Deciphering Honks

This could be the most annoying sound, or the sweetest music; depending on how you interpret it.  Some turned road bully after being honked, where some gently gave way when being honked. 

Interpreting honks are sometimes more difficult than understanding baby talk.  There is no official guide to honk.  Googled and found one similar article talking about horn honking from Margaret Ross.  Read here.

I shared some of the common honk etiquette.  And love the honking terms used by Margaret, Tap, Toot, Horn, Blast.  To put into local Malaysia context, creating further honking guidelines.

• One Short Light Honk (Tap) - A polite courtesy reminder / call.
• Two Short Light Honks (Toot?) - Greeting to friends
• One Short Honk (Horn?) - Be Careful
• Continuous Long Honk (Blast) - Danger!  Watch Out!
• Continuous (Two Short Honks) Don't cut queue, get out of my way!
• Continuous Short Honk (Tap, Tap, Tap) - For motorcycle.  Motorcycle is coming in between the cars, cars do not cut out of lane.
• Continuous (One Short Honk, One Long Honk, One Short Honk) - Warning for motorist, suspicious motorcycle around, beware of robbers.  Similar to SOS in Morse Code.

Inputs are welcomed!

iAES - itelligent Automated Enforcement System

From date of roll out, AES did not come shy of news coverage, be it the contractors, the offenders, the courts, the opposition, the government and now the AG.

While solving all the currently issues, I believe there is another area that can be improved in order to better meet the AES implementation objectives - to reduce traffic offends thus reducing road accidents.

What I think the AES still lack off now is the intelligence in a typical speed limit enforcement.  In typical 110km/h highway, the authority claimed that AES will only start enforcing at 120km/h.  However, different vehicles types have different speed limit on the highway.  Passenger cars 110km/h, but lorry and bus are only 90km/h.

Even at 100km/h, an over-speeding lorry / bus can pose considerable danger to other road users.  And the impact of an accident involving lorry / bus is usually higher than normal passenger cars.  Why they are not under the enforcement scope of the AES? 

From the AES "demo" shown by the authority prior to the implementation, AES would be able to capture the photo of x number of speeding cars simultaneously.  Why can't the scope be further expanded to profiling of vehicle e.g. large vehicle and small vehicle, and further enforce speed limit of different vehicle profile to 90km/h and 110km/h respectively?  Let's not forget the bike too.  Hardly see any big cc bike that is not speeding on the highway. 

I don't believe technology limitation to be used as the excuse for not enforcing vehicle type speed limit enforcement. The millions can be better spent for a Automated Enforcement System, that has a brain in it.

Statistics

Pahang MB: I can get 3m to support PM on Facebook

July 14, 2011 (Malaysian Insider)

Interesting to see this sort of claim.  It's easy to verify the probability of doing so.

Just google and go to socialbakers website on Malaysia facebook users statistics.  There are 11 Million plus facebook users in Malaysia.  And look at the age distribution and analyze how the generation facebook think, you tell me, what's the probability of getting 3 million users support?

Home vs Jail

Read this old article where a prostitute choose to go to jail for the free food. (Read here)

Well, take the food discussion aside and just focus on the security perspective, home could be worse than jail ...

Home	Jail
Fix own iron grille for all doors and windows, and live behind the iron grille in fear.	Securely live behind the iron grille with peace of mind.
Need to lock, double lock, and triple lock your doors and windows.	Someone will lock the door for you, and make sure the window is properly secured.
Have home alarm and CCTV, and engage third party provider to help to centrally monitor the alarm.	Have centralized CCTV monitoring, door alarms and an operation centre to monitor the alarms, all part of the package.
Pay for private security services, to engage private security company to guard the neighbourhood.	Multi tier security is provided FOC.

Adspaper; Newsmedia?

Q: Where do you get your news today?

A: Online medias.

Q: How do you look for advertisement?

A: Newspaper.

I read news on www.malaysiakini.com, sinchew.com.my, thestar.com.my etc daily. Occasionally, I buy newspaper on Friday or Saturday, to find out the latest hypermarket promotions, new property launch, products and services promotions.

I (we) have changed the way I get information in recent years, and it make me wonder whether the word "newspaper" still carry its original meaning? I decided to do a study, and the subject of my study is last Saturday Star "newspaper" on 23rd October, 2010.

The purpose of the study is to find out the news and advertisement content distribution on newspaper. Following is the summary:

Section	Pages	News	Advertisements
Star	72	55%	45%
Saturday Metro	56	44%	56%
Weekender	36	51%	49%
StarBizWeek	40	81%	19%
StarJobs	32	0%	100%
Classified	44	2%	98%
Overall		49%	61%

On average, 61% of what I read from that newspaper was advertisement. Well, I spent RM1.50 to buy that newspaper because I want to read the advertisement, and I got 61% of it, not bad!

But wait, isn't it newspaper? Why the content of advertisement is more than news? If I take away StarJobs and Classified which are supposed to be adspaper, the overall percentage of advertisement on the newspaper still stand at 43%, which I think is still very high.

On a typical www.malaysiakini.com news page, the percentage of advertisement is still less than 25%. Going at this trend, would newspaper eventually evolve into adspaper? And newsmedia will be the new source of news? Time will tell, and we are the one who will decide.

Note: The percentage is based on visual estimation only.

Note2: Obituary is classified as advertisement.

Note3: The result is based on a single day newspaper only.

Malaysian Maid

Very soon, we will see this kind of job posting in major newspapers and recruitment web sites:

Full Time Domestic Helper (Maid)

Qualification

• Must be Malaysian female
• Age 21 and above

Job Description

• RM1,000 - RM1,200 monthly salary
• 6 days week
• Optional overtime on Sunday
• Optional stay in package
• 8am - 7pm working hours
• Lunch and dinner provided
• To handle household chores
• To take care of baby and children
• To take care of elderly

Note:

To apply for a foreign maid nowadays, one got to pay close to RM10,000 up front, plus a monthly salary of RM650. There is a fee to renew the working permit at the second year, plus a flight ticket to send the maid back at the end of the contract period. There is also no guarantee on the maid quality, and unfair termination clause and run away maid policy for employer.

On Average, it cost more than RM900 / month to employ a foreign maid for a 24 months contract, why not go local? For family looking for a short term helper, it's far more cost effective. Assuming normal job contract, employer's interest is better protected. For job seekers, the package is much more appealing than a lot of other jobs out there. Why not?

The prediction by Corston-Smith Asset Management is becoming real. Read the article "Malaysia's next export: Maids?"

Mamak Stall/Restaurant - A Malaysian Culture To Be Worried Of?

A quick search on google, mamak food will be considered as Malaysian culture. Besides bloggers, the Malaysian government also promotes mamak food as tourism attraction. (Read here)

Where to get mamak food? The first answer will be mamak stall or mamak restaurant.

Mamak restaurant provides a great place for social get-together or a proper meal. They serve great food and drinks, and normally equipped with LCD TV or projector screen showing live telecast sports program.

However, most of the mamak restaurants have become the breeding ground of smoker. Just walk into any mamak restaurant during the "prime time". You will notice that >80% of the tables will have at least one smoker, and most of the mamak patrons are youngsters.

What worrying are:

• A tourist will think that Malaysia is a country that promotes smoking, as most of the youths around them smoke
• A non-smoker will endure a torturing time, rather than a pleasant dining experience.
• A young smoker thinks that smoking shisha is okay
• The environmentalists will cry on air pollution
• The health ministry had run out of steam saying "Tak NAK"

But, who cares?

• Tourist can bring back their perception, so ... ?
• Non-smoker starts to shy open air mamak, but will opt for air-conditioned mamak or take away.
• Shisha is bad? Then go for cigarette.
• Forget about cigarette smoke, vehicle smoke pollution is thousand times worse.
• Tak NAK? There are young ladies promoting NAK everywhere.

Life goes on, and mamak stall / restaurant still a unique Malaysian culture.

Legalization of the Illegals

What's the best way to curb illegal activities? To double the enforcement and awareness? Or to legalize the illegal activities?

Malaysia's way of curbing illegal sports betting is to legalize it. They believe that by legalizing sports betting, the illegal betting activities can be curbed.

Despite lots of people engaging in the betting, no one will deny that betting is bad. But, strange, the government is like telling you, if you want to do bad thing, do it the legal way. It's okay to do bad things, but make sure you do it legally.

If legalization of illegal activities can curb the illegal activities, are we going to:

- Legalize prostitution?

- Legalize drug abuse?

- Legalize abortion?

A big big no ....

Customer Service OR Customer Demanded Service (II)

Was having some technical glitches when subscribing to a mobile provider data package October this year. After subscribing to the data package from this telco, I didn't get the confirmation SMS, but I thought the subscription was successful and was using the data connections. One other successful subscription triggered my suspision that I was going to get a massive phone bill, spoken to the customer service officers few time to try to sort thing out ...

1. First call: I called too early, I was advised to call them again when I got my bills. (Okay...)

2. Second call (2 days after I got my bill): The customer service officer said my bill was okay, and did not get what my complaint was. After some explanation, only to find out that she was still looking at the previous month bill. (Gosh!) She said she will follow up and call me back again.

3. She did call one week later. (Good follow up) She said she had checked with their technical team, and it's all my fault, coz I did not wait for the subscription confirmation SMS before started to use the data service. (Well, she did her home work, good job!) Hence, they would not offer any goodwill to waive my data usage, they only offered a goodwill reduction of RM8 out of the RM160 data charges. As it was not fully my fault in this case, I had some strong argument with her, and she said she would check (probably with the management) and would call me back again.

4. She called me again 5 minutes later, explained to me (which I have forgotten what now ...) my usage time was from 2 p.m to 6 p.m., and they have to charge me RM48 based on my time usage. Well, this explanation really triggered my anger, if they wanted to be that detail, I was actually using the data connection for 2 hours only i.e. 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. It made me mad when this company is so calculative. I just cut the conversation, "Is this your final offer?", "Yes!", "OK, I do not agree with your offer, but I'll still pay, and I'll get my line out!" I figured out it's no point to be loyal to a telco that's so calculative. (Wow, just found out that I was with this telco for more than 8 years already!)

5. 10 minutes later, the customer service officer called back and said they would waive the full RM160 data charges. Why? Why tried your luck to squeeze the most out of your loyal customer? Why can't just make a goodwill call and make your loyal customer happy, and you'll get more in return? (I was planning to subscribe to the monthly data package then, but changed my mind after this incident. But still have my line with this telco.)

P/S: I'm glad that the government has started mobile number portability, it gives us the consumer lot more bargaining power to demand for customer service. When customer service is not given, you have to exercise your customer right to demand for it.

Customer Service OR Customer Demanded Service (I)

In this country, customer service is not widely practiced. If a customer need customer service, they have to demand it. Below is the transcript of my email with the customer service officer of one of the online notebook retailer:

My first email:

Hi,

I'm extremely disappointed with xxxx product delivery lead time in my recent order with xxxx.

I submitted my order online on 22-Oct night, and when I check the order status online today, it was stated the scheduled delivery date is 9-Nov. It is far off xxxx's promise of 5-7 business days.

I spoke to your customer service rep just now, it angered me even more, as the only advise from her to me is to wait without able to tell me a firm delivery date.

I need your help to expedite the product delivery. If I'm not getting my delivery in the next two days, I'll need to cancel the order. All my projects was delayed just because I can't have my laptop on time to start work. The best part is still I'll have to pay a cancellation fee when xxxx cannot deliver its promise.

All this while, xxxx gives me the experience and perception of fast delivery and good customer service, but I'm extremely disappointed with xxxx this time, your poor delivery and bad customer service.

Thanks.

The reply from the customer service officer is classic:

Thank you for contacting xxxx Customer Service.

We apologise for the delay to your order.

Your current estimated date of delivery is on (or before) 09-Nov-2009.

Due to the popularity of the product our demand has exceeded supply. xxxx will always try and improve the delivery date on your order.

If you are not at home you can arrange for another adult to accept the delivery at the delivery address on your behalf .

If there is no one to accept the delivery, the carrier will leave a calling card for you to schedule an alternative delivery date.

Thank you.

Standard response, telling my what I'd already known. Next, I triggered my customer demanded service:

I'm sorry, but your reply made me even mad. YOU ARE NOT READING AND UNDERSTANDING YOUR CUSTOMER COMMENT / COMPLAINT AND TRYING TO SOLVE IT! You just take the standard reply and close the call.

Ultimately disappointed. Thumbs down.

And I finally got the answer I wanted:

Thank you for contacting xxxx Customer Service.

We have checked your order and the delivery is scheduled on :

04/11/2009 09:00 - 14:00

To answer your earlier enquiry, if you do not receive your order by today, you can contact us to cancel the order.

Thank you.

Really pity the customer service officer, I'm sure they will face people who are more demanding. Is it their fault, don't think so. The company that employed them do not equip them with the necessary knowledge before putting them into their working position.

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.