Greetings from Cambodia!!

I’ve been in Phnom Penh, Cambodia for 2 days now, i’ll be back next year but only God knows when. It’s partly dependant on us to see how much work we can finish in the time before New Year’s. So that’s that. Just so everyone knows where am i.

Cambodia

Am i, or am i not going to Cambodia? That’s the question that’s been lingering on my mind over the weekend, and since morning today when i saw that i was allocated to a senior tied to that job. If i am, i’ll be away until next year… No Christmas, No New Year, No Raya Haji but yes to USD35-40 allowances, and all expenses and meals are paid for. I do hope to go, since it’s actually quite exciting, but then again, giving this time of the year which has been traditionally my holidays period seems hard.

I hope i do know ASAP about when i’m going. It makes planning easier. Sigh. Make plans to buy presents, and not open and not see people open them. If it is God’s will, then so be it.

the office

Hi guys, a hectic first week at office is creeping its way into my life and will soon become more than a week, lasting perpetually. Without anything to do (yet), and thus far, still lacking ambition to install MSN Messenger, without the proper software to perform proper analytical procedures, with work pending but still on someone else’s desk, and a client visit tomorrow north of my house but having to visit south to the office to get the right software installed and then head north north to get to the client’s place promises an eventful tomorrow. I’ve gotten my company bag, my bag of stationaries and whatnots that i don’t really need except for the software that is going to cost me RM9 in parking fees, and extra 45 mins of my life charged to the company for travelling which i will never claim back.

What’s the big deal about a Botak Chin movie?

Well, in a country where everyone is encouraged to be fake and pretends to be outwardly saintly in accordance to eastern traditions but is in fact rusting and decaying, the apparent national debate about one of the most notorious criminals being ‘immortalised’ in a movie becomes a worthy front-page topic. All unconcerned parties begin writing in earnest to newspapers to lend their support or question the need for such a movie.

Honestly, a lot of rubbish movies also we don’t need. And a lot of rubbish movies make money for its producers. But the point is, a movie, is in fact for entertainment and those who choose to part with hard earned money to be entertained as such, cannot be faulted. Simple economic concept this demand and supply. Nevertheless, the outrage is understandable in a country where there is belief the thinking of some of its population is “monkey see, monkey do”. 20 year old watch 18PL films also censored, so why can’t 16 year old watch 18PL film since they dont get to see anything anyway?

The advent of the television was the real beginning of mass media, providing quick information to the public. The boom of the entertainment industry pertained to it a different function. It was to entertain. Fast forward to the 21st century, with globalisation and the seamless sharing of information, we could try our best to police the sharing of information and fail, wasting time and money. It is no longer the major medium of instruction; most people have become too smart to take instructions from an idiot box.

I’ve watched Scarface, and many others too, learned from Tony Montana about the art of swearing and getting the ‘job’ done; what is the concern about Botak Chin?

Perhaps it’s the time and setting of the movie. The 70s was a volatile time. God knows what happened then. Only our parents and grandparents would know. What was he thinking? What were his ideologies? What did he see at that present day society? Will the social context of that period mirror what it is still today? Why bother taking initiatives out of our way in glorifying the police, when the truth is, scum exists there too?

The only peril i’ll think of is about the lives he has put in danger, or harmed and those suffering from his ill will even today. But it’s for entertainment’s sake, and a lesson in history. Mind you, i’m interested in how he lived his life, rather than the methodology he used in pursuing what he craved. Truth and honesty is the lesson here, so please don’t go about crystalising the virtues of our police. Stop lying to us. Stop sticking to lousy premises about how things should be done.

Show us the truth please. I’m here to support GOOD Malaysian films. Why watch Jack the Ripper when we can have Botak Chin?

Update on Angkor Wat

I’ve been busy uploading my pictures after editing them, but streamyx is slow, and instead i’ve finish summarizing my trip in my own words faster than i can upload the pics. I’ve grouped them into albums based on each temple, and will upload them as previews along with the itinerary in chronological order.

I have noticed with my night shots, by setting ISO to the max (400), i get brighter pics without flash, but the light boards turn far too bright. Hmm….. i’m not very apt with the camera. Let me know any useful knowledge for dummies. I’m using a Panasonic Lumix FX8.

Pics coming soon i swear! In the meantime, hopefully you’ll enjoy the randomly written summary of my trip.

Cheers, everyone.

While Malaysia fiddles, its opportunities are running dry by Michael Backman

MALAYSIA’S been at it again, arguing about what proportion of the economy each of its two main races — the Malays and the Chinese — owns. It’s an argument that’s been running for 40 years. That wealth and race are not synonymous is important for national cohesion, but really it’s time Malaysia grew up.

It’s a tough world out there and there can be little sympathy for a country that prefers to argue about how to divide wealth rather than get on with the job of creating it.

The long-held aim is for 30 per cent of corporate equity to be in Malay hands, but the figure that the Government uses to justify handing over huge swathes of public companies to Malays but not to other races is absurd. It bases its figure on equity valued, not at market value, but at par value.

Many shares have a par value of say $1 but a market value of $12. And so the Government figure (18.9 per cent is the most recent figure) is a gross underestimate. Last month a paper by a researcher at a local think-tank came up with a figure of 45 per cent based on actual stock prices. All hell broke loose. The paper was withdrawn and the researcher resigned in protest. Part of the problem is that he is Chinese.

“Malaysia boleh!” is Malaysia’s national catch cry. It translates to “Malaysia can!” and Malaysia certainly can. Few countries are as good at wasting money. It is richly endowed with natural resources and the national obsession seems to be to extract these, sell them off and then collectively spray the proceeds up against the wall.

This all happens in the context of Malaysia’s grossly inflated sense of its place in the world.

Most Malaysians are convinced that the eyes of the world are on their country and that their leaders are world figures. This is thanks to Malaysia’s tame media and the bravado of former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad. The truth is, few people on the streets of London or New York could point to Malaysia on a map much less name its prime minister or capital city.

As if to make this point, a recent episode of The Simpsons features a newsreader trying to announce that a tidal wave had hit some place called Kuala Lumpur. He couldn’t pronounce the city’s name and so made up one, as if no-one cared anyway. But the joke was on the script writers — Kuala Lumpur is inland.

Petronas, the national oil company is well run, particularly when compared to the disaster that passes for a national oil company in neighbouring Indonesia. But in some respects, this is Malaysia’s problem. The very success of Petronas means that it is used to underwrite all manner of excess.

The KLCC development in central Kuala Lumpur is an example. It includes the Twin Towers, the tallest buildings in the world when they were built, which was their point. It certainly wasn’t that there was an office shortage in Kuala Lumpur — there wasn’t.

Malaysians are very proud of these towers. Goodness knows why. They had little to do with them. The money for them came out of the ground and the engineering was contracted out to South Korean companies.

They don’t even run the shopping centre that’s beneath them. That’s handled by Australia’s Westfield.

Next year, a Malaysian astronaut will go into space aboard a Russian rocket — the first Malay in space. And the cost? $RM95 million ($A34.3 million), to be footed by Malaysian taxpayers. The Science and Technology Minister has said that a moon landing in 2020 is the next target, aboard a US flight. There’s no indication of what the Americans will charge for this, assuming there’s even a chance that they will consider it. But what is Malaysia getting by using the space programs of others as a taxi service? There are no obvious technical benefits, but no doubt Malaysians will be told once again, that they are “boleh”. The trouble is, they’re not. It’s not their space program.

Back in July, the Government announced that it would spend $RM490 million on a sports complex near the London Olympics site so that Malaysian athletes can train there and “get used to cold weather”.

But the summer Olympics are held in the summer.

So what is the complex’s real purpose? The dozens of goodwill missions by ministers and bureaucrats to London to check on the centre’s construction and then on the athletes while they train might provide a clue.

Bank bale outs, a formula one racing track, an entire new capital city — Petronas has paid for them all. It’s been an orgy of nonsense that Malaysia can ill afford.

Why? Because Malaysia’s oil will run out in about 19 years. As it is, Malaysia will become a net oil importer in 2011 — that’s just five years away.

So it’s in this context that the latest debate about race and wealth is so sad.

It is time to move on, time to prepare the economy for life after oil. But, like Nero fiddling while Rome burned, the Malaysian Government is more interested in stunts like sending a Malaysian into space when Malaysia’s inadequate schools could have done with the cash, and arguing about wealth distribution using transparently ridiculous statistics.

That’s not Malaysia “boleh”, that’s Malaysia “bodoh” (stupid).

email: michaelbackman@yahoo.com

http://www.michaelbackman.com