To Give or Not To Give, That's The Question

Hi Everyone,

We passed by people who are begging for money everyday. The question that comes to mind is whether we should help them or not. Do we give or do we not give? Monetary or food? Most of the time we just walked away or just give about 10 to 20 cents.

It is not that we do not want to help them. We have been warned and heard of cases where the beggars / people in need asking for money are not genuine cases. They may appear to be pitiful or limping but they may be putting an act thus our givings will end up in vain. There are definitely some who are impostors and we will get swindled by them. It is very hard to identify genuine ones. We can feel bad after these incidents yet if we give, the money may end in the wrong hands.

I do give a small amount sometimes but usually I ended up without giving them. I may also buy one or two packet of tissues from them.

Should we show sympathy and give to some beggars / people asking for money or all of them? What do you think?

Cheers,

Rogerkoo

Taxi Services: Revamp for the Better

Hi Everyone,

The taxi services in Malaysia is known for its inefficiency. It is perceived to be not save generally. 

These are some of the feedback / complaints on taxi drivers:

• Taxi drivers are refusing to fetch passengers to certain places because of traffic jam
• Cheating foreigners and expatriates by charging exorbitant rates.  Taxi rates can be RM100 from Pavilion to KLCC and vice versa
• Taxis may not come whe needed 
• Not using metre
• Rape cases if they are fetching passengers to secluded areas
• Speeding

The attitude of the people of the taxi company manning the operations at KLIA and LCCT are not good as well. Some of them answered questions rudely when we asked them about the different zones for an area or about the pricing. Some of them do not know certain areas well such as Cheras. Cheras is a very big area with covering KL and Selangor (towards Kajang). The Cheras area nearer to KL is in a cheaper zone but we may get a more expensive rate for it.

Having said that, not all taxi drivers are like that but most of them are. There are a number of good taxi drivers. For example, we have a taxi driver friend who is honest and drives carefully. He also arrives on time to pick us up. The taxi service at the Bandar Tun Razak LRT station is quite good too. They are courteous and they agree to fetch passengers to their homes. I commend all the good taxi drivers.

When I was at Indonesia, I sat in taxis operated by Blue Bird and Gamya. The taxi drivers are willing to fetch passengers anywhere near or far. They will pass through traffic jams everyday and so they will still fetch passengers. The service will be more limited during rain but they will still come. The number of vehicles on the road is far more than the number of vehicles in KL. This is the same for Bangkok as well. However, we also met some taxi driver who did not use the meters durnig the ride.

MyTeksi is an organisation that aims to improve the perception of taxi drivers in Malaysia. It also seek to improve the efficiency of taxi services in KL. Some of MyTeksi's missions are:

• Improves the efficiency of taxi services in KL through smartphone bookings
• Nearest taxi is available to reach customers' starting point for each booking
• Provides a safe and pleasant taxi ride for passengers

For more information, please visit MyTeksi's homepage.

Here are some suggestions for taxi services to improve:

• Willing to fetch passengers to any location regardless of traffic jam and weather
• Be courteous to passengers
• Honest
• Give passengers a pleasant and safe ride
• Use the metre for both locals and tourists / expatriates

Just 3 months ago, taxi drivers gathered at the ever busy Bukit Bintang to protest against SPAD's move of introducing the GO-KL free bus for both tourists and locals. It covers Bukit Bintang - KLCC area and Bukit Bintang - Central Market routes. SPAD knew about the report of the taxi drivers and they introduced the GO-KL free bus services to make it more convenient for tourists to travel around the Golden Triangle area. A lot of people are satisfied with the services provided by the free bus.

In a nutshell, the perception of the taxi drivers should be improved over time so that people feel safe to take taxis anytime. They can be confident of taking taxis anywhere and know that the taxi services are efficient here. They also should drive safely There will be no more worries of taking taxis at KL.

This year is also Visit Malaysia 2013 so please let customers give a feedback on the taxi services here. Please help to improve the image of taxis in KL not only this year but the future as well.

Cheers,

Roger TJ Koo

Road Manners

Hi All,

We still see a lot of irresponsible drivers everyday. Speeding cars is still a common scene. People are overtaking and going into different lanes without giving proper signals. Do they know they need to use signals / indicators? I have experienced this a few times before where a car suddenly appeared in my lane from the right. There are cars who purposely follow closely behind you on the right lane forcing you to move to the middle lane. Some of these drivers will honk or display bright lights at you.

There are drivers who make illegal U-Turns. Some cars are parked indiscriminately at junctions. There also cars that are parked indiscriminately even though proper parking lots are provided. Drivers could not be bothered to adjust their car or park their cars properly causing traffic kiosk. Some drivers double / triple parked their cars resulting in traffic congestions. This prompted DBKL and MBPJ to make roads one way. Previously in Taman Connaught, we can see a lot of double parking but now it is a one way road. There are no more double parking. It is worst in Damansara Utama (DU) whereby there are triple parked cars. There are some improvements now. There also people turning right from the left lane where the left lane is going straight and vice versa. This is cutting queue. Most of the cars in Malaysia also do not give way to pedestrians.

In Australia, car drivers are fined if they do not give way to pedestrians. While I was studying at Monash University in Caulfield between 2004 and 2006, a speeding sports car stopped for me to cross the road at the small roundabout there. We don't see that in Malaysia. Cars just sped through. We will get honked when we stop at a pedestrian crossing. 

Pedestrians also should cross roads using the crossing or the pedestrian bridge. There are a lot of shoppers who just crossed in the middle of Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman. As drivers, we need to be very careful. I can't understand the risk they are taking crossing in the middle of the road instead of using the pedestrian crossing. It is much safter doing that.


View Larger Map

In the morning at the fork between East West Link and Bandar Tun Razak / Bandar Tasik Selatan (coming from Taman Connaught) as shown below during weekdays, there are cars jumping queues in the morning by going to the front and force themselves to the right lane going to Bandar Tun Razak or to the most left lane going to Tasik Selatan. This act is causing jam backing up to Giant Taman Connaught. 


View Larger Map

We are educated with driving skills and safety but most of us do not follow them or ignore them. We should give indicators when moving lanes and follow the speed limit. We should park at the designated parking areas properly. We should give way to passengers. Perhaps, careful and safely driving should be incorporated in the driving course syllabus. We are only tested on 3 point turn, side parking, hill climbing (manual transmission cars) and street driving. I am not sure whether the new syllabus for automatic cars will include the hill climbing test. 

Please improve our road manners, people. Thank you.

Happy Driving.

Cheers,

Roger TJ Koo

Animes

Hi All,

Anime is defined as a Japanese animated productions that comes in all formats including tv series and computer animation creations¹. This definition is from Longman Dictionary. It can be an original work or adapted from mangas, books and video games.

The themes for animes can range from fantasy, futuristic plot, music, love stories, alien invasion and action The characters are very colourful and appeals to all people, young and old. I have been watching animes through Animax since a few years ago on Astro. To me, animes are fun and interesting to watch. 

Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood is an anime that centres to two brothers, Edward and Alphonse Elric to save their mother using their knowledge of alchemy. However, it ended up disastrously with Edward loses his leg and Alphonse losing his body. Edward managed to seal Alphone's soul with a huge metal armour.  Edward, the full metal alchemist has a prosthetic arms known as automail build by his friend, Winry and her grandmother. It talks about their journey to find the precious "Philosopher's Stone", the most powerful stone of all that can restore their bodies. The Philosopher's Stone, if ended up at the wrong hands will be used to kill people².



K-On meanwhile is a story of a secondary school band that comprises of 4 people namely Yui (lead singer), Mio (bass), Ritsu (drummer) and Tsumugi (keyboard). Later in the show, another team meamber, Azusa joined in. This anime is funny and hilarious. The characters are fun and happy.

Sergeant Keroro is another anime that features frog-like alien creatures who wanted to invade Earth. Sergeant Keroro, the main character and his friends / comrades that include Kururu, Giroro, Tamama among others always have a plan to invade Earth. However, they always failed miserably. Keroro, the leader can be annoying and his plans are always stupid. It is overall a hilarious and entertaining anime. The theme song is as below:



Two of the musical animes that I watched are La Corda Doro Prima Passo and Nodame Cantabile. La Corda Doro Prima Passo talks about a girl who plays a magicial violin given by her musical fairy. She plays greatly with the violin although she herself can't play any musical instruments. She joins a music school and meets a lot of musically talented friends who helped her along the way. She will eventually learn to play the violin from scratch after she broke the magical violin. Nodame Cantabile, centers on a girl, Nodame and her would be boyfriend / mentor, Chiaki. Nodame is a girl who is very talented on the piano but does not practice regularly. Chiaki meanwhile is a very talented piano player and a conductor. He would lead and guide Nodame to be a very successful pianist. All the characters are very interesting. There are some strange ones as well. Here is the official song from Nodame Cantabile:



Among some of the other animes that I have seen include Inuyasha, Blood +, Jigoku Shoujo (also known as Hell Girl), Fate Stay Night, Tears to Tiara, The Law of Ueki and Fairy Tail. 

Jigoku Shoujo tells us the story of Hell Girl. People who like seek revenge will find her to kill the persons they hate or wanted to take revenge. Hell Girl will give them a surprise visit and then will bring them to hell.

 

Fairy Tail is a story of wizards who go on adventures to defeat evil. Main characters of Fairy Tail are Natsu (with the power of fire), Gray (the power of Ice), Erza (she is an skilled fighter and can change into another character that gives her different capabilites) and Lucy (she can summon people to help her fight). Lucy has the weaker power among her friends but some of her characters she summoned can fight.  

  

Romeo and Juliet was adapted as an anime too. It is also the same for Emma.   

Cheers,

Roger TJ Koo

<sup>1 Anime - Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anime, Accessed: 30th December 2012

2 Full Metal Alchemist - Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fullmetal_Alchemist, Accessed: 30th December 2012</sup>

Work's Life Like That

Hi Everyone,

We want to enjoy work, we can't get it
I like my work but do not like the nature of it
Most do not want to work late, and yet we need to
Sometimes we are forced to

Life at Work Part I

Stress and Pressure

We try to perform our best a work
Sometimes we do it well, sometimes we don't
Sometimes we get scolded, sometimes we are praised, sometimes leader / manager advises us
Some managers / leaders will reward us for what we do, some don't
This is not right, we should be rewarded
Some can manage deadlines, some can't, it's just too much
Sometimes we can get second chances or more, sometimes we are not given at all

We do not want to make mistakes but we make them
Experienced people do make mistakes too
There are easy and hard ways to do things
When we do wrong, we want to to correct it

Workload should be just right but we have much more
Pressure and stress should be balanced but we have much more
This causes "Work Only, No Life". Companies are like that sometimes.
Certain industries may have "Work Only No Life" tagline informally
This does not happen all the time but for some companies, it may happen all the time

We do not want to overwork but we have to / needed to / forced to
We do not want to work overtime but everyone does it
Some companies have this culture, some companies don't
We want to go back on time but we can't

We want to take a break but we can't, only weekends / take leave
Sometimes we work during weekends / holidays and we can't take leave

Deadlines are good but it can be too tight
We want to finish but we can't finish it
Status updates are a must, sometimes too much, everyday

Our minds can be tired
Sometimes I wonder how others can store so many things, I could not, it's already too much
I once said I have upgraded from Dual Core processor to Quad Core processors
Now I need to have 8 cores processors

Efficiency and Integrity

We want to do things fast but it ended up slow and sometimes it's the other way round
Sometimes it is our fault, sometimes it is not
Some bugs are my own crap, some are other people's crap
Sometimes we want to help others, sometimes we can't
Sometimes I fix it fast, sometimes I am not
Working together is a must to get things done

It is sometimes much faster if we do it ourselves
When we know what to do, we are a fiend, when we are not, we are at a lost

Multitasking


We are not good at multitasking but we need to
We are told to prioritise our work but if there are more than 2 things happening concurrently, we lost track, both are equally important, we don't know which one to do
We know what we are doing, however, sometimes we know and we don't know what we are doing at the same time
We are confused, we are not focused, too many things on our mind
Everything happening concurrently
Everyone is busy, response time is slower
We want to finish one thing at a time but we can't. We need to finish more than one thing at a time


Workflows

There are workflows to be raised, so many authorities to go through
Sometimes workflows are performed fast, sometimes not
Waiting for our turns are necessary, other teams said it's urgent too
Documentation are important but sometimes we do it later
Other companies can be more flexible


Security

There are things we think it's trivial, it is actually not and vice versa
Security and software compliance is a must
Patching is a must
Deviations may not be necessary too
People are doing audit too
When we are busy, do we have time do to this? We still need to do

Life at Work Part II

People Relations

There are people who are easy to work with, there are people who are not
There are people who are understanding, there are people who are not
There are good managers and there are not
There are good leaders and there are not
There are people who are flexible and there are people who are not
We can work well with team members, I do mostly
Sometimes we just can't work with them (I saw before)
I am fortunate to have mostly good ones
Some of us always scold people but he or she is a good person
Some of us always scold people but he or she is manipulative
Some of these are covered under Life At Work Part I, Stress and Pressure section

There are things we can ask others to help, but if others are not experienced, it also comes back to us, we will be asked questions, we need to check too
We still need to make sure everything is ok, sometimes we can't understand things wrongly
Sometimes it is caused by us, sometimes others
Sometimes there can be changes all the time
Some people may not help us when it is necessary, we are there to find out ourselves

I have "Makan Kakis" who are also my good friends too
I have good friends I can share with
My team is understanding, some teams have no understanding
Our mood can be good, our mood may not be

We can get scolded by our own team, we can be in hot soup by others
This happens between IT vendors and clients, IT Department and users
Some people are good to us, some  people always blame us whether it is our fault or not
Some users are understanding, some are not
We are fortunate to get good ones
We need to deal with the others
Can these be improved? IT people, we need to good at this

Life at Work Part III

All these activities above are normal. I experienced it with my previous and current job.

Can our work gives us all the things below?

We want to have job balance
We want to go back on time most of the time
We want to spend time in church / other religious activities
We want to spend time with our family, relatives and friends
We want to have our pleasure time
We want to be engaged socially
We want to play sports with work colleagues and friends
We want to travel
We want to live well, eat well and play well

We all have different priorities in life.

Cheers,

Rogerkoo

The Pursuit of No. 1

Hi Everyone,

Dato' Lee Chong Wei has lost to Lin Dan in the finals of badminton at the London 2012 Olympics for the 2nd time. 2nd consecutive silver for him. We felt sad but at the same time, we know that he has tried his very best at the London Olympics this year. In actual fact, he was the first medallist for Malaysia. Dato' Lee Chong Wei played well and we also knew that Lin Dan played extremely well too. Lin Dan is well trained all along and he can execute shots that no one could rival (maybe only Dato' LCW can). Chinese sportsmen and sportswomen were so good at the Olympics including diving and swimming. They are at the top of the class compared in some sports compared to other countries.

Roger Federer and Dato' Lee Chong Wei are two of the most well known sportsmen in the world. They know the disappointments of losing and they accepted it gracefully each time they lost. They do not lose their temper. In actual fact, Lin Dan and Lee Chong Wei are good friends. Roger Federer are good friends with his opponents too.

There are still people who are not happy with result teasing and insulting Lin Dan. Is being No. 1 or winning gold medal everything? Not everyone are No. 1s. People around us are still struggling and yet we fail to acknowledge them. The thing is it is not the end of the world when we do not get number 1. At the recent Olympics, Sarah Attar is one of the female athletes that Saudi Arabia sent to participate. She ran at the Women's 800m event and was more than 1/2 minute slower than her competitor. When everyone has finished, the announcer directed the attention to her until she finished it. Everyone gave her a standing ovation when she crossed the finish line. This is how it should be.

Most students in Malaysia are under great stress and pressure to achieve top results. Some parents wanted them to be the top of the performance so that they can easily further their studies. Some wanted to beat the top student in their class out of peer pressure. To me, whether we have 2As or 5As or 11As or 8As or 9As or 17As, it is fine. We have done our best and passed the exams. The positive way to look at it is we are not getting any F or "Gagal". Our career does not depend on exam results only. It depends on our skills, not only technical but communication skills also. Soft skills are important too. 

It may include:

1. Solving problems on the job and these include problems that we have not experienced or taught before
2. Dealing with the circumstances and situations we are in
3. Time management, handling work stress and pressure
4. Planning, multi-tasking or handing 3 - 4 concurrent jobs at once
5. Dealing with difficult customers
6. Remain calm and collected during a situation / event

I am also not the smartest student in my class. I am not the top of the top achievers in university either. My skills are not perfect either. I am working as a system analyst in a bank (my 2nd job) and a programmer in the 1st job now. I do not know everything about programming. There are aspects of programming that I do not know. Those who are not No.1 can still survive in the world. We know we are not perfect but we can also make the decision to improve ourselves each time. We will have our own failures and successes. 

Therefore, it is not a "die" situation if we are not number 1. Our attitude should not be "die die also must get number 1". Getting No.1 is not wrong in itself but we should not be obsessed with it. The focus is not about No. 1 but being the person who we are meant to be. It is being ourselves. We can also achieve great things as a normal person. We don't have to tell ourselves that we must be the best, the richest, the top scorer (17As), have the most expensive gadget, possess the most expensive car, get the gold medal. We also must not insult others (someone insulted LD from China) when he got the gold medal instead of our own Dato' LCW. Dato' LCW acted rightly when he apologised to LD when he heard it. It is blown out of proportion by the secular world today.

Cheers,

Rogerkoo

Kill Alex Cross

Hi Everyone,

Kill Alex Cross is the latest Alex Cross novel written by James Patterson. Written in 2011, this is the most dangerous Alex Cross novel so far. 

He is in the middle of an investigation that includes the kidnapping of the president's (Presient Coyle) children (Zoe and Ethan) and the poisoning of the McMillan river using potassium cyanide by a terrorist group known as The Family or Al Ayla. A couple headed by Hala Dossari, the wife who is part of the terrorist group was mentioned in the beginning of this book and their adventures with Al Ayla along their way. She is skilfully trained and she is a precise shooter, as accurate as a sniper.

Are both the kidnapping and the river contamination related? The river contamination is spreading fast. Schools are closed. Read this novel as Alex Cross who was also contacted by the first lady to assist in finding their children, Ethan and Zoe. 

Al Ayla could not be captured as well. There are intelligence information given but they still could not find the terrorists. The terrorists are smart enough not to be caught and their operation is almost flawless. 

Time is running out for Alex Cross as he interviews the suspects who are in the vicinity of the kidnapping of the president's children. When the book was almost at the 3/4 mark, he has a lead of the kidnapper, a male nurse working at the Branaff school where the president's children are enrolled. Catching the criminal is itself a very difficult task for the kidnapper is smart too.

The Al Ayla terrorist in the novel also made a mistake in one of their operations and resulting in them spotted. Kill Alex Cross focuses on the Dossaris more than the others. 

Alex also finds himself meeting Ava, a girl who robbed his mother, Nana. He is in a dilemma whether to send her to foster care or adopt her in her family.

Can Alex Cross rescue Ethan and Zoe Coyle alive? Can he and the police force including the FBI able to capture the kidnapper? One of the close persons of the kidnapper reveals something about him that prompts Alex to have a tight surveillance on him. 

What methods can Alex use to catch him? You will find out when you have reached this scene. It may be the best method that he can think of at that time but it is not the best either. It turns out the only way that they can get him. The kidnapper also wanted to kill Alex Cross.

How about Ava? What decision will he made, to adopt or send her to foster care? What will happen to the Dossaris? Can things turn out well at the end? Get the book to read it. It costs only RM32.90 at MPH, Popular and Borders or you can buy it at Amazon.com below or through MPH Online.







Cheers,

Rogerkoo