Miss World - Malaysia vs Singapore

Dear Friends,

A few weeks back, I was personally introduced to the current Miss World Malaysia 2008/09. Her name is Soo Wincci. This beauty queen is not as 'bimbo' as you may think. She read Law at the University of Reading, United Kingdom . She also holds a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Sunshine Coast in Australia. She is conversant in English, the Malay language and various Chinese dialects. She gets away in conversational Japanese, Korean and French too.



A beauty contest or beauty pageant is a competition based mainly though not always entirely; on the physical beauty of its contestants and often incorporates personality, talent demonstration, and question responses as judged criteria.

If that is the case, then what happened to this one?


I feel that she is in need of major speech therapy or a good 'Singlish' teacher. Take a gun and shoot me dead, she sounds so robotic and rehearsed.

In instances like this, I am so proud to be Malaysian. And, if you were wondering what Soo Wincci was thanking me for in the picture above, I am so not telling you :)

As the Singaporeans would say, "Walau eh, kanasai!"

Blog or Blocked?

Dear Friends,

Did you know that Malaysia has about 500,000 active bloggers, ranking the country among the highest in the world after Indonesia and the European Union? Today is exactly a year, 'WILYEO OR WILYEO NOT' is into its' blogging being. My inaugural blog, 'Merdeka, Merdeka, Merdeka?', (meaning Independence for my international readers - it is Malaysia's Independence Day today) was somehow nostalgic. In that post, I mull over my younger schooling years, of landing a crush on a Malay girlfriend in school. A Petronas, 'Tan Hong Ming' commercial, if you may.

People blog for various reasons. I blog for my love for linguistics. I blog to express my opinions, have them contested and allow it to be responded in an orderly manner. There are no limits to what I can and can’t blog about. No matter what, I will always love what I am writing about because I get to decide. However, I do not blog about delicate issues which may spark debates and disputes.

If you would observe on the right of this page, I have a bloglist of people whom I follow. I have always had respects for people who can write. The pen is mightier than the sword, if you may. I have a special admiration for KENNY SIA http://www.kennysia.com/ Kenny hails from Kuching, Sarawak in East Malaysia. He is very health conscious and runs marathons. He does not look it as he appears plump in most of his pictures. He spent close to 8 years of his youth growing up in Perth, Australia. Apart from the similarities that I possess with Kenny (being health conscious and being in Perth), I am nowhere near his blogging fame. (todate, he has close to 18 million visitors to his blog) His blogging style is humorous and original.

Another blogger who is impulsive, takes risks, unpredictable and a daredevil is Poh Huai Bin http://www.sixthseal.com/ Huai Bin is probably the first blogger in the world who publicly admits to taking drugs. He has photos and videos to attest to this in his blog doing them. He marvels at why he was never caught, especially when all his personal particulars were open to all and sunder to view on his blog. He was a safe drug user and he always encouraged existing users to practice safer drug use. He has been in and out of rehab and he has been clean for the past two years. By blogging, he is making a difference by bringing harm reduction and knowledge to the masses for dubious knowledge of the substances.

Last week I was invited to the press conference of 'Project Alpha', Malaysia's first online TV show about bloggers. It is a fast paced, fast cut, lifestyle driven online TV show featuring the real faces and lives of Malaysia's top bloggers. This show will take a sneak peek into their lives, who they are, where they live, how they tick and how they derive inspiration to capture the attention of so many online readers to their blogs on a daily basis. Every blogger is unique and they are opinion leaders on celebrity news, fashion trends, travel, entertainment and etc. Every episode will be 3 minutes in length and will air daily for seven weeks on http://www.hitz.fm/ (Hitz Radio Station's website), http://www.nuffnang.com.my/ (Asia Pacific's First Blog Advertising Community) and also YouTube. This will commence September 18, 2009. This project taps into the massive potential of the online market, at a time when the world has become increasingly familiar with YouTube videos and social media networks like Facebook and Twitter.

At the press conference, a question was posed and I addressed the issue on how quickly brands are evolving in the present. I further reiterated that it is not enough to just rely on above-the-line advertising these days. I was asked if it was risky to have bloggers write about a brand when we are not in control of their writings. The answer is this. Every business decision is a risky decision. In this era of blogosphere, can a brand not afford to flow with the bandwagon? With the emergence of digital communications, blogging denotes not just a fun activity for some but also a significant potential marketing solution. Apart from revealing the lifestyles and real faces behind these top bloggers, the purpose of this show is also to inspire up and coming bloggers and encourage them to start their own blog.

If you observed the top and bottom right of this blog, you would realise that I subscribed to Nuffnang and GoogleAds. I recognized that blogging has some income opportunities. Chances are I won’t make millions, or even thousands of dollars blogging. In all likelihood, with real resolve and desire I will make some money to pay for some of my bowling games.

By the way, it was really nice meeting Jojo Struys http://www.jojostruys.com/ , the Producer for Project Alpha and Timothy Tiah http://www.timothytiah.blogspot.com/ , the Co-founder of Nuffnang.

Happy Blogging :)

P/S: It is 1.20am now as I am posting this blog. I started blogging at 9.1opm. For no apparent reason, my entire posting was erased and wiped out as I was loading the pictures. Just imagine the anger and frustration. Such is a life of a blogger, sometimes.

I need to Fart!

Dear Friends,

I am one of those who is real careful with what I eat and drink. A little 'over the top' sometimes with restrictions to better things in life; I don't even drink Coke, for crying out loud! I decided to break rules yesterday morning and decided on a 'cheat day'. I gobbled down three glorious 'Roti Canai Empat Segi' with Dhall curry almost instantly. The taste was just beyond description, kind of like a mouthful orgasm.

As I was facebooking on my laptop in the afternoon, my daughter Charmaine went, "Dad, is that you...AGAIN? - Disgusting!". I love it when I irritate her - 'farting in her face', so to speak. This is my home for goodness sake. I can fart wherever and whenever I want. I find it unnatural if I have to go, "Charmaine, excuse me ar, Daddy is going to fart". Having to 'request for permission' from the few around me, I would have needed to shit by then. In the office, it is similar. Whenever the 'Mamas' are told to stand outside my door to speak to me, they understand and appreciate the 'punishment' of standing at the door.

It is funny that farting has become such a part of our lives that we take this practice for granted. I bet you that when asked why do you fart, you wouldn't have an answer. Did you know that the average person farts 14 times every day? The amount of actual gas released ranges from as little as one cup to as much as one half gallon per day. Gas is made primarily of odorless vapors such as carbon dioxide, oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, and sometimes methane. The unpleasant noxious odor of flatulence comes from bacteria in the large intestine that release small amounts of gases that contain hydrogen sulfide.(smells like sulphur) Contrary to popular belief, women have just as many passages as men, and older people, have no more gas than younger individuals. As much as 80 to 90 percent of rectal gas (flatulence) is formed by bacteria. Eventually these gases exit through the rectum. (arsehole to some:D) Certain foods produce more flatulence than others because they contain more indigestible carbohydrates. Beans are well known gas producers. (Damn, the lentils I ate!) The beans pass through the small intestine and arrive in the large intestine without being digested, which causes flatulence to occur.

Fart - we all have it, and it is a normal part of life. It is a natural result of good digestion. Farting is a more familiar term to many people.(flatulence to the refined educated ones) Most of us try to make light of it so as to not be embarrassed by its occurrence.

So, it is alright to fart. If you have to do it the next time, don't be shy. Among family in your house, you just fart and don't even bother explaining. Around friends, you tell them you just farted and ask, "Why, you don't fart meh?". In the company of strangers, be polite and ask, "Do you mind excusing me, for I need to break wind, as I can feel some intestinal gas aka flatus coming through my rectum? Please don't mind the sound and smell that is coming your way without any sight."

Farting is Embarrassing, but it doesn't have to be!

Long live the sounds of life..."POOOOOOT....!!!"

Gay? I am Not

Dear Friends,

"Amboi, Amboi, Amboi"!!

This is the 'trademarked' salutations TV personality Azwan Ali repeatedly recites. In the newspapers today, he denied being a homosexual.

It sprung up following postings putatively about his gay tendencies he made on his blog. http://silaserazwanali.blogspot.com/

Quote, "Only GOD and my mother knows my sexuality, it is not for me to answer if I am gay or not", unquote. His feeblemindedness for not explicating to the speculation has created even thicker speculations.

Homosexuality is a sexual inclination or tendencies directed towards a person of one's own sex. The prevalence of homosexuality among humans is difficult to determine accurately; studies suggest between two and twenty percent of the population exhibit some degree of homosexual tendency, though in many earlier cultures homosexual relations were highly prevalent. Many homosexuals hide their feelings and activities out of fear of disapproval or violence; they are commonly said to be closeted.

In many cultures, homosexuals are frequently subject to prejudice and discrimination. Closer to home - in Thailand; Kathoey, or "ladyboys," have been a feature of Thai society for many centuries. While Kathoey may encompass simple effeminacy or transvestism, it is most commonly treated in Thai culture as a third gender. They are generally accepted by society, and Thailand has never had legal prohibitions against homosexuality or behavior. There also exists a widely-believed stereotype, even perpetuated within gay culture, that gay men can be identified by a certain accent or way of walking, both of which are perceived as less masculine.

So, Azwan Ali, stop personifying yourself as 'Mak Hayam Gebuss' or 'Azwana Alia'. Personal or imaginary characterizing, you have created an avenue for your own character bashing. You are known in the industry as 'laser mouth' and it is difficult for perpetrators to differentiate what is true and what is over the top.

Can the public accept homosexuality if they are convinced that it is inborn and immutable?

As for me, I think I am 'lesbian' because I still feel for the opposite sex.

Trek Me Down

Dear Friends,

It rained this morning and I thought to myself, the treks are going to be slippery. A group - my hotel mates and I, in a five car convoy made our way to Gasing Hill for jungle trekking. In the spirit of camaraderie, we came in all sizes. Tall, short, fit, unfit, with and without love handles; we came all.

Most city-bred dwellers know this Hill as having phenomenal surroundings for burning calories, toning up and promoting cardiovascular benefits. But uncharted to many too, the potpourri of terrains in the Hill offers much more than merely routine exercise. I am talking about real 'hardcore' trails in the forest. Unless, you are merely seeking for inner 'Qi Gung' potency, practiced by a platoon at a field across the entrance to the Hill. Gasing Hill has been gazetted as a forest reserve for over 44 years spanning more than 36-hectares. This secondary jungle, which was once a rubber plantation has more than 32 species of plants ranging from tropical timber to wild flowers and ferns.

There are variations between brisk walking exercises and jungle trekking for real cardiovascular workouts. Walking needs no concentration unlike jungle trekking. The concept of walking on uneven terrains requires diligence, discernment and ability to negotiate. This constitutes to mental strain on the mind and body to perform well and not getting hurt. When it comes to jungle trekking, the accomplishment needed increases, brought about by the terrain. Out of all the terrains we attempted today, the most challenging I would say will be the 'Stairway to Heaven' which was very steep. This is a climb up a continuous 45 degrees slope and will draw all your imagination, durability and to some even self esteem. At this stage, I was particularly proud of Adele Ang who performed beyond her calibre, even if she was the last to arrive.

During jungle trekking, a pair of specialized hiking boots could help along the way. Nature can be unforgivable at times, so when technology prevails, go for it. Hiking boots are specialized pieces of equipment that allows traversing the most daunting of landscapes. Because of its thick soles and increased ankle support, it absorbs the impact of jumping down terrains or stepping unevenly on stones. It will also prevent sand and thorns from getting into the boots, while also being waterproof for times when crossing swamps or streams. The sole of the boots reflect threads of a car tyre to ensure every probable grip. I use a pair of 'Hi-Tec' hiking boots and it has proven its' worth for many years. http://www.hi-tec.com/

On the average, I burn about 2300 calories after a two and a half hours jungle trekking session. This is complemented with a burn of at least 45% fats. I gather these readings from the heart rate monitor which I wear while jungle trekking. This monitor checks and guides me to a suitable intensity while jungle trekking. For maximum fat burn, I keep my intensity at an average 80% of my maximum heart rate per minute which is also classified as aerobic. At times, it does escalate to over 90% of my maximum heart rate per minute which enters the anaerobic zone. This is when the heart is pushed to its' maximum for strength and heavy panting could be experienced. This level should only be attained at times and not practiced often as it could be strenuous and detrimental. I normally experience this when I trek on the 'Stairway to Heaven' - 45 degrees continuous slope. For reliable and effective heart rate monitors, I recommend http://www.polar.fi/

Good jungle trekking tips are needed to ensure a soothing and successful hike. Amongst them are to use good judgement on personal fitness levels required for a particular trek and know personal physical limits. Take plenty of water and pack easy to eat snacks to keep energy levels high. Cover legs with long trousers to ward off mosquitoes and to provide protection against thorny plants. Choose sturdy footwear with proper ankle support and good traction.

In the jungle trekking activity today, I realised that the common goal my team has is to succeed. But, I also recognize that each individual has different competency levels, in terms of physical fitness and mental strength. As long as the need to excel be actualized with much determination, we will go far.

Remember this; when jungle trekking, we only take memories and photographs from the treks out with us and the only thing we leave behind are our footprints.

King of POP-ping Pills

Dear Friends,

The initial post-mortem of the King of Pop, Michael Jackson.

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8st 1oz, no food just pills in his stomach, bald, bruised, his ribs broken by CPR, 4 needle wounds near his heart ... THE horrifying state of pop superstar Michael Jackson in his final days can be revealed by The Sun today. Harrowing leaked autopsy details show the singer was a virtual skeleton — barely eating and with only pills in his stomach at the time he died. His hips, thighs and shoulders were riddled with needle wounds — believed to be the result of injections of narcotic painkillers, given three times a day for years. And a mass of surgery scars were thought to be the legacy of at least 13 cosmetic operations. Experts found the distressing evidence of Jacko’s physical decline while investigating his startling death in Los Angeles last week. The examination showed the 5ft 10in star — once famed for his on-stage athleticism — had: PLUNGED to a “severely emaciated” 8st 1oz. It is understood anorexic Jackson had been eating just one meagre meal a day. Pathologists found his stomach empty aside from partially-dissolved pills he took before the painkiller injection which stopped his heart. Samples were sent for toxicology tests. LOST virtually all his hair. The pop pin-up was wearing a wig when he died and pathologists said little more than “peach fuzz” covered his scalp. A scarred section of skin above his left ear was entirely bald — apparently the result of a 1984 accident when his hair caught fire as he filmed an ad for Pepsi. SUFFERED several broken ribs as frantic rescuers pumped his chest after he collapsed in cardiac arrest. Four injection sites were found above or near to Jacko’s heart. All appeared to result from attempts to pump adrenaline directly into the organ in a failed bit to restart it. Three of the injections had penetrated the heart wall — causing damage — but a fourth missed and hit one of the 50-year-old star’s ribs. The autopsy also found unexplained BRUISING on Jackson’s knees and on the fronts of both shins. And there were CUTS on his back, indicating a recent fall. The King of Pop’s once handsome face bore a network of plastic surgery scars, while the bridge to his nose had vanished and its right side had partially collapsed. As inquiries into the tragedy last night focused on the star’s personal physician Dr Conrad Murray, a source close to the Jackson entourage said: “Michael’s family and fans will be horrified when they realise the appalling state he was in. “He was skin and bone, his hair had fallen out and had been eating nothing but pills when he died. Injection marks all over his body and the disfigurement caused by years of plastic surgery show he’d been in terminal decline for years. “His doctors and the hangers-on stood by as he self-destructed. Somebody is going to have to pay.” Cardiologist Dr Murray was thought to have given Jackson the final injection of painkiller Demerol. He is facing serious questions about his resuscitation attempts, which began when he started CPR as Jacko lay unconscious on a bed. Basic first aid guidance says patients must be face-up on a hard surface before compressions.

Scarlet Sheets

Dear Friends,

Sacred as it may sound, there is no eluding when death comes a knocking. As a noun, it means the time at which life ends. My colleague, Luan Luan Joey during the recent first year memorial service of her mother in law, mull over how she wanted her wake to be, if she were to pass on before her time. To quote her composition on Facebook - "Not trying to curse myself here either; life and death are unquantifiable abstracts and part and parcel of nature’s course, which we often don’t have control over. This may sound eerie and 'pantang' to some but death shouldn't be a taboo topic because only when we start acknowledging it can we embrace life wholeheartedly - which I’m trying to, besides being grumpy, naggy and full of complaints on certain occasions. Ignorance is definitely not blissful in this matter." - unquote.

The past month has been 'traumatising' for me. Sam, a gym friend I have acquainted recently, in my 'Spinning' cycling class at California Fitness collapsed without regaining consciousness, just 15 minutes into the session. We cycle at least three times a week in a group under the watchful eyes of an instructor. And yet it happened. The night before his death, he was just boasting with me on how he managed to push his heart rate up to 90% of it's maximum. The post mortem revealed that it was heart failure and he was just 47.

As I am blogging this, I see a hype of activities happening at my neighbour's. Later to find out, this 'irritating' neighbour that constantly parks his car at the fringe of the road, has just passed away.

In the news, David Carradine, who became a TV icon in the early 1970s starring as an enigmatic Buddhist monk with a flair for martial arts in "Kung Fu" and more recently played the head of a group of assassins in the "Kill Bill" movies, has been found dead in Bangkok, Thailand. He was 72. Carradine was found hanged in his luxury hotel suite, Thai newspaper - the Nation reported on its website, citing unidentified police sources. They claimed it was suicide.

What constitutes death? It is clear enough that people die when their lives end, but less clear what represents the ending of a person's life. One of the saddest way to initiate that is suicide. Suicide is not chosen; it happens when pain exceeds resources for coping with hurt. Suicide victims are not bad people, or crazy, or weak, or flawed; just because they feel suicidal. It does not even mean that they really want to die - it only means that they have more pain than they can contend with. It was just two weeks ago that I was told of the suicide of a 29 year old Thai lady in a renowned hotel in my vicinity. Married to a Swedish expatriate with a son, she swallowed ninety painkillers with beers, gripping a picture of her son and sliding into the deepest sleep she had ever knew.

I remember a suicide case that I had to deal with in 1996. I was in Jakarta, Indonesia as a hotel expatriate. We were in the midst of an early morning meeting when a panic-stricken front office staff burst into the conference room. “A guest slashed her wrist!” she exclaimed in Bahasa Indonesia.

Blood drained from the faces of those in the room. With a sickening fear creeping up my spine, I hurriedly dialed for Security. Together with the General Manager who was present at the meeting, we made our way to the guest’s room. The 65-year-old General Manager of Dutch descent, Rudy Schouten, was an experienced hotelier and must have seen much in his time, but even he was visibly quaking. The walk down the corridor towards Room 839 was the longest I have ever experienced.

The Security Manager, had arrived there with 2 of his men just moments before us. One of them was trying to calm the hysterical maid sobbing at the doorway. She must have been the one who discovered the guest. We had been forewarned of the sight that awaited us, but the limp body tangled in scarlet-soaked sheets and the smell of blood that permeated the room brought me to the brink of nausea.

We approached the bed cautiously to see a Chinese girl in her late-20s. Her lifeless demeanor led us to presume that we were too late. But suddenly, a twitch of her eye! Pandemonium broke loose. “She’s alive! Call an ambulance!” “Her wrist is still bleeding! We need to stop it!”

Someone grabbed a towel from the toilet and pressed it against her slashed wrist. The blood adamantly soaked through the towel. In desperation, I pulled off my tie and tied it around her wrist. Slowly, the blood ceased to flow.

Calm soon resumed after that. We suddenly realized that she was only clad scantily in a T-shirt and panty. The security personnel spotted a pair of shorts and gently pulled it on her, an attempt to return some measure of dignity. No one spoke much, but the unspoken question that ran through our minds were ‘what could possibly drive a young, pretty woman to such desperation that the only way out was death?’

We decided it was faster for a hotel van to send her to the hospital than an ambulance, so we arranged for one to wait at the back of the hotel. We bundled her up in a clean blanket, and gently led her, semi-conscious, through the service corridors to the van. The official statement would be that she was suffering from acute food poisoning.

Once she was safely en route to the nearest hospital, I began checking our hotel records for her reservation. She had been living in the hotel for six months but the room was booked under a gentleman’s name – Aming. We called him and he rushed over in a panic, claiming she was his friend. We directed him to the hospital to which she had been taken. Before he left the hotel, he paid the bill in full and requested that we throw away all her belongings.

The bloodied room underwent a major cleanup. For many months after, I could not look at our clean white sheets without imagining it decked with dirty scarlet stains.

It was very much later that I found out who Aming really was – a human trafficker who brings in women from China illegally. But Aming fell in love with one of his ‘goods’ and set her up at the hotel, promising her that a better life laid ahead for them. Somehow, she found out that he was already married and she decided to end her life.

Did she do it because she honestly loved him? Because she was in a foreign land, dependent on a man who would eventually sell her on the streets?

No matter what the reason, I pray she is living the better life that she hoped for.