Malaysian Restaurant Service Tax

A recent article from The Star Online reported that now only 435 restaurants are still eligible to charge service tax from 1 July 2008 after the government increased sales threshold from RM500,000 to RM3 million. There used to be 4,800 restaurants that can legally charge service tax. You can find the list of the 435 restaurants here. So fellow consumers, BEWARE!

I would like to add that The Star Online article stated that we can check on the list of the restaurants from the customs website, so naturally, I went to our government portal www.gov.my to look for it. I tried a search but nothing came up. Guess what gave me the right website? Google. Sigh...

Merdeka Eve Donut Fantasy

Tomorrow's Malaysia's 51st National Day and right now, I am fantasizing about donuts. One of the reasons was my phone bill came in this envelope:

Who Will Win @ Permatang Pauh? Anwar New Permatang Pauh MP and Opposition Leader

Who? With a lot of dirty tactics, maybe the evil one might just win, but lets not guess. The verdict will be out in a few more hours. Meanwhile, New Straits Times has an unofficial figure of 38,144 people who came out to vote earlier today.

Update 1: Based on opposition blogs by Elizabeth Wong and Lim Kit Siang, the majority goes to Anwar Ibrahim... a majority more than his wife Wan Azizah received.

Update 2: It's official. Anwar Ibrahim is back in parliament. Both Star Online and NST carry the results. Anwar 31,195, Arif Shah 15,524 and the other dude 92 votes.

INSANE: Touch 'n Go Cards Expire After 10 Years

I first read of this terrible news from Star Online and went to the Touch 'n Go website for more information... but are you kidding me? The Touch 'n Go cards can actually expire? Let me read the following again...
... From what I can understand from the above, the cards will stop functioning or be disabled once they reach their 10-year life span. This is ridiculous! What a way to make more money. Cheaters!!!

For more information, visit the totally evil Touch 'n Go website: http://www.touchngo.com.my

From flickr: Fu Long with his birthday cake

Fu Long with his birthday cake
Originally uploaded by Vera Le Bail.

What a wonderful cake!

Pandas in Malaysia? :O

Update 1 January 2009: Here we go again... another press release on hopes of us getting giant pandas from China. This time, it includes ringtail lemurs, white tigers, and golden monkeys.

According to a Star Online article last Friday, our Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim said that our Zoo Negara officials will go to China in October to discuss about the exchange for a panda with an orang utan. He mentioned that our Prime Minister had expressed his wish for a panda to signify our two countries' close ties.

I will be so happy if we do get a panda but I am more concerned with the zoo's capability in taking care of it. It is not just a mere animal. This is a panda! Where to get tonnes of bamboo that is not native here? How are our researchers able to help advance in the research and development of the panda? This is not just a play play thing or any Malaysia Boleh thing. This is a PANDA! P-A-N-D-A!

What do you think? Are we capable? We have not even settle on our political issues such as who is the next prime minister (one that swears or one that refuses to?) lest take care of a panda? But then, there is of course the fact that we have to get the agreement from China first...

More Friends' Blogs

Just added a couple of blog links of my friends as indicated by the red arrows. One is Throwing My Windows Away by my friend ascii_t (it's got nothing to do with renovations for a window-less house but instead it details his adventure in installing a non-Windows operating system) and another is by Booker because she blogs there, too! :D Booker is the first to set a new record on my blog... the only friend with two blog links.

Cheers!

From Pixdaus: Two Worlds One Dream

Two worlds but with one dream to prosper, perhaps?

Orphan Colin the Whale to be Euthanised

Few days back, when I first read that a baby humpback whale calf thought that a yacht was its mother and tried to suckle from it (video on National Geographic News) I found it funny but, instead, it was a tragedy. First of all, the calf, named Colin, was thought to be rejected by its mother. Australian rescuers had tried to lure the calf to a passing whale pod by towing the yacht out to sea in hope that Colin will find a surrogate mother but found the calf returned the next day.

Now, the condition of the calf has deteriorated with shark bite wounds and breathing difficulties. It is not expected to live past tonight. Hence, the calf will be put down after dark with a lethal dose of anaesthetic to end its suffering... a way that we humans feel is most humane.

Manga IonBuck

Finally, IonBuck's identity is revealed! My buddy andrewk made a manga version of me. I particularly like the smiley on the round neck T-shirt. Thanks, bud!

Worm-Like Snake

Not only is Leptotyphlops carlae the smallest snake, it might possibly be the smallest possible snake, said biologist Blair Hedges. Any smaller, its offspring might not be able to find food and consume insects on its own. At about 10cm, it looks like an earthworm. The snake, found in Barbados, is on the verge of extinction due to deforestation and the fact that the species only live in the remaining few square kilometers of forest.

Source: National Geographic News "World's Smallest Snake Discovered, Study Says"

Some Positive Politics?

While our country, riddled with racial and criminal activities such as corruption and increase in crime rate, faces a possible economic downturn, radical Islamic opposition party PAS' 10,000 strong non-Muslim supporters propose a new-wing called Dewan Penyokong PAS. Meanwhile, Gerakan, a component party of the current ruling coalition, contemplates the issue of pulling out.

Are these signs of hope?

INSANE Despicable Humans: Farm Animal Cruelty

I'm a regular meat eater and I love to eat meat. Nothing compares to meat. However, because us humans cannot do without vegetables, I have to take them, too. Not that I don't like vegetables. I used to dislike them, but nowadays, they are ok. Nothing compares to meat, though. However, the following video proves to be very disturbing. It shows how farm animals, pigs, chicken and cows, are treated in farms in the United States. Caged in cramped spaces to the verge of insanity, beaks cut off without regards to pain, modified feeds to obtain the best meat and weak animals left to die are some of the real life issues faced by these animals highlighted in the video. Now we can understand why there are many vegetarians out there. Not meant to be insensitive, I shall remain to be a meat person for now. Maybe one day I will turn vegetarian, too.

Source: Celsias "A Win for Animal Cruelty Prevention; Factory Farming Practices Ruled Not Humane"

A Working Saturday *sob*

Gasp! Today is a working Saturday for me. It has been a loooooooooong time since my last working Saturday. Woke up early like any other working day and went to work. The only benefit that I can see for a working Saturday is the road has less cars. Other than that... well, I really don't like to work on Saturdays! :(

On a positive note, it's a half day and it's alternate... but still... WORKING SATURDAYS! NOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooo...

Limited to No Internet Access

Gone for a short break the last few days and had no access to internet. Initially, before I left, I had a sense of doom... WHAT? NO INTERNET FOR SO MANY DAYS? But in the end, those internet-less days were not so bad after all. Had plenty of moments to relax instead of sitting in front of a computer (do people still call them computers these days? Or are they PCs or laptops or notebooks?). Still, all my internet addiction broke loose when I came back last night. :P

Well, looks like my internet access will continue to be limited (night time @ home only) as I will be going for long sessions of training for weeks or even months. :(

Finally, It Rains

At last, the sky opened up and now it is raining, washing away weeks of dust and haze from the air! Not to mention the cooling effect! Aaah... can you smell the rain?

INSANE: Motorola's New Co-CEO Package

I am totally envious with what the new co-CEO of Motorola, Sanjay Jha, is getting (according to the Fortune blog):

The new guy will have plenty of incentive to make good on that pledge to turn Moto’s phone business around. On top of his $1.2 million salary and annual cash bonus of up to $2.4 million, Jha’s welcome package includes personal use of the corporate jet, relocation expenses, a promise to make him whole if he loses money on the sale of his home in San Diego, and another promise to pay him $30 million in cash if Motorola fails to spin off the cell phone division before November 2010. He will be entitled to stock options worth 3% of the mobile devices division if it is made independent before that deadline. And of course, there are the equity awards: 3.67 million restricted stock units with a present value of more than $35 million, which he will receive over the next three years; and an option to buy 16.6 million shares at current prices.

And I had corn flakes for lunch. :(

10 Seconds Exposure Along the Highway

Took this photo early in the morning while traveling along the North-South Highway. Manually set the shutter speed to 10 seconds and adjusted the aperture to f/5.6. No skill here. I just like f/5.6 at that time and 10 seconds seem quite reasonable to get long streaks of lights. Further enhanced the photo using curves with the open source photo editing software, Gimp.

Taken with my faithful Panasonic DMC-FZ30. :D Still hopping to get a compact carry every where camera... but that would probably be next year... and beyond (!!!). Another Panasonic? Or a Fuji Finepix? Or the more commercialised Canon or Nikon? Hmmm... whichever that fits my requirement at the time of purchase, I guess.

Brace for Another Haze Season

Update: The Malaysia Meteorological Department reported that the hotspots have since reduced to 284 due to more water vapour and moisture in the atmosphere.

Looks like the haze season was kind of delayed this year but the report on Star Online indicates that it is now imminent. About 531 forest fire hotspots in Sumatera, Indonesia and a 40ha site as near as Dengkil, Selangor. At the moment, Port Klang is the only area with the unhealthy air classification.

From Pixdaus: Polar Coolness

What a refreshing block of iced fruits... aaah...

*Snap!* Back to reality! Back to the hot and humid weather. It had not rained for days.