Dance like no one's watching

RM10,000 to keep them Muslim

2009/10/26

THE state government will continue to pay a RM10,000 incentive to Muslim preachers or missionaries who are willing to marry Orang Asli women to prevent them from leaving the religion.

State Islamic Development, Education and Dakwah Committee chairman Datuk Nik Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah said efforts had to be made to ensure that the Orang Asli people would not be easily influenced by missionaries of other faiths.

"We were told that certain Orang Asli settlements in the rural areas had been visited by non-Islamic missionaries and they had been spreading their faith to these people," Nik Mohd told the state assembly yesterday.

Replying to a question by Datuk Mohd Alwi Che Ahmad (BN-Kok Lanas), he said the action included conducting awareness programmes and also organising training for Orang Asli to become religious teachers.

The Kelantan government introduced the incentive payment three years ago as part of its efforts to convert Orang Asli to Islam.

I don’t know why this is called “the way Chinese multiply” (no, this isn’t in reference to the population boom) and I think there’re definitely more efficient ways but drawing lines is quite cool.

I wonder who first thought of this…

I think I really need to blog more regularly.  I have a really really poor memory, e.g. I can from the living room to my bedroom to take something, but I’ll forget what I wanted to get once I reach my bedroom.  Yesterday, I saw that a bill of $391.95 was charged to my credit card and I couldn’t recall what on earth it was for.  After going through the receipts for things we bought for the flat, I concluded it wasn’t an item purchased for the flat.  As I couldn’t remember what it was, I called Citibank to say that I was going to dispute the amount.  Although I didn’t think my card was misused, ‘cos it would be quite stupid for someone to “steal” my card and spend only $391.95, I couldn’t pay for something I don’t recall buying either.

Citibank was very helpful and proceeded to block my card and put through my “dispute”.  Unfortunately (or I should say fortunately?), 5 min after that was done, Azure figured out that I prob. spent that amount on buying mooncakes!  And she was right!  Hehe… I totally forgot I coordinated the purchase of Maxim mooncakes for my colleagues and thus I paid quite a big sum for the mooncakes.  Sigh. 

I immediately called Citibank to inform them that I’m not disputing the amount anymore.  The officer I spoke to is on the other line unfortunately, so I’m waiting for her to call me back.

Sigh.  I think I shall blog as often as I can… just a short note to jot EVERYTHING down.  Argh. 

First heard this pair of twins on my friend’s facebook page.  Checked out their youtube channel and although they talk funny (as though there’s something in their mouth), they sing beautifully and what I really really like is their harmonisation!!

Check out this video of them singing in Korean… wait for the harmonisation… it’s really nice!!

I’m so impressed by the sister that does the harmonisation.  Heh.

Mobile phone giant Nokia sues Apple over patents

HELSINKI : Nokia, the world’s biggest mobile phone maker, took on the iconic iPhone on Thursday by suing US rival Apple for infringing 10 Nokia patents on mobile phone technology.
"The patents cover wireless data, speech coding, security and encryption and are infringed by all Apple iPhone models shipped since the iPhone was introduced in 2007," Nokia said in a statement.
Nokia said it had filed the complaint against Apple on Thursday with the Federal District Court in Delaware in the United States.
Nokia earlier this month posted its first quarterly loss in a decade amid falling sales. Analysts said the poor results were partly due to the growing popularity of Apple’s iPhone and RIM’s Blackberry over Nokia models.
"By refusing to agree appropriate terms for Nokia’s intellectual property, Apple is attempting to get a free ride on the back of Nokia’s innovation," Ilkka Rahnasto, deputy head of Nokia’s legal department, said in the statement.
The company stressed that it had spent 40 billion euros (60 billion dollars) in research and development over the past two decades.
"The ten patents in suit relate to technologies fundamental to making devices which are compatible with one or more of the GSM, UMTS (3G WCDMA) and wireless LAN standards," Nokia said.
Analysts noted it was not the first time a mobile device maker started a court battle against its rival to protect its valuable patents.
"This does not come as a surprise. Nokia has likely been negotiating with Apple since it revealed the iPhone and has failed to reach an agreement," Ben Wood, director of research at CCS Insight, told AFP.
"They (Apple) have sold dozens of millions of phones, and if they haven’t paid the patents it could be a several billion euro deal or at least hundreds of million euro deal," analyst Greger Johansson from Redeye explained.
The Finnish firm’s net loss in July-September was 559 million euros and its sales shrank by nearly 20 percent to 9.8 billion euros on a 12-month comparison.
Nokia last week said its share of the global mobile device markets remained flat at 38 percent, but in smartphones like the iPhone its market share dropped to 35 percent in the third quarter from 41 percent in the previous quarter.
Industry specialists said Nokia had failed to improve its smartphone selection to attract customers to choose Nokia models instead of iPhone or Blackberry.
– AFP /ls

Our flat, 3/4 done.

Living room and balcony

This is where the TV console will be.

Taken from the living room and facing the kitchen doorway.

This is where the kitchen cabinets will be.

The master bedroom combined with the 2nd bedroom.

The 3rd bedroom which we’ll convert to a study.

(Photos taken with my Nokia N82).

Forgive my “suaku-ness” but I just found this search engine from Microsoft called “Bing”.  Just tried searching “Nokia X6” with it and it gave me some results which I didn’t see when I used google to search.  Heh.  Bing!

Channel 5 really shouldn’t show Lose to Win and Singapore Idol on the same day.  When I first switched on the TV just now, I couldn’t tell which programme I was watching.

I remember there used to be signs at all MRT stations telling people to keep left when standing on the escalator, leaving the right half of the escalator for people who want to climb up the steps.  Unfortunately, these signs were removed a couple of years ago.  Did SMRT assume that Singaporeans will naturally stand on the left?  If that was the assumption, then they’re sorely mistakened.

Every morning during peak office traffic, I always see some jokers standing on the right side of the escalator, obstructing a smooth flow of human traffic.  Granted some of these folks are the elderly so perhaps they aren’t familiar with the system.  That said, many of these blockages are working adults who, even if they didn’t know about the “stand on your left rule”, should at least be more observant and SEE that everyone else is standing on the left right?  Or perhaps these idiots are just inconsiderate morons who like making a nuisance of themselves.

I understand that tourists may grapple with the system too but hey, in Rome, do as the Romans do right?  One really can’t go wrong if one opens one’s eyes and take note of what’s happening around one.

Anyway, apart from standing on the left, I would also like to advise all the “aunties” not to wear too tight a skirt.  Like the short & fat auntie who was in front of me this morning, struggling to walk up the escalator ‘cos her skirt was just too tight.  For goodness’ sake.  If you’ve grown fat, wear a looser skirt – or just stand on the left!

I’m really torn between the 2 phones.  I’m tempted to get the iPhone ‘cos of certain applications like the TVU player and GV online.  The Nokia, however, has a better camera & allows customisable contact/ringtone profiles, not to mention T9 input and handwriting recognition.  I think I’d definitely prefer the X6… but when will it be out?  Boohoo!!