The Sessions-Extraordinary Surrogate Sex Therapy

A Sex Therapy Session

This film," The Sessions", chronicled the real life story of Mark O'Brien, a polio victim that underwent adulthood by losing his virginity through sessions with a sex therapist.

A very dialogy movie, it tells us about the issues that goes in the mind of Mark and how  he felt about his own inadequacy and the need to grow.

As Old as She Gets

Th e movie also tells us about the world of a paraplegic who has no recourse to movement and yet was capable of sexual arousal.

That Mark finally died and was loved and could love three women tells us about life that transcends the physical being.

The Prime of Helen Hunt

Good show with a very oldish looking Helen Hunt who posed in full frontal nudity many times during the intimate sessions with John Hawkes.

The Liberated Pastor

Compared to her current physique, those times and pretty looks in As Good as it Gets and Twister were really her days of heaven!

William H. Macy has a great role playing a pastor with liberated thoughts while Moon Bloodgood acted as the supportive care-giver.

Abduction: More than a Chick Flick

More than Meets the Eye

Well, the movie at the start did give the impression that it is going to be one chick-flick after all.

Perhaps what restrained one from thinking so is perhaps the more heavy-weight stars such as Alfred Molina, Sigourney Weaver, Lily Collins and Maria Bello.

Usual grinny self

Taylor Lautner, for most of the time was his usual un-acting self  with his vacant stares and he-man action punches. The plot has actually nothing to do with abduction but more with international intrigue and espionage.

Candy Charmer!

A chance discovery by Lautner that his parents are not biological parents set the movie into action as the bad guys listened on the wires of the CIA that has a mole operative in it.

After the first 20 minutes or so, the movie went into overdrive and that's where the biting excitement starts.

Fast action but the final minutes with an expected ending perhaps dull a little of the suspense.

Still a good outing as a movie.

The Lost Generations of Malaysia

Bavani on BFM

K. Bavani is certainly a household word these days especially after her argument with a forum speaker went viral on You-tube.

I just had the privilege of watching her on BFM where she spoke about the reasons for her high-profile committed stance over the PTPN and the roots of her activism.

I guess for a Psychology graduate and a current law student, she has a fair grounding on political thoughts and   the derring-do to speak out amidst a background of students that have been taught the passive mode in thought and interactions  in the hallowed ivory towers of this country.

What concerned me when I saw the 9 minute or so video was despite her strong stand on issues, she could not express as well as she could to put her message through.

Say what you must, but Bavani is probably one of the members of Malaysia's post first lost generation. The first generation were those who had to undergo the changeover in the school system from English to BM and today the outcome of this has been the poor command of English and Malaysia losing its international competitiveness in terms of K-workers.

For Bavani, despite her possible escape from the dragnet of the current reversal of the school system back to status quo where English has again been relegated to an inferior position; and even though she can still throw her thoughts around in a staccato manner , we can only second guess her meanings. Her command of English is not good and because of that her thoughts did not come across so well in spite of the emotions she displayed  on the talk of  her ideals.

My contention is if Bavani is representative of most students at our local universities at this time, be prepared for much worse English command in the second lost generation.

This is indeed pitiful especially as world competitiveness becomes more acute, Malaysia will continue to lag behind because we lack the command of the world's number one language of communication in academia, the arts,the WWW and in entertainment.

Malaysian Politics:Losing the Plot!

Maverick donkey politicians? Aplenty!

Say what you may, politics in Malaysia has really gone down the drain.

At no time in the past have we been in a similar dreadful situation.

Off tangent and Losing the Plot!

What we have today is a political landscape of massive wholesale deception.

While the powers-to-be spew an ocean of disinformation, the other side is totally confused.

Seeing trees and not the forest

As they say, they have lost the forests for the trees.

PAS in particular is suffering from "too many cooks spoil the broth" and lack of discipline while DAP, indicating its colossal dearth of gray matter is jumping on the bandwagon to wrestle with Keadilan.

No less than Karpal Singh, the DAP President is showing off his apparent lack of strategy, giving unnecessary fodder to BN.

Karpal has indeed  lost the big picture too!

Even before the battle is won, the Pakatan Rakyat are drawing out their daggers. So many Brutuses!

So sad!

For MCA and Gerakan, there is just nothing for them to do but wait for political death to come.

The Hokkien has a word for this that needs no amplification- Bo Pien! See Kiao Kiao!

Parliament must be dissolved by 27 April while elections must be held by 27 June 2013.

The window gets narrower for PM Najib.

Now who is Flora Ong?

Deepak seems to be throwing new bombs of political destruction for poor Najib.

As for intra-UMNO conflicts, it will surely hot up even more!

So, let us have some fun as we loop back onto the rumour mills with Bala coming home tomorrow.

Sandiwara-The Pre-Elections Shadow Play

More of such shadows will be seen

With possibly less than 2 months going forward for the 13th GE, what we get these days in both the MSM and the alternative media is shadow play.

Strategy-wise, both sides will not want to blink first and destroy its so-called offensive camouflage.

The question we asked as innocent voters would be: Who is likely calling the big bluff?

Planned Disinformation

 And which party is the biggest dolt to expose itself unnecessarily so near the elections.

Currently, the downsides for the BN continues to be the weaknesses of its component parties except possibly for Sarawak.

Secondly, the BN is uncertain of its strategy.

They cannot lose the Malay votes and yet the have to doubly worked hard to salvage the chances of its component parties which without UMNO's help will be buried alive.

Capturing the Weak-minded?

Sadly, by doing so, it is sending wrong signals to the Malay electorate by its equivocal positions; and the murkiness that is being generated may cause it to lose seats in their traditional bastions such as Johor and Pahang.

For the Pakatan, the seams are unraveling at the worst time too!

PAS, as usual is providing the boo-boos for the BN to jump on.

Belittling the BRIM and questioning the potential leadership of Anwar as the PM in case of a PR victory is really counter-productive and some votes can be lost especially among fence-sitters.

Both sides do have weak strategies.

As such, it is the fight between the weak and the weaker!

Let us wait for clearer signals as the election day draws nearer.

Looking for Silver Linings

This movie which is aptly titled," Silver Lining Playbook" counsels us to look for the elusive silver linings in times when circumstances creates adversity in our lives.

Dashing Taylor Cooper

In this movie, the Bradly Cooper persona, Pat had just returned from a mental facility after 8 months  and had to cope with returning to society with a restraining order not to communicate with his ex-wife. He then meets Tiffany, a girl who is at loose ends after the death of her husband in an auto accident and who has just been fired from her job.

Charming Jennifer Lawrence

Then we have Robert De Niro as the father who is also betting on football to sustain himself to start a  restaurant business iafter losing his job. There is also Veronica ( Julia Stiles) who is having trouble with Ronnie   her husband as well . Finally, there is Chris rock, also  an inmate of the mental institution and friend of Pat.

The uplifting parents

The silver linings did come when all the loose ends  got tied up to everyone's satisfaction.

Well edited with a cool aura throughout the movie.

Entertaining show.

Why Google Translate Misleads.

I have translated and ENglish text using Googgle Translate.

Look for yourself, how the meaning is lost.

Establishment of educational institutions is a noble effort in designating penggarapan process. Knowledge and formal research universities of the earliest in the history of the world such as Al-Azhar Palencia Bologna, Oxford Cambridge and the University of Naples. In 1224, the world's oldest public university was built by the world's earliest civilizations based one purpose - as a center of educational research ideas and learning delivery and the development of knowledge through the medium of writing. This reality is totally contradictory to the purpose of the establishment of most universities today that seem transformed into institutional graduation recognition and most unfortunate that as a business rooted in profit. Ibn Khaldun sociological and economic historians figure in his article was a remark Prolegomenon submit the following people is a platform to achieve sovereignty and strength of a country's strength comes from economic prosperity built by human capital development. Development education can only be achieved through justice and inclusiveness for all. Aristotle also suggested that "Education should be a single and equal for all". A system that practices discrimination in education based on the ability of the economy will menatijahkan imbalance in the quality of human capital and workforce that will become the backbone of society. Both the above argument is the thesis of the article this.

A Chinese New Year Gathering for Friends of MOSTE

Not too noisy After all!

This is one rare occasion where former colleagues and friends of MOSTE could meet to renew their bonds of friendship and camaraderie.

And what better time than to have it within the Chinese New Year festivity so that we could lousang together for better health and longevity!

The Road  Map to the Restaurant

Sixteen of us were supposed to grace the dinner table but Mr Khoh was unable to make it as sadly he went to the wrong branch out the restaurant at Ara Damansara and in trying to come back to our dinner destination, lost his way along the new NKVE. As for Dr. Thiru, he was unwell and could not attend;sending both his regrets and regards.

Food was so-so but it was the spirit of brotherhood and sisterhood that mattered.

I believed we all had a great time on this 21st night of February 2013!

Before saying our goodnights, Dato' Leong suggested that we meet again soon possibly in 2 to 3 month's time.

We have even picked the restaurant-the Pantai Seafood Restaurant next door with its better food and price premium image.

For the record, the friends  of MOSTE who attended  were:

Dato' Leong
Dato' Cheah
Meng Leng
Siok Eng
Boon Khee
Jini
Chee
Chui Khoon
Heng Keng
Patrick
Goan Lee
Teik Beng
Kok Fook
Myself

YTL Corp-Fast Track to Singapore

Hi-speed to nowhere

The hi speed rail link project between Singapore and Malaysia has apparently been announced.

The heavy buying by EPF started yesterday when the prices of the counter fell.

YTL Corp went as low as RM 1.55 in the opening minutes before recovering to keeled off at the RM 1.56 to RM 1.57 level.

Then, geez, what do you know?

In the last 15 minutes there was a heave-ho!

Two million of so of shares bought in tranches of 500,000 shares.

The price perked up two cents to RM 1.58.

I smell the handiwork of EPF and other state pension funds!

In a normal market there could be day traders and speculators who would have jumped head-long onto YTL Corp.

The scenario these days are different.

Even if YTL Corp got the moon and Jupiter, any rise will be cut short be eager sellers out to make some small money to exit before the potential fallout wrought by the impending 13th GE news and the crazy politicking going on out there.

While foreign buyers are getting scarcer by the day, retail buyers are mostly missing except for some stale bulls and the state  pension funds doing national service.

Do not get excited at any price jump any day these days.

Stay out and watch the ice melt down the prices at BSKL as the days draw nearer when the Johore and Negeri Sembilan state assemblies dissolve by the third week of March.

Killer Elite- Ultra Violence Unexplained

Violence Personified!

Nonsensical violence-almost and that is what you get from watching these he-man actors with their punches, knives and guns.

Jason Statham, Robert DeNiro and Clive Owen showed that there is a little heart in the world for love.

Silent Type Killer

It's always a man's world out there and playing adult toys is hteir in thing.

It has been like that since the Rambo movies and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The plot is wafer thin; almost laughable of an old sheikh in exile wanting to take revenge on some invincible British SAS rogue soldiers who apparently killed his three sons in Oman.

Though the film claimed it is based on a true story, it is too far-fetched to be true to form.

Whatever it is, the only watchable thing in this movie is the beautiful Yvonne Strahovski.

Columbiana-The Cataleya Killing Machine

This is one violent movie and yet it engages you from the very start after the Bogota family annihilation by the drug cartel.

Reminds you of the movie, "Man on Fire".

Big guns

A young girl, Cataleya named after a Columbia orchid, trained up to be a professional killer until she gets to the man who ordered the killing oh her family.

Do not expect smart conversation from this movie but fire power from beginning to end.

Saldana appeal

Zoe Saldana of Avatar fame keeps you on the edge of your seat as she systematically disposed off her victims one after the other.

High octane action if you love this genre.

The Steady Decimation of YTL Corp- Why-lah?

Price Slide in the Offing?

It takes two to tango, so they say.

In YTL Corp's case, they certainly have tango out from the dance hall into the adjacent cesspool.

In its apparent haste to de-list as many of its companies,  the YTL Group  has taken out their most valuable listed assets.

First, it was the privatisation of YTL Cement and with that they no longer have to pay the minuscule dividends to the shareholders nor waste anymore money on its listing status.

Next, they intend to take YTLPower out as well as their Malaysian power concessions have not been extended.

So, YTL Power will be privatized by and by and will soon buy into energy plants perhaps in Europe and Australia.

What I felt distasteful about YTL Corp in spite of its sweeteners such as their distribution in specie of its Treasury shares as well as selling its YTL Power warrants on the cheap, is its never-ending market operations to buy back their corporate bonds by issuing YTL Corp shares at low prices from RM 1.60 to RM 1.80  apiece depending on the current prices of YTL Corp shares then.

This internal dilution caused any potential run-up of the prices to pause and YTL shares is stuck for an extremely long time below RM 1.80.

Then we havethe other tango partner - that sly barracuda swimming in the Bursa every trading minute-EPF and in its train-its trading agents.

While one agent will sell the share down, another will buy it  creating unnecessary trading activity.

Every time the market turns sour, YTL Corp will slide about 5% thanks to these agents.

If at all, there is YTL Corp Treasury action, it seems not to work.

Currently, YTL Corp shares are trading at RM1.56 as EPF has now turned buyer after selling them possibly in the mid RM 1.70s. You can check these records on the Bursa site.

And with the political uncertainties swirling;  and the flip-flopping Selangor MB deciding not to dissolve the Selangor State assembly anytime soon, we may have to wait a little longer for YTL Corp shares to find a price that will find traction.

Remember any upward action or even stabilising play could be the work of EPF or stale bulls.

Do not expect day traders on this moribund counter.

For the moment, any bad news will stumble YTL Corp shareholders and the price of YTL Corp may just tumbled below the RM 1.50 mark!

Caveat emptor.

Drive-Simple Yet Exciting Through It All

Cool Driver

Perhaps it is the cool demeanor of Ryan Gosling that provided some excitement to the show.

The Get-away Driver

No, there isn't any super driving skills shown in this movie that will match Bulitt.

Even the romantic aspects with Carey Mulligan was under-done.

Under-done Candy

Yet, through, it all, it does have its share of excitement amidst the violence that is unnecessarily unleashed.

BSKL-The Calm Before the Tsunami Storm

Plain to See

No one, in his wildest imagination, can fathom  this forthcoming potential calamity of the BSKL.

I think that there is hardly anyone who was truly involved in the mayhem unleashed on the market during the May 13 in the fateful year of 1969.

I am sure many lost tons of money when the stock market went almost rock bottom during the attack on Kuwait by Saddam Hussein in the year 1990 or in the 1997 currency contagion debacle.

While the European markets are still being roiled by sovereignty debt issues cutting any ability to buy more from developing nations, expect growth to plateau off or even dip slightly in exporting nations.

Any bad news on China's growth will impact negatively on our palm oil exports.

While the global economic picture does not seems one bit brighter, the local scene is likely to deteriorate given the impending national elections.

Signs are not good for BN to retain power easily.

Any further loss in state governments will be nasty for the National Front.

The rumour mills are fill of rumblings of the political decimation of the BN component parties except in Sabah and Sarawak.

Is the PSY concert creating negative vibes on the whole country?

Given this kind of 'sinking feeling' scenario, BSKL will likely slide due to attrition activities, if it does not receive a hefty  jab to the jaw.

Do not look at the high priced stocks that are the darlings of foreign funds such as BAT,F & N, Panasonic, KLK and Nestle. These are just index indicators.

A small drop in their price will create havoc. Similarly, a rise will jack up the index. They are mirage formers. Do not trust the index.

Watch out if you are holding penny stocks and those in the ringgit to two ringgit range.

If such stocks are not GLC holdings, they will be the first victims to fall to the effects of attrition as their prices will slide daily, even in minute doses, as long as there are weak sellers and greedy bargain hunters. Very soon, without you knowing,  these counters would have lost 10 to 20% of their value!

Some destabilising news will come from the Selangor front soon  if the MB should announce the dissolution of the State Assembly after Chap Goh Mei.

Whatever the outcome; irrespective of the possibility of the Sultan not giving his blessings or the Election Commission not willing to fix an early date for the Selangor polls, expect high octave uncertainty to occur on the political scene that will rock the BSKL.

The best thing to do is to have a big war chest of funds and jump into the market when there are clear signals  of a new stable government being formed.

Ensure early safe departure

Remember you cannot buy at the best lowest  price all the time  unless you are a dare-devil high risk-taker.

Buy in when the market finds traction and do so gradually; and have some reserves to take advantage of intra-falls as the market moves up after the general elections.

Meanwhile, don't play but pray!

The Phuket Tsunami

The Impossible Escape

The disastrous 2004 tsunami that caught holiday-goers in 2004 in Phuket, Thailand is the main premise of the movie, " The Impossible" starring Naomi Watts and Ewan MacGreggor.

There were moments when you expected the obvious and yet it did not come particularly that of the  fate of Dr.Maria as she laid in a life and death limbo in the closing minutes of the movie.

However, as many lives were lost, many families got away with scratches from this impossible natural calamity. That Dr. Maria's family was fully saved and reunited through this horrible event made for a happy ending for the film.

The two younger members of the family acted quite well and we are shown the emotive side of Ewan as he sought desperately for his missing wife and eldest son.

Quite a watchable fare.

Chinese New Year 2013

A Typical Low-cost in Air Keroh Heights

As much as we want it, ours has become quite a dysfunctional family.

So all the siblings had their own reunion dinner as usual on a household basis. For me it was with my wife and our two kids.

Chinese New Year fare-our usual traditional dishes of ju hu char with salad leaves and sambal, curry chicken and peppered pig stomach soup.

On the first day of the New Year of the Snake, I went back to Malacca along with the kids and their Auntie Shaline.

I spent some quality time with my Dad as well as with my siblings (Jimmy and Edwin) and their families.

On the second day, I visited my mum and my sister Iriene and her family.

Well, today which is the fourth day is a working day and tomorrow, my daughter has to go back to her desk job.

So much for CNY 2013.

Stale Bull Gangnam Style on BSKL

Stale Bull Action?

It is now post CNY and today is the first day of trading.

What can be seen is stale bull action or possibly corporate buy-backs for the treasury to ensure that the stocks hold up in the advent of the impending 13th GE.

The pertinent indicator today will be volume.

I expect the trading on blue chips to be thin with support for government-backed counters such as FGV.

The telecommunications counters which has fallen quite a fair bit is improving marginally.

Large cap stocks are just maintaining their price range.

Do not expect an adrenal rush to occur anytime  amongst buyers.

No gangnam music is heard so far.

Master Drummer for Penang Votes

PM Najib has taken up Chinese drums to cajole the Penang voters of Chinese stock to stick with BN.

Heave-ho beat!

Will the hard beating of the Chinese drums do the trick?

Will he get the swing votes?

The Commoditisation of Decent Housing

Selling to Those Who Cannot Afford

The prices of housing is going up especially in prime areas in the Klang Valley.

The last four years saw terrace houses shooting to almost half a million ringgits in the Klang Valley.

About 85% of the workforce, mostly between the ages of  25 and 35 years of age, earns about RM 5,000 or less.

When houses go to prices beyond RM 400,000, it is difficult for them to buy as their income will only allow them to buy houses at about RM 250,000.

Sadly, such medium priced houses can only be bought south of Nilai or  north beyond Rawang. The cost of transport will 'kill you' if you buy so far away.

With developers producing high-priced houses, new graduates who are saddled with PTPN loan and car loans will find it hard to even secure  loans to buy houses.

As developers get more greedy and profit-driven and continue to build high priced housing schemes and banks continue to lend to those who actually cannot afford to own houses, the bubble may come and we may join the ranks of Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain anytime within the next 2 years or so, if we are not careful.

Many are speculating that the bubble will burst once buyers are no longer buying.

So, when there are no buyers, developers will be stuck with housing stocks and they would have to get rid of this overhang with more inventive marketing.

In my opinion, the bubble may have been postponed by BNM's 80% financing limit.

I also believe that developers are also slowly having less launches of boutique housing types and will build accordingly to a more conservative price-range.

So, while the the bubble may have occurred to some extent  in the commercial and condominium sector in the Klang Valley, I do not see it happening in landed residential property as yet.

So, I would expect those public-listed developers to continue building high priced boutique units in and around Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya.

So, let us look at the trend of property starts as the year roll by.

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Najib's Penang Gambit or Gamble?

Sometimes, we wonder.

How much do these Penang voters really dislike Najib?

The Gamble or Gambit for Penang?

To me, the answer is an almost clear neutral.

The Penang folks have nothing really against PM Najib.

Penang Bridge in its Splendour

They are really against bringing back the almost dead Gerakan and its already dead MCA ally and the unashamed UMNO Malay leadership sans the interests of the hearts of the Penang folks.

Prime property

So, whatever promises Najib makes, they will possibly take it with a sneer of disbelief as so far none of what Najib has said has come to fruition except for the Psy concert.

The offence or defense?

As the young is sought by Najib as they represent a formidable voting bloc, the younger Y  generation who are first time or second time voters will definitely see that whatever goodies brought over in this electioneering period be it the low-value upgrading of Han Chiang to a university college, it will not have any direct effect on them as they are already victims of a national system that is fast breaking down and plummeting to lower depths in almost all dimensions.

Then, they are quite happy with the current Guan Eng-led government which has administered quite fairly amongst all ethnic groups and transparently as well.

To me, Penang will be a broken dream once more for PM Najib with a fragmented Malay voting bloc (3 ways) and an UMNO in apparently deep, treacherous disarray.

PSY-Millions Gone in just Four Dances

Psy Dancing a Storm at Han Chiang College

I guess by 12.30 p.m today, it was all over.

Imagine 15 minutes and a purported RM 2 million was gone with the wind!

Psy pranced along doing 4 dances with one as an encore of the famous pony dance.

Hot Malaysian Cash!

It was blisteringly hot but entertained he did.

No one felt let down by this global sensation!

Najib's play to the gallery to win BN' s support at the show did not go down well with the audience with some loud  resounding "No"s to his call to support BN.

What a day for Najib.

On hindsight, was the Psy invitation move a faux pas for Najib?

MCA-Its Final Mummification and Curtain Fall?

Contemplating the Finale and Curtain Fall?

Say what you want,

Think what you want.

If you do not do what the current youngsters want, you will definitely be sent for mummification.

Their votes count!

And what is going to happen to MCA if they do not support MCA candidates in toto?

To recap the apparent scenarios:

The manipulative days in London of the taikoh turncoats who threw away the Chinese demands before it reach the Merdeka negotiation table are over.

The golden days of Tan Cheng Lock and Tan Siew Sin have been relegated into the dustbin of MCA history.

The championing days of gung-ho Lee San Choon as he stood  against  DAP's Chen Man Hin and won in a Chinese majority area of Seremban  are fully forgotten.

The bitter fight between Neo Yee Pan and Tan Koon Swan had plunged the party to new depths and led to the incarceration of the latter in a Singaporean prison and the former into political wilderness.

The sudden thrust into the limelight of the junior-status MCA president Ling Liong Sik who could hardly "talk " with PM Mahathir on the same level and which the later apparently completely disdained.

The sad and sterile Ong Ka Ting days where the MCA is just a stringer party where even third echelon UMNO leaders can chastise MCA in public in absolute glee and gloat at its impotency.

The brief Ong Tee Keat days when nothing but in-fighting occurs and the larger agenda of the Chinese continue to be forgotten.

The current 'eunuch' days of Chua Soi Lek where seemingly nothing said or done can ever benefit Chinese, both young and old.

The mummification process has started in earnest haste as the party is rolled along in the political desert like tumbleweeds in the wind.

Will the 13th GE be MCA's sad  finale and curtain fall?

Again, get the answers in June 2013.

Doing the Gangnam Style-anyone?

Lasso time with PSY

Yes, its Opah Gangnam time.

At Han Chiang School Penang.

Tonight, 11 February 2013.

Would you be there?

Ng Yen Yen in dance mode

Yes, will Ng Yen Yen will do the dance if invited?

Will he just watch?

Will Rosmah  join in?

Would PM and Rosmah just watch?

So let us see PSY in action tonight!

What a great CNY for Penang folks!

 Snaky start for sure for a horsie dance!

Aren't we salivating like Pavlov's canines?

The USM Gathering is Etched in the NST

This years's USM gathering of the pioneers from 1970 on wards with 1975 being the central year has been a resounding success.

The Streets Section of NST carried some new on it as well as photos of most of us.

Down Memory Lane