Saturday, April 30, 2011

Thor... One Cool Movie...

I think "Thor" is among the best super-hero movie after Spider-Man and the legendary Superman. It's both mystical and full of great details in it. Among the things that I like are;
  • Great actors & actresses to begin with such as Natalie Portman & my all time favorite Anthony Hopkins as Odin All-Father. His voice certainly befitted the character.
  • From the beginning of the movie until the end, there was a lot of colorful and bright lights, and the realms were greatly differentiated with these hues of colors and shades e.g. Jotunheim (the world of the Frost Giant) was shown in blue-grey-white shades to signifies coldness and ever lasting winter.
  • Asgard was magnificent! I was amazed how the city was fitted with gold & silver furnishing from the building itself and also their costumes. The reflection from the light gave the city a very elegant and splendor look.
  • Besides Odin, I believe Heimdall was the second best super-hero & character in the movie (although there's very few lines). Seems that he has a very cool power of seeing & listening from distance far better than the rest, even Thor himself.
  • BiFrost was the most amazing travelling contraception that I ever seen, other than the Stargate. The spinning dome & the shooting rainbow lights were a breathtaking sight! On top of that, the feeling of flying in it and then landing with a loud boom is so cool.
Its a movie worth watching, not necessarily in 3D...

Friday, April 29, 2011

Quotes Of The Day

"A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person"
Mignon McLaughlin

"Marriage is popular because it combines the maximum of temptation with the maximum of opportunity"
George Bernard Shaw

Congratulations to Prince William & Catherine Middleton on your royal wedding.

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Melanau Language 101

I spent around 1 hour opening all folders, files and boxes looking for all the bills, statements and receipts for the tax returns. Well, all the sweat paid off actually because I found all of them! Thanks to the extra premium that I paid for my medical benefit (I enrolled into 3 different insurance), the MacBook Pro that I bought last year, the newly introduced broadband internet subscription fee deductibles and the increase from RM 8000 to RM 9000 for personal relief, I ended up overpaying my tax by approximately RM 1560! Horee! Gimme back my money!


Enough about money and all, its time for Melanau Language 101. I'm gonna share several phrases and sentences that we always use in our life as an example which will be presented in 3 parts; English Language, the colloquial Malay Language and last but not least Melanau Language.

What are you looking for? | Tengah cari apa tu? | Inau kan pitau dun?

I'm looking for salt | Tengah cari garam | Kou pitau siah

What for? | Untuk apa? | Bak nau?

I'm cooking fried rice for dinner later | Nak masak nasik goreng untuk makan tengah hari nanti | Kou bak pisam asek aghok bak keman aluk

Don't forget to add a bit of chicken and egg as well | Jangan lupa tambah ayam dengan telur sikit | Nak liluk siau ngah telui jumek

No problem! | Takde masalah! | Mai hal!

Later I'll help you with the plates and spoons on the table | Nanti aku tolong siapkan pinggan dengan sudu atas meja | Aluk kou kak jalok ngah sudip amuh mija

That's all for today.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Sarawak... My Hometown...

I'm out of blog-idea since yesterday basically due to the current searing hot weather from mid-day until late evening, and sometimes until night. The cooling breeze from a top speed table fan also fail to cool down the surrounding, and worse thing is sweating before bed time. The feeling of waking up with full of "ickyness" is so discomforting and disgusting. So, I come up with a simple blog about Sarawak, my hometown and some of the things that you should know about Sarawak (which is unique and different from other states).

Sarawak is located on the island of Borneo (world 3rd largest island) with a total population of 2,420,009 (2010 census). The administrative capital of Sarawak is Kuching. Unlike the other states in Malaysia, Sarawak is divided into Divisions rather than Districts and each Division is headed by a Resident. Divisions are further divided into Districts which are headed by a District Officer (DO); and each Disctrict is divided into Sub-districts, each headed by an Administrative Officer. There's a total of 11 Divisions which are Betong, Bintulu, Kapit, Kuching, Limbang, Miri, Mukah, Samarahan, Sarikei, Sibu and Sri Aman. My hometown is being the 9th, with 4 Sub-districts which are Sarikei, Meradong, Julau and Pakan. There's a total of 33 Sub-districts altogether.

The demographics of ethnic Sarawak are as follows;

Dayak Iban
Comprises about 34% of Sarawak population and being the largest, and conventionally referred to as "Dayak Laut" or "Sea Dayak". The Iban dwells in longhouses, stilted structures with a large number of rooms housing a whole community of families.

Chinese
Today, they make up of 26% of Sarawak population. The Sarawak Chinese belong to a wide range of dialect groups namely Hakka, Hokkien, Teochew, Hailam, Foochow and Puxian Min. Today, the Chinese are amongst Sarawak most properous ethnic group.

Malay
The Malays make up of 21% of the population in Sarawak. Traditionally fishermen, these seafaring people choose to form settlements on the banks of the many rivers of Sarawak. Malays are Muslim by religion, having been converted to the faith some 600 years ago.

Melanau
The Melanaus have been thought to be amongst the original settlers of Sarawak. Originally from Mukah, they traditionally lived in tall houses. Today, most of the Melanaus community is Muslim whilst some remain Christians.

Dayak Bidayuh
Concentrated mainly at the West end of Borneo, and make up of 10% of the population of Sarawak. The Bidayuh formed inland settlement hence earning them the name "Dayak Darat" of "Land Dayak". They traditionally built a roundhouse that rises about 1.5 metres off the ground.

Dayak Orang Ulu
The phrase "Orang Ulu" means upriver people and live in Sarawak vast interior. Some of the major tribes are Kayan, Lun Bawang, Kelabit, Kenyah, Penan and Sebob. The Orang Ulu are artistic people such as in woodcarvings, intricate beadwork, detailed tattoo and unique musical instrument "sape".

Historically, Sarawak was known as "Cerava" by Portuguese in the early 16th century. By early 19th century, Sarawak has become a loosely governed territory under the control of Brunei Sultanate. in 1839, James Brook was the first European to arrive in Sarawak. During that time, chaos erupted causing Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin II ordering Pangeran Muda Hashim to restore order. He initially requested Brooke assistance, but he refused. However, in 1841 Brooke paid another visit to Sarawak and this time agreed to provide assistance. On 24 September 1841, Pangeran Muda Hashim bestowed the title Governor to James Brooke, and effectively became the first Rajah of Sarawak and founded the White Rajah dynasty. The Brooke dynasty ruled Sarawak for a 100 years until in 1941, Japan invaded. After the World War II ended in 1945, Charles Vyner Brooke ceded sovereignty to the British Crown from 1946 until 1963, when finally Sarawak was granted independence through the formation of The Federation Of Malaysia on 16 September 1963.

Coming up next, is learning the Melanau language. Stay tuned!

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Sometime, I Hate Myself

There are times when I'm being used without knowing it. People always take opportunities at the right time and situation. It is not a sign of vulnerability, but maybe weakness. I hate myself being put into a situation when "NO" is not an acceptable answer, or even the answer that people wanted to hear. When actually "YES" is being heard close to 90% all the time, the remaining 10% are usually the one from my own decision e.g. product promotion, bank loans promotion, insurance promotion, telco promotion, and etc. Some of the situation where "NO" is probably not a good answer is...

... when your close friend wanted to borrow your money, but he still owed you the previous one

... when someone used a person's name & position to "black-mail" you in completing a job last minute (and in short time)

... when somebody try to get an info, but knowing that the same info is available somewhere else and the other guy is clueless on how to get it

... when a task is being assigned from someone else (either permanent or temporary) without proper handing-over, and is expected to deliver the same quality as the previous

... when you are being given a very important job at the eleventh hour, but at the same time you have your plans for the weekday or weekend or holiday

there's a lot more, but I'm having writer's block due to heat...

Monday, April 25, 2011

Lynas... Important Facts That You Should Know

Perbadanan Kemajuan Negeri Pahang (PKNP) had issued a memo dated 22 April 2011 regarding several important facts on Lynas Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. The original memo was in Malay, so I took the liberty of translating them to a very simple English so that everyone can digest what's actually PKNP and Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB) was trying to inform the public. Its quite lengthy, so bear with it and enjoy!

Important facts related to LYNAS Malaysia Sdn Bhd project at Gebeng Industrial Estate, Kuantan.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


1.0 Matters Arising

a. Confusion on the effects of radiation or radiation exposure from LYNAS radioactive material to the public.

b. Confusion related to Asian Rare Earth Company (ARE) which operated at Bukit Merah, Perak in 1984 that utilized raw material from Monozite ore that contained 6-7% radioactive material (non-radioactive material is 93-94%), compared to LYNAS which utilized raw material from Rare Earth (Lanthanide) that only contained 0.165% radioactive material and the remaining 99.835% non-radioactive material.


2.0 Facts Related to LYNAS Project


2.1 Radiation Affect Assessment Consultant for LYNAS Project

Malaysian Nuclear Agency


2.2 Project Approval

a. Department of Environment (DOE): Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report and Quantitative Risk Assessment (QRA) report to LYNAS.

b. Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB): Plant construction and site operation approval

c. The State of Pahang does not prevent the placement of LYNAS Malaysia Sdn Bhd project in Gebeng Industrial Estate, Kuantan after fulfilling the requirement in para (a) and (b), abovementioned.


2.3 The Difference Between LYNAS and ARE:

a. LYNAS

Raw Material: Ore from Mount Weld, Australia

Thorium Content in Raw Material: 0.16%

Radioactive Concentration in Waste: 0.165%

b. ARE

Raw Material: Tin ore tailings (Amang)

Thorium Content in Raw Material: 6% (37% higher than LYNAS)

Radioactive Concentration in Waste: 10% (60% higher than LYNAS)

Source: AELB


2.4 Waste From LYNAS Project

a. The 3 waste generated are;

i) Synthetic Gypsum (Fuel Gas Desulphurization – FGD)

ii) Magnesium Rich Gypsum (Neutralization Underflow – NUF)

iii) Iron Phosphor Gympsum (Water Leached Purification – WLP)

b. FGD and NUF are non-radioactive.

c. Iron Phosphor Gympsum (WLP – sludge) only contained 0.165% radioactive material and the remaining 99.835% non-radioactive material.

d. These waste will be stored by LYNAS and recycled for brick manufacturing, sea-water barrier and road according to the study currently conducted.


2.5 International Standard

a. The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization (ANSTO) have identified the method to stabilize and reduce the radioactivity level of Water Leached Purification (WLP) from 0.165% to 0.03%. Therefore, WLP is safe for general production. LYNAS will try to reduce it to 0.05%.


2.6 Radiation Exposure Comparison between LYNAS Workers & Public in Comparison With Other Industry in Milisievert (mSv)

Non-Destructive Test (NDT) Worker: 6.1 mSv/annum

CT Scan: 6.9 mSv/annum

Average for LYNAS Worker: 2.0 mSv/annum

Flight Crew: 9.0 mSv/annum

Public Exposure From LYNAS: 0.002 mSv/annum

Source: AELB

Note: Radiation exposure is a function of distance and exposure duration to the radioactive source.


2.7 Lanthanide Product Application

Lanthanide are the main component in green-technology application such as;

a. Increase in energy saving through lower energy consumption

- Compact fluorescent light

- Reducing weight in cars

- Increase in oil refinery output

b. Preservation of environment through emission control

- Auto catalytic converter

- Diesel additive

- Increase in fuel efficiency

c. Compact and powerful digital technology

- Flat panel display

- Hard disc

- iPods and MP3 players


3.0 Summary

a. The placement of LYNAS project is anticipated to bring benefit to the economic growth of the state of Pahang especially in opening job opportunities to the “rakyat” besides the opportunity in other sectors such as housing, commercial, transportation and downstream industry inclusive of Kuantan Port operation, which contributes to the increase in state’s revenue.

b. The project is safe with continuous control and monitoring from department/agency related such as DOE, AELB and local authority to all the plants operating in the industrial estates in the state of Pahang.


Published by:

Industrial Division

Perbadanan Kemajuan Negeri Pahang (PKNP)

Kuantan

For more information, please contact;

Hj Ahmad Sabri Hussin

Industrial Manager

+609-5145503/+6019-9868496

Saturday, April 23, 2011

I'm Quite Happy Today

Minus the hectic stuff which is going on this week, plus the shutdown and other mumbo-jumbo, I'm quite happy today (although I was in the office for half a day) due to the following reason;

Had low-fat milk (just the milk) for breakfast, fish & chips for lunch, and Spicy Chicken McDeluxe for dinner cum supper (I've had enough of meaty burgers for this year). Eating reduced my stress but increased something else.

Done all my bills, credit card payment and other banking stuff today (its salary day today!). Planning to visit LHDN next week maybe to do my tax returns.

Picked up the pants and shirts at Summermens. They were gorgeous! The tailor was very helpful indeed, at the same time promoting his "batik" and "baju melayu" collection. Next time maybe a full suit yeah Mr Tailor.

Bought 6 DVDs today; Last Night, Morning Glory, No Strings Attached, How Do You Know, The Eagle and Bangkok Knockout. 4 of them are love and romance stories, the others are actions. Movie marathon tonight!

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Last but not least...

Finally, LYNAS is in the front page! Congrats everyone for your effort. So, it's time to wait for the result from the so called "independent panel of international experts" to satisfy everyone's curiosity and "political motives". If they don't believe in AELB (Atomic Energy Licensing Board), should they reject IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency)?

Let's wait and see...

Friday, April 22, 2011

People Said The Darnest Things...

For the past few days, I've been hearing this...

"Thank you for shutting us down, for whatever reason..." (try saying this sarcastically)

"... shitdown..." (must be typo, since "u" is just beside "i")

"We've overlook on this matter..." (thanks for admitting)

"I think there's some miscommunication here..." (thanks again)

"There's no such thing as 'kot-kot'..." (in Malay, 'kot-kot' means, probably or maybe)

"Everything on schedule 'boh'..." ('boh' is a slang for 'boss' in the East Coast)

"First issue is canteen..." (always the first issue when this guy's turn is up)

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That's all for this now, perhaps next week there'll be new quotes to share...

Another LYNAS blog is coming soon. Stay tuned!

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Quotes Of The Day

"Stay committed to your decisions, but but stay flexible in your approach"
Tom Robbins

"Nobody ever did, or ever will, escape the consequences of his choices"
Alfred A. Montapert

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Top Five Moments

Well, everyone has their own up and down moments. The following are mine in a day (today) according to the sequence.

The "Good" Moments

Being told that LHDN e-Filing counter is open on weekends from 8am till 6pm. Let's do and submit our tax people! (2)

Salary day is in 3 days time. (3)

My best-friend passed his job interview and will start working on Monday. Alhamdulillah! (4)

Looking forward for tomorrow's site visit to Kemaman. (7)

Bought Java Chips from StarBucks, since my stomach is quite empty after barfing McD. (9)

The "Not So Good" Moments

Starting doing another people's job temporarily. I don't mind sending lots of SMSes every morning, but the way it was handed over matters. (1)

The "daging salai pedas" at Kedai Kak Noor today is tough and hard to chew! (5)

Unexpectedly being told to be involved in a work (not yet confirmed) without any prior notice and which will start tomorrow, or the day after. I hate last minute work! (6)

Being served medium-rare Quarter Pounder at McD Megamall. I barfed after that. Yuck! (8)

Summermens (tailor shop) is closed, so I couldn't pick up my pants and shirts. I should've called them first! (10)

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Some "light" material reading, extracted from NST.

Rising Concern Over Suicides: Facts & Figures

113 cases: 2007
290 cases: 2008
328 cases: 2009

Chinese: 40%
Indian: 21%
Malay: 13%
East M'sia Bumiputera: 4%

82 male + 31 female: 2007
219 male + 71 female: 2008
244 male + 84 female: 2009

"Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem"
Phil Donahue

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Quotes Of The Day

"Fatigue is the best pillow"
Benjamin Franklin

"Those who think they have no time for bodily exercise, will sooner or later will have to find time for illness"
Edward Stanley

Monday, April 18, 2011

The First Three...

Shutdown In April


Lo and behold! Its that day again where hundreds of contractors, technicians and engineers convene to execute the long awaited plant shutdown. This time in April 2011 for 32 days product-to-product. Major work includes cold box replacement (its about time since the spare one has been sitting under the sun almost a year), heat exchangers repair and cleaning, LCP (don't know how to describe this thingy), and cooling water system flushing. There's a lot more I guess but those are the major ones. All that I can wish is for a safe, smooth and flawless shutdown, mechanical days and start up. I'm not involved in any activities this year (only some minor planning work), though I've been a member of the QAQC group for several time since 2007. Need some time off I guess, giving ways for new blood. Flawless Execution!

Pain In The Leg

The last time I went for a follow up with Dr. Zainuddin (the bone doctor a.k.a. orthopedic) was in December 2010. The final MRI (the one that I need to lie down motionless for a freaking one hour!) shows that basically there's no serious problem with my lower backbone (lumbar). His advice was just to do light work, less workout e.g. running or jogging, and finish up the meds. The pain went off couple of weeks later and the pain totally were gone somewhere in February 2011, so I thought. Couple of weeks back, the pain is back gradually from the lower backbone and creeping its way down to my hip and right leg. Did I do something different now? I don't think so. Maybe its time for me to meet Dr. Zain again, and that lovely nurse of his.

Concert In May

Finally, after so many years I'm back attending the MPO concerts starting with the first show on 21 May 2011 titled "Baroque Bon-Bons". It got nothing to do with poco-poco yeah! There's gonna be pieces from Corelli, Pachelbel, Albinoni and my favorite Handel. Most importantly there's gonna be a soprano (Elin Manahan Thomas) singing arias by Handel one of which the magnificent and enthralling "Ombra Mai Fu" from the opera Xerxes. A concert worth waiting for! (Just hoping that there's no last minute work stuff)

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Announcement & Quotes Of The Day

Announcement

I hereby suspend my Facebook & Twitter account until further notice.


"Too busy with the crowded hour to fear to live or die"
Ralph Waldo Emerson


I told you so...

Last night was a very exciting night for the Sarawakian as Barisan Nasional once again was announced as the winner (by simple majority as well as 2/3 of majority) of the Sarawak State Assembly Election 2011. 55 seats! That was the final result, followed by the official CM Taib Mahmud swearing in ceremony on the same night. That was really quick I guess.

Several facts regarding the Sarawak State Assembly Election 2011
  • Voters turnout was 70%, the highest since 1991 (Historical highest was 80% in 1969)
  • Total number of registered voters are 979,796 based on 31 December electoral roll
  • Total number of candidates were 123, the highest ever in history since 1969 with highest ever Independent and women candidates of 41 and 16 respectively
  • Of the 71 seats, 27 had straight fights (1-on-1), 23 had 3-corner fights, 17 had 4-corner fights, 2 had 5-corner fights and 2 had 6-corner fights
  • Barisan Nasional contested in all 71 seats, but only won 55 giving them the 2/3 of majority
  • The losing seats were to DAP (Padungan, Pending, Kota Sentosa, Batu Kawah, Repok, Meradong, Bukit Assek, Dudong, Pelawan, Kidurong, Piasau and Pujut), PKR (Batu Lintang, Krian and Ba' Kelalan) and Independent (Pelagus)
  • The Opposition and Independent contested in 142 seats, but only won 16 of them
The only immediate change that we can see starting today is that news related to Sarawak will be lesser in the newspaper and also TVs...

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Where have I been...

In the past 24 hours, I've been to...
  • Kuantan Airport
  • KLIA
  • KL Sentral
  • KLCC
  • KL Convention Centre
  • Bumbu Desa
  • Pavilion
  • Uniqlo
  • GSC Pavilion
  • Coffee Bean Pavilion

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Time To Fly...

Aidilfitri Holiday (Myself - Kuantan <> KL <> Sibu)

27 Aug
KUA - KUL 1020-1105
KUL - SBW 1555-1750

4 Sept
SBW - KUL 0920-1100
KUL - KUA 1805-1845

Total fare = MYR 909.00/pax (inclusive tax & misc.)

Family Holiday (Mum & Dad Getaway - Sibu <> KL <> Bali)

18 Dec
SBW - KUL 2110-2305

19 Dec
KUL - DPS 1035-1325

23 Dec
DPS - KUL 1355-1650

24 Dec
KUL - SBW 0705-0900

Total fare = MYR 706.00/pax (inclusive tax & misc.)

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Quotes Of The Day

"To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom"
Bertrand Russell

"Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen"
Winston Churchill

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Lynas... Let's Do Some Reading...

Below is the latest news being published regarding Lynas. Let us analyze this news...

Your Right To Ask, Gebeng Folk Told...

KUALA LUMPUR: Lynas Corporation, which is building a controversial (1) rare earth processing plant in the (2) Gebeng industrial area, said people had the right to query it over the project.

Nicholas Curtis, executive chairman of the Australian company, maintained that the project was entirely safe.

“We are transparent about our operations and people can ask us any question,” he said.

Lynas has invested up to (3) RM700mil in the project and the plant, located in the Gebeng chemical and petrochemical hub, is expected to be operational in September.

The residents are mainly concerned over one of the proposed plant's waste products, (4) iron phospho gypsum, which contains naturally occuring low-level radioactive thorium.

The firm has said that it would place these residues in safe, reliable (5) engineered storage cells.

“I find the comments that we are here to damage the next generation of Malaysian children as offensive and upsetting to me. It's just not true,” Curtis said.

He said the project was sought-after elsewhere but Malaysia was the preferred destination due to its (6) excellent infrastructure and (7) skilled workforce.

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(1) - set of 17 chemical elements in the periodic table, specifically the 15 lanthanoids plus scandium and yttrium, naturally occurring and relatively very plentiful in the Earth's crust as ore deposits; the application ranges from LCDs, compact fluorescent light, wind turbine magnets and hybrid vehicles

(2) - houses world-class chemical and petrochemical industrial zone with 4 development phases totalling 8,600 hectares of land strategically located only 5 km from Kuantan Port

(3) - is also equivalent to the amount of PTPTN loan defaulters debt burden in 2008

(4) - proposed applications for this material among others are road pavement, soil conditioner, cover for landfills, roof tiles and artificial reef and oyster bed

(5) - usually achieved by shielding during handling and transport before being compacted, incinerated or shallow land burial

(6) - Kuantan Port equipped with 19 multi-type berths (maximum of 725 metres) which can cater up to 40,000 tonnes deadweight vessel with 11 metres of draft, and East Coast Expressway which connects Kuala Lumpur to Jabor (Pahang - Terengganu border) through Kuantan stretching 160 km of free-flow four-lane dual carriage expressway

(7) - as of January 2011, total Malaysian unemployed are 421,800 which is 3.4% of total labour force with 64.7% labour force participation rate (15-64 years of age) and high concentration focus in manufacturing industry

Happy reading...

Monday, April 11, 2011

2011... The Year Of...

Still thinking of a vacation spot this year...

Bali - January 2011

Phuket - December 2010

Hong Kong - September 2008


Bangkok - March 2007


Singapore - March 2007

Jakarta - July 2006

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Quotes Of The Day

... Of Life

"Life is like a coin. You can spend it any way you wish, but you only spend it once"
Lillian Dickson

... Of Death

"Death is terrifying because it is so ordinary. It happens all the time"
Susan Cheever

Mathematics Of The 21st Century

Law of Discounts

1 Jeans + 1 Khakis + 3 T-shirts = RM149.90

Law of Uneven Proportion

16 Movies / 2 DVD = RM 30.00

Law of Inequality

1 Java Chips x 3 Hours = RM 0.00 (Free Wifi)

Law of Conservation of Money

+ Credit Now = - Cash Later

Friday, April 8, 2011

Lynas... Have You Done Your Homework?

You, here refers to the citizens of Malaysia, the state of Pahang and the district of Kuantan. I believe some of us have read the newspapers or even watched the news (and YouTube of course) of how a concerned and spirited kindergarden teacher single-handedly lambasted "politicians" and unknowingly the state and federal government on the Lynas Advanced Material Plant (LAMP) construction in Gebeng Industrial Estate.

To tell you the truth, being a person who's working not far from the construction site finds that the issue is some-what strange and funny bundled into one. Strange because non of this was raised not until the great Sendai earthquake (knowing that LAMP was being constructed almost a year currently), and funny because some of us haven't done enough homework a.k.a. reading.

Being a civic minded person, I also believe that we have the right to a safe workplace and we also have the right to refuse an unsafe workplace. But, isn't all workplace have potentials of being unsafe and dangerous? 6 years working in a petrochemical plant seems to be a good example of how a safe workplace is being implemented. Being toxic and hazardous chemicals, dangerous working space with hot surfaces and falling objects, or non-direct affect of work and mental stress, people seems to be able to cope with these thing and yet the plant has been in operation close to 20 years. What do they have to protect the workers?

Barrier is the answer, a series and layer of protection which will prevent the hazards from affecting the workers. A simple day-to-day example is changing light bulbs. Well, I believe most of us will just climb the ladder and immediately change the bulb. But do you realize that you actually have removed all the barriers and expose yourself being electrocuted? An example of barriers in this case are i) to ensure the circuit breaker for that bulb is in opened position ii) the switch for that bulb is off position iii) to wear a protective glove before touching the bulb iv) to ensure your hand is dry before changing the bulb v) to wear an insulative footwear. Quite a long list and troublesome for people. But these barriers actually will prevent you from electrocution and hot surface burn.

So, what is the relationship with LAMP? The industry (generally) demanded these 3 things; Health, Safety and Environment. Health being the people are protected from the hazards that is being created by the industry. Safety being the industry have to introduce and implement sets of rules and regulations that will ensure the workplace is safe. Environment being the protection of living beings and nature from the hazard which is created by the industry through its processes, products and by-products as well as emissions. Let me put this in factual form;

Did you know that Thorium 232 has a half-life of 14,000,000,000 years and occur naturally 100% (not produced synthetically) and emits alpha-wave as its primary decay mode. Alpha-wave is also a type of brain waves which originated from the occipital lobe during wakeful relaxation with closed eyes.

Did you know that diagnostic X-Ray are classified as "carcinogen" by WHO. An abdominal or chest scan is equivalent to 2-3 years of background radiation increasing the lifetime cancer risk between 1:1,000 to 1:10,000, which means that roughly there's 40% chance of a person developing cancer in their lifetime.

And one more thing, Sun Tzu once said "If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the results of a hundred battles". So, my advise is to read the following report from Lynas to know more about their business.



I am not a Pakatan supporter, nor a Barisan. Just a citizen who do his homework...

All The Pretty Girls - Fun

My currently favorite track for Tap Tap Revenge 4... Enjoy!

Things That You...

... Should do this weekend
  • Shopping - I've seem many promotions, discounts and sales everywhere
  • Watch "Rio" - My friend told me that it's a great movie
  • Visit to the beach - The weather has been great lately
  • Do extra laundry - Besides the weather being great, my laundry hamper is almost to its brim
  • Do house-keeping - Spring cleaning time!

... Shouldn't do this weekend

  • Watch "Source Code" - Don't be fooled by the actor Jake Gyllenhaal, honestly the movie is bad!
  • Wonder around KLCC - Two nights of concerts starting today, sounds like an easy way to get trapped in a car pile-up
  • Visiting KL - Plus the F1 this weekend, the population will basically increases dramatically
  • Eat spinach - Although it provides you with iron, but it also gives you radioactive stuff
  • Eat eggs - Penangites reported that there's "fake eggs"
That's all...

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Quotes Of The Day

COHESIVENESS

"Good fellowship & friendship are lasting, rational and manly pleasures"
William Wycherley

LOYALTY

"Lack of loyalty is one of the major causes of failure in every walk of life"
Napoleon Hill

INTEGRITY

"If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything"
Mark Twain

PROFESSIONALISM

"Stay committed to your decisions, but stay flexible in your approach"
Tom Robbins

All of the above are PETRONAS four Shared Values.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Yellow Dots on the RevolverMaps

It has been a week since I added the "RevolverMaps" gadget in this blog. It basically keep tracks of the location of the blog's visitor.

So far, I have been visited from:
  1. United States of America - California, Texas, New York/Vermont
  2. France - I think I know who this fella is (a Malaysian of course)
  3. Taiwan
  4. Singapore
  5. and of course from all over Malaysia...
Thanks for your support, and please do leave some comments yeah!

My Precious

"My preciousssssssss...." that's what Smeagol said to the one ring of power in his possession. Well, everbody has their own precious one, not the person but of the material. It is common that prople cling to their belonging and with all their heart and life guard them from being taken away or stolen. For me, I also have my own "Precious"...

  1. My first and foremost is my 13" MacBook Pro which I purchased in August 2010. Its shy of another 4 months for its 1 year birthday. The thought of having a MacBook has been in my mind for the past couple of years when my old laptop (during my UTP days) is ceased from working maybe due to "old age", os simply because I refuse to repair it as many of the parts already obsolete! But an investment in a MacBook is the only one that guarantees your money back simply because it is sturdy, stable in terms of software and hardware, elegant and price-wise is affordable.
  2. Second is my handphone/mobile phone/pocket PC or whatever people called it. As of today, I'm using HTC Desire HD equipped with Android 2.2.1 OS. Previously I've been changing my phone from HTC HD7 (Windows Mobile 7), and before that Samsung Galaxy S (Android 2.1). People had been asking me why do I need to change my phone regularly? Well, simply because I want to keep up with the technology the same reason why I'm using MacBook.
  3. Third is my watch. Although you can basically keep track of the time using your phone, I still prefer to use the old method of time keeping by wearing a watch, and I mean mechanical watch not the digital one. Not to upset those who like G-Shock, but I despise digital watch as it lacks "life" and movement (the terms that they use for timepieces). My current watch is Fossil with hour/minute/second dials, day/month dial, moon phase dial and my favorite one is the visible escapement mechanism and the mainspring.
  4. Fourth is my wallet, simply because your whole life depends on it. You store your identity and money inside your wallet and carries it everywhere you go. People has certain preference on wallet, but I prefer the usual clasp-strap wallet where it can secure your wallet firmly and making sure that I never opens unnecessarily when you take it out.
Well, I have four at the moment and perhaps I'll continue again in the next blog.

"Riches do not consist in the possession of treasures, but in the use made of them"
Napoleon Bonaparte

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Quotes Of The Day

"Man is a creation of desire, not a creation of need"
Gaston Bachelard

"Desire is the very essence of man"
Benedict de Spinoza

Monday, April 4, 2011

Goodbye FY 2010/2011... Welcome FY 2011...

Last week was a very hectic week with the year end financial closing plus the usual tank dipping activity on the early morning of 1 April 2011. I was at the office from 1.30am until the end of the official office hour, but I went back a bit late to settle couple of things around 6.00pm. Which means I was working like 16+ hours straight! Phewwww! I should be entitled for overtime plus in-lieu holiday.

The year closed in a very happy mood (so far that I noticed). Most of the performance were beyond expectations especially when several new records were achieved surpassing the previous historical achievements. Congrats to everybody for your contributions, hard work and perseverance! Nothing can be done without the collective works and ideas.

"When you cease to make a contribution, you begin to die."
Eleanor Roosevelt

The year started also with a very happy mood personally for me as I was informed of a very delightful and suprise news from my boss. Well, it is still to early to say this but I'm hoping that it's gonna be a reality in a couple of months time. I guess all the hard work, patience and sacrifice paid off. So, fingers crossed!

"Don't worry when you are not recognized, but strive to be worthy of recognition"
Abraham Lincoln

Nothing much to say at the moment.