Resolution #2

Today, I’m checking off my second resolution of 2011. I’ve taken the first steps towards getting my professional registration as a Chartered Engineer. I’d wanted to get the ball rolling in May but had to put it off for a while due to time constraints.

Last month, I decided to sit down and get it done. It took me a whole week to fill up the forms but I finally completed them before Raya holidays. I mailed in the forms on Monday and today, I’ve received confirmation that the forms were received and the process has kicked in.

After this, I will need to pass my professional interview before I can be registered as a Chartered Engineer. The whole process will typically take a few months but I’ve tried to speed things up by submitting the supporter inquiry forms along with my main application.

Once I pass my professional interview, I’ll get another four letters to stick in my post-nominals – C.Eng!

Looking forward to that day. 🙂

Voter Registration Forms

Another process that is not well thought through from our government. While I laud the Elections Commission from making the voter registration forms readily available online, it is not as easy as it seems because – they provided three types of forms instead of one, with no instructions on which one to use.

The appropriate form needs to be downloaded, completed and submitted to the EC directly or to an assistant registrar like me. However, I am confused as I do not know whether I am allowed to collect all forms or just the ones I am normally allowed to use. I did not even know that there were different forms available.

To make it easy, anyone who wants to submit their forms to me should use the “NW” form available from the EC.

As for me, I wonder if I should write a programme to automatically extract the data from MyKAD and fill in the forms directly. This will allow me to keep digital copies of the forms and what nots. Just something to think about.

Also, if you can fill it up and email me the high-resolution scanned copies, I would be able to submit it directly to the EC on your behalf. I visit their offices quite regularly.

Roomie Groomie

I attended my ex-roommate’s wedding today. I flew into KK first thing this morning and took a cab to the church the moment I landed at the airport. It was great to see him again after all these years and he still looks and acts the same.

When the bride was walking down the isle, I recalled something from the film – 27 dresses – and took a peek at my ex-roomie and caught him taking a deep breath and looking like a bumbling fool. I gave him a thumbs-up and he gave me a two thumbs-up in return. That was all that needed to be said I guess.

I’ve never met the bride before this. As his ex-roomie, I was privy to his prior crash-and-burns and I think that in this case, he was right in waiting for the right one to come along. From what I heard, they met during teacher training and he was instantly smitten when she knew what Evanrue was.

So, from what I gathered about her, she is the perfect Arcee to his Rodimus.

(the wedding cake had those on it instead)

As usual, I wish them a “white head till old” and “early born expensive son” and in their case, I actually think that they have a fighting chance to make it to the end.

A lovely and cute couple.

Aramaiti!

PS: Man, the bride sure has lots of cute Kadazan cousins and friends.

KL Traffic

What do I do while driving on the jam-packed streets of KL?

  1. Read a book – I’ve finished reading several novels this way. I pick it up in front of every traffic light and even in seriously bad traffic jams. It’s a good idea to carry a book around.
  2. Eat lunch – I’ve done this several times. Of course, it depends on the type of lunch to be had. I’ve had ‘economy rice’ this way and also McDonalds burgers and KFC meals. Fries are easy to consume this way. Care must be taken to keep the car clean though.
  3. Check my email – While I don’t have a smart-phone, my phone is smart enough to check my email. I don’t do this unless I am expecting something important as I do not have a data-plan with my telco so I pay per kb.
  4. Change clothes – Okay, not actually changing the entire suit but I sometimes take off or put on jackets at red-lights.
  5. Shave – I keep an electric shaver in the glove compartment for just this reason. Sometime, I get a quick shave in on my way to work in the morning.
  6. Swap CDs – I have yet to get an MP3 player for the car and so, I swap CDs when the car ain’t moving.
  7. Check the Map – I preview the driving route on my GPS to see if there’s a way to circumvent the jam.

Multi-lingual R&D Talent

Reading a recent article from the BBC, what struck me was our government’s myopic and stubborn blindness at the biggest crisis that our country faces – brain drain.

In the article, a representative from Cyberview says that, “Our advantage is that our multilingual skills, and the talent we have here, is more globally accepted because of our multicultural mix.”

This is totally fine except that the problem we face is that, “Analysts say many companies end up doing their research and development overseas, partly because they cannot find the right talent.”

The high-technology companies in Malaysia are having difficulty finding the right kind of talent for research work and we’re harping the fact that we’ve got multi-lingual and multi-cultural advantages.

Which got me thinking – what has multi-lingual or multi-cultural stuff got to do with research and development skills and talent? Our government does not even understand the question, much less the answer.

This is totally sad.

Phrenology of an Entrepreneur

Found this interesting image online today.
Have to say that it’s a good reflection of my brain as well – particularly the tiny bit on patience.

Wow, my 900th post!

Human R-evolution

Awesome video of human-cyborg enhancements. I like the fact that there are so many interesting little companies in the world doing cutting-edge stuff.