Speed and adrenaline!

I had quite an experience last night. Went out for dinner with a friend last nite who had just purchased a brand new spanking BMW Z4 roadster. After dinner, he said, "Wanna take the wheels for a spin?" I said "ok". I did not know that his "spin" was to get on the highway and drive all the way to Tanjung Malim!!!

When we got into the highway via Jalan Duta, he stopped at the side. He lowered the top and I was complaining b'cos hey this is M'sia and u don drive with your top down unless u wan to lose 5 years of your life from pollution! He said, "Relax Bro and hold on tight". Then off we went! He was weaving in and out of traffic and on clear stretches my heart almost dropped as the speedometer touched 240km/h!!! And all this with the roof down! Guess how long it took us to reach Tg Malim? 18 freaking minutes! And the roads were not exactly clear all the way! I think my errrr.....man-defining parts was almost at my throat at times!

The best part was yet to come. When we reached Tg Malim, had a teh tarik and decided to head back, he said, "Bro, here are the keys. Your turn!" Alrite!!!!! Eased into the highway and the machine handled like a dream. Extremely stable due to low centre of gravity and very steering-sensitive. After familiarising meself with the car, I started to accelerate. 140, 150, 160. Don feel a thing! Then 170, 180 and finally 200! I have finally driven 200km/h on a road car! Then went to 220 and decided, alrite boy u've had your moment of fun and it's time to reach home safely. Couldn't do the journey in 18 mins, only 30 mins. Still pretty fast tho!

Yeah, me and the Z4. You and me will be re-united again!

Is it perception or fact?

Why do local companies think that foreigners are better employees? I am sure you have heard of foreigners being employed in being paid triple or quadruple the salary of a local for doing the same job. Are they really that good? Are locals really inferior, esp compared to the "Gwai-Lo"?

One of my previous employers did employ a "Gwai-lo" thinking he could do a much better job. Paid him in USD and provided him w apartment and car as well. Was he really worth it? No way! He was good in his work but I am sure my boss could have found a Malaysian who is just as capable if he was willing to pay a little more than market rate(Still much lower than the amount paid to the Gwai-Lo). My boss kept on singing praises for him and this caused a very tense working environment as the other staff started to distance themselves from Gwai-Lo. Eventually many left. Donno whether he is still there.

My friend who works in ESPN Singapore was also unfortunate as he and abt 20 others(All locals) were laid off b'cos of cost cutting measures. The word was ESPN was spending a bomb on football pundits like Steve McMahon and all the other former footballers they invite as guest pundits. Thus to cut costs, someone had to make way and unfortunately it was the locals. I wonder how much our Shebby Singh gets paid!

Sigh..... Are we really inferior to the "Gwai-Los". I certainly don think so but then why are employers willing to pay so much for foreigners but unwilling to go a little higher for locals? Inferiority Complex? U tell me! The only area which I feel most Gwai-los have advantage over us is their PR skills!

Do you think Keane is a good buy?

Liverpool signed Robbie Keane today for 20.3m quid. Finally, we have signed someone of stature. This signing has got me a little excited as I think he wld complement Torres nicely. But then, what wld Rafa's formation be? Will he play two strikers upfront now or stick to his 4-5-1? Can Gerrard, Keane and Torres all play together? It would be exciting to find out once the season starts. Can't wait!

PS : To David Levy(Spurs chairman), who claims that Liverpool "robbed" Keane from Spurs, stop dreaming! You got 20m quid for him, so shut up and go and buy 10 new players like you do every year!(And still fail to finish in top 6)

Should Joey Barton be given another chance?

I read today that Joey Barton(JB) is to be released from prison soon. He got out early from his 6 months prison sentence due to good behaviour. Good Behaviour??? Joey Barton and good behaviour cannot be mentioned in the same sentence. To the uninitiated, JB is one of the most indisciplined players ever to play in the English Premier League. He has stubbed a junior player's eye with a cigarette, beaten up people after drinking sessions at local pubs, bared his bottom to opposing team supporters and beaten teammate's faces to a pulp in training(That's y he was sentenced to 6 months prison term).

His manager in Newcastle, Kevin Keegan is hoping he has learnt his lesson and is welcoming him back with open arms(Obviously cos Newcastle paid s'thing like 10m quid for him). My question here is, do you think he deserves another chance? My personal opinion is he shd be banned from football for good. He is a disgrace to the game as he just continues to get himself into trouble each time he is given another chance. I am all for giving people opportunities to repent but JB is just beyond help. I can't think of another player with as bad a disciplinary record as him. So Keegan, sack him please!

A ray of sunlight!

With all the political gloom hovering over us daily, it is such a breath of fresh air when you read abt Malaysians that bring glory to our country. Over the past 2 weeks, our sportsmen/women have brought tremendous success to our country. Unfortunately they have been put in the shade due to the coverage given to our political circus. I would like to salute the following :

1)GAVIN Kyle Green(Golf) - winner of the under-14 World Golf Championships in the US

2)Men's senior and junior 5-men bowling teams - Winner of the World Bowling Championships 2008 (Senior) and Junior Asian Championships 2008 (Junior)

3)Nicol David(World No 1), Ong Beng Hee(World no 9) and Azlan Iskandar(World no 10)

4)Men's archery team - Silver medallist in recent world championships and world no 4.

To all these people : Great job! Best of luck and thank you for bringing us positive news!

New Malaysian words!

Received this in the mail today. Hilarious!!!

Words Malaysians can incorporate into their daily lives:

"Anwarized" - meaning: To get back-stabbed.. i.e. People who have been anwarized may contact the DPM's hotline

"Badawized" - meaning: To be stupified ...........i.e. Malaysians seem to be badawized by the media which reports biased news

"Najibbed" - meaning: To be blown to bits .....i.e. In this country,you better be careful with what you say, you can be najibbed otherwise

"Petrad" - meaning: To be exposed ...........i.e. Lately the BN coalition has been petrad in many ways

"KayJayed" - meaning: To shout for no reason i.e. He kayjayed in the Dewan and appeared like a moron

"Balaed" - meaning: To vanish suddenly i.e. They opposition balaed from the meeting in protest

"Lingamed" - meaning: To repeat redundantly i.e. The Information Minister lingamed the same rubbish in the debate recently.

"Soileked" - meaning: To be caught on tape i.e. People have stopped using budget hotels as they are afraid of being soileked.


As short Malaysian fiction :
Altantuya was cold bloodedly najibbed after she attempted to petra Najib for anwarising her and not making the promised payments.
Razak was badawized into covering up for Najib while Najib balaed from the scene. Razak was actually anwarized.
However Najib lingamed that he had nothing to do with it and has been kayjaying on the topic in an attempt to prove his innocence.
Nevertheless, some quarters have been threatening that they have soileked evidence that Najib was involved.

To Love Malaysia, is to know Malaysia"

Oops! Slight mistake!

In my previous blog, I mentioned that the PM and DPM has approved purchase of Trengganu's infamous Mercedez Benzs. Sorry, my mistake. But wait! The story now is that they have not approved it for the Trengganu's State exco but these cars are only for the usage of foreign dignitaries and on official functions only! My questions now are :

1)How many foreign visitors does the Trengganu state govt get in a month?
2)Even if there are, what official functions do they attend other than state dinners etc? R u saying that these VIPs will have to use other vehicles when they go sight-seeing?
3)While waiting for foreign dignitaries, are these cars going to be left idle and rot in some garage somewhere?
4)3.43m has been wasted. Is anyone going to be accountable for it or is everyone going to get off scot-free as usual?

I have a better idea. Why don the govt give these cars to any Malaysian or organisation who has brought glory to the nation? Sportsmen/women like Nicol David or our national bowlers deserve them. Our Everest conquerors deserve them. Charitable organisations who can sell these cars and put the funds to good use deserve them. And please no one tell me our space monkey Sheikh deserves it. I will smack u in the mouth!