Guys, It's JUST a Toyota Camry

How come it's always snowing in Southpark?

To the Bangladeshi guy on the LDP

Dude, every morning I see you in the middle of the highway. Waiting for a gap in the traffic to run through. And every morning I say to myself, one of these days you're gonna get it. The time you spent waiting in the middle is probably more than if you had walk a few hundred meters to the bridge. You're an idiot.


~~ This is a public service announcement by Ketor. Use pedestrian bridges whenever possible~~

BN --> Pakatan --> BN ???

Last year Anwar Ibrahim was talking about taking over the government and him becoming the next PM and blablabla. I wonder what ever happened to that plan? I was actually kinda looking forward to it even though politically I'm neutral. Neutral because I couldn't be bothered to go out to vote. But I thought it would be interesting to see what a new, fresh and re-energized government can do for Malaysia.

It's almost February now. Najib Tun Razak is gonna replace Abdullah Badawi soon, and the world economy is going down the drain, and the government is still in denial over the whole thing. They say we have nothing to be afraid about and the recession won't be hitting us. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to prove them wrong. In fact I hope that they're right. But the way things are going in the country with people in electronic plants getting laid off and our fellow citizens working in Singapore coming back home, thing aren't looking that bright. I feel that people on the streets are desparate to hear the government say, "Hey! Shit is coming our way, be ready for it! And to help you all we've done this this this and that", and not simply say "Our financial system is solid, our economy is still strong, blablabla". If it's so solid and strong, please show us the proof. People would sleep better if they can see some numbers. Any numbers.
I'm no good at economics so that's why I put this this this and that by the way :-P.

Actually I think Anwar is kinda smart. Why should he take over the government now when everything is going downhill. Better to wait till things get better and do it then. Smart fella. But one thing that puts me off the whole idea is, to take over the government, he needs a bunch of MP's to walkover from BN to Pakatan Rakyat. In a sense, part of the old gov is now part of the new government. Which in my opinion is not the new, fresh and re-energized government that most people are looking for. And that my friend, is LAME.

A wise man ought to tell Anwar to take it easy. Wait for the next general election. Use the states that you have now to show the other states that you are better. Implement everything you have pledged. Show the people that it is possible to change for the better. Remove cronyism, favourtism, racism, corruption-ism and any other bad -isms. I'm quite sure someone already did. Probably his wife. She looks like the wiser among the two. This, in my opinion is the way for Malaysia to start over. That is how to win Malaysia.

Bloody Monday

Apparently last Monday, over 71000 people lost their jobs in the US. That's kinda frightening don't you think? I'm a bit concerned because I work for a US based firm. And a firm that's in the automotive sector. Which is a sector that's badly hit by the current situation. People aren't buying cars, so car manufacturers aren't making many of them. And when they don't make that many cars, they require less parts which is bad for the company I'm working for.

So, I'm pleading to everyone to go out and buy cars. If you're in the US, buy a Ford, Chrysler or GM brands. If you're in Malaysia, go buy a Perodua (even though they're crap) and Proton (worse than Perodua). Go out and spend. Take a loan. Borrow from your parents. Just go and buy cars. There are over 100,000 people in Malaysia who depend on the automotive sector, and even though that's a figure I made up, I can't be that wrong can I?

So how do you make your job recession proof? How can you ensure that your job is safe if your company decide to layoff people? Well, one of my bosses have these tips:
1) Work performance. Ensure that you are good at what you do. Distinguish yourself from other employees by your quality of work. Make sure your customers are happy and take initiatives when you see an opportunity.
2) Accept more responsibilities so that you're indispensable.
3) Don't be a hermit. Interact with your colleagues and build a network. Make sure they know you're there and that you play a part in the team.

These are some of the things that he said to me. I can't remmember the rest. Anyway, I hope and pray that our jobs are safe for 2009. Goodluck to all!

Of Carrefour, Giant and Tesco

Happy Chinese new year to all! Last Sunday I went to Carrefour in Subang to buy some things expecting a large crowd of last minute shoppers for CNY. Surprisingly there weren't that many people.

There's something about these hypermarts or hypermarkets or hypersupermarkets or deluxe-super-hypermarts, whatever you might call it that annoys the heck out of me.

These are, in no particular order:
1) There is always some guy with a microphone and a loudspeaker speaking in some weird toungue about what I assume is a great discount.
2) There is always some girl with a microphone and a loudspeaker speaking in some weird toungue about what I assume is a great discount.
3) Some guy or girl telling you that there's a great discount, when that's the reason people go to these hypermarkets in the first place. We KNOW that there are a lot of discounts!!
4) Mile after mile of endless isles, and the thing you want to buy is right at the end.
5) The lack of signs to tell you what is in those endless isles.
6) Little children
7) Old people
8) Slow cashiers
9) Express counters that's not that express.
10) Isles that's full with stuff that people would never buy and should be placed on the damn shelves in the first place.

2008 Christmas Carol -- You'd better watch out... coz I'm telling you why.. lalalala

You'd better watch out
You'd better not cry
You'd better keep cash
I'm telling you why:
Recession is coming to town.

It's hitting you once,
It's hitting you twice
It doesn't care if you've been careful and wise
Recession is coming to town

It's worthless if you've got shares
It's worthless if you've got bonds
It's safe when you've got cash in hand
So keep cash for goodness sake, HEY

You'd better watch out
You'd better not cry
You'd better keep cash
I'm telling you why:
Recession is coming to town!

Finance products are confusing
Finance products are so vague
The banks make you bear the cost of risk
So keep out for goodness sake, OH

You'd better watch out
You'd better not cry
You'd better keep cash
I'm telling you why:
Recession is coming to town.


~~ credits to whoever wrote this song ~~

Bad Timing

Taken from Bash.org

Rabidplaybunny87: Okay, so my neighbors officially hate me

GarbageStan23: why?

Rabidplaybunny87: Well, me, david and andrew were having a bonfire in the backyard, and we were making s'mores and all... and suddenly we here sirens, and see a firetruck turn into the street in front of us.

Rabidplaybunny87: So we all went running to see what was up, and our neigbor's house was on fire!

GarbageStan23: oh shit!

Rabidplaybunny87: Yeah, and when we got there, the wife was crying into her husbands arms, and we were just kinda standing there, and then she saw us, and then like for 10 seconds, gave us the dirtiest look ever

Rabidplaybunny87: Turns out, we were still holding our sticks with marshmallows on it, watching the fire....

Rabidplaybunny87: talk about bad timing...

Quick thinking

Taken from Bash.org

The other night my friend had some pot and wanted me to smoke it with him, but we had nowhere to smoke it because both our parents were home.

So we drove around looking for a place to park so we could smoke in the car.

We eventually settled on a Wendys parking lot..

The logic is all there...

I know, it was a ridiculous idea. We were just desperate and that was the first place to pull off..

So we park in the back of the parking lot under this tree, and it's dark out, so we figure we're secluded enough. We start to light up and a cop pulls in. So we both sit really still and hope the cop will think the car is empty and just parked there. Or that he won't notice.

The cop circles the parking lot once, then parks behind us and we're both freaking out. So Bobby, my friend, takes all the pot and shoves it in the glove compartment. But the car smells like pot, so we figure we're busted.

So Bobby says we've gotta distract the cop from the pot. In a huge flash, he rips his shirt off, undoes my pants and sticks his hand inside. Before I can process what's happening, the cop knocks on my window. Then he looks in and sees Bobby shirtless, with his hand down my pants and turns bright red.

I roll my window down and the cop says in this really flustered voice, his face bright red, "you guys be good now" and walks quickly back to his car and drives off.

He didn't even notice the smell of pot.

We drove home in the most uncomfortable fucking silence ever.

Poem by an African

When I born, I Black
When I grow up, I Black
When I go in sun, I Black
When I scared, I Black
When I cold, I Black
When I sick, I Black
When I ill, I Black
When I die, I still Black

And you white fella
When u born, u pink
When u grow, u white
When u go in sun, u red
When u scared, u yellow
When u cold, u blue
When u sick, u green
And when u die, u gray
And U calling Me Coloured


By Nadira Suhaimi

Goldfish

Two goldfish were in their tank. One turns to the other and says, "You man the guns, I'll drive."

What a fucking joke

It's completely ridiculous that Shah Rukh Khan is being given a Datukship by Malacca. What the fuck happened? Did they ran out of people to nominate? Aren't there headmasters or teachers or even on rare occasion, government servants who have contribute MORE than the Hindi film star has ever done to the state. There are garbage collectors in Malacca who has done more for Malacca. I don't know what everyone else feel, but I think this is really fucked up! Annoyingly though, the papers are reporting it in a "as a matter of fact" kind of way. There aren't any outburst of annoyance at the absolute lack of judgment to present the (as the newspaper says) Bollywood Heartthrob with the award. Are we so obsessed with celebrities?

I went to a boarding school in Malacca during form 4 and 5. So I'd like to think that I have a certain emotional attachment to the state although the only four places that I know in Malacca are Terendak (which includes Simpang Terendak and my school where you turn right at the simpang Terendak), Sungai Udang, Masjid Tanah and of course Mahkota Parade (which is a mall in town). My former high school was located within the Terendak military camp, which is, if I'm not mistaken, is still the largest military base on the peninsular. I've met a lot of kind people during my 2 years there. My teachers were dedicated, they sacrifice a lot of their time to make sure we did well in our SPM. The army personnel and their family members are always nice to us. They would give us a ride into town when they see us during our outings and sometimes even without us having to wave them to stop (we are lazy buggers who always hitch-hike at any chance we get).

The point that I am weakly trying to make is that Malacca has a lot of great people. People who sometimes would never get any recognition for the things they do ever so willingly. At the end of the day, they'll get a terima kasih and a smile perhaps. The very least the state's yang dipertua can do is NOT give Shah Rukh Khan the datukship. In my opinion, to give him the honour is like an insult to everyone else. It's like, just imagine you are in a project and your boss gives all the credit for all the job you did to the hot receptionist who does nothing but answer the phone and wears a low cut blouse, plus a short skirt. It's like a wife who made a great meal, but the husband gets the compliment from the guests. That's how it is. And we're all fucked.

Where my IE gone?

Something must be wrong with my computer. My internet explorer has gone missing from my pc. I haven't used it since I was in Hyderabad. Now it's gone. I thought there might be a virus or something so I scanned for everything but I found nothing. Any experts out there who knows why? Anyway, I'm downloading IE now as I type this post.

This weekend saw Malaysia Airlines having its Travel Fair. I got my tickets to Seoul for a bargain. RM920. That's dirt cheap. I almost paid RM2688 for the ticket. Luckily I'm such a bloody procrastinator and waited to the last possible moment to get them. And who said that procrastinating is a bad thing eh. I bought the ticket at KL Sentral's MAS office. It was rather convenient because I didn't have to go all the way to KLCC to get it.

My friend sara k. is somewhere in Japan right now for a job interview. I didn't have a chance to reply to her sms and say good luck. Hopefully she'll get the job. Well this is for you sara

GOODLUCK!!!!

I was deleting some files from my hard-drive today and I stumbled on this old little project of mine. I was in UM at the time and there was a poster competition in one of the colleges. The theme, if I remembered correctly, was called "Teamwork" or was it "Friendship". Well it was something like that. The prize for first place was Rm500. So I quickly made this poster up, printed it, and handed it in. That was the last time I ever saw it. I never knew who won.

Click on it to get a clearer view

Ramoji Film City Tour

There is a place near Hyderabad called the Ramoji Film City. It is basically a huge place for film makers to make their movies. They have sets that makes you think you are in an airport, a small rural village, fake caves, London (although I thought they didn't get the look of it quite right) , a small indian town and any other place you might think of. I found out during the tour that this place is the largest filming set in the whole wide world. Larger than Universal Studios and sometimes even hollywood film-makers come here to shoot their movies.

The tour starts out with a show with dancers dancing to bollywood tunes (they were out of sync and out of breath by the end of the song), some Indian cowboys (as in cowboys in the west and not indian cow boys; you get what i'm trying to say?). The main complex has several themed sets which is kinda cool except that the shops in the sets aren't real. It would've been much better if we could walk into the shops. There are shows where you can see how they make the visual effects thing that goes into the movie. Much like the universal studio tour except that the one here is kinda sucky but certainly enlightening.

There are a number of restaurants available for lunch. They serve local food as well as westerns. After we had our lunch, the stunt crew entertained us from their stage with a classic western/cowboy bank heist complete with explosions and killings and guns (although they look sooo fake) and a hero (although he looks like he came from china) and a damsel in distress (I think she's from Nepal). A cool show. Not bad.

After the show, we took a tram ride to visit the rest of the movie sets in the Ramoji Film City. They have a lot of gardens and caves and basically pretty places to see. The tram would drop us off somewhere then we would walk through the garden and come out the other side where a different tram would pick us up. Halfway through the tour we got tired of the bloody gardens and decided to go back to the main complex. But because we're in India, and they do things a little bit differently around here, we have to do a bit of arguing and negotiating with the tram driver to get back. Bummer..

All in all, a pretty tiring, but nice outing with my friends. It's a big place, so if anyone wants to visit it, allocate a day just for Ramoji Film City. Tickets are 300 rupees for adults and 150 rupees for children.

The backside of something

The wild wild west

Peace out,
ketor

Save the whales lar deyyy

As we sit comfortably in our homes, our beds, our living rooms and our dinner tables, poor whales are being hunted and harpooned in the name of so called "research" by the Japanese. Sure they do a little bit of research but do they really need to kill these helpless creatures in the name of research.

The whaling fleet would normally consist of several ships. They would have a spotter; which is a light vessel that's fast - used to find whale pods, a harpoon ship; which has the harpoon gun and a factory ship; which will process the whale meat. Most of the whales killed will get processed on factory ships and distributed to supermarkets all over japan.

"In 2002, Japanese whalers caught 5 Sperm, 39 Sei, 50 Bryde's and 150 Minke Whales in the northern catch area and 440 Minke Whales in the southern catchment area."

That's a lot of whales for research eh. If you've been reading the papers recently, the japs are at it again in the Southern Ocean. For this whaling season, they have a big fleet and all the support of their government. Only two ships and a small number of brave people are brave enough to stand in their way. The "Steve Irwin" of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and "Esperanza " of Greenpeace. Their primary mission is to block the harpoon ships from getting their sights on the whales. So far they have been successful in stopping the whalers from meeting their quota. But this might soon change. These ships, due to their limited range and supply have to come to port every now and then to resupply. A much awaited chance for the whalers to break away from their shadow.

Conservation societies like Sea Shepherd and Greenpeace are organization that need our help. They survive and donations from individuals and the corporate community. They are manned by volunteers who don't get paid for the hours they put in to thhe conservation effort. Their mission to save and protect the environment depends on our support financially and morally. So I urge all readers of ketor.blogspot.com to do all you can to spread the word on their noble cause and help out all you can.

For the oceans,
Ketor.

~~~~ This is a public service announcement by ketor ~~~~
~~~ ketor.blogspot.com ~~~