Dare to Dream

Often, we always see people day-dreaming. Now, the question is always: is it good?

Dream is a very important part of our lives. Dream is the place where we can think without using our sense of logic, without boundaries and without limitations. This is where ideas come about and ideas are very important part about being human

I have heard of a story of how a scientist came about with the molecular structure of benzene ring. The scientist who came about with the theory that the benzene molecular structure was in the form of a ring was Friedrich August Kekule. The theory was developed when he was day-dreaming that a snake had bitten its own tail.

No doubt not everyone can be like Kekule. However, without day-dreaming, how can we think about the unthinkable?

Why The Notion of Changing the Official Religion to Christianity Is Not From The Opposition or ex-PKM Members

Based on what I have read, there's only one possibility of such a notion spreading in Malaysia. And I can give you a clear account of why I think the opposition is not involved:

1. DAP members who were alleged to have wanted Christianity to be the official religion of Malaysia are people who had been reprimanded through our dear Internal Security Act (ISA). And that very person is Mr. Lim Guan Eng who was detained under ISA in Ops Lalang in the late 1980s. Being a person who has been to Kamunting, he's definitely not that stupid to say something that detrimental to his political career in public. Likewise, the majority of the people in the opposition party will not be that stupid to say something that stupid. These people in the opposition party are fully aware that if they had said anything like that, they will be in jail within 24 hours for 2 years. That's probably a mistake that nobody wants to make.

2. It sounds even more ridiculous when you think that Christian priests will come up with the notion to change the official religion of the country to Christian. Firstly, Christian priests are people who are not aggressive. Knowing fully well that the religion of the majority in Malaysia is Islam, it sounds totally non-sensical that they would come up with such a notion. Secondly, Malaysians in general are brought up to be people who are 'kiasi'. And people will not want to end up in jail simply because of something stupid that they have said (note: going to jail for at least two years without any trial and subject to extension by the Home Minister)

3. Mr. Ibrahim Ali has come up with the suggestion that ex-PKM people are infiltrating powerful NGOs and pushing for the official religion of the country to be changed to Christianity. Firstly, do Communists even believe in a religion? Obviously they don't believe in religion. Secondly, if indeed they are existent, would it not be more resource-effective to come up with the notion to change our country from a democratic country into a communist one? Why would they want to waste their resources on coming up with such a notion when they don't even believe in the notion? Based on the above two reasoning, it is impossible that ex-PKM members are responsible in spreading such lies'

4. Currently, the Home Ministry has not issued any directives to arrest anyone. Just recall the time when Mr. Anwar Ibrahim was detained under ISA. There was a big hoo-hah created just to detain a 61-year-old man who doesn't carry any firearm. The convoy who detained Anwar was like a convoy to detain 'Botak Chin'. If the notion to change the official religion of the country was indeed said by a person in the opposition party, I'm sure that the same convoy of cops would have been mobilized to detain whoever came up with the notion

Having ruled out the possibilities of the opposition party and ex-PKM members coming up with the notion to change the official religion of the country, there seems like only one party remaining who might just have come up with the notion.

*** Note: This blog post above only represents the opinion of the author and written to neither sway the opinion of its readers nor jeopardize the harmony currently existing in the country. It has been written for the sole purpose of externalizing the author's thoughts and nothing else through his train of thoughts using logic and reasoning skills and is no way a vessel of any parties whether ruling or opposition. The author is a member of neither the ruling coalition nor the opposition coalition and strongly believes in peace and harmony in a heterogenous society where everyone lives in symbiosis. ***

Why Malaysia Can Never Be A Truly Developed Nation

I have never believed that Malaysia will never be a truly developed nation. It is only recently that I've actually managed to find out why this is as such. First of all, what do you define a developed nation in the first place? The normal definition for developed nation is when the economy becomes a high-income encomony. Hence, I have searched for the definition of a high income economy here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_income_economy

"A high-income economy is defined by the World Bank as a country with
a Gross National Income per capita of $12,196 or more in 2009"

Yes, we might just be able to achieve this criteria considering the fact that the USD is collapsing and the fact that life in Malaysia is getting better. However, let me just take a different approach in defining developed country

A developed country is a country where the society is developed and refined. What does developed and refined means? A developed society is a society that occupies the moral high ground. Qualities such as courteous, selflessness and patriotism should be emphasized in the society. Why do I consider these qualities paramount to a developed nation? Just imagine a nation with income per capita of higher than USD20,000 but the residents of the country are habitual queue-cutters and demonic drivers, like in Malaysia. If this is the case, what really makes us human as compared to other so-called 'lowly' animals? What is the point of earning more than others when we're morally unsound?

For those of you who do not know, I often take public transport to work during my internship period. Taking public transport really gives you a whole new perspective to the Malaysian attitude and culture. There are times when you feel like Malaysia as a whole has matured as a society with courtesy as one of its core values. However, there are some things that saddens me more than anything else.

The public transport in Malaysia, as you and I know, isn't the most efficient public transport system in the world. During peak hours the public transportations will always be full. However, it only takes a little bit of effort just to go into the bus/train (not hovering near the entrance) so that everyone else behind you can enter the bus. This simple gesture of being considerate goes a long way to letting other people enter the bus/train. If you don't believe what I have just said, take the bus during peak hours and you will notice that you can actually stand very comfortably in the innermost part of the bus when your fellow passangers near the door is struggling to find a place to stand.

The following are the few qualities that I think a high-income/developed societies should have:
1. Courteous
2. Selfless (has big-picture view)
3. Responsible
4. Efficient (maximise use of time)
5. Considerate

With that, I'm signing off for the day

Why is Brain Drain Happening?

Based on my personal observation, Malaysia is a very nice country. We have a peaceful country, unlike many countries where civil war is a commonality. We have a fairly robust economy where everyone is allowed to earn a living. We also happen to be a country that is blessed with not many natural disasters. If you're a citizen of Malaysia, what else could you ask for?

Let me state the fact. We have produced many young, bright and talented people. The list of names of former Malaysians (emphasis on former) who have made it big in another country is almost countless.

It was only recently that a former Malaysian became the head prosecutor in a state in the United States. Now, this is where the media will put that person's name in one of the first few pages in their newsprint. It appears to me that we seem to want to claim credit for having a former (once again) Malaysian serving as a head prosecutor in the United States. As far as I'm concerned, I have no interest in knowing who the person is.

Have we asked why so many bright people left?
I have a theory about why so many people left our beloved country to work elsewhere in the world. A layman would typically tell you one of the following standard answers:
1. Better job prospects overseas
2. Higher salary
3. Better lifestyle

Of the three, there is a 90% probability that people will say the first two answers. But as I thought about it, I discovered that these are only minor factors that led to so many bright students leaving the country to serve another country.
The Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs states that there are 5 different levels of needs; physiological, safety, love/belonging, esteem, self-actualization. These levels of needs are satisfied from the lower-most column in the pyramid to the top-most column in the pyramid. The top-most column in the pyramid can be deemed as the least-important need, or so people thought.

Based on my observation, the average Malaysian would have already satisfied the bottom-most column in the hierarchy. Now, put yourself in the shoes of one of the brightest student in Malaysia. Safety will definitely not be a problem.

Technically, the next point of consideration should be love/belonging (friends and family). However, this is not happening in Malaysia's brightest students because esteem (self-esteem, confidence, respect by others) has replaced love/belonging as the third column. They have valued items listed under Esteem as more important than feeling love/belonging.

Why is this happening?
For those of you who have left your home to study in another place, you will know that it is very difficult to leave your hometown and parents to study elsewhere. It is not easy for most people to leave behind everything that they have built in Malaysia behind; the friends and family who you will dearly miss.

Based on my observation, the brightest students are feeling that their effort and talent is not appreciated by the nation. Yes, the other factors that they left are job opportunities and better income abroad. But in this case, the brightest have felt singled out and not recognized as well as appreciated.

Personally, I have heard of a case where a 4A-STPM student being offered a place in the University to study Biotechnology (Biotechnology is her 7th option in her UPU application form). Last I checked, she has since left the country to study in NUS, Singapore. I'm guessing that she has no plans of returning after completing her studies

There are times when I ask myself, what will happen if this 'tragedy' repeats itself for 100 other students? It basically means that we have lost 100 of our brightest future leaders (bear in mind that they're our brighest students)

Gender Equality: Are We Serious About It?

It has been many centuries that women has been looked down upon as the weaker sex. From the beginning of civilization, women has been deemed to be weaker and it was in the 1970s or 1980s that gender equality has increased in prominence.

It is not that gender equality has never been discussed in the past. It has been discussed by many great philosophers of the past. In fact, feminism/gender equality dates back to the 1800s where the idea of feminism was started by John Stuart Mill, a philosopher from England who created the 'harm principle'. In the modern world, gender equality has become almost a universally accepted principle and all women are granted the same rights as other men, e.g. right to equal pay. However, there are times that you will see women getting lower pay compared to their male counterparts. The rationale given are numerous.

I am a believer of gender equality. I have always believed that women should and must enjoy the rights enjoyed by men. However, there are times when women who lay their claim on gender equality AND still want to maintain that they should get preferential treatment by their male counterparts. This is what I would call too much

Not too long ago when gender equality was not something that is in vogue, men used to buy the ladies that they like drinks, presents and so on. Women have always been the passive party in relationships and they have always had and expected men to approach them. And this mindset has continued to be the main belief of many modern women

This is something that I find hypocritical: What is with the double-standard when laying claim on gender equality? Claiming gender equality has always been fine with me. I will always treat my female friends as equals. But women who expect men to do everything for them and still want to lay a claim on gender equality will only be utter hypocrisy. In life, you win some you lose some. You don't win everything and lose nothing. So if you expect to be treated equally, please start to treat others equally

Here's what I think an understanding lady can do:
1. If men offer to buy you something or do something for you, please let them do it. After all, they are willing when they offer. Otherwise, it will be better if you ask first if they're willing. Worst-case-scenario: going dutch. Not that you're going to lose anything anyway. Imagine that you're dining at a very upclass restaurant and you have to pay for two. Your monthly salary/allowance will dry up in no-time
2. Not all men are created equal. After all, we're still humans. Some men are just more timid while others are more confident. Do not expect all men to be the same. If you're interested in a guy, please use stronger indicators, not indicators that guys don't even understand. It's sometimes very difficult for some guys to read women's body language

So, to the ladies, please be more understanding to guys. We're not gods, we're only humans and we're not perfect
For the guys, if you think that the content of this post is rational, please tell your female friends about this

Disclaimer: This post is the opinion of the author alone and does not represent the opinion of any other individuals. It may represent the opinion of some people. You are entitled to your own opinion. The expression of your opinion is entirely up to you

Auditor Passed Away From Overworking

There was a report in international newspapers that a lady who is an auditor with PwC Shanghai passing away from acute cerebral meningitis infection. Cerebral meningitis is defined as the inflammation of the meninges which is the thin outer layer of the brain. And like all other inflammation, the section of the meninges that is inflamed will swell and be damaged when the cells are pressed against the skull. Based on some of the reports that I have read, it appears that the symptoms of cerebral meningitis is headache / migraine and fever

[Source: http://shanghaiist.com/2011/04/15/25-year-old_shanghai_auditor_worked_to_death.php]

At another report that I read, it is reported that auditors working 100 hours per week is very common considering the peak period for reporting. And it is reported that this girl has worked more than 110 hours per week. I have to admit that this is a little bit too much considering that you only have 168 hours per week for everything (including sleep)

My thoughts
I have always had the belief that auditors in Malaysia should be paid higher than what they are paid now. I can't speak on behalf of other auditors who are not in Malaysia because I don't know how their pay scale is like. An auditor in a medium or small firm will be paid between RM2,000 to RM2,500 (smaller firms pay even less).

This is even lower than Engineers and commercial accountant by a lot. A simple comparison between Big 4 accounting firms and MNC Engineers will tell the whole story. Auditors in Big 4 accounting firms are paid approximately RM2,700 at current market rate whereas Engineers in MNCs are paid at least RM3,000. Some are paid even more. And all this is despite the fact that Auditors and Engineers are both professionals. And both Auditors and Engineers are knowledge workers

It is high time that we reward knowledge workers more handsomely than non-knowledge workers e.g. administrative staff. My rationale that we should pay knowledge workers more handsomely is because knowledge has value-add but administrative work does not have value-add. Considering that the Malaysian government is always talking about Vision 2020, all I can say is "You have to pay for the best brains". Without breaking free from this trend, Malaysia will never become a high-income nation

Recently, my friend said a very interesting quote:

"You pay Peanuts

You get Monkeys"

Disclaimer: This is not a shot at auditors being lowly-paid people. The author strongly feels that auditors should be paid for the amount of work that they are doing, not just paid what their bosses think they should be paid

Earthquakes: What are they?

I just came back from Trinity Home a while ago and sat down with my sister watching the news on CNN. Turns out that there was a 7.4 magnitude earthquake in Japan again, off the coast of Miyagi prefecture. The tsunami that struck Japan on 11th of March hit the town of Sendai which is the capital of Miyagi prefecture. The latest earthquake that has just occurred is an aftershock of the initial 9.0 magnitude earthquake that happened on 11th of March

Miyagi prefecture (Source: wikipedia.org)

Just some background on aftershocks for you:

An aftershock is an earthquake that occurs after a previous earthquake, the mainshock. An aftershock is in the same region of the main shock but always of a smaller magnitude. If an aftershock is larger than the main shock, the aftershock is redesignated as the main shock and the original main shock is redesignated as a foreshock. Aftershocks are formed as the crust around the displaced fault plane adjusts to the effects of the main shock

(Source: www.en.wikipedia.org/earthquake#aftershocks)

Please support Japan in going through all the difficulty that they are currently going through. Lets gather our strength to pray for the people who had passed on and for those who remain in this world to clean up the mess that was caused by all the challenges that the Japanese are facing. In the mean time, let us also learn our lessons from the difficulties that the Japanese are facing in this troubled times