It was a great news on the recent Mobile Number Portability implementation in Malaysia.  I have been on Maxis since I got my first mobile phone, and I have been with the same number since.  I can’t remember how long I had this number, I believe it is almost 10 years.  I have got nothing from Maxis all this time, except for huge hefty bill and unreasonable roaming charges.  Their royalty program were mediocre, and it was off for some time, and now have this rewards program that give you discount coupon, which I need to spend more money instead of saving money.  It would be nice if Maxis would give a free phone for being with them for so long, but I guess that is wishful thinking.  The one thing holding me back was the news that Maxis was the telco carrier that will release iPhone in Malaysia and it would be less than RM1000.  Then again, after looking at their current myMaxis Phone deals, to get a Samsung Omnia i900, it would be RM2399 with Value Plus 150 with 24 month contract.  What a joke, a 24 month contract tied to RM150 per month, and still sell the phone at RM2399, its more insulting rather than a promotion.  So, when it comes to iPhone, which is up in the Omnia class, I don’t think there would be any sweet deal at all.  For < RM1000 price tag, I would bet Maxis to tie you down for years with their Value Plus 500 plan, which force you to spend RM500 a month.  This is my speculation, looking at the so called myMaxis phone deals that they are giving now. 

So, thanks to online billing, I cut and paste my calls for the past few months onto an excel and computed my call cost with different scenarios.  The two that I was thinking of was moving from current standard plan to Maxis value 50 or move to Digi DG20 plan, and guess what, DG20 came out as the winner by saving me up to 25% of total cost.  This is inclusive with two supplementary line.  With this much saving, I am no longer waiting for iPhone from Maxis, of which I predict it would be too expensive anyway.  I rather go for 25% savings on monthly basis, than to wait for something that I end up could not afford anyway.   So, in short, thank you and goodbye Maxis, I am moving over to Digi. 

There was an interesting song from the recent movie, Forgetting Sarah Marshall. It was right at the opening where a British rock artist Aldous Snow’s song “We got to do something” MTV was shown over the television.  What’s intriguing was that this song was from his latest album “Sodomize Intolerance”.  How interesting the title fit to current Malaysia political situation.  Firstly, we have the glorified Sodomize, where the UMNO lead government allegedly use to stop Anwar Ibrahim’s political career.  Then recently, we had an UMNO branch chief making insensitive remarks about the Chinese race in Malaysia, and re-iterated that he was right and did not make any mistake.  The remarks to me was sign of intolerance.  In one hand, we have Sodomize and the other we have intolerance, and both from the same political party.  Its so sad and disappointing that such things can be allowed in Malaysia, especially on views that a certain race is better than another.  Its almost institutional, and after 51 years of independence, this is what we are left with, and I believe, if no change are done, another 50 years, things will either be the same or worst.  Can we get much worst than this?  When Ahmad explain that his remarks were meant for those who have came here before the country’s independence.  Nevertheless, to have such view over those who came then who have also sacrificed for the country is also insensitive.  the first thing that came to my mind when he explains was what about those who have been born a Malaysian Citizen, can they be expected to have the same rights as the rest? or they too cannot expect to be treated equally just because of their race?  Well, I have news for Ahmad, and this is for him to think hard on.  The pendatang in this country will not go back, they have no other country to go to.  They are here to stay.  It is time to start thinking how all of us can work together to put this country forward, and not otherwise. 

Not sure why, of late, the word Fuck seams to be so cool.  It was first triggered by the two movies I watched, Superbad and Forgetting Sarah Marshal.  Maybe it was the way it was said, the vulgarity seams non-existence and it sounds just like a fad word.  Maybe, it was not so much of the word, but more of the expression of the emotions within, and the word are just an illustrations of the feeling of the moment.  This has to be it, as lately, there are so much bullshit in the country’s political arena that built up the frustration.  And Fuck is just the right word to vent the frustration.  As much as I love to use the word, it does seams vulgar and not many can accept it, especially if you need to maintain  your professionalism in the office.  The whole persona where you want to express, and yet, can’t, makes it more repressive and I guess, this is why Fuck is so cool. 

Every once in a while, you walk up a coffee shop and the person standing behind the counter look at you like she wants to eat you up, with no smile, no friendly voice, instead, shouting on top of her lungs “How can I help you today!”, almost picking a fight.  That’s the coffee bitch.   The coffee bitch is not one specific person, but a species of bitches who serves coffee.  I just wonder if they spit into the coffee or food to make their day.  In Malaysia, Coffee Bean, which I patron almost every weekend has the most of these bitches.  They are scattered all over Malaysia.  If not for their breakfast and royalty program, I would have ban this franchise long before.  Even when I help to clear the table when I was done, I was greeted with a ‘Oi!, Just Pass to Someone Can Already!’, like what the fuck, a thank you would be nice. 

On the other extreme, I have never encounter such coffee bitches at Starbucks.  I patron Starbucks in every city I visit and always, never fail, greeted with a smile, friendly voice and always made to feel like home.  I’ve read “How Starbucks Saved my Life” by Michael Gates Gill and finally understood why there’s a smile at the back of every Starbucks counter.  It’s their culture.  Now, why can’t coffee bean be more like them.  Then again, if coffee bean would embrace such cultures, then coffee bean wouldn’t be coffee bean today.  At the end of the day, these coffee bitches are human after all, and thanks to Coffee Bean, they have a job.  If there were no coffee bean in the world, and only Starbucks, these coffee bitches would have been discriminated, or worst being forced into doing someone that they are not.  So, the next time, I encounter these Coffee Bitches, I would just smile, and glad that these bitches are working in the coffee shop and not in my company which I have to deal with more often than visiting the coffee shop.  Maybe they will smile back and dont spit into my food.

One of the most formidable rule of shopping is not to settle on the first price you see.  I was looking for a skin for my iPhone, and was browsing at one of the IT mall at Hua Qiang Bei.  As I was going up the escalator on the first floor, I spotted the item I wanted, it was RMB 35 for one, with a simple question,’can it be cheaper’, the price drop to RMB 30.  It was a little more than what I was willing to pay for a piece of rubber.  So I soldiered on to the 4th floor and came across another shop, with many more color choices and the price was RMB 15.  With much haggling, the price remained the same.  So I bought two, for the price that I would pay to get one on the first floor.  This is why, never settle for the first price you see.  You never, know, it might be much cheaper just a few floors up.  Oh, by the way, pink is for my wife, so don’t get any funny ideas.