NFC, new notes and Luis Suarez

As usual, I have been absent for quite a long time from my blog. Now I am back with a vengeance, to discuss the puzzling, the mind-blogging and the downright outrageous.

Disclaimer: To understand my writing, you must have a sense of humour, with a pinch of sarcasm and all your wits thrown into the mix.

National Feedlot Corporation (NFC)
The NFC is a Malaysian government initiative to increase the production of local meat and hence, reduce dependency on imported meat. Aligning with the Prime Minister's slogan of 'People First, Performance Now', there has been allegations that the NFC is doing just that. The NFC is benefiting the rakyat alright, but only a select few. And yeah, the NFC's performance is top-notch,with the Auditor-General's Report 2010 released in October stating that the NFC have failed to meet its objectives. What a shocker, isn't it? And throwing in claims that the cows under the NFC is getting excessive VIP treatment (BMWs and high class condos were involved), you get your typical dose of a ridiculously expensive, ultimately fruitless Malaysian government project. Whether the NFC scandal will head towards the direction of the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) or the SMART tunnel is still up in the air*. Oh, did I mention that RM250 million sent by the government to the NFC is allegedly misappropriated?

'I only earned that much, really!'

*I could write a pretty long post regarding the PKFZ scandal or about the SMART tunnel's failure to halt KL's floods problems, but do yourself a favour and Google it alright?

New Notes

Bank Negara recently announced that new notes and coins will be issued by the central bank July 1 next year. The new notes and coins will contain elements that reflect Malaysian culture and heritage. I admit, I am rather impressed by the new currency, but the question is: how much was spend, and will be spent for the new currency to enter circulation come next July? And more importantly, is it necessary? Shouldn't the central bank be focusing on, oh I don't know, how to ensure Malaysia doesn't go bankrupt by 2020, as claimed by Idris Jala? After all, it is Bank Negara's role as a banker and adviser to the Malaysian government to ensure Malaysia remains financially sound. Yes, I am looking at you, Europe.

'I did warned you, you know.'

Luis Suarez: racist?

Inevitably, I return to football. If you are following English football (or soccer, if you insist), you should know by now that Liverpool striker Luis Suarez has been slapped with a hefty fine and an eight match ban from the English Football Association (FA) for racially abusing Man Utd's Patrice Evra during an English Premier League match. If you didn't know before, now you know. As expected, there has been varying reactions from different parties. If you are pro-Liverpool, you will be very likely to slam the FA, and defend Suarez by saying that he isn't racist, or that Suarez abused Evra in the heat of the moment, or that Evra is a lying,cheating scumbag. Liverpool shouldn't be too worried, after all Liverpool is clearly not a one man team, and don't rely on Suarez to score/create goals. Remember, they still have Adam, Henderson, Downing, Carroll. That's sure to make opposition defenders quiver in their boots.

'Hey, at least I am better than Flop-nando Torres!'

My humble, unbiased opinion on this issue? I say that any form of racist,whether said in the heat of the moment or not, should not be tolerated at any moment during a football match where millions of people are watching, including young kids (not to say kids aren't young, it' all relative). In fact, racism should not be tolerated at all. So yes, I support the ban. It may be true that Suarez used words that are acceptable in his native Uruguay, but he is in England, and he needs to abide by the local norms. If anything, it shows the lack of cultural understanding between the English game and anything else non-English (interesting article on this issue: http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2896/premier-league/2011/12/22/2814253/liverpools-luis-suarez-should-have-known-better-but-his). Anyway, I am pretty sure the FA wouldn't risk their credibility on the word of one man, especially if that one man is Patrice Evra.

Next? John Terry.

'Who?'

Merry Christmas all. 

Less of me, More of something else

What? Two posts in two days? It's the end of the world! Oh wait, it's not. I am just overly bored. By the way, being bored does not mean that I have nothing to do (Random Fact #1).

After reading through the last few posts, I concluded that my recent posts concentrated on one subject only: me (although my inner narcissistic self will point out that I talked about exams too). Speaking of narcissism, it's actually quite an interesting topic. Serious cases of narcissism is actually considered a psychological disorder (Random Fact #2).  Anyway, the point is I am not going to talk about myself, at least not that much.

'But I am so awesome!'

Alright, first off, why do certain people call football 'soccer'? I mean American and Australian football uses less of the foot than the actual football, and yet they insists on calling those sports 'football'.  At least that's one thing that the Brits got spot on. Please note that this is just humourous banter and I am not insulting anyone. You'll be surprised at the number of people who takes things way too seriously.  

'This is football, really!'

If you didn't know, I am an avid follower of football, particularly English football. Over the last 3 weeks or so, there has been racism rows raging in the world of football. It basically started with 2 incidents, with Luis Suarez allegedly racially abusing Patrice Evra and England captain John Terry being all chummy with Anton Ferdinand. Both incidents allegedly occurred during Premier League matches. And to make matters worse, the exalted FIFA president, Sepp Blatter claimed that racist incidents in football should be forgotten by a handshake between the parties and that there is no racism in football. Right, Mr. Blatter, and I am the Prime Minister of Australia. This is the guy who has been the head of the world's governing football organisation for more than 10 years, since June 1998 in fact (Random Fact #3). You would think that Blatter would choose his comments more wisely. Well, not to say it would make much difference, since he is as credible & trustworthy as Voldemort promising not to hurt Harry Potter. I mean, the footballing world (including yours truly) considers FIFA to be nothing more than a corrupted, money-loving organisation for Blatter and his cronies.

'By golly, where's my hair?'

Malaysia's football team recently won the SEA games football gold after beating Indonesia 4-3 on penalties. Firstly, kudos to them. I think they did well to defend their tittle as SEA's best football team. However, something that irritates me is that the sheer number of people expecting a public holiday in Malaysia just because of that. I mean, come on, it's just the SEA games, it's not like Malaysia won the World Cup or even qualify for it. Malaysia has never qualify for the World Cup before (Random Fact #4), so qualifying for it would be a pretty big deal.There are some who complained that the  government is playing politics with sports when they announced a holiday after Malaysia won the Suzuki Cup last year, but these are the same group of people who moaned when no holiday was given this time round. Hypocrites, if I may say so, but understandably so. Even my Australian friends (yes, I have friends) guffawed when I told them Malaysia had an extra public holiday when Malaysia won the Suzuki Cup. 

'PM, why you no give holiday?'

Now, moving away from football. Unless you have been living under shell, you would probably know about the Euro crisis and US's rising debt. European countries such as Greece and Italy have new premiers, and the Euro continues to be in turmoil.

'At least I still have AC Milan.'

The US debt is now above $15 trillion (Random Fact #5: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-15830176), and with the Democrats and Republicans indecisive on how best to tackle the debt, this could mean not only huge implications for the US, but for the world too. I don't pretend to be an economics/finance expert, but simply look at the global financial crisis during 2008. It (more or less) started in the US, and if the US were to 'blow over' now, who knows what could happen.

'Debt, why you no go away?'

Insert Tittle Here

Alright, first off, I would like to announce that I am scratching the short story I put up for preview on my last post. Frankly, I don’t have much of a plot for that story without sounding tiresome and predictable. Thus, I apologize and I will start a new one once I have some inspiration. 

Next, I would like to explain my long absence from this blog. Well, the reason is simple really: exams. How was the exams, you ask? Let’s just say the exams were absolute torture for those who are intellectually challenged (like yours truly).

On a brighter note, I am now on holiday. I have about 2-3 months before having to return to uni of R & R. No, I did not imply that I dislike studying (as I write this, I can hardly keep a straight face). Anyway, I want to make sure that I spend this break more productively than the last. Some things on my ‘to-do’ list: write more and lose weight. Ok fine, I lied; I am not sure what I am going to do yet. I will think of something...tomorrow.  No, I am not procrastinating. How dare you suggest that?

Personally, one thing I should do this break is to rediscover myself. The year of 2011 has not been kind to me. Well, at least I thought 2011 was the year I went backwards (not literally of course) as a person. Some things have gone stale on me, and my drive & motivation are probably at an all time low. This time around, I failed to deal with adversities and let people & emotions get the better of me. I admit, I have been moody and anti-social, more than usual anyway. 

Affliction

It's that time of the year again. There are 12 weeks of classes in university for a semester, and this week will be Week 12. And you know what that means: exams are edging ever closer.

Unfortunately, the exam timetable has not been kind to me. 3 papers on 3 consecutive days, and the hardest paper is the last of the trio. Great eh?

Over the last few weeks, I was raging a internal, mental battle within the entirely empty cranium of mine (oops). I won't go into the details, but this 'mental' thing is like an affliction, some sort of mental weakness, or mental block. Needless to say, I have not been functioning at 100%. From tomorrow onwards, I am hoping, no, I  want to be committed and functioning again. I announced this to the online world hoping that this public declaration will spur me forward. Fingers crossed, or not if you hate me.

Anyway, I am currently writing a short story. Below is the unconfirmed draft of the story, just to make this post longer. Enjoy:

Ben sighed heavily and placed his pen on the table. The words and numbers of his notes swarm in and out of focus. One side of his head was throbbing, and the stuffy room he was renting wasn't helping.

He glanced at the clock. Sarah wasn't due for another hour. He skimmed through his notes one last time. It was crucial that he was sufficiently prepared for the job.

He closed the curtains, stripped and went to the bathroom to shower. He then carefully put on his tuxedo, making sure not to crease it. He perfumed himself, and gelled his dark hair. Ben turned and looked at his own reflection in the mirror. A tall, fit-looking Caucasian male in a handsome tuxedo with short, dark hair and brown eyes looked back at him. Ben cursed under his breath, and reached for his backpack for his contact lenses. He put it on, and now his eyes were green. Trivial mistakes like this can get him killed. He reached for his backpack again, and drew out his pistol. He tucked it into his blazer, and checked the time. Yes, Sarah should be here by now.

Reflection

It isn't pleasant, when you fail the one thing you perceive yourself to be good at. To add salt to the wound,  my other endeavours have also fail. It hurts to see others succeed at something you have fail at, something perhaps I have taken for granted.

Maybe it could be the best thing that ever happened to me. Like when Steve Jobs got fired from Apple (Yes, like everyone else, I am in 'appreciate Steve Jobs' mode even though I don't own a single Apple product). It could be the wake-up call I needed.

I admit, I love to make excuses for my failures. But at the back of my head, I know I am the one losing out. Whatever perceived 'failures' I experienced from the last few months, I accept my part of the blame. I hope to have learned heaps from that. What could have, should have, may have is irrelevant now. It's time to start again.

What Define's a Person (Part 2)

We only know how 'good' we are by comparing with others.

On the flip-side, we only know how 'bad' we are by comparing with others.

We often come to our own myopic conclusions by comparing personal achievements, skills & abilities, friends, family, and social life with others. Your perceptions of others and most importantly, yourself, play a huge role in determining your well-being. Let's take an obvious case: a person who has belief in his/her own capabilities tends to be more satisfied with life. In contrast, a person lacking in self-conviction is always derailed by doubts, and likely to be unhappy with life. This situation can, unfortunately, define a person.

A person can be defined by emotions. Human beings are peculiar creatures. We almost always act irrationally when we are over-ridden by emotions. Don't we all wish we had in the past control our emotions better and acted accordingly rather than letting emotions over-rule our common sense that resulted in some sort of embarrassment & loss?

What Define's a Person? (Part 1)

A person should never define himself or herself by comparing achievements and milestones with others. Otherwise, when everyone seem to be doing better than you, you will experience disillusionment and lose your self-worth and self-confidence. And the worst thing is that you could have been working hard, and yet have to settle to see others enjoy the fruit of your labor. Frustration is just the beginning.

Whatever I have painstakingly built over the last year is slowly eroding into nothingness. Call me oversensitive, but I have issues when someone I barely know intrude on my work and introduce your methods and people. Especially when what the people introduced are there to take advantage of the situation. And after what I have done, I just get side-stepped and labelled as a has-been? I face a dilemma: should I work hard & let others get the credit they don't deserve or should I do nothing & get lambasted as a consequence?

Fine, I admit, I probably messed-up somewhere along the way. Some things should have been said and done, but I never came around to it. But that's what makes us human. Mistakes are part of learning. What do you expect when an inexperienced person takes on an important role with virtually no helpful guidance? Everything to go smoothly your way? Now that is just wistful, naive thinking.

But closed doors means another door is open somewhere. Surely there are suitable opportunities out there. I can salvage what is left, and don't let the past define me. It's difficult, but there's no other choice. One cannot afford to wallow in self-pity while others make huge leaps forward. Maybe Darwin is right after all, it is really the survival of the fittest.

Note: I find it easier to write in first person view, and it produces a more dramatic effect. Don't take the 'story' on its face value.