notwoxer (An RB Amero Blog)

Ladies and gentlemen, This is Cheongchai Abdullah; a street tabbycat that I informally "adopted". His name is derived from the dental clinic in front of where I found him, Cheong & Chai Dental. I still have not decided whether of not he is an MD. The story of my friendship with Cheongchai is simple; I go to the gym across the block from the 24 hour store you see in the picture. One day, as I sometimes do after gym, I drove to the store to get my isotonic drink after working out. There was this cat, just sitting pretty in front of the store. As I normally do when I see cats, I called out to it, you know, the sound that the gecko makes. Kind of like tsk tsk tsk.. Cheongchai looked at me indifferently, almost as if he was saying, "Yes?". Then he turned away. I walked into the store and did my shopping and left. As I walked out of the store the cat was still there. I spoke to him again, this time asking him if he was hungry. Again he looked at me non-chalantly. Thi...

UPDATED AUG 19: Aren't songs just a wonderful way to express one's feelings? After being silent for about 3 months - and getting alot of flak from fellow bloggers, friends and foes about it - I thought it appropriate to start the ball rolling with this wonderful Eric Bennet song, in which he duets with Tamia. If you're in love, about to get married, THIS is the song. It's be a great wedding march song! So much has happened in my life in the 3 months of silence; all my blogs went comatose during this period. Been busy with a new project that is set to take off in the next few weeks, sorting out my private life and the rest of the stuff that people do. So here's hoping - again - that I can muster another round of sustained blogging. Welcome all, once again. Spend My Life With You I never knew such a day could come And I never knew such a love Could be inside of one And I never knew what my life was for But now that you're here I know for sure I never knew till I l...

This Friday, the Malaysian Chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) will hold its Silver Quills Award ceremony, honouring the best communication efforts of Malaysia's corporates. The event will be attended by Minister of Women, Family & Community Development Dato' Sri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, and will be held at Hilton Kuala Lumpur. The side program may interest you if you are a blogger, or if you're wondering how blogging has affected how corporates relate to their public. Seats are still available, and you can get the details by clicking the IABC Malaysia logo at the top of this posting. Price includes a scrumptious hi-tea. Renowned blogger and friend Jeff Ooi will be part of a three-panel team, along with another famous blogger Ahiruddin "Rocky" Attan . Also on the panel is branding expert and award-winning author Nick Wreden. Your truly will be moderating the session. I am told that this is a pre-cursor to more blogging-rel...

Ahh... the beauty of desktop publishing. Presenting to you, www.themalaysiagazette.blogspot.com addressing many views that I should have a "serious" blog, and leave notwoxer as it was. I hear you. Enjoy.

I heard on Lite.fm at 5pm today that Mazidul Akmar Sidek, the plump host of TV3 crime-documentary was charged with injecting amphetamines into himself. The charge, made with three unnamed persons, was that he injected himslef with the substance in Johor Bahru. I'm going to follow this closely as I have met him a couple of times; didn't seem the type to play with the substance.

Islamic Relief (or here ), a UK-based charity foundation is organising a charity viewing for Shrek III for orphans from a particular orphanage. You can sponsor a child to watch the movie! It starts at RM 30 per child. Get your details from the links above, and help spread cheer among the less fortunate. Volunteers are also welcomed. I'm helpng a friend who works there; hope you can spread the word too.

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I used to think he was a football God, but after this, he can kiss my ass for any ounce of respect from me. So we didn't win anything this season, so we didn't make the Champions League again, but hey, we didn't spend millions either. Wait a minute? Arse-senal did! And a check at the trophy cabinet for the season shows.... Eh... kosong aje? Bits of the French snobbishness: "I would like to remind them that once again they have not made the Champions League". "What makes me laugh is the way Tottenham always celebrate whenever they get a draw against us". "It was the same when we won the league there in 2004. They equalised to make it 2-2 that day and when I saw Taricco celebrate so much that he injured himself, I said to him 'you do realise we only needed a point and now we are celebrating the title on your ground." Brudder, I see you in PJ that time, siap you!

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The distinction has to be made between a case that has already been tried an a decision given, to one that is still in the process of trial. In such situations as the latter, the parties to the case shall not be described as one that has failed to effect an order, as clearly a judgement has not been made. It is then incumbent upon the parties, more so the party making a claim, to refer to the second party as merely the defendant or respondent. Only if a judgement is made, and an order to effect payment issued will the defendant or respondent become liable to further court proceedings IF he or she is in default of the order. However, it must be said that in such instances, under social observation the defendant is deemed as one that has failed to meet his responsibilities. Still, in the eyes of the legal system, the person is " innocent until proven guilty ". This is the very foundation upon which the legal profession is based, and one that is most closely linked to the uphold...

A friend emailed me with this message today: Bila i dengar berita tak elok about yourself. I terus tak nak kawan dengan orang yang sampaikan cerita tak elok tu. I straigt away delete the person number from my hp. My principle in friendship very simple. Dont ever enter the "PNC" of our friend and kita kena sentiasa bersangka baik dengan semua kengkawan kita. Bila ada yang mulut murai and suka sangat tabur fitnah,suka sangat jaga tepi kain orang lain then libatkan my fren ( i do believe memang baik) I memang naik angin. I just ignore all the mengarut story. I'm not perfect. Far from it. But being in the public eye somewhat, and at one point being married to another, your imperfections, true or otherwise, get magnified enormously. Some choose to listen to one side of the story. Some chose to listen to both sides but despite clarity, choose to run with the crowd, no matter how distorted it is. Still some, will juts listen to scraps from others and decide on their own the juic...

If you guys think this entry is about the Firefly & AirAsia issue (thanks Rocks), you're mistaken. Returning from Sri Pentas, I was walking up the stairs of my abode in Bukit Jelutong in Shah Alam (which is a Guthrie development; it was Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim's vision to make Guthrie multi-faceted and not merely a palm oil planter, when of all things, a firefly flew in front of me. I was ecstatic! But my trusted Nokia 6288 phone was on the blink, so I only had my small Nokia phone camera to spare. I took some really awful shots with them, and I will post them here as soon as I figure that phone out! But what a pleasant surprise. The green light of the firefly just put me in absolute awe of the power of Allah, and the beauty of nature. Perhaps the firefly - which I named Paswan (for it was past one a.m.)- got lost from all the brouhaha in Ijok, and got sent here. Guthrie is developing a lake (read: drain) district here, and perhaps these little creatures will make a new hom...

So Sharifah Mazlina is back from her arduos journey to the North Pole, and adds to her achievement of getting to the South Pole exactly three years ago to the month. She is the first Asian woman to achieve the "pole-to=pole" mission, was the first Asian woman to get to the South Pole, first woman in the world to cross the Atlantic in a solo ski-sail expedition. Congratulations to her. She's one tough lady I suppose, as not many people, man included would have braved those journeys. It's expensive too I am certain. Oh... she had sponsors. Anyway, she was "live" on TV minutes ago as TV3 interviewed as a large crowd of "supporters" gathered to greet her arrival (they were suspiciously wearing some corporate uniform though). At the end of the interview, she raised the Jalur Gemilang, and she pointed out ink stamps that were clearly on the yellow crest moon and the multi-pointed yellow star. These apparently marked her north and south successes. I am no...

Hello all, MALAYSIA BOLEH I have started a new blog, that will delve into the colourful way that Malaysians and malaysian companies approach their communications. MY Country, My Speak takes a peek at the funny and sometimes irritating ways... It debuts with a new word I discovered only last night: PRESENTATED . Enjoy! AMIR MAHMOOD RAZAK

UPDATE: Hah! Perhaps the police we're being extremely tactical in saying the case was closed. Let the suspects let their guard down then WHAMMO! YOU'RE BUSTED DUDE! Let's pray that this case is solved quickly and we kill two birds with one stone; the perpetrators of the incident as well as the begging problem in KL and other major Malaysian cities. AMIR -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- While the nation I am sure has sighed relief that Muhammad Nazrin Shamsul Ghazali has been returned to his parents , a quick corridor survey I conducted confirms my own doubts if the case should be treated as closed; people are asking many questions: a.) why was the boy shaved bald? b.) the claim by the Myanmarese couple that they did not know what to do after finding the boy is unbelievable The case is closed, as far as Malaysian police is concerned. IGP...

I was overseas last week when my friend called me up, and said that my kutu dues are up... ok, ok... so we men play kutu too! He had advanced his money to settle my portion to this month's beneficiary, and then his dad passed; he needed the cash quick. With the advent of Internet banking, I can "go to the bank" 24 hours a day, but I was in the middle of the foreign city, and no Internet access. Empathising with a friend in need - who had advanced his money for my dues without me asking so - I texted my brother in KL. "Abang, can you get to a Hong Leong Bank anytime soon? Need some assistance to deposit cash into a friend's account." "Sure, if the one near my house has a cash deposit machine" was his response. I then sighed relief, and sent him this message: "My friend's father passed away and he needs money that I owe him from kutu for the prayer ceremony. Please deposit RM500 into this account (I gave the name and number)". He replie...

Hello all, Apologies that I have not updated the blog in almost two weeks, but boy have I been busy (on something I can hopefully share with all soon!). I was out of the country some time last week, and took these photos... Any guesses where this is? Properly built five-foot ways bordering construction sites, appropriately attired external building cleaners... Anyways... that will be a subject I'll blog on these next few days... Read on comrades...

The best thing about blogging is there is no such thing as "we'll go to print at 12 midnight", or, "the taped interview will be done in 3 hours including editing". It's instantaneous; and with GSK's Za Tahir being so responsive and helpful, it makes us bloggers' life a lot easier. God knows there too much stress going around already! Za has thanked me for getting the issue to my network, which I must say was just my kids and I, and maybee my fiancee Noraishah and a primary schoolmate Lisa Ashburn. But Jeff Ooi is a brudder to me, so when he found out I was following the case, he linked me. Thanks bro! Anyways, here is Za's response; she first apologises for the confusion: Please accept my apologies for any confusion that might have arose. I am pleased to clarify the miscommunication and would appreciate if you could amend as follows : " GSK confirm that Ribena products sold in Malaysia are certified halal by JAKIM (Jabatan Kemajuan Islam Mal...

GSK Malaysia's Za Tahir called me up yesterday afternoon, apologising that she was not able to reply to my email earlier. I had asked GSK's position on independent testing of the Vitamin C content of their local and imported Ribena packs, as well as several other issues. Za was stuck in Putrajaya (for a meeting I presume), and asked if she could "articulate a response" later in the evening. I agreed, and about 7:30pm I received her email. Excerpts: FYI, occasionally the Ministry of Health conduct post market surveillance on our products. Hence, we are open to an independent laboratory testing for Ribena. We confirm that Ribena Concentrate contain the stated levels of Vitamin C, as described on the product label It is heartening to know that they are not secretive of their products; it is a mark of a consumer driven company, although I speak only of the Malaysian operations. Truth is, no matter how you look at it, the case in New Zealand and Australia may prove to be ...

An anonymous comment left on my immediate previous post on this whole Vitamin C brou-ha-ha reminded me of my marketing school days; that USP that we look for can be so strong that people buy into the USP blindly, forgetting that the very USP we buy a product for may actually be available elsewhere. GSK positioned that blackcurrants contain more Vitamin C than oranges - this statement alone can be viewed and internalised from many angles. But only two fruits are in this equation; no problem there, and the claim is supported by a weigh-for-weight debate. But did you realise that Vitamin C is also obtained from your good old spinach, broccoli as well as red and green peppers (yummy!). A Harvard School of Public Health article I found says this: Excellent food sources of vitamin C are citrus fruits or citrus juices, berries, green and red peppers, tomatoes, broccoli, and spinach. Left: Harvard School of Public Health Longwood Campus (from Wikipedia) The article says about 200 to 300mg of...

I have decided to pursue this matter further with GSK, following valid comments from visitors to my site. I have asked GSK to state their stand on several issues, the key one being their openness in allowing an independent laboratory to conduct content tests on the locally and imported ready-to-drink Ribena variants available in Malaysia. Like you and I, I am sure GSK would like to put this issue to rest as soon as possible so that all parties can move along. I expect GSK to reply as promptly as they did the first query, for which I thanked them via email. Kudos to them. We wait... and to kill time, see the picture of the two girls that floored a multinational from a school lab in this story. Australian and New Zealand Vitamin C lack quality? Well, you might think so if you read the story in the link above; "the problem arose when Ribena in Australia and New Zealand was left on shop shelves for too long, causing the vitamin C to degrade". I was never that good in science, bu...

As promised, GSK Malaysia has made an official statement. The email is from Azariah Tahir, the statement is by her boss. Encik Amir, Thank you for your email and please find below as requested. GSK MALAYSIA GIVES ASSURANCE ON VITAMIN C LEVELS IN RIBENA As reported in the press, GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare in New Zealand (GSK-CH) has accepted charges brought by the New Zealand Commerce Commission (NZCC) and has given undertakings to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) with regards to potentially misleading advertising statements and low levels of Vitamin C in some Ribena Ready-to-Drink products manufactured for the Australia and New Zealand markets. GSK Malaysia has conducted thorough laboratory testing of Vitamin C levels in Ribena. This testing has confirmed that Ribena in Malaysia contain the stated levels of Vitamin C, as described on product labels. GSK would like to reassure its consumers in Malaysia that the issues discussed with the ACCC and NZCC on...

Imagine my surprise when I opened screenshots this morning to find my favourite drink, Ribena - well, the manufacturers, really - being labeled a liar, much like us Malaysian bloggers. Sheesh... I thougt I had to investigate, as Aishah, Khadijah and I love the stuff! I even promo the stuff when people say I don't look my age, "It's the Ribena dude..." would be my immediate reply. From www.gsk.com.my: Ribena was first made in the 30s using blackcurrants and has since become one of the most popular drinks around today. During World War II, it was used as a dietary supplement for Vitamin C. Ribena now comes in a variety of flavours, but blackcurrant is without a doubt everyone’s favourite and contains four times as much vitamin C as oranges. It is a natural beverage containing no artificial flavour, colouring or sweeteners. In fact Ribena ToothKind, which was launched in 1998, is the only drink accredited by the British Dental Association and has been proven to help m...

Did you hear of the woman who attempted to drive her RM700k Mercedes SL500 into through a ford - a place where a river or other body of water is shallow enough to be crossed by wading - and ended up almost drowning herself? Well now you have! Sheepy Magna's location (centre left) In Leicester shire, England, a woman identified only as Hayley was driving using a satellite navigation system to a christening party, and passed through a farm. On a winding part of the journey, she missed a sign that said "UNSUITABLE FOR MOTOR VEHICLES". She was actually trusting her sat-nav which led her to the road, which was more suitable for 4x4s. Anyway, Hayley drove on, and reached a ford in Sheepy Magna (another duh!) village. Deciding that the sat-nav was the final word on directions, she drove into the ford. What the sat-nav failed to inform the driver was that it had been raining in good ol' Sheepy Magna for days, and the ford in the river aptly called Sense, was swollen. The love...

THIS ARTICLE FIRST APPEARED IN FREESPACE IN THE SUN Wikipedia defines culture (partly) as patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activity significance. Acceptable I’d say, but in a pluralistic society like Malaysia, is there one single Malaysian culture? Quite unlikely. Each race in this country has its own set of cultures and beliefs, passed on from generation to generation. Some hold on steadfastly to the values, some apply them on occasion, and still some totally abstain. Strangely, as I see it anyway, while a modern person may not necessarily live the culture, he or she is likely to defend it to the death. A burger-gobbling, pop-drinking and fashionable Malay, Chinese, Indian, Kadazan etc. may yet argue till blue in the face that his or her traditional values should not be impeded for any reason. Try telling the above-described Malaysian that he or she can no longer wear kebaya/cheongsam/saree for whatever reason, and the uproar will be louder than th...

One of my greatest memories of fatherhood is the moment you first hold your child after he or she is born. I remember my two experiences well, and up to this day, I can still feel the warmth of the baby, as well as the warmth of the moment. On May 3rd 1994, I became a first-time father, after my then-wife delivered Siti Aishah. If I am not mistaken it was about 7am when she finally decided to "appear", albeit through the c-section; her mom was already on the bed a good 36 hours earlier. AISHAH in 2004>>> When the nurse came out with the proverbial bundle of joy, I wept a tear of joy. As she handed the baby to me, I moved my arms to make the "cradle" that Romario made famous at the 1994 World Cup, and that was the moment.The moment when that warmth of a body that lay for nine months in a womb, floating and growing through the powers of Allah, connects with you. At that moment, I was overcome with joy, looking down towards this tiny being I held. Her name ...