Streamyx Service Sucks!

For a long time, I've reckoned that the Malaysian service industry leaves a lot to be desired, but for a few exceptional establishments. The usual occasions when I encounter excellent service in Malaysia are when I am dining or being attended to in a hotel.

Apart from that, like my experience with Streamyx - or should I say TM Net - service in Malaysia generally sucks!

I've had problems with TM Net from the very first day I subscribed to their service a few years back. Anyway, recently I transferred my account to another location with a new telephone line. At that point, when I was getting a new line installed, the TM people nicely told me that a certain schedule would be followed in getting the various things done.

At the beginning, the installation of the phone line seemed to be on track. However, the moment it came to activation of the Streamyx service, that's when the service level dropped.

To put it mildly, it took a couple of phone calls before things got moving on my Streamyx account.

And when the Streamyx service was finally available at my new place, I discovered that I could not log on at all points in my apartment. Only one was specified for that purpose, and the people who activated my account did not even bother to ask me where I would like to access Streamyx from.

Then, I realised that I could hardly get connected most of the time, and even if I could, I would get disconnected very quickly after I got connected. What's the use of such an unrealiable service?

To make matters worse, when I call for technical support, I've got to dial some stupid pay-per -minute 1300 line. And, most of the time, I've got to wait for a long time before my call is connected to a real person - not necessarily real intelligence, though. That makes me start wondering why am I paying for TM's incompetence and inefficiency.

To cut a long story short, after some unprofessional service and unpleasant exchanges, I finally got my Streamyx service working virtually interruption free. Now, if this is possible, why can't TM provide that kind of service to everyone right from the start?

Hmmm, it really makes me wonder...

Kepong Bridge is falling down

Kepong Bridge is falling down,
Falling down, falling down.
Kepong Bridge is falling down,
My fair Samy.

Take a gag and shut us up,
Shut us up, shut us up.
Take a gag and shut us up,
My fair Samy.

How will we build it up,
Build it up, build it up?
How will we build it up again,
My fair Samy?

Build it up with tax and toll,
Tax and toll, tax and toll.
Build it up with tax and toll,
My fair Samy.

Roads and bridges bend and break,
Bend and break, bend and break.
Roads and bridges bend and break,
My fair Samy.

Blame it on an Act of God,
Act of God, Act of God.
Blame it on an Act of God,
My fair Samy.

Rocks and blames will wash away,
Wash away, wash away.
Rocks and blames will wash away,
My fair Samy.

The Malaysian Way (Joke)

A Malaysian dies and goes to hell.

There he finds that there is a different hell for each country.

He goes first to the German hell and asks, "What do they do here?"

He is told, "First they put you in an electric chair for an hour. Then they lay you on a bed of nails for another hour. Then the German devil comes in and whips you for the rest of the day."

The man does not like the sound of that at all, so he moves on.

He checks out the USA hell as well as the Russian hell and many more. He discovers that they are all more or less the same as the German hell.

Then he comes to the Malaysian hell and finds that there is a very long line of people waiting to get in. Amazed he asks, "What do they do here?"

He is told, "First they put you in an electric chair for an hour. Then they lay you on a bed of nails for another hour. Then the Malaysian devil comes in and whips you for the rest of the day."

"But that is exactly the same as all the other hells - why are there so many people waiting to get in?"

"Because maintenance is so bad that the electric chair does not work, someone has stolen all the nails from the bed, and the devil is a former Governmentt servant, so he comes in, signs the register and then goes to the canteen..."

Movie review: The House of Flying Daggers

The sub-title of the latest Chinese action flick by Mr. Zhang Zimou could be "... and pigs can fly, too."

Before I go on, I must admit that I am not a professional movie critic, and I was in a rather unusual frame of mind when I watched this particular movie. Thus, my comments here do not necessarily reflect an objective opinion, even if I do say so myself.

Anyway, being beside myself, the first thing that hit me about the movie was that there were no blooming English subtitles, and the Malay ones were so faint and barely legible - especially at the beginning of the movie when the artful director put in a prologue to help audiences that are unfamiliar with Chinese history and legends.

On top of that, the Malay subtitles were often annoyingly inaccurate. Thus, my whole slant on the movie was already tainted by such technical failures.

Nevertheless, somewhere in the middle of the movie I felt very sleepy... despite the action-smaction that was going on. Well, this must have been because I had a rather trying meeting before the show, and I was actually watching a midnight movie.

Later on, forcing myself to stay awake, I realised how incredulous some of the things in the movie were. Normally, I enjoy movies very much and I would suspend belief whilst watching them.

However, on this ocassion, the action really seemed incredibly far-fetched, especially in light of the fact that the director is portraying something that happened in the past, and not a fantasy or science fiction story about the future.

And the incredible storyline was further blemised by the incredibly complicated love affair going on between the main characters, and how one of them could repeatedly come back to life.

Thus, I decided to dub the movie "the House of Flying Pigs."

Having said that, the cinematography was very well crafted, and I'm sure many would appreciate the special effects, too.

So, if you are looking for a good entertaining movie, by all means catch this flick.

However, if you are looking for a well crafted film AND a credible and balanced storyline, do not waste your time.

In any case, if there is a message that can be distilled from this film, it is the extent to which some people will go for the sake of love (of a person or thing), including the extent to which the director is willing to go to attain critical acclaim.

Freedom of Expression

We are all entitled to our own opinion. Some would add "as long as we don't infringe or impose on others", or something like that. Well, to a certain extent, I agree.

Let's explore this idea of a right to freedom of expression, and how we should live with it.

I will always agree with Voltaire, who said, "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."

Although in most circumstances we do not need to go to such an extent (defend the right to death), I think we should first try to grasp the meaning of respecting the right to freedom of expression.

I have heard many people say similar things: "you are entitled to your opinion", "I respect what you are saying", "you have a right to say what you believe" etc. Yet, very often, these phrases are followed with a "but".

Somehow, to me, that "but" does not sit very well with the preceding words. I am inclined to think that if we truly respect another person's right to freedom of expression or entitlement to their own opinion, there are no "buts" about it.

We just listen, and agree or disagree. The moment we say "but" after espousing someone's right to freedom of expression, we are contradicting ourselves and denying the other person's right to freely express him or herself.

So, before we talk about the freedom of expression, it might be a good idea to first familiarise ourselves with what it means. Then again, you are entitled to talk about it in any way you reckon is appropriate.

RM20,000 spent on SMS

Mm-mm-mm...

I have not heard of such a mindless thing for a while now... not that that's the real reason behind my lack of postings in recent weeks : )

If you don't know what I'm talking about, check out the Sun newspaper's frontpage story today. Can't find a copy anywhere? Go to http://www.sun2surf.com/

Basically, the story is about this woman who sent RM19,613.25 worth of SMS to try and win a contest. Twenty nine thousand five hundred and five of them, to be exact. Here's what it looks like in figures: 29,505.

Honestly, I don't know what is more staggering - the figure or the mindlessness.

To top it off, after she discovered that she did not win the grand prize, or even the first prize, a SsangYong Rexton and a Celine living room set, respectively, (she won the second prize - a Suzuki VR125 motorcycle worth RM6,143.40) she decides to claim for a refund at the Consumer Claims Tribunal!

Talk about being mindless... Is this mindless greed, or is it just mindless, period?

Mindless minister

Wow, it's been a long time since my last blog entry! I really must get my act together and not let my busyness get in the way of my blog.

Anyway, I was just reading Malaysiakini.com this morning and I came across an article, "Haze conditions here better than Santiago, says minister", and it really shows how mindless even ministers can be.

Deputy Natural Resources and Environment Minister, S. Sothinathanwas, was quoted as saying, "the haze is not as bad as reported... I was in Santiago (Chile) two days ago and haze is a permanent problem there. But nobody talks about it, and not the international press."

Duh! Doesn't he realise that by the time we have such a situation in Malaysia, that means things are so bad both environmentally and socially that people couldn't be bothered anymore.

I certainly don't want to live in a society where people are apathetic towards the environment. Indeed, the apathetic attitude itself is bad for the environment.