Tuesday, 24 June 2008
Wednesday, 18 June 2008
the trainman has found out his train has lost steam..
a few more days and WALLA, there goes year 2, uni is something that wears me out no matter what i do..
5 more days till my next and last paper and i have seem to lost a bit of steam.
In fact especially this term, the last term has been especially dispiriting..
maybe its because, too much Coldplay coupled with usually awful British weather..
looking better generally (long are gone those dark winter days) but still nevertheless awful weather today...
maybe this will do the job
5 more days till my next and last paper and i have seem to lost a bit of steam.
In fact especially this term, the last term has been especially dispiriting..
maybe its because, too much Coldplay coupled with usually awful British weather..
looking better generally (long are gone those dark winter days) but still nevertheless awful weather today...
maybe this will do the job
Friday, 13 June 2008
Oranje Totaalvoetbal
Could this be the resurrection of "Total Football"?
After all Marco Van Basten is managing the team.
Netherlands-Italy 3-0
Netherlands-France 4-1
Magnificent! time for the Dutch (parennial under-achievers) to regain past glory..
After all Marco Van Basten is managing the team.
Netherlands-Italy 3-0
Netherlands-France 4-1
Magnificent! time for the Dutch (parennial under-achievers) to regain past glory..
If it were true, kick and scream!
recent petrol price increases has sparked debates on subsidies, car duties, petronas and current oil prices.
however, there has been something running behind some minds and i am intrigued by that theory. If it were true, its shocking!
"An estimated of RM 162 billions had been collected over the past 22 years. Actual figures could be much higher..
By A concern citizen
Recent fuel hike had sparked anger across the country asking Petronas account to be made available for public scrutiny to justify why the government cannot continue to subsidy the fuel. May be all these while, Petronas may not be footing 100% of the fuel bill, is the car owners had paid in advance for fuel subsidy in form of import and excise duties for both local and foreign made vehicles, as suggested by one article published in the Star recently, and republished by Malaysia Today.
Following up on this topic, I had done a little research myself, and may be others had already done it but did not get highlighted in a wider angle. I had visited the website of Malaysia Automotive Association to get the statistic of total vehicle sale from 1986 till 2007, to get a broad idea of estimated excise and import duties might have been collected by the government since the inception of Proton, as the import duties were imposed for the excuse of protecting our new start up that suppose to make our nation pride in years to come. Well, Proton is not an issue for our discussion here, so we will not talk about it's success or failure and the failure cost to the rakyat. Let's us guestimate how much we had contributed to the government coffers since 1986.
Total vehicle sales since 1986 amounted to 6,264,910 units, both passengers and commercial vehicles included. (Source: http://www.maa.org.my/info_summary.htm). Assuming the ratio of 60% of total vehicles being locally produced, and rest of them are being imported. Also assuming average duty collected from local car is RM 10K each, and RM 50K for imported vehicles. Please note that I had made broad assumption, as the actual figure was never reported by the government in their annual budget and accounts.
An estimated of RM 162 billions had been collected over the past 22 years. Actual figures could be much higher as import tax was relatively high in the 90s before we signed the ASEAN free trade agreement. Where had the money gone? How much fuel subsidy had been given by the government on fuel after being offset by the car duties?" http://www.malaysia-today.net/2008/content/view/8763/1/
here's a thought, is it possible that the automotive duties actually went into subsidizing fuel for us? so rather than actually having a subsidy, we are actually paying for the subsidy up front with a tax? the automobile duty figure itself would be higher really, 50k assumes that all foreign cars are taxed 50k when we know there are quite a number of merz's bm's and sports coupes in Malaysia, some are taxed up to 300%
assuming the govt actually spends about RM 16.2 bn a year on fuel subsidies from the car duty, it would last 10 years. RM 16.2 bn is a rough average out estimate due to low oil prices in the 1990s and current trend of oil prices. Proton's inception came at 1983 with it fully running by 1985. "Based on technology and parts from Mitsubishi Motors, production of the first model, the Proton Saga began in September 1985 at its first manufacturing plant in Shah Alam, Selangor." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proton_%28carmaker%29
till now it has been about 20-22 years since proton produced its first cars and automobile taxes are first introduced.
Based on these assumptions, Petronas's contribution towards a subsidy might not be much despite it making profits year in year out as oil companies do. As usual GLC accounts and government accounts are hard to come by. If we were paying for a tax up front to get a subsidy on petrol, that would really be a sucker-punch, paid tax up front in a form of a lump sum has it's opportunity costs, where the money can be used currently or invested by you and me for a rate of return in the future rather than receiving a fix portion of subsidies. Although profits from petronas might be used to plug the gaps of say 8 years, it might not be as much as it may seem as. Hence Petronas now will not have solely contributed much towards the subsidy with this assumption despite Petronas being ranked among Fortune Global 500's largest corporations in the world, has grown to be an integrated international oil and gas company with business interests in 31 countries and recording a pre-tax profit of RM 76.3 billion this year alone in line with global price hikes. And yet the chap from Petronas, CEO Hassan Merican told reporters today that "Petronas could go bankrupt in 10 years if all of its profits are handed over to the government to support fuel subsidies" which is alleged to amount to roughly RM 30 bn this year due to high oil prices (not considering what the public might/already have contributed to the subsidy)
Shocking indeed? this would mean the government actually takes from the people and appears to be giving to the public without actually giving and this comes in the backdrop of Malaysia being a net oil producer during those years. So did we enjoy the nation's oil wealth? Maybe a bit, not much thats for sure! allegations of mismanagement of funds and corruption are not all that far fetched too as most belief. One thing's for sure, as they say, overly distorting the market breeds all sorts of inefficiency and rent seeking (corruption and mismanagement) which I agree here despite not being a fan of fully blown free-market principles....
Essentially now, with the "subsidy" gone or almost gone (if there were ever a state give out of sizable amounts?), people are asking, "where did all the oil profits go to?" since its all going to dry up in 10 years or so...
Where are the accounts of the government and Petronas!?
however, there has been something running behind some minds and i am intrigued by that theory. If it were true, its shocking!
"An estimated of RM 162 billions had been collected over the past 22 years. Actual figures could be much higher..
By A concern citizen
Recent fuel hike had sparked anger across the country asking Petronas account to be made available for public scrutiny to justify why the government cannot continue to subsidy the fuel. May be all these while, Petronas may not be footing 100% of the fuel bill, is the car owners had paid in advance for fuel subsidy in form of import and excise duties for both local and foreign made vehicles, as suggested by one article published in the Star recently, and republished by Malaysia Today.
Following up on this topic, I had done a little research myself, and may be others had already done it but did not get highlighted in a wider angle. I had visited the website of Malaysia Automotive Association to get the statistic of total vehicle sale from 1986 till 2007, to get a broad idea of estimated excise and import duties might have been collected by the government since the inception of Proton, as the import duties were imposed for the excuse of protecting our new start up that suppose to make our nation pride in years to come. Well, Proton is not an issue for our discussion here, so we will not talk about it's success or failure and the failure cost to the rakyat. Let's us guestimate how much we had contributed to the government coffers since 1986.
Total vehicle sales since 1986 amounted to 6,264,910 units, both passengers and commercial vehicles included. (Source: http://www.maa.org.my/info_summary.htm). Assuming the ratio of 60% of total vehicles being locally produced, and rest of them are being imported. Also assuming average duty collected from local car is RM 10K each, and RM 50K for imported vehicles. Please note that I had made broad assumption, as the actual figure was never reported by the government in their annual budget and accounts.
An estimated of RM 162 billions had been collected over the past 22 years. Actual figures could be much higher as import tax was relatively high in the 90s before we signed the ASEAN free trade agreement. Where had the money gone? How much fuel subsidy had been given by the government on fuel after being offset by the car duties?" http://www.malaysia-today.net/2008/content/view/8763/1/
here's a thought, is it possible that the automotive duties actually went into subsidizing fuel for us? so rather than actually having a subsidy, we are actually paying for the subsidy up front with a tax? the automobile duty figure itself would be higher really, 50k assumes that all foreign cars are taxed 50k when we know there are quite a number of merz's bm's and sports coupes in Malaysia, some are taxed up to 300%
assuming the govt actually spends about RM 16.2 bn a year on fuel subsidies from the car duty, it would last 10 years. RM 16.2 bn is a rough average out estimate due to low oil prices in the 1990s and current trend of oil prices. Proton's inception came at 1983 with it fully running by 1985. "Based on technology and parts from Mitsubishi Motors, production of the first model, the Proton Saga began in September 1985 at its first manufacturing plant in Shah Alam, Selangor." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proton_%28carmaker%29
till now it has been about 20-22 years since proton produced its first cars and automobile taxes are first introduced.
Based on these assumptions, Petronas's contribution towards a subsidy might not be much despite it making profits year in year out as oil companies do. As usual GLC accounts and government accounts are hard to come by. If we were paying for a tax up front to get a subsidy on petrol, that would really be a sucker-punch, paid tax up front in a form of a lump sum has it's opportunity costs, where the money can be used currently or invested by you and me for a rate of return in the future rather than receiving a fix portion of subsidies. Although profits from petronas might be used to plug the gaps of say 8 years, it might not be as much as it may seem as. Hence Petronas now will not have solely contributed much towards the subsidy with this assumption despite Petronas being ranked among Fortune Global 500's largest corporations in the world, has grown to be an integrated international oil and gas company with business interests in 31 countries and recording a pre-tax profit of RM 76.3 billion this year alone in line with global price hikes. And yet the chap from Petronas, CEO Hassan Merican told reporters today that "Petronas could go bankrupt in 10 years if all of its profits are handed over to the government to support fuel subsidies" which is alleged to amount to roughly RM 30 bn this year due to high oil prices (not considering what the public might/already have contributed to the subsidy)
Shocking indeed? this would mean the government actually takes from the people and appears to be giving to the public without actually giving and this comes in the backdrop of Malaysia being a net oil producer during those years. So did we enjoy the nation's oil wealth? Maybe a bit, not much thats for sure! allegations of mismanagement of funds and corruption are not all that far fetched too as most belief. One thing's for sure, as they say, overly distorting the market breeds all sorts of inefficiency and rent seeking (corruption and mismanagement) which I agree here despite not being a fan of fully blown free-market principles....
Essentially now, with the "subsidy" gone or almost gone (if there were ever a state give out of sizable amounts?), people are asking, "where did all the oil profits go to?" since its all going to dry up in 10 years or so...
Where are the accounts of the government and Petronas!?
Wednesday, 11 June 2008
You only get one shot
this is the start of Eminem's, "Lose Yourself"
this says whats its all about really..(maybe not the broken home stuff..)
Look, if you had one shot, or one opportunity
To seize everything you ever wanted-One moment
Would you capture it or just let it slip?
His palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy
There's vomit on his sweater already, mom's spaghetti
He's nervous, but on the surface he looks calm and ready
To drop bombs, but he keeps on forgettin
What he wrote down, the whole crowd goes so loud
He opens his mouth, but the words won't come out
He's choking, how everybody's joking now
The clock's run out, time's up over, bloah!
Snap back to reality, Oh there goes gravity
Oh, there goes Rabbit, he choked
He's so mad, but he won't give up that
Easy, no
He won't have it , he knows his whole back's to these ropes
It don't matter, he's dope
He knows that, but he's broke
He's so stagnant that he knows
When he goes back to his mobile home, that's when it's
Back to the lab again yo
This this whole rhapsody
He better go capture this moment and hope it don't pass him
[Hook:]
You better lose yourself in the music, the moment
You own it, you better never let it go
You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow
This opportunity comes once in a lifetime yo
One shot, one shot, one shot ....
this says whats its all about really..(maybe not the broken home stuff..)
Look, if you had one shot, or one opportunity
To seize everything you ever wanted-One moment
Would you capture it or just let it slip?
His palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy
There's vomit on his sweater already, mom's spaghetti
He's nervous, but on the surface he looks calm and ready
To drop bombs, but he keeps on forgettin
What he wrote down, the whole crowd goes so loud
He opens his mouth, but the words won't come out
He's choking, how everybody's joking now
The clock's run out, time's up over, bloah!
Snap back to reality, Oh there goes gravity
Oh, there goes Rabbit, he choked
He's so mad, but he won't give up that
Easy, no
He won't have it , he knows his whole back's to these ropes
It don't matter, he's dope
He knows that, but he's broke
He's so stagnant that he knows
When he goes back to his mobile home, that's when it's
Back to the lab again yo
This this whole rhapsody
He better go capture this moment and hope it don't pass him
[Hook:]
You better lose yourself in the music, the moment
You own it, you better never let it go
You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow
This opportunity comes once in a lifetime yo
One shot, one shot, one shot ....
Saturday, 7 June 2008
Too many bothers
BROTHERS, the golden question is: how many have I got?
I’ve got a few really, 2 blood brothers, and about 7 or 8 great fellas, which I would gladly call brothers and I am pretty sure they mean the same too. 2 Blood brothers are for life comprising of ties that cannot be broken and will never be no matter the adversity; a few more brothers are brothers that hardly trumpets the word “brothers” for every fucking sentence they mutter out
here is an illustration:
“Bro, can you do this ah?”
“Bro, I can’t afford this shit”
And yet, with minimal figure of speech “brothers”, we are understood to be brothers in shine and in rain. Each has his own weaknesses but nevertheless wishes each other’s success and prosperity, willing to put a foot in as best as possible to help a brother in distress albeit with minor scuffles along the way which has made the word “brother” whenever pronounced stronger and meaningful. (Although there seems to be a bit of coldness and growing distance among us, the intent is there and lets hope it lasts. But this is not about what am I about to say here)
So what am I ranting about then? Wait a minute, I’ve just realised I have got more brothers that I had ever bargained for really! Fuck that’s rite, its not 10 or so, it’s 25 or so. And yeah, probably 15 brothers more than I have counted, that’s right, so-called “brothers” .so is my maths so poor? That I miscounted the amount of brothers I have? Or is my judgement so bad that I have misplaced 15 more good souls? The answer is NO for both the questions. I have about 10 brothers and I intend to keep it that way +/- depending on situation with 2 absolute brothers.
So you have it, the rest of the 15 good souls, if you were to use the word “brother” on me, don’t count on a return on the word “brother”. I am sure some of them are friends, who are good in nature, some are acquaintances with somewhat same wavelengths, and some are lets just say pieces-of-shit. It maybe acceptable if the 2 former groups of people refer to me as their brothers, It would just mean me not giving a response “brother” if I do not mean it then. To the latter group of persons, you fucking piece of shit, the questions to those people are who are your fucking brothers? I don’t do well with persons that do not mean well to me and yet calls me “brother” with no meaning or so in it (bye-sucker-take-care-of-yourself). Worst of all with a rather malicious intent despite the word. You tarnish the word “brother”. Sorry for taking it too literally then, but when pieces-of-shit says brothers, they actually meant kai tai and I am for one not anyone’s kai tai and would gladly prefer people to use the word kai tai straight in my face rather than calling me a brother and thinking of me as a kai tai. Besides too many brothers becomes a bother! So, if the meaning is there, then very well, if not fucking pisser off……
This post is meant as a tribute to all my BROTHERS and all my “SREHTORB” spelt the other way round since it actually means nothing whatsoever to certain individuals.
I’ve got a few really, 2 blood brothers, and about 7 or 8 great fellas, which I would gladly call brothers and I am pretty sure they mean the same too. 2 Blood brothers are for life comprising of ties that cannot be broken and will never be no matter the adversity; a few more brothers are brothers that hardly trumpets the word “brothers” for every fucking sentence they mutter out
here is an illustration:
“Bro, can you do this ah?”
“Bro, I can’t afford this shit”
And yet, with minimal figure of speech “brothers”, we are understood to be brothers in shine and in rain. Each has his own weaknesses but nevertheless wishes each other’s success and prosperity, willing to put a foot in as best as possible to help a brother in distress albeit with minor scuffles along the way which has made the word “brother” whenever pronounced stronger and meaningful. (Although there seems to be a bit of coldness and growing distance among us, the intent is there and lets hope it lasts. But this is not about what am I about to say here)
So what am I ranting about then? Wait a minute, I’ve just realised I have got more brothers that I had ever bargained for really! Fuck that’s rite, its not 10 or so, it’s 25 or so. And yeah, probably 15 brothers more than I have counted, that’s right, so-called “brothers” .so is my maths so poor? That I miscounted the amount of brothers I have? Or is my judgement so bad that I have misplaced 15 more good souls? The answer is NO for both the questions. I have about 10 brothers and I intend to keep it that way +/- depending on situation with 2 absolute brothers.
So you have it, the rest of the 15 good souls, if you were to use the word “brother” on me, don’t count on a return on the word “brother”. I am sure some of them are friends, who are good in nature, some are acquaintances with somewhat same wavelengths, and some are lets just say pieces-of-shit. It maybe acceptable if the 2 former groups of people refer to me as their brothers, It would just mean me not giving a response “brother” if I do not mean it then. To the latter group of persons, you fucking piece of shit, the questions to those people are who are your fucking brothers? I don’t do well with persons that do not mean well to me and yet calls me “brother” with no meaning or so in it (bye-sucker-take-care-of-yourself). Worst of all with a rather malicious intent despite the word. You tarnish the word “brother”. Sorry for taking it too literally then, but when pieces-of-shit says brothers, they actually meant kai tai and I am for one not anyone’s kai tai and would gladly prefer people to use the word kai tai straight in my face rather than calling me a brother and thinking of me as a kai tai. Besides too many brothers becomes a bother! So, if the meaning is there, then very well, if not fucking pisser off……
This post is meant as a tribute to all my BROTHERS and all my “SREHTORB” spelt the other way round since it actually means nothing whatsoever to certain individuals.
Thursday, 5 June 2008
RM2.70..RM 2.70.....and rising
THIS I AGREE SO MUCH
'Let me pay market price for cars too'
Jun 5, 08 10:46am
On Fuel hike: 78 sen more to RM2.70 per litre
Kenny Gan: I don't mind paying market price for petrol provided I can pay market price for cars. Currently, our cars are anything but ‘market price’. We have one of the highest car prices in the world due to our abnormally high import duties on foreign cars.
I'm not talking about luxury cars either, half of what we pay for a basic family cars goes to tax. The tax component of a car will pay for the extra cost of unsubsidised petrol for the life of the car!
In a country where public transport is abysmal and most people have no practical choice but to own cars, middle-class families are being pushed to the wall. Subsidised petrol helps to offset the high installments car owners have to fork out monthly to pay for their overtaxed cars.
Many owners have to take a nine-year loan just to pay off a basic car. On top of that tolls are a heavy burden to motorists and threaten to keep going up due to one sided deals signed with toll concessionaires.
The government can do nothing about the world price of crude oil but high car prices and high tolls are definitely self-inflicted. Lack of investment in public transport rubs it in. Is this lack of urgency to improve our public transport designed to help Proton sell more cars?
The government has forced the public to own cars by mismanaging the public transport sector, inflicted a high prices for cars, burdened the motorists with extensive toll roads and now wants market price for petrol. Is this a caring government?
http://malaysiakini.com/news/83966
in a country where:
1.buses are like death rides
2.trains services from the 70's
3.non-integrated and unreliable systems of public transport
what choice do people have?
This comes with the irony of abnormally high prices of tin cans on wheels..
kancil's may only pass the safety standards of Malaysia and some random screwed up African country...
mati-lah, milo ais gonna go up in price also, because msian mamats know all too well the standard phrase of: "Minyak naik lah"
'Let me pay market price for cars too'
Jun 5, 08 10:46am
On Fuel hike: 78 sen more to RM2.70 per litre
Kenny Gan: I don't mind paying market price for petrol provided I can pay market price for cars. Currently, our cars are anything but ‘market price’. We have one of the highest car prices in the world due to our abnormally high import duties on foreign cars.
I'm not talking about luxury cars either, half of what we pay for a basic family cars goes to tax. The tax component of a car will pay for the extra cost of unsubsidised petrol for the life of the car!
In a country where public transport is abysmal and most people have no practical choice but to own cars, middle-class families are being pushed to the wall. Subsidised petrol helps to offset the high installments car owners have to fork out monthly to pay for their overtaxed cars.
Many owners have to take a nine-year loan just to pay off a basic car. On top of that tolls are a heavy burden to motorists and threaten to keep going up due to one sided deals signed with toll concessionaires.
The government can do nothing about the world price of crude oil but high car prices and high tolls are definitely self-inflicted. Lack of investment in public transport rubs it in. Is this lack of urgency to improve our public transport designed to help Proton sell more cars?
The government has forced the public to own cars by mismanaging the public transport sector, inflicted a high prices for cars, burdened the motorists with extensive toll roads and now wants market price for petrol. Is this a caring government?
http://malaysiakini.com/news/83966
in a country where:
1.buses are like death rides
2.trains services from the 70's
3.non-integrated and unreliable systems of public transport
what choice do people have?
This comes with the irony of abnormally high prices of tin cans on wheels..
kancil's may only pass the safety standards of Malaysia and some random screwed up African country...
mati-lah, milo ais gonna go up in price also, because msian mamats know all too well the standard phrase of: "Minyak naik lah"
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