Cisco, F5 and F10

This is the first technology blog that I'm writing. IT folks should be very familiar with the brand Cisco, F5 Networks, and probably Force10.

Cisco is the worldwide leader in networking; F5 is the leader in Application Delivery Networking (ADN) whereas Force10 is the new comer in networking. Application Delivery Networking is an area that Cisco always wanted to penetrate, but ironically, all F5 Malaysia Tier 1 partners are Cisco gold partners and most of them prefer F5 rather than Cisco for ADN solution.

We always grumbled, why Cisco wanted this 100K pie, and keep pushing their gold partners (who are also F5 partners) to replace F5 ADN solution with Cisco ANS solution, they should just focus on their multi millions routing and switching portion and leave F5 alone.

Somehow our grumbles are answered recently, F5 has a new "alliance" in F10 (Force10). F10 had won some significant deals over Cisco in the networking space.

The morale of what had happened, focus on your core strength, and build on it till no one can get near. Don't dillute your focus on area that you are not even number 2.

Uniting Malaysian via Sports

Was in Sepang this afternoon for A1GP Malaysia. Malaysian from all walks of life are there to cheer for Team Malaysia. At least for the few hours, all the negative racial publicity on the media had totally get out of my mind, and I truly feel that we are Malaysian.

Sports is uniting Malaysian in this country. Be it Fauzy Fairuz who was behind the wheel at Sepang, Lee Chong Wei who is playing in the finals in China Open or Nicol David extending her winning records in Hong Kong, we are cheering for them because they represent Malaysia, and we are Malaysian.

Hope all the policitians or "politicians to be" can spend more time in the sports arena, to catch more Malaysian spirit and speak more Malaysian like.

The "e" - Then and Now

During the internet boom some 10 years ago, the "e" has been tagged as "electronic". We have e-Banking, e-Mall, e-Insurance, e-Filing etc. This "e" has totally changed the way we live, learn and play.

Todate, when this "e" is already integrated into our life, another "e" had emerged strongly. The new "e" is the "environment".

Global warming / climate change had become the most talk about global issue, and the world are seriously looking into environment preservation. Common terms always associated to the new "e" are: green; reduce; reuse; recycle; energy saving; clean energy; carbon reduction ...

Be it for the sake of complying to regulations, or for the heart of saving our planet earth, people are taking more serious steps to preserve our environment. Together, I believe we are able to sustain our planet earth. Just remember this, a green step a day keeps the heat (climate change) away.

Cut The Fuel Price? Or Take The Opportunity To Revamp?

The government announced another fuel price cut yesterday (14-Oct-08) to RM2.30. Instead of keep reducing fuel price while maintaining the fuel subsidy, I think there could be a better approach to tackle this fuel price issue at a broader level.

The crude oil price has dropped to around USD80/barrel recently, where our petrol price is still remained at the considerable "high" price. We citizens had already "used to" the "high" petrol price. The inflation caused by the previous 40% petrol hike is no where to be reversed despite the recent 40 cents fuel price reductions.

If BNM statistic is right, our inflation rate is still not at an alarming rate, and no special intervention is needed. Hence, it is not necessary to stir the current economy balance. Instead, the crude oil price drop and our relatively high fuel price has presented the best opportunity for the government to remove the fuel subsidy, and float the fuel price.

Despite all the potential objections, I echoed Tony Pua's stance on this and I believe the removal of subsidy could be good for the country economy in the long run, especially the upcoming worldwide financial turmoil.

Public Security

Star Monday July 14, 2008 MYT 12:44:24 PM

Massive jams, Syed Hamid says sorry (updated)

KUALA LUMPUR: Police roadblocks leading into the city caused massive jams throughout Monday morning, with Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar issuing an apology to the Malaysian public but reiterating that the police operations were undertaken in the interest of public security.

Very keen to know what's the meaning "public security".

Wordnet's definition of "public security":
S: (n) peace, public security (the general security of public places) "he was arrested for disturbing the peace"

Wikipedia's definition of "public security":
Public security is the function of governments which ensures the protection of citizens, organizations, and institutions against threats to their well-being – and to the prosperity of their communities.

My stances:

Yes (as per Wordnet's definition), agreed with our Home Minister approach to maintain the "public security" at Parliament, though at the inconvenient of the general public.

No (as per Wikipedia's definition), disagreed with out Home Minister approach to deploy hundreds of police personnel to put up road blocks at the expense of the general public, when these police personnel can be better deployed to fight crime to ensure safety and security of the general public.

Green Road Home

Global warming is the most talkabout topic in the world nowadays, and most of the trees in the city are chopped in the name of development. From a tree jungle, city has become a concrete jungle.

However, very glad to find this "green road" on my way home from the KL city.

How Easy To Bring A Company IPO?

The answer is "It's easy if you want to."

Out from the secondary school, lot of us are now working in the corporate world and some are up high in the corporate ladder. But there are a small bunch that are focusing in building up their own company.

Congratulations my friends, Phang Chee Leong, Wong Kok Woh and Fabian Looa. Proud of you all on the journey for bringing Innity IPO.

Famous For The Wrong Reason

Bandar Utama BU4, a community with 554 houses, has one of the lowest crime rate in Bandar Utama. But now BU4 is famous again for the wrong reason. There were >35 cases of dengue in BU4 from April to June 2008 and this is an alarming statistic.

Data wise, the dengue incidence rate (per 100,000 population) for Malaysia in 2006 was 64.37. The current dengue incidence rate in BU4 is >1,200. In another analogy, the probability of hitting the 4D first prize is 1/10,000, but the probability of getting a dengue fever in BU4 is 120/10,000.

MBPJ had been fogging and checking BU4 surrounding regularly recently. But most importantly, the residents must help to ensure that there is no aedes breeding grounds left in BU4. We cannot depend on MBPJ solely, it must be a joint effort in order to solve this epidemic. The gotong royong campaign tells it all.

Papaya Leaf - Cure For Dengue?

You could have received the following email on cure for dengue: "Accordingly it is raw papaya leaves, 2pcs just cleaned and pound and squeeze with filter cloth. You will only get one tablespoon per leaf. So two tablespoon per serving once a day. Do not boil or cook or rinse with hot water, it will loose its strength. Only the leafy part and no stem or sap. It is very bitter and you have to swallow it like Won Low Kat. But it works"

From our observations in few dengue cases in our community recently, different people reacted to it differently. Some positively, but there are also negative reaction. However, since there is no western medicine that can cure dengue, why not give it a try.

Not knowing that papaya leaf can be used for papaya leaf tea, stomach ailment, mosquitoes repellent, malaria prophylactic, cancer prevention and antiseptic/digestive.

CSR - Walk The Talk?

If you do a search on "CSR" on Bursa Malaysia website, you will be able to find the following document "CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY (CSR) FRAMEWORK FOR MALAYSIAN PUBLIC LISTED COMPANIES".

One of the CSR focal area is "Environment" and what I wanted to point out is specifically related to listed companies CSR on Environment-Climate Change.

We know paper is made from trees, and trees are helping to recycle the greenhouse gases back to the atmosphere. When trees are chopped, and forests are cleared in order to make paper, the amount of greenhouse gases in the environment will increase, and thus lead to global warming.

Lots of listed companies keep talking about CSR and planting trees. However, they don't really walk the talk. In their Request for Proposal process, lots of them required the vendor to submit multiple hard copies of the proposal, with printed brochures and supplementary materials. Often, one RFP submission will use up to 10 reams of A4 papers.

According to Conservatree, one ream (500 sheets) paper uses 6% of a tree. If 10 vendors were to participate in the RFP, 6 trees will be cut.

It doesn't matter what the listed companies talk and say about CSR, what matter is how they walk the talk.

Fever - Wellness vs Sickness Approach

My son was having fever and serious stomach discomfort last weekend and I decided to bring him for a doctor visit.

The first doctor that we visited was a young doctor, working a weekend job at one of the popular 24-hours clinic. After examined my son's condition, the young doctor concluded that it was viral infection, and prescribed some medicines for stomach discomfort and fever. As my son's fever is not serious (~38 C), he told us to take the fever medicine only when necessary. He also told us that he will not be prescribing antibiotic, as it's not good to the kid. It's better for the kid to develop his own immune system.

The next day my son were having rashes all over his body. I brought him for another doctor checkup just to ensure that it's not dengue fever, as there were rampant cases of dengue fever in my housing area. The doctor is a middle aged doctor who owned the clinic. After examining my son's condition, the first thing that this doctor said is he'll put my son on antibiotic. He'll also prescribed additional stronger fever medicine.

Being exposes to the wellness approach of curing disease, me and my wife decided to go against the second doctor advice on the sickness approach in treating my son's fever and rashes. We ensure my son have enough rest, fluids, vitamin C, and make sure that his temperature is well below 39C. 3 days later, his fever and rashes had subsided, without the antibiotic and fever medicine.

Standing in my shoe, what will be your approach? Wellness? Sickness?