tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91703852012-01-09T11:31:45.174-08:00For truth has such a face and such a mien, as to be lov’d needs only to be seen -- J.Dryden, The Hind and the PantherSteven Simnoreply@blogger.comBlogger251100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9170385.post-1125457579014689302005-08-30T20:05:00.000-07:002005-08-30T20:06:19.020-07:00

Dear all,This blog is closed....Go here:http://jack.civiblog.orgThanksss

Steven Simnoreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9170385.post-1125402895159787562005-08-30T04:25:00.000-07:002005-08-30T06:56:32.493-07:00

Two years ago, during the National Day celebration period, I went to Universiti Malaya's Vice Chancellor's National Day address. I forgot nearly all his speech, not that it was as memorable as his rhetorical attempt made it seem to be. The climax, or so I thought, was that the VC ended his speech reciting a sajak (Malay poem) he wrote. To give credit where it's due, it was a beautiful piece. Then

Steven Simnoreply@blogger.com56tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9170385.post-1121682139550861782005-07-18T03:21:00.000-07:002005-07-18T04:07:48.130-07:00

I walked thru this familiar groundYet was greeted by strange faces;Malaya,You were once my refuge,But Your compound seemed alien to me now,Or perhaps I have become alien to You.Your buildings and walls once shadowed meThey spoke to me since I first came;I have no lecturers butThe bricks that fortified You.I have no teachers butThe stones and pebbles that graced Your floor.These artifacts had

Steven Simnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9170385.post-1121342122261674732005-07-14T04:53:00.000-07:002005-07-14T04:55:22.266-07:00

When man the scepter donned,And ov’r another rul’d and reign’d,Humanity bled and mourn’dO’er man’s aversed gain.All wert born’d and shalt come likewiseAll wert buried and shalt perish thusBut when men o’er other men riseShalt breed in men fiendish lustsAll born’d of Adam, made of dustNone wert made lord at their birthEmperors and kings sat on trustOf their subjects’ esteem and loveWhen men ov’r

Steven Simnoreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9170385.post-1121009895797986442005-07-10T08:31:00.000-07:002005-07-10T08:55:11.773-07:00

The National Congress on Integrity 2005 (NCI 2005) is an intense one-day look on the effects of corruption on national integrity. It provides a public platform for concerned hearts and minds to engage the issue of corruption in a timely, extensive and inclusive dialogue.Join public, private and third sector leaders to address key issues and explore avenues to effect change. Good case studies on

Steven Simnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9170385.post-1120805323375271202005-07-07T22:40:00.000-07:002005-07-07T23:48:44.270-07:00

Chris and the all the great Malaysians out there, for your info, this fellow has not gone into ISA nor oblivion. Just a bit of retreating from writing here.Some English judge once said, Justice must not only be done, but must be seen to be done (if anyone knows who said that, do enlightened us). That learned old fellow wanted to say that Justice executed must be obvious for all to see, not only

Steven Simnoreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9170385.post-1114605182309138192005-04-27T05:18:00.000-07:002005-04-27T05:48:49.033-07:00

I discovered this odd sounding Act today while I was in the office: 12. Production of infant.A Judge may, for the purpose of any application under this Act, direct that any person appearing to have the custody of an infant shall produce the infant in the Judge's Chambers, or at such other place as he may appoint, and he may make such order for the temporary custody and protection of the infant as

Steven Simnoreply@blogger.com45tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9170385.post-1114199765923791572005-04-22T12:53:00.000-07:002005-04-24T04:17:18.803-07:00

When the dragon and tiger clashes; the dust is stirred, the air becomes foul and many unpleasant things will surface. History, more often than not will come back to haunt us. This is even more so of those unfortunate events that we want to bury away in the sand of time. Following the highly emotional row between China and Japan in the recent days, one cannot help but to feel somewhat

Steven Simnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9170385.post-1113895953625820752005-04-19T00:27:00.000-07:002005-04-19T00:32:33.626-07:00

Chris exposes the anarchic University Malaya:If my problem as a student is just to get back my grades, I have learned nothing valuable in this institution. I’m only a selfish prick who has got no sense of right and wrong. A commodity with a stomach, as Marx described. My conception of justice is totally wrecked! But I am not. Or more precisely, we students (and some lecturers) are not. While I am

Steven Simnoreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9170385.post-1113200169958648412005-04-10T23:03:00.000-07:002005-04-18T22:29:44.853-07:00

Photo courtesy of Daud a.k.a. HawariyunThis is a picture of simplicity. Or is it? Behind the façade of a simple and relaxed life, there lurked the evil of poverty, of discrimination and of struggling to make sense in a world and time so different and so isolated from their own.The Orang Asli (Malaysia’s indigenous people) communities are like us, the only difference is, they are still living in

Steven Simnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9170385.post-1112861082283810402005-04-07T00:30:00.000-07:002005-04-07T03:54:58.720-07:00

Help~ slow internet speed! (and horror of horrors, my MSN cannot work *gasp*) We should ask for a discount...This is to announce that TM Net Sdn Bhd’s Internet service is currently experiencing a slight drop [Jack: sure or not "slight drop"] in performance caused by several outages due to service degradation at some of its international links to Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Korea, Japan, Thailand

Steven Simnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9170385.post-1112811541961588002005-04-06T11:11:00.000-07:002005-04-06T23:58:19.166-07:00

“Malaysians live in those places”, Uncle Hamid pointed towards the direction of one Indian kampung, “Not the two towers”. (the Petronas Twin Towers)I had lunch with History today; History that was not written, history that was censored, history that will eventually pass on unrecognized. Yet, this is one History our generation so desperately needs to hear and appreciate. When living in a time

Steven Simnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9170385.post-1112601418999617862005-04-04T00:29:00.000-07:002005-04-04T01:49:36.886-07:00

Since the tearing down of the Iron Curtain, Europe’s relationship with China has greatly improved, culminating today in a lucrative business and trade partnership between the two blocs. Fairly recent statistics has shown that EU held the third largest stakes in the trading industry in China and evidently, they are moving up the ladder very quickly. China’s import from EU increased about 40% in

Steven Simnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9170385.post-1112590337040267402005-04-03T21:49:00.000-07:002005-04-03T22:13:59.826-07:00

Paul Wolfowitz (photo from BBC News)On the economic front, the election of the new World Bank head was deemed by BBC Analysis, Mary Hennock as placing a “Wolf at the door”. Earlier on, Washington had rejected the application by the “old Wolf”, former World Bank president, James Wolfensohn (Clinton’s choice *grin*) to stay for another term. Instead, Paul Wolfowitz, the Bush administration’s deputy

Steven Simnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9170385.post-1112590047919080862005-04-03T21:32:00.000-07:002005-04-03T22:12:43.193-07:00

At the demise of Pope John Paul II, the Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church are meeting to elect from among themselves the paramount leader of the 1 billion-member Church. The new pope will succeed not only the throne of the bishop of Rome and the chair of Peter as the Head of the Roman Catholic Church, he is also expected to assume John Paul II’s conservative policies on women’s rights,

Steven Simnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9170385.post-1112071122573179642005-03-28T20:03:00.000-08:002005-03-28T22:17:49.643-08:00

What a tragic morning the world had woken up to. Once again, we witnessed the terrible wrath of nature that discriminate none as the earth shook and consume precious lives, lives of beloveds.“The Indonesian Vice-President, Jusuf Kalla, told the BBC he feared up to 2,000 people may have died on the island of Nias, not far from the epicentre. But he said this figure was based on an assessment of

Steven Simnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9170385.post-1111708958436521192005-03-24T16:01:00.000-08:002005-03-24T16:04:31.793-08:00

While the jurists are fighting constitutional battles, Terry Schiavo is dying by the day, being denied what is basic to her life in contrary to the Fourteenth Amendment (“nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law”) of the United States of America and Article 3 (“Everyone has the right to life, liberty and the security of person”) of United

Steven Simnoreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9170385.post-1111697774256369852005-03-24T12:50:00.000-08:002005-03-24T13:05:27.886-08:00

What’s next, Central Asia? After the Georgian (Rose Revolution) and Ukrainian (Orange Revolution) outbursts for democracy in the past years, the citizens of Kyrgyzstan rose in what was termed as “a revolution made by the people” (or some say “Tulip Revolution”) to topple the Askar Akayev government. During the uprising, several key opposition leaders who were imprisoned by the Akayev regime were

Steven Simnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9170385.post-1111661925660933942005-03-24T02:49:00.000-08:002005-03-24T09:30:30.903-08:00

Today in the New Straits Times: Two Malaysians have had the world's smallest identification chips embedded in their arms.Man’s quest to build himself a technological paradise at times seemed to present a picture of anything but bliss. Science fictions may perhaps be right after all; at the end of time, humans will be subjugated by their own technological inventions (robots, computers). Our

Steven Simnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9170385.post-1111552296572889202005-03-22T20:26:00.000-08:002005-03-22T21:01:46.860-08:00

“Malaysia is truly a secret that needs to be discovered” (Prime Minister Pak Lah, as quoted at the Invest Malaysia 2005 Conference). Trust the Star to report it to us!I wonder if Pak Lah was speaking in cryptic. What secret? The 18 big fish? The Black Eye pea? The nuclear bombs *gasp*? Or the less scary, more commonly known, Ikut Suka Aku law?Actually, our beloved Prime Minister is now looking at

Steven Simnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9170385.post-1111551778130521012005-03-22T20:20:00.000-08:002005-03-22T20:25:42.803-08:00

S.O.S! One of our favourite ministers strikes again! Mr. Samy Vellu (how the heck you spell his name?) declared and confirmed a few days ago that the toll along the North-South highways is going to be increased by 10% beginning next year. Looks like Penangites won’t be seeing much of me…toll increases, petrol increases, how to balik kampong? Wait till my beloved countrymen in Penang kick those

Steven Simnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9170385.post-1111551483451129212005-03-22T20:14:00.000-08:002005-03-22T21:29:27.000-08:00

I read in amazement how once again, the people’s power proves to be a reforming factor. Ukraine, a country not particularly wealthy, in fact a nation where probably half of its population are living below the poverty line, has sent out a message to the world. In the past weeks, the election scandal in that country had angered the ppl enough to rise up to protest against the autocracies of the

Steven Simnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9170385.post-1101498838946994792004-11-26T11:53:00.000-08:002004-11-26T11:53:58.946-08:00

Are we bloggers some syiok sendiri ppl who have nothing better to do but to update our blogs like once every 12 hours? Do we even have a life, some may wonder. Excuse me ~ if our life ain’t exciting (ok, our lives are excitingly lame, paradox yes, but that’s life la), where got things to blog about. Do you see us talking the same thing in every entry ar? No right. You try sitting down to type an

Steven Simnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9170385.post-1101498805328565302004-11-26T11:52:00.000-08:002004-11-26T11:53:25.326-08:00

I observed that there are basically 2 kinds of students – the one study because they thought that good grades now means good money later and the other study because they thought that education is essential for the development of the self. The first kind perceives education to be an investment, and more often than not it was thought to be a sure-win investment. If you study well, you will earn

Steven Simnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9170385.post-1101498703584655252004-11-26T11:42:00.000-08:002004-11-26T11:51:43.583-08:00

How much would one pay for a five-inch lenghu (arowana)? The last time I heard, ppl are willing to pay the price of my Toshiba Satellite A50 for that thing. Hmm…pardon me if I don’t sound too easy. You mean a five inch lenghu is worth all those promises of Intel Centrino-M processor-855 Chipset (and not forgetting that my Satellite A50 comes with Window XP Home Ed! Another few hundred bucks). I

Steven Simnoreply@blogger.com2