Creativity Blockage

That old jalopy of mine.

My trusty jalopy no more.

The sad thing is that I wasn't driving it myself when this mishap happened. At that spur of moment when a 'distant' colleague of mine had a rush errand to run and requires an open-bedded carrier for an oversize consignments that can't fit into a sedan.

Jargons

Below are list of terms I have been using in the course of my work;

Anodized Titanium Composite Panels
Pewter Finished Nautilus Staircase
Frameless Glass Wall on Stainless Steel Cable
Diamond Shaped Precast Concrete Panels
Frameless Glass Ceiling Light Systems
Fritted Glass Rainscreen System

Maybe I could enclose some pictorial explanation on each items mentioned above.

Soccer Kids tv3

What are the odds a true blue soccer fan watching Malaysian U13 kids playing against a relatively unknown kid soccer club from the land of the rising sun amidst Euro 08 fever and to the lesser extent SUKMA games in KT?

But there I was, cheering and having heart stopping moments watching a replay of a match scantly significant only to those who managed to fill up the half full Shah Alam Stadium that evening.

Never had I feel such a 'patriotic' feeling over any Malaysian soccer team over quite some time. The last being that night in 1980 when Hassan Sani 'jolok' the ball to James Wong to score against South Korean for the ticket to Moscow Olympics. Well not quite, there were few other moments; one night that we won the Sea Games soccer gold medal in 1989, later our homegrown Suparman scored one of the goal from halfway line on that crazy 5-3 scoreline with the Thais.

My last full paying stadium attendance as a fan was in 1986 when Selangor hosted Singapore to a scoreless draw at Stadium Merdeka! That showed how remote I was with the current Malaysian soccer scene. I guess the soccer kids has whetted up my appetite to demand for a good showing of Malaysian senior team at the Sea Games. I just hope these kids, when they do grow up and realised their potential, wont be spoiled by wrong people who helm most of the FA around the country.

USA Kamunting

I came across this article in CounterPunch

Calling the Kettle Black
U.S. Hypocrisy and the Malaysian Guantánamo
By JOANNE MARINER
"It's Malaysia's Guantanamo," the woman told me. I was visiting Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, last week, to talk to an activist from a local human rights group. The group, SUARAM, has been leading a fierce campaign to abolish Malaysia's Internal Security Act (ISA), a law under which more than 70 men are currently held in preventive detention.
Some of the men are suspected of belonging to Jemaah Islamiyah, a militant Islamist group responsible for terrorist bombings in Bali and elsewhere. Others are accused of common crimes like forgery. What they have in common--and what links them to detainees at Guantanamo--is that they are being held in long-term detention without charge or trial.

Guantanamo and Kamunting
While their purported concern for detainees at Guantanamo was opportunistic, at best, the Malaysian authorities have a point. No country has a perfect human rights record, and it would be folly to insist that only countries with outstanding records have the moral standing necessary to point out others' shortcomings. Still, it is not easy for the U.S. government--as it fights to prevent detainees at Guantanamo from challenging their imprisonment in court--to give convincing lessons to Malaysia on these issues.

A Malaysian at Guantanamo
Last year, Mohd Farik Bin Amin, one of two Malaysian detainees held at Guantanamo, was granted an administrative hearing. One of the questions he asked was whether the Malaysian government could demand his extradition.
It's not much of a choice: indefinite detention at Guantanamo or indefinite detention under the ISA. Hopefully, in both countries, fairer options will soon emerge.
Joanne Mariner is a human rights lawyer.

Give myself a pat on the back!!!

Subtle Vote

I have done my part in ensuring the democratic rights of my fellow citizen are being upheld. Back to keeping tabs on the latest news around the country. Just want to share what I found last night from what I would termed as an unlikely source. I am feeling good inside. However I am not at liberty to reveal or link the website. Have to find it yourself.

Election Fever

Having been 'in-communicado' for almost a year without regular updates in this blog, I am very much awaken with flurry of activities around. Now that I am almost having a 'regular' timetable and a slew of 'helpers' (well actually only one, but managed to make others become helpers since the one assigned is totally helpless), I think could slip in few sentences from time to time.

Yes, it's election time again folks. The general feeling is comparable to the one I had in 1999. The only difference this time around; the opposition are more mature and showing some form of organization and a sense of direction. The Anwar factor is no longer the 'main' thrust but has transformed and evolved into a viable alternative front acceptable to the much polarized opposition parties.

I am only contributing towards an insignificant portion of the cause. Too small to be noticed by anybody and too lame by any standard. I only told my growing kids of my stand I took way back in 1997 of the then developing event that has led to this year's election phenomenon. I am voting for the future generation.

Election Manifesto Option

You can access it at the following URL:
http://www.malaysiathinktank.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=96&Itemid=28

History doesn't favor lame-duck coaches for UT, A&M

By Suzanne Halliburton

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Thursday, November 22, 2007
No doubt, Texas-Texas A&M is one of the most significant rivalries in college football. For one Friday every late November, the game even trumps loyalty to families and friends based on whether someone's preferred hand sign hooks or gigs.
But tradition also suggests that the game's outcome rarely helps a potential lame duck coach fighting to keep his job.

That doesn't bode so well for A&M's Dennis Franchione, who may be coaching his final game as the leader of the Aggie football program.
In the past half-century, there have been a total of 12 coaching changes from both schools. Jackie Sherrill, who was forced out at A&M in 1988 because of NCAA issues, is the only coach from either team who won his final game against the archrival.
The main reason the game doesn't save an embattled coach is that the rivalry — college football's third-longest — features so few upsets. The results have kept the season's status quo, and the lack of drama makes it easier for the athletic directors to write up a pink slip.
The series dates back to 1894, with Texas owning a 73-35-5 record over the Aggies. A&M knocked off the favored Longhorns last year, 12-7. Before 2006, Texas had won six straight games over the Aggies and eight of the past 10.
Another reason the outcome doesn't figure into a coach's future is because by late November, the termination decision already has been made.
"Had I won that (last) game," said former Texas coach David McWilliams, "I don't think it would have mattered."
McWilliams already had set a meeting with UT athletic director DeLoss Dodds before his team traveled to College Station for the 1991 season finale. Although he'd been given a five-year contract extension in 1990, McWilliams was planning to resign even before the Longhorns' 31-14 loss.
A&M's R.C. Slocum, who participated in 30 Texas games, coached his last one in 2002. He said this week he had no idea that the 2002 Longhorn game would be his final one as a coach.
Five days before the Aggies traveled to Austin, A&M freshman Brandon Fails collapsed in his dorm room and died hours later at a local hospital. Slocum was the one who told Fails' parents their son had passed away. He said he spent the rest of the week preparing for Texas and planning a funeral.
The Aggies lost by 30 to Texas. By that Sunday, Slocum was recruiting in Dallas, visiting the homes of several of his 18 commitments when he received the news he'd been fired.
He doesn't believe a win would have made a difference.
"Probably not," Slocum said. "The things I've heard since then, they already had made the deal (with Franchione)."
The turnaround was even quicker the last time Texas hired a coach in 1997. John Mackovic — Mack Brown's predecessor— coached his final game for the Longhorns, a 27-16 loss to A&M. His termination came less than 24 hours after the team buses arrived in Austin from College Station. Brown was hired and introduced to fans within six days.
There are differing plotlines for Friday's game. Brown, who received a new contract and a $250,000 raise in August, is hoping his team wins its 10th game of the season. A victory could put Texas into the Big 12 title game and make the Longhorns an attractive at-large candidate for a BCS berth.
Meanwhile, the Aggies' theme is whether they can make a bowl game and whether Franchione would be there to coach them.
For much of the past month, Franchione has denied that he's already agreed to a buyout of his contract. So it's unknown whether Friday's game will be his last as an Aggie.
He could be like former Texas coach Fred Akers, who in 1986 ended his post-game press conference following a 16-3 defeat to A&M by telling a group of local reporters that he'd see them next season.
Two days later, Dodds called a news conference. It took him about three minutes to announce that Akers was gone.