Flying Dreams: This Time It is for Real

Yes, this is superb New Zealand technology. The Martin Jetpack will make you fly.

Remember the cartoon strip,"Dick Tracy" and how his gang of detectives fly atop streets and buildings to apprehend criminals.

Also recall, the opening scene before the credits of 'Thunderball' when James Bond escaped from the baddies by using a jetpack to fly off to a safe distance to his waiting car driven by a pretty thing.

Yes, reality has come. From the cartoon strip and the film strip, you can really fly once the Martin Jetpack is sold world-wide from military to recreational purposes. That is, after hey have the legal and regulatory framework in place.

The Civil Service Pay Revision: Big Time Fumble!

Fuming Mad!

The question one must ask is: Why did the JPA do what they did? It cannot be mere stupidity since this is not the first such salary revision initiated since the days of Mahathir.

Mahathir saw it fit to have civil service salaries revised from time to time. He did away with the royal commissions when he distastefully showed his abhorrence to particularly the generous Ibrahim Ali report. So, he clamped down any salary revisions that he thought was inequitable.

So, given such a history for revising public service salaries successfully from then on, what went wrong this time around?

To say the government is embarrassed is an understatement. I do not believe the JPA chief is out of touch or thinking only about fattening the wallets of the top apex post holders. Something is indeed amiss.

Let me speculate a little bit. We all love conspiracy theories, don’t we?

My first postulate is that it was directed by the executive. Working backwards with some form of approved budget ceiling and structure in principle, JPA with its sister agencies particularly the Treasury and the PMO started putting in the details. Sadly, the devils were in the details. Whatever they did, there was either too much money to be expended or some segment benefited more than others. As the deadline approached, after informing the political masters of their quandary, they decided to reward only the top echelons of the civil service with the top receiving the lion’s share. RM36,000 and above for 26 Premier post incumbents was just ‘inviting murder’! The minimum pay-rise is RM5,000 for these civil service demigods. That the AG and the Chief secretary should receive basic salaries above RM60,000 monthly was national pillage! Even the Jade Emperor in the high heavens would be seriously distraught. Morality just got thrown out of the window.

Interestingly, the civil service umbrella union, CUEPACS, was not consulted or given the true and complete picture of the new salary scheme. Then, they religiously, pushed the scheme for implementation. Those with fat salary offers, numbering about 2,000-immediately signed the option papers. The others were forced and practically shoved to sign the papers,with little information given. When CUEPACS saw the wide salary disparity in the new scheme between the top and bottom-rung civil servants, they went ballistic!. Imagine only a miserable RM1.70 increase for drivers! I believe all those below the 54 grade got a disproportionate or raw deal. An impasse occurred and it was to be expected. Big time fumble, Mr. Chief Secretary!! Tsk!! Tsk!!

The second postulate is that JPA did a good job by being equitable; using the time- tested policy where those at the bottom rungs were given greater percentage increases while the upper echelons received lower percentages which effectively add more ringgits to their pay-slip. However, I believed, the government could not stomach such a huge salary bill. So, back to the cutting room and as the date-line approached, the JPA committee needs to do magic. So, they conjured a policy recommendation and sought approval from the political masters on their scheme; perhaps telling them that this will help bring Malaysia beyond the middle income trap. A good place to start was the civil service, beginning with the wunderbar 26 Premier posts with Santa Claus salaries! The private sector will surely follow suit,they might have possibly spun. I guess the political masters were convinced somewhat,albeit reluctantly, but were willing to test the waters and await the response from the public servants.

The rest is history. It must have shamed the PM no end that he had to do repair work immediately even before ‘the new car comes out from the show-room”. I think PM is just too gentlemanly as Shakespeare puts it, “too full of the milk of human kindness.” In other countries, heads would have rolled particularly that of the Chief Secretary and the JPA chief.

A 1.4 million vote-bank for the government is at stake. You cannot aggrieve civil servants because they can really put a nail into a political coffin. That also includes the strategic postal votes when army personnel and police are involved. Most people do not forget easily; much less, are forgiving. They will remember the slogan when it impacts upon them. The "Rakyat First, Performance Now" slogan just got brow-beaten!

So, what is the cost of this remedial work? From RM2.6 billion to implement the flawed scheme, an additional RM2 billion (77% increase) is now required to make happy faces in the civil service. The pensioners must also be appeased. So, remember them as well!

Will the revised scheme be really 'satisficing' to the civil servants?

It better be.

If there are still major segments of the civil service that feel left out after this new revision,there could be unseen repercussions and backwash effects when the next General elections take place. So, the earlier a more equitable scheme gets implemented, the better.

Otherwise, holding the General election soon will surely be another tsunami disaster for the BN.

This is one bad call, JPA!

The Prime of Susan Dey

Time lays waste to most beauties.

So, some of these beauties do not mind showing off their bodies in Playboy magazines or even upload their nude photos onto their internet blogs for preservation and posterity.

Others just leave pretty pictures of their youthful beauty to remind the world that they were once beautiful creatures.

These are some of the photos I found of Susan Dey.

Enjoy!

The David Cassidy Revelation

Bedding Each Other

It can happen and it did happen.

When beautiful people meet, they have a certain tendency to conquer each other right up to the bedroom.

So, it is small wonder that David slept with his TV- sitcom sister Susan Dey.

This is his confession from The Globe.

" Seventies hunk David Cassidy has stunned fans by revealing he once bedded his TV sister Susan Dey.Confessing that he was never that attracted to the teenage actress when they started shooting “The Partridge Family” together, she was so determined to sleep with him that he gave in. He deeply regretted it on hindsight.

Cassidy tells in the tabloid, The Globe, “I find a certain sluttiness very attractive in a woman, and Susan just didn’t have it. She was sweetness and innocence, a good girl, and I couldn’t think of her as anything but my sister.”

Well,life is like that, don't you think so, David?

Remembering Whitney

As news of Whitney's death went viral over the internet,the world missed a heartbeat. We have again lost another treasure of the human race.

In memory, the world paused for a while to remember this great soul.

Flowers and Condolences

Remembering the Great Whitney

Whitney-Always in our Hearts

Passing on of Whitney Houston

Another legend has gone away.

The unrivaled Whitney Houston is no more with us, departing 11 February of a likely drug overdose.

Shining No More....

The BodyGuard with Kevin Costner

The Grammy Champ

Sad as it may be, we remember her for her classics, " Home","One Moment in Time" and "I Will Always Love You"

Listen, remember and cherish!

No Time To Regret

Live Life

The gems of living especially to the golden age........

This is a very well written counsel of how one must manage life as we aged gracefully on.

" I have seen too many dear friends leave this world, too soon; before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging.

Whose business is it, if I choose to read, or play, on the computer,until 4 AM, or sleep until noon?

I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 50, 60 & 70's,and if I, at the same time, wish to weep over a lost love.

I will walk the beach, in a swim suit that is stretched over a bulging body,and will dive into the waves, with abandon, if I choose to, despite the pitying glances from the jet set.

They, too, will get old. I know I am sometimes forgetful. But there again, some of life is just as well forgotten. And, I eventually remember the important things.

Sure, over the years, my heart has been broken. How can your heart not break, when you lose a loved one, or when a child suffers, or even when somebody's beloved pet gets hit by a car? But, broken hearts are what give us strength, and understanding, and compassion. A heart never broken, is pristine, and sterile, and will never know the joy of being imperfect.

I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turning gray, and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face. So many have never laughed, and so many have died before their hair could turn silver.

Serene

As you get older, it is easier to be positive. You care less about what other people think. I don't question myself anymore. I've even earned the right to be wrong.

So, to answer your question, I like being old. It has set me free. I like the person I have become. I am not going to live forever, but while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or worrying about what will be.

And I shall eat dessert every single day (if I feel like it)."

Well put.