Maid a.k.a Pembantu Rumah

For the last couple of days, if I'm not mistaken, I heard the news that the indonesian government decided to suspend their citizens as maids from working here in Malaysia due to some accidents that had occured to them. (allegedly being harshly treated by sick malaysian employers. Well they can shout for all I care!! From my own personal experience, I think these maids (although not all) are liars. Why? Here's what happened...

From 2006 till 2008, I had about 4-5 different maids. Total spent almost RM20,000. SO what happened? 2 (Seri and Hilda) of them ran away after working with us for just 6 months. The agents kept quiet only. Bila call tak angkat. I think the agent pun ada main peranan jugak ni. Free money kan? Hilda even stole my Tag watch. Bloody idiot!! Both of these maids, left a stupid note saying that they are sorry to leave, bla bla bla....well..up yours and hope both you will lead an uneventful life....hehehehe

Another maid was a recommendation from a friend. This girl was barely 17 but pemalas yang amat sangat. We decided to send her back to her family of illegals somewhere in Gombak.

Tina, she was the best among them. However, just like everything else, every good thing will come to an end, she decided not to come back. All phone calls and sms were not returned. Feck!!!

Anyways, those were my experience dealing with the maids from Indonesia. Yup, i certainly lost a lot of money, but most importantly, I lost my trust in some of them especially the agents.

So if the Indonesian govt wants to stop supplying their workers to work here. I would welcome that and at least there will be more jobs for our people...

Langkawi Trip June 09

Just got back from my langkawi trip with the family together with my sisters. We had the time of our lives and enjoyed it so much. The food was nice. The hotel was nice. Below are the summaries of our trip....

1. Stayed in Langkasuka Resort Hotel, which is about 5 minutes drive from the hotel. Very nice hotel, nice room. We got ourselves two gigantic rooms with our own individual balconies. Nice swimming pool with water fall. Not bad for RM110 per night for a supposedly 4* hotel

2. Last visited Langkawi in Aug 1996 (that was like 13 years ago)

3. Aquabeat (more or less like Sunway Lagoon) has closed down.

4. The flight to and fro langkawi was very smooth

5. Kecik loves flying but hates sitting in the boat and in the cable car

6. beras terbakar has changed a lot since i last went there in the late 80's

7. Makam Mahsuri now is like a cultural center

8. Underwater world is interesting and annoying at the same time. It seems we have a world-class facilities with 3rd class service and maintenance. I guess, I don't mind paying to enter the place, but I believe it's not worth the money that I'm paying for. The staff are not friendly, in fact, I didn't see any when I was there.

9. Crocodile farm. Just like the underwater world, the crocodile farm is depressing. I might be wrong in comparing the crocodile farm with the sea world in san diego, but at least, there should be some farm personnel hanging out at the exhibits and ready to provide some form of information to the visitors. Service teruk sekali lah. Basically takde org jaga...

10. If you ever go there, go to these restaurants for nice and reasonably priced food..
a) restoran jom pi ikan bakaq (near beras terbakar)-beware..byk nyamuk!!
b) sajian aki (the road heading to pantai cenang)
c) Hj Ramlee (pantai cenang)-MUST GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

11) Rented a Nissan Sentra for about RM250 from Wed till Saturday. Surprisingly a good family car. THe air-cond could be better...

12. Went island hopping/ witness eagle feeding/ swam at tasik dayang bunting/ chill at pulau beras basah

13. Cable car at gunung mat chincang. Had to wait for about an hour before we could get into the cable car coz there were so many tourist. Kecik buat perangai!! Anyhoos, the view from up there was magnificent. HOw could someone came up with the idea of putting up a cable car over there. Respect to whoever he or she is.. The ride is scary at times!! The suspension bridge was cool as well...

14. Had a good time feeding the deers and rabbits as well as the fishes nearby the cable car entrance..

15. Stopped by at Jln Teluk Yu (by the seaside) on our way to Pantai Pasir Hitam to eat original Laksa Kedah and the wonderful sea breeze. The air jagung pun best jugak...

16. Almost every shop that are located at tourist sites sell more or less the same thing. (eg same t-shirt/shorts/etc)

17. Ate the best goreng pisang ever nearby the crocodile farm

18. Kecik ate 3 ice creams before dinner at haji ramlee's restaurant..

19. Hj Jelani's seafood restaurant sucks big time..slow service with couldn't care less attitude..

20. The eagle statue at Dataran Lang is freaking huge. That was the first time I went there..

21. Chocolate shopping at Kuah town...

22. Everyone was on bad-mood mode on Friday night cause we had to go back to KL the next day....huhuhuhu


All in all, I had a great time with the family in Langkawi. Will definitely go there again. So my dear wife, where are we going this december? hehehe

LO Signed!!!

My application for home loan facility for my 3rd property has been approved and signed!!!

Personally, I'm glad that everything has been sorted out smoothly...

Jaya Supermarket

What the hell is that you might ask. Well, that's basically what used to be Jaya Supermarket. Hahaha. Yup!! Something bad happened that resulted the building the collapse and unfortunately resulted in some deaths as well. RIP to those men!!

This place has a little bit history (to me though). When I was young, during my high-school years, I used to date here. But not often though. we would go to McD across the road and just lepak at the mall. That was like 13 or 14 years ago...

Furthermore, sometimes before we jam at Black Widow, we would hang out here as well. If I can remember correctly, this was a favorite lepak spot for PJ boys!!

Anyhoos, I went to Digital Mall on the weekend and pass through what was left of Jaya Supermarket...I could still see some heavy machineries on ground zero waiting to be investigated by the authorities..

When something bad occur here in Malaysia, everyone will start pointing fingers and refuse to acknowledge the problem. The blame game starts and it will die off sooner that you would expected..

Blue Skied evening....

One of those rare 'clear' day moments in KL. For the past few days (or weeks even), KL has been hit severely with the haze, so this 'clear' day is always welcome. TOo bad I didn't spend sometime of the golf course. It could be superb blue-skied day!!

OD updates..

Now this is a shocking news to me. I applied a new OD with Maybank about 2 months ago. Initially, everything was going very smooth and the letter offer went out in the 2nd week of May. Up till today, which is the 19th day of June, they have yet to 'release' the money. So I decided to give them a buzz and what was told to me by the officer left me dumbfounded!!

The explanation given was, PNB decided to 'hold'or 'freeze any OD application pledged by the OD certificate. Now why is that so? I keep my money in ASB, I get it certified so that I can use it to increase my overdraft. What is so wrong in that? Furthermore, the money is gonna be use to create my own wealth. So, I don't see any reason as to why PNB is doing what they are doing now.

Is it because of profit maximization on their part?


hrmm...

3rd property..............

Yeah...as the title goes, I'm in the midst of purchasing my 3rd property for this year. In fact, it's gonna be the 3rd in 6 months!! This time last year, I practically had nil/zero property but as at today, I got 4.

As at today, the loan has been approved (although the bank only decided to give me 80% loan instead of 90%) and tomorrow, the bank officer will come and meet me to sign some papers...I plan to 'give' this new property to the missus..Hope she'll be happy once everything sorted out...

Not too bad eh? Well, I never expected this were to happened. If anyone were to tell me last year, that by June 09, I will have even 2 properties, I will probably die laughing. It's not easy though...and it's not difficult either.

It's just a matter of prioritizing the plans that I've made earlier. Of course, there were some sacrifices had to be made as well.

I kinda miss riding a lot. However, a lot of new and good things has occurred for the last couple of weeks so I don't think I will get a bike soon. Perhaps in 2-3 years time when I have some extra money to buy. (A matter of fact, if you have extra money, don't buy stuff...keep it in ASB..heheheh)

Talking about ASB...i'm glad that the balance looks very healthy to me. Well..not as much as some of my friends, but I thought it was good. DOubt whether it can pass the 100k mark by the end of the year, but certainly going there...

There's that for today...oh by the way, go to carl's junior for a nice & yummy Chilli Fries!!!




Have a good week ahead...

6th Place...

Last Saturday morning, I participated in a golf tournament organized by MCKK and RMC old-boys association. Specifically, it was organized by the batch 94 peeps. The tournament was held in Bukit Kemuning Golf Club. I thought it was fun though. Organizing something and yet be able to see your ex-classmates after all these years. Nevertheless, the tournament was very organized..My old school (VI) had only 1 flight participating. Biasalah, jadi guest kan?...hehehe

Anyways, I thought I played ok. Got 6th place in Medal A. Not too bad eh? The icing on the cake was, I even beat my good friend. Hehehe...you know who you are....

Weddings..weddings...weddings..

From Friday night till last night, my family and I were busy helping & assisting my cousin's wedding. It was a non-stop & tiring activity I must admit. I actually wondered whether both my uncle & aunt could get a good night sleep for the past 3 days!!

On Friday night, straight after work, I went back to SB to pick-up kecik and then head straight back to my mom's place. Right after maghrib, we head to ampang for the akad nikah ceremony. We only reached ampang about an hour and a half later as the traffic in MRR2 as well as pekan ampang was bad. I mean...really bad...I dread to think if I were to stay there and my office is somewhere in D'sara, I have to go through the traffic madness. It was a madness I have to confess!!

The akad nikah went quite smoothly although I didn't get to actually see the ceremony took place as I was busy talking to my uncles.

Atok was there as well. Pity her that she has to go through the traffic madness...When she arrived, she has to walk up the hill to go to my uncle's house. Which I think, it was rather tiring for her as she is not well...

The traffic was ok on the following day!! It took us about almost half an hour to reach ampang via DUKE highway. Talking about DUKE, i am somewhat happy that someone decided to build that expressway. It saves a lot of travelling time. Imagine without DUKE if you were to go UK perdana from D'sara. Either you take the Jln Kuching-MRR2 route or the AKLEH-MRR2 route. Both routes (for me) will involve heavy traffic at one point or another....

Anyways, the majlis persandingan went rather smooth as well. Everything was done according to plan. It's nice to see that my uncle's neighbours were heavily involved in the preparation of the wedding. As for me, I have to take turn in taking care of kecik. She just can't keep still and runs around the place most of the time...

After all the guest had left, the families (me included), we stayed back a little longer just to lepak2. It was then decided that I have to be the MC for tomorrow's persandingan at Istana Hotel. Huh!!! Of all the people, I wondered why I was chosen. I don't mind actually. What I have to do is just to read to bloody text that has been prepared earlier.





The next day, my mom decided to book a room at Istana Hotel. Actually, she booked 2 rooms. I have to admit though, I've never been to Istana Hotel before. I'm dead serios ok!!! Hahahah. Anyways, arrived there at about 12 or so, and after checking-in, we went up to the rooms. Again, being a first timer there, I'm quite impressed with the hotel's facilities/rooms and even the bathrooms!! very Nice!!

We went to Pavilion for lunch. There's this place called Food Republic in Pavilion. It's more or less like a food court. Only the name differ. It's very clean and lots and lots of people. Like pasar but a very high-class pasar. I met some of my friends there as well. I've only been in Pavilion once, that was like last year if I'm not mistaken. So yesterday was my second visit!! I must go out more lah!!


About 4 pm, all of us were back in the hotel for a short 'raptai' of the wedding. Being the MC, I thought I did ok but you know during family gatherings, everyone has their different opinions/directions so I just kept things to myself and just read the bloody text. I remembered my wedding 6 years ago. There were like 10 or 11 wedding 'directors'. Hahahahahahahaha....

Anyhoos, nothing exciting happen during the actual wedding. Everything was according to plan (again). I did my job quite ok except the fact that Kecik buat perangai and decided to poo-poo in the hall and said rather 'loudly' by her standards 'yaya beyakkk'...huh!!!!! Pity the missus as she has to make a few rounds to the room on the 9th floor because of kecik's perangai!!...

The food was ok I think. My uncle and aunt decide to go for a chinese course for dinner. Well, I'm not a fan of chinese food but I thought it was ok...Maybe because I'm allergic to seafood that's why I don't prefer them..heheheh

The ceremony ends at about 11 or so...and just like any other weddings, the families would wait till the guests disappears and we re-group for a family photo.

Earlier, myself and the missus decided to go home after the ceremony but both of were so tired that we decided to stay at the hotel for one night!! Hahahaha. Jadi org kaya sekali sekala tak per lah kan...hahahah

Anyways, to Aisyah, congratulations....

to gaddafi...welcome to our big family....

Here's a short video of kecik dancing to the kompang tune...hehehe

Haze....

Wow...a quick look from my office window...I can only barely see KL Sentral. On a clear day, those high-rise buildings at KL Sentral can be seen clearly. But not lately...

If I'm not mistaken, these haze thingy kept of coming back year after as far as 97, if I can remember correctly. The problem keeps on coming year after year. Perhaps, more or less the same time as the previous years i.e during the hot season..

To a certain extent, it cannot go on like this as it is not healthy to stay outdoor for a long period of time. Plus, our tourism industry will be affected greatly if this were to continue for the next couple of years.

I do not know what is the real cause of the haze and of course, after various meetings, plus decision making or whatever it is, the plan failed and the haze keeps on coming back...

For god's sake, please end this haze thingy....

go and fly kite........Part II

On Sunday evening, myself and together with wifey's cousins and kecik went to Bukit Jelutong for some kite 'adventure'!! The last time we were here, the bloody doreamon kite wouldn't wanna fly higher. So this time, we bought 2 new kites!! In all, we had 3 kites to play with that day!!!

The 'smiley' kite went the highest while the 'sotong' couldn't go higher due to its limited thread...Doreamon, as usual has been the biggest disappointment!! Hahahahah

New york...New York....

I remember a hotel called New York..New York in JB...but this New York2 is not the hotel...it's actually a nice eatery joint located in One Utama. Found this interesting place by chance actually. So me and wifey together with kecik went there to check out the foods...I love their Juicy Burger..really juicy!! and the root-beer float taste good as well!!! I will certainly come here again in the future...

Management Issues...

Let's assume that you have a business that has turnover of about 5-6 million per year. And your total staff force will be about 30-40 people....You also have been in business for the last 15 years or so...You are thinking of improving your sales and obviously you'll need to employ more skilled employees and open up a new division (department) to ensure that you'll achieved your objective...You will then call up for an interview and someone from a competitor answered your call. He said, in order to beef up the department, he will need a team. In short, he is saying he has to bring his entire team from his current company that consists of 4 skilled workers and 1 support staff. You thought it was a good idea and decided to go ahead with the idea.

Hence, now that you've employ a few 'skilled' workers that you believe that can take the company to a higher level than what you have been used to for the last couple of years. Obviously, for the first few months, you can't expect any improvement or a surge of business from this new departments as your workers are still trying to cope and adapt to their new working environment, culture and ways.

Fast forward to 1 year. From the management reports and accounts, you don't see any significant improvements. The only business that comes from them are the businesses that you've been getting before they came in...On every meeting or review, the same questions has been has ask and obviously the same answers will be heard. Such answers like 'it will take time, it's very difficult to penetrate the market,' are the norm... You then realised that their overheads are now much more than their production. In short, you are starting to make losses month after month.

Losses after losses...you finally instructed the general manager to finalize the plan to ensure the survival of the department. The department is now not self sustaining..in other words the department needs help from the other departments to pay their salaries ..their monthly productions does not justify their high salaries and can only covers about 30-40% of their monthly overheads...you don't need to be a rocket scientist to acknowledge that the department are not doing well...meeting after meetings later,you were shocked when the GM suddenly wrote a resignation letter to you as he has failed in his promise made to you a few years ago...after thinking thoughtfully, you then approved his letter...after a few weeks, his assistant manager then wrote a resignation letter as well...you again approved it....

2-3 months later, after the 'team' left, the department has remained stale...nothing much happen but you still receive businesses for that department in a lesser extent...you thought that you had a team that can finally push your company to a greater heights but unfortunately it was all 'indah khabar dari rupa'...you thought with all their qualifications and experiences, you will at least be on par with your competiors especially in that line on business....at least now, you don't actually incur losses for that department as the production is sometimes 2 or 3 times bigger that it was as compared to some of the TEAM's monthly productions...

YOu then felt happy that you no longer incur losses from that department but you then received 2 letters from the Industrial Relation department stating that 2 of the 4 employees from the TEAM stated that you have unlawfully dismissed them...

Imagine this...they came to you for work and you gave them the work. When they can't perform you ask questions why they can't perform. When you ask them to put out a plan, they wrote in a resignation letter. You then begin to wonder on which part are they unlawfully dismissed?

You then have to go to the Industrial Relation office to offer your explanation. Not once but a few times. In short, your productive working hours are wasted as some of your time are spent answering questions in the IR office. You insisted that what you've done are all according to the country's law and you stand by your decision. They wrote a resignation letter and you accepted it. There are no elements of force what-so-ever when they sign the resignation letters....

Just imagine, these guys went to see you for work and when they work you pay them on time. When things get a little rough, they chickened out and then resigned. For some strange reasons, they decide to get free money by bringing the company to the industrial relations and to some extent, to the court...

You even heard that one of them plan to buy a luxury car with the money that he is going to get from you if he wins the case...

When face a situation like this...how do you react and what will you do?

dreadful day.....

have you ever wake up in the morning feeling dreadful? Moreover when you know that you have to face someone that you don't like but still you have to face it no matter what happens??

have you ever feel like you really hate the other person that you wish that you'll never see him again....?

i hate feeling like this................

news lately......

I'm pretty sure that everyone in the country has heard the news on some crazy act done by loan sharks to some people who were unable to pay up their loans on time...especially on the chaining part...that is so inhumane...

Like the 99% of us, I didn't like what I saw in the news. In fact I was pretty shocked!! Never that I thought that some one can do this to another person. Locking up in a filthy room with some other 'inmates' is way to much....

I was somewhat relieved that the authorities has got their act together and caught some suspects..What shocked me was, the suspects were relatively young....if I'm not wrong, they are about their mid 20s...very young that they themselves do not have a clue what real life is all about....I have this great feeling that these guys that were caught are just mere runners....maybe there might be someone with higher authorities that are 'running' the show from somewhere...it's just plain impossible that these younglins has the money to run an independent bank on their own...Moreover, according to some reports, these guys collected a big sum of money every month...

Again...this is only my opinion...i might be wrong though...like i said earlier...there must be someone or a group of people who actually provide the initial capital from somewhere...the authorities, I believe with all their networks and capabilities should use all avenues and find these people and hopefully stop these madness...

Having said that, I also what wonder, why did these loan sharks existed in the first place? Maybe, just maybe...there is a huge demand from public that make loan sharking business a worthwhile business...i mean, logically, if there is no demand for such a thing, obviously they can't do business...there must be someone out there in dire need of money as I type this blog...maybe it's because of a business failure and just plain limitless material needs that makes him or her need the money. it can be various of reasons but to some people...money is GOD....it may sound weird but it's true to a certain extent....(again...it is only opinion...)..Furthermore, for some, getting loans from banks are tedious and complex process, hence, the best and fastest way to get immediate cash is via loaning from the loan sharks...

As far as I'm concern, I think...all of us should and must be living moderately, spend moderately..Don't over-spend or buy unnecessary things...save it for the future...My dad used to say...you mustn't live beyond your means...well...saying it is easy but doing it is very hard with the current environment that all of us are in nowadays....plus, the most important theory of demand states that human needs are unlimited, so our demand for things changes all the time...it is really up to us to decide how we want to live our lives....the choice is obviously is ours...God has give us a brain to think...so think wisely.......

Have a good day....

PS: the pic is taken from malay mail.com

ET go home.........

Wow...it's been a week since I last write. Kinda miss writing actually. Anyways, I was a bit bogged down with stuff and that's the reason why I was rather late in updating this blog..

Last thursday, an old friend from my high-school years rang me up and told me about a football match against some team consisting of mat sallehs. I said to him, well, I don't have a football boot but I don't mind playing. So I got myself a cheap boot and played for the team consisting of Victorian Batch 94. Seriously though, I've not met some of them for years and it was funny seeing them again as some of us has changed a lot. Me included!!! It was fun but I know I'm not 18 anymore so for most of the time on the pitch I just jog around. We won the match anyways!! Hahahahaha


On Saturday the 30th of May, myself, together with my wife and my sis, we organized a surprised party for my mom and dad's 60th birthday at Thaibase Restaurant in Bandar Sri Damansara. My wife and I had earlier went to the place to do the the booking for about 30 people. We were quite surprised with the attendance during the night as almost everyone that we've invited (my mom's best friends) decided to come. THe best part was, my mom didn't have a clue that her kids is organizing a party for her.

The look on her face when she arrived at the restaurant was priceless. Obviously, she shed few tears when she saw her mom (my atok), her brothers and sisters and of course her friends...She was really SURPRISED!! My mom and dad did received lots of gifts from the guests and us included!!

It was a fun outing actually. The food served were very tasty and fast. If I have a comment to be made during the night, was, the drinks served were to slow. Other than that, the cake, the food, the service, I must say it was great...The best of all, the price!! I can tell you, it was very affordable. I wouldn't dare to say cheap...but affordable. Less than RM500 for the food for 30 people, plus the cake and drinks...

ANyhoos...Happy Birthday Ibu and Ayah.....