52nd Merdeka Celebrations

Hi Everyone, For all Malaysians, Selamat Menyambut Hari Merdeka ke-52. Happy 52nd National Day. Tomorrow is Malaysia's 52nd National Day since its independence in 1957. The celebrations this year will a lower key due to the H1N1 situation here. There will be no fireworks at KLCC and Dataran Merdeka. I still remembered that I used to sing the Merdeka songs in school. Our school, S.M.K St. John will have celebrations in conjunction with the Merdeka spirit. There will be the singing of Merdeka songs such as Tanggal 31, Jalur Gemilang, Bendera Berkibar Di Angkasa and Keranamu Malaysia among others. Group of students from various levels (Form 1 to Form 6) will be performing some traditional Malaysian dances, dikir barat and also the kompang showcase. Classes may hold parties to celebrate it together. We also listened to speeches from the Education Minister. Here are some videos of our patriotic songs: 52nd Merdeka Official Song (1 Malaysia) Tanggal 31 51st Merdeka Theme Song (Perpaduan Teras Kejayaan) Jalur Gemilang Keranamu Malaysia That's all, Rogerkoo

No Boundaries

Hi Everyone, Kris Allen was crowned the American Idol in the beginning of the year with Adam Lambert in 2nd place. Both have cover versions of the American Idol single, No Boundaries. Here are the videos taken from YouTube. Can compare the two. Two different styles with Adam having a faster beat. Kris is good too with his version of No Boundaries. No Boundaries - Kris Allen No Boundaries - Adam Lambert Cheers, Rogerkoo

Some New Christian Songs

Hi, When I was at the Elevate held at my church on Saturday, I've heard some new songs which I've not heard before. One of them is Hosanna sang by Hillsongs United. God of This City sang by Chris Tomlin is quite good too. I've sang that before the event though. It is a song in the Hello Love album. Sing Sing Sing is from this album as well. Here are two YouTube videos of Hosanna and God of This City. Hosanna God of This City

Man In The Mirror

Hi,

This is one of my favourite Michael Jackson's songs, Man In The Mirror. This is a video taken from YouTube. Cheers, Rogerkoo

Guys Wearing Pink

Hi, What do you think of this? I've seen a lot of guys now are wearing pink. I have 2 pink shirts myself in my wardrobe. What does it symbolise? Some of us may not think it's right for men to wear pink. They have their own personal reasons. I've watched a show on KBS World talking about this topic. It seems that pink is not that suitable for guys in certain countries. It is also mentioned that Asian guys look good in pink. For me, I wanted to be a little unconventional and explore some new colours. If the shade of pink or the pink stripes is / are good, it does look good. I think it is fine. Is it right or wrong for guys to wear pink? Is it the trend to have pink shirt(s) now? There are discussions I've found in the Internet in which there are some who disagrees to this idea. What do you think? You can post your comments here. Would like to hear from all of you. Cheers, Rogerkoo

Don't Look Twice by Andrew Gross

Hi Everyone,

This is my 100th post for my blog already. My previous post two hours ago was the 99th post. This blog has been nearly one year old in about 3 months I think. 9oo+ visitors. Still not quite there though.

I just bought this book last week, Don't Look Twice written by Andrew Gross. Andrew Gross was co-author with James Patterson in some of James' books before writing on his own. This is his 3rd book. The paperback came out this year. I saw this at MPH 1 Utama where it is offering 20% discount to members and non-members (purchase of RM5 to quality for offer) until 31st July 2009. Because I am a MPH Readers' Club Member, I bought this at 20% off instantly without the need to buy at least RM5 of items for MPH. It is a savings of RM7.20. I bought this for only RM28.70 instead of the usual price at RM35.90.

It talks about a police detective, Ty Hauck who had a good life. He had a waterfront house, a new girlfriend and even a hero after unconvering a Wall Street scandal. Then during a day trip with his daughter, they encountered a shooting that an innocent man got killed. Now he has a new investigation to follow. It is just a normal shooting? Is it because of revenge? Ty suspects things go deeper and everyone, from the FBI to his own family wants him to stop finding out the answers. He could not turn away from the case for his estranged brother, Warren is also in danger. Here we will see how Ty continue to find out more about case despite the devastating consequences that he will be facing. I've started reading this book. Will have time to read it again when I'm overseas again. This is a summary of it. Another crime & mystery book in my collection.

I also have been waiting for The Associate written by John Grisham. The paperback will be out next month. I placed an order for it earlier this month at MPH already. The Associate will be another good book to read. You can find out more about The Associate at John Grisham's website.

Cheers,

Rogerkoo

Toyota Prius

Hi Everyone,

We have only seen a hybrid car on the market now which is the Honda Civic Hybrid. There are over 100 Civic Hybrid owners on the road. Priced around RM162,800 initially, it is now sold aroudn RM128,000. This price reduction is due to the reduction of several taxes for hybrid vehicles. It is still relatively expensive for some of us who wanted to play a part to save the environment. It is a 1.3L car which combined with the electric motor produces power similar to a 1.8L Honda Civic. It is priced nearly the same as the Honda Civic 2.0L.

Similarly, Proton is developing its own hybrid car as well. Dato' Seri Abdullah, our former primer minister has sat on it to go to one of the events he attended before he stepped down.

Toyota Prius, one of the first hybrid vehicles in the market, now 3rd generation has been selling well in US, Japan and Australia. Recently, Toyota Prius is the top selling car in Japan with over 22,000 cars sold. It is the number 2 car top selling car trailing only the Honda Fit (Jazz in Malaysia).¹

The 3rd generation Toyota Prius Hybrid will be launched in Malaysia next month. It is great to hear that this car is finally here in Malaysia. We can now play a role in reducing air pollution in the South East Asian region. The 3rd generation Prius has a 1.8L engine which produces 98hp and the electric engine produces about 80hp.² Combined, the new Prius performs like a 2.4L car. To differentiate Toyota Hybrids from the normal Toyotas, the logo has a blue glow around it.

Prices for the Toyota Prius in Malaysia is expected to hover around RM170,000 similar to a 2.4V Toyota Camry!³. So expensive for a Prius. If it is priced around the same price around a Toyota Vios or even a Toyota Corolla or Honda Civic Hybrid, it might appeal to more people. Why do we have to pay so much for a Prius? We can buy MyVi or Persona or even Viva which have high fuel efficiency? The Prius has a better fuel efficiency than these cars. Taxes for hybrid cars should be reduced so that the hybrid cars selling here would be less costly.

Why do we need to pay a high price to own a Toyota Hybrid or Honda Civic Hybrid? In Australia, it is priced at 37K for the normal model and 46.5K for the higher end model. More expensive for the 3rd generation model. Previously it was only about 30K. Even though it's higher now, if we do a direct conversion, it s around RM108-111K for the normal model and around RM137K to RM140K for the higher end model.⁴ I do not know the number of models are in Malaysia. Please note that the US Prius has 4 models to choose from. Not sure which models are available here. Prices in the US starts from US$22K.

I would be interested in the Toyota Prius if it would be priced lower. However, I will still stick to the normal petrol cars like the Persona or MyVi for now if I am to buy a car in the near future. Maybe in the future, I will be able to afford to buy hybrid cars.

To find out more about the Toyota Prius, you can go to Paul Tan's Automotive News or Toyota Prius website. You can also read The Star Motoring for more details of the car in Malaysia.

¹Toyota hybrid is Japan's top selling car in June, The Star Online, http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/7/6/business/20090706122753&sec=business ²The 3rd Generation Toyota Prius Hybrid, http://www.toyota.com/prius-hybrid/ ³3rd generation Toyota Prius - first impressions, Paul Tan's Automotive Blog, http://paultan.org/archives/2009/07/24/3rd-generation-toyota-prius-first-impressions/#more-16020 ⁴Toyota Prius vs Honda Civic Hybrid Road Test >> Car Advice, http://www.caradvice.com.au/2214/toyota-prius-i-tech-vs-honda-civic-hybrid-road-test/