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MICHIO KAKU
Free Energy
For Knowledge
What is repulsive ?
Talmud quotes
A DAY OF DESPERATION
My first trip to Putrajaya was on the 7th.
of August 2014. I paid RM240 on Air Asia for
the trip, just to make an appeal on getting
a maid. The second trip to Putrajaya,
Immigration office of Malaysia on the 25th
September, costing me RM300 by MAS, after
receiving an approval letter from Kementerian Dalam Negeri. I was told it
could be processed in Alor Setar. At Alor
Setar I was asked to go to Putrajaya.
Immediately after that I bought another
ticket , RM255 for the trip. I was being kicked like a ball. At Alor Setar several forms for
the application of a maid was given to me.
Some forms were very relevant, but one form
in particular on another application didn't
seem to be appropriate. "Do I need this form
? " The reply was, "KDN is KDN. Immigration
is immigration." The guy must be seeing me
as a stupid old man from the deep forest.
Filling the forms were tough for me. I
didn't know how to fill the date of the
contract. I rang up my student who told me
to put the date when I want to submit the
documents. Nevertheless I went to the
revenue department asking them about the
proper date. "The date must not be after the
stamping." On the way home I stopped at the
immigration again to ask them whether the
forms were all completed. One lady officer
checked one by one and afterwards handed me
with two more forms, namely IM12 and IM38. I
just took them and went home.
I tried to complete the agreements and the
other forms, called my student as a witness,
and checked the documents piece by piece. I
decided to post them on the 7th. September
2014. Early morning on the 7th I first went
to revenue department for stamping.
There were 4 copies of agreement, 2 of them
were photocopies. And there is another one
piece to be stamped. "How many do you want to
do the stamping ? You can't stamp on the
photocopies," said the lady officer. Go and
ask them again."
I rushed to the immigration. With a smile I
said that I was sorry to disturb them again
and again. "This time I want to know how
many copies to do the stamping ?" "Three
copies, only the original."
"I am going to post today. Please check the
documents once more," I requested. The kind
lady officer from the alien worker
department browsed all the documents and
said, "It's
OK but her visa is going to expire on the
9/10/2014." I told her that I will be renewing
it soon, and till the whole process is done. But
processing is time consuming. 9th would be
my trip to Songhkla for visa renewal.
On the 8th October I slept early and woke up
at 2.00 am. Then I went horizontal again,
but I could not sleep. Of and on I had weird
dreams. Then I heard noises. My maid was
cleaning the floor. I looked at the clock.
It was 4.00 am. I switched on my radio and
did some SWLing on the CW side. Only at 5
am, I took my bath, 6.10 doing my prayer. At
6.30 I went out to buy breakfast for my
wife.
At 7.00 am the maid next door arrived. She
too wanted to follow us. My wife could not
go because she has no passport. I put my wife on the
wheelchair, administer her an insulin,
arranged the medicine, accompanied her for a
short while and moved out for Songkhla
Malaysian Consulate. I
used Sygic GPS to guide me. Traffic crawled
like a tortoise at Hatyai. It was much worse
in Songhla. Roads to the Malaysian Consulate
were close. There were festivities at the
beach and consulate area. I arrived at the
consulate at about noon. The air was very
hot and I was sweating profusely.
But the time at the Consulate was short
after a long preparation and a hectic
journey. "We don't accept letter from
Kementerian Dalam Negeri. You must get the
letter from the immigration office." There
was a great frustration. If it is a rule and
it is a rule. My heart sank. My maid wept.
The plan to stop at Hatyai was cancelled.
At the border I approached an immigration
officer. I did not see any rank on his
attire. I requested for one month. "Why you
have the maid so long with you ? "
"I made an appeal as soon as I was informed the
new rule. That takes time for the reply." I
answered.
His scolding me didn't end there. He
continued to repeat, "Why the reply took a
long time ?" This officer must be nut and
rude. Nut because he does not seem to
understand the volume of applicants and
people who appeal. I just read about 1.4
Million of Bangla workers were just on
completion. It was not 14 or 140 or 1400.
Rude because he question Kementerian Dalam
Negeri, showing arrogance of no degree. It is this kind of officers that
made the members of the public hate the
government. Similarly those officers who
arrogantly said that KDN is different and
immigration is another. He gave only 2
weeks, refusing to see all other documents I
showed him.
I pitied my maid. The poor guy who left her
school going kids and came during the
fasting month to feed the family. I never
scolded or raised my voice during her stay
with me. I paid the full amount of her
salaries thought the Indonesia agent told me
not. I bought her a smart phone because I
want her to post her pictures home by
whatever method.
I said nothing, feeling disheartened and
angry and morose. While driving back I
pulled up. I called Kementerian Dalam Negeri
and reported my agony. The good lady scolded
me, "Who ask you to go to Songhkla ? You
don't have to do the extension of the stay.
Yours is approved. You are to work on her
permit." I always accept such a scolding. I
wrote on a man whom I met in a shop who
scolded me for drinking coke after jogging.
Some people were just concern.
On reaching home I narrated my story to my
sister in law who came to look after my
wife. Her word were simple "Wait till they
get old and retired".
09/10/2014 - Abdul Rahman Raof |
BEHINDHAND
People do get broke. When somebody wanted to
have ten dollars for a loan especially a
person I knew not, I knew that he was
begging. I gave him and told him not to pay
back. I can't do it to all people at all
time for I too
need money. I am not a contractor nor a
businessman. I am too old to work and I live
on my pension. When somebody wanted to have
RM500 and I knew he has a lot of money in
his bank but the haste drove him to seek for
a loan, I lent him with the hope he would
return the soonest, for I too need it for
something.
Borrowers are usually behindhand. They are
quick to borrow but slow to pay. When time
drag they would feel that they do not have
to honor their promises, forgetting that it
will leave an impact on their morality and
dignity. People will talk about them and
try to avoid them. I learned that there are
several hams fall under this category. It
happened that these are the type of people
who spat poison on their victims to hide
their sins and crimes.
Some names are being exposed. People try to
avoid them. Let me tell you not to trust
even your close friends. Don't worry,
someday one of their fingers will be cut by
one of the victims. It had happened before
and may happen again.
In USA one ham victim exposed the culprit
using the social media, first requesting the
redemption and later shot more attacks. No
amount of defense and excuses could alter
people's perception. If they fell sick the
rest would laugh with joy. They don't pray
for the death, instead for heavier sufferings.
You may be broke one day. I too may have the
same fate. If ever someone shows pity
on us, let us not be behindhand. We need to
response and explain why we can't honor the
loan as promised. We have to fulfill it
somehow and hope no damage will be done on
us.
07/10/2014
- Abdul Rahman Raof |
MISCALCULATION
Many a time losing were due to
miscalculation. In a game we have to know
our enemy, to see and predict their possible
moves. The basic maxim is 'for every action
there will be of equal and opposite
reaction' which may not be visible by the
naked eyes. But from sports to politics we
didn't seem to understand the natural
behavior of mankind. We only compute on the
strength of our side and underestimating our
foes.
Many of us had said a long time before that
one day the Korean will beat us in Takraw. I
made my prediction base on the observation
of our Malaysian mentality, especially of
the top brass, on the various decisions and
policies, actions and demeanors. They
thought they were the best in everything.
They were strong enough to withstand and
opposition.
Our national image is not on the award given
to our First Lady unknown and unrecognized
by the local but by the great achievements
in sports, sciences and other competitive
awards. It is a paradox that in the last
Asian Games the glory were brought by the
race the Malays duped as 'Pendatang'. Was it
not a big shame to some who periodically
bashing the non-Malays ?
The Malaysian thinking is boisterous and
stinking. A boss called for a meeting to
command the subordinates to carry out a
policy without questioning. He thought his
policy was perfect. Anyone who tried to give
his view was threatened and chased out of
the room. And in the course of executing the
policy various major problems occurred. The
damage were deemed to be fatal. It is this
kind of a person that our country has as a
civil servant, and a policy maker.
We are happy to make some amazing law, which
should be awarded with Nobel prizes such as
'GST will lower the prizes of goods and
commodities. Property prices will be down
too' , 'The citizen will be thankful to the
government when the GST come into effect and
the fuel price is increased'. Digging a hole
to cover another hole will always be a hole.
It is a miscalculated move that will one day
end with disaster.
What sort of reaction would we expect when
our leader is hanging the power on the FELDA
constituencies ? Would it not be an effort
to bring down the price of oil palm so as to
sabotage and bring sufferings to those who
vote for the leader ?
While we are thinking others are also doing
the same; how to be the best, the top, the
masters and to supersede all our
competitors, to be strong and respectable.
How could a single person have thought that
his idea is the best of all among a few
hundreds whom he barred from voicing ? As a
result sports and education have become a
political issue. Instead of solving the
issues we chose to issue gag order and
arrest guys with views which are different
from that of ours.
Malaysians must regain composure, be
rational, cool and calm. Talk less and think
more. Be serious at the brainstorming
sessions. Listen to all views and arguments.
Some are painful to hear. Many truths are
hurting. But that's the only way to sow for
the best.
We must always remember a one miscalculated
move will end us in disaster. Political
leaders just don't care about it.
06/10/2014 - Abdul Rahman Raof |
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HAM RADIO - DO YOU HATE MORSE CODE ?
If someone
says he hates Morse codes that is his
right. It is not a felony and not
against social codes. I would just
wonder his reason for hating it. If he
does not like it then I would understand
it, because likings towards something is
a matter of taste. I may not like a
woman because she may not seem pretty to
me. But I cannot hate person
because she is ugly or does not suit my
taste.
It would
certainly be naive for someone to hate
something because someone else is asking
him to hate it. We hate criminals
because they are causing problems to us,
and ever threatening our peace of mind.
Similarly I could not hate Bush because
he is Bush but I would hate him for
false flag attack on the World Trade
Center and killed thousands of Iraqis.
What is
wrong with anyone who goes for the Morse
test ? What is the reason for you to
hate him ? Does his sitting for the exam
rob away your money and your family ?
Probably we
have tried to learn it but we found too
tough. We simply cannot decipher it
despite much efforts we have put in.
Actually out of 100 ninety percent can
finally master it if they continue to
learn the codes the right way. 10% may
not be able to fit their mind to the
strange environment. They may be good at
something else but not Morse codes. In
either case there is no reason for them
to hate it and discourage others to
pursue the amazing skill.
Great
achievements are not crime. Those
getting straight As or the CGPA of 4
flat are not criminals. Those who sat
for Morse test and passed and get the 9M
call signs aren't doing any crime to
anyone.
We are
reasonable people. We do not simply
listen to others without thinking. There
are always pros and cons, good and bad.
Only degrees made a different. Deciding
to sit for Morse test means a sacrifice
of time and effort. But passing it
provide us with an immense benefit
beside the acquired additional skill not
all people have.
It has
passed my ears that so and so is good in
CW but he does not to take the test
because he hates Morse. Then there was
another man who chose not to take the
test because the tester's capability is
far below his standard and his ability.
Crazy people like me found it very
hilarious. The proof of the pudding is
in the eating.
CW does not
harm nor kill anyone. There are only
about 45 characters to learn. If you
learn Mandarin there are tenth of
thousands of characters to recognize and
remember. One uses visual recognition
and the other using sound recognition.
The younger you are the easier is the
ease of learning. And learning itself is
fun. Don't listen to those who are
telling you to hate Morse and those who
chose to upgrade themselves. Animosity
against imaginative foe is bad for
health. It could cause tension.
Once upon a
time we used to hear among the Malay
students that they hated Mathematics and
Science. Why ? Because they were made to
believe the race was not cut for science
and technology and mathematics. We
shouldn't allow such an attitude to live
on. There shouldn't be a debate or
discussion. The right thing to do is to
work on it.
The number
of 9Ws who went to Cyberjaya to support
the CW candidates were encouraging. It
may not be 10000. We have to remember
that only a handful that brought changes
to the world. These were the people with
resilience and guts, not easily submit
to the command of others.
05//10/2014
- Abdul Rahman Raof |
HAM RADIO - IGNORE MY VIEW
What is
Islam without Al-Quaran and what what is
Christianity without Bible. Likewise
there is no ham radio without Morse
Codes.
I am very
much aware that my view is shared by
none in the world therefore it can be
ignored. But I believe any minority is
entitled to his view.
Just
imagine that Muslims all over destroy
the Holly Book, Al-Quaran. Yet they are
preaching Islam and Islamic practices.
There will come a day when no one can
ever recite the Holly phrases anymore
yet they call themselves Muslims. Even
with the living Al-Quaran, they prefer
to put it aside and waging wars among
the fellow Muslims, joining hands with
the powerful non-Muslim nations to kill
another Muslim sects. It is very sad and
chaotic situation.
Ham Radio
was born with Morse Codes. The
dismemberment of any of it's body is
like throwing the Bible or the Quaran by
the religious body, like the churches
and the mosques without their Holly
scriptures.
Not all big
and powerful people are sane and proper.
Just because of their position, should
we say 'aye' to all their actions and
decision ? There were insane Presidents
who consumed drugs and happily bombing
foreign nations using tons of false
justifications. Not all big and powerful
nations could think straight and
rightly. They legalize drugs, same sex
marriages and the killings of Muslims.
Would we take them as our icons and
follow their practices and policies ?
What are left in their values ?
I am glad
that Malaysia is still keeping Ham Radio
alive and guys still learn and go for CW
tests. While some may realize the
original and traditional mark of ham
radio others may just sit it as a
challenge. Whatever the spirit of
amateur radio is there and they are
keeping Ham Radio alive.
I read
somewhere about a certain church that
allows drinking and having free sex
during it's annual celebration, and
calling itself a Christian church. In
the Bible it was clearly stated about
adultery. What do you call a man who cut
his penis, boosting his nipple and dress
like a woman ? It is indeed mumbo jumbo
state of affair.
Old hams
find that CW today a little different
from their time. They started with the
straight keys. Today electronic keys and
computer sending almost become a
practice. As a result most speeds we
hear during contests and normal
communications are faster than the old
time. I participated in the Morse
contest before but not as speedy as now.
The change does not evaporate the codes
away. They are still heard on the band
and are still very popular mode of
communication, giving sign the spirit of
real ham radio is alive.
People who
shuttle between amateur band and CB
bands are people without the Morse
capabilities. To them they are the same
'talk...talk...talk...talk...' Peopke
who shuttle between SSB and CW only on
amateur band simply loves the only ONE
type of radio hobby, namely ham radio.
Listening is as good as working on it,
reminding themselves that ham radio is
still alive.
AMTOR, RTTY,
FACTOR and name all the digital modes do
not require skill. The only unique stuff
is competency is Morse code. It is in a
person which you cannot cut and paste,
copy and do, buy and operate. We can
steal and take away all the gadgets and
the hard wares but not the CW capability
in a person.
Don't feel
offended. It is only a sole view in the
whole universe. It is as empty as an
atom. Ignore it and you will be fine.
04//10/2014
- Abdul Rahman Raof |
A MALAY IS NOT ALWAYS AN ANGEL
I didn't go around looking for troubles or
problems. If we don't look for one, it may
pop up unexpectingly. Only yesterday when I
entered my gate after picking up my wife
from a dialysis center, two young women
quickly entered my compound. I was busy
unloading my wife from the car. The transfer
was not straight forward. I had to do
several things. My maid was in the house
preparing dinner. The two ladies only watch
what I was doing. There was no attempt to
lend their hands. My experience in unloading
my wife has always been helped by other
people though I did not welcome them. I
appreciated the willingness. Most of them
just held the wheelchair.
Having unloading and adjusting her sitting
position I asked why they were here. "We are
collecting money for the orphans, " came the
answer. I quipped back, "Do you enjoy seeing
how I unload this sick lady ?" I continued
to push my wife and they walked away. They
were both Malays.
The story of the Malays would not be nice to
hear. I have just narrated about my shuttle
from Putrajaya to Alor Setar immigration
departments, that put me so much in
difficult position. I am sure many others
have been facing similar problems. I told my
staffs before not to send any parent home
and asked them to come another day as they
live far away and the journey to the school
is not easy. Even during the lunch time
someone must be at the office to attend to
anyone that come for help.
A Malay is not always an angel. A Haji
cannot always be trusted. A long time ago
those clerics whom the villagers trusted so
much were stealing land using what we called
'Padi Kunca'. Villagers who desired to go
for a pilgrimage would take a loan from the
cleric, giving the land grant and promising
to pay back at every harvesting season.
Whenever the villager went to make the
payment the Haji would hide himself. The
verbal agreement said that the payment must
be made at every harvesting period, failing
to pay back for three consecutive season the
land would be forfeited. Many clerics were
wealthy during those years leaving the poor
Malays landless.
Today money rules. The Malays go for money
than the race. Leeches are not confined to
chetiars and Ah Longs. Everyone is forking
for money. Some sucks. Some don't. Some goes
preying from friends using various pretext
to borrow money and never to return. Some
goes from house to house to collect all sort
of donations; for mosque, for orphans, for
the Palestinians.
Today I went to my old school to attend a
function. I found out sad things about our
education system. If God gives me the power,
I would put a few top ranking policy makers
behind bars. You may not know what is
happening, and the public too may not know
too. Divulging the truth is a crime. It is a
very sad episode of human history, about the
foolish people who just do not care less
about their own race, namely the Malays.
Intelligent parents ask intelligent
questions which nobody could provide any
answer. The losers will be the Malays from
the policy made by the Malays themselves.
Closing people's mouth is never a good idea.
It is just like the young sons killing their
own parents and teachers and doctors and
other smart people of the Pol Pot regime.
Every time now when I go out for a dinner at
a hotel or restaurant I have to say this,
"Please listen carefully. Fried rice with no
chicken. Write it down, no chicken. If you
put any chicken bad thing will happen. OK ?
" Out of 10 places, at least 2 will come
back with the chicken. At one restaurant a
hot fresh orange was served as I ordered
"Fresh orange". You have to tell these guys
'Fresh orange with ice'.
Not every Malay is a fool or arrogant. A few
or 'some fews' are too many for us to
tolerate. A few sadists, drug pushers,
criminals and inconsiderate are enough to
shake the country, putting great hardships
and difficulties among the public.
02/10/2014 - Abdul Rahman Raof |
HAM RADIO - WHAT I UNDERSTAND ABOUT A FEW
ITEMS
A civil servant should know about leave (cuti).
Leave (cuti) is not a right but a privilege.
Similarly a ham radio license is not a
person's right. It is a privilege given by
the authority it deems fit. A ham license
can be revoked without explanation.
Probably many of us might be thinking that
it is everyone's right to be given a license
once he passed the Radio Amateur
Examination. When a friend of mine talked
about suing the authority, that's what I told
him. That clause is strong and powerful
enough for the authority to forfeit a
license given without reason.
Taiwan used to have only two call signs,
BV2B and BV2A. Both used by the same man for
many years and Thailand only legalized ham
radio in the late 20th. century. If a
country choose to follow her own style and
rule, the citizen cannot adopt the
regulation of any alien nation against the
local administration, and follow his own way.
Ever notice the Malaysian hams defying the
authority ?
Secondly we need to understand about
reciprocal license. It is a license awarding to
a foreign citizen to operate a radio station
in a host country for a given period of time. The
foreigner is regarded as a guest. Once he
leave the country the reciprocal license
ends.
There is no reciprocal license for it's own
citizen. He is not a guest and not an alien.
This explains why Malaysians who sat RAE and
CW test in USA and given a US license had to
re-sit for the RAE and CW test again when
they came back. Our rule is to get the 9M
for a layman he has to sit for a Morse test.
Thirdly we need to know the real meaning of
'amateur' in amateur radio. It is not the
word that a ham can do what he likes, uses
whatever lingo and practices. Amateur Radio
is merely to differentiate it with other
radio services like the broadcasting
stations, police and military and other
services. It is nothing strange to say 'an
amateur should professionally'. He has to
stand by the rules, ethics, following the
procedure and having a high degree of
discipline.
So far we do not put any serious effort to
build up the great honor and integrity of
ham radio in this country. You open your
eyes and ears wide enough and you will see
and hear the abusive words and the insult,
the illegal transmission and the new
creative terms foreign to ham radio. You
will understand what I mean.
02/10/2014 - Abdul Rahman Raof |
ONLY FOOLS TRUST NETWORK
You can talk your heart off about the hidden
evil of computers those smart men will frown
at you and brush you aside. First you wouldn't
know what is hidden in the chips. They may
contain transmitters that can transmit
information to the spy satellite. Iraq
computers were jammed via the satellite
during the US-Iraq war. There may be
spy-chips that can send out information to
the enemies or foreign countries. Didn't we
buy computer hardware from a Jewish company
once ?
A huge amount of data are kept either in the
local drive or in a remote servers. These
data run through wires in binary format
which could always be tapped on the busy
traffics of it's highway. People can steal
them while trafficking or from the storage
bulks. No man can be trusted with the
servers or the local data storage. Exam
questions are stolen. Personal data are
changed. Immigration and NIRC data may be
manipulated and added. Thefts have long been
operating beneath the calm water. Only the
public do not sense what was going on.
Once, with my little knowledge I drew out
data from a friend's machine. I could
control remote computers, watching security
cams from all over. If a fool like me
could do it, you could expect the worst from
the experts and the computer maniacs.
A network is very vulnerable to attack. The
people who make the security software can
always enter the locked doors. It won't be
difficult if you know how. But you don't
need to know, only to believe that you
cannot trust these gadgets to help you in
every daily tasks. On the network people
could know what you type and what you do.
Websites provide knowledge and other
information. It also serve to condition your
mind with false and selective information,
to make you like or hate other people,
culture and religion. One has to be critical
and smart enough to recognize the beneficial
facts and the fallacies.
I feel so very sad when government officers
trust computers so much. They sent exam
questions through email, personal and other
data through the network. Important data
viewed as secrets are kept in the servers.
What is known to be stolen is known and what
isn't is thought to be safe, yet they are
being stolen and being peeped. Tons of
secrets flow out everyday. I am not at
all surprised about banks losing money for I
knew it would happen. Only now it is realized . That's
about money.
Who cares ? Or they are too smart.
01/10/2014
- Abdul Rahman Raof |
OO MY MALAYSIA
My spirit is
high. My mind is strong and my physical is
active though I live in almost a lonely
world with my bed-ridden wife. I worked hard
as a domestic nurse and tried to keep my
home in shape, seen as nothing has happen.
Life has to go on. Others may have greater
hardship and sufferings. I thank God that
the government is still feeding me and I
live merely on retirement fund. Many are
begging on the streets.
I repeatedly
told my wife that if I were to die and never
to wake up in the morning she would stay in
bed for days and probably weeks alone till
the pungent smell of my corpse fills the
air. I prayed it would not happen. It would
be much desirable to have a third person,
probably a maid, with us. But maid is pretty
expensive. They are not for the poor people.
I put no effort to look for one.
By a sudden
stroke of luck my neighbor found one for me
from Lombok. We both were not aware that the
law on Indonesian maid has changed. I only
discovered it after I remitted 5K payment to
someone in Indonesia. Immigration officers
asked me to send the her back home.
My neighbor
felt guilty and very sorry about it. The
Indonesian agent asked me to pay another 5K
to process the work permit. Another local
agent wanted 6.5K. My friends told me the
additional payment was less then 13 - 18K,
the new price through the agent selected by
the government. Some suggested that I should
keep her as an illegal. I asked her whether
she was willing to stay as an illegal. She
accepted it. She kept on asking me the size
of the boat which would take her home. In my
heart she must not be made to suffer. She
must go back in one piece proudly by air.
She is about 40
with 5 children and three are still
schooling. Her Indonesian agent told me that
I don't have to pay her salary for three
months. I talked to my wife who agreed to
pay her the full amount. Her life is more
difficult than us. "My family is poor. My
husband is jobless. My eldest is a divorcee.
She is looking after my other kids. We owe a
lot," she told me later when I asked her how
much she wanted to send home. "All." She
said all to pay to the sundry shops where
they bought food for daily consumption.
Rusli, my
friend in Nilai, helped me to investigate of
any other possibility that I could take to
retain her. Else I have to send her home and
bear the lost. Rusli was told that I should
make an appeal. Only the Minister can
approve. I should go to Putrajaya.
I went to
Putrajaya on 7th. of August 2014. It was
supposed to be Hari Bersama Pelanggan. But
the Minister was oversea. I was ushered to a
counter. I handed my documents to a kind
officer. "Go home and wait." I waited and in
the meantime I had to renew her visa.
Unexpectedly a
mail from Kementerian Dalam Negeri arrived
on 22nd. giving approval to my plea. I was
exalted with full of excitement. On the 25th
September I went to immgration Putrajaya,
showing the letter (without any attachment
though written with such word). The officer
told me that I could process it in Alor
Setar.
The first trip
to Putrajaya cost me RM240 by Air-Asia. My
maid looked after my wife who has to lie in
bed for the whole day. I did not allow her
to lift my wife who is much bigger than her.
And Rusli was with me the whole full day.
The second trip was to coincide with the
Morse Test at Cyberjaya. That cost me RM300
by MAS.
On 28th
September I went to the Immigration Office
at Anak Bukit Alor Setar. "You have to go to
Putrajaya, not here." The immigration boss
talked to Putrajaya who insisted that I
should go there. Forms were given but were
incomplete. Only today, 30th September, when
I went to ask how to fill those forms,
another two additional sheets were given.
Yesterday I
sent a fax to Kementerian Dalam Negeri
asking for permission to have the maid
processing to be done in Alor Setar. A quick
phone call came back asking me to send the
appeal to immigration side at Putrajaya.
There was no fax number. There was no phone
number. May be too much of a work load. I
then sent my appeal by Pos Laju. That was
yesterday. The big immigration boss rang up
Putrajaya after my postage. The answer was
the same. I need to deal with Putrajaya.
Looking at the
date I found that I have to make myself free
on the 14th. There is no dialysis. My wife
has to stay in bed the whole day again. On
the 9th I have to take my maid to Songkhla
to renew her visa. This time MAS flight cost
me RM255.
Malaysia Oh
Malaysia. One of the most progressive
countries in the world who think everyone
can travel to and fro to Kuala Lumpur
everyday.
It is true that
we have to take care of the dead people. But
do we have to neglect those who are still
alive and kicking. It is almost a trauma to
me. This time I would not seek Rusli's or
anybody's help anymore. I will make my way
to Putrajaya by myself. I know it will take
me almost the whole day.
Do I need to
say more ? You may have to wait for your
time to feel what I feel. Those officers
will also pass the same way and they will
know what agony is as they have done to
others. At 68 I still have the energy and
the will power, the fighting spirit and the
survival instinct.
30/09/2014 - Abdul Rahman Raof
Today is 3rd of October. This morning I
received a phone call from the immigration
office Putrajaya permitting me to post all
the documents. I pondered for a while, took
a deep breath. At least there are still
human persons amongst the civil servants. It
means alot to me and to all others, giving
us hope and confidence in living in our only
mother land. Thanks God. I feel much relief. |
9m2ar.com/morsecode.rar
A long time
ago I developed a CW trainer to train my
listening skill. It uses DOS sound, not
running using the sound card. It worked
well for me on Windows XP with all my
Acer Laptop. To those who are using MS
Access 2000 and a Windows XP, you may
want to try the soft ware. The URL is
9m2ar.com/morsecode.rar . Download and
unzip it.
It is not a
good software, below the international
standard. But adjusting to the right
speed and sound, it can assist me a lot.
What you may be needed are the Rawak/Random,
Taip teks and Buka Fail.
The
choice of Rawak/Random allows you to
enter the number of digits and groups.
The
second image shows the figure pops up as
the Rawak/Random button is clicked.
Below I entered 7 characters and 25
groups or sets.
Then I
click Go Rawak/random to hear the
displayed sounds.
Taip
teks let us repeatedly hear some of the
characters that we find it difficult to
decipher. You can type only a single
character 'a' 100 times or more. To hear
them you just click Go morse button. In
fact you can save this in a file by
clicking Simpan Fail. File name must be
of one word eg. 'Ujiansatu' not 'Ujian
satu'
The
feature I like most is Buka Fail. The
content of the file is either typed or
copied from articles on the websites,
and it is pasted in the box. Save the
article using the Simpan Fail button.
You can hear this for hours if the
content is long.
One bad
point about the speed adjustment is that
you need to adjust Laju+ and Laju-
together with the DotDash until you hear
a comfortable spacing.
Those
who can run this software can compare
with the more professional written by
the Americans hams. We may have
different taste. If you don't like it
just don't use it.
29//09/2014
- Abdul Rahman Raof |
BEWARE OF CURSES
The power of a brain is still unknown to
science. A part that has been known may
still be too little and negligible. The
power of telepathy is still under
investigation and experiment. How far curses
through the brain wave can effect a distant
person ?
People curse everyday for the downfall and
destructions of others whom they hated. They
appeal for the divine intervention to have
their curses crushed their enemies or people
who have cheated and owed them money, of
arrogant persons who had caused sufferings
to the many. Kelantan still fail to get the
'oil money' with all the mystified efforts.
Israel is unshaken by the curses of the
world.
Many people still believe in the strength of
their curses. "He didn't pay me. I curse he
will lose his fingers soon." It could be a
coincident when a car salesman who cheat one
customer and get away with it was finally
lost his finger after cheating a second
person. Probably a gang was paid to cut one
of his fingers. When I read the news about a
headless body found, he could be cheating a
lot of people already. The final curse on
him was his death.
One may not notice all kind of sickness
slowly attacked dishonest person. A debtor
who cause difficulty to his lenders
experience a slow deterioration of his
health. As he felt indescribable agony with
deathly pain, he called for forgiveness,
which would be responded with more sinister
curses "Let you die in pain and go to hell."
You may dismiss it as absurd. One day later
science will come to explain the many myths
of the universe, which we have been
beginning to hear in quantum sciences.
People are questioning what reality is and
whether time really exist, and that we are
nothing in the world.
So far I have seen bad things happen to the
bad people, not by the avenge of mankind but
from an unknown source of nature. Rich
people suffered a violent death, being sued
and brought to shame, and a few were known
to commit suicide. A bad man going for a Haj
and came back to commit more sins. It is not
strange for men in religious rob to soak
themselves in a pond of sins. They are there
by the hundreds.
The good point of persons who do not pay my
loans is I can easily close myself to
lending even to my close friends. "Go and
get from....." News could travel free and
freely about those guys. Others will be more
careful in dealing with them. And at the
same time I could observe the degree of
sufferings that will torture him and his
minds day by day. The telepathy will
continue to attack with vigorous intensity.
A death will not be met by sympathy but a
glorious day to celebrate.
28/09/2014
- Abdul Rahman Raof |
ASK DON'T THINK
I have been on 7.043 for a long time. Even
before the approval by the authority
Malaysian hams were already above 7.100 Mhz.
I stayed foot. I asked a Chinese friend why
he did not go to 7.130. "It is not on my
ticket and it is not approved yet," he said.
A little bird told me that someone spat
poison saying I refused to go to 7.130
because the new hams were there. I would
have guessed all the new hams were believing
in what they have heard. I don't remember
any ham questioned me the reason for my
absent on those upper band frequencies. I
worked with the government before. I had
always wish the public to abide by the
rules.
It was good that I was made a special topic.
Would I care ? I did not have time to think
about new hams. I may make remarks when
coming across some terminologies that I have
accidentally heard. Comments would be made
on weak signals from any ham. That does not
construed prejudicial remarks.
If I consider 7.043 as my home, it is also a
home for everyone else. You can make it your
home too. Everyone is welcome to visit.
Nobody would chase you away. Never ever
think I am trying to avoid the new hams.
I don't understand why there is a verbal
clash in the social media. The new 9Ms and
those sitting for CW were lashed. They are
branded as Chicken Brand, low quality hams,
unskilled in the Morse and lacking in
knowledge. If the lashing came from the old
hams, the newer ones would be thinking that
every old hams look down upon them.
But it is a fact that the Telecom and MCMC
era were different. The systems change as
leaders change and the progress is gaining
momentum. The exam structure changes for the
same reason. In our days the test was of
essay type and it was in English. Today it
is of objective type. I took a CW test in
Penang and there were only 4 candidates.
Knowledge is greater now than before. During
the telecom days illegal operators were
arrested. One using other people's call sign
had to struggle hard for years to get the
pardon from the King. Wrongdoers' licensed
were revoked for the whole life. We were
damn scarred of the severe punishments. The
MCMC is very kind and tolerant. A few took
advantage it's benevolence.
The fewer number of Malays in amateur radio
was because of the medium of instruction and
the exam style. The plain language on the
local net, 40 meter band, was English.
Everyone spoke English.
It could not be helped when attitudes and
ethics would loom as a problem because of
the increasing numbers of hams that come
from all walk of life, from different
background and education. We have lawyers as
well as jobless. We have hams who called
people pig and dog and causing unnecessary
intrusions. We experienced frequency
blockage and other sorts of disturbances.
These do not make hams a Chicken Brand. Let
new hams venture into the wider world, and
time will teach them many things.
New 9Ms are great hams. They face greater
challenges than the hams of our time. While
some were pressuring them not to sit for CW
test, others reject and outcast them. They
struggle to study Morse codes by themselves.
Mazwan, 9M2ZN, whom I consider as a new ham,
could very well read and send Morse at 35
wpm by the mind. More newer ones are sending
beautiful codes at more than 12 wpm. They
wave Malaysian flags to the world that come
to know of a woman CWer active in the mode.
Satan is fond of poking people, blowing
hatred into humans' heart.
To know a person hear what he says about
others. Truly indeed he is, unashamedly
parading his own character for the perusal
of others. Sooner or later even the blind
person can smell the heart, a smell of
pungent odor. Listen to your own hearts.
Build the better future of amateur radio,
hams of caliber with amazing skills in CW.
Our target is JA1NUT and N6TT, the two
regular ragchewers on 40 meter. Insya Allah
we will gain the international respect.
We don't listen to people who carry
malicious words on other fellow hams and the
staffs of MCMC. Great people talk about
ideas and the lowly people talk about other
individuals. Fools invent evil words.
Asking what we don't know is better than
thinking evil things about them.
26/09/2014
- Abdul Rahman Raof |
CWers-IGNORE THE INSULT
Once you have passed the CW you are getting
a diamond in your possession. Love and
treasure it. It elevates your status a step
higher and it touches you with
enlightenment. It is yours, let it lies in
your blood.
There were sinister remarks passed to
belittle the successful candidates, which is
very unwelcoming within our fraternity.
Once, amateur radio was considered as one of
the most civilized hobby. It drew King and
Prime Minister, scientists and engineers.
The civility, integrity and it's
enlightenment should be maintained at all
time. I would forbid rudeness, a rogue, an
uneducated and a cultureless individuals to
become members.
We are to encourage, not to discourage.
Attacking and insulting those who want to
sit and those who were successful would not
stop hams with strong will power from
proceeding with their brave quests.
Supporters spend a few hundred ringgit to be
with the candidates. Among Malaysians, the
ham spirit is still there, and will grow to
be stronger.
I have been a ham since 1970's yet my CW is
still far from perfect. There were mistakes
made in almost every contacts. I just love
Morse codes. It gives a great pleasure when
hearing the singing of the keys, some with
melodies. Try the straight key and you will
know what I mean.
New comers in CW must not be scared or shy
to come on the band. Work me. I will try to
trace your mistakes and correct them.
Several of the new hams I worked with were
superb and perfect. The sending were
amazing. The last I worked was 9M2RZL. Rizal
was perfect like a veteran.
Remember, that some mischievous persons
might come to disturb. The authority
tolerated them so far. Someday someone will
be slapped with a huge fine and thrown
behind bars. Believe me, it will happen.
When it happens let no one shows his mercy.
Be a responsible ham. Observe the ethics or
else leave the hobby.
26/09/2014
- Abdul Rahman Raof |
POWER BANK ?
My mind
cannot grow in a small dingy room where
I spend most of my time. I don't know
the new technology in the market. When I
passed any phone shops I saw things I
have never seen before. I saw a box
called Memory Bank. I didn't ask what it
was for. Everywhere I saw people using a
kind of stick with a smart phone on one
end and it looked like they were
photographing themselves. I don't know
what else they have in the shelves.
I asked
Rusli what the power bank was while we
were in Bangkok. "You use it to charge
your smart phone and the it's battery
went depleted. But you need to have it
power box charged too," he explained.
If you want
to call me a nut, just go ahead. A
moron, go ahead too.
I think I
need to take a tour of the electronic
and phone shops, look around and ask a
lot. Of course the end question will be
'How Much'. More often than not, I would
just walk away after hearing the
response.
The less I
know and the lesser the exposure the
less I spend. So far I can manage it
without any memory bank. On the way to
Bangkok by train I charged my iPhone on
it. Though there were only 4 outlets it
seemed to be enough for all. Not
everyone on the train were charging
batteries at the same time. May be one
day I may need the memory bank. By that
time it may be cheaper newer version.
What else
do they have in the shop other than the
new iPhone and Samsung ? Crazy indeed.
After a day of purchasing , you will
hear of the next new version, with
enhance technology, IOS and camera. I
don't even use 1/4 of what is found in
the iPhone 4 yet. Do you know what
people had said about Honda motorbike ?
They said the first version, Honda 50,
was the best of all the Honda Cup
series.
The danger
of living in a cocoon is that one day I
may get shocked by hostile environment,
which may be beyond my capacity to cope.
New gadgets will replace the old ones
that needed to be thrown out. We may be
forced to buy the new ones or else life
would be rendered as useless.
What else
that will haunt me beside the simple
power bank ?
23//09/2014
- Abdul Rahman Raof |
CW TEST 25th September 2014
The CW test on 25th. September was just
over. 26 candidates sat and 6 passed. To me
it was not about passing or failing but
about the crowd and the supporters, the true
spirit of ham radio. There were 4 old hams
there from the start to the end. I went
late. Among the old hams I was the only one
suffering from memory shortage. I am sorry
if I did not attend to everyone. I forgot
people easily unless the communications are
very frequent.
To me the test was difficult. Those who
manage to get through and those who passed
with flying colors could be assets to the
nation. During the Malaysian-Indonesian
confrontation, Eshee had to go to Singapore
to join in the monitoring of Morse. Thought
we have machines to decipher men have to be
there as stand bys.
I always wonder how the new hams learn Morse
codes. I asked a candidate from Melaka of
how he study CW. He described it in detail,
indicating his strong quest to overcome a
challenge. I always believe in the special
people; if they are good in CW, they are
also good in many other things. The survival
rate is higher than many other people. Try
to ask the 6 people of their other hobbies
and likings. I have to salute them.
Those who fail may know why they do not make
it this time. They could always consult
their friends to improve the learning
process.
Things are different today. I have not heard
of a kind of Summer Camp on CW. Almost
everyone has to struggle for himself. Each
has to develop his own creativity. Even the
man in the army had to strive when learning
CW while in uniform. There is no easy sail.
Fortunately enough the younger ham
generations who have earned the 9M are very
proficient in the codes. They could guide
the rest. Morse must not be allowed to die
because Amateur Radio began with that. It
has been an ID of Ham Radio for centuries.
We don't throw religion and God just because
others throw them and in the modern world
people don't have time for the archaic
culture anymore.
Please, re-sit for the test. To some don't
be too soon. Built the skill slowly and take
some time. I took one whole year to learn
Morse codes. In those days I was curious to
decipher the Morse sent by the police and
other services. Some of you took about 3
months to master, which I could not do it.
Never feel discourage and never be
discourage by others. You are the master to
yourselves, why should you submit to others
to run your lives.
26/09/2014 - Abdul
Rahman Raof |
GOD GIVES IN MYSTERIOUS WAYS
I had narrated about a Chinese man giving
alms to a Malay beggar at a place that would
not catch public eyes. And about a Chinese
lady who went all over to feed stray cats.
And my Chinese teacher who told me that
knowledge given away would b reimbursed in
much greater amount. I surmised the
sentiment and the thought of the non-Muslim
Chinese in this nation of ours.
It was not only about care and kindness but
about the moral duty of a good person. Any
racist remarks on the Chinese won't hold
water in my mind.
A couple of days ago I stopped by a goreng
pisang stall and ordered a two ringgit of
the fried banana. The boy put so much that I
had to stop him. I took a bite while driving
to the jogging track. Once piece of it
already filled my stomach.
As I arrived Taman Rimba, I saw three
Bangladesh workers, resting and chatting. I
went and handed them the food with three one
ringgit notes for them to buy drinks for
themselves. They thanked me and I continued
with my daily chores of an hour of walk.
The next day I received a Pos Laju card.
Whatever it was, it had to be collected at
the post office. What could be in the Pos
Laju ? My imagination ran wild. It could be
a summon for tropic offences I knew not. It
could have come from the notorious Indah
Water. My wife said that if it was a summon,
she would pay for it. I rushed to the post
office. "Come tomorrow, sir. The postman is
not back yet," the clerk told me.
As instructed, the following day I went to
the post office again. A letter was handed
to me, not from the police nor Indah Water,
but from Kementerian Dalam Negeri. About two
months ago I made an appeal about a maid
(long story about it). It could be either a
letter of approval or otherwise. I rushed
back to my car, opened the letter. I broke
into tears as it a letter of approval. I
remembered nothing else but the two ringgit
goreng pisang to the Bangladesh workers.
Never hope for any return favor when giving
away to the poor and the needy, like the
Chinese lady feeding the stray cat and the
young man giving to the beggar. Happiness
does not come through big wealth and
unchallenged power, of being called King and
Minister. It comes by many mysterious ways
and means. God can shrink and expand and
halt time, to give, takes and changes
events. The gap between the goreng pisang
and the letter is long enough for the
providence.
25/09/2014 - Abdul
Rahman Raof |
THANKING GOD AND THE GOVERNMENT
Life is not
easy. Each day the burden is getting
heavier. Things are getting more
expensive. The greedy Mamaks increase
prices, followed by the Malay and other
traders. Land and homes are almost
impossible to acquire by the normal
people.
I envy
those born with the golden spoon in the
mouth like Mukhriz and Mokhzani, and
other politicians' siblings. They own
big projects and keep billions in the
banks. I can't say what the future of
our generation will be.
Many old
men like me are facing mounting
hardships. For many years I live with my
wife alone, surviving on our meager
pensions. Many of us cannot cook
anymore, either due to illness or too
tired to do so. Eating out is expensive
but it cannot be helped. I was lucky
that I have a little saving, the value
of which was cut down to half owing to
our fiscal policy.
What the
old people are facing today is the state
of physical health and have to live on
medication. I and my wife do not have
health insurance. And we are not
suitable to own even credit cards.
People are shoving us to the brim of the
grave yard, waiting for us to fall.
Secondly we need some kind of nursing
which is very difficult and expensive to
acquire.
I would
have to thank God and the government of
Malaysia for free medical aid to the
pensioners, and almost negligible
charges to the rest. Without it I would
have to let my wife who is having a
dialysis die. The cost is very high. Our
regular medication would surpass more
than RM400 a month without the health
policy.
Getting a
maid is expensive an very costly. Again
it would cost a fortune for a pensioner
like me to get one from the agency.
Indonesian maids are almost near to
impossible to get cheaply. In some
circumstances the government has an
opening for an unfortunate people to
appeal. To cut short, I would say the
government is very considerate and kind
enough to listen to our plight. How
could I condemn the government for being
cruel and inhumane ?
I compared
the top brass and the officers at the
counter. Many young people would be
described as arrogant. These are the
officers who made the public hated the
government. It is not that an officer
cannot say NO. They can. In cases when
they have to say NO they have to carry
out their duty to say it. But they have
to remember that the members of the
public are human, not animals.
We have to
admit the good done by the government to
us. It is not difficult to do so.
24//09/2014
- Abdul Rahman Raof |
2 NIGHTS IN BANGKOK
My first trip to Bangkok was in 1966 to
watch an Asian Games. I was still young,
just leaving school and jobless. I manage to
accumulate about RM200. That was a big
amount then. The return ticket was only
RM69.70. Today there is no more return
ticket. One way ticket from Alor Setar is
RM105.00. From Bangkok it is 12000 Bahts,
more than RM120. That is the top
berth. The Thai Baht is not only stronger
but the fair is also higher.
On the ticket the departure time was 3.50.
At 3.50 pm sharp the train arrived. There
were only two coaches and my seat was on the
last coach.
People were having dinner at about 6 pm. I
brought a packet of rice with fried prawn.
The aroma of Majid's curry and a huge udang
was very appetizing. After dinner an
officer set up the berths. The
air-conditioning was very cold. I quickly
wrapped myself with the blanket.
The next day, 19th. September the train
arrived Bangkok at 12.45 PM Malaysian sharp.
I was to go to Berkeley Pratunam Hotel which
I knew not the distant and it's location.
The Tut-Tut asked for RM15. I bargained for
RM10 but was refused. I decided to take
sky-train. The ticket lady told me to change
train after arriving at a station. I nodded
my head but did not write the names of those
stations. Before embarking I asked a worker
how to go to Prtunam. "Pechetburi," he said.
At Pechetburi station I asked a man on
standing on the street as to the direction
of Pratunam. I started to walk, dragging a
small bag with a roller that contain 2 large
bottles of mineral water, two T-Shirts and
two short pants. But the bag was heavy and
the street was uneven.
I didn't know how far I had walk. The bag
puller broke. I carried the bag feeling very
heavy indeed. It was not worth saving the
RM15. I regretted. Sweat poured all over me.
My throat went dry. I stopped and drank at
every 2 minutes of walking. Another
passer-by told me "2 kilometers from here".
At 2 pm I was still struggling.
What I have not told you was that I was not
making the trip alone. A friend from Nilai,
Rusli, agreed to join me in Bangkok. He had
taken Malaysian Airline to the city on the
same date and arrived a day earlier. In fact
he had call the Beasy Board seller and
talked about the intention of purchasing the
board.
Rusli thought I had arrived at 10 am local
time when I was suppose to be there at 11.45
am . He was getting worried. He had not
heard from me. Wild imagination clung him;
lost ? Being kidnapped ? Accident ? Forget
the hotel name ?
I finally reached the hotel. Rusli went to
buy a SIM card trying to contact me. As soon
as I settled myself at the counter, Rusli
was behind me. We went up. I took a rest. My
shirt was soaked with sweat. While I was
lying down in bed, Rusli communicated with
the Beasy Board agent, who promised to meet
us at the hotel lobby the next day.
At about 5 pm and after prayer we went down
and out of the hotel. Along the pathways
there were almost everything on sale.
Business closes at 11 pm. Hours later we
felt hungry and Rusli took me to a Muslim
Pakistani restaurant at a remote corner. I
ordered mutton Briyani. Rusli ordered Nan
with mutton curry. Briyani was priced at
about RM24. So was Nan. The taste was
extremely delicious, worth the money. But at
least half of the mutton was bone.
I had a good night sleep. On the train I
could not sleep well because the chilly was
too severe. The comfort of the 5 star hotel
put me to sleep till next morning.
20th is another day. In fact the last day
for Rusli and I would have another half day
on the 21st. While having the breakfast the
agent called us. We went to meet her. She
showed the two sizes she had with her. I
need the longest 40" set. She had to order
it if I want to. She said it costs about
RM1500. She had to pay 35% tax. I asked her
to discuss with the supplier in the United
States whether the company could deliver it
direct to me to save cost. We had some
casual chat and later bade goodbye.
Beasy Board cost about USD230 in the e-bay.
Delivery cost is almost the same price. I
would save a few hundred ringgit to buy from
the e-bay. Buy buying from her is not so
much on the price and savings. But it is
about Malaysians and the nation. I thought
of creating a good image of the Malaysians,
about honor and the integrity of our people.
I may be buying it from her anyway.
The Berkeley Pratunam has a table where
Muslim food were served. I just love the
food. Rusli preferred continental breakfast.
Rusli decided to take another route for a
walk. I told him to look for Mak Yah
Restaurant on the way. Zabedah software
showed the location and the address. It was
along our route. We walked and walked while
sight seeing. We could have walked more than
6 or 7 miles. My Waze showed Mak Yah
restaurant had passed but without a trace.
We saw Faridah Muslim Food but it was
closed. I asked a man nearby as to the
location of Mak Yah. "Long closed," he
replied. Faridah closes on Saturday and
opens on every other days. "Go to Soy 7 and
find Muslim food there," said the man in
Thai lingo.
At Soi 7 there were at least 7 Muslim food
hawkers. We chose one. A few Indonesian
girls were eating there. Rusli ordered
Seafood Tomyam, vegetables with meat and
fried Udang Galah. Minutes later the food
was ready. Again of another taste of Thai
delicacies. I would describe it as superb.
More so the total charge was RM25.
Bangkok was more alive at night than during
the day. The air was very hot and the whole
body sweat again during the daytime walk.
Tourists and foreigners were on the
sidewalks and shopping areas by the
thousands, like ants. Things sold along the
streets near our hotel were fixed in prices.
Mostly either 100 Bahts or 150 Bahts a
piece. I manage to pick up 4 pieces of
T-Shirts and 3 of the normal short sleeves.
Rusli picked up a few pieces. We bought so
few that the bags we brought with us were
not filled up.
The second night dinner was at another
Indian restaurant. Rusli asked whether there
was a mutton curry with Nan. I quipped,
"Mutton too much bone." "No bone. If bone
don't pay," said the man. I ordered a mutton
Briyani listed as 180 Bahts. Rusli with his
Nan and mutton curry. I ordered another
dish, fried prawns which was priced at 180
Bahts too.There was another wow for me. What
was money compared to a good taste.
Two nights in Bangkok with delicious meals
are good enough for me. My mission was
almost accomplished. I need to do a follow
up.
21st. was a checkout day. Rusli woke up
early for his breakfast. I followed him
about 20 minutes later. At about 7 am we
went down to the counter. Rusli returned the
key and I sent him to the door. I went up to
do a little more packing. There were still
food in the room; the dokong, maize and
guava. I cleaned up the room and arrange the
towels. The food in the freezer were left
there. I placed some coins of about 100
Bahts on the desk, for the tip. At 12 am I
moved out.
The counter clerk asked for another key. I
said it was given. "NO," she said. "YES," I
said. "I will have to deduct 500 Bahts," she
said in anger. She rang up to check my room.
Then she called me back and said nothing.
She gave me two sheet of papers, one about
bank cancellation and another to be passed
to the bell-boy.
Outside the hotel I asked for a tut-tut.
"300 bahts," the man said. "I came only
150," I responded. "Far...far...300 Bahts."
I walked a few yards. A taxi stopped. "Hualamphong,"
said I. "Hualamphong...Hualamphong...how
much eh...how much eh.. 100 bahts." I
quickly opened the door and shoved my
luggage inside. The traffic was heavy and
due to the traffic jam I arrived at the
Railway station about 1.20 pm. My train was
to depart at 02.45 pm.
I did not hear anyone speaking Chinese or
English. All spoke Thai. A Thai woman in
front looked a little fierce. I dared not
even say hello to her. 97% of the passengers
on my coach dropped at Hatyaii. I arrived
Alor Setar at 11.00 am sharp.
I and Rusli talked about going to Bang Mo to
the ham radio shops. Both of us did not know
the way and refused to put more effort to
find out. We agreed finding radios in
Malaysia is not difficult nowadays. What it
needs is a simple phone call and some money,
and goods would be received on the following
day.
It is quite a relaxing two nights stay
in Bangkok despite the long hectic walk on
my first day.
15/09/2014
- Abdul Rahman Raof |
THE CONS WILL CONTINUE
Among other
things Azmin will see a lot of faces
whom he has never seen before coming to
see him smiling and grinning, whispering
for goodies and projects for the
prosperity of the state. These are the
people who will be there whoever become
of leader. They have sharp teeth ready
to bite if you are not aware and ready
for consequences. Even the great
Mahathir was beaten.
Khalid had
had an ample time to clean and wash any
dirt left in his office and locked
contracts that cannot be undone by his
successor. Mahathir had done the same
thing and even worse, and his legacy
lives until today.
Azmin could
not simply nod his head to every Jack,
Tom and Harry, especially to the new and
strange faces. He has to form a strong
team and every decision must be of a
consensus.But he must always remember
that he is not a Menteri Besar of PKR or
PR. He is the Chief Minister of all and
he needs to help all regardless of their
political beliefs and affiliations. That
is his work, to serve the people.
It is
interesting to note the Pengkalan Kubur,
Hadi and the MB's saga. Hadi would have
love UMNO-PAS marriage and run Selangor.
Many PAS members called for the Malay
unity, voicing Ibrahim Ali and UMNO
call. The competition should not be so
tense and resources should have not been
wasted. PAS should have given a walkover
to UMNO.
If PAS
falls in Pengkalan Kubur, it will also
fall in Selangor. If I were Azmin I
wouldn't care for the fate of PAS
anymore. PAS thinks the party is
stronger than PKR and it could be a
dominant Malay party.
Azmin has
to forget the parties while on the
familiarization process. He is green and
he has to learn from the start, hearing
the briefings from Selangor Civil
Servants could be a hectic process. Many
of the programs have to go on and a few
will need a tough decision, of whether
to halt or to proceed. Soon Azmin will
learn whether Khalid Ibrahim is a good
or an evil man. Nevertheless he will
face a lot of surprises. The conmen are
ready to trap and swallow him.
23//09/2014
- Abdul Rahman Raof |
THE LAST
EMPEROR OF CHINA
The touching
parts were Mao Tze Tung forgive the war crminals and
Zhou En Lai invited the last emperor for meal.
Saddam was a
great President
THE FEAR HAS COME
There were
nations that began without Kings like
North America, Australia and New
Zealand. And nations that began with
them. While in some the powers of Kings
have been shifted, in others the
institution were deposed. France,
Russia, and China saw a total demised.
Newer emerging countries like Bangladesh
and Pakistan popped up without
Kingships.
Before
humanism and reformation a King is
believed to be divine, the protector of
religion and the church. The Muslims
concept of a King was Khalifah who was
to be an Imam. Also to protect the good
faith of religion. They were shadows of
God ruling over the earthlings, the
mankind.
Where Kings
and Emperors have vanished the blood of
the lineage may be still flowing amongst
the ordinary folks as any other layman.
Some know their secrets and wish to be
elevated again in heaven. Some still
receive a small pension from their
respective governments.
In the
decades of modern governments; Republic,
Communism, Democracy, Authoritarian,
Parliaments and Congress, the fear of
divinity of Kings and Emperors have
dissipated. Kings have become a symbol
of a nation, an icon of respect and joy
and love. Kings have to show passion on
the subjects, meet them from time and
time, wave and touch their hands. That's
where the love binds.
Kings have
become a symbol of peace, love,
prosperity, kindness and happiness. To
sustain the bind the Kings and Emperors
must be Kings to all his subjects
regardless of their race and creeds,
young and old, men and women. Would it
be wise for the Queen of England to kiss
the cheek of David Cameron and spit on
the face of Labor Party members ?
Instead if a foreign nation were to kill
a member of Conservative, Labor or
Liberal Democratic party, she should be
swearing revenge on the alien nation.
In England
government changes from time to time.
The Kingship remains. Even the strongest
authoritarian and draconian rule can
fall. We see this in Soviet Union, Iraq
and Libya.
In Malaya
the Kings are called Sultan. After the
1824 Anglo-Dutch Treaty the Persukutuan
Tanah Melayu has 9 Sultans. After 1874
the Sultans are the Head of Religious
Affair of the respective states. To the
Rakyat the Sultans were still divine and
must be obeyed and respected. If you
visit Kedah again today, do observe in
shop houses where almost everyone of
them has a picture of the late Sultan
Abdul Hamid on the wall.
From 1957
onwards the system of Constitutional
Monarchy was introduced. The power and
the jobs of the Sultans were clearly
spelled, not to obey and follow UMNO but
to abide by system of a government that
rules. The citizens see the roles of the
Sultan and the Prime Minister are not
the same and the Sultan remains as a
symbol of peace, tranquility, kindness,
prosperity and a subject of love and
respect. To the Sultans all people of
all races and creeds and political
beliefs are their rakyat.
The second
time when the position of monarchy was
shaken came during the era of Mahathir.
The first was when Jebat wanted the
Sultan of Melaka killed. Malaysia was
almost to become a Republic but most
Malays did not agree with Mahathir.
Mahathir is still alive and kicking and
is still vocal though powerless.
To maintain
the stability of the Kingship in the
modern time the Sultan should be wise
and prudent in manner and demeanor to
deflect and reject any scary looming of
the evil portion of Mahathirism. We want
the Sultans to retain absolute respects
and praises. No matter how much gadgets
are used to spy on the people, you can't
hear all the grouses. The numbers may be
growing. The mere thought bear fright
and sadness. The grouses have been
heard. The fear has come.
If a nation
is fated to fall, no amount of machinery
of deception will succeed and no amount
of military might can defend it. Just
don't be arrogant. Open up our mind and
look at the past and around us. We fear
the dogs that bark will one day bite.
17/09/2014
- Abdul Rahman Raof |
BOASTING AND BELITTLING
I am sorry. My observations may be playing
tricks on me. They may be false. I found
that people who always boast and belittling
the others possess mental deficiencies,
unskilled and their words never matched
their abilities. It is unfortunate that they
like to yell and raise their voices. They
are happy to criticize others out of their
own stupidity.
Could it be a disease due to mental
instability owing to high blood sugar level
followed by hyper-tension ? Quick burst of
anger is more likely is driven by poor
health, that can even result in stroke.
If you are being belittled by someone it is
better to just ignore him or smile at his
conduct. One man, I was told, condemned the
amateur radio operators who passed the Morse
exam. Hams' Morse is of low standard, they
were passed out of pity. He was a signal man
from the Malaysian Arm Forces.
How would you deal with such a kind of man ?
I would let him hear JA1NUT and ask him to
decipher the codes. I am sure he would not
want it. Then I would give him an
opportunity to translate 9M2ZN's CW.
Hams send Morse from the mind, not from the
text they wrote, unlike the signal men who
were trained to send from the text. While
some signal officers improve themselves by
sending without reading, the rest stuck to
the old routine. One officer asked me, "How
do you send Morse codes from your mind ? "
He was an officer who became a ham.
That's how useless a ham could be, sending
at 30 wpm from his mind and copying by mere
listening. He would want to learn more from
the expert like the signal officer. The poor
ham who had passed CW would appreciate the
coaching and practicing from such a swagger.
A boaster who can live up to the standard of
what he is boasting would gain my salute and
respect. Yet there could be many other
people who are better than him. Belittling
the others would make a fool of himself. He
could be fumbled by any challenge, and would
give all of sort of excuses. Hams are not
professional. CW is not their bread and
butter.
Amateur radio is not only passing RAE,
skilled in Morse codes and good in
construction. It is also about ethics,
manners and respectable attitudes. Many
would not be happy if we spell what the good
and bad attitudes are. Rudeness and
boastfulness are within the boundary of
rouge hams. In my interpretation they are
not fit to join the ham radio fraternity.
When I was working there were several
schools which boasted of their specialities
like mathematic labs, history labs etc. My
teachers asked for my permission to visit
those schools and I would ask them "How many
percent is your mathematics result ? How
many percent were their achievements
?" I always told my teachers that the
systems we had were always better than those
special school. "Just don't copy them. Do
our own way." There were many great schools
which lay low and said nothing about their
excellent achievements.
Narrating one's experience and achievement,
recalling excitement and remembering the
sweet moment not amounting to belittling and
insulting the others base on facts and
reality is not bragging. If you can send CW
with your feet at 35 wpm and you tell people
you can do it, it is just telling a fact and
reality. But you must always remember that
you are not the only one with such an
ability. And most of us won't even tell
about it because it is abnormal to use feet
with the straight key. It would be a
hilarious tale.
There are at least 3 Malaysian hams of the
new breed who had US tickets and passed CW.
One was also a radio operator on the ship.
They sat for both RAE and CW again as
instructed and passed with flying colors.
There is nothing great about 9M and CW
skill. If there are people who strive for
both, why belittled them ?
15/09/2014
- Abdul Rahman Raof |
HAMS-PSE TAKE NOTE
I just read somewhere an article about CW.
It says CW is a form of modulated wave and
on the radio it is heard like the sound of a
wind.
CW is never a modulated wave. It is a
continuous wave of equal form.
When current moves back and force we call it
alternating current. Our normal home current
moves back and force 50 time per second. We
say that our home AC current is at 50 cycle.
There are electronic components that can
increase the rate of back-force movement to
a few thousands and much more faster rate.
Incredibly enough we don't have to apply an
ac current to do this. The behavior of the
back and force movement is called oscillate.
One technique to make a DC current to
oscillate is to use a capacitor coupled to a
coil in parallel. Combining with other
components to sustain continuous
oscillation, the whole circuit is called
oscillator.
The current passing through a coil creates
magnetic field around the coil with a given
polarity. When it changes direction the
polarity changes. It builds and collapse.
Because of the rapid changes the magnetic
field has too short a time to collapse and
being repelled to escape as a radio wave.
Under this circumstances alone the wave
moving on the atmosphere is called a
Carrier. The shape and magnitude of the
waves are identical.
Men are clever enough to make the mere
continuous wave contain intelligent.
Intermittent sending with a certain duration
provide meaning to the wave. One short
signal and one long wave like this ._ is
called A. _... a long signal followed by
three short ones is called B. Morse code is
named after Samuel Morse who thought of
giving intelligent to the Continuous Wave.
Human ears cannot hear radio waves. There
are more than 200 radio waves around us that
are not visible or heard by us. They made a
gadget called receivers which the common man
called radio.
Radio wave captured by the receiver using a
cleverly design LC circuit traps the
frequency required. But our ears still
cannot hear them. They have to be tuned down
to the lower frequency suitable for human
ears. They build a circuit called BFO. When
the incoming carrier mixed with the local
oscillator it gets several resultant
frequencies, one of which is 455. If we have
a BFO fixed to 456 or 454 and allows it to
mix with the IF we can get the resultant
different of 1kHz. It is within the audio
range.
The old radio do not have a BFO built in.
Never mind. Get another receiver, switch it
on and put it side by side with the one
known to have a SSB or CW signal. Tune the
second receiver up and down until you hear
the beating takes place. The CW and the SSB
signal become intelligible.
I used to beat frequencies this way, using a
small receiver and a TV set, tuning the
reciever until I could hear phone
conversations on the TV. It is jolly good to
hear a politician talked about money with a
businessman. That was a very very long time
ago.
Hams who want to know ask. The question may
be of a simple concept, like whether a CW
carries Morse codes. If any clever and most
knowledgeable hams chose to remain silent,
then don't feel insulted when someone else
is trying to explain.
It is very annoying when a smart guy likes
to belittle the others. If they are good in
Morse they are welcome to join or spar but
not to criticize at the mistakes of others.
A Master should teach by example, show the
prowess and the ability, so that the rest
can learn.
Many of us including me do not have
electronic backgrounds. Our knowledge is
limited. We are best known as keyboard
warriors. But we can't help when our friends
want to know the right stuffs, however
elementary they may seem to others.
When I came on 40 there was someone
intruding saying 'stupid...you are stupid'.
It is good because at least we know that
there are clever people around.
12/09/2014 - Abdul
Rahman Raof |
MUSLIM CLERICS ON WOMEN
How many of us, men, still think men are
superior to women ? I was a little disturbed
to hear what Ustaz Al-Idrus said about women
"lacking in ever aspect as compared to men".
It made me wonder whether the whole Muslim
clerics think the same way.
If we take Hadi and Al-Idrus to sports
fields against women they will be beaten in
every event with a big disgrace. And
mathematics and sciences they will be beaten
flat too.
We respect clerics as they are good in
matters of religion. Their knowledge are
deep and wide. They may have wisdom. But
their views may not be correct. Views are
not scientifically proven. Rhetoric could
always be empty.
The case in Saudi Arabia is more classic.
Women are not allowed to drive. They said it
could damage ovaries. We all do know that
driving women of the world have been bearing
millions of children.
The archaic belief that women should be the
slaves to the husbands and be docile and
submit to men. Such prejudice still exist
among the young generations.
Difference do exist for the convenience of
human specie. God creates that way. There
are differences among men as well. The
opposites are mystery of life; good and bad,
dark and light, happiness and sadness,
matter and anti-matter and male and female.
These could not be co-incidental, too many
of them to be one. It has to be a creation.
Mankind try to categorize human and
non-humans; man and woman, people of
different skin colors, bone structures and
much more, to set s strata of the social
status, a spectrum of mental ability and
superiority. They also categorize
superiority to the racial stock. Once the
Blacks were believe to have black semen and
black blood and they were the original sins.
Skin colors still play a vital part in
prejudice and perceptions.
Chauvinist and superiority complex are
sickly diseases. They are not only the
disease of the clerics but also of all races
and nationalities, if not about women they
are about other fellow humans. The Jews even
allowed the non-Jews be killed or be dogs
serving them.
But individuals are not so moronic as they
may seem to be and women are not of special
and different in behaviors than that of men.
Their mental prowess could overwhelm those
of the well bred civil individuals. It takes
a special people to command a space vehicle
or piloting a fighter jet. Surely Hadi or
Ustaz Al-Idrus do not have even an atom of
knowledge.
When my wife was healthy I depended much on
her. She drove a car from Bloomington to New
York and back when I was just sleeping. She
did almost all and I was just like a lazy
king. Many of your wives provide strength to
your families.
10/09/2014 - Abdul Rahman Raof
|
IT DOES NOT END YET
The story about the Beasy board isn't
end yet. The best place to buy medical
equipments for the handicapped is the
United States but it is too far and to
get into the continent is not a simple
walking through. The alternative is to
mail order from the Amazon or E-Bay. But
by the time the board arrives anything
could have happened to it. Even if it is
insured the hassle would not be worth.
In fact good luck arrives as the trip to
the United States offered by Qatar Air
is darn cheap. All other airline also
brings down the price. It is a good
chance to take and I decide to take
trip but not alone. At the present age
going alone would be hectic. I asked my
friend to go with me, giving him a
choice of destination, either to New
York, San Francisco or Miami. After some
hesitation he rejected.
I have been traveling alone to the
United States for more than 10 times. I
was much younger then. At almost 68 it
is a scary idea. It sounds weird too. If
I were to force myself to go alone the
best place I can find the patient
transfer boards is at Las Vegas. Qatar
Air closes the offer on the 13th
September. The time is too short to make
a plan and other preparation. After the
procurement I could not stay much longer
and should fly back the soonest.
In the meantime I browsed the website.
On Beasyboards.com it listed the names
of several dealers. I found one in
Bangkok. If there is one in Bangkok, I
should choose the city, because it is
nearer and traveling cost is lower. I
sent an email to the company and was
confident of it's reply. My mind had
made a final decision, "Bangkok it is".
Hence I went to purchase a train ticket.
It costs me RM105. The travel date will
be on the 18th September.
On checking my mail, the reply was the
mail was not delivered. On searching for
the company's website there was an error
404. I doubt whether the company still
exist.
It is crazy. Real crazy. I could not
think straight now. The real problem
does not come yet. It will be hell when
my car goes crazy. This is the only car
which I can use for my wife's
transportation. The seats are of
the same level and the gap is very
narrow.
I value my wife's life. I can assure you
that many people would not care much if
a member of their family fell sick.
The Malays would call for the recitals
of surah Yasin. Friends and families did
suggest the same thing when my wife
first suffered from the kidney failure.
She talked all sort of nonsense. They
said the devil had possessed her and her
days were numbered.
I knew the effect of blood impurities,
the level of toxic, high Blood Pressure
and the low blood sugar. Balancing them
and putting them in order again could
make her as healthy as the rest and she
would have a wonderful dream. I found
she had a better memory than me. She
could remember names and events and had
been telling me what's on the TV news.
She is sick but she is wonderful as a
company. Whenever I took her out for a
day trip we would talk of her traveling
and driving in the United States.
I strive for her comfort. I have hope
the Beasy board could solve one of the
problems.
We are so obsessed with wealth and
profit, of our status and power that we
would not want to think of the
unfortunate people. The voice of the
heart says "Let them die...the world may
be better of without the sick people..."
and some even say "Let the poor people
die...they give burden to the
community.." I wrote to car manufacturer
such as Produa and Proton about making
adjustable passenger's front seat so
that it could be set to the height of
the wheel chair. Proton and Produa are
more interested in sales not the welfare
of the people.
But Mahathir said to the Jews in
replying to a letter by a Jew, that the
Jews are smart and great in science and
literature BUT without passion and
feeling. Is he talking about the Jews or
himself or the rest of the Malaysians or
the elites group of our country ?
A great person is not eloquent with his
speech and yelled great promises but
those who have feeling and passions.
It is not that I am blaming the
Malaysians. We happen to notice the care
and concern of the Americans whom we
have been lashing and bashing. A car
would stop to let a cat crossing the
road. When my wife's car stalled
several stopped to come to her
assistant.
Some time we get tired. I told my wife
about our children. How much help they
gave us to ease our burden. Of course
they are busy with their work and having
tough time in managing themselves. All
are excusable. But why then should we
starve ourselves keeping money and
buying property for them when we can use
the money to keep our health going ?
Then there were stories of dead persons
who left their wealth to their maids or
neighbors instead of their kins. It is
all about reciprocity.
When I go to Bangkok I will still be
looking for the shop. With God's help
the shop will still be there and still
selling the transfer board. Or least
they could make an order for me and
deliver to Hatyaii or my home. What else
to do in the city ? There is nothing
better than home.
09/09/2014 - Abdul Rahman Raof |
MY EXPERIENCE ON PEOPLE JUDGING OTHER PEOPLE
PTA is good example to see how people
were judged. At a PTA meeting parents
gathered. A handful knew each other. We
would not know the background and their
profession. And at every PTA, as always,
people would stand up and talked a lot
before putting up questions. When time
arrived for the election of committee
members we would see someone raised his hand
and said, "I propose the one with the red
shirt...."
Who was the man with the red shirt ? A large
number present did not know the man except
he was the one who talk a lot and asked a
lot of questions. It went on until the whole
committee members were elected.
Similarly in the corporative annual meeting
the members elected those who attacked and
criticized the old board.
How did I judge an effectiveness of a
teacher ? He could argue his head off, with
full of eloquence and clever in rhetoric.
That would never be the final. I looked at
his work, how he performed it and how
effective was it. Let me give you an
example; a teacher in charge of public
examination who did his job without coming
to consult me in anything, only in the final
briefing told me that everything was done.
At another time another teacher doing the
same task would came to see me and asked a
hundred questions while processing the
registration.
Secondly I would see the grades of his
students in the final exam over the years,
students from the good and the bad class.
Many teachers who did not talk much but did
much in many things with a great success.
Talking is always easy. Mad persons in
mental wards could speak like great
politicians and top clerics. Listeners are
always better than the talkers. It is
interesting to hear people giving excuses
and telling lies, and laugh to oneself at
the folly of human specie.
It is also strange that some men still
thought men are superior to women. Mind you,
many of us could be beaten by ordinary women
in physical strength. At the jogging track
women overtook men in the exercise by leap
and bound, running several miles without
showing any exhaustion. And women could
excel men in mathematics, sciences, business
and in clerical jobs. They do neater work
than men.
To know the world we have to move out of our
cocoon and see the world with opened eyes
and hearts and minds. If you happen to find
that there are a lot of cars on the streets,
would you just take thing for granted ? Many
do. A few would understand deeper of the
situation, not only of the number of cars
but also on development and migration, of
the new demographic pattern, of housings and
of political impacts.
We don't consult and rely on our emotion and
sentiment to judge a person. We have to stay
away from prejudice. Surely the clerics
would not like to be called terrorists by
their dress and beards, and the Muslims by
the same name. Surely the Chinese would not
to be accused as trying to wrest this
country by the act of planting thousands of
Chinese flags on every land.
We need to be sober and consult reasons and
rationality before making accusations and
judgments.
09/09/2014
- Abdul Rahman Raof |
GREEDY BUSINESS PEOPLE
The RM3 pulut has a sudden rise to RM4. I
used to buy it almost everyday for my wife
breakfast. The stall could have raised the
price by 20 to 50 cents. I guess the owner
is following the Mamak style of doing food
business. I decide to quit buying it and
opted to KFC's porridge which is also her
favorite.
This morning I stopped again at the stall as
my wife asked me to buy Roti Jala. I noticed
the pulut was not there, not knowing whether
they have stopped selling or it was too
early. I took 4 pieces of the Roti Jala and
gave a twenty dollar note. I found the price
is the same as before.
The cheapest food is at the former Arkam
shop. You can have a good fat packet of
combined fried rice, meehoon and fried me
for RM2.50. It's low price does not
sacrifice the taste.
Not all sellers are greedy. We should learn
to avoid the greedy business guys and go for
the cheaper ones. And I would not want to
say anything when asked why I did not stop
by for a long time by the owner. And I hope
lesser number of customers do the same
thing, just to make them realize the effect
of their lust.
Really, I don't believe in Malay unity. The
best of the unity is the unity of the good
people who know what social obligation and
considerations are. Greedy and selfish
personalities are found everywhere at all
corners of the globe. They prey on the
victims in need, raising prices during flood
and other disasters, arrogance in their
dealings with other people. I encountered
with rude Chinese and Malays in this
country, as much as the courteous business
communities. As I always said good people
are good and bad people are bad regardless
of their race and creeds.
Some of us might still remember the Boat
People, who fled Vietnam by boats after the
defeat by Vietcong. Many of them threw their
small kids off the boats to save their own
lives. So far we have been hearing mothers
who sacrificed their own lives for their
young children. This is about selfishness,
about inconsiderate and about inhumanity.
Never to trust any person on the street. We
never know what sort of people they are.
The Pulut seller asked me persistently to
help her in the procurement of a canteen
contract of my former school. She pestered
me for the whole month, insisting that I
should try to negotiate on her behalf.
I found it funny and hilarious. How could
she kept on doing that while I was just a
regular customer paying the same price as
the others.
Similar characters are to be found in most
selfish and greedy people.
Instead of helping the society to curb
inflation and to cushion the increasing cost
of living they precipitate the climbing
cost.
If I can I would not go to Mee Abu anymore,
the most expensive Mamak restaurant. A few
month go one Apom Lenggang cost 80 cent
while a Malay Apom Lenggang at the wet
market is selling 3 pieces for a dollar.
Working people do not feel hurt by the raise
in prices of food and other commodities.
Retirees with a small pension like me felt
the pinch very painfully and acutely.
05/09/2014
- Abdul Rahman Raof |
SUPERIOR RACE
In the modern days, first we know that
the Germans believed they were the
superior race, using scientific approach
measuring the skull and cranium, to
prove of the superior stock by the
classification of the skull structure.
But the Jews have long thought that they
were the chosen people. Most prophets
were of Jewish origin and to the modern
time there are many great scientists and
philosophers and winners of the
Nobel Prizes. They run world banking
system and mastering over the United
States Congress and their economic power
and military strength is unchallenged.
In the East there is a nation called
Zhong Guo. The world began with Pan Ku
and it is part of the body of Pan Ku
that created islands and other lands.
Hence China being the Middle Kingdom is
the most superior in the world. The
modern thinking of some of the Chinese
is that the whole world will become
under the hegemony of the Middle Kingdom
when the time comes.
There was no mention of the Americans
and the English. What we might not heard
is the term Anglo-Saxon race which is
believe to be the most superior among
the White race. The Ku Klux Clan, the
White Supremacists, believe they are the
most clean and the most gifted. Their
blood is pure.
The belief in one's superiority
shapes one's behavior and attitudes
towards the others. One could be very
rude, arrogant and disrespectful. One
simply cannot believe that other people
could be better and smarter than one's
generation.
But, China was defeated and Germany
subdued in the war. The myth of their
superiority vanished. The Master Race is
the race who master technology and
warfare materials that can defeat an
enemy at far away places. Education,
knowledge, ability, creativity,
mathematics and sciences are the
essential items in building up an ethnic
power and greatness.
In Malaysia, I have always been
wondering whether the Malays were
regarded as Pariahs, stupid, retarded
and is very low as compared to the other
races, so much so what belongs to them
cannot be accepted as part of national
culture. Could body counts as to the
number of lawyers, doctors, scientists
and mathematicians prove ethnic ability
?
No matter what, I have always believe in
the attitude development and thinking
skill. It has to start from here to
enhance dexterity and respect, to be
independent and diligent, to work rather
than to beg, dare to face hardships,
relentlessly acquiring knowledge and put
them into practice. Leaderships guide
and encourage, not to pamper the young
with free gifts without effort.
Now is 2014. I have yet to see
Basketball Tournament of the Malay team,
Chinese Chess competition among the
Malays and even the best badminton
players in the country.
It is unwise to teach the Malays to
throw stones and to destruct properties.
They learn nothing. They will remain
ignorant forever. By the time they
become adults they will find they become
poorer, landless and homeless. They have
been spoiled by the Land Acquisition Act
of Mahathir. Their race would remain as
a despised group of the populace.
I never suffer either from inferiority
nor superiority complex. It is a jest
and a pity to see some people who still
believe they are born superior and would
never feel satisfied until they can have
full control of everything. We ought to
know that kindness, quietness and
courtesy do not mean pariahs and
stupidity.
Superior race is not born nor fated. It
is the ability of a race to master
weaponry, technology and sciences.
04/09/2014 |
MAS - GO BACK TO BASIC
I always struggle hard to make sure my
spending never exceeds my income. I spent
lavishly though leaving a little or none for
saving. My desire is as large as anybody
else. I want to own a big but cheap car.
Believe me, that I accumulate to buy it
cash, no borrowing and no interest.
When working I always monitor my account
before purchasing. It is not the balance
seen in the book but the balance minus all
commitment. To save money was initially
difficult, to strive hard to avoid wastage,
to nominally pay cash to get cheap prices
with much discount. We made purchases when
we have the money in our account, not to
wait for the arrival of allocation. In short
we were one step ahead. We bought and we
spent. Yet by the time I left my work place,
the new manager had a few hundred thousand
in his disposal. He spent the saving like
water.
What made problems to MAS was actually the
people who manage the carrier. It is not
about education and a high academic
qualification. Boon Siew and Guan Thong were
almost illiterate.
My recent search for a flight fare from
Kuala Lumpur to any part of USA. MAS show
it's special economic price of about 8K.
Qatar is about 3.7K to John F. Kenedy. China
is much cheaper. To be frank, I can't
explain the gap in the price range between
MAS and other carriers. It is indeed a
great puzzle.
Lavishness, selfishness and non-social
accountability could be very hazardous.
Everyone wants a big fat salary when MAS
workers including the managers should start
sacrificing for the minimum wage for the
duration of it's recovery. The layoff could
be reduced. And those without jobs could
organize to be caterer to the airline with
minimum profit enough to pay for their
salaries.
There are bound to be boycotters for their
own personal reasons. Once when Proton was
first launched there were a lot of
sabotaging and boycotting. Today the local
begins to buy the local made cars. There are
ways that MAS could fill the seats.
Malaysians who travel nowadays are from all
ethnic groups, unlike before, the Malays did
not travel.
UNION has always been a culprit. The leaders
made money out of the members. They know
nothing but demanding for an annual pay
rise. In the United States some states
outlawed unions and union members were
kicked out of the jobs. In time of
difficulty UNION must sympathize with the
company and try to find ways to revive the
ailing airline.
It is no point cursing Mahathir and Tajuddin
because they would never care to what is
happening. Neither the lashing could afloat
MAS again. Let the ingenious minds pool and
observe the viability of the solutions,
rather than living it to only ONE man. And I
insist that no politician should try to get
involve and be smart at it. The minds of the
politicians and the minds of the
corporations are different. They both see
different goals.
One of the greatest diseases that we are
facing today is called HATRED. We have been
planting and breeding it among our citizens.
It could attack our economy and stability.
The silence turbulence could tear our nation
apart. We have to examined the relationship
of all our misfortunes to the devastating
disease of HATRED.
It would be unfair to put the blame of MAS
woes on the such a sentiment, for MAS was
making good profit under Aziz and before the
carrier juggling by Mahathir.
In the meantime MAS has to go back to basic,
recognizing profit as earning over
expenditure. Any further development has to
be based on the cash in hands, the profit.
We don't invest when we don't have money. We
don't employ irresponsible individuals who
only think of fat salaries without the real
fate of the carrier.
04/09/2014
- Abdul Rahman Raof |
A RADIO WITHOUT ANTENNA
An integral part of a radio station is an
antenna beside the transmitting equipment.
An antenna means a working transmission line
and it's radiating poles.
I raise up this issue because I know of hams
who have transmitters without working
antennae. You may be surprise to see a tall
sophisticated antenna which does not work at
all. I have a friend who could not even
trigger a repeater and while the rest could
even with the minimal power. The whole
station is almost impotent.
An antenna may not work if the wires were
disconnected especially at the feed points,
or when the plastic parts of the coaxial
cable broke to pieces after a long number of
years. Both will be shown by the high SWR.
It is tough to do a regular checkup but it
need to be done from time to time especially
when we sense the drop in reception.
There is no use having a ten thousand dollar
rig lying idle or having 20 rigs hidden on
the attic if the antenna is bad. There will
be time when one finds it essential to send
important message across at the time the
smart-phone or the land line cease to
function. Repeater could be handy to shout
for help. If a handy fails to reach it at
least a mobile antenna would do it. An 20
foot aluminium pole cost less the RM30 and a
commercial Slim Jim is about RM60. One just
need to tie it to a fence.
Do we need a super duper antenna system ?
To those who can afford it and have ample
space, there is no limit to their quests.
For most of us a simple one that work is
good enough. A vertical that gives 54 signal
report is good enough for an established
communication; readability and
intelligibility are the basic of our need.
Hams who have totally lost interest
surrendered their licenses or simply did not
renew them. No amount of persuasion could
change their minds. Some shifted to internet
chat and some to Face Book. But hams with
the excuses "Look nowadays there is no
ragchewers...", "New hams do not show
standard and quality" are naive.
With a proper working antenna there is
always a readiness. One may be required to
assist in disaster communication or to pass
a certain message. I remember in the good
old days when phones were rare, we would go
to seek the help of the police to send a
message of death to a distant kin. Hams
could render similar service to the society.
A working antenna may not be an efficient
antenna in term of transmitting a 59 signal.
The height and noise factor may be the
culprit. At time both QRM and QRN are very
heavy, phone signal that has the ups and
downs waves could hardly be understood. Then
Morse codes would be very useful. What the
voice could not deliver could be done by CW.
A superb antenna could enhance a station to
be King even with a basic cheap transceiver.
I worked stations with Icom718 that came
into my shack like a giant, busting my ear
drums. 9M2MGL and YB6LD proved what this
basic rig could do. To my ears they were
better than ESSB. Don was only using a
homebrew rotary dipole and Azman a normal
dipole.
It is a high time for an able-bodied ham to
look at the antenna again if the station
can't even trigger a nearby repeater. A
station is useless without an antenna.
04/09/2014
- Abdul Rahman Raof |
COLONIALISM GLOBAL POWER
Gone were days of the galleons sailing
across the oceans to subdue the savage,
bringing lights to them, conquered their
lands and became the colonial masters.
The locals were subdued owing to their
ignorance, stupidity and the local
rivals who seek the intruders assistance
and help to make them chieftains in
return for lands. In the history of
Melaka, the Indians (Keling) were
recorded as the traitors. The 1824
Anglo-Dutch Treaty divided the hegemony
between the Dutch and the British.
Colonialism had the side effect which
never heal till today.
Then there was a wave of independent and
freedom, the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution,
the birth of Communism that set to
spread like a wild fire, the growth of
Soviet Union and Communism in China that
led to a long cold war.
Today almost all colonized countries are
independent. Malaya celebrated her
independent on 31st. August 1957. This
year she is celebrating her 57th
independent day.
A few may realize that our minds are
being monopolized by an invincible
power. We looked up and praise and
follow the culture of the West. The
minds of our young and adults see
Kentucky and Mac Donald in the image of
food. They sing and dance with the
melody and beats of the West. They
painted the big word TERRORISTS in their
homes echoing the voices of the West.
The West dictate, we follow and bow.
They flew over China and warned the
Eastern nation not to near their plane.
They set up their bases in Japan, the
Philippine and other Asian countries. We
bowed and obeyed.
Our minds are being controlled, our
privacies are robbed by the cell-phone
system and other internet software like
Google and Facebook. They know where are
you and all about you, what you are
saying, to whom you are talking. Even
the head if states and politicians are
not spared. The Internet is one of the
most powerful source to push their
agenda and to control your mind, to
plant lies and deception. You may not
know it.
Today many of us including me would feel
so shy to wear sarong and a baju Melayu
to town and other places. I would feel
more comfortable with pants, coats and
neck ties. It is not about progress and
development but about our mind. We say
we are free and none is controlling us.
But those who want to control the world
see fruits and effectiveness of their
plans.
Globalization is inevitable because we
were already in the caucus. We are not
in trouble. But we have to always be
aware not to be coaxed and trapped till
we lost our own identity and honor. We
were born Asians with black hair but we
want to paint them yellow and gray,
casting our own lingo in placing for
theirs. Even the Hispanic group in USA
retain their Spanish.
What China and North Korea are doing
today is to defy the new face of
colonialism and to shake themselves off
the global power.
Knowledge, technology and money would be
the prerogative in building the platform
of progress and total independent.
Where are we now after 57 years of
independence ?
30/08/2014
- Abdul Rahman Raof |
DREAM TO FLY EMIRATE
"Fly Emeirate and experience the Business
Class" came the many ads across the web
pages. Wow was my first reaction watching
video clip of the seats. Price wise I have
yet to find out. Qatar offered about RM17K
to JFK New York with less comfort as
compared to Emirate.
First and Business Class are not for people
like most of us the ordinary folks. Normal
government servants and laymen can't afford.
Companies and government would provide this
comforts to the employees. I was lucky to
taste this class on MAS from Kuala Lumpur to
London more than 20 years ago when I was
working.
Nevertheless the economy class flyer also
may have a chance to have the comfort. My
wife, while queuing up during the check in
to London was approach by MAS officers,
asked her a few question, and picked her for
the Business Class without any extra charge.
My officer who was a chain smoker went to
look for an old man at the economy seat and
offered to exchange with the more
comfortable seat, which the man accepted.
How to fly Emirate with my meager net
pension of about RM800 a month ? Digging
from my ASB saving ? That would be more
likely, and then live with a mere daily
bread and soup for the rest of my remaining
years ? It is a problem, of being a
small man having gigantic dreams and
desires. We want to have the best in the
world that was beyond our reach. We really
can't, like an impotent desires having good
sex with Madona.
If you are on Emirate the man near you may
ask, "Which company are in ?", or
"Business trip ?" And what would your reply
be ? I am a retired old man who dream to fly
after begging for tree months on the street
? It could make our life difficult too. Then
be on the flight, put on the music, close
your eyes and pretend not to hear anything
except for a question "Tea or coffee ?"
29/08/2014
- Abdul Rahman Raof |
KHALID IBRAHIM'S HONOR
Finally Khalid Ibrahim has gained his
composure. He has more to gain than what he
has lost. In the United States the nation is
under the thumb of a group of the world
business cartel. Central Bank of America
does not own by the government. Politicians
generic earning are much less than the
businessmen.
Khalid is not an ordinary man. He is good
with money, able to perfectly compute lost
and profit, waste and maximization. These
are not in the nature and characteristics of
politics. Politics do not care about waste
and spending. Power control is more vital.
Khazanah at this juncture would lose nothing
to pull Khalid in. Start the ball rolling
over a lunch or a dinner and listen to his
idea on how to recuperate MAS. There may be
some amazing ideas that might have not cross
our minds. MAS does not have to deal with
Soros or Rothschild. Gutherie consists of
the cunning British tycoons.
Even if he is on his own his ability is far
beyond many Ministers. Ministers have to use
businessmen to run businesses for them. Once
they lost their power the empire collapse.
Ramly Burger could even beat Mac Donald in
Malaysia and conquer the world market. A man
like Khalid Ibrahim could make Ramly Burger
a world renown fast food industry. Khalid
should never be worry.
He is an honorable man for not resorting to
run amok and dissolve assembly. At a point
while he was losing his composure many
thought he would have done it and hanging on
the royal rob. We have to salute to his
decision. True indeed Ular Menyusur Akar Tak
Akan Hilang Bisanya. People made mistakes.
My respect for PAS is gone. Instead of
showing maturity they showed arrogance. Let
us see PAS power in Pangkalan Kubur.
27/08/2014
- Abdul Rahman Raof
WELCOME HAMAS-ISRAEL TRUCE
HAMAS-Jews and all others can live together
in peace forever. There is no reason why we
should ask a question who won the war. To
totally accuse Israel as pure devil she did
not drop atomic bomb on Gaza as the
Americans did on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. To
call Hamas a terrorist they are defending
their land.
The basic thing in life is security; secure
against hostile environment, place to stay,
food to eat, tranquility and happiness.
There is no fear nor threat from demons and
criminals and murderers. There are Jews in
Turkey, Iran and Egypt. There are Muslims in
Tel-Aviv.
In Ghaza and elsewhere in Palestine and
Israel let the Jews and Muslims and
Christians live in the same community, work
for common goal to enrich the economy, to
toil the soil and move towards progress.
Israel can look East at Indonesia at the
Kingdom of Acheh. Acheh has been fighting
the Dutch and the government of Indonesia
for centuries. Finally they settled for
autonomic status which did not rob them of
anything. They enjoyed the wealth and happy
with Indonesia. GAM laid their arms slowly
and finally.
Disarmament of HAMAS should not mean to
wrest guns and bombs forcefully. The members
could be dissolved in the police force and
some for national security in the Israel
Army guarding both nations of Palestin and
Israel. By the third and fourth generations
the assimilation would be almost complete.
Israel security is forever sustainable.
Years after everyone feel safe and secure
then the bunkers and the tunnels will be a
game place for children and for tourists to
visit.
It is time for Netanyahu and the world
Muslims to defy the odd and the impossible.
Remember our achievement today had never
ever been thought by our ancestors 200 years
ago.
26/08/2014
- Abdul Rahman Raof |
NO QUESTION IS STUPID
We used to be scared of asking question, not
for fear of being duped stupid but fearing
being hit by our teachers. Even in my adult
life people were laughing at my questions. I
was never ashamed. For not being smart
learning something is a great reward. I then
knew what I had not known before.
Recently a friend asked me 'What is the
different between a coil and a trap ?"
Billions other people would not know the
different or probably might not have heard
even those words.
How would I answer him when I am not so
knowledgeable myself. To say "I don't know"
I would lie to him. I have a fuzzy notion on
both. So I set out to explain to him. A coil
is termed as a series of loops. To ham radio
operators like us it was easy for him to
understand instances of coils, a loop or
loops of wires. I did not explain the
characteristics of a coil of wires when a
direct and alternating current passing
through it. It would be very interesting to
know many wonderful things about coils and
an ac current of different frequencies
passing through it.
He told me that to his understanding a trap
consisting of a coil and a capacitor. "Yes
you are right," I told him. A trap for a
radio antenna is to trap radio wave of a
certain frequency from passing through it or
allowing other frequencies passing through
it but one. It is done using the LC circuit.
Using a formula to find a length of a
dipole, let us say 33' is the length.
Transmitting on 7Mhz suits the length but
transmitting 14Mhz with the same length will
cause high SWR and can even damage the
transmitter. 14 MHZ requires about half of
that, say 17'.
What we do is to cut the 33 foot long wire
into 2 parts. Then we use the LC circuit to
join them back. This will be the trap. When
we transmit on 7 Mhz we want the current to
go to the full length of the antenna 33' (
in reality a little shorter ) and when we
transmit on 14 Mhz we want the current to
stop at the trap. This is where the tune and
resonance frequency comes in. Using a given
formula we can determine the values of the
coil and the capacitor to resonate at the
given frequency. At resonance frequency the
impedance is zero, and current will pass
through.
At least that is what was in my mind. It
could not be that way at all. The idea of
the trap was correct but as to how it works
lies with my entire conjecture. Then, as to
our trap made, the question is to what
frequency we need it to resonate ? 7 Mhz or
14 Mhz ? If we choose 7 Mhz the impedance at
the trap is zero and it allows the current
to pass through when we transmit on 7 Mhz
But the impedance is high if we transmit on
14 Mhz.
If we choose 14 Mhz as the resonance
frequency of the LC, 7 Mhz transmission will
stop at the trap and 14 Mhz will pass
through, like giving XL size shirt to a
small boy and an S size shirt to a large
adult.
The explanation given was less flowery and a
little more briefing. The idea was to
confirm his understanding between a coil and
a trap. Mind you I am not sure of myself too
because I used a lot of imagination to
visualize abstract stuffs. I think the
understanding of the LC circuit is important
because of it's vast applications. More
interesting is to know the behavior of the
components towards dc and ac, and ac of
different frequencies, of why it behaves
that way.\
A simple question could lead to extensive
investigation and led to the increase wealth
of knowledge. No question is a stupid
question.
I remember in the good old days when we used
to ask technical questions on the band.
Idris would be our teacher. Everyone would
be looking at the radio bible and other
radio books for the answer.
27/08/2014
- Abdul Rahman Raof |
ENHANCING MALAY EDUCATION
Let not the Malays be called robbers, taking
tax money from all other races to enhance
the education of the Malays. Even the Zakat
money could be construed as an indirect
robbery. The Malays can always mind their
own business and progress independently
without antagonizing other ethnic group.
A ringgit a day is a very negligible amount
for a big goal. We can easily collect RM30
million in a month. That would be ample for
providing the best facilities and teaching
staffs, and to go for further study
overseas.
It may be painful to some of the Malays if
it is to be made mandatory. Malay Civil
servants could donate more than a ringgit
through the pay cut. As for the other layman
the collection method need to be devised.
Individuals differ and there could be some
complications. One must remember many
mosques and suraus are having big saving
accounts up to millions of ringgit. My
donation to my local surau, for instant, is
on a yearly basis for utility bills. I would
prefer to pay RM365 for the education fund
on an annual basis.
It may not be agreeable to all that the list
of donors be kept. We don't force the
beggars to donate. We only need to know
their economic status when their young ones
applied for scholarships. The paupers sons
have equal opportunities for higher
education.
The government must take the task to take
care of the foundation. If the Chinese want
to do the same way let it happen in similar
manner.
Of course the government has to dictate the
recognized colleges and universities.
Otherwise we will be having low quality
workforce in our country in no time. At the
very moment the Celcom engineers are nut and
show great stupidity in the celcom smart
phone software. You have to dial me twice to
get me. When we are talking the miscall
message would pop up. The schools and
colleges they went to must be rubish. Hence
the standard recognizable institutions
should not be made a political issue.
Education is not only the question of money.
It is also a question of attitudes and
competition. One has to strive to gain
ground. There is no place for laziness, free
grades and lecturer's help. The Malays must
understand this.
26/08/2014
- Abdul Rahman Raof |
MY SPIRIT IS STILL HIGH
I have a strong spirit in my sick and weak
body. The pain in my joints and muscles was
felt when I woke up on last Friday morning.
I could not stand balancing my body. But it
was the day of my wife having her dialysis.
She nearly fell on the floor as I tried to
lift her on the wheelchair. Without the help
of my temporary maid I would not be able to
send her to the dialysis center.
Once a year I usually get sick, having a
kind of fever of some sort, which took
between 7 - 14 days without medication.
Today has been the 5th day. My diarrhea is
still there but it does not come very often.
Regardless of my balancing problem I still
go out to buy breakfast for her. I ate what
is available because I have no appetite. My
vision blurs yet I type in my blog
rigorously.
On Saturday and Sunday my maid lifted my
wife, took her to bathroom and lifted her
back to her bed. 70% of the time I lay
horizontal and having day dreaming. On
Monday and today all the lifting jobs were
done by me. I am still weak but my spirit is
still high. Yet I told my wife on Friday
that if I did not go to fetch her on time, I
may have met my death. I went to fetch her
on time. At home she would take her dinner
and I laid myself in bed. When I woke up the
maid put her in bed.
Yesterday my wife was soaked with tears as
the news of one of the dialysis patient had
just passed away. Her name was Osmah, a few
years younger than my wife. She was quite
close to Osmah.
My body is susceptible to flu virus. I don't
know where it came from. I remember I heard
sneezing everywhere including at the
dialysis ward. Probably my antibody is weak
enough to reject it. My maid coaxed me to go
to the nearby clinic. I believe I will
recuperate after a few more days, or die
leaving this funny word.
In the meantime I browse websites and
facebook, read social media and downloaded
movies.
My spirit is still high in my weak and sick
body.
26/08/2014
- Abdul Rahman Raof |
IF I WERE PR
If I
were a Pakatan Rakyat I would forget
Putrajaya and would focus heavy work on a
very strong opposition with hard work on
research and fact finding to be table in
parliament. I will have to say sorry to PAS
and bade them good bye. PAS, thinking like
HAMAS, perceives it is a very strong party
and gaining popularity, overwhelmed Keadilan
in many states. PAS fought for the Malays
while Keadilan for the Malaysians.
Hadi
is not even for the Malays. He destroyed
Kedah and Trengganu. He supported Azizan's
administration which had brought hardships
to staffs of a university. I already
predicted Kedah would fall long before the
GE13. He is spoiled by his son-in-law. It
would be better to go back the old ways; the
opposition remain as opposition, yelling
their heads off in parliament until they are
chased out by Pandikar.
PAS
can hurl it's dream to Putrajaya. It won't
get the full Malay support. Many Chinese see
PAS as UMNO's mouth piece and choose to
leave PAS by itself. I would feel sorry for
the Islamic Party that's losing the
principles as time pass by. The party held
Kelantan due to the respect of Tok Guru, Nik
Aziz.
If
you give a million to Hadi and a million to
Khalid Ibrahim you would be able to see
interesting phenomena. On the one end the
money begins to grow bigger and bigger and
on the other a 999 had to be called. Several
would be found suffocated with dollar notes
and slowly the amount goes fading.
As
for UMNO they have to make sure the share
should be divide equally, else they will
stab each other. How could Shahrizat got
RM250 million when the other can't even have
a hundred thousand ? The Ketuanan Melayu
makes the Malays TUAN with emptiness in
their pockets. Then the hidden war
continues.
GE14
is another drama to watch. BN will be
stronger. PAS may be flushed off. DAP is
getting stronger. Keadilan's fate is
unknown.
26/08/2014 - Abdul
Rahman Raof |
POLITICIANS SHOULD NOT POKE THEIR HANDS
IN RUNNING BUSINESSES
I have seen many businesses involving
politician went down the mud. Corporate
and politician goals are different.
Corporate goes for profit maximization
and politicians go for popularity and
fast money while at siesta.
Although I am in no position to mention
on MAS woes, I had had an opportunity at
observing the problems faced by American
carriers in the '80s when USA had a
difficult time in it's economy. Union
bought the company and run it. CEOs with
big salaries in carriers and other firms
were pleading for jobs on the TVs
offering very low salaries. That's one
of the reasons I believe in the
re-structuring of the salaries. It has
to be 'take it or leave it' basis.
Khazanh Nasional Bhd may think in
different way following the political
line. It is different from TNB in that
people have choice on traveling mode but
not on using electricity. Manipulating
the airline is more risky than the
utility and telco servicing.
I have observed even before the '80's
the stringent campaign by a certain
quarter to cast MAS down the drain
because it was believed to be own by the
Malays. The various sabotages might not
be effective because MAS was very
popular in the international route. The
collapse began during Mahthir-Tajuddin
juggling saga on the airline.
We bought new bigger and expensive
planes while some routes were stopped.
New York route stopped. Singapore
continued to LA, San Francisco and New
York. Government changed the boss. It
didn't work, and changed again with the
one who used millions just to buy
painting. Mind you they can take local
volunteers to paint at the airport for
almost free.
Every now and then I would go to the
local airport to watch an airplane
landing. At a distant I would count the
number of passengers, multiply by ticket
price. Then I would compute the
estimated fuel cost for that flight. The
rough estimate of the profit would be
the different between the income and the
cost per flight. A full capacity of
every flight is the most desirable and
there are ways and means to get it to
the full capacity.
Try to talk to those guys, they will
shove you aside.
Today airline staffs are cocky and
arrogant. I began to hate Air Asia
because of the staffs attitudes. MAS
must take task to oriented it's staffs
including those handling other
coach-sharing carriers. They must be
trained courtesy, politeness and ever
ready to provide extra help. Many would
still remember the Sanusi Junid-wheel
chair case; if MAS staff was smart
enough he would have provide the
wheel-chair first whether booked or not,
and later with a smile billed the
Minister. I am sure Sanusi could even
pay double the price. And the MAS staffs
handling CX refused to accept my check
in because of the delay of MAS flight
from Alor Setar to KLIA. And once my son
left a cassette tape of a Malay song he
was suppose to bring with him to Los
Angeles. I pleaded to MAS staff to have
it sent to plane which due to take off
in more than 30 minutes time. Everyone
frustrated me.
Now thousands of MAS staffs are having
sleepless night for fear of losing their
jobs which may lead to losing their
families too.
Those responsible for making MAS lost
were not these lower rank staffs. They
were the top echelons, people who made
decision to buy more planes, spending on
carpets and paintings, and how much to
be paid to whom. There are not many. MAS
can help them to find another jobs or
asked them to run a new airline with
Khalid Ibrahim.
In some states of USA union members were
not taken back in the job. If Union was
seen as one of the culprits then all
union members will lose their jobs.
Politicians can discuss in parliament
but not to get involve in the running of
the carrier.
It is another big head ache for PM Najib.
26/08/2014 - Abdul Rahman Raof |
RAPE AND SODOMY
We have a case in New Zealand and a case in
Australia, both are on sexual assaults. And
in the past we have several in Malaysia
involving Anwar Ibrahim and Chua Soi Lek.
Probably more of such cases unknown to us
but under ransom and blackmailed for trade
or security. I think even having sex with a
foreign prostitute by a certain Malaysian
may be reported as rape or sexual
harassment.
In the past national leaders were
blackmailed using pictures of sexual acts.
It can happen again today.
But what's on the news pertaining to the New
Zealand and Australian cases may not be for
the political blackmail, rather it is a
shoving back to us on Anwar's sodomy issue.
Foreign individuals who are not happy may
bow to lay as much traps as possible on the
Malaysians. Our sodomy issue has become an
international interest.
The locals found it a good way of making big
bucks by preying for illicit sex of the
politicians. Professional prostitutes or
GROs tamed themselves with whoever they have
the chances. When time comes they would take
their lovers to specified places where
recording materials were ready to shoot the
actions. Will the act be exposed ? If the
deal is good all will be buried. The public
will forever be in the dark.
We can't say whether there is any connection
between Anwar sodomy trail with MH370, MH17
and the declining of Sawit's demand. It is
between totally zero connection to a 'may be
remote'. We can never know.
But it is intriguing that Malaysia has
become the focus of international arena with
all sorts of amazing events. Others too are
unique like Somalia well known for it's sea
piracy, USA for finding it a pleasure to
kill the Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan,
Japan for her Geisha. Malaysia is now known
as land of sex and sodomy.
It is too early to make any conclusion. We
have to wait a while longer before making
any statistical analysis of what is our real
specialties. So far we have been cleverly
maneuvering ourselves very well from
international condemnation. Heads of
governments respect and sympathize with us.
We would be troubled by the normal citizens
who could be closed to Malaysians with dual
citizenships. These are the people who have
been following the happenings in Malaysia
closely and chose to hit back at us in
anyway they can.
Malaysians who reside in foreign countries
could do a lot of harm once they become so
affluent and influential enough. It was the
anti-Saddam group that was feeding
information on Saddam and Iraq, demonizing
the late President until his name became
villain.
It is never wise to say 'Get out of this
country and go and stay anywhere you like'.
Young and intelligent Malaysians could get
themselves organized planning various
methods if inflicting damage on us. The real
danger would be when their number grow big
enough.
Sodomy, Teoh Beng Hock and arrests and
convictions on sedition may be facing a few
more national or political damage. We have
to start thinking about it.
25/08/2014 - Abdul Rahman Raof |
WHERE IS CW IN ASIA ?
It is hard
to hear CW stations from my location.
The CW portion is full of phones from
Indonesia and probably Malaysia. Only at
about 6.45 to 8 am I could hear Europan
and Japanese on 7 Mhx. I have no
alternative but to go to websdr.org. The
node I used to tune to is from the
University of Twente. Europeans stations
were heard to work at the average speed
of 12 wpm. Some even slower. A few ent
on high speed. F6GUL, DL8NBM, G0AYX,
G4RKO and a few others went at a
reasonable speed, good for beginner to
learn to copy. I figure most of those
stations I heard were using straight
key. DL5OAV seems to be an old timer
when he called CQ something like this CQ
CQ CQ DE DL5OAV DL5OAV DL5OAV AR K. New
hams would either used AR without K or K
without AR.
I could not
guess why Malaysians do not come on
Morse as much as before. There could be
due to many reasons. One which I am sure
is the discouragement of senior hams who
were telling the young ones that CW is
between 7.001 to 7.029, above that is
illegal. The senior ham claimed to be
expertise and masters of ham radio.
More senior
hams used to work Morse code at least
one a week on every Sunday on whatever
frequency from 7.00 to 7.10 Mhz. No one
claimed to be an expert and no one was
trying to push fellow hams who work, say
on 7.042, away and spread bad news on
those who work outside 7.029. Even
though you point out the band plan they
refuse to listen. Probably because of
the influence on the newer hams they
built a wrong perception.
The second
reason could be due to kinship bond. New
hams who joined up and worked together
for an amateur tickets have created a
kind of loyalty bond among their kins.
When sitting and passing the CW test the
bond could be cracked. To appease the
friendship they stay away from Morse
codes.
Indonesia
used to have CW net almost every night
on 7.025. Now I do not hear them
anymore. May be they have moved to 80
meter band. From time to time I could
hear 9V1, HS,E21 and mobile stations but
the Indonesians were stronger on SSB.
Most old
timers probably lost their skills and
proficiency because they have left their
keys for a long time. They may be able
to send but the copy may be a little
difficult. They have to continue
listening practice to gain back the
listening skill.
Hams
disagree among themselves, particularly
the old code hams and the new
anti-codes. Older hams are less
knowledgeable, skill and out of date. It
is difficult to find the old ones follow
with the progress of time.
22/08/2014
- Abdul Rahman Raof |
PARADING CWers OF THE WORLD
We have
capabilities, not within the group of
savagery that may have not seen cities
and civilizations, progress and
technologies. Thanks to Nicole and Chong
Wei who jolted Malaysian flags high
among the best and advance countries of
the world.
In the
international parade of CWers, Malaysian
flags are among those progressive
nations. At any moment of time we will
be there among the champions and the
great CWers. Nations that defy the new
regulation to carry the tradition of ham
radio built the pride among the
traditional hams. There were keys made
and keys bought and keys used.
If they
called for a parade we are ready to send
our representatives. If they call for
competition, we will be there.
Our numbers
are small but we have people whose
spirit are as great as people of the
great nation. Our younger generation
show great promise and ability. People
can talk with thousand words. It won't
prove anything until proven by the
deeds. Many old timers have to admit the
younger ones are smarter.
My
appreciation for those who dare to face
challenges is beyond description.
Passing or failing is secondary. The
world is changed by a few people of
special ability, mental prowess and
amazing insight. They conquer the
impossible and the hardship.
The
founders of ham radio can rest assured
their souls are resting in peace for
there are people who fight to preserve
their creation. Malaysia is one of them.
We carry the respect of the inventors,
not to kill their names in history.
The
Russians, Western European Nations and
the United States will have the largest
contingent in the CW World parade. We
may have one. The flag is there.
21/08/2014
- Abdul Rahman Raof |
DEFENDING NAJIB
UMNO should have just ignored Mahathir. His
influence is waning. He put 2 candidates of
his choice in the last GE, campaigned for
them, and both were defeated. Only the
frustrated handful greedy business friends
went to see him for the projects they failed
to secure. If Najib's policy is bad, his
policy was 1000 worst and despicable. The
most heinous was the manipulation of
judiciary. And of equal footings were
privatization and the Land Acquisition Act.
Malaysia lost billions on forex during his
tenure.
In the history of Malaya even the most hated
ruler was not call evil or Pharaoh. All over
the web page Mahathir was dressed as a hated
'FIRAUN'. Most of us remember his era as
autocratic and demonic state of time.
If PERKASA is registered as a political
party and take part in GE14, we could be
sure Mahathir would be the leader. That is
the only way he could become a Prime
Minister again. I have a feeling PERKASA
won't win even a single seat.
It is unwise for UMNO to response to
Mahathir's comment. The more angry he is the
shorter will his life be. It would not be
good for his heart. If he says Najib is bad
he is just saying about himself. A long
serving Prime Minister can't afford to make
error in matters of government and the
country, and to regret it later. An error
can change the history of a nation and can
never recuperate. How many big errors have
Mahathir made concerning the sacking of his
Deputies ? Then Pak Lah ? How about MAS and
Bank Bumiputera and Perwaja Steel ?
Even young people know those blunders.
I have met many retired school principals.
We talked about the modern set up and a new
system. Most said, "Let them run their own
way and style. Give them a chance. We
retired old guys just watch." I may not like
the way my successor ran my school but it
was his school then. He could turn the the
school upside down as he liked. If Mahathir
does not like Najib's policy just don't vote
for him in the next GE. Vote for PERKASA.
The best to defend Najib is to ignore
Mahathir.
20/08/2014 - Abdul
Rahman Raof |
MALAYS UNENDING CRISIS
Many
long years ago we participated in an
exhibition in Kuala Lumpur. I had teachers'
database on the show in which it shows a
video of a teacher on the display
introducing himself. One of the visitors
asked me who developed the software. "Me,"
was my answer. "What if you were not in the
school ? " Almost similar question asked by
a judge in one competition on the biometric
attendance system, about the Mysql database
and the display on the screen. "What if you
are not there ? "
If I were to boast I would say my software
were superb and very unique. During that
period none of the software in the market
could match mine.
True, if I have died the whole thing would
die with me. Now that I have retired, the
knowledge ends. What is left is the ones
that I need to use everyday, for myself. On
this page I keep the database of my students
from the first day I have them recorded in
the database till I left my school, and the
web database of my radio contacts, namely a
radio logbook, which I could log via my
iphone, ipad or my laptop. All the
fancy software are dead.
It is not that I am selfish. I had wanted to
depart my knowledge to others. I wrote to
The Kedah Education Office offering a free
course on Biometric Finger Print System and
on software development. There was no reply,
not even a letter of acknowledgement and
thanks.
I won't lose anything. I just know the
Malays would never change. Their laziness,
jealousy at other people's ability, wanting
to promote themselves, and a lot of day
dreaming. They learn a little they thought
they know the world.
The unending woes are the result of their
attitudes and limited mental ability. There
is an element of selfishness and greed in
them, wanting easy money and favors without
thinking of the consequences. They insult
anybody they want but can't accept return
insults and criticism. They see things in a
very narrow perspective. These
characteristics do not merely confine to
politicians but among the majority of the
citizens.
I remember an education officer in charge of
IT offered to send me for a week course on
Microsoft Word and Visual Basic. I did not
decline seeing it as a chance for me to
rest. That is all I was worth for. And I am
sure many other skillful public workers
experience the same fate. Some could even be
victimized for being too clever. It is safe
to be docile and stupid, show that you are a
moron and know nothing.
Our educational policies have been changing
all the time even before one ends. You can't
blame the Minister for the declining
standard. The plan came from those bright
young officers who just took office. Three
years later he was replaced by a new one
with a new PHD degree. He brought a new
change and convinced the Minister.
The Malays are having emotional crisis,
phobias and been seeing apparitions. They
feel insecure and fear the lost of status.
An empty ego, animosity towards others and
mental blockade are destroying the path to
ethnic and political progress. Almost
everyday we are seeing mud slinging, bashing
and slurring, and court actions to kill
among themselves.
It is hard to find a man like Datuk Azhar
Hamid who felt responsible for the MRT
incident. He tendered his resignation like
many other gentlemen. And Mahathir will
never be satisfied with anyone. He sacked
several of his deputies and even a Prime
Minister.
19/08/2014
- Abdul Rahman Raof |
SHOULD MAHATHIR BLAME NAJIB ?
The
agriculture land in Kedah under Mukhriz
vanished very quickly. It was under
Mahathir when the amendment to the Land
Acquisition Act was made. This is the
greatest sin of Mahathir that is
dragging Malaya into dependency for
imported rice. Secondly, Mahathir
privatization policy have put the
Malayan in more difficult situation. The
welfare of the citizens were given to
cronies to look at, which instead made
the people suffer more. The public were
squeezed and sucked by most of these
bodies.
Pak Lah and
Najib were left with these demonic
private enterprises like the Maxis,
Celcom, Indah Water and utility
suppliers. Car insurance companies are
sucking and oppressive, charging very
expensive free for the old small cars
used by poorer people. The list of
Mahathir's sins is beyond a simple essay
to describe.
During the
time I was working we talked about the
longevity of the Prime Minister. We said
God will give him a long life to make
him see the suffering of the Malaysians,
to witness the product of his policy.
Bush went back to the field to assess
the sufferings of Americans under his
administration soon after he retired
from Presidency.
Pak Lah was
sacked not because he was 'sleeping' but
because he halted the mega project of
Mahathir. Nothing less. He chose Najib.
Nothing wrong with that. Najib had
fulfilled his wish. In fact Mahathir got
much more. His son is running PETRON
now.
I have
asked many people 'How is Najib ?'
Answers came." Najib is OK but his
......' The people cannot be wrong. They
saw FLOM Office in Putrajaya, which had
never been there since independent. ONly
sharp eyes can see what has been
happening. Is Mahathir blind enough not
to see ? If he had seen it he would not
take the task to blame Najib in his blog.
If Najib is
bad enough Mahathir would have been
arrested by now. Indah Water would have
been closed and several other privatized
projects would have been taken
back by the government. Mahathir should
remember that all contracts signed under
him were under his responsibility not by
the new government. The legality of
those agreements were easily questioned.
In fact Pak Lah shouldn't have paid his
cronies any compensation at all.
UMNO is
considered very lucky because most
Malays do not realize what The Land
Acquisition Act means. They are blind,
do not know the history of Palestinians
and the Jews. If they know what happen
during the Japanese occupation about a
King who came to Kedah looking for rice
in exchange for clothing they would have
realized the consequence of the lost of
agriculture land.
Yesterday a
university lecturer and an Arab visited
my wife and the Arab told me he was sad
that out of 100 units of new houses no
Malay purchase it. The Malays can't
afford. I have talked to several UMNO
strong men and supporters about it. They
fell on the deaf ears. Whose fault was
it ? MAHATHIR.
I don't
believe in ghost and kampong medicine,
fortune teller nor shamanism. But I
observed weird things happening around.
I have said enough about this and won't
say them anymore.
Mahathir
should not hit on the wrong nail.
18/08/2014 - Abdul Rahman Raof |
I ENJOY MORSE
With only 1 watt Morse signal reached my
house from Tanjung Gelang Pahang. I was
lying on my bed with my radio on when I
heard a faint signal calling me. The band
was heavy with static noise and a SSB
splater from 7.045. Mine was tuned to 7.043.
I rushed to the radio and pushed my manual
key QRZ AGN K. The call 9M2PJU/P came
through. We then held the CW session for
more than 45 minutes before I attended my
wife. Piju first came in with 559 signal and
later 579.
On many occasions I had hope the local
stations I worked with could come on CW
mode, for their weak signal were almost
drowned by the static noise and the nearby
stations. 7.043 was not a comfortable
frequency but I have been there since 2002.
Hams on low budget or poor hobbyists do not
have to buy a few thousand ringit
transceiver. He just need to construct a
simple CW transmitter and uses cheap
receivers to copy. Probably the total cost
would be around RM150.
When I saw a village chieftain from Papua
New Guinea played Chess with a White man, it
changed my whole perceptions towards people.
I have to observe my words and demeanor when
having social intercourse with anyone at all
regardless of where they come from, skin
color and culture. A man with a Morse code
knowledge will carry a pride when he is in a
huge group of fellow hams of the world.
Imagine you are at a hamfest either at
Dayton or Germany, and you are pressing CQ
CQ CQ DE 9M2MAL and suddenly you hear a
reply 9M2MAL de W6BT from the other end of
the table, and you continue having the CW
session with him. If you request QRQ and he
came back with 30 wpm and you match him at
the speed. The rest is up to you to imagine.
Whether right or wrong I tend to assess
people in ham radio by his ability to send
and receive Morse codes. His mistakes and
speed won't matter. I would be amazed at his
ability to read. Big talk and academic
qualifications won't impress me as much as
the receiving codes ability. What more
today, we can't even believe in university
degree.
Before I die, I hope the old band condition
would revive once again so that I could
again enjoy DXing on CW. Condition to Europe
and States Side were superb then. Big
signals pounded so strong to push your home
down. Between 6.30 pm - 8.30 pm rare
stations from USA were just like a thunder
above our head. But today I have to resort
to the Web Sdr to listen to Morse codes. 7MH
was almost deaf with the continuous waves
and the weak ones were drowned by the
Indonesian and Malaysian pirates on the
Morse portion of the band.
I did hear Japanese station though, at about
7 am but owing to weak signal I did not any
attempt to call or reply to their call. I
always knew my antenna's height has the
disadvantage.
It is quite rare to hear local hams on 40
meter. The Indonesians would occupy every 5
kc starting from 7.035 Mhz upwards to almost
7.2. Even 7.130 Mhz which was used by the
Malaysians was not used by the 9Ms, and
others are using it. For the old hams 7 Mhz
was the band for local communications. We
regarded it as our home.
If you know CW please do come on. Using 5
watts will do us good. It is ample to get
the 599 report. We wouldn't have to worry
much on the QRM and QRN. With the same power
your SSB would make the other end suffer.
Morse is fun if you do not use machines as
aids to work for you. The fulfillment is
greater. It builds up your pride.
18/08/2014
- Abdul Rahman Raof |
IT IS NOT THE END FOR KHALID IBRAHIM
Khalid Ibrahim must not be saddened or
frustrated by the current affair. There is a
way out. Stay in a prayer room and pray and
plead to God to instill tranquility and
peace in himself. Plan an Umrah for a week
and in the meantime go out to meet his
enemies, take their hands and uttered a
soothing word 'SORRY'.
Khalid is an asset to the country and he
could serve the country and the people in
many ways, not necessarily via politics.
Setting up a consultant firm is much better
than a new political party. I believe the
time will come when a government will
request for his assistance. If I were Azizah,
I would still request Khalid to serve
Selangor's government after consulting PKR
members.
After
all Khalid has got almost everything. The
laymen like most of us can't even buy a
RM300,000 home. Day and night we hope to get
RM100K from somewhere. Khalid has millions
and he has serve the people well. I have
always wish that a man like him would run
the ASB.
Ular Menysur Akar Tak Akan Hilang Bisanya.
Khalid must remember this. Mahathir was
kicked out of UMNO. Later, he became a Prime
Minister and now a Millionaire. Compare with
trishaw man who pulled trishaw before
independent, yelled with the loudest voice
on the independent day, and now at the old
age is still a trishaw puller.
It is
a good time now for Khalid to seek financial
aid to form a foundation of some sort to
promote the unfortunate people from his
friends and the people whom he gave away
projects. Would they come to assist him ? I
doubt whether they would. Many will easily
forget once you are powerless.
A
great individual won't lose his skill and
ability. He can also run an aviation
industry and build his empire to be much
more powerful than the politicians. Just
look at Rothschild, Goldman Sachs, George
Soros, Bill Gate and many others. American
Presidents have to bow to them. They were so
powerful that they could arrange World War.
Khalid Ibrahim can still walk out with is
head high. And I hope PKR will work with him
for the benefit of the Selangorian and the
Malaysians in general.
17/08/2014 - Abdul
Rahman Raof |
PKR CAN BE OUTLAWED ?
If
PKR is declared outlawed Khalid Ibrahim
is also an outlawed MB. He will flung
with PKR. Would BN made him a Menteri
Besar ? He has to join UMNO but not PAS.
At
the time when Khalid sworn in as the
Chief Minister he was not a legal man
because he was in the illegal party.
Khalid is undressing himself in front of
international figures.
Like the
UMNO Baru PKR can re-organize
themselves. But I doubt whether he will
be welcomed in BN. He would tear BN as
he tore his party. Probably he is good
for PAS and could retake Trengganu or
Kedah.
Mahathir
was once kicked out of UMNO by Tengku,
carrying a trauma for some time. But
later became a Prime Minister. He didn't
run like a mad man. To me Pak Lah was
the coolest. The people of his
constituency respect him and he is
enjoying his family life attending his
sick wife and beloved grand children.
In the
first place Khalid should decline the
Meneri Besar post knowing his party was
not legal. He hid it from ROS because he
wanted to run the state. And he hid it
for a long many years as long as he
profited by it. Was it not a crime ?
Furthermore if the MB was not legal as
PKR wasn't, all agreements, transactions
and everything that undertaken by Khalid
and MB's office were null and void.
Khalid would have to pay back his MB
salaries to Selangor's coffer.
17/08/2014 - Abdul Rahman Raof |
THERE CANNOT BE PAS AND UMNO
PAS and UMNO are now having the same voice.
Both are anti Anwar and anti DAP and believe
in Malay unity. In the next GE they will no
longer fight each other. PAS must accept
that in no state PAS can get more seats than
UMNO. BN has to share with Gerakan and MCA
too.
What would be more sensible is to dissolve
PAS and the members convert to UMNO.
Wouldn't that give a enhance strength to
UMNO ? The current PAS-PKR conflict has left
a deep wound and buried the dream to
Putrajaya.
And by dissolving PAS into UMNO the slur on
PAS leaderships will stop. Nik Aziz will not
be called infidel by UMNO and PAS will not
be accused of propagating deviant teaching
anymore.
The 17th. August PAS meeting is not about
Wan Azizah but will be about PAS-PKR split.
Hadi will go for departure. The rest will
follow the Pied Piper. History won't repeat
itself as in the case of Kelantan under Asri,
where finally PAS struggled to survive and
revived. This time it will spell the total
death and will never rejuvenate again.
DAP will fight alone. And with the change in
demographic pattern and the reduction of the
Malay belt their strength will increase day
by day until the Chinese population
outnumbered the Malays. That will take place
within 25 years. By that time most of us
have died except for Mahathir. He is a
doctor. He knows how to prolong his life.
The future could be very scary unless we
build a strong Malaysian race. Polarization
is not the answer for it does not pay.
16/08/2014
- Abdul Rahman Raof |
THINK OF THE
UNCERTAINTY
Najib is away. His deputy run the country.
Selangor's Sultan went on vacation, Khalid
run the show. When Mahyuddin asked UMNO to
give full support to Khalid and a few PAS
members show their support to Mahyuddin, it
is paving the way to PAS-UMNO coalition.
Part of PAS members could not accept UMNO
and another part chose to enmity DAP and to
attack PKR. Who will have ultimate gain ?
UMNO, of course. PAS will certainly vanish
in Kelantan and somewhere else.
Some members of the public have already seen
the Sultan as partisan. We can't afford to
have half of the population having negative
views on monarchy. It won't be healthy to
the nation and monarchial system. The
numbers would build up. And we don't want
people to cast insult on anybody privately
among friends and families. We should avoid
the thinning of loyalty and respect towards
our crown. The future is always uncertain.
We never knew that our MH370 could go
missing and MH17 get shot.
Khalid Ibrahim could stabilize the situation
by leaving the office, and not to embrace
the Sultan. We have been reading so much
comments and feedback in the social media
about Khalid and inevitably mentioning the
royalty. This happened because Khalid made
it happen.
The art of buying time to ignite the
Selangorian against PKR is unhealthy either.
BN has been using it for decades but failed
to swing full support. In fact day by day it
has to spend more money to gain a vote and
has to resort to outright cheating. If still
fail, Khalid's last straw is to hang on the
Sultan which can worsen the situation in the
long run.
We must never forget the whole drama during
Mahathir's era. It was not PAS nor DAP who
tried to turn the country into a Republic.
That was not even a political issue. And
during that time our national TV was
screening movies about the cruel Sultan in
our history. Laymen didn't have any iota of
thought about the derailing of monarchy. The
Sultan's private secretary should have known
it better and to guide the ruler to regard
the people of his state as is Rakyat. In
other word, the King is the King of all.
I feel very disturb when Khalid mentioned
Sultan's name many time. Remarks by citizens
do not indicate rosy future. Pulling Karpal
for sedition gave more votes to DAP. The
country needs bigger jail to house tenths of
thousands of people like Karpal. How about
those who run a campaign elsewhere outside
the social media ?
We have to avoid the Sultan becoming a
target of attack overtly or covertly. Khalid
took the former as a shield to protect
himself. It is indeed a great disgrace. He
must bear the responsibility.
A King is human, like an ordinary man he has
a taste and likings. He is free to like and
dislike anyone. But as a King of all he must
not be seen as partisan.
Today the world is a volatile place to live
in. The Muslims are killing each other in
Syria and Iraq. Skirmishes in Libya and
Egypt never seem to be halting. Israel is
having a very expensive war with inferior
Hamas force. There are killings and riots in
America. Israel made Malaysia pissed in the
pant. There is a war in Ukraine and created
a US-Russian tension. Beside the two planes
downed, we can never know what else may
happen . And we do have real enemy at our
door.
We are trying our best to stop the
infiltration of violence by taking actions
on those who fought in the Middle East,
either against the enemy of Islam or
otherwise. We are searching for those with
knowledge of making bombs and weapons. We
have enough ears and eyes for the government
to ensure of our security. But can we be
sure the absolute success of our efforts in
time to come ?
Assume that the Sultan meets Najib and
discussed Khalid's position, we hope PM will
give the best advice with an open mind. It
would be better for Najib to fight for
Khalid than the Royal Highness. And let the
law takes it's course. The aim is to
maintain the system we ourselves have
designed and set.
It true that we have to be fearful of the
unknown and the uncertainty.
How smart we could have been ? If we were,
MAS wouldn't have been facing a sad moment.
Mahathir, the father of privatization is now
attacking the total privatization of the
national carrier. We should excel in
academic and educational standard, and
create our own computer and software
systems. If we think that we are smart, we
could be very reckless.
If we fail to realize that we are not too
smart, then we will be very vulnerable. We
are enhancing the probability of
instability, ruining our own people and the
nation. The repeated call for May 13, the
racial slur on the Facebook could have a
reverse effect and totally change our
history like the first Arab-Israeli war.
It is indeed a sad period of our history,
the dark cloud is becoming thicker, people
start to argue about Sultans in the media
and among friends. The whole fault lies on
Khalid Ibrahim who seek to hang on the royal
rob.
16/08/2014
- Abdul Rahman Raof |
SHALL WE BE GOOD TO ISRAEL ?
Why
not when the Jews stop killing the innocent
people and create a brotherhood with the
Palestinians. This is my view. We all know
that God is the most merciful over the
subjects created and we also know that human
being cannot conceive the total nature of
the Al-Mighty. Our effort to do any divine
interpretation may always be wrong.
At
the moment we just cannot tolerate the
occupation and the killings. We can't
support Israel to buy arms for the bombing
and torturing. It is not our innate sense to
simply boycotting and hate the Jews that
much. But we have to exercise our civility.
We are men not animals. We can't support
savageness.
American Jews detest David Duke for his
campaign of hatred especially against the
Jews. But at the same time the Talmud is
inciting the Jews to hate and regard the
non-Jews as beasts and animals, killing the
non-Jews is legal. Who painted the Muslims
as terrorists so much so the American
Muslims are experiencing punishments from
the general public ?
If
the Jews think they have the right to live,
so are the Palestinians.
We
are being colonized by the British. They
took our wealth home. They brought rubber
in. They gave us education. On the whole
nobody took up arms against them. The people
just felt the Englishmen took care of them.
The Communist excursion was also a part of
expansionism, not patriots to chase out the
British.
Even
if Israel occupies the Palestinian land
there could be peace if the paternalistic
administration satisfy the Palestinians,
providing them with autonomy, running the
police force except for the military part.
The Acehnese had been fighting for
independent finally settled for autonomy. So
were the Muslim Mindanao.
Netanyahu must put a new structure of
framework to change the impossible to
possible. We want to hear complete and
lasting peace. Then we will regard Israel
just like any other civilize nation.
15/08/2014 - Abdul
Rahman Raof |
WOMEN OF A NATION
Never underestimate the power and the
ability of women. They can be docile and
obedient. They can be ruthless and
murderers. They can beat men in the game of
chess. Ay any time they can pinned you in
wrestling. An old woman in a jogging track
overtook more than 50 men at a fast phase.
It is surprising for the 21st century men to
despise and looking down upon women. It is
highly probable that only Muslim men carry
with them the negative perception of women
as a weak specie inferior to men. While a
woman has been a commander of a space ship
and able to maneuver a space shuttle and war
planes most men are still struggling with a
simple mathematics.
Lately we have been hearing some stupid
statements about women, coming from some
elite group of male specie, such as women
menstruate and therefore they can't be a
head of state or a Prime Minister. In such a
situation they are not suitable to go to
war. Yet there are thousands of them in the
war zones and took an active part in combat
. Even in Malaysia we have women flying
fighter planes and in the arm forces.
Don't forget Rafedah Aziz who is now a big
person in Air Asia. She had brought economic
prosperity to the country and world leaders
found her tough to deal with.
We are all gifted to be good in something.
One man is good in religious knowledge,
another in sciences and doctoring. Some are
good with their hands and some in solving
problems. WE means men and women. And I did
not mention Margaret Thatcher and Indra
Ghandi and Benazer Bhutto and Golda
Meir.
And the best of all that we are brought up
by our mothers to be responsible men. Our
mothers are the great women of the nation.
15/08/2014
- Abdul Rahman Raof |
EVEN IF ZERO SUPPORT
Khalid Ibrahim will not leave the
office of the Chief Minister even if he
receives zero support. " I took an oath to
be a Chief Minister," he said. "Only the
Sultan can remove me." And we will be
hearing voices that support him and argue in
his favor quoting various statues of law.
I think he can get away with it because it
happens in Malaysia. The Malaysians are not
extremist enough as some might thought them
to be. If they were, we would have been
another Egypt or Pakistan. An angry dog here
never go hungry. Even the poor are fed by
the Soup Kitchen. Money could even be found
in the dust bins.
Khalid's good work will never be forgotten
even if he were to step down. I kept RM15K
and got RM80K when Khalid was in control of
ASB. That was a great start that is giving
me bread at my old age without depending on
my kids. And the people of Selangor too will
remember his good deeds. It is just his
party sees him in different way which he
could have defend himself by answering to
the board. The public too could understand
why he did what he had done.
When Zahid Hamidy retract his statement
against Tony Phua, he lost nothing, not a
single cent, neither his dignity. Both can
become good friends again. Both men won.
There is a Malay saying 'Ular menyusur akar
tak hilang bisanya', 'A diamond that dropped
in dirt will still be a diamond'.
It is ashamed for Khalid to cling to his
post when he does not command the majority
as he claimed to be. It was amounting to
lying to the Sultan.
Wan Azizah may not be as good as Khalid but
it is only fair to give her a chance. She
does not need to represent her party but she
represents the women of Malaysia. Of course
she has to serve all the Selangorian
regardless of their political beliefs.
Khalid could assist her in many ways.
The whole world is watching. If PR created
errors and follies, it is being witnessed by
an international community.
14/08/2014
- Abdul Rahman Raof |
IT IS NOT ONLY IN POLITICS
First we saw Anwar challenged Mahathir.
Anwar was a new comer in UMNO brought in by
Mahathir, climbed up to DPM. Then we saw
Khalid Ibrahim, also a new comer, elevate by
Anwar to be a Chief Minister. Khalid kicked
PKR and challenged the people who put him
there.
This is nothing new and nothing rare
if you care to observe carefully in any
organization, public or private. We have
similar experience in the hobby called
Amateur Radio in Malaysia where the new
comer attacked those who fought hard for
Class B license. The Old Hams are now
Pariahs and many stay away from the ham
band.
That's why we changes in education almost
every other 3 to 4 years, in our quest for
National Language effort, in customs and
immigration. All are under the name of
innovation and progress. In Europe and
America changes are more shocking; on
statute of law pertaining same sex marriage
and legalization of dangerous drugs, so much
so drug addicts could become Presidents.
People stepped on religion and kicked them
away, replacing them with new morality with
bombastic titles like liberty, human right,
civility and secularism. They burnt the
Holly Book and removed the monument of the
10 Commandments. The living religious
practices followed the changes, altered and
in some church drinking and sex fiestas were
held.
The old generations still remember of the
status of teachers who were using canned to
discipline and teach their students. Right
or wrong we were asked to respect and honor
them. Called him a teacher, every race and
creed would show him some respects. Today we
hear students kicked the teachers. Parents
sued them. And finally the law prohibit any
form of punishment, physical nor mental.
It takes years to really understand a
person's character and an ego. The
observation has to be close and thorough,
not only depending on the hearsay or his
public behavior which may be hypocrite and
to impress the public. Words and promises
could be put aside.
One interesting thing about Khalid is that
he said PR was illegal, not a registered
party. It means to imply his appointment was
not legal too. People might took it lightly
or would just ignore it. And all other
usurpers do have their own excuses. UMNO is
smart enough to learn from mistakes. That's
the reason they won't give high post to any
defectors, and would not accept even Ibrahim
Ali as their members.
I am sure you too have seen an identical
organizational behavior in your workplace,
of various type of workers and officers. You
couldn't like everyone of them.
14/08/2014
- Abdul Rahman Raof |
IT IS BAD TO DRAG ROYALTY INTO POLITICS
No political party should drag royalty into
politics. It brings a bad implication for
whatever reason. Neither Khalid, Anwar nor
Hadi should do it. Sultan must not be seen
as partisan in politics. I remember fairly
well when I was a small kid when the Sultan
of Kedah had invited political leaders of
both BN, PAS and DAP for the birthday
dinner, the Sultan mentioned the words
'RAKYAT BETA'. At that time I already
understood the role of our king.
Khalid Ibrahim has been very cruel to the
institution of monarchy. It is very
unwelcoming of him to drag the Sultan in to
resolve the MB issue. He could have leave it
to UMNO with a great power to ensure of his
position as a MB. Mahyuddin had promised him
the fullest support and BN machinery had
already run a full swing. If Khalid
mentioned that all his actions were legal,
he has no need to use the Sultan to come
into his defense anymore.
Political party anywhere has it's ups and
downs. Ministers come and go. It is not
suppose to be so of the monarchy system.
There should not be even an atom of time, no
moment at all, for the citizen to think
about the fate of royalty, not even in dream
or whisper.
Any obedient Malay in the government should
not allow Khalid to do what he is doing now.
He drags the Sultan too far. UMNO can help
him in whatever legal and fiscal ways but
has to call Khalid to stop his balancing act
involving the Sultan. The reason is simple.
We always want the royal subjects to have
only a single thought of the sovereignty of
our Ruler.
Our critical issue today is the minds of the
Malays are drifting in random mode. Effort
to unite them for a common goal can never be
attained. They split in support against
Israel, against Halal food, gay marriage and
even on criminal matters. They expressed
themselves well in social media. There are
even Malay Jews and Christians.
If political party could not converge their
insight through political mean we need them
to get united through the call of monarchy.
We do see this in Thailand. Kampuchea under
Sihanouk differs much under Pol Pot. Even
today the status of the King is not so
strong as before. At least we are fortunate
to have Kings for us to love and be happy
with. Indonesia, China, Russia and the rest
of the world have almost nothing left.
England is struggling with it.
Whoever at all can be a MB of Selangor as
long chosen by the people. The people chose
the party. The party chose a MB. If they
chose a wrong person he will ruin his party.
A person chosen must be sane, normal and
civilize. Nero burnt Rome out of his
insanity. I believe that replacing an UMNO
man as MB is much better for the state and
will ensure the dignity of the royal
institution will be secured and safe.
Once we hated Mahathir very much for wanting
to do away with monarchy. We all should
think about it.
14/08/2014
- Abdul Rahman Raof |
HAVE WE TO BE ARROGANT ?
It is hard to find a suitable word for
SOMBONG. The nearest to it is 'arrogant'.
Before calling others 'sombong' I need to
look at myself and ask myself whether I am
in that category.
I have a big problem of not remembering
people and their names including my old
school mates and those people who know me.
And when I walk my mind would always be
thinking of something. When passing through
people whom I am suppose to know, I just
walked without approaching them. Surely they
would regard me as 'sombong'.
Arrogant and 'sombong' people are
everywhere. These are not the property of
the rich and the wealthy nor the politicians
and the Ministers. I have been to Putrajaya
and met Senior Officers and I felt so ease
with them. They possess courtesy, show
consideration and kindness. I met a local
government officer who treated me like a
small kid and rough in their words.
Even the normal business people show
arrogance in their speeches. For an arrogant
businessman to have such a character it
would gather misfortune to the company
unless the customers are forced to deal with
them. I found that hospital nurses were the
most arrogant, yelling at patients and
talking with harsh voices.
Public usually relate government to the
behaviors of the officers. A bad officer
will make a remote villager detest the
government. The best to deal with bad
officers is to vote against the government.
Have we to be arrogant ?
I like Dato' Ahmad Bashah because he is
friendly and kind. But I could not bear
Shahrizat. It is not because of the
political party but because of the behavior.
Surely you can see more arrogant people
right now, can't you ?
When we see people on the streets we cannot
assume everyone is the same, having the same
character and mental setup. Some may be
liars and cheaters, robbers and thieves.
Some may be of the well bred group of the
society, honest and trustworthy, kind and
responsible, and willing to lend their hands
for assistance.
Arrogant people may not show their true
color directly to us but we can see through
their behaviors, causing inconvenience in
public places, double parking, running red
light, knock your car and run away. Lately I
saw such people in Malay women drivers,
breaking all the traffic rules and causing
inconvenience to others by reckless driving.
One knocked my car and ran away.
I just have to remind myself in choosing
friends. We have to be careful in lending
money or becoming their referee or a
guarantor. Several people suffered as
guarantors. Their so-called friends just
refused to pay the loan. They could be
placed under the same group as arrogant.
They are menace to society and the world.
Power and wealth won't made us a god for
people to obey and prostrate. There will be
people who won't be looking and bow at them,
even won't show respect at knowing them and
recognizing them.
The happiness of the caterer of Soup Kitchen
is the fulfillment of serving the
unfortunate, the feeling of doing a good
job, going to bed with a sweet dream waiting
for tomorrow, for someone else to donate
more to the poor. These people can be 'sombong'
to the 'sombong' and arrogant portion of the
people who see others as pariah when they
are in uniform or holding high posts. They
forgot that every dog has it's own day.
When a civil servant show his/her arrogance
to the helpless laymen he/she may get away
with it. To do it with a gangster, all they
want to know is where he lives and his daily
movement. What's next is unknown. It is not
the gangsters would not want to accept
punishment, they do if there is fairness.
Why must the nurses, the clerk and the civil
servants be arrogant ?
13/08/2014
- Abdul Rahman Raof |
FATE OF PAS
Kedah private religious school ran for many
long years on their own. They were not well
equipped, poor and almost at deplorable
condition. Yet many Muslim Malays sent their
kids there, not with the hope to become
lawyers or doctors, but to have enough
religious education. The schools chose their
own administrators and teachers.
The government offered those schools to join
the mainstream education system, promising
development and money. Happily the board
chose to accept the offers. New blocks and
buildings were set up. The progress was
superb.
Later changes took place. School heads and
teachers were chosen and selected by the
Ministry of Education. Their freedom and
autonomy disappeared. The disappointment was
very great.
The same fate will face PAS. The party is on
the verge of disappearing. UMNO-PAS marriage
was not new. It happened before. Kelantan
was almost vanished and PAS was almost dead.
The members struggled out and the party
became alive again. The battle
resumed. Trengganu under the leadership of
Hadi never revived. Kedah under the scrutiny
of Hadi sunk.
Today PAS saw DAP as enemy and infidel
party, and it is uttering UMNO's tone and
words. No matter what the decision on the
17th. August would be, the PAS-PR
relationship will never be like before. The
animosity will grow. There were air of
disappointment and distrust towards the
party by the non-Muslims.
BN will remain dominant as ever. PAS members
will go back to the old time, becoming dogs
barking a mountain, will become weaker and
weaker, helpless and useless. PR can erase
it's aim of marching to Putrajaya.
13/08/2014
- Abdul Rahman Raof |
A MAN WORKING FOR HIMSELF AND A MAN WORKING
FOR THE PEOPLE
The poorest President today is Jose
Mujica of Uruguay.
He donates about 90% of his $12,000 monthly
salary to charities that benefit poor people
and small entrepreneurs. Like others he too
have enemies. Even fellow Malaysians
criticized him for his wasted time and his
administration. I am not at all surprise to
find Malays having awkward values, buying
arms for the Jews to kill Palestinians and
calling the later terrorists.
Most of us are selfish. It is not difficult
to recognize fellow Malaysians of pompous
and haughty characters, and would go to any
extend to play for office and gathering
wealth. Money is never enough to them. But
Malaysians simply could not trace hypocrisy
and blindly chose them as leaders. Head of
Departments were chosen by the governments.
A man working for himself care less about
the real goal and objective of his
organization. He would wriggle his way for a
better position, struggle to impress his
immediate boss, throwing unnecessary and
untimely praises. He set up his department
in such a way that when he goes into
retirement he can still make bucks with his
organization. This kind of person won't take
any risk and will only nod his head to any
instructions regardless of their values. I
saw one Mamak who was vocal against
opposition when BN was strong and vocal
against BN when PAS was strong.
While Mujica gave away 90% of his monthly
salary others with power are increasing
their own, not enough with the millions they
own. They want to be god and own the world.
As I have said before doing good for a
community and to raise them to a better
living standard and showing care, may not
have a positive return. In short they may
not thank you. But that shouldn't be the
matter. Being moral and doing good give us
the fulfilling of life. Happiness is much
richer than the millions in possession.
Robin William just committed suicide owing
to depression. George Bush Junior took
cocaine after retirement. Netanyahu's lust
for killings could never be over. These were
sign of failures and insane living. Insane
indeed. People are shameless and losing
their morality, and could behave worst than
animals.
I just give one example of a man who work
for the people. There are several more but
rare of the specie. The greed and the
shameless is just in front of your eyes. Are
you still blind to see ?
14/08/2014
- Abdul Rahman Raof |
HELP THE LOCAL HAM SHOPS
I have written on this topic before and now
am writing on it again. My last visit to a
local ham shop was on the 7th. August 2014.
Rusli, 9M2RB, took me to Shah Alam at my
request. One Communication supplies ample
equipments for class A and B licensees, from
the electronic key to the HF rigs. I bought
a 40 watts Diamond switching power supply as
a backup. At the moment I used Hammax made
in Thailand.
In the good old days to start a station was
quite a hassle. It was easier to construct
than to buy one. New hams like me had to
look for a second hand and used rigs. Mine
was FT101B purchased at RM800 from a fellow
ham. We would not be able to buy rigs
locally because there were none. The nearest
place where we can find radio shop was
Singapore. Because old rigs were big and
heavy it was difficult to get pass the
custom.
Similarly with other accessories, coaxial
cables and plugs and tuners. Most of the new
comers had to seek the help of the old
timers. I got my coaxial cable from 9M2FK,
Eshee, who is very sickly now. Malcom helped
me a lot.
On the contrary today is heaven. We can stay
at home and purchase the rig online or by a
mere phone call. The next day the equipment
ordered will arrive at the doorstep. Local
Ham vendors made difficult work so easy.
The cost should not stop us from helping the
local vendors. As for us we pay for the
peace of mind. As for the vendors they have
to pay for the running cost; rental, salary
and utility bills. They need to make some
profit too.
I used to take a trip to Singapore and Medan
just to buy tuners. My antenna coupler,
Leader LAC-895, was purchased from Johore,
arranged by 9M2DW, Dato' Tan, to have it
sent to my home. Today those kind of hassle
are gone. I bought two Yaesu sets and
received them just in a couple of days.
Thanks to the local vendors. No more
Singapore or Hong Kong, Thailand or
Indonesia.
To appreciate the existence of the local
vendors one need to imagine without them.
12/08/2014
- Abdul Rahman Raof |
XIAOMI
Xiaomi sounds like Little Sister to me.
Chinese are fond of using beautiful names
like Mei Hua ( beautiful flower ). It is a
name I just saw in the internet, a smart
phone made in China rivaling Samsung and
iPhone, with a price much bellow the Korean
and the American. The sale in Malaysia went
so swift. China wouldn't expect it to be
that way as people are already equipped with
iPhone and Samsung. I wonder whether these
products are still available in the local
outlets.
My Note 3 was not used for a long time. I
cling to my iPhone 4 because of it's small
size. When my kid came back for the Aidil
Fitri I gave my Samsung away. Now I want to
have a peep at this cheap Xiaomi.
It has MI-3 and MI-4 version. The later is a
little wider. Both claim of a lower battery
consumption. You need to browse the webpage
to read more about it.
With the price below 1K, it halved the two
veteran gadgets. Only time will tell on it's
durability and problem. It is about hacking
and virus. iPhone seems to be the most
secured as compared to Samsung at the
moment.
Imagine if the Little Sister could penetrate
the European and the American markets. The
Americans will have to run a campaign
"Americans must buy Americans" as what the
British had done before.
11/08/2014
- Abdul Rahman Raof |
CRAZY AMERICANS
I am a little annoyed at the American attack
on the Syariah's Law and of course followed
by our Malaysians. Dr Mashitoh was a
daughter of a pious Muslim cleric who is now
being rejected by Muslim communities. Part
of the law was in Christianity like the
stoning of the adulterers.
I say Crazy Americans because I can't
understand their philosophy of life and the
concept of humanity and civility. They
sponsor killings, bombing, pissing on dead
corpse and yet they called punishments on
criminals under Syariah Laws as savage. It
is indeed superficial to justify killings by
just labeled someone a terrorist. Cutting a
hand of a thief could not be worse than
dropping bombs to kill lives under any
justification. If it is alright to kill
innocent people then it is more alright to
punish a thief or a robber.
Big time criminals in American prisons are
treated like VIPs. The Muslim nationalists
are treated like animals. If we can believe
American movies we do find big time crook
can still run their operation while in jail.
Criminals are well fed. Crazy.
The people chose grass taker as their
President. Now an ex-President was caught
with cocaine. No wonder they are going to
legalize marijuana and I assure you other
drugs will follow soon. All we know in 20
years time non-Jews and non-Muslims in
America will consume drugs like a cup of
coffee.
How could we listen to people who see gay
marriage as normal and legalized the
practice ?
When crazy people have nothing to do they
find it pleasure to
a. attack the Muslims
b. to sponsor Israel terrorism
c. to bomb the innocent people
d. to torture Muslim prisoners
e. to murder the American citizens as in
9/11
These are not about value system but about
mental disorders and deliberate intent to
destroy others. Each day in the United
States we do hear about massacre. Kids
shooting parents and school children, and
parents murdering their own off springs. And
the most recent a judge rules a monument of
Ten Commandments be removed.
We are weak but we must not sacrifice our
honor. We don't have to yield or fear a very
strong nation. As long as we are going for
the better of mankind, peace and tranquility
we have to proceed with our belief. We don't
kill a free man on the street using drones
and laugh when they dead men fell to the
ground. We don't bomb our own people and
pointing fingers at others blaming them for
the kill.
Cutting a hand of a thief to deter the
others is never a worst thing than killing
tenths and thousands of innocent lives, or
sending bombs to kill those defending their
own nations.
10/08/2014
- Abdul Rahman Raof |
PROBLEM FREE ?
Try to imagine the world without problems.
To some problems are form of challenges. To
others they are killings. Many of us have
witnessed the skinny children of Africa
during the draught and war, and innocent
people killed in the Middle East, and the
agony of being struck by chronic and deadly
diseases. These are not joyous.
Yet they could be the driving force to solve
and to prevent them for the betterment of
mankind.
I have less problems now then before after
my retirement. It was the burden of
responsibility and accountability, the
failing of guilt when something beyond our
control went wrong. I remember well when my
boss said 'It is your duty to know how many
rats die and where they die in your
compound'. If you collect fake money you
have to pay it with your own money. My
teacher collected a fake check from a parent
she could not remember and I had to pay from
my pocket.
When I retired I felt a huge stone had been
removed from my head. I felt so much relief
and ready to face a new world.
By then my wife got sick. She got a stroke,
a bone of her spinal chord was replaced by
titanium, and now she can't stand nor walk
and undergoing dialysis treatment. Going to
the clinic itself poses several problems.
But I don't feel the current ones are so
painful as those when I was in the job,
which no amount of money could offset them.
If you don't have problems related to human
being, you may be having problems with your
belongings. Some with their cars, houses,
equipments and whatever things they own. My
friend, Rusli, 9M2RB (radio call sign) is
having a problem with his IC-7000 that
tripped regularly when speaking.
The only problem free is death. Let your
soul take car what will happen next.
If a problem occupies our mind at a certain
time, we may not do the right thing at the
time. My intent to go my old school ended me
somewhere else. The other day I bypassed a
certain destination two times because I
forgot it twice.
Problems are part of life, a characteristic
of nature and living, either endowed by
social interactions among mankind or swept
by natural phenomena like catastrophes and
calamities. It also gives opportunities for
people to make money or invent technologies.
Some people are so seasoned with problems
that they faced them with so much cool.
Presidents and Prime Ministers would changed
every each year if they can't face them and
get shock every other seconds by all sort of
monumental events which continually
barraging at them and their administrations.
We always hear a phrase "Take it easy man"
telling us to keep cool and calm.
The problem free world is grave yards. Be
there. Robin William, a Hollywood actor,
chose to be there by committing suicide on
Monday 11/08/2014. He was 63.
09/08/2014 - Abdul Rahman Raof |
BAD PEOPLE ARE BAD PEOPLE
Malaysians of newer generations seem to
think they are smart enough and have
absolute freedom to insult anyone they like.
They are hiding themselves through proxies
believing their identity will not be traced.
We have to remember that if we claim to have
freedom to exercise our right on the
internet, the authority too will claim to
have freedom to ban the internet.
Nonetheless one can parade his bravery by
not hiding himself and prepare for any
arrest.
The right of the absolute freedom would
revert back to the savagery of the survival
of the fittest. The strong will eat the
weaker ones. At times the weak will fight
back and win. Malaysians who think they have
right to stay in this country and insult
anyone they like should face the freedom and
right of other party to put them away. If we
call this uncivilized then there are many
democratic nations are uncivilized. Do we
need to name them ?
Facebook users are of different categories,
from the educated to the school dropouts.
Some show maturity with strong arguments and
some are truly morons. They learn a little
and think they know the world. They would go
round and insult anybody they want, threaten
others and the latest repeatedly display the
picture of our King.
Laws on internet abuse must be more
stringent whether on civil or criminal
matters. Name calling like 'pig' or
'bastard' should be jailed for at least one
day.
I remember during one soccer game one
spectator yell on the top of his voice
cursing our PM. I may not be agree with
Najib, but his action disturbed me very much
and I have to warn him to watch his mouth.
These are uneducated people. Now they are in
access of internet and other gadgets like
walkie-talkies. With those they can cause
havoc.
There is no country in the world that give
complete freedom. Each individual is
governed by law. Even China was barred from
building more air-craft carriers. Malaysian
who sold centrifuge part to Pakistan was
arrested and jailed. Those who questioned
9/11 were duped as terrorists in USA.
Whether we like or not there have to be
nations and countries. You can't say there
is no such thing as China or India and you
can walk into those countries and claimed as
a world citizen and have ownerships of those
lands. And each of the nation has it's own
rules of law. You can't have your own law
and demand the nation to follow your rule.
And there have to be a system to look at
people like you.
Else we have to denounce civility and do as
you want and others can do whatever they
like on you.
Bad people do not deserve respect and being
treated like VIPs.
08/08/2014 - Abdul Rahman Raof
|
A BAD PILOT
In fact I have decided not to fly Air Asia
for several reasons. But owing to some
errors I purchase a return ticket to KLIA2.
I have no complaint on my way to Kuala
Lumpur. The pilot made announcement from
time to time both in English and in Malay.
The best of all I didn't realize the plane
was landing.
Things were not the same on the return
journey. The 8.20 flight moved a little
earlier. Probably all passengers were
aboard. Long after the take off nothing was
heard from the pilot. Only over Penang he
made some announcement of where we were and
the expected arrival time in English, never
in Malay. I did not feel anything thinking
Air Asia only cares for profit and nothing
else. It was a bad experience in landing,
very very very bad indeed, the bump was too
strong, like pushing the tires off.
If MAS charged more I will fly the carrier
despite the price different.
I believe the same pilot will one day crush
the plane. Before it is too late Air Asia
must record pilot's behavior and landing
standard of every flight. Just by giving
cheap tickets it does not mean Air Asia can
do what it wants and employ any kind of
pilots. Bad pilots are like bad divers who
do not pass a driving license or get the
license by the backdoor. A con man who has a
simulator at home may be successful in
squeezing themselves up. Do you see the
movie Catch Me if You Can, a true story of a
con man ?
08/08/2014 - Abdul Rahman Raof
|
WOI !! GIVE ME SOME RAMBUTANS
A man passed my house the other day. As he
saw me he shouted, "Woi, give me some
rambutans." I invited him to take himself by
climbing on the brim of my fence. "Give me a
pole," he called. I asked him to get by his
hand. As he went on plucking I said to him,
"Leave the rest to others." He did not take
10 or 30 fruits but probably more than a
hundred.
He was not a young man, probably about 50 or
more and looked like a gentleman, with
proper attire. I was wondering why he called
me WOI instead of Encik or Che'. I have a
pole. I did not find it good to entertain
him with a man without courtesy. I gave him
because the fruits did not belong to me. It
is given by God. Nothing more and nothing
less. But those are for other people who
might want to taste a few.
That's the reason why I never agree to be a
racist, making heroes out of a certain
ethnic groups without manners, courtesy and
consideration.
Afterwards a few young boys passed by. I
asked them to pluck some but they refused
and thanked me.
May be the man will pass this way again and
ask for more. I won't stop him. I will just
say "Leave some to others. Don't take all."
08/08/2014 - Abdul Rahman Raof
|
From Rense.com - reprinted
08/08/2014 - Abdul Rahman Raof
08/08/2014 - Abdul Rahman Raof
CHEAP FOOD AT PUTRAJAYA
I was at Kementerian Dalam Negeri yesterday
with 9M2RB. I felt hungry and asked Rusli to
join me for breakfast at one of the
canteens. There were quite a variety of
food. Finally I stopped at one stall. I took
a plate of koeteow with a fried egg and some
squids. Rusli took meehoon. When the seller
said six ringgit I was very surprise. The
koeteow was tasty and I really enjoyed it.
As for drinks I took a glass of nescafe and
Rusli a light cofee for two ringgit. In Alor
Setar nescafe would cost RM2.00.
Hours later at Shah Alam both of us took one
packet of Nasi Lemak each, a small fried
bawal
and a little kerang, all at the price of
RM15.00.
If Putrajaya could sell cheap food I see no
reason why other places could not do so.
A meal at Mac Donald would not be less than
RM12.00. As shown in British TV eating Mac
Donald is just like eating poison. By the
time they reach 40 they are ready for
chronic diseases. Only if Ramly burger could
take place of the MacD we could enjoy
tastier and cheaper food. And at the same
time we are helping the local entrepreneurs
who do not have to send money outside the
country as franchisees.
Putrayaja should make it compulsory for all
food vendors to follow a course before they
are giving licenses.
Business communities may complaint of the
high rental incurred that they have to drive
the price up. Many roadside stalls and food
outlets without rentals are charging high
price. These are greedy people who would
provide nonsensical excuses. First to raise
any price are the ungrateful and greedy
Mamaks. I am sorry I have to be harsh about
Mamaks, because that's what we have been
experiencing with them.
Food vendors at Putrajaya have to pay for
the raw stuffs too. Those areas are well
known for expensive items in the wet market.
Yet they could survive by charging
reasonable prices.
For the benefit of general public the
government have to make it mandatory for a
licensee to follow a civic, health and
educational program.
What did we do at Shah Alam ? We went to
ONE-Communication. I purchased a 40 watt
diamond power supply for RM620.00. The
vendor advised me not to take it as a hand
luggage boarding Air-Asia. The guys there
might just confiscate it. He could post it
using Post Office for a hundred ringgit. I
decided to keep it at Rusli's house until
some fine day to have it sent to my home.
On the home to Rusli's house we stopped at a
courier company. The charge was RM27.00,
almost 1/4 of the post office price.
Be careful when checking at Air Asia's
counter. "You have to pay RM10, sir," they
will tell you. "You have to check in through
your hand phone." Crazy...crazy..Air Asia.
Wouldn't it be called a robbery ?
08/08/2014 - Abdul Rahman Raof
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