Friday, December 31, 2010

New Years Eve

What to do, how to ring in the new year?

Join one of the big parties being organized, suffer in the crowd and struggle with parking and the jam to and fro?
I don't feel like it, seems more a nuisance than fun. So boring and so conformist.

It's what people here do, it seems, on normal days as well as on public holidays, the average Malaysian flocks to shopping complexes, every tom,dick and harry is in Mc'donalds or GSC or just walking around window shopping. I hate driving to shopping malls, it's a bloody disaster.

I'm going to spend new years eve home or close to home, reading an old favorite or else maybe see a movie or two with a few shots of a nice brandy.

I think the night will be that much more pleasant and relaxing.

That's the way to do it.

Thursday, December 30, 2010

New Year Blues

2011 in around a day.

So much to do for the next semester, so many new subjects to get ready for, lesson plans, notes, quizzes, assignments and tests to prepare.

I'm supposed to be halfway through it now, bah, predictably I haven't started yet. As usual, it's going to be a mad dash at the 11th hour.

Ye gods, why can I never do anything related to paperwork early.

I started the 2010 with plans to exercise and get fit, went to the gym 3 times in the first week and all that, sadly, at the end of 2011 far from losing the 30kgs that would have turned me normal sized, I gained 3kgs and weigh in at 100kgs.

Money wise, made big plans for the year, wrote it down even. Then went on to be irresponsible and blew every cent I made. So financially 2010 has been every bit as successful as my fitness plan, which is to say not very successful at all.

To sum up 2010, good riddance.

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Resolutions and the malaysian state of the union

I'm going to sit down in a while to write my resolutions for 2010.

I've never really managed to keep any resolution I've made at the beginning of any year. I hope to break the trend this year. I'm not really certain why I've failed in the past, perhaps I aimed too high, perhaps I wasn't disciplined, who knows.

This year, to start off, my first resolution will be to forget all previous resolutions. Important to be positive.

I bet the government wishes they could forget 2009 too, understandable really, not like they've covered themselves with glory.

The way things are going in Malaysia, in a decade or two, I'm guessing Indonesia will be more developed than we are, since Malaysia is on a downwards trend and Indonesia is on its way up. In 2040 if things continue to go the way they're going, Malaysia will be exporting maids to Indonesia, won't that be funny?

Teoh beng hock is case in point. The alleged misbehavior was about RM 2,400. The MACC of course, swung into action, working overdrive because in Malaysia............RM 2,400 that's crazy serious, it's like waving a red flag in front of a bull, coz in Malaysia, RM 2,400 is like RM2.4 trillion, its some kind of magic that only the MACC understands, many people didn't understand.

I mean there must have been nothing else wrong in the country, forget the former Selangor MBs palatial mansion, forget the PKFZ, forget public officials with modest salaries but owning multi million ringgit properties, in Malaysia RM 2,400 is a magic number, the MACC must have been provoked intolerably.

After all the MACC has great integrity, everyone in the country, whatever their political leanings knows exactly what the MACC is. What people say publicly depends on which side of the political fence they're on, but privately.......Everyone knows just how honest and sincere the MACC is in going after the corrupt.

It's no surprise in Malaysia.

Sadly nothing is a surprise in Malaysia, not our education system that does not educate but rather drowns thinking like an unwanted kitten, not our justice system that gives justice selectively, not our civility to each other which is, if you think about it, a contradiction in terms....in fact, I would say most people can easily predict the direction our country is headed.

Malaysia I suppose is better than a lot of other countries, but it is human nature to want better.

Will things change for the better? I hope so.....here's a toast to 2010.

Anyway, I'm thinking about resolutions, I'll have dinner first, probably be more clear when I'm not hungry.

My second resolution, will be to ensure that I keep all my other resolutions for 2010, I'm not sure if that will work, but going to give that a shot.

Cheers, Happy New year to everyone I know and everyone I don't, hope 2010 will be better than 2009.

Hope life in Malaysia doesn't boil down to a zero sum game, although I know it's an almost futile hope.