April 30, 2012

The Heart With A Million Knots


Perhaps I was very young. Easily enamoured by the beauty of Chen Chen and the romanticism of that tender age.

Those were the days that we can associate with the dashing handsomeness of Charlie Chan Siang Lin.

Even the movie with its ups and downs tend to even out as the good overtakes the bad.

The theme song was lilting and softens our hearts for the young lovers.

Interestingly, it was a fairy tale that we all gobbled up like geese.

These days, the younger generation may not take too easily to this kind of gooey-saccharine movie.

But for old foggies like me, it was certainly heart-warming to see the beautiful Chen-Chen all over again, as young and as fresh.


April 29, 2012

The Golden Touch of Ray Harryhausen


Prior to computer graphics, the world of animation belonged to Ray Harryhausen.

Ray have lent his skills from such great epics such as Jason and the Argonauts to the classic Sinbad movies.


So, now that the Bersih 3.0 climax is over, I settled down once more to walk down the memory lane of movies.


This time, I immersed myself to look at Ray Harryhausen's magic at work in The Golden Voyage of Sinbad. Story-wise it is no more exciting that any yarn spun from the Arabian Nights. However, the magic of John Philip Lawas the debonair Sinbad, Caroline Monroe as Margiana and Tom Baker as the Evil Wizard, Koura in search of youth has its chemistry.


Caroline Munroe is obviously a sight for sore eyes then.

Also, the catch phrase, "Believe in God but tie your camel' reverberates throughout this movie.

God movie and I will have more pleasant strolls down memory lane soon as I intend to watch The Seventh Voayage of Sinbad and Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger after this.

April 27, 2012

Bersih 3.0-To Be Discreet?

Today (28 April 2012) will see a potential fight between the victorious Gods of power from Putrajaya and the so-called vanquished Titans of Bersih 2.0.

Until it begins and plays out from the hours of 2.00 to 4.00 pm, one cannot tell but speculate.

There will be a sea of colour in the expected mammoth crowd but yellow will dominate and possibly green.

The government is not stopping the LRT and so we can expect more to turn out in spite of the clampdown around the Dataran Merdeka.

Though, I would not expect many BN component parties to send its people to participate (in spite of MCA allowing its members to do so),there will be some intermingling with the crowd for sure.

I do hope they are no trouble makers up to mischief who can cause the whole protest to go awry.

Some heading for the venue may be emblazoned in yellow Bersih 3.0 t-shirts and its signature emblem. Others may come as they will.

This photo of a person discreetly having a yellow item in his pocket as he rode the LRT is a sign that history may be made today if they can really get a juggernaut of a crowd to appear in the streets of Kuala Lumpur.


Will it be might and mayhem at play?

Or will it be a peaceful outing?

Let us be witness to it.

The Iconic Holly Golightly


Remember the movie Breakfast at Tiffany's?

Yes, we all do, don't we?

It was classic Audrey Hepburn.

Now, they are re-shooting it with Anne Hathaway in the role.

Anne is lovely.


Do you like the first shot here?

YTL-The Obvious Treasury Buy-in


This is one interesting counter.

Just when you think that it has gained traction,it begins to slip and believe me, it slipped below the RM1.60 radar today, going to RM1.59. This is definitely not in the comfort zone of most minority shareholders who would have averaged about RM1.50 after almost more than a year of YTL's stock split to 10 sen.


Even before the lunch close, I knew they will do some mickey mouse on the counter to bring it back to its overnight level of RM1.64.

And by Jove they did, punting it up from RM1.61 to RM1.64 all the way till the close.

And it was obvious that they are Treasury buy-ins which they reported accordingly.


Let us see what happens to the counter this coming Monday.


April 26, 2012

Bersih 3.0 : Here We Go Again


So, history will repeat itself this Saturday.

A total lockdown of Dataran Merdeka is now set into motion.

It is now Day 2 to to the much anticipated sit-in.

If the people are fearful of the authorities, they will buckle and seek alternative venues.

If not, then it will be head-on and see who inevitably blink or play chicken.

Let us see how Saturday 28 will turn out.

Sing A Song of Digi


Yesterday's announcement that Digi will pay an interim dividend to shareholders 5.9 sen for each 1 sen share for the year ending December 2012 must have been music to their ears.

To top it all, Digi will also, as a special payback, distribute special dividends from the value it acquired from the diminution of share value in Digitel from 10 sen to 1 sen denomination.

That means every shareholder with 1000 Digi shares will stand to earn RM 123.00.

So,it came as no surprise when Digi shares were sought after from mid-morning today.

The shares added 10 sen on the close with 1,360,960 shares traded.


Would we see more upside?

April 25, 2012

Come Drink With Me Again and Again


I managed to walk down memory lane tonight to feel again the nostalgic vibes of the mid 1960s through one of the most classic wuxia films to come out of Shaw Brothers Studio in Hong Kong. Come Drink with Me directed by famed King Chuan stars the delectable and vivacious Cheng Pei Pei as Golden Swallow combating a brigand of outlaws trying to set up a prisoners exchange.


Though, without the aid of computer graphics and special effects, the movie continues to hold me in awe and the other stars like Yueh Hwa as the Drunken Cat and Chen Hung-Lieh as Jade Faced Tiger do provide excitement to the film through their acting prowess.


A good movie and ranks in the top league of sword play movies such as the benchmark making The One Armed Swordsman and the original Dragon Inn.

April 23, 2012

Bersih 3.0-A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Dataran Merdeka


The Peaceful Assembly Act has been passed en masse in Parliament much to the frustration of the dissenting voice.

There were some peaceful demonstrations lately and the police acted accordingly because they believed the numbers were small.

Then Bersih 3.0 was declared.

Then everything went haywire.

The Home Minister says fine, it is allowed. But with a caveat as the venue is subjected to the approval of DBKL.

DBKL says no.

Home Minister says that they should provide alternative venues for the sit-in.

The Mayor came back with three venues from Titiwangsa to Cheras.

Bersih says no-adamant with sitting in at Dataran.

DBKL warns of punitive action.

To make it worse, the Dang Wangi District Police Chief bans the sit-in saying it is sensitive to security, upping his boss,the Home Minister.

What a comedy of errors!

So, the stage is set once more for heavy street drama.

For many, a definite confrontation is good news and they will brave the elements to participate.

Will the police and the law enforcement agencies come out hard as on July 9, 2011?

Will there be a lock down, counter to what the Home Minister had said earlier on, that he over-reacted to Bersih 2.0?

A Funny Thing is really happening on the way to Dataran?

Anyone laughing?

The Searchers Continues to Thrill


For an old 1956 movie, The Searchers, continues to be as exciting today as it was yesterday.

A John Wayne evergreen, the movie pans out a tale of a man in seek of his niece taken away by a blood-thirsty Comanche war party.

Though the movie needs a little more tightening in terms of its film editing to be as exciting as today's movies, I still enjoyed the movie.

You will see a young Jeffrey Hunter playing alongside the Duke as they braved through both sandy barrenness of Texas and New Mexico of the desert to the cold snowy waste of the north.


Vera Mills starred as the delectable lady in waiting for Jeffrey Hunter.

Good movie like having a fun drive along the countryside in the pale moonlight of yesteryear.

April 22, 2012

Obnoxious People-Met Any Lately?


You may have been lucky. Not me.

In my many years of meeting people near and far, friends and relatives, colleagues and classmates, and whatever they may be; I have seen good people and the not-so-good ones.

What I distinctly abhors are the obnoxious know-alls and pointing finger types. They are so full of themselves.


Not only are they loud and unbearable, but they show the most shallow minds on almost everything yet professing to be masters of all.

To themselves, looking introspectively with the 'sun' being themselves, every one is below their station.


Pets make better companions.

The Lady-Intensely Real


This Luc Beeson movie, a biopic of Aung San Suu Kyi, is truly engaging.

For the unitiated of Burmese history and politics, it could really be educative.


For me, it managed to plugged some holes or gaps that I do not know in the tapestry of Burmese political history.

Michelle Yeoh and David Tewless did one fine job as Suu Kyi and Dr Michael Aris. Their endeavours to bring about democracy in a lawless land ruled by machine gun and bullets is well documented in the movie.


The movie would have been better if it has taken in what happened this year when Suu Kyi won her seat in the Burmese Parliament.

A Milestone of a movie.

Bersih 3.0-Some Scenarios


Will there still be trouble in down-town KL on 28 April now that the Bersih 3.0 sit-in has been approved by the government?

I think for the government, it continues to be a pricky situation.

To lend credence to the just passed Peaceful Assembly Act, they must show that they are for the new era of democracy in Malaysia. At the back of their mind, they might still want their hands on the hand-brake. So, they passed the buck to the appointed mayor of Kuala Lumpur.

This current mayor, apparently from a a better batch of civil servants, is caught with a red hot brick. He has to say 'no' to the sit-in site-the historical Dataran Merdeka or Independence Square. So, his deputy issues a letter saying 'no' to Maria Chin, the Secretary of the NGO. As far as the Bersih Secretariat is concerned, it is all action stations. They won't budge.

Some scenarios.

The first one is nothing serious will really happen. The police,RELA,DBKL and even the military will be all out to ensure traffic and crowd control. The foreign press will be happy and will report that PM Najib meant business and Bersih 3.0 was a victory for the government as it supports the dynamic liberalisation of civil liberties. This would be sweet for the UMNO Assembly on May 1st and be positive for the general elections speculated to be held in mid June.

The second scenario-There will be some trouble and skirmishes especially from Hijau as they march from KLCC to the Dataran Merdeka. Hijau is the movement supporting the closure of the Lynas Rare Earth Plant at Gebeng. So, if not managed well, there could be arrests, tear-gassng and even water canons. Could cause a back-lash from the Bersih supporters as they spilled onto the road to support their comrades.

The worst scenario-a repeat of Bersih 2 of July 7, 2011 though not to the extent of the mass arrest and total lock-down of KL. There could still be some sort of 'lockdown' with reduced public transportation, public transport interruption or slowdown.

In summary, what will the day after sounds like?

All parties will claim victory though a big turn-out will be a moral victory for the Bersih NGO and dissidents and not too good for the ruling BN.

Ruthless Gods of Mount Zion?


If you seen the full series of this Mount Zion saga, you would want to know why the gods are so humane both in greed and weaknesses.

Starting from the original Clash of the Titans which is the benchmark movie for the series,we have wandered into the dreadful re-make of the new clash and now the Wrath of the Titans.


Verdict?

The original is still the best but Wrath of the Titans is pretty good with the continuing saga story and the death of the gods.

The special effects is awesome.

Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes and Rosamond Pike add their presence to this movie that makes it a worthy film to watch.

April 20, 2012

New Re-rating Again for Digi.com?


I thought that after one of those analysts' call that Digi.com is fully valued,the interest for this counter will surely wane.

Looking back, this counter saw traction for one short period in February and once in early March.

In February, it roared to new heights scaling beyond the RM4.30 level on 8 February. The highest was at RM4.32 before it went sideways. On March 1st and 2nd, it again moved up with volume up the RM4.15 level. Since then, it has gone below the RM4 radar and is currently skipping along the RM3.90 level with much headwinds.

The impression one gets is that the price of Digi has been reached and the stock is now at its best value. As such, only long term investors knowing the value of a well managed company will dare to hold on to it. Also,EPF has been selling down the counter to get cash, puncturing the Bursa for sometime. Digi was not spared.

It has been about more than two months now that Digi shares have been looking for a breakout.The resistance price level seems to be at about RM3.93.

Interestingly, RHB has been giving out calls for investors to pick up this stock.

If I remembered, they recommended the share will hit a top price of about RM4.20 again.


Today, they put out another call stating the new found confidence and optimism that it will pole vault to RM4.40.

Are they pulling our legs?

One thing I am sure, Digi is awaiting for the BNM directive to allow Telenor to buy shares beyond 50% as PM Najib has already endorsed the liberalisation of the telecommunications sector. BNM was been napping here.

With this development, more shares will be mopped up from the market and Digi will then find traction to move up to RM4.40 and more.


At this price of RM3.90, if the Digi shares should jump to RM4.40, that represents a leap of faith of some RM0.50 sen. Deducting about RM50 for brokerage and ancillary charges,that would allow a clear profit of RM450.00.

Ain't that a steal?

April 19, 2012

Combating Incontinence in Old Age


As you grow old, incontinence will be your constant worry.

It is the involuntary lack of control of the voiding of urine.

As one grows old, the urinary muscle is weaker than the pelvic muscle and urine flows out much to our embarrassment, especially when you are out on a social function. You are also ashamed of the stigma when you leave wet marks on your pants, dress and even on the car seat.

A friend of mine called me yesterday and spoke of this issue. Diagnosed with over-active bladder syndrome, he has to frequent the bathroom often; more so on rainy days and when in air-conditioned rooms.

He spoke abashedly of the 'accident' he had yesterday. When coming out of his car, with a two handfuls of heavy shopping stuff, he could not get to his bathroom and so had the unpleasant experience of wetting his underpants,pants,socks and also a constant dribble of urine right up to his toilet.

He believed that the weight of the things he carried triggered the event.

There are actually 5 main types of incontinence one may be faced with.

The first type is the stress incontinence-also known as effort incontinence, due essentially to insufficient strength of the pelvic floor muscles.

The second type is urge incontinence-the involuntary loss of urine occurring for no apparent reason while suddenly feeling the need or urge to urinate.

The third type is overflow incontinence. Sometimes people find that they cannot stop their bladders from constantly dribbling or continuing to dribble for some time after they have passed urine. It is as if their bladders were constantly overflowing, hence the general name of overflow incontinence.

The fourth category is called the mixed incontinence and it is most common among the elderly female population complicated sometimes with urinary retention.

The next type is structural incontinence. Confined to women, this is again rare. A case in point are fistulas caused by obstetric and gynecologic trauma or injury leading to incontinence.

Finally, we have functional incontinence. This occurs when a person recognizes the need to urinate but cannot make it to the bathroom. The urine loss may be large. Causes of functional incontinence include confusion, dementia, poor eyesight, poor mobility, poor dexterity, unwillingness to toilet because of depression, anxiety or anger, drunkenness, or being in a situation in which it is impossible to reach a toilet.People with functional incontinence may have problems thinking, moving, or communicating that prevent them from reaching a toilet.Interestingly, disease or biology is not necessarily the cause of functional incontinence.

Well,the only hope now, to prevent anxiety attacks and subsequent embarrassment is to quietly wear an adult pampers. May be uncomfortable initially but it certainly beats going to the toilet all the time!




You Lucky Catfish!

Look at these pictures.

Don't ask me how the basketball went to sea. There are many explanations if you want to second-guess.

However, what is pertinent here is that it was one tasty morsel that the catfish could not let go off.

So, it bit more than it can swallow and got stuck for dear life.






A nature loving fisherman and his wife cut the air out of the ball and let the catfish go scot-free.

Thankfully, this did not happen in Asia.

Otherwise, it would have been crisply fried catfish in a wok!

April 12, 2012

The Future Plane for You

The real thing may not be here but the artistic impressions do reflect where planes are going both functionally and aesthetically.

It looks very futuristic just like out of a Star Wars movie.

Let us look at some of the visionary pictures.


What we are going to have.....

Air Travel by the year 2050 is going to be very futuristic. Though the the vision may not have been cast in stone, these photo shots do enthralls one ........

The plane we are talking about is the New Airbus, to take to the skies in 2050.

Airbus has unveiled a futuristic concept for a transparent plane that may be everyday air transport in 2050. With its see-through aircraft cabin, passengers of the future will get a window on the world as they fly through the sky. They will be able to see everything to the sides and in front of them.


The concept cabin unveiled at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London, would be of a bionic structure that 'mimics' the efficiency of the bird bone, claimed the company.


It would provide strength where needed, and also allows for an intelligent' cabin wall membrane, which controls air temperature and can become transparent to give passengers open, panoramic views.


The company believes that mid-century passengers might be able to enjoy a game of virtual golf or take part in interactive conferences, while the cabin 'identifies and responds' to travelers' needs.


In the 'interactive zone' there are virtual pop-up projections taking passengers to whichever social scene they want to be in, from holographic gaming to virtual changing rooms for active shoppers.

The 'smart tech zone' is tailored towards the more functional-orientated passenger with what Airbus describes as 'a chameleon-style offering.'


It aims to meet individual needs ranging from a simple to a complete luxury service, but all allowing 'you to continue life as if on the ground'.


"Our research shows that passengers of 2050 will expect a seamless travel experience while also caring for the environment," the Daily Mail quoted Airbus engineering executive vice-president Charles Champion as saying.


"The concept cabin is designed with that in mind, and shows that the journey can be as much a voyage of discovery as the destination," he added.

Though, many of us may not live to see it or experience flight on such a flying wonder,it is just a marvel just to look at it!

April 10, 2012

China Boleh!


Talking about competitve extremism, I do not think Malaysia can lick China.

They are leagues ahead, my buddy!


Now, just look at a typical sperm bank in China.

Look at what these nurses are doing?

These pictures tells you a million words.


No need for explanation or imagination.

China boleh, Malaysia mana?