heightened alertness, Ryuta Kawashima said after his research team and Yamaha Motor conducted a string of experiments involving middle-aged men.
"In a convenient and easy environment, the human mind and body get used to setting the hurdle low," he warned.
"Our final conclusion is that riding motorcycles can lead to smart ageing."
Kawashima is the designer of "Brain Training" software, which incorporates quizzes and other games and is available on the Nintendo DS game console under the name "Brain Age" in North America.
A self-professed motorcycle fan, 49-year-old Kawashima cited a new study conducted jointly by Yamaha and Tohoku University, for which he works.
One experiment involved 22 men, all in their 40s and 50s, who held motorcycle licences but had not taken a ride for at least a decade.
They were randomly split into two groups -- one asked to resume riding motorcycles in everyday life for two months, and another that kept using bicycles or cars.
"The group that rode motorbikes posted higher marks in cognitive function tests," Kawashima said.
In one test, which required the men to remember a set of numbers in reverse order, the riders' scores jumped by more than 50 percent in two months, while the non-riders' marks deteriorated slightly, he said.
The riders also said they made fewer mistakes at work and felt happier.
"Mental care is a very big issue in modern society," said Kawashima. "I think we made an interesting stir here as data showed you can improve your mental condition simply by using motorbikes to commute."
Thu, Mar 05, 2009
TOKYO - Riding motorcycles helps keep drivers young by invigorating their brains, the scientist behind popular "Brain Training" computer software said Wednesday, citing a new scientific study.
"The driver's brain gets activated by riding motorbikes" in part because it requires heightened alertness, Ryuta Kawashima said after his research team and Yamaha Motor conducted a string of experiments involving middle-aged men.
"In a convenient and easy environment, the human mind and body get used to setting the hurdle low," he warned.
"Our final conclusion is that riding motorcycles can lead to smart ageing."
Kawashima is the designer of "Brain Training" software, which incorporates quizzes and other games and is available on the Nintendo DS game console under the name "Brain Age" in North America.
A self-professed motorcycle fan, 49-year-old Kawashima cited a new study conducted jointly by Yamaha and Tohoku University, for which he works.
One experiment involved 22 men, all in their 40s and 50s, who held motorcycle licences but had not taken a ride for at least a decade.
They were randomly split into two groups -- one asked to resume riding motorcycles in everyday life for two months, and another that kept using bicycles or cars.
"The group that rode motorbikes posted higher marks in cognitive function tests," Kawashima said.
In one test, which required the men to remember a set of numbers in reverse order, the riders' scores jumped by more than 50 percent in two months, while the non-riders' marks deteriorated slightly, he said.
The riders also said they made fewer mistakes at work and felt happier.
"Mental care is a very big issue in modern society," said Kawashima. "I think we made an interesting stir here as data showed you can improve your mental condition simply by using motorbikes to commute."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
