Conflict of Interest

- i want to have profound knowledge in my major study - Electrical Engineering (to be specific, in communications area)

- i also want to equip myself w/ necessary skills of being great Entrepreneur

yet, these desires conflict one another..to be excellent engineer, i need to spend a lot of time, doing research, being that it's personal or collaborative..i must be ready to lock myself in a lab, doing relevant experiments so to have better understanding of one particular topic..or even worse, i need to do lots of thought experiments, which require me to have my own time alone (if u have ever done thought experiment, u will notice how weird u are to do it in public, with ur hands waving around, ur eyes staring at one person, tho sometimes u don't even notice the person's existence, and etc)

but, in different note, i also want to be good in business..these skills are not acquired solely through personal reading or research..i need to go out, meeting with people, and to start having discussion with them..i need to be extrovert so to understand as much as possible about people's behaviors..well, we're selling products to people, aren't we? so, we need to understand their current demands, and lifestyles..and this also requires a lot of time..at least, to really have a good conversation, we need around 2 or 3 hours..that doesn't include the travel time required to meet at one particular place..

so, my initial plan is to become a great engineer first, and only then i spend my time aggressively in business..well, i know it's an immature plan..the business rule is simple - the earlier you involve in business, the richer you might be..yet, i've spoken with a friend, whose i admire for his entrepreneurial attitudes and skills (u need both to excel)..he advised me to do these two things at one time..well, he advised me based on his experiences - he's now making rm30k/month, at such early age..but, don't get excited yet..the bad side of being this guy, he's super duper busy..as far as i'm concerned, he's still single! wow, that's the price you have to pay, right? but, as of now, i'm not very sure of which choices is better..i need to talk with a lot of people, especially my families, since they are the only reason i work so hard..i want them to be proud of me, and i want to prove them that they have been good parents by showing them how successful i am..and the consideration factors are going on - my social life, health (am i fit enough to run two major things at one time),what is my motivation, and etc..

but, insha Allah, i'm pretty sure, as far as i'm very interested to find the answer for this problematic dilemma, i would eventually find the answer..i always trust in God, and because of Him, i have no fear to chase my dream..i know, all of us are created/born with certain special characteristics, which are yet to be discovered..

friendship

"A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out."

"Don't walk in front of me, I may not follow. Don't walk behind me, I may not lead. Walk beside me and be my friend.     - Albert Camus

"Surround yourself only with people who are going to lift you higher."

"It is by chance we met . . .By choice we became friends."

“Friends are those rare people who ask how you are and then wait to hear the answer”

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sometimes, we might think (s)he is our friend, but reality shows the otherwise..

sometimes, some people might seem kind outside, but they're very rotten inside..

sometimes, they speak good words in our presence, but badmouthing us the moment we turn away..

thus, it's very hard to find true friends, of whom we can trust and share our problems with..

thus, it's very important for us to seek refugee from Allah from all evil friends

..and indeed, we should ask Allah to surround us with friends, who could guide us closer to Him..Amen!! 

Leveraging

leveraging is to do more with less..it's like you put 20% effort for 80% results..in a nutshell, you put little effort for greater results..interesting, ain't it? that's why, as the present situation is concerned, the riches are getting richer, while the poor are pushed down to live under poverty line..why? because the riches know how to identify opportunities and thus make use of them for their own benefits..the poor, otherwise, are working very hard day and night, but only to find themselves struggling to feed their entire families..

leveraging could be interpreted in many ways; for business-minded persons, this is a vital skill required to expand their business..the socialists, meanwhile, see this as a means of manipulating others for oneself's interest..so, it could be both positive and negative, depending from which perspective we might look it..

yet, we have to face the current reality: in the US itself, the country's wealth distribution is well described by 10/90, which means 10% of US citizens conquer 90% of nation's wealth..the rest 10% of the fortunes is barely shared among the other 90% Americans..and i believe, the same thing applies to the other countries as well, in which the gap between the riches and the poor is getting wider..the consequence of this situation is very atrocious..plus, nowadays, the world is governed by this one simple rule (called, the Golden Rule), "Whoever has the gold, they have the power!" hence, most of the national policies are created in favor to this elite group..for example, President Obama  has been urged to continue the tax cut policy, implemented during the Bush tenure..and this tax cut wouldn't help the poor/middle class so much..the riches are the one who are actually benefited from this policy! 

thus, the middle class or even the poor should realize this..they can no longer depend on the government to fix this problem..and as far as i'm concerned, the only solution to get out of this problem is by being rich..but how? first and the foremost, we need to change our mentality: from entitlement mentality to become independent..and secondly, we need to make sure, we've adequate financial education, of which we know a lot more than merely do savings..believe me, there is a time, in which our savings would be valueless..and i assume, that time would come very soon (considering the US current debt)..but, don't be scared.. successful persons will always see problems as opportunities for them to grow up..learn from others' mistakes, and try not to repeat them..FOCUS!

   F   = focus

O  = one

    C  = course

U  = until

          S   = successful

my holidays so far

it has been more than a week since my last paper! with many students are now traveling to other parts of US, i still find myself locking up in my room..well, i might be going to LA this break, but only after the new year..so, for the time to come, i'm not going anywhere..

but, for the past few days, life has treated me very well..i have enjoyed so far the company of my friends..on Friday, i had a day visit to Maybank office in Manhattan..my friend and i had a great talk with the Maybank GM..yeah, we spent about 3 hours with him, talking about the Maybank key businesses, as well as the effects of 2008 Great Recession to both Maybank and our country..yet, the lesson learned from this talk is much greater than merely knowing how interesting and profitable the financial market is..the GM told us that everything is possible..plus, since we are still young, we have a lots of new things to explore in future...we should be more optimistic in building our career path..for the fact, he was starting as MARDI officer, before being what he is today..and after all, i got my tandoori chicken for lunch, and to make it better, the lunch is on him..hehe

With Mr. Fauzi at Maybank Office in NYC

Then, the next day i spent my whole evening at my friend's house for Xmas lunch..yes, it was a family lunch, and i felt so welcomed to join them for the lunch..i was so fulled, eating variety of foods, specially cooked by his mom..the foods tasted genuinely great! also, we watched the Ong Bak movie together..the best part of this family is that the father is Italian, while the mother is from Philippine..and together, they raised 5 american kids..anyway, i got to taste to variety of cheese during the lunch! 

Some of Alex's (wearing green tee) brothers are not in this pic..

2010 Recap: Malaysians Politics

Malaysian politics has never been lulled from gossips, accusations, vilifications, and etc..yet, there were really few topics that have been the highlights of 2010:

1) Racial Politics

whether we realize it or not. this was the center topic of Malaysian politics..each parties had made used this issue for their own personal interest..nothing much progress had been made so far..minorities are still fighting to claim their basic rights, while the major race is still being in defensive mode! no races has actually considered of others' well-being..everybody is so obsessed to fight for their rights, and very few do care about their responsibilities..

my comment: until one race can compromise their rights for the sake of others, we can't really solve this issue..tho, somehow we need to tell the younger generations that the time, when one deserves better treatment from others, is over..yet, i'm very positive that this tolerance can eventually be built, but not through political process..either sides has their own hidden agenda..the reform should be started from the ground, and must be initiated by people, like you and me (ordinary citizens)

2) Personal Integrity (Morality)

yeah, this is a prolonged issue..since some politicians are not competent, they try to find others' faults to make him/herself looking better..so, there were many stories that linking one politician to this and that scandals..but, surprisingly, many have found this issue so interesting..for example, when i wrote about more academic issues, i got very low hit! yet, as i wrote about Anwar's case, all of sudden, i got much much better traffics..yeah, it really surprised me, but i might take it from positive side: possibly my writing is not so interesting to attract readers..

my comment: stop talking about one's faults..this is an important philosophy that's worth to ponder, " orang yang mengkritik itu tidak semestinya lebih baik dari orang yang dikritik!" the youngsters should change this political landscape..we need to create a more beneficial discussion, which is centered on national policy, rather than one's bed stories..

3) The Attitude of "Check & Destroy"

when the ruling party has lost its 2/3 majority in House of Representatives, many believed that it was a good beginning to have more substantial discussion on national policies, that would eventually benefit the people at large..but, what i have seen so far is the otherwise..the oppositions have gone too far, at sometime beyond reasonable point, in which they are no longer doing the "check & balance" kinda action, but rather "check and destroy!" the latest incident of bringing placards into the Parliament was a shame! 

my comment: i still believe in 2 party system..i like to see each sides competing to get people's support since at the end, it's the people who will be benefited..but, as present situation is concerned, i don't think it's gonna happen..since the oppositions' attitudes is to "check & destroy," it's gonna be very bad to the country..the standard must be brought back to "check & balance!" 

...and the list goes one from APCO to Kandang Khinzir! sometimes, i feel so sick! well, regardless of how we want to deny it, our political landscape has never changed a lot! yet, the political stability is very imperative to attract more foreign investments! we need to emulate Singapore, in this sense, in which they have more stable political environment..stop bullshitting one another, and start focusing to achieve our national mission, which is Wawasan 2020! yes, WE CAN! ;)

(Pro) vs (Re) active

what's the major difference btw becoming proactive and reactive? which one is better?

proactive, by definition, is self-initiated behavior. meanwhile, reactive is a state of being responsive! in wireless communications, there are two types of error-correction mechanisms; FEC (forward-error-correction) and ARQ (automatic-repeat-request)..although both methods are used for error correction, FEC seems to be more efficient since it can correct the error immediately..yet, ARQ can only detect an error, and request for a new packet to be sent again! oh yeah, in wireless, FEC is known as proactive error detection approach, while ARQ is the reactive method!

but, looking to our society (the Malays) for example, most of us are better described as reactive group..we just respond to situation as we don't want to take charge! for example, how many of us (the college students) do see our professors so to involve in their researches? how many of us, by our own initiative, do seriously looking for job? seriously here means we do attend career workshop, do talk with career officers, attend career fair not only the one organised by our school, do attend corporate dinner, and etc! and still, we can see many of us whining of not being offered a job yet! then, we blame the economy, and etc..well, if the economy is really really bad, how could some people got hired? don't we think that something might not be right in us?

plus, for example, when we don't really understand certain topic, many of us could easily give such lame excuses..oh, that's fine! i wasn't taught that topic in class..see, how easy the excuse is! if it was not taught in class, is it wrong for us to see an appropriate professor to get further explanation??? oh i forgot, we don't have enough time to meet the professor...we're such busy creatures! 

guys, if we really want to progress, we need to become a proactive society! we need to be independent! don't rely too much on others! are we scared? we got ALLAH, the Almighty one! so, keep believing! 

p/s: this is just the author's opinion..indeed, some of them are the reflections of  the author's attitudes itself! no hard feeling! ;)

KULN

i was so happy to see that we've now active involvement from KULN members..before this, most of activities were centered to Stevens students..yet, now we can see some great involvement from RIT students as well! i'm very pleased to know this progress! and as i have been mentioning for many times, the purpose of this KULN is to unite Malaysian students in NY-NJ area as well as getting them to engage in more educational issues..and of course, when hundreds of great minds are together, nothing seems impossible! and i was informed that, now, we really have a real committee in Suny Buffalo! i guess, this is another step forward! it's okay to do it slowly as long as it's consistent! here is the newest article from the club's official blog! please feel free to read that! http://umnonynj.blogspot.com/2010/12/kedai-kopi-rit-2010.html

and as the members are getting bigger and bigger, we really need full cooperation from all! again, i'm so happy that our super duper seniors, such as Nabil (now working for Petronas), Syafiq (Ministry of Finance), and Qayyum (JKR) are really concerned bout the well-being of this club! and i pray to Allah so that this club will continuously produce great and all-rounded members! great job, guys! ;)

BODOH!

hey, since when being homosexual is permitted in Islam? see this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqtj76S0okY

the guy in the video has publicly confessed that he's gay..to make it worse, he also defended himself of being gay..for me, he is nothing, but STUPID!!!

the excuse used by him is totally LAME and PATHETIC! he believed that he was born to be GAY! so then, should we consider being a murderer is also part of fitrah? come on la dude! if u were gay, do u have to tell the world? oh, i forgot, we're living in a modern world, in which everybody is free to speak his mind! okay then.. i will speak my mind too!

he said that people don't really understand him and his friends..oh yeah, tell me then what is rationale of being in love with a person of same sex as you are? doesn't make sense at all! as far as i know, only animal can have bisexual tendencies! so, i suppose u r animal..aren't u? 

he said again that being gay is something that has to do with feeling! and, hence it's uncontrollable! so, my question is, do u have mind? or maybe, u r too stupid, in which u can't even distinguish between boy and girl...dude, we are granted with akal so that we can use it to control our feeling! got it???

well, actually i am also being so sympathetic to these people...i always pray to God so that these people will be guided..but, when a person can simply confess of being gay in public, and then try to defend it, i can no longer tolerate! if the person isn't a Muslim, then it would be fine! but, this guy is Muslim! thus, for me, it is an insult to my religion! i don't mind to be labeled narrow-minded or else! we need to call a spade a spade!

We Need to TAKE A BREAK sometimes

kebelakangan ini, saya berkesempatan menjenguk ke blog2 sahabat yang sudah pergi..mereka semuanya sudah kembali kepada Maha Pencipta..hanya tulisan ditinggalkan sebagai kenangan dan peringatan buat kita yang masih hidup..

setiap kali membaca tulisan arwah2, saya begitu tersentuh..mungkin kerana kesibukan saya mengejar dan merancang masa depan, saya hampir terlupa bahawa kematian itu semakin hampir..eloklah sekiranya kita mengambil sedikit masa merenung dan mengingatkan diri bahawa saat kita berjumpa dengan Maha Pencipta semakin hampir..sudah cukupkah bekalan untuk kita bertemu dengan-NYA?? insha Allah, sama2 kita bermuhasabah! ;)

Future Generation!

sometimes, i'm wondering why should i care much about the well-being of this country? i don't think i'll be staying in malaysia for my whole life! plus, there is no guarantee i'll be alive for the next 10 years or even tomorrow is still not sure for me..therefore, this struggle is for whom? hence, while googling around, i found this pic! and now, i'm very clear! i'm fighting not  for myself, but for my kids, my grandchildren, and etc..i want my grandkids to know that their grandpa was doing something for them! insha Allah, together we'll make our country better! 

Living Up a Dream!

it has been awhile since i wrote something positive on this blog..recently, i have spent much time criticizing others..well, sometimes, i've to speak up my mind! hehe..anyway, let's begin this entry with positive energy:

"I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past."      -Thomas Jefferson

well, for those who have no idea who Jefferson is, he was actually the third President of US..he was known for his effort to promote republicanism in the States..indeed, he was one of the greatest founders of this great nation! nuf said!

anyway, since i was a young boy, my dreams kept changing. at one point, i wanted to become a policeman! maybe, their uniform did attract me..and sometimes, i really wanted to be a doctor..well, only after i took my biology classes in high school, i was pretty sure that i was born not to work in hospital! and, the list goes on! yet, i realized that i never dream to become a billionaire back then! maybe, at that time, money was not important to me! of course, why should i worry about money if you were pretty sure that u could get it from your mom and dad (also, my grandpa)..hehe

yet, as i was growing, my aim is a bit different..i was no longer dreaming to be only a great engineer, but, i really want to become rich ! i want to make lots of money! yes, i know everybody does realize that only when mom and dad are no longer giving us free-money, right? ..plus, being a man, it's much worse! i swear to God! ;)

so, i started reading the biography of some successful people..i really want to know how could they end up being such rockstars! well, most of them have some similarities..they were college drop-out, or even some of them didn't go to college! if they could become what they are now, without having hard times in college, so why should i waste my time here? working hard for four years in college only to become ordinary person! oh, that's not worth any penny of the money paid by my sponsor! but, only as you go deep and learn about these people's past, you would realize that they had struggled much harder than what i have been doing in college! indeed, they had gone such long processes that i guess ordinary people, like you and me, would definitely give up at the middle of the journey! but, i have learned one thing from these people! to be successful, you have to go through some hard times, and daunting processes..there is no easy success in this life! i remember this one saying, "to become a bear, you have to be a cub first!" 

but, don't get upset! if these people can succeed, so could we! don't be afraid to dream BIG! again, here is one of my favorite quotes, from one of the richest men in the States, 

"If you're going to be thinking, you may as well think big."         Donald Trump

well, i'm actually in a process of writing my personal statement for my grad school application..i know it's kinda too late..haha..i wish all of you guys the best! anyway, i'd be very happy to hear about your dream as well! i have told mine! ;)

WikiLeaks: Anwar was caught in political sex trap!

"The document states the Singaporeans told ONA they made this assessment on the basis of 'technical intelligence', which is likely to relate to intercepted communications."  

you can read the full news by clicking to this link: http://www.smh.com.au/world/caught-in-political-sex-trap-20101211-18tee.html

my comment:

well, i don't care much about anwar's case! if he were actually committing the act, it's between him and God! indeed, i don't see any shred of evidence given in the reports..everybody can come up, and claim that they have proofs! but, to say that saiful was paid is also ridiculous..what if, we, who were not in the place when the incident was reportedly happening, just shut our mouth up! let the court decides..don't act like we are granted with such "enlightening"  from God so we know who is guilty and who isn't! 

yet, as i said before, i have no interest with this guy, named anwar..Malaysia can do better without him, instead! the justice, indeed, can be done without him...anyway, what concern me much about the leak is that, if it was true, how safe our secret information is? if the singapore intelligence can easily intercept our communications, what our security officials are doing? and, i'm afraid that our military secrets can also be compromised! hey folks,  our security is much more important that anwar and saiful's case! as my friend always say, "the future of our country is not depending on these two figures!" so, let's focus on more important issue than this sodomy case! ;) 

Competitive Advantage

competitive advantage! ever heard about that? i assume everybody knows that..if you don't, please KILL yourself right now since you aren't qualified to live in today's world!

so, wadup with this topic? why should we care much about it? "i'm not a businessman," some might say.. "hey, i'm not interested in business?" few might reply..well, since business isn't really so enthralling as compared to other topics, such as Hollywood Celebrities, Fashion Show, so i am not planning to talk from business perspective..rather, i'll discuss it in a way that could affect everybody, especially the Malays.

being as a Malay, i was and am granted with so many privileges..i was accepted to national boarding schools, tho my results was not really astounding, i guess..well, who would study for UPSR, right? only nerds do! then, i was once again being granted with local scholarship to pursue my studies in one local university..again, i was still ambiguous either i was accepted due to merit or racial card? i guess, the latter is more likely to be the reason..then, once again, because of being Malay, i was conferred with overseas scholarship to pursue my tertiary studies..and here i am..blogging about all the privileges that i have enjoyed since i was born! 

hence, many of my non-Malay friends complained about this..yes, i do understand about their feelings..if i was in their shoes, i'd feel the same! yet, what really make me sad is the fact that many of my Malay friends (including me) don't really appreciate this advantage..in business, people manipulate this advantage so to grow their companies..but, the opposite thing happen to my people..some just take all these privileges for granted..well, when other races are questioning about the validity of granting all these privileges to us, thousands stand up to defend this policy! whether they realize or not, these are not their rights, but only privileges..thus, they cannot be there forever! 

therefore, i think it's time for us to really make use of this advantage..we should use it to grow up, and move forward..the sooner we could be independent. the sooner we could solve racial issue in our country! well, i acknowledge that this is not easy to accomplish! but, somehow, for a thing to be accomplished, there should be a beginning! so people, let's BEGIN this journey together! 

personality

how should you represent yourself?

a) good manner, which conforms to society norms
b) down-to-earth, of which one speaks only necessary..
c) outspoken; call a spade, a spade! 
d) cool (oh, this want is very ambiguous)..but, i'd relate to a person with great anger-controlled management.
e) etc..

why personality is so important?

a) to impress others, in general
b) to win someone's heart
c) just for fun
d) to get good job

for all the reasons, i don't care much on how people should see me! well, image isn't really important after all..as long as you do what is told to u by God, that should be fine! don't ever cross a border..being extreme is really discouraged in any religions..moderate will always work best in any situations! but, don't get confused between building image vs developing characters..the latter is far more important!  ;)

TOM & JERRY

i don't understand why should people disputing over small matter! well, maybe it's better to engage in a discussion, regardless of how lame it was, so that they can appear smart! maybe, i guess! i don't know the answer!

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for example, lately, people are entertained once  again with the dispute of two parties (one is TOM, and another one i call as JERRY)..why? because, one is considerably BIG, and the other, tho it was claimed to be BIG, but actually very small (see latest election for example: only a few turned up!)..

so, TOM's aim is to eat JERRY, as typical cat should do over mouse! but, JERRY is so smart that he knows how to escape from this TOM! so, this JERRY created an issue, so that TOM forgot the fact that he should have eaten this JERRY!
 

the issue is rather small, of which JERRY suggests a new landlord so to replace the current one! so, as expected, TOM, who is used to live with this landlord , objected the suggestion..TOM doesn't want to replace the current landlord with a new one since he is being treated very well by the current; every TOM's wills are granted, with no excuses! of course, TOM loves the landlord..maybe, that's the reason, why TOM is being such a lazy cat,i guess! 

although JERRY wants to replace the current landlord , he  also doesn't want to displease her (the current landlord is woman)..otherwise, JERRY will have no place to stay, and of course, JERRY doesn't want to give up living in his BIG house! so, JERRY makes a deal! while he replacing the landlord with a new one, he will keep the old LANDLORD rules out the house! the new one will be used to deceive TOM, whose life is being too dependent with the old one! but, this deal should be kept secret between JERRY, the old landlord, and the new one! 

in other words, no changes has been actually done! JERRY is good in spinning things. TOM, meanwhile, is so STUPID to feel the present situation, and thus he can be easily manipulated, and deceived! yet, the saddest and the lamest creature is neither TOM, JERRY or these two LANDLORD, but the person who watches this drama! poor him (her)!

*lesson: focus on the real issues! we have many challenges to overcome! others are running forward, yet we are still crawling because we are too fascinated watching STUPID MOVIE like this! focus, folks!   ;)

Why EE is so COOL (joke)

out of 4 traditional engineering fields, why EE is the coolest? let me tell you why?

1) CE : people rarely know their existence! spend too much time in lab! so, to make other knowing that they do exist, they try to claim that certain stuffs are disastrous..e.g. MSG is bad, and bla bla bla..so, ordinary people will believe, and would thank these CEs for saving their lives..

2) ME : these guys, i don't what they are doing actually..what do actually they try to improve? calculating stress, pressure, and so what? everything is well written in text book, dudes! 

3) Civ. E : when people start choosing air transportation, rather than ground, these guys will have troubles to find job! other than building bridge, or highways, what else should they do!

but.............

EE : these guys are so humble..we modulate signal so that two people can communicate at far distance, we generate power so that every body can watch their favorite tv shows, we build a very small brain (in micro size) so to control machines, and etc..but, we don't claim anything..instead, we remain humble! 

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disclaimer: this is only a joke! don't take it seriously. the author will not be responsible for any mental distress or emotional displeasure! ;)