Being in Love

Friends,

Here is another screenshot of my Facebook's friends status.

It is equally remarkable as it talks about feelings of being in love.

Again, no need for length explanation as his words are self-explanatory.

Love and Strength

Friends,

This is a screenshot of my friend's facebook status.

I initially plan to blank-out his name to protect his privacy but I changed my mind because he is saying something that is truly powerful and this is something that should not be hidden from everyone, right, Arm Rashid? ;)

Loving someone and being loved.

Have a ponder as his status is self-explanatory.

His words are remarkably powerful.

Meat and Saving the World

Folks,

The article below appeared in Focus Malaysia, but I do not remember which issue.

But the article is very interesting - eat less meat to save the world.

Oh, really?

I dont know about saving the world, but one thing I certainly do know is this - eating less meat will not, in any fathomable way, save the world; no matter how scientific it may sound.

You want to save the world?

- Reduce emissions of dangerous gases.
- Help the poor and the homeless.
- Reduce the number of useless infrastructure
- Build a safer and sustainable future for the years to come.

That is how we save the world.

Not by being a vegan. And certainly not by eating less meat!

But by having love and compassion for all - humans, plants and animals.

GST and Our Economy

All,

Recently, our Prime Minister Najib Razak announced a very unpopular move of introducing Goods and Services Tax (GST) in our country in his budget speech, which is scheduled to be implemented nation-wide beginning 1 April 2015.

There are many noises and brouhahas coming from two sides of the political divide - the right and the left wing.

However the noise may sound, I am all for GST. I will not argue much on why we need GST, but I will say only this - however unpopular it is, we need them to save our economy. Our ailing debt that is ballooningly high.

Let's be real: our debt-to-GDP ratio is speculated to hit 54.8% by year end, and some sort of measures must be taken to reduce thia percentage.

While GST is NOT the only measure it will nevertheless increase government's coffers in terms of revenue. That should at the very least, reduce our public debts.

Of course there are many other economic theories that could justify to support GST, but I am not economist. I don't intend to be one, but I leave it to the expert to explain it to the rakyat (citizens) on why we need a GST.

The introductory rate of 6% is fair to me, although I was hoping that it should be 1% lesser. But nevertheless, it is an experiment, and it is the duty of the government to explain on the many benefits that can be reaped from introducing this GST system in our country.

Many economists and practitioners have written and argued for the case of GST. It is a necessity and any delay will only affect our economy.

GST is introduced to broaden our country's revenue and the same time -- hopefully -- will reduce our public debts.

Below is one such good article that defends the need for GST in Malaysia. It is an excellent article written in a very simple language for all the layman to understand.

On the other hand, the present government must also implment some other measures to reduce excessive leakages in our public finance system.

The first two steps to be taken are:-
(a) address all queries and issues in the latest Auditor-General's report, and
(b) introduce few economic initiatives to transform our public expenditure and finance systems.

This is my two cent's worth of unqualified economic opinions.

Image source: The Edge Weekly, Issue #987, Nov. 4th - 10th., Page 59.

GST and Our Economy

All,

Recently, our Prime Minister Najib Razak announced a very unpopular move of introducing Goods and Services Tax (GST) in our country in his budget speech, which is scheduled to be implemented nation-wide beginning 1 April 2013.

There are many noises and brouhahas coming from two sides of the political divide - the right and the left wing.

However the noise may sound, I am all for GST. I will not argue much on why we need GST, but I will say only this - however unpopular it is, we need them to save our economy. Our ailing debt that is ballooningly high.

Let's be real: our debt-to-GDP ratio is speculated to hit 54.8% by year end, and some sort of measures must be taken to reduce thia percentage.

While GST is NOT the only measure it will nevertheless increase government's coffers in terms of revenue. That should at the very least, reduce our public debts.

Of course there are many other economic theories that could justify to support GST, but I am not economist. I don't intend to be one, but I leave it to the expert to explain it to the rakyat (citizens) on why we need a GST.

The introductory rate of 6% is fair to me, although I was hoping that it should be 1% lesser. But nevertheless, it is an experiment, and it is the duty of the government to explain on the many benefits that can be reaped from introducing this GST system in our country.

Many economists and practitioners have written and argued for the case of GST. It is a necessity and any delay will only affect our economy.

GST is introduced to broaden our country's revenue and the same time -- hopefully -- will reduce our public debts.

Below is one such good article that defends the need for GST in Malaysia. It is an excellent article written in a very simple language for all the layman to understand.

On the other hand, the present government must also implment some other measures to reduce excessive leakages in our public finance system.

The first two steps to be taken are:-
(a) address all queries and issues in the latest Auditor-General's report, and
(b) introduce few economic initiatives to transform our public expenditure and finance systems.

This is my two cent's worth of unqualified economic opinions.

Image source: The Edge Weekly, Issue #987, Nov. 4th - 10th., Page 59.

Of BBM, Whatsapp and Others

Folks,

Recently, Blackberry released a version of its Blackberry Messenger (BBM) for  both Android's and Apples's phone.

And being a heavy user of smartphones, I have no interest whatsoever to try BBM. Let me tell you why.

There are plethoras of chatting apps in our phone and I dont know about you, but I rarely we use them except for Whatsapp.

I have installed befor the following apps:-
*wechat
*line
*viber
*kakao talk
*tango and yada yada yada.

But I can tell you that nobody ever bothered to chat me in those apps. Almost 99.9% of my contacts prefer to use Whatsapp.

Why? It is easy, user friendly, free (for now, I guess) and convenient.

I know that many hippie youngsters are so into wechat and whatnot, but to me, I am not that interested. I prefer my good old greeny Whatsapp than some other colourful chatting apps.

In order to use Whatsapp, you need to know the other person's phone number, and only then will Whatsapp allow the chat to proceed. Basically, no number = no chat.

As for the case of Line and others, you are only allowed to communicate through the app if you know the other party's ID.

I find it asbolutely strange. Me being a number person, I am more comfortable hearing a phrase of phone numbers than some weird 'LoveMuach80' ID. Dont you think so?

It is an absolute hassle because why would I want to know his ID instead of his phone number?

Oh, I get it.. some people prefer to chat for a while and once the other party bore you out, then you have the option of removing them, whereas in Whatsapp, you can only block the other party.

It ain't happen to me. I do not want to clog my phone's memory by installing useless app - I have enough of my current apps, and certainly this BBM app does not interest me.

Oh well, stop asking me for my BBM pin, or else you might end-up getting a slap in your face, just like what the gentleman below did to his comrade.

Stressful Jobs?

Friends,

I received the following image in my Whatsapp grouo chat. It says the Top 10 Most Stressful jobs.

While I dont deny the fact that all jobs listed there can be stressful, I am at the same time equally puzzled on the absence of "teacher/lecturer" in that list.

It is not easy being a teacher, let alone being a primary school teacher. God, I hated teaching those kids - they dont listen, and their questions can sometimes boil my blood; albeit them being cute brats.

I have tremendous respect for primary school teachers. You know why? Because they can make the whol class listen to them and obey their instructions, that is why.

Are you able to make or persuade the whole class listen to you? Nahhh, I dont think so.

That is how powerful a teacher is. They teach you a knowledge which hopefully will be useful to you in the future. They nurture you to be a responsible person. And they guide you through the dark tunnel in your quest to gain knowledge. And they are always there for you when you need answers.

Now tell me, does that not sound like a stressful job? A miserable one too, I must add.

Which is why, coming back to my original contention, I am puzzled why teachers or lecturers are absent from this list!