Not much of a choice when u wann go for lunch in Putrajaya. I can count by fingers on the number choices available. When my friend from KL asked what good restaurants u have in Putrajaya. I found quite tough to answer him. He heard alot about Alamanda and thot that there are many good eating places over here. i told him in alamanda its mostly fast food and food court except for one or two restaurants such as penang village. We have the putrajaya clubhouse but the service is very slow and food not that fantastic either. Then we have the exclusive seafood restaurant by the lakeside its quite nice and the food is good but the price is high. Of course, you have other smaller Mamak and Malay restaurants.The newest one is the Chakra Indian restaurant.
I think Cyberjaya got a better choice from streetmal, padi and kopitiam, vege reastaurant as well as the clubhouse restaurant.
I think Putrajaya need more shopping malls and restaurants.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Mini budget is over- Main Budget is coming
We have just tabled the Mini Budget on 10 March 2009 and the debate is still going on in Parliament, supposed to be over by mid-April. Then the whole cycle begins again for the 2010 Budget. I'm still wondering what will be the focus. The global economic crisis is till not over yet and the impact on Malaysian economy is still very much yet to be over. Some says by the third quarter of 2009 everything will be ok. I doubt so. Even if things get better it will take sometimes to fully recover.
So what shall we do - Mr Saturday and Ms Sexy Mama any advice, ideas or views
So what shall we do - Mr Saturday and Ms Sexy Mama any advice, ideas or views
UMNO GENERAL ASSEMBLY - TIME FOR A CHANGE
In a few days time we will have new cabinet members and Najib leading the country. I really hope this is the time for a change. UMNO now, is at its weakest point since its establishment but it is still relevant to Malaysian politics. Only UMNO and Barisan can lead Malaysia to its glory. I sound like a staunch UMNO and Barisan supporter but I'm not. Like I said, i'm a thinker and analyst. But this is reality in Malaysian politics that no other party or coalition government can rule much better compared to UMNO and Barisan. I say so because of 2 reasons:
Firstly, UMNO and Barisan has come a long way in Malaysian politics. They have some good leaders and also young leaders from the Youth and Puteri wings. On the other hand, the oppositions dont have much choice. They may have Anwar, Lim Kit Siang and Nik Aziz, and other than this they don't have good and visionary leaders to lead the country.
Secondly, The coalition among Barisan parties has a long history and the bond is much stronger compared with the marriage of convenience among the Opposition parties. I for that matter, won't be surprised if suddenly they just break away among themselves. All the three parties Keadilan, DAP and PAS have different ideologies and cause for their political ambitions.
For this reasons, I personally feel Barisan is still a better choice. Only that UMNO the leading member of Barisan need to change. UMNO faces double challenge, it is currently at its weakest point and secondly the world economic crisis. UMNO has to change the leadership style and I Think Najib will do that. Bring in more professional and new blood as well as far visionary and creative people into UMNO. Dictatorship or Authoritarian style may have worked during Mahathir's regime but not now. On the other hand, we don't need a leader who listen to too many people like the out-going PM. With need a new breed, with open-mind, courage and strong personality to lead the country. A man who can bring change and bring back glory to Malaysia. I hope and pray... Najib is the Right Guy.
Firstly, UMNO and Barisan has come a long way in Malaysian politics. They have some good leaders and also young leaders from the Youth and Puteri wings. On the other hand, the oppositions dont have much choice. They may have Anwar, Lim Kit Siang and Nik Aziz, and other than this they don't have good and visionary leaders to lead the country.
Secondly, The coalition among Barisan parties has a long history and the bond is much stronger compared with the marriage of convenience among the Opposition parties. I for that matter, won't be surprised if suddenly they just break away among themselves. All the three parties Keadilan, DAP and PAS have different ideologies and cause for their political ambitions.
For this reasons, I personally feel Barisan is still a better choice. Only that UMNO the leading member of Barisan need to change. UMNO faces double challenge, it is currently at its weakest point and secondly the world economic crisis. UMNO has to change the leadership style and I Think Najib will do that. Bring in more professional and new blood as well as far visionary and creative people into UMNO. Dictatorship or Authoritarian style may have worked during Mahathir's regime but not now. On the other hand, we don't need a leader who listen to too many people like the out-going PM. With need a new breed, with open-mind, courage and strong personality to lead the country. A man who can bring change and bring back glory to Malaysia. I hope and pray... Najib is the Right Guy.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Is Life Complicated
In the last entry i was talking about life. This is a continuation i suppose. People say life is so complicated. Is it really so? or Are we the one who makes life become so complicated? Sometimes small things in our daily life we make it a big huh hah. The small things crop-up into a big problem and you will be crying loud to solve it. As a matter of fact, those small things that comes in our life often, we just ignore it and not try to make a big deal out of it. We have less hassle in our life and no high blood pressure problems.
There are people out there who likes to be busybody (jaga tepi kain org). Their job to just go around gathering information and spreading it all over. While they spread the news or gossip they add color to it, meaning to say they exaggerate things. This makes other peoples life miserable. What should we do with this kind of Virus.
As a good person we should be simple and ignore small problems. Life is full of problems. Life without problems is only after you die. Then again there will be other problems there - (punsihment, heaven and hell).
So in this life on the planet called Earth, be simple, try not to hurt other peoples feelings, see things positively and the most important thing be happy and enjoy your life while you are alive.
There are people out there who likes to be busybody (jaga tepi kain org). Their job to just go around gathering information and spreading it all over. While they spread the news or gossip they add color to it, meaning to say they exaggerate things. This makes other peoples life miserable. What should we do with this kind of Virus.
As a good person we should be simple and ignore small problems. Life is full of problems. Life without problems is only after you die. Then again there will be other problems there - (punsihment, heaven and hell).
So in this life on the planet called Earth, be simple, try not to hurt other peoples feelings, see things positively and the most important thing be happy and enjoy your life while you are alive.
Questions I asked myself at 2.00 am (22/3/2009)
What we want, we won’t get but what we don’t want, we will get. Sounds strange but that’s what life is all about. How we make best use of what we have, is what we will be experiencing throughout our life. Many of us are not satisfied with what we are going through. We will be cursing our life or even God for that matter. God becomes the target of our anger and frustrations. We will often be asking all sorts of questions. Questions which sometimes nobody could provide the right answer. Of course, some will attempt to answer but the answer provided is not satisfactory. Some even will use verses from holy Qur’an or Bible to answer the questions we ask.
What are these questions? What are we not clear about? Some of the questions often we ask either ourselves or even our friends and teachers are:
What is life all about?
Why do I have a family?
Why there is sometimes happiness and sometimes sadness?
Why should I die?
There are many more questions but I am only writing four of them here. I’m not trying to be smart by providing answers to the above questions. I’m not a ustaz or a priest or a psychologist. I’m a simple man who does lots of reading and thinking. May be my thoughts about these questions are not right. May be you all have a better answer. Let us try to answer these questions together.
Life is all about a journey from birth to death. The journey, where each of us has to travel and face all kinds of challenges. Whenever we overcome each challenge and we experience some kind of satisfaction in ourselves. This journey in this world is temporary which leads you to the permanent life after death. You will be judged how you travel in this journey. Whether you have done good or bad things.
Family is like a team or an organization. Teamwork is crucial in any undertakings. The journey we are traveling, we can’t do it alone, we need a team called family. Even in your daily office work you need to work in a team. Close cooperation among team members brings success to everyone in the team. However, if there is no cooperation, the team will face lots of problems. The team members will console each other during tough times and enjoy together during happy times.
Happiness and Sadness are like rough seas and calm seas. You will experience happiness if you manage your life properly. Sadness is not a punishment but on the other hand, it is the test on how you manage yourselves during difficult times. There will be ups and downs while you travel in this journey of life.
Death is something everybody has to go through at the last point in our journey of life. Death is the end of our life story. There must be an ending to all the beginnings. You cannot go on living in this world. If you go on living or become enduring, then there is no ending and we cannot call it a journey. In any journey there is ending or final destination. Some believe in life after death. They say that is the everlasting life. No more journey but eternity. There is heaven and hell. The journey which you have traveled will be weighed to see whether you entitle to enter heaven or hell.
What are these questions? What are we not clear about? Some of the questions often we ask either ourselves or even our friends and teachers are:
What is life all about?
Why do I have a family?
Why there is sometimes happiness and sometimes sadness?
Why should I die?
There are many more questions but I am only writing four of them here. I’m not trying to be smart by providing answers to the above questions. I’m not a ustaz or a priest or a psychologist. I’m a simple man who does lots of reading and thinking. May be my thoughts about these questions are not right. May be you all have a better answer. Let us try to answer these questions together.
Life is all about a journey from birth to death. The journey, where each of us has to travel and face all kinds of challenges. Whenever we overcome each challenge and we experience some kind of satisfaction in ourselves. This journey in this world is temporary which leads you to the permanent life after death. You will be judged how you travel in this journey. Whether you have done good or bad things.
Family is like a team or an organization. Teamwork is crucial in any undertakings. The journey we are traveling, we can’t do it alone, we need a team called family. Even in your daily office work you need to work in a team. Close cooperation among team members brings success to everyone in the team. However, if there is no cooperation, the team will face lots of problems. The team members will console each other during tough times and enjoy together during happy times.
Happiness and Sadness are like rough seas and calm seas. You will experience happiness if you manage your life properly. Sadness is not a punishment but on the other hand, it is the test on how you manage yourselves during difficult times. There will be ups and downs while you travel in this journey of life.
Death is something everybody has to go through at the last point in our journey of life. Death is the end of our life story. There must be an ending to all the beginnings. You cannot go on living in this world. If you go on living or become enduring, then there is no ending and we cannot call it a journey. In any journey there is ending or final destination. Some believe in life after death. They say that is the everlasting life. No more journey but eternity. There is heaven and hell. The journey which you have traveled will be weighed to see whether you entitle to enter heaven or hell.
The Era of Change – Breaking away from the trap
April First (may be April Fool) but it is also the beginning of a change in the Malaysian politics and may lead to a change in socio-politic environment and even a structural change in the economy. The prime minister in-waiting, Najib seems to be a dynamic guy with incredible ideas. He has his vision of moving Malaysia up to the next level but lots need to be done (especially change of mindset of politicians and civil servants)
Malaysia, for me has been so long trapped in this middle income group of countries. We are not moving upwards or downwards. We managed to change structurally from a rural and agriculture-based economy into an industrialized nation starting mid 80’s and into mid 90’s. However, moving forward we didn’t progress much. Though there are many plans which outlined the need to move-up the value chain into a knowledge-based economy, were are still trapped in all kind of problems. The production process still uses out-dated and labor intensive techniques.
We need to change. Not only the public sector but the private sector too. Malaysia is not like China, India or Vietnam, where labour is cheap and one can use old and polluting technologies. We have long passed this stage. Malaysia needs futuristic technologies and investment should go into new discoveries rather than buying on-the-shelf technologies. We are not short of scientists and discoveries, as can be seen by the number of new discoveries made by the local university professors. The number of medals they win yearly in international seminars and exhibitions. The only problem is transforming the research findings into commercially viable projects. We have MOSTI, we have science and techno funds but things are not moving. We need somebody or an entity which goes around to the universities and research institutions, undertaking efforts to commercialize the researches which are viable to be marketed.
Malaysia, for me has been so long trapped in this middle income group of countries. We are not moving upwards or downwards. We managed to change structurally from a rural and agriculture-based economy into an industrialized nation starting mid 80’s and into mid 90’s. However, moving forward we didn’t progress much. Though there are many plans which outlined the need to move-up the value chain into a knowledge-based economy, were are still trapped in all kind of problems. The production process still uses out-dated and labor intensive techniques.
We need to change. Not only the public sector but the private sector too. Malaysia is not like China, India or Vietnam, where labour is cheap and one can use old and polluting technologies. We have long passed this stage. Malaysia needs futuristic technologies and investment should go into new discoveries rather than buying on-the-shelf technologies. We are not short of scientists and discoveries, as can be seen by the number of new discoveries made by the local university professors. The number of medals they win yearly in international seminars and exhibitions. The only problem is transforming the research findings into commercially viable projects. We have MOSTI, we have science and techno funds but things are not moving. We need somebody or an entity which goes around to the universities and research institutions, undertaking efforts to commercialize the researches which are viable to be marketed.
THE GOVERNMENT FOR THE FUTURE
Last week, on 14/3/2009, I attended this seminar on Government for the Future. The seminar was attended by most of the heads of ministries and departments, and chaired by the Chief Secretary to the Government. They were talking about the roles of civil servants and how they should suit themselves in this demanding and changing environment. There was also a presentation by a Korean Professor form KDI, explaining the experiences of Korea, especially bringing in private sector people into Korean civil service. I questioned him that it is debatable as to improving the Malaysian civil service by bring in private sector people. It may work or it may not. As all of you know, private is profit motivated and the environment is different in public sector. One should also think of how the failure of certain privatization efforts of government. The good example is the privatization of public transportation, sewerage facilities and even tolled-roads. In the case of toll roads, the Government had to subsidize millions of ringgits in order to maintain toll rates at the current level. The public sector needs more than bringing in private people into the system. First, you need to change the mentality of all heads of ministries and departments to be dynamic and keep-up with the demand of the changing global environment. If they can’t change, then we change them. Bring in new and creative people into the system and not necessarily, the private people have this capability. If within the public system, there good people with incredible ideas than one should make use of these people.
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