17 Little Changes we can Make that Make a Big Difference

17 Little Changes we can Make that Make a Big Difference from Nicole Elmore, LLC

An Ode To Mahathir

This envelope sure beats Rosmah's Birkin bags anytime

 

After seeing a picture of PAS Murshidul Am Tuan Guru Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat using a mere envelope as his money pouch, a PAS member decided to present him with a proper wallet to keep his money.

Last night, a wallet specially made for Nik Aziz by the anonymous party activist was presented by PAS information chief Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man and Shura Council secretary Nik Zawawi Mohd Salleh, before the council's meeting.

The wallet is hand-made, green in colour and bears the PAS logo.
Nik Aziz recalled that he had only bought two wallets in his lifetime: once before furthering his studies abroad and another upon his return.

The picture of Nik Aziz receiving the wallet went viral shortly after it was uploaded on Facebook, with some 108,000 views within four hours.

[Source: Harakahdaily]

It is so heartwarming to see such humility in these two politicians

The veteran politician also thanks Pandikar Amin Mulia for his services rendered to the Dewan Rakyat.
 

PETALING JAYA: DAP chairman and veteran politician Karpal Singh today said he was deeply touched by Dewan Rakyat Speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia’s apology to him yesterday, and reciprocated with his own apology.

“I wish to reciprocate by asking for his forgiveness for the many transgressions for which an apology is due from me to him.

“I wish Tan Sri Pandikar well and thank him on behalf of the DAP for his services rendered to the Dewan Rakyat,” Karpal said in a statement today.

Yesterday, at the end of the last parliamentary session before the 13th general election, Pandikar took the opportunity to apologise to MPs if he had hurt their feelings in the course of the parliamentary sittings since 2008.

He specifically tendered his apology to Bukit Gelugor MP Karpal Singh for being insensitive over the veteran MP’s health conditions.



He explained that there was one time during the sitting when he had asked for all the MPs to raise their hands to make a decision on a Bill and had reprimanded Karpal for failing to do so.

He said it had slipped his mind that Karpal could not lift his hand as he was disabled following a bad car crash some years ago.

“I still feel bad about it till today. Although Karpal is not in the House today, I would like to say that I am very sorry. I did not mean to be so insensitive,” Pandikar said yesterday.

[Source: FMT]

Did anyone go for the free biryani?

In a not-so-subtle response to the Education Ministry’s guidelines on ‘how to spot gays’, a new enterprising Indian restaurant in the Klang Valley has taken the unusual step of offering free food for those who fit under the ministry’s controversial ‘guidelines.’

Fierce Curry House, a restaurant operating in Bangsar, yesterday launched a campaign on its Facebook page, declaring that the first 15 male customers who show up at their premises on September 16 dressed according to the ministry’s guidelines for gay men will be entitled to free biryani.

“The first 15 guys who show up in a tight-ish, light-coloured V-neck tee and carrying a man bag or man purse will get a free chicken or mutton biryani,” their Facebook post stated.

The post also showed two images; one of flamboyant Real Madrid midfielder Cristiano Ronaldo dressed in a tight, light pink collared polo shirt carrying a man-purse; and the other of actor Zach Galifianakis, garbed in a t-shirt with a sling bag.

The headline for the picture cheekily stated: ‘Only one of these guys is getting a free biryani’.

Both Ronaldo and Galifianakis are heterosexual.

The campaign is believed to be a humorous poke at the Education Ministry’s recent unveiling of the ‘how to spot homosexuals’ guidelines.

Sin Chew Daily this week reported that the ministry had endorsed the guide as an aid to parents and teachers. It was reported that the guidelines were introduced during a seminar in Penang on September 11.

The event, titled ‘Parenting in addressing the issues of LGBTs (lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders), was reportedly officiated by

Deputy Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Puad Zarkashi.

The guidelines’ ‘symptoms’ for gays were: Muscular body and a fondness for showing off the body by wearing clothing, such as by wearing V-necks and sleeveless tops; a preference for tight and bright coloured clothe; an inclination to be attracted to men; and a tendency to carry big handbags, similar to the kinds used by women.

For lesbians, the guidelines stated: Showing attraction to women; distancing themselves from women other than their girlfriends; a preference for hanging out, sleeping and dining with women; and absence of feelings for men.

The news has since become the brunt of criticism from civil liberties representatives, who claimed that it was discriminatory and could lead to ‘witch-hunting’. Other have labelled the guidelines as ‘ridiculous’ and claimed that it will harm Malaysia’s image as a liberal-thinking country.

The ministry has since denied endorsing the ‘early symptoms’ guidelines. In a statement yesterday, it stated: “We wish to inform that we have not approved or endorsed to any parties to provide or issue the guidelines for distribution in schools.

“It is important to stress that it was issued by concerned quarters,” it said.

The ministry, however, said it is looking into the issue described as “social ills” and is constantly providing guidelines to prevent students from “engaging in such activities”.

Herukh Jethwani, owner of Fierce Curry House, told Malaysian Digest that the reason behind their campaign was to tap into the social buzz surrounding the issue.

“It’s just our way of addressing the matter. And response to the campaign has been tremendous. We’ve had to extend the promotion to include 25 people now,” he quipped.

Meanwhile, Facebook users have applauded Fierce Curry House’s promotional efforts. Facebook user Clarence Agod wrote on their wall: “I’ve never heard of you guys til now ... And I love you already!”

Kavidha Natarajan wrote: “Whoever thought of this marketing campaign is a genius and should be promoted immediately.”

Laviinia Dhana stated: “Well done, Fierce Curry owners! Awesome way to respond to such silly guidelines. Look forward to the pictures.”

As of Press time, the restaurant’s posting had been shared almost 900 times and received more than 600 ‘likes’.
 

[Source: MD]

Something to ponder over

'God vs. Science'

The atheist professor of philosophy pauses before his class and then
asks one of his new students to stand.

'You're a Christian, aren't you, son?'

'Yes sir,' the student says.

'So you believe in God?'

'Absolutely '

'Is God good?'

'Sure! God's good.'

'Is God all-powerful? Can God do anything?'

'Yes'

'Are you good or evil?'

'The Bible says I'm evil.'

The professor grins knowingly. 'Aha! The Bible! He considers for a
moment. 'Here's one for you. Let's say there's a sick person over here
and you can cure him. You can do it. Would you help him? Would
 you try?'

'Yes sir, I would.'

'So you're good...!'

'I wouldn't say that.'

'But why not say that? You'd help a sick and maimed person if you
could. Most of us would if we could. But God doesn't.'

The student does not answer, so the professor continues. 'He doesn't,
does he? My brother was a Christian who died of cancer, even though he
prayed to Jesus to heal him. How is this Jesus good? Can you answer that one?'

The student remains silent. 'No, you can't, can you?' the professor
says. He takes a sip of water from a glass on his desk to give the
student time to relax. 'Let's start again, young fella. Is God good?'

'Er..yes,' the student says.

'Is Satan good?'

The student doesn't hesitate on this one.. 'No.'

'Then where does Satan come from?'

The student falters. 'From God'

'That's right. God made Satan, didn't he? Tell me, son. Is there evil
in this world?'

'Yes, sir.'

'Evil's everywhere, isn't it? And God did make everything, correct?'

'Yes'

'So who  created evil?' The professor continued, 'If God created everything,
then God created evil, since evil exists, and according to the
principle that our works define who we are, then God is evil.'

Again, the student has no answer. 'Is there sickness? Immorality?
Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things, do they exist in this
world?'

The student squirms on his feet. 'Yes.'

'So who created them ?'

The student does not answer again, so the professor repeats his question. 'Who
 created them?' There is still no answer. Suddenly the lecturer breaks
away to pace in front of the classroom. The class is mesmerized. 'Tell
me,' he continues onto another student. 'Do you believe in Jesus
Christ, son?'

The student's voice betrays him and cracks. 'Yes, professor, I do.'

The old man stops pacing. 'Science says you have five senses you use
to identify and observe the world around you. Have you ever seen
Jesus?'

'No sir. I've never seen Him.'

'Then tell us if you've ever heard your Jesus?'

'No, sir, I have not.'

'Have you ever felt your Jesus, tasted your Jesus or smelt your Jesus?
Have you ever had any sensory perception of Jesus Christ, or God for
that matter?'

'No, sir, I'm afraid I haven't.'

'Yet you still believe in him?'

'Yes'

'According to the rules of empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol,
science says your God doesn't exist... What do you say to that, son?'

'Nothing,' the student replies.. 'I only have my faith.'

'Yes, faith,' the professor repeats. 'And that is the problem science
has with God. There is no evidence, only faith.'

The student stands quietly for a moment, before asking a question of
his own. 'Professor, is there such thing as heat? '


'Yes'.

'And is there such a thing as cold?'

'Yes, son, there's cold too.'

'No sir, there isn't.'

The professor turns to face the student, obviously interested. The
room suddenly becomes very quiet. The student begins to explain. 'You
can have lots of heat, even more heat, super-heat, mega-heat,
unlimited heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat, but we don't
have anything called 'cold'. We can hit down to 458 degrees below
zero, which is no heat, but we can't go any further
 after that. There is no such thing as cold; otherwise we would be
able to go colder than the lowest -458 degrees. Every body or object
is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is
what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy.. Absolute zero
(-458 F) is the total absence of heat. You see, sir, cold is only a
word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold.
Heat we can measure in thermal units because heat is energy. Cold is
not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it.'

Silence across the room. A pen drops somewhere in the classroom,
sounding like a hammer.

'What about darkness, professor. Is there such a thing as darkness?'

'Yes,' the professor replies without hesitation. 'What is night if it
isn't darkness?'

'You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is not something; it is the absence
of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light,
flashing light, but if you have no light constantly you have nothing
and it's called darkness, isn't it? That's the meaning we use to
define the word. In reality, darkness isn't. If it were, you would be
able to make darkness darker, wouldn't you?'

The professor begins to smile at the student in front of him. This
will be a good semester. 'So what point are you making, young man?'

'Yes, professor. My point is, your philosophical premise is flawed to
start with, and so your conclusion must also be flawed.'

The professor's face cannot hide his surprise this time. 'Flawed? Can
you explain how?'

'You are working on the premise of duality,' the student explains..
'You argue that there is life and then there's death; a good God and a
bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite,
something we can measure. Sir, science can't even explain a thought.'
'It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less
fully understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life
 is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a
substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life, just the absence
of it.' 'Now tell me, professor. Do you teach your students that they
evolved from a monkey?'

'If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, young man,
yes, of course I do.'

'Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?'

The professor begins to shake his head, still smiling, as he realizes
where the argument is going. A very good semester, indeed.

'Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and
cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor, are you
not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you now not a scientist, but a
preacher?'

The class is in uproar. The student remains silent until the commotion
has subsided. 'To continue the point you were making earlier to the
other student, let me give you an example of what I mean.' The student
looks around the room. 'Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen
the professor's brain?' The class breaks out into laughter. 'Is there
anyone here who has ever heard the professor's brain, felt the
professor's brain, touched or smelt the professor's brain? No one
appears to have done so.. So, according to the established rules of
empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says
 that you have no brain, with all due respect, sir.' 'So if science
says you have no brain, how can we trust your lectures, sir?'

Now the room is silent. The professor just stares at the student, his
face unreadable. Finally, after what seems an eternity, the old man
answers. 'I Guess you'll have to take them on faith.'

'Now, you accept that there is faith, and, in fact, faith exists with
life,' the student continues. 'Now, sir, is there such a thing as
evil?' Now uncertain, the professor responds, 'Of course, there is. We
see it Everyday. It is in the daily example of man's inhumanity to
man. It is in The multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the
world.. These manifestations are nothing else but evil.'

To this the student replied, 'Evil does not exist sir, or at least it
does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God.. It is
just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe
the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is the result of
what happens when man does not have God's love present in his heart.
It's like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness
that comes when there is no light.'

The professor sat down.

PS: The student was Albert Einstein .

On-line petition to revoke Ambiga and Anwar's citizenship

There is an on-line petition, "Legal action and recommendations to His Royal Highness, the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia to revoke medals and accolades", demanding that the citizenship of Anwar Ibrahim and Ambiga Sreenevasan be stripped. As at 8.00 pm tonight, the petition attracted 173 signatures.

While they are at it, why not ask the King to strip the titles and citizenship of Onn Jaafar who started the first demonstration in the country which was against the formation of the Malayan Union by the British?

DUMMKOPF!!!

Our King and Queen at the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton

I wonder whether Najib has instructed his Foreign Affairs Ministry, or the Malaysian High Commission in London to inform the UK government that there should be no display of crosses or crucifixes, nor the singing of Christian hymns due to the presence of their Majesties. It is a great surprise that people like Ibrahim Ali, Yusri Mohamed of PEMBELA and the enlightened Mufti of Perak did not make an issue out of this event. Food for thought, though.

Now you know why I love my country called Malaysia

Although the song is sung entirely in Hokkien, you don't need to understand the dialect to know what it means. Food transcends language, race and religion. The tune is from the hit TV series, "Shanghai Beach".

The true meaning of the universal 'hero' compared with UMNO's.

Writer, Mariam Mokhtar, wrote the following article which is a must read for every one who wants to know what a true 'hero' means.

The former chief of Bukit Bendera UMNO, Ahmad Ismail, was honoured with titles and proclaimed a Malay 'hero'. He was conferred two heroic titles, the Wira Bangasa Melayu and Bintang Perkasa Melayu Jati.

After an hour long wait, typical of people who have little respect for others, the arrival of the 'hero' resembled a wedding procession complete with bunga manggar and the drum-beat of the kompang. The only thing that appeared to be missing was the bride.

The night's jollity which was attended by around 150 delegates from 23 branches included a silat performance and the obligatory sheathing and unsheathing of the keris.

Boys will be boys and they will show off their weapons in an act of assumed bravado.

To the uninformed, the controversial Ahmad Ismail, our new 'hero', was suspended by UMNO in 2008, for three years, after he referred to non-Malays as 'pendatang' (foreigners).

He described Malaysian Chinese as 'squatters' and cautioned them not to emulate the 'Jews in America'. As expected, the suspension was later lifted by UMNO, last December.

His racist comments aroused the memories of inter-ethnic tensions and threatened the government led by Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, at the time. Badawi suspended Ahmad and barred him from any political posts as punishment.

There were protests from members of the BN coalition who threatened to withdraw their membership. Even the armed fo4rces chief warned that 'stern action must be taken to prevent' racial conflicts.

As a consequence of Ahmad Ismail's ill-timed and unacceptable comments, the journalist who reported the comments was taken away by the police under the order of the Internal Security Act (ISA), ostensibly for her personal safety.

The supposed hero, Ahmad Ismail, managed to threaten the security of the country, challenged the authority of the Prime Minister at the time, almost wrecked the BN coalition, caused strife and anger in the Malaysian public, caused the army to be on possible alert, insulted various people (Jews, Americans, Chinese, Malays), rekindled horrific memories of racial riots, threatened the fragile peace and security of a nation, exposed the hypocrisy of the police actions and the political abuse of the use of the ISA.

Is this Bukit Bendera's idea of a hero? Someone who divides, insults and unapologetic in his actions? Someone who has no respect for others? Someone who was prepared to hold his leader and his country to ransom? Someone who is ignorant of history?

Please allow me to show an example of a 'true hero'.

My choice of a hero is Dr Karen Woo, a British doctor who was murdered by the Taliban and the Hizb-i-Islami group last Thursday. She was killed, with eight other doctors as they returned from months working in the Nuristan region, a remote area in the north east of Afghanistan. They had gone to set up a clinic and provide free medical help to the people there. They did not have a 5-star accommodation or even luxury cars. They lived a spartan life and conducted part of their journey on horse back.

Dr Woo gave up a lucrative career in private medicine to join a humanitarian aid effort. She combined her love of travelling with her medical work. Before Afghanistan, she had also worked in hospitals in Australia, Papua New Guinea and Trinidad and Tobago.

Although she joined the International Assistance Mission, a Christian charity, Dr Woo found time to make a documentary about Kabul, a city which she grew to love. She even started the Bridge Afghanistan charity with Firuz Rahimi, a journalist, to improve the live of ordinary Afghan people.

According to Dr Woo's family, whe was "a humanist and had no religious or political agenda. Her motivation was purely humanitarian. She wanted the ordinary people of Afghanistan, especially the women and children to receive health care."

Dr Woo, who once dreamt of being a professional dancer, was briefly a model and even joined a flying circus performing stunts strapped to the wing of a biplaine.

Encouraged by her mother, a psychiatric nurse, she turned to medicine and worked in various places around the world. She returned to London and worked as a surgeon and as a medical director in private medicine, before embarking on the humanitarian work in Afghanistan.

Her life was full of inspiration, adventure, travel and charity. She, like her other colleagues who died alongside her, were committed, caring, compassionate and courageous. She helped women and children who were in need of medical attention.

Shed bridged the gap between the sick and the healthy, the east and west, the criminals and caring people. Dr Woo, who I am assuming is possibly a non-Muslim, helped the Muslim people in Badakhshan and Nuristan provinces.

In two weeks time, 36 year-old Karen Woo would have been married to her fiancé. His last act of love was to identify her body, which had been shot twice, and then to bury her.

She leaves behind her parents, an English mother and Chinese father, and her two brothers to mourn their loss, in England. A whole nation which depended on medical programs, provided by humanitarian workers like her, is in jeopardy. Thousands of people are now, unable to receive a continuation of her medical expertise.

The tragedy of this young woman was that in helping to save lives in remote, Taliban infested Afghanistan, she made the ultimate sacrifice.

If you ask me, Dr Karen Woo is my 'true hero'.

We never seem to see the obvious

Case 1
When NASA began the launch of astronauts into space, they found out
that the pens wouldn't work at zero gravity (ink won't flow down to
the writing surface). To solve this problem, it took them one decade
and US$12 million. They developed a pen that worked at zero gravity,
upside down, underwater, in practically any surface including crystal
and in a temperature range from below freezing to over 300 degrees C.

And what did the Russians do...?? They used a pencil.

Case 2
One of the most memorable case studies on Japanese management was the
case of the empty soapbox, which happened in one of Japan 's biggest
cosmetics companies. The company received a complaint that a consumer
had bought a soapbox that was empty. Immediately the authorities
isolated the problem to the assembly line, which transported all the
packaged boxes of soap to the delivery department. For some reason,

some soapboxes went through the assembly line empty.

Management asked its engineers to solve the problem. Post-haste, the
engineers worked hard to devise an X-ray machine with high-resolution
monitors manned by two people to watch all the soapboxes that passed
through the line to make sure they were not empty. No doubt, they
worked hard and they worked fast but they spent a huge amount to do
so.

But when a rank-and-file employee in a small company was posed with
the same problem, he did not get into complications of X-rays, etc.,
but instead came out with another solution. He bought a strong
industrial electric fan and pointed it at the assembly line. He

switched the fan on, and as each soapbox passed the fan, it simply
blew the empty boxes out of the line.

Moral: Always look for simple solutions.

Devise the simplest possible solution that solves the problems

Always Focus on solutions & not on problems

Case 3

On Chinese New Year Eve, after having washed my car, I decided to drive it back into the car porch. The engine could not start and so with my two boys, we decided to push the car instead. Later in the evening, I had a gripping pain at my spine near the kidney area. Somewhere around 11 pm, unable to tolerate the pain anymore, my son drove me to the Pantai Hospital Cheras for checkup. I was given some ointment and some pain killers, total bill that came up to RM84.

On the second day of Chinese New Year, the pain did not subside and I had to pay my sister-in-law a visit. Seeing me in that painful condition, she gave me a bottle of Chinese wine (in Cantonese, it is called 'tit ta chau') to rub my back with. I was given a rub over there and then and after 10 minutes, the pain was gone. Cost of the ointment RM3.50. Why didn't I think of this in the first place?