I read with much concern an article that highlighted the possibility of limited access to some sites because of certain possibilities. You can read more about it HERE. Today, many people from all over Malaysia had difficulties accessing Malaysia Today and generally, many have observed a slower speed in online surfing since last week.
In view of such developments, I wish to make a simple request to all readers/subscribers/visitors/friends of this blog and my two other blogs.
Could you please send me an email (SUBJECT HEADING: CONTINGENCY) at this edress mwsunplugged@gmail.com? If anything happens in cyberspace, I will email you as to what are the necessary steps to take to overcome certain hiccups. The rationale need not be explained for obvious reasons.
When you do email me, kindly use a genuine email address and state your name or nickname that you use when you comment in my blog(if you are a regular commenter) and also your location (not specific address but just your state) for me to verify the authenticity of your email. Readers who previously corresponded with me need not send me this email.
You will get another email from me from another edress if/when the need arises.
I covet your patience and also your cooperation in this matter. So sorry to inconvenience you. I would hate to lose touch with you dear reader, especially the genuine and sincere readers. It is better to be safe than sorry.
Have a nice day! Do leave a comment if you wish. Thanks!
Tom had this problem of getting up late in the morning and was always late for work. His boss was mad at him and threatened to fire him if he didn`t do something about it. So Tom went to his doctor who gave him a pill and told him to take it before he went to bed. Tom slept well and in fact beat the alarm in the morning. He had a leisurely breakfast and drove cheerfully to work.
"Boss", he said, "The pill actually worked!" "That`s all fine,” said the boss, "But where were you yesterday?"
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A young, freshly minted lieutenant was sent to Bosnia as part of the peace keeping mission. During a briefing on land mines, the captain asked for questions. Our intrepid soldier raised his hand and asked,"If we do happen to step on a mine, Sir, what do we do?"
"Normal procedure, Lieutenant, is to jump 200 feet in the air and scatter oneself over a wide area."
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Several weeks after a young man had been hired, he was called into the personnel manager`s office.
"What is the meaning of this?" the manager asked. "When you applied for the job, you told us you had 5 years` experience. Now we discover this is the first job you`ve ever had."
"Well," the young man said, "in your ad you said you wanted somebody with imagination."
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A man sees another leaning against the wall of a large building. The second man is puffing away, one cigarette after another.
The nonsmoker says, "Sir, I couldn`t help noticing how you chain smoke. How many packs do you smoke a day?"
"Four."
"How long have you been smoking?"
"Thirty years."
"That`s over six thousand packs. If you didn`t smoke, you could have saved enough money to buy this building."
The smoker takes a deep puff and says, "Do you smoke?"
"Never."
"Do you own this building?"
"No."
"Well, I do."
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Teacher: Which is more important to us, the sun or the moon ?
Pupil: The moon.
Teacher: Why ?
Pupil: The moon gives us light when we need it, but the sun gives us light only in the day time when we don9t need it.
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An interoffice softball game was held every year between the marketing and support staff of one company. The support staff whipped the marketing department soundly. To show just "how" the marketing department earns their keep, they posted this memo on the bulletin board after the game:
"The Marketing Department is pleased to announce that for the 2000 Softball Season, we came in 2nd place, having lost but one game all year. The Support Department, however, had a rather dismal season, as they won only one game."
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The General went out to find that none of his G.I.s were there. One finally ran up, panting heavily.
"Sorry, sir! I can explain, you see I had a date and it ran a little late. I ran to the bus but missed it, I hailed a cab but it broke down, found a farm, bought a horse but it dropped dead, ran 10 miles, and now I m here."
The General was very skeptical about this explanation but at least he was here so he let the G.I. go. Moments later, eight more G.I.s came up to the general panting, he asked them why they were late.
"Sorry, sir! I had a date and it ran a little late, I ran to the bus but missed it, I hailed a cab but it broke down, found a farm, bought a horse but it dropped dead, ran 10 miles, and now I m here."
The General eyed them, feeling very skeptical but since he let the first guy go, he let them go, too.
A ninth G.I. jogged up to the General, panting heavily, "Sorry, sir! I had a date and it ran a little late, I ran to the bus but missed it, I hailed a cab but..."
"Let me guess," the General interrupted, "it broke down."
"No," said the G.I., "there were so many dead horses in the road, it took forever to get around them."
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"What flavors of ice cream do you have?" inquired the customer.
"Vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate," answered the new waitress in a hoarse whisper.
Trying to be sympathetic, the customer asked, "Do you have laryngitis?"
"No...." replied the new waitress with some effort, "just...erm.... vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate."
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Three Engineers and three Accountants are going on a business trip by train. At the train station, the 3 accountants are ordering 3 tickets while the engineers are only ordering one ticket.
The accountants ask "Why only one ticket ?", the engineers reply that they have a scheme to save money.
So they all board the train and upon departure, the 3 engineers get into one bathroom. When the Train Controller checks for tickets, he takes the three tickets from the seated accountants and then knocks on the bathroom door asking "Ticket please" - the door opens slightly with a hand giving him one ticket. A couple of minutes later, the engineers come out of the bathroom and sit in empty seats making fun of the accountants.
On the way back, not wanting to be outsmarted, the accountants buy one ticket only but they notice that the engineers do not buy any, so they ask "You think you can ride free now?" - the engineers reply that they now have an even better scheme to save money.
So they all board the train and upon departure, the 3 accountants get into one bathroom and they see the 3 engineers all getting into the other one. Shortly after departure, one of the engineer gets out of its bathroom and knocks on the accountants bathroom door saying "Ticket please"
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Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson go on a camping trip, set up their tent, and fall asleep. Some hours later, Holmes wakes his faithful friend.
"Watson, look up at the sky and tell me what you see."
Watson replies, "I see millions of stars."
"What does that tell you?"
Watson ponders a minute. "Astronomically speaking, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets. Astrologically, it tells me that Saturn is in Leo. Time wise, it appears to be approximately a quarter past three. Theologically, it s evident the Lord is all-powerful and we are small and insignificant. Meteorologically, it seems we will have a beautiful day tomorrow. What does it tell you?"
Holmes is silent for a moment, then speaks. "Watson, you idiot, someone has stolen our tent." Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson go on a camping trip, set up their tent, and fall asleep. Some hours later, Holmes wakes his faithful friend.
"Watson, look up at the sky and tell me what you see."
Watson replies, "I see millions of stars."
"What does that tell you?"
Watson ponders a minute. "Astronomically speaking, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets. Astrologically, it tells me that Saturn is in Leo. Time wise, it appears to be approximately a quarter past three. Theologically, it s evident the Lord is all-powerful and we are small and insignificant. Meteorologically, it seems we will have a beautiful day tomorrow. What does it tell you?"
Holmes is silent for a moment, then speaks. "Watson, you idiot, someone has stolen our tent."
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Two friends from the old country, were conversing on the porch swing of a large white pillared mansion in Miami Beach.
The first woman says, "When my first child was born, my husband built me this beautiful mansion."
The second woman says, "Fantastic."
The first woman continues, "When my second child was born, my husband bought me a brand new Cadillac."
Again, the second woman says, "Fantastic."
The first woman boasts, "When my third child was born, my husband bought me this exquisite diamond bracelet."
Yet again, the second woman comments, "Fantastic."
The first woman then asks her companion, "What did your husband buy for you when you had your first child?"
The 2nd woman replies, "My husband sent me to charm school."
"Charm school!" the first woman cries, "What for?"
"So instead of saying `Who cares`, I learned to say, `Fantastic!`"
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The moment a man entered his office his boss asked "Do you believe in re-birth".
The man answers "Yes"
The boss responds "Then, it s okay because your grandfather had come here after you left for his funeral"
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Here's a very touching one....
In the day when an ice cream sundae cost much less, a 10 year-old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in front of him.
"How much is an ice cream sundae?" he asked.
"Fifty cents," replied the waitress. The little boy pulled his hand out of his pocket and studied the coins in it. "Well, how much is a plain dish of ice ream?" he inquired.
By now more people were waiting for a table and the waitress was growing impatient.
"Thirty-five cents," she brusquely replied."
The little boy again counted his coins. I will have the plain ice cream," he said.
Waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on the table and walked away. The boy finished the ice cream, paid the cashier and left. When the waitress came back, she began to cry as she wiped down the table. There, placed neatly beside the empty dish, were two nickels and five pennies - you see, he couldn t have the sundae, because he had to have enough left to leave her a tip
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Have a nice day!
In my younger days, I dreamt of being either a musician, writer or a lawyer. In those days, I would have been penniless had I pursued a career in music although a few friends like Goh Boon Hoe (music producer for many Malaysian artistes including Amy Mastura and is now based in Jakarta), Paul Augustin and Wilson Quah have made it big in the music scene. In time, I studied mass communication and sociology together with Ho Kay Tat (Editor-in-Chief of The Edge), Santha Oorjitham (NST and formerly Asiaweek), KY Pung (Fox Communications), Subhadra Devan(NST), Lim Ai Lee (Star) and many other course-mates who are in the broadcasting and advertising industry. Before I graduated, I received a job offer from The Star but had to turn it down as my father wanted his only child to remain in Penang. Subsequently, I worked as a writer for a environmental NGO and earned a pittance.
At that time, I had a Mini 850 which would break down every week. In the one year that I had the car, I learnt so much about car maintenance because everything that could be changed had to be changed! After paying the mechanic, I think I had only 100RM to spend for each month.
In case you are wondering why I am going on about this, it is because I thought I'd share with you about how one man impacted my life, my work habit and my zeal or passion for writing.
In the 15 months or so when I worked there, I reported to Mr. Rajean who was in charge of the NGO. Each morning, I had to have a one-on-one with him and he would give me a pile (about 6 -8 inches high) of books/papers/journals etc to read. The next day, I had to give him a summary of the main points of what I had read and whether there was any environmental issue relevant to Malaysia.
The workload I had there was worse than any other job I have ever had in my life. I was in charge of writing books on environmental issues and had to see to the typesetting etc to the finished product and the marketing of those books. In the 15 months that I was there, I wrote five books. Unbelievable but I did it. On top of that, I had to prepare press releases, conduct sociological survey research, run two feature services that had famous subscribers including New Scientist and New Internationalist, oversee the publication of the bi-monthly newsletter and even go on field trips to paddy fields (had my first experience rowing a sampan to go to one particular site!), mines etc to monitor the extent of environmental degradation.
My daily sessions with Mr. Rajean were gruelling as he would ask me many questions about the literature that he had asked me to review the previous day. Basically, he taught me how to think and to question many things in life. How did I learn? Simple. He asked me so many questions that dumbfounded me and made me realize how much more I had to learn about life, the environment, animals especially primates, legislation and enforcement and women's issues.
He taught me that it was meaningless to write without feeling the heart of the issue and that nothing is too difficult for me if only I would try to push myself to limits. Apart from that, he showed me what it meant to be a purpose-driven person. His quest for perfection, knowledge and zeal for the cause was simply inexhaustible even though he was suffering from cancer. :-( Often,I wondered how he had the strength to do what he did. By the time I finished one press release, he would ask me what was my next project and then he would outline a long list of issues I had to study. Indeed, even my university days were not that tough!!! In many ways, he was a visionary - way ahead of the times.
There is one habit that will never die. Mr. Rajean believed in monitoring the MSM. Imagine - each of the staff was given ONE MSM to read, and study every weekday. We would have to mark it, cut it out, record the issue in a log book and then file the newspaper cutting systematically after gluing it to A4 sized paper. That is something I still do daily although in a different manner. Each morning, after I switch on my laptop, I will click one folder which will open up all the news portals and then I would read and read to my heart's content after which I will decide on what issue to write everyday.
So for those of you who wonder why I write so much, this is one of the reasons. Other reasons include - keeping myself mentally alert, playing my small and humble role to effect change in Malaysia and also because I love to write and have nothing else to do at home apart from the usual household chores!
Admittedly, there were many times when I wanted to break down in the office because of writer's block. Right opposite me was my colleague, Vincent, a mass comm graduate from UKM. Both of us were competitive in our job functions, each as kiasu as the other in many areas including our creative writing. It was definitely most disconcerting to have him staring at me when I was staring at the typewriter.
Some days, I wanted to throw the typewriter at him when my mind went blank and he went on non-stop banging on the typewriter writing his piece. In such an environment, I learnt to push myself and to take criticisms from others- work traits that I still possess till this day.
When I looked at Mr. Rajean, I saw a man who was completely sold out to conserve the environment. He never went out for lunch or dinner and would ask the staff to buy him packed meals which he would eat in his simple office. He could give a non-stop lecture on the dangers of aerosols or make up or how the civet cat is almost extinct because its urine is used to manufacture perfume etc. Believe it or not, he also slept in his office. I recall seeing a rolled-up mat in the office and wondered if it was used for prayers. Much later, I learnt that he actually lived in his office! In time, he married the love of his life, Karen, and they shared many years of love for each other and complimented each other in environmental activism.
Frankly, I have never been very good at proof-reading because of my high astigmatism. Mr. Rajean could see through every single typo mistake that I missed and would circle these in the typeset-draft and gently reminded me to be more thorough. In short, he was a demanding boss but yet very diplomatic and sensitive in the way he raised issues, never stooping to hurt our feelings.
I worked with many wonderful persons including Dr Martin Abraham, Uma, Mohan, Phaik Kee, Karen, Liang, David etc and it was really like a family there. I went to work sans make-up in jeans and t- shirts, sometimes in bermuda shorts and a shirt and my feet were shod in slippers. What a simple carefree life it was! We went bare-footed in the office, fought over stamps from the mail until Karen decided each staff could collect stamps for one specific day of the week leaving Friday a free-for-all day when we would exchange stamps. We even put our feet on our tables when reading up for our writings and would occasionally strum the guitar and sing at lunch time to unwind. In fact, we could listen to the radio and would even sometimes sing along when doing our work. Simply awesome!
I left after 15 months because I was not earning enough to survive. To this day, I still savor the many lessons and skills I acquired during my stint there. The conferences I attended and also organized helped me to see that earth is indeed a precious legacy which we must painstakingly try to conserve and preserve.
I was deeply saddened when Mr. Rajean passed away years later from his cancer. Amazingly, he left such a deep impact on me in my work habit and personal life.In many ways, I blog and work the way I do because of Mr. Rajean's training and guidance. Truly, I am blessed by him and my former colleagues. I just hope that I can reconnect with my ex-colleagues via the Net in some way. I want them to know that like Mr. Rajean, they left big footprints in my heart and I have never forgotten them. When I moved on to the education industry, I carried with me the lessons learnt there and passed it on to my students. Today, I still live out those many precious lessons I learnt then. What a blessing indeed!
