RAM-Into the Looking Glass

Mirror,Mirror

As usual, we have the optimists and then the doomsayers.

What will 2013 be like  after the year is over?

Will there be disastrous world events with butterfly effects on our economy? Will the impending elections paralyze investment?

This is RAM Berhad through its looking glass.

The economy is expected to grow by 5.3% year-on-year in 2013 before accelerating to 5.8% next year on robust domestic demand and the gradual revival of external environment.

Domestic fiscal policy is  expected to remain accommodative as the implementation of key projects related to the Economic Transformation Programme  to pick up speed during the year.

Medium-term growth projection for the country ismaintained a 5.5% to 6% , supported by a stable expansion of the underlying factors of production.

As for domestic private consumption, it is anticipated to chart healthy growth due to favourable labour-market conditions instrumentally aided by a slew of Government initiatives and handouts.

RAM expects  that with an  improved business environment and relatively accommodative interest rates, private investment will expand further.

RAM is expectant that global conditions will gradually recover this year as policymakers in systemically important economies adopt an accommodative stance in an attempt to combat their respective structural deficiencies.

Malaysia’s export performance is expected to improve, in line with the revival of certain advanced economies. Similarly, import growth will likely be sustained by the resilient domestic economy, so they predict.

RAM foresee a fiscal policy that remains supportive of economic activity while the growth of public expenditure should moderate to meet the Government’s longer-term fiscal-consolidation objectives.

RAM notes the larger role of the “public-private partnership” method of financing in funding various development projects.

According to RAM's economists,“Conversely, the nation’s current-account surplus is expected to narrow as the acceleration of domestic investment closes the private sector’s saving-investment gap and increases imports."

They added that domestic monetary and financial conditions will remain relatively stable this year while inflation would likely increase at a modest pace due to healthy domestic demand conditions.

As such RAM sees  inflation to be moderate in the short term, with certain recently implemented policies  exerting some longer-term upward price pressures, The foresee the central bank  likely to adjust upwards the benchmark interest rates by 25 basis points this year from 3%.

[I have yet to see BNM in such a mode for a long time! Mostly it played 'chicken'.]

RAM opines that the ringgit might be more volatile in the short term due to global risk aversion but would retain considerable upside potential because of the currency’s strong fundamentals.

Meanwhile, they expect the global economy to expand by 3.5% this year largely due to growth from the emerging economies, with advanced economies expected to continue with their fiscal consolidation.

RAM's caveat:  They assume minimal occurrence of and impact from negative demand shocks in the advanced economies, along with limited disruption to global trade and supply of essential commodities.” 

Finally, this rating agency expects the US economy to accelerate to a pre-crisis growth pace of 2.5%, Europe to stagnate due to the enforcement of the European Fiscal Compact, which would improve the short-term sustainability of public finances  at the expense of immediate economic growth, and 8.1% growth in China from intra-regional trade even as global economic weakness weighed on the country’s economic expansion.

Do you believe RAM?

I think like most rating agency, they tread the middle path with all provisos and caveats right to the hilt!

The Death and Death of MCA in Johore

The Short Good-bye

With the recent Ponggol by-election win in Singapore by the Opposition in the city state, can we expect also such a turning in the  hinterland state of neighbouring Malaysia?

At the current moment, less than 40 days from the potential dissolution of the Johore State Assembly, there are no strong indicators that MCA has done anything that is substantive and significant to change the perception of the Chinese people in Johore. The best scenario is confirmed death to the party. No coroner is required

Why so?

The current crop of leaders such as the MCA President and his son as well as the other leaders in Johor continues to play second fiddle to the goliathic juggernaut brother, the ride-roughshod-over-you UMNO which continues to treat the sterile MCA as a good for nothing party except to take away potential UMNO seats. The best thing, these MCA leaders can do---continue to appear unperturbed, moribund and in hibernation mode;obviously oblivious to Chinese issues and its urgent resolution.

As long at the Chinese itch is not scratched, MCA will lose almost every seat it cares to stand.

The battle is set. The only thing to happen soon is engagement... and the resultant bloody nose for MCA.

There will be no Roland nor a horn for Roland to blow for quick rescue!

As a party without any great surviving leaders nor any promising second-echelon replacement, its bye-bye MCA.

Will you rest ten thousand years. 

Bridesmaids-On the Side of Female Melodrama

The Bridesmaids and their own exploits

The is a really a hen-party of a movie.

A maid of honour and a bridesmaid competed in one up-manship to plan a wedding of their friend, Lilian.

Beginning with  the hilarity of an engagement party that really went uncomfortable when Helen (Rose Byrne) competed with Annie Walker (Kristin Wiig) to show their close friendship with the Lilian, it went into  high note with the group literally crapping at a dress selection event due to food poisoning, then it soared to a  high drama unfolding on a flight with Annie going cuckoo and finally, Annie causing a rampage at a bachelorette party.

Rose by any other name....

While most part of the movie of predictable and lack zing, there were some smart dialogue.

Smart  Aussie Charm

The persona played by Kristin Wiig as the unfortunate lass in love and Rose Byrne  as the unsatiated wife in social disguise were brilliantly played.

It is great to see the vivacious Rose playing a softer role and a comical one at that.

Some dull moments but generally  good fare.

I Am Khan-From His Heart

Man in the Middle

Sharukh Khan is a megastar in India where Muslim is a minority. Oftentimes he has been singled out to be the one spokesperson that will help to soothe raw nerves between the minority Muslim population and the larger Hindu mass when things gets a 'bit tricky or rough'.

Here are his thoughts and reflections and the issues he and his family face each day when controversies arise. 

Read on.

I am an actor. Time does not frame my days with as much conviction as images do. Images rule my life. Moments and memories imprint themselves on my being in the form of the snapshots that I weave into my expression. The essence of my art is the ability to create images that resonate with the emotional imagery of those watching them. I am a Khan. The name itself conjures multiple images in my mind too-a strapping man riding a horse, his reckless hair flowing from beneath a turban tied firm around his head. His ruggedly handsome face marked by weathered lines and a distinctly large nose. A stereotyped extremist-no dance, no drink, no cigarette tipping off his lips, no monogamy, no blasphemy. A fair silent face beguiling a violent fury smoldering within. A streak that could even make him blow himself up in the name of his God.

Then there is the image of me being shoved into a back room of a vast American airport named after an American president-another parallel image of the president being assassinated by a man named Lee not a Muslim thankfully nor Chinese, as some might imagine. I urgently shove the image of the room out of my head. Some stripping, frisking and many questions later, I am given an explanation of sorts “Your name pops up on our system we are sorry”. “So am I ” I think to myself “Now can I have my underwear back please. ” Then there is the image I most see-the one of me in my own country being acclaimed as a megastar adored and glorified. My fans mobbing me with love and apparent adulation. I am a Khan. I could say I fit into each of these images. I could be a strapping six feet something — ok something minus about three inches at least though I don’t know much about horse-riding. A horse once galloped off with me flapping helplessly on it and I have had a “no horse-riding” clause embedded in my contracts ever since. I am extremely muscular between my ears. I am often told by my kids and I used to be fair too but now I have a perpetual tan or as I like to call it ‘olive hue’ — though deep in the recesses of my armpits, I can still find the remains of a fairer day. I am handsome under the right kind of light and I really do have a “distinctly large” nose. It announces my arrival in fact peeking through the doorway just before I make my megastar entrance. But my nose notwithstanding my name means nothing to me unless I contextualise it. Stereotyping and contextualising is the way of the world we live in a world in which definition has become central to security. We take comfort in defining phenomena objects and people — with a limited amount of knowledge and along known parameters. The predictability that naturally arises from these definitions makes us feel secure within our own limitations.

We create little image boxes of our own. One such box has begun to draw its lid tighter and tighter at present. It is the box that contains an image of my religion in millions of minds. I encounter this tightening of definition every time moderation is required to be publicly expressed by the Muslim community in my country. Whenever there is an act of violence in the name of Islam, I am called upon to air my views on it and dispel the notion that by virtue of being a Muslim I condone such senseless brutality I am one of the voices chosen to represent my community in order to prevent other communities from reacting to all of us as if we were somehow colluding with or responsible for the crimes committed in the name of a religion that we experience entirely differently from the perpetrators of these crimes. I sometimes become the inadvertent object of political leaders who choose to make me a symbol of all that they think is wrong and unpatriotic about Muslims in India. There have been occasions when I have been accused of bearing allegiance to our neighbouring nation rather than my own country — this even though I am an Indian whose father fought for the freedom of India Rallies have been held where leaders have exhorted me to leave my home and return to what they refer to as my “original homeland” Of course I politely decline each time citing such pressing reasons as sanitation words at my house preventing me from taking the good shower that’s needed before undertaking such an extensive journey. I don’t know how long this excuse will hold though I gave my son and daughter names that could pass for generic pan-Indian and pan-religious ones Aryan and Suhana. The Khan has been bequeathed by me so they can’t really escape it. I pronounce it from my epiglottis when asked by Muslims and throw the Aryan as evidence of their race when non-Muslims enquire. I imagine this will prevent my offspring from receiving unwarranted eviction orders and random fatwas in the future. It will also keep my two children completely confused. Sometimes they ask me what religion they belong to and like a good Hindi movie hero. I roll my eyes up to the sky and declare philosophically “You are an Indian first and your religion is humanity” or sing them an old Hindi film ditty “Tu Hindu banega na Musalmaan banega — insaan ki aulaad hai insaan banega” set to Gangnam Style. None of this informs them with any clarity it just confounds them some more and makes them deeply wary of their father.

In the land of the freed where I have been invited on several occasions to be honored, I have bumped into ideas that put me in a particular context. I have had my fair share of airport delays for instance. I became so sick of being mistaken for some crazed terrorist who coincidentally carries the same last name as mine that I made a film subtly titled My Name is Khan and I am not a terrorist to prove a point. Ironically, I was interrogated at the airport for hours about my last name when I was going to present the film in America for the first time. I wonder at times whether the same treatment is given to everyone whose last name just happens to be McVeigh as in Timothy. I don’t intend to hurt any sentiments but truth be told the aggressor and taker of life follows his or her own mind. It has to nothing to do with a name a place or his her religion. It is a mind that has its discipline its own distinction of right from wrong and its own set of ideologies. In fact, one might say it has its own “religion”. This religions has nothing to do with the ones that have existed for centuries and been taught in mosques or churches. The call of the azaan or the words of the pope have no bearing on this person’s soul. His soul is driven by the devil. I for one refuse to be contextualised by the ignorance of his ilk. I am a Khan. I am neither six-feet-tall nor handsome. I am modest though nor am I a Muslim who looks down on other religions. I have been taught my religion by my six-foot-tall handsome Pathan ‘Papa’ from Peshawar where his proud family and mine still resides. He was a member of the no-violent Pathan movement called Khudai Khidamatgaar and a follower of both Gandhiji and Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan who was also known as the Frontier Gandhi.

My first learning of Islam from him was to respect women and children and to uphold the dignity of every human being. I learnt that the property and decency of others their points of view their beliefs their philosophies and their religions were due as much respect as my own and ought to be accepted with an open mind. I learnt to believe in the power and benevolence of Allah and to be gentle and kind to my fellow human beings; to give of myself to those less privileged than me and to live a life full of happiness, joy, laughter and fun without impinging on anybody else’s freedom to live in the same way. So I am a Khan but no stereotyped image is factored into my idea of who I am. Instead the living of my life has enabled me to be deeply touched by the love of millions of Indians. I have felt this love for the last 20 years regardless of the fact that my community is a minority within the population of India. I have been showered with love across national and cultural boundaries from Suriname to Japan and Saudi Arabia to Germany places where they don’t even understand my language. They appreciate what I do for them as an entertainer — that’s all. My life has led me to understand and imbibe that love is a pure exchange untempered by definition and unfettered by the narrowness of limiting ideas. If each one of us allowed ourselves the freedom to accept and return love in its purity,we would need no image boxes to hold up the walls of our security. I believe that I have been blessed with the opportunity to experience the magnitude of such a love but I also know that its scale is irrelevant. In our own small ways simply as human beings, we can appreciate each other for how touch our lives and not how our different religions or last names define us. Beneath the guise of my superstardom I am an ordinary man. My Islamic stock does not conflict with that of my Hindu wife’s. The only disagreements I have with Gauri concerns the color of the walls in our living room and not about the locations of the walls demarcating temples from mosques in India. We are bringing up a daughter who pirouettes in a leotard and choreographs her own ballets. She sings western songs that confound my sensibilities and aspires to be an actress. She also insists on covering her head when in a Muslim nation that practises this really beautiful and much misunderstood tenet of Islam.

Our son’s linear features proclaim his Pathan pedigree although he carries his own rather gentle mutations of the warrior gene. He spends all day either pushing people aside at rugby, kicking some butt at Tae Kwon Do or eliminating unknown faces behind anonymous online gaming handles around the world with The Call of Duty video game. And yet he firmly admonishes me for getting into a minor scuffle at the cricket stadium in Mumbai last year because some bigot make unsavoury remarks about me being a Khan.

 The four of us make up a motley representation of the extraordinary acceptance and validation that love can foster when exchanged within the exquisiteness of things that are otherwise defined ordinary. For I believe our religion is an extremely personal choice not a public proclamation of who we are. It’s as person as the spectacles of my father who passed away some 20 years ago. Spectacles that I hold onto as my most prized and personal possession of his memories, teachings and of being a proud Pathan I have never compared those with my friends who have similar possessions of their parents or grandparents, I have never said my father’s spectacles are better than your mother’s saree, So why should we have this comparison in the matter of religion which is as personal and prized a belief as the memories of your elders, Why should not the love we share be the last word in defining us instead of the last name, It doesn’t take a superstar to be able to give love.It just takes a heart and as far as I know there isn’t a force on this earth that can deprive anyone of theirs. I am a Khan and that’s what it has meant being one despite the stereotype images that surround me. To be a Khan has been to be loved and love back — that the promise that virgins wait for me somewhere on the other side

The Prime of Piper Perabo

Blazing dances on the Bar Top

Coyote Ugly was about the first show that Piper Perabo took a center stage role

Prime Days of Piper

You can see a youthful and sleek looking Piper as she danced on a  bar top in wanton frenzy.

Sexy and Jazzy

Watching the show again 13 years later proves nostalgic and the fast pace action at the Coyote Ugly Bar is still incomparable.

Effuses charm

John Adam, Tara Reid, Andy Garcia and Maria Bello together make this a wonderful personal journey for me down memory lane.

Charming Maria

Hope Springs and Re-blossoms

Love's Second Chance!

This movie, " Hope Springs" documents a dysfunctional marriage between Arnold and Kay Soames.

Trying to bring  the zing back into their love and sex life, Kay challenged Arnold to leave for Maine for a  consultation with a marriage counselor in the small ocean town of Grand Hope Springs.

After more than 30 years and living their lives in a rut from day to day, through these consultations, they fumbled but managed to rekindle romance and took baby steps to renew their love for each other.

Though difficult to reconcile where their love have gone, open communication through the sessions would eventually bring the essence of true love back into the life of this elderly couple.

There is so many lessons to learn from this one film.

Tommy Lee Jones, Meryl Streep and Steve Carrel steered the film to a most satisficing ending.

Do not miss it!

Najib Razak-The Final Outing?

The Devils Within; the Enemy Without

It does not matter what dates are being speculated or set finally for the dissolution of Parliament or when will the 13th GE be held.

The writings could possibly be on the wall in plain sight for all to see.

So, with all the negative vibes surrounding BN's chances of coming in better than 2008 dissipating, what would you think Premier Najib would do?

Let us assume you are in Najib's shoes- what is your best strategy out?

There is that huge opposition out there showing more resilience despite some fall-outs. They have mended fences and are showing solidarity 60 days before the impending elections.

Then there is that 'potential cloak and dagger agenda ' within UMNO particularly as factions jockey to get  ahead of each other. The Premier, is very much aware of these people- his Brutuses and Nemesis-though the public can only speculate.

The best strategy is to go all out on a personal basis-a one man army driving the BN. So, we see Najib-- Obama-like-- moving like a whirlwind to touch base with the people almost everywhere his energy can bring him.

The goodies have been announced and some have been disbursed.

Next, choose only the candidates who are above board and have shown loyalty. The more new faces especially professionals would be better.

The MACC would be seen as an independent filter. Second and third-echelon leaders  will possibly be decimated from candidature; thus depriving  anti-Najib faction national leaders who will be given seats but with the ground being cut away from them.

By doing this, perhaps the sitting Premier can have a better chance of retaining the Federal Government and yet keep " the wolves at bay' in his party until the next UMNO elections.

The 13th GE-Optics, Optimism and Damage Control

Re-balancing act?

As the 13th GE looms on the horizon, the two opposing fronts are quick to promote optics and optimism about their success in the polls scheduled to be held by the end of March or early April.

Let us look at the BN side.

The goodies are being distributed until March. School vouchers for students have started and BRIM pay-outs are scheduled in February possibly just after the Chinese New Year. Somewhere in mid-March Form 6 and college students will receive their book vouchers.

Timing is everything now for BN until the dissolution of Parliament. The legal declaration of Hindraf  has also been so well timed just before the holy observance of Taipusam. 

Solidarity may win the Day!

On the obverse, the PKR is doing their best at damage control. The Allah issue with PAS changing their hues recently is thorny and pow-wow behind close door must have already taken place. The Kedah government debacle of  trying to restrict Chinese New Year lady performers from singing and dancing  at shopping complexes is a bugbear which  like a red herring,was silently shoved under the carpet. The sudden removal of  loose canon Nasaruddin from the Syura Council may appease some quarters in PKR particularly Anwar and the DAP.

While BN apparently is showing optimism through DPM Muhyiddin and Ahmad Maslan  in taking over Selangor and winning back 2/3 of Parliament easily which as usual is highlighted in the mainstream media, unforeseen incidents involving the police as well as the fall-out of the RCI in Sabah is causing some nervousness among BN component parties. The silence of the component parties on the Arabic word for God as well as the Bible Burning fete is not going well among the middle ground.

With FGV shares falling to be supported by pension funds from time to time, the government will certainly feel  the difficulty  of convincing the younger Felda  generation to vote for it en-bloc as in the past.

Today, the most classic optic is Tok Guru Nik Aziz spending his birthday with Karpal Singh in Penang. This is a message that things are now going to be better where PAS extremists and loose canons will be put to pasture. Also there is a possibility that there could be last minute seat talks between PAS and DAP before the all-out A-OK sign is given by Anwar.

Up to now, the component parties of BN have yet to salvage their position. Precious time has been lost and the last nail would have already being hammered deeply into their political coffins.  I think all of them have painted themselves politically into a corner. It is a cul-de-sac for them and a permanent sayonara at that!

Also, will Bersih storm into KL once more when the elections are call? Very unpredictable.

As the scales of the BN is seeking for a strong re-balance, the Sabah vote bank continues to be the RM 64,000 question.

Will it tip the scales for PKR with the slimmest minority to take Putrajaya?

We should know within 60 days.

Greed, Misfortune and Arbitrage

It may appear as a regular movie depicting greed and fraud but Arbitrage has its fair share of twists and excitement.

Over-tired arbitrageur

As usual it tells us about billionaires, big deals, fraud, crooked law enforcement and loopholes in the judicial system.

Wronged wife

I think Richard Gere really played the role of the arbitrageur to the hilt while Susan appears, as usual, as the dull, cheated wife; while Brit Marling played the role of a professional caught up in a fraud.

Professional Entrapped in Fraud

Good movie if you can find the time to watch it.

Argo Way or No Way!

From the dragon's teeth

This is based on a true event in the early days of the Iranian Revolution. On November 4, 1979, as the Iranian revolution reaches its boiling point, aggressive militants stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran, taking 52 Americans hostage.  This attack on the US Embassy saw 6 employees escaping to see refuge in the nearby Canadian embassy.

Throes of Revolution

Ben Affleck's telling of this true harrowing experience of the six refugees and an almost hare-brained ploy to take them out of Iran made the movie almost unreal yet chillingly exciting.

The Sook Acid Test

Imagine getting onto an airline which took off moments before the army took notice that they have been duped due to poor intelligence.

A Flight  to Remember

A great movie to come our way in 2013. Great movie-making.

BJFoods-A Wider Horizon and Better Future?

If you are sniffling around the board to look out for some worthy food-based stocks, there is the ubiquitous Old Town Coffee and the healthy Kenny Rogers franchise under Berjaya Foods Berhad (BJ Foods). Then there is the Sushi King outlets under Texchem and A and W under KUB. As for foods for the home, there is the heftily priced Nestle,Dutch Lady and F & N.

The food stocks that have disappeared are the food and beverage division of CI Holdings which is sold to Asahi Foods of Japan. KFC and QSR has just been privatised.

Quick  cash, quick food dispensing

Of those that remains, only BJFoods is a smorgasbord of fast food outlets. Currently, two feature well in its portfolio namely KRR and Starbucks. Coming on board soon is Jollibean, which BJ Foods swallowed whole-100% from Singapore.

Then we have Wendy's, Papa Joe's pizza  as well as Krispy Kreme Doughnuts which may be pumped into BJ Foods when the time is right.

Let us look at what BJ Foods just swallowed hook, line and sinker- Jolibean.

Bought with cash of RM18.77 million, Jollibean has 35 outlets, 14 Sushi Deli,  4 Kopi Alley and 2 Django outlets in Singapore. By March, BJ Foods will set up outlets in Berjaya Time Square, the Curve and at Sunway Pyramid.

Jollibean outlets will dispense food from a 200 to 250 square feet kiosk. Each will cost an investment of RM 200,000-300,000.

BJ Foods plans to open outlets in China, Indonesia and the Philippines. for China the target cities to start with are Shanghai and Guangdong.

The acquisition will not have any impact  on revenue and profits in FY2013 but will do so in F1Q2014.

BJ Foods have forecasted that for the next 3 years it will chalk up a robust  compound annual growth of 46%  in FY2015.

In Singapore, Jollibean will open 5 new outlets and are currently closing down 3 unprofitable ones.

AmResearch is confident that BJ Foods will go far with its regional presnce in the fast food franchise business.

So, would you invest in this counter or even accumulate them when the prices are attractive?

Beguiling Hard Selling and the 13th GE

Political Viagra Salesman

It's definitely a home run for both the BN and PKR. So say  hard-sellers from both sides as the elections looms so wafer-thin near.

So, who do you think will make it to Putrajaya?

This elections will be so keenly fought that any of the front can come in. At best it will be a hot-breath win for PKR if it makes it or a by a nose-win for BN because of the goodies it has sown and the blitzkrieg that is hammered down day-after-day by the main stream media. Remember-BN also has the advantage of incumbency,the rural vote-bank and all the governmental apparatus in its arsenal.

Elixir of political life?

But remember too, that all this hard sell, tough talk, and double speak and promises galore may not get into the mind of the voters who by now after almost a year of election postponement boredom, have already decided who they want to vote. The die is cast. The mould is set.

For the PKR, they have two issues that have to be solved which is definitely tricky and thorny. One is the hudud issue that they cannot see eye-to-eye with their other two partners in the coalition. The other is the Syura Council's interpretation for the Arabic word for God. Both these issues will not be resolved. Period. So the electorate will have to chew on this as they cast their vote. It is definitely a downer for PKR but who knows.

Vote this party!

As for the BN, the immediate issues that they face are truly itchy and need to be scratched at source; at all cost. The RCI in Sabah has unearthed unspeakable undoings of the government apparatus especially the tainted Election Commission and the National Registration Department. Fears abound that what took place is currently being foisted onto the current PKR-run states. As this citizenship issue and the phantom voters debacle cannot be resolved in the short term,it is a downer for BN. The Arabic word for God issue is coming up at the wrong time and may impact Christian votes as well as decimate the precious fixed deposit in Sarawak and Sabah. More harm will be seen in Sabah.

The shocking price increase for food is killing the budget of the voting populace. Even before the Chinese New Year, things are just spiraling up for no rhyme and reason. The economy is key. No about of statistics and gobbledygook gimmicks can impress the man on the street if the pocket in his pants gets larger by the month! The perception that the government is not doing anything against inflation, high profile corruption cases as well as measures to alleviate street crimes will also dent the BN's chances of victory particularly in urban and semi-urban areas.

At this juncture, do not listen to surveys carried out by so-called neutral organisations. Their sample and timing is always suspect and just like the investor write ups of investment banks, they fail to materialise.

There is a saying, you may be misled if you are "standing too close to the board". Like the proverbial saying," Miss the forests for the trees", these hard-sell evangelists and tough talkers will  fall short of their predictions as they do not want to see the things that matters and like the ostrich, their heads are now  hidden "deep in the sand" while the predators are ready to pounce on the other parts of its body. No amount of Viagra can save them!

So, election date is near; and do vote wisely.

What a Great MOH Lunch Meet!

Old Ties Reunited

As expected, we have lunch casualties; not like those that occurred in wars or border skirmishes.

Reflections of Better Times?

After promising that they will come, they have come out with the best excuses I have heard for a long time. None of them acceptable but certainly amusing as these excuses are absolutely unbelievable.

Those were the Days, My Friends

After fetching Mrs Chen to Bibi Chik Nyonya Restaurant, we awaited for the ex-colleagues of the Ministry of Housing to step into the restaurant.

Older and Wiser?

See cam first and plomped himself in front of us and helped to fix Mrs Chen's hand phone that was rendered in-serviceable after it fell this morning. Then came in Cheng Hong, Loi, Peng Seng, Check How, Lai  and Francis. Soon  Eng Koon appeared followed by David and Chai. Suraya came next. Sue followed. Yau Lee came in as the food was being served. Joyce was last to come.

Here, this is my e-mail

Those who did not turn up included Chee who is in the thick of  renovation works, Cindy who cannot be contacted, Chan who is having quality time with his two children. SY Tan  who had reasons to stay away. And one other friend who must take time off to teach his son how to drive.

I Can Draw This, You Know!

Be that as it may, those who came had one great bonding exercise. Even for those who do not know each other, they got engaged in animated conversation. I was truly surprised to see Suraya playing court to people that she met for the first time at lunch today.

Didn't I draw the airport design?

For Lai, it was definitely down memory lane taking with David. I was equally happy to see Eng Koon and Chai blending in and really be at home. Sue and Yau Lee from the Planning Department could certainly fit in with this crowd, I must say.

I have Popeye's arms

We split the bill which came to RM 603.50 between 16 attendees. Government tax alone came to
RM 26.00+

Food for me to chomp on

On the way back, Mrs Chen suggested that we have at least 2 gatherings such as these. We need not get everybody but if we could, that would be wonderful!

This meal is well-planned!

Most of us are looking forward for more time to exchange stories or even to discuss current controversies be it about  the current sterile civil service,mega rogue politicians or about the education system that has gone way, way down deeper than even the Marina trench!

This is your report card!

Photos of the lunch will be posted once Francis gets them processed.

Oh, yes. I remembered

Let's yum seng!

This chicken must taste good

David, a sen for your legal thought!

It was like this!

So, what have you been doing?

They tried to do me in. They failed

They respected me finally

This is good food

So, it happened?

In animated conversation

Suraya and See talking shop

Yes, I have heard this before!

Hear! Hear!

Don't just look,let's eat