I mentioned that two days ago marked the 6-month anniversary I started blogging. It’s not really a big deal, a lot of people have been blogging for many years like Sashi and Reta, and most certainly many more do a better job than me. Well, you could probably say that the landscape of the Malaysian blogosphere was very different when I started, even though it was not very long ago. There were fewer well-known blogs (who knows how many blogs are there in Malaysia?) and I guess it was easier to get to know the people you read and those who read you. But this past six months have been…

Thanks for all the comments so on the layout so far, I’ve actually been testing different looks, so if its disruptive, I apologize. At the moment I’ve settled on this one, coz i like the white background. The new posts will have bigger text like this, the older post will still have the smaller font size because of the html in the old blogger code. Unless I go back into the 200+ post to manually remove the codes. Ick. Anyway, I realize there isn’t a perfect WP layout out there for me, unless I customize one myself (!) so any non-default one will do for me. I’ll be updating the…

I’ve you’ve come here via my old blog on Blogspot, please update your bookmarks, blogroll and links. This will be my new home: http://simontalks.com The new name for the blog is “SIMON TALKS” blog will still temporarily carry the old name “Like That Also Can Ah?!!” Thanks to all who have supported by blog in the past 6 months (actually, yesterday marked the half-year anniversary). WordPress rocks!

I finally read the two articles on Tun Mahathir today during my lunch break. The first article was his press release regarding the AP and Datuk Seri Rafidah issue. The second was an interview by the tabloid with him on Tengku Mahaleel’s dismissal. I won’t be giving you a political or economical commentary here, I think many other qualified people have done so (Like

Some pretty good advice I learnt along the way, for new drivers and old hands, road hoggers and F1-wannabes, for kancil cili padi‘s to Mugen/Nismo racer boys. Top Twelve Important Reminders to Drivers from Simon When you hear a loud noise from your engine, turn your radio louder. Pump petrol in the cooler parts of the day, like in the morning or in the evening. Anytime in between, it’s just too hot to get out of your car air-conditioning. Remember, if you collide with a motorbike, it’ll hurt him physically. But it’ll hurt your wallet even more. Always keep your car boot empty, or store your junk in boxes. Don’t…

What is it with Malaysians and freebies? Every time the supermarket gives out samples of any new products for tasting, we swarm over it like ants to honey at a picnic. Even if the product is some disgusting herbal root juice extracted from the bakau mangrove fermented in tapai. If it’s FREE, we must get it. Each time I see one of these booths at the Tesco or Jusco, (usually manned by some poor promoter on the 2nd day of her job) I see these aunties and grannies grabbing 2 or 3 portions, apparently ‘for my children/grandchildren/nieces/pet Chihuahua.’ Then they turn the aisle, drink one cup, discover that it tastes…

Remember when Malaysia won the Thomas Cup back in 1992? Every kid in my neighbourhood got their wooden / 2 kg steel rackets out of the closet and started playing badminton. In fact, in the evenings, the entire stretch of my 200 meter lane was lined with boys and girls and makciks playing the good old hit and pick. Never mind the wind blowing the shuttlecocks like a kite. The winners were awarded tracts of landed and spanking new Proton Sagas (they were new then), corporate prizes, bottles of isotonic drinks, etc. Now, forget about badminton. Send them to squash classes. Squash is the new badminton. Look at Nicol David.…

Weekend afternoon. Sleeping at home. Only time in the week I can enjoy some peace and quite. (Well, not actually, those pesky kids next door are always raising hell, anyway.) But, OK, still relative peaceful siesta. Then this bloody annoying van horn comes round. (horn sound from a van, not some dutch guy. Teet-teet-teet. Teet-teet-teet. Teet-teet-teet. My God, it’s like getting a root canal. And worse still, it’s driving slowly and coming nearer. I hate getting jolted out of bed. Especially in the afternoon. I went to my window to see what the hell it was (my window, by the way, has an awesome view of the oxidation pond). I…

Finally, after 15 long years, I met Sivin again. He was at our Young Adults gathering last night, and it was great to see a familiar face after so long. I first met Sivin and May Chin at KJK and SFC back in the late 80’s. I visited Christ Lutheran twice, but I don’t think he was there at that time. From then until now we didn’t meet again, but I often heard news about the dynamic young Sivin. May Chin, too, was in the same CLP class as my good friends El and Dave. A few months ago we’ve been contacting again via e-mail and yahoo groups, so it…

The big news of the day is the ringgit un-peg. Or de-peg. Or no-peg. Read it here. So what’s the new exchange rate gonna be? It used to be this: USD$1 = RM3.80 So what’s the new, ‘stable’ rate going to be like? The talk on the street is somewhere between RM3.20 to RM4.00. According to our central bank: Since Jan 1, the ringgit has appreciated by 11.3% against the euro, 7.29% against the yen, 9.82% versus the pound sterling, 6.35% against the baht and 1.5% compared with the Singapore dollar. So if we calculate using my RM9.90 Snoopy calculator I bought at the SS2 pasar malam: Based on the…