Quickie - 26/8/2009; Ratio, current issues and signalling

First and foremost i'd like to congratulate PAS on their win. And for the losing party, good luck on the next election. In any case, although the media has reported that the number of the majority that PAS won over BN is lower, i wonder how it is in terms of ratios? Usually, although the number in it's base form (in this case the number of votes counted) seems lower, but if you put it in terms of ratio (let's say, votes over the actual turnout) it could tell a different story.
For instance, if the number of voters are 1000 (selected for ease of understanding) and you won since you got 70% of the votes (700 vs. 300), then your ratio is 70%. If the outcome is slightly lower (say 500 people voted), then a 80% win over the other party means that you got 400 votes (vs. 100 for your opposition). Thus is you compare the base values, you're winning by a smaller margin (300 votes majority with 500 number of voters vs. 400 votes majority with 1000 voters) but the ratio say otherwise (80% vs. 70%).
That's what we usually do in engineering since the ratio gives you a more correct look of a situation you're looking into. Perhaps it should be used here as well.

Wouldn't want to discuss anymore regarding the Kartika issue, although it's very tempting to do so. I'll leave it to the 'proper' poeple for them to solve since i think the issue is getting a wee bit too much attention from everyone. As the saying goes (correct me if i'm wrong); "You can satisfy a person most of the time, but you can't satisfy everyone all of the time". In any case, i've stated my stand in this on the previous post.

Signalling... where do i begin. Let's cut it short; Malaysians! I plead to you! Use your indicator stalks more and tell the other road users where you intend to go by signalling left or right! And for heaven's sake don't put on your emergency/hazard signal unnecessarily! I haven't crashed into anyone not doing so yet (but a million times near misses... including a few this morning, THANKS A LOT!!!) and i don't intend to. Use it or you might end up killing someone or your beloved ones in a bad accident someday!

Quickie - 25/8/2009; Traffic jam, TNG & equality

Went back as per the temporary work schedule for the month of Ramadhan and regretted it. Should've stayed back a bit longer (which i will today) and let the congestion fade off a bit before making my move. Ended up making a usually 20mins (maximum) journey a 45mins one, mostly being static.

One thing which i rather found amusing is how we Malaysians use the TNG system, in specific the Smart Tag. I wonder why most of the people in front of my wave their Tags as they approach the dedicated lanes. Of which 50% will fail causing everybody to slam their brakes to avoid a collision. Those sensors are supposed to pick up your Tag's signal at a certain distance and angle; as specified with the diagram given with the thing when you bought it. I confess that even i don't stick it in place as suggested, but i leave it on my dashboard in the middle and close to the windscreen since it works just as well. The reason being for safety, as with those who waves the thing about. And that method hasn't skipped a beat yet. So people with the Tags, don't wave the thing like an idiot when you get to the lanes and cause an accident if the sensors don't pick up your Tag's signal. Put it on the dashboard (it works, trust me) and store it somewhere safe afterwards. I don't want to be in one (the accident of course).

I know everyone is aware of the Kartika issue currently hot on the news. Let's face the fact, in any law syariah or not, women and men are to be treated equally. Some feminist movement are asking for equality in everything, so being treated equally in the judicial system is part and parcel of the package. One more thing, those who do any sort of wrong are to be given their judgement. Since the issue of Kartika is related to the Islamic religion (i'm sure every religion has it's own rules, regulations, laws, etc.), then her punishment is equal to that of a male of the similar wrong-doing. In any case, Kartika, i salute you for being honest and facing the fact like a true Muslim.

Quickie - 24/8/2009; Despair, hope & Ramadhan

Had a very jumbled up time last week. Had to do this and that, whilst preparing myself for the month of Ramadhan... and made a very2 big mistake in sending Aoi-chan for a wash. I have to admit that it was entirely my fault that Aoi-chan looked screwed up (full of scratches all over) after the wash. I gave them the order to remove the dirt (which was actually cement, darn that construction site!) and... i think you get the idea. Adding insult to my already bad injury, i had a go myself at removing the rest (they stopped once they realized that if they didn't, it'll only make matters worse) but... again, you get the idea (i screwed up... even more). Despair! AAAARRRGGGHHHH!!!!
Three options were laid before me (hope); leave it as it is (rejected point blank; am i mad to leave it like that?) or gamble on a full body polish or get a respray... in which i chose the second option. Largely because it's cheaper (although it's a gamble) and partially because i need to use Aoi-chan since my sister had already taken the spare car to IIUM. Alhamdulillah... although some of the scratches are still there, at least Aoi-chan looked better than before the treatment. And more sparkling too. Money well spent then, for now. Here's hoping that those remaining scratches will not do harm later on... gulp!

Oh, lest i forget, i'd like to wish every Muslim out there

Ramadhan Kareem~~~!
Happy fasting! And may Allah bless and protect us all throughout the month!

Quickie - 13/8/2009; Headlines, Schumi and words

Noticed that the H1N1 is slowly losing it's grip somewhere; the headlines in the free Sun newspaper i read every morning. It seems that either the news does not sell anymore or it's just not attention grabbing? Either way, if suddenly there's a spike in the number of deaths it'll sure to come out as a front page. As usual; good news sells fast, bad news even faster. Add to that commonplace news doesn't sell, hot saucy ones do. The end.

Also read the other day and today regarding Schumi cancelling his comeback (temporarily or not) to F1. As sad as his fans are (me included), i'm quite sure that he's having it even worse. All i can say to Schumi is that it's ok. Everyone will say this and that, it's natural. In any case, do what's best for you, within our limited powers as human beings. Me and the other fans will always support you. As for the other people out there, remember this; Accidents do happen, but just stick to 4 wheels and not 2.

Found it interesting to read about new and usually unused words in the papers from time to time. The words are often introduced (or popularized) by our fellow people leading or running the country. The hot words right now? One of it is "sedition". And no, it has nothing to do with being sedate. Go look up the meaning somewhere. Wonder what's the next word to eb popularized? Here's hoping it's one with a good meaning...

Quickie - 11/8/2009; Opened, haze and current issues

Found out yesterday that the new Masjid (Mosque) near my apartment have opened recently. The design of the building is rather simple and elegant. And rather big too. Dunno why there wasn't any ceremony to officialize it's opening; either i missed it, it hasn't happended yet or not going to happen at all. Seeing the fact that i'm going to be there for quite some time, guess i'll pop-in regularly (whenever possible that is) and get involved with the Muslim community of the area. Nice!

The hazy condition that used to spoil my mornings over the few weeks have been reduced significantly this morning thanks in part to the heavy downpour of yesterday evening and wuite possibly some more last night. Taking a breath of air this morning seemed clearer and fresher. Should thank God for that and hopefully no idiot will spoil this again (here's hoping). Another nice!

Still in a daze of why the health ministry is letting people loose in this H1N1 pandemic. I would rather have had the schools, institutions or anything that have the suspected H1N1 infected people quarantine everyone in the place rather than having them go home. Think about it; a week of quarantine at home? If you're a kid and both of your parents are working, isn't this like a special long holiday for you to play around? If you're a University student, this is the chance for you to enjoy and go on dates... the result? More intense and severe local transmissions. Good work whoever thought of that one. "GOOD WORK!"
Funnily enough, it seems that some Malaysians are rather, clueless shall we say that even though they know that the pandemic is still not settled, they're banging on about something else that only flocks loads and loads of people together and quite possibly make more local transmission of the darn thing in the process. One i can point out is the by-election at Permatang Pasir slated for Aug 17. Can't they consider doing it at a later date? If they still need to do it (guess that one place can't be run without a politician eh?), can they somehow modify the process of coming over to a particular place to vote? Just this once. Don't want to have a hooo-haaa election, but kill some people accidentally along the way. Again, here's hoping.