own land (thai remix)

have you ever considered
the prestige of property?
to say that you are "landed"
is to have made it in society.

yes man, you'd have arrived
at the very fine day of your life!
you may find your social life revived
when you have the pre-requisite for a wife.

land is the key to making money
regardless of what people think.
you can sell it to get a kidney
when you're old and on the brink

of poverty: then you sell
and cash in on its value,
doctors checking your cells
see the cash, and not you.

but most of all, this land
is an investment for yourself:
you can build on its expanse!
only you can foretell

the limits of its potential,
the mansion that it will house;
your real estate is real,
and you live in it with your spouse.

so how about land in thailand?
did you consider it beforehand?
it's impossible, i'm afraid, my friend:
it's prohibited to the end!

well, some links, as usual:
to be browsed for your persusal.
enjoy them as you may:
a great way to end your day.

http://www.thaivisa.com/own_land_thailand.0.html
http://www.coolthaihouse.com/artownership.htm

Note: Special Thanks to Pim (Jitra Channachanchai) for the links.

japanese phones : when you coming to malaysia?!

http://www.nttdocomo.com/campaign/picturebook/main.html
NTT DoCoMo came up with a cool ad. It's like a picture book flipping, telling you a story... What mobile phones were, and what mobile phones will be. Cool? Yeah. I think so too.

So, what is NTT DoCoMo? Nothing much, just the phone manufacturer that revitalized the telecommunications industry in Japan a coupla years back. The industry was in a slump. Out of nowhere, the cute NTT DoCoMo company flooded the market with cute, colourful, mobile phones. Way ahead of Nokia and Motorola, i think! Ah, when Nokia was still mono, Samsung was poly, so -- that ought to speak for its self.

http://www.nttdocomo.com/corebiz/interconnected/felicaContent.html
Nice ad, but after a while you want to switch off the music. Talks about I-Felica, which will turn your mobile phone into a wallet. Use it everywhere! :-)

http://www.nttdocomo.com/corebiz/interconnected/icw.html
The interconnected lifestyle. Very cool. Just move your mouse around to check things out.


Moving on: http://www.au.kddi.com/au_design_project/main.html
Very cool mobile phone design. Care of KDDI.

Also: http://www.au.kddi.com/au_design_project/seihin/infobar/index.html
Very nice, and "flat" mobile phone. Also from KDDI

http://www.nttdocomo.com/corebiz/handset/main.html
And now... the very cool phones from NTT DoCoMo... Nice loops, too.

bei da mandarin

http://www.accessmandarin.com/beida_costs.html

learning mandarin: the hallmark of an ethnic chinese trying to communicate with the rest of the ethnic chinese all over the world.

costs will be phenomenal though.

we'll just have to play it by ear as we go along...

theo van gogh

the film maker has been killed.
a deadly note was found, filled
with verses from the holy book;
a suspicion, at first look
that the man was taken out
by a group that could do without
a critique of their kind;
they remain wilfully blind:
what of the freedom of speech
and the freedom to beseech
all mankind to better good?
no, they see truth, and they brood
over what must be done:
i.e. to kill his fun.

killing is not fun.


Click the caricature below to zoom off to a Dutch comic site:

concrete acquisition

as a man, i work hard to put food on the table
i keep working that job so my income is stable
trying as hard as i think i am able.



the income which comes, comes from the job
if i don't have income, do i beg or rob?
no more the moolah to with my friends hobnob;
i seek to return home, in drunken solace to sob.



but 'tis not a drunken stupor that i seek;
nor a horror like amityville, that tale so bleak;
this i say! you scoffing putrid scoundrel pipsqueaks:
i shall be my own man, and myself be made complete.


Click on this nice picture to get to a gallery of Marilyn's pics

These days things never seem easy, straightforward, nor simple. (There's a difference between simple and easy, ya know?) Much more so when your peers seem to be on the track where acquisition seems the order of the day. Just the other day, I was at a private "makan", where my friend mentioned to his other friend that he had just purchased his second house. There was a slight moment of silence as my friend realized that I was within earshot; "Cripes," the old monkey must have been thinking, "He heard that?" Turning to me in an affable manner, he said, "Oh, by the way? I just purchased my second house. Tell no one, ok?" And I was left feeling quite flabbergasted. My age and owning his second home! Mary, Mary. Quite contrary! I thought only those who went into business for themselves would have such fortune. But here was a friend who was working in some firm (management position, no doubt; have no mirages to misguide you; he's in a power position) and pouring his money into acquiring properties.

Hence, my own piqued interest in the matter; the intrigue generated in my mind must have caused my own cobweb-encrusted brain to spin faster than a hydrofoil's engine; plug in a lightbulb to my ear at that precise moment and it would, I very earnestly tell you this, have lit up for a good five minutes. Like a scene out of "trainspotting" (that marvellous gritty movie starring drugs and junkies), the world seemed to halt for a strange moment, and the dizzying whirl of realizing that, "Gee! What have I been doing with my life!" suddenly settling in; others have been making hay while the sun shines and here I am, wasting my monthly income on consumerism. Doubtless to say, the unholy trinity of personal greed, mass media advertising and sales psychology were at work here.

It seems a good time as ever to start learning the rudiments; the question is where do I start. Money must be channeled into a good, gracious cause; therefore the evil that seeks to befall me is that of seducing consumerism. How now to stave off the pangs of spending? And pour that hard earned income to a concrete reality? (Buildings are made of concrete, no?)

The logic that my friend (who by that moment had, in my eyes, elevated to genius status) used was, the property would in 4 or 5 years have appreciated, and in due course, could be sold off for a profit; after which, the next property could be purchased, and the constant cycle, of purchasing and selling, could continue. In due course he would own many properties, constantly selling and buying good deals. I look forward only to the next economic downturn, when people will have to get rid of their homes. Gosh! Does that seem an eternity away? But my incomes will need an eternity to raise to that level, too.

not my choice

the choices of the generation
that you gloatingly point to with precision
do not represent me; what notion
led you to the extension
of their choice to me?



sunday, i read the papers. an extract from the article, "Malaysia remains land of opportunity for Indons" (page 27, The Sunday Star):

As early as two decades ago, Indonesians had elbowed out the original Malay traders in Kampung Baru. Squatter colonies grew into Indonesian strongholds: Kampuing Kayu Ara in Kuala Lumpur, Pulau Gaya in Kota Kinabalu, Kg BDC in Sandakan and Ice Box in Tawau became infamous as Indonesian enclaves.

so, who are the ones who are edging the indigenous peoples out of home and income? actually, there is no real answer. as much as i'd like to try to answer it, i don't think there is one clear cut answer. but to bandy around the "we are poor, so give us more" ideology -- that was aeons ago, gentlemen. that was a thing of the past. things have moved on. so many successful indigenous folks; so how can we justify the "we are STILL poor" ideology?

deepavali strikes again

This week is unique. The Hindu community celebrated their Diwali celebrations, albeit in a rather hurried sense of festivities, which were quickly dwarfed by the rather more grandiose celebrations of the Hari Raya.

I came up with a corny joke, here it is:

Q: What do you get when you put Happy Deepavali and Selamat Hari Raya together?
A: A happy, deeper, hairy valley! Oh, selamat menyelam, ya!



Well, my friend came up with another.

Q: When you put Hari Raya and Chinese New Year together, what do you get? Kongsi Raya. Well, what do you get if you put Chinese New Year and Deepavali together?

A: Kongsi Gelap.



Whew... It's been a long day indeed. Currently unwinding to sounds of "Latino Pop" on board the Yahoo Messenger internet based radio. Ah.. Sergio Dalma, "Mi Historia Entre Tus Dedos". Nice. A raspy voice very much like Tom Waits. What's with the raspy voices that make people feel soothed? I wonder. The gravelly swing of Louis Armstrong. The heartfelt of Creed's lead singer.

Now the song's shifted, and I've skipped several. Hey, it's 4.20am. I can't be hip-hopping to the bebopping verbal skills of N.O.R.E, not that I mind rap but it's rather late. Time for a breather. A song that really lets things settle, lets the dust settle, and lets the water find its own level. (Aside: Someone once told me, forget about the law, just do the law, and don't worry about clients and work. Let the water find its own level. To which I wondered, what if the water finds its level above my head? Too deep inside...)

And I'm currently drifting mentally. The sounds of Enrique Iglesias, "Adicto". Hmm, where have I heard this number before? It's been translated to English, I think. But the refrain is lovely. "Na, na na na na na.. Na, na na na na na..." A surreal organ plays the strings, whisking the mind to an aural landscape of shifting hues and shapes.

Oh... it's late. 4.38am, time for me to get some rest.

There was a time when computer games fascinated me. But things have changed. The games we play as adults, these are very different. We play them in real time, not in virtual time (where days pass by in a matter of minutes). We play with money and our emotions, our life's raw materials. Our every effort is devoted to achieving the grand goal of -- what? The grand goal of happiness, that's what. I've been informed that man gravitates towards pleasure and shies away from pain.

Sin Bandera - "Mientes Tan Bien". Gorgeous music. Must remember to download it from KaZaA.

Anyway. The thing about games in adulthood.. it's hard to see things as games, unless you actually gear yourself up to see it that way. But adolescents tend to be fascinated with "getting laid" and "getting to third base" -- things they imagine that adults engage in frequently. But it just doesn't happen. instead they learn about "adulthood" through strange devices. For example: