When I was taking labor economic last year, my professor presented a case in class concerning monopsony meeting monopoly and dubbed it, in theory, it's like King Kong versus Godzilla. I bursted into laughter immediately.

In retropect, I'm not sure whether I laughed because of his figurative presentation, or the truth behind it.

In the real world, the war between a real King Kong and Godzilla has begun; Microsoft versus Google. Of course, none of them are monopsonies but both of them are monopolies. They do hold considerable market power to themselves.

SEATTLE - In a simmering legal tussle, Google Inc. is asking a judge to reject Microsoft's bid to keep a prized research engineer from taking a job at the Internet search company, saying the software titan filed its lawsuit to frighten other workers from defecting.

Anyway, some sort of climate change agreement between the US and five other Pacific rim nations have been signed prior to ASEAN + 3 + Australia + New Zealand meeting in Laos.

WASHINGTON - The United States and five Asian and Pacific nations, including China and India, agreed Wednesday on a partnership to use cleaner energy technologies in hopes of curtailing climate-changing pollution.

The goal is noble but the problem is, this agreement is non-binding. Because it is non-binding, I suspect there will be freerider problem - which hardly solve Kyoto's flaw to start with.

With Kyoto, all non-Annex 1 members, including China and India, are not binded to emission reduction and hence, freeriding others' effort to combat climate change.

Michigan has won the little solar brown jug, or whatever it is called. ASC 2005 is Michigan's! It's official!

[Hotlinking removed. Michigan's Hail to the Victor was here. Kindly go to http://www.mgoblue.com/sounds/victors.wav instead]

You know you wanna hear that =)

Now, to the land down under for the World Solar Challenge.

Did you hear that?

Michigan is the first team to cross the finish line in Calgary!

But first placing is not official yet. We will have to wait for the organizer to announce the result as there is a possibility, no matter how small it is, that Michigan might have incurred some sort of penalty.

Man, this is too tense.

Dedicated to Mirai Aki, Ivan and all the members of University of Michigan Solar Car Team 2003. And to SpectrUM.



Michigan is currently first enroute to Calgary. Word has it that it's getting cloudy over. If that is so, it seems that race is not over yet.

In any case, go get em Mirai!

p/s - Reliving the drama, two years later.

Some part of the entry is censored due to Mirai's request.

An excerpt from my diary.
------------------------------------------
Yesterday was fun and a little bit weird. Everything that could go wrong went wrong save the solar modules and our lives.

The day started early for me because I slept early last night, exhausted by the Solar Car work session. At six in the morning on Saturday, there was nothing for me to do so I watch CNN over the net while surfing. Bored, I took my bath and prepared myself for an experiment my team and I was going to conduct at ****** *****’s facilities. Then, just before I shut my computer off, I accidentally click on a link to a weblog with an entry “Please God, tell me I am dreaming.”

And my reaction right after clicking the link was Please God, tell me I am dreaming. NASA had lost contact with SS Columbia. At that time, Columbia loss was not yet announced. I had wanted to follow the event but I had to go to Ohio.

So, I left and waited for Ivan and the gang outside of the Michigan Union with a pizza in my hand. They were late and I was freezing to death in the cold morning. Then, they arrived and I found out that Jaz replaced Brent and Anastasia was not coming. We had planned to leave boring Ann Arbor at 1030 hours but found ourselves still in Ann Arbor half an hour later. (It was Mirai’s fault.)

The journey went smoothly and enjoyable until we heard about SS Columbia. The atmosphere in car was quiet but Jaz tried to lighten it up by talking about South Park. From South Park, the conversation went to politics and ended up criticizing Bush’s policies against Iraq. One of us even said that Bush is going to blame Iraq over Columbia loss which of course, was actually asked by the media later on.

While we were talking nonsense (especially on how “they killed Kenny stuff”), we lost our way due to several severe wrong turns. Talk about not paying attention to the road. Worse, I found out that instead of printing the complete direction from MapQuest, Ivan wrote it down a piece of paper without proper details. Nevertheless, we reached United Solar at around noon safely.

During the test, Mr. **** ******* was very nice to us. Not to mention his courtesy – we ran our test out of the usual business hours.

The test ran six hours straight, without even a sip of water. I also almost killed an A module by accidentally dropping it to the hard, solid concreted floor. Luckily, a few thousand dollars was saved because the module actually survived the impact. By 1800 hours, Jaz and I were having headache due deprivation of food (I am not kidding. I had a bad headache that I puked. And damn Ivan, he thought I was kidding. For God’s sake, my face was freaking pale!!!)

After the test, we put the modules into a huge case, thank Mike and left the facility. In the car, instead of discussing the result (the result was favorable by the way), we argued whether we should eat fast food or proper food. In the end, we decided to eat at a bar called Futtbucker (I am still blurry on how we reached this decision). It turned out later that it was not a bar (thank God). The dinner was good. Grilled salmon, tots and stuff were enough to help me to get over my headache.
Once satisfied, we continued our journey to Ann Arbor but we failed to realize one thing, WE WERE IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE and the moon was high up in the sky. We knew that we were already in Michigan but seeing Detroit in the horizon was not in the plan. Ivan had somehow drove the Jeep eastward. Once he realized that, he went westward and suddenly, all sign civilization ceased to exist. No highway, no nothing. We were frantically trying to stay calm. A few long moments later, a road sign with Ann Arbor written on it and were relieved. BUT, that is not the point of this entry dear diary.

While, quoting Jaz, we were going to the unknown, we heard a strange beep. We looked at a small screen at the dashboard and realized, THERE WAS ONLY 18 MILES WORTH OF GAS AND WE WERE IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE STILL.
“You know guys, in the trunk, there are **** * ******* ****** ***** ** ***** *******. If we are stuck in the middle of nowhere, some crook gonna rob us and sell it.” Jaz was driving us nuts.

17 miles.
16 miles.

“Should we go back or should we risk it forward?” asked Ivan.

“We know that there is nothing behind so the probability of discovering a gas station is larger if we go on” answered Mirai with the failure to pronounce all the ‘r’es.

“Yeah, better something than nothing” I said.

So, we went on and on.

15 miles.
13 miles.

“Hey, it skipped 14!” I screamed. Everybody joined in with “…shit…”

12 miles.
11 miles.

The smart Jaz said "You know guys, what's really comforting? Cars usually stop before gas is empty.”

“How is that supposed to be comforting?!?!?!?!?” yelled Ivan.

9 miles. This time it skipped the integer 10.

"Wait, this car is made by Europeans, it should be smart enough to tell us how much exactly we can go!" Mirai Aki suggested.

"Oh, Jeep is made by Americans." Jaz cut.

"Americans!!! No!!!"

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA…..!!!”

Now, it was sheer panic. We thought we were totally screwed but then, we saw a sign – 'Ann Arbor [something less than 9] Miles'.

“We're saved!!!” declared Mirai.

6 miles. This time, the meter skipped 2 integers. We were screwed.

“Alright guys, whatever god out there, just pray. I’m a Shinto, you Jaz?” asked Mirai.

“Sikh”

“You Hafiz?”

“I’m a Moslem” I replied.

“Ivan?”

“I’m atheist”

“Shit, we are going to die. Good luck praying.” I said. The three Believers started to panic even worse. An atheist!!!

3 miles and S Main St., ANN ARBOR. This was the first time all four of us were actually glad seeing the lights of Ann Arbor. By then, it was really loud in the car. Mirai keeping on screaming like a girl, Jaz was suggesting unbelievable suggestions, Ivan trying to calm himself at the helm and I kept on laughing like a drunken man.
3 miles still and still no pump station.

“AMOCO!!! Our savior!!!” declared Mirai.

3 miles still and we were saved by AMOCO, a polluter.

158 miles. I made a mental note – for this, I won’t say a shit about Bush for a week. I swear to God.

“What a day. Columbia, late for an hour for the test, no food, accidentally dropped the module, headache, a restaurant called Futtbucker and being lost in the middle of the night, there must be something else” somebody said and it was true.

Near Rackham Graduate School, Ann Arbor Police (they arrested me once for snowball fighting) stopped us. This must be the climax.

“Shit…” that was all Jaz and I could muster.

Luckily, the police just warned us.

The fellowship of the solar modules continued their quest to return the solar modules to the PowerLab.

Once there, victory was announced but Jaz was not satified.

“Should we checked the solar modules in the bag?”

“Let somebody else find out. I had enough for the day” I said.

Ivan drove me home later.

“Alright Hafiz, brush you teeth and go to sleep” Ivan said.

“Thank you for showing up Hafiz” Mirai thanked.

“See ya”, Jaz said.

“Later all”

Immediately after I reached home, I stripped and went straight away to bed. Sweet home Michigan.
------------------------------------------

Below, an excerpt from Mirai's Log.
------------------------------------------
Division leaders: Please forward this to your division if possible.

Power Electrical Division, Mirai's Log: February 1, 2003AD

It was the most important day for SpectruM Power Electrical Team. We finally got approval of solar module testing from our greatest project manager, Josh Harmsen, and our finest engineering director, Jeff Chen.

Ace driver of Power Electrical Team, Ivan Goenawan, rendezvoused with fellow members, Hafiz Noor Shams, Jaswinder Singh and Mirai Aki, this morning at 10:30. We headed out to testing facility of ****** *****. There was a little confusion with orientation, but we successfully arrived at the facility on 12:00. Without any consumption of food, we tested modules until 17:30. The test was successful: all the modules were supplying decent amount of power. Satisfied with the result of the experiment, we left the facility, and headed back to Ann Arbor. On the way back, we stopped by Futtbuckers, finest self serving dinning, even though we expected it to be a bar.

The way back home was, in some sense, adventurous and chaotic. We drove thirty minutes after dinner, and found ourselves in front of Futtbuckers again. We were terrified: what is wrong with this area? Is this some kind of twilight zone? We kept on driving, until we showed up in middle of nowhere.

Jaswinder screamed, "We are in middle of unknown!"

He was absolutely precise. There was no sign of civilization. Suddenly, we heard a small electrical beep in the vehicle.

"What is that?" Mirai blurted out of curiosity of what happened.

"Oh,we're running out of gas." Ivan responded with rather calm voice.

"F###!" Mirai screamed.

Although, Mirai remembered a small detail about the vehicle which he heard from his friend before. A car won't stop for a while even a gas meter indicates empty gas. When Mirai calmed down with the recognition, Ivan turned on the small monitor built into vehicle. Everybody observed the screen with their mouth wide open: the monitor said, "18 miles to gas empty". Remember, we were still in middle of nowhere.
16 miles, 14 miles........ count down began.

Somebody in the car said, "Everybody, there must be a gas station in next 14 miles."
Jas added to that statement, "You know guys, what's really comforting? Cars usually stop before gas is empty."

Ivan yelled in obscenity, "How's a f%%% that supposed to comfort us!?"
Mirai cried out loud like a girl, and said, "Wait, this car is made by Europeans, it should be smart enough to tell us how much exactly we can go!" There was a moment of silence.

Jas broke the silence, "Oh, Jeep is made by Americans."

Mirai freaked out, "Americans!!! No!!!"

Count down continued. Suddenly 12 miles turned into 13 miles. Mirai naively yelled, "It's a miracle!"

Ivan said, "Oh, I just slowed down."

Meter went back to 12 at that moment.

9 miles, 8 miles, 6 miles...... Meter was decreasing inversely proportional to our screaming intensity. 4 miles, and we finally saw lights.

Yes, the light of civilization. Light of Ann Arbor! Home. Isn't it such a wonderful term?

3 miles...... We were crying. Finally, there it was. Amoco, gas station!
Who has ever appreciated a gas station as much as we did before? We were all relieved. It was 2 miles when we finally arrived. After refuel, we headed out to Power Lab to drop off solar modules. On the way, somebody next to our vehicle was telling us to open our window. It was a police. Ivan got warning for going through yellow light. Jas and Hafiz said "Sh**!"

We successfully delivered solar module at power lab on 21:30. We are currently logging at 22:00 next to cemetery. This all actually happened when we were carrying **** * ******* ******* ***** ** ***** *** ****'s heart and soul.
This is Mirai Aki, closing in.

Go Blue!

Michigan, as in right now, officially, is leading the pack in American Solar Challenge 2005. According to official timing update, Michigan is well over 10 minutes ahead of the nearest challenger, Minnesota. Almost all teams are currently in Medicine Hat, Canada, preparing for the final stage - a dash to Calgary.

Minnesota in their blog blame the weather for being less than merciful. Michigan was lucky to be not under the clouds although according to Michigan, Canadian wind is giving them a hard time.

Another competitor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology is approximately 20 minutes behind Minnesota. They were first for some time before crossing the Canadian border but a hailstorm changed that.

I'm excited to see Michigan taking the lead as the curtain comes down. If Michigan wins this edition of ASC, it will be the fourth title and hence continues to be the winningest team in ASC history.

Anyway, this is a map showing the route between Medicine Hat and Calgary. Medicine Hat is located at a junction nearest to the intersection of a dash line (Saskatchewan-Alberta border) and a solid line (Canadian-American border). Mapquest says that's 183 miles.

Go Blue! All the best!

And then onwards to Australia! (I hope Michigan is going... 2003 was a tough year. It's time to take revenge.)

While browsing Project Petaling Street earlier to relieve myself of boredom, I came across a blog’s entry questioning democracy. Those questions are legitimate and it’s true that democracy is not without flawed. However, they are several points that I disagree and here, I will offer a different perspective.

Author of the blog first touches on how majority rules. I quote him (or her but since English lacks a neutral term, I’ll use he/his/him out of convenience) here.

The Majority Vote

This is what democracy has it's base in, that the majority always has it's say. But look at our own nation. Recently there was a discussion on the NEP and it's revision, the 2020 goal. Many non bumis said it was unfair and undemocratic. In my opinion, it's totally democratic, since the majority of the populace, or the Bumiputera support it and votes in the government that keeps it in return, because bumis hold a 60-40 majority in terms of population, is the government going to back down from the majority of it's voters? No. And if so, i'm sure the 60 percent will find a party willing to support the NEP, so i ask you, unless the bumis were gratious enough to give up their rights like the Whites of america or the non bumis having enough children do you see a solution?

I have nothing to say here except that I agree with it. That's what democracy essentially is.

Then, the author mentions voting idiots.

The Idiot Vote

I question the reason why idiots get to vote, just imagine if only 20 percent of people knew the parties, candidates, issues and consequences. Then what would the other 80 percent be? Obviously idiots, idiots who are impressionable, stupid and can't diffrentiate State from Parliament. So in a democracy, we're essentially putting our lives and future into the hands of people who can't tell left from right. Why are we the more intelligent people giving dumb animals the right to vote? Equality has nothing to do with it, the greater good is at stake here, and i'm as sure as hell not going to give up my right to choose because the majority of idiots think that voting for the party with the flashiest banners, nicest clothes and best media manipulation. Since opening the eyes of idiots is like try to cut a diamond with a flaccid penis, i suggest a screening system of sorts, for example my favourite "Service guarantees citizenship!"

While I do agree with him about there are voters that lack certain information in order to properly practice his right to choose, I firmly disagree to disallow these idiots, or politically correct term, uninformed voters from practicing their right to vote.

If we in the name of greater good prevent these voters from the ballot, we would be no better than a tyrant. A tyrant would choose at his wimp who would be able to vote by invoking this idea of uninformed voters or to some extent, imperfect or asymmetrical information (The term imperfect or asymmetrical information only applies if a voter actually gives a damn about an election rather than being nonchalant). A tyrant could easily label the supporters of his opponent as ignorant and naïve, of which from the tyrant point of view, being uninformed of the need to elect the tyrant over and over again. The term uninformed is subjective and it’s dangerous to tinker with.

The solution to this is free flow of information. The author asserts that educating these uninformed voters is as useful as talking to a brick wall. Well, he is wrong. If a person intends to vote and new information is available, a rational voter will certainly take that piece of information into account. Moreover, if a voter doesn’t care about anything and hence doesn’t have the urge to know who’s who, what’s what, which, why and how, it’s kind of obvious that he won’t exercise his right to vote. Thus the question, why do we need to prevent him from voting in the first place?

It is far easier and less trouble to let everybody votes. Enough of that. Let’s move to the next item in the list, non-contributory voter.

The Non Contributor Vote

Seriously if someone enters your home asks for free food and lodging plus you give so to him, are you going to challenge whatever the owner of the house says? No, be thankful the owner took you in the first place. Why should we, the tax payers help the lower class that contributes nothing, i believe that people should only be given a right to vote if they contribute, something like the Wikimedia foundation vote, where the greatest contibuters wield the most power to vote and become candidates, so in a sense, the more good you do, the more power you wield, may sound bad to most, but to me it isn't , naturally good people will rise the ranks due to their contribution, doesn't need to be monetary, but it can be judged on many fronts. How would like it if some stupid lepaking kid who smoke 2 packs a days and doesn't work to wield a vote? Seriously these people don't deserve it! And if they don't deserve it why in God's name should we give them the power to steer the future of a nation!

A citizen of a country, living in that country, will be affected by any policy brought forth by the government, regardless whether he does contribute to the country or doesn’t. It’s because of that that they do and should have a voice. Furthermore, allowing merely contributing citizens to vote is similar to taking a walk well before the French Revolution when only landowners have the right to vote. Certainly, that walk to the past is an undoing all the progress humanity has made in achieving a fairer society.

Finally, higher unconscious vote. Honestly, I have no idea what that term means but according to the author:

The Higher Unconcious Vote

The problem is that simply, democracy isn't exercised all the time! Only during the elections, how can we as the voters vote on anything more than not only our leaders, but the choices they exercise, like how politicians are pressing for the change of UNITAR to UNIUMNO, it's just plain stupid, but what can we as the public do? We aren't given the choice to shoot it down are we? Ofcourse we chose these SOBs as our representatives, but do they actually represent our choice? I never saw any politician holding a meeting on the census of certain issues in my area do i? In the end these politicians merely promise to serve our will, but in the end, serve their own will! When was the last time your representative held counsel with the people who voted him in to hear their thoughts? Only when it's convenient. Just like the LRT ad fiasco, the stupid MP blamed his Voters for wanting to raise the issue, either his voters are all the aformentioned above or he's looking for an easy way out!

All I can say is you reap what you sow. The voters are at fault here, not the system. Vote him out in the next election instead of reelecting him.

Michigan has been racing in the American Solar Challenge for eight days now and is currently, seems to be first in the Canadian prairie though on the record, Minnesota is the leader. As Michigan has said, it is too close to know for sure who really is first.

I’ve been following the race right here from Malaysia, keeping an eye on various teams’ blog and GPS tracker provided by organizer. I think is the first race ever in which I’m dependent on various solar teams’ blog and the GPS system. The usage of both tools might have happened before but for me, this is the first time I actually see the utilization of both tools.

Those blogs give a more accurate view of what is going on in the race from each competing team’s viewpoint. More importantly, those blogs give a more up-to-date report on the situation compared to the official site, which save the GPS trackers are updated only so often.

It's true that those blogs are only updated once a day but with blogs visitors leaving useful comments behind, the blogs are practically being updated continuously.

If you are interested the official site is at NASC 2005. They have the GPS tracker here.

The leading blogging teams are, not in order...:
Michigan
MIT
Missouri-Rolla
Minnesota

Go Blue! Eh!

According to GPS tracker on ASC site, Michigan is currently trying to wrestle the first spot from Minnesota.

Minnesota has unexpected, at least to me, become a competitive rival. A couple harsh words have been exchanged by visitors on Michigan's blog but as one person put, roughly, go Big Ten schools seem to dominate the race.

Yeah, whatever. But I'll go Blue first!

p/s - Minnesota is far ahead...

I'm going to exchange all the dollar I have left to ringgit right now. From Bank Negara:

Bank Negara Malaysia announces today that the exchange rate of the ringgit with immediate effect will be allowed to operate in a managed float, with its value being determined by economic fundamentals. Bank Negara Malaysia will monitor the exchange rate against a currency basket to ensure that the exchange rate remains close to its fair value. Promoting stability of the exchange rate continues to be a primary objective of policy.

And wow, we didn't wait for China.

p/s - I've just found out that China has ditched their fixed regime in favor of flexible exchange rate. This can only one thing - the rumor that the Malaysian government did send a team to China for consultation purposes is true. It must be true since it is almost impossible for both Malaysia and China to simultaneously switch to floating exchange rate.

About less than a year ago, I read somewhere that the Ringgit should be approximately between MYR 3.20 and 3.50 to a dollar. Let's see if people in the economic circle have made the right prediction.

I'm sure that whiny and bitchy US manufacturers are happy with today's development. China right now, however, I think, has a strong incentive to reduce its holding of US T-Bills.

I saw Manmohan Singh’s address to the US Congress yesterday. In his speech, he asserted how important it is for the US and India to work together in a globalized world. In actuality, he seeks the Congress’ consent for the US cooperation with India on India's nuclear work for civilian purposes. I for one, hope the Congress won’t block any step taken towards that direction.

Chernobyl was a tragedy. So was Three Mile Island incident. However, with growing human population, it is obvious that we will consume more and more power. Unfortunately, that power has to come from somewhere, be it from fossil fuel, green energy or nuclear.

The Indian Prime Minister mentioned yesterday that in any scenario, coal plays a central role in India energy industry. India is a huge country and their reliance on coal would increase carbon emission tremendously all the while the Annex 1 parties to Kyoto are struggling to reduce emission. With or without China and the United States, India could single-handedly wreck the fight against climate change. Nuclear provides a clear alternative to coal while clean and safe renewable sources, at its current state, are simply not enough to quench India and indeed the world’s thirst for energy,

The US has refused to ratify Kyoto and has stubbornly argued that any reduction in emission would damage its economy. Moreover, Bush and his supporters have said that only technological progress is the answer to climate change. Frankly, I’ve yet to see or hear Bush do something about that but now is the time to back that claim up. Now is time to prove that Bush really belief that instead of simply trying to dodge a commitment that the US made under the Clinton Administration. Congress now needs to approve such cooperation to give Bush’s words a spine.

Some fear that this might encourage nuclear proliferation. This groups need to be reminded that India already has nuclear capability. In fact, in my opinion, the US cooperation with India would make nuclear energy safer.

Perhaps, if others still feel strongly against such cooperation, perhaps US offer assistance on a condition that India will sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which India is not a signatory. With India in the NPT, the world might even be able to persuade Pakistan to sign the treaty. Of course, there will have to be a change in the first pillar of the NPT.

In the end, wouldn’t that make the world a bit safer?

On the other side, a lot of people are saying that this new American relationship with India spurs out of concern of China’s growing power. Well, I prefer to some something to counter China’s regional influence – Japan simply can’t counter China alone.

p/s - Michigan is currently second in the ASC and they are closing in on the leader, Minnesota, fast. MIT and Missouri-Rolla is far behind.

Michigan is currently third in the American Solar Challenge. They were first but they had to stop to charge their battery. While charging, Minnesota and Missouri-Rolla overtook Michigan to take the current first and second placing. According to Michigan’s blog, they are still first in term of time. However, by looking at the current position as shown by a GPS tracker, it seems Minnesota is really leading. Ouch.

Anway, from the official sites and other various solar car teams’ blogs, the weather was not favorable.

Well, whatever it is, go Blue!

p/s - Google, moon...
pp/s - these guys are going to do some serious blogging for an upcoming blogging event - 2005 blogathon. And they are going to do it for Greenpeace. So, remember to check them out on August 6.
ppp/s - as of GMT 1525, Michigan is second! Minnesota however is really up ahead.

The American Solar Challenge 2005 started last Sunday and Michigan started at the 5th rung in Austin, Taxes. By the second day, Blue’s at one in Kansas! w00t!

Archrival (just in solar car race, mind you) Misourri-Rolla is currently third and the kicked-in-almost-every-imaginable-game-by-Michigan team, Minnesota is second.

I hope they'll win this one. If they do, it would be a revenge as sweet as honey for the 2003 team - of which I was part of - that failed the qualify for ASC 2003.

Sing to the colors that float in the light;
Hurrah for the Yellow and Blue!

Go Blue baby! w00t! w00t! w00t!

And SCT blog is here!

I was in a certain part of Kuala Lumpur the day before yesterday; Cheras to be exact. I am quite sure why I was out and about there while the day seemed way hotter than Ann Arbor’s. For the first time in many years, I sweated like crazy by doing almost nothing. I miss the day when I go out under the summer sun and barely sweat.

While walking around, I saw what four years of progress could do to a place. Currently, constructions are almost everywhere and I barely recognize several places that I’m supposed to be familiar with. All the time I was marveling at the changes, then I saw a huge sewer - it’s called Klang River, or was it Gombak. Whatever it is, both suffer the same problem and really, the word river is a misnomer.

It’s disheartening knowing that rivers in Kuala Lumpur are been treated with such disregard. Seeing the current state of the rivers, I wouldn’t be too surprise to know if the wastes that flow into the rivers are untreated. For goodness sake, there were even solid wastes toiling to go somewhere in the water.

I’m sure the Huron River that flows through Ann Arbor is not as clean as it should be but at least, the only solid wastes there are ducks poo and occasionally, dead Republicans! Alright, that’s purely exaggeration and comparing Ann Arbor’s Huron with Kuala Lumpur’s Klang or Gombak is a trifle unfair. Still, the administrator and more importantly, the citizens of Kuala Lumpur need to treat the rivers way better than as it is presently.

Apart from having all kind of trashes imaginable traveling with the water, freeway is built above and along the river. Yes, above and along the river. Practically, if one is to watch Kuala Lumpur from the sky, one would see the freeway instead of river. However, it might be an efficient land usage given that constructing freeways above the river doesn’t eat up much valuable land. Still, I’d prefer if they built small parks along the bank to grey dull freeways.

Also, most buildings don’t face the river. In fact, the ugly backsides of buildings face the river instead. It’s as if the planners of Kuala Lumpur see the river as a disgusting object. Well, I’d suppose given that Kuala Lumpur’s rivers are sewer-like, the city planners’ notion is justified to some extent.

And the wall by the bank. Yes, the wall. I do know that the purpose of the wall is to keep erosion in check. However, that wall somehow strengthens the notion of rivers as sewers.

I remember that when I was small, the city administrator, or was it the government at large, ran a “love our river” campaign. I have a hunch that a sizable sum of good money was thrown into the sewers without much to celebrate.

I think, in order to save the river, the people in Kuala Lumpur really need to see the rivers not as monster sewers, but rather, really, just rivers. Our mindset needs to change and to change that, we need more green area by the banks. I do think that if we perceive rivers as rivers that is part of green area and not as liquid dump yard, other moves to improve the state of rivers in Kuala Lumpur will be done with relative ease.

So, we need to elect the city mayor instead of having somebody up above there, somewhere, choosing it for us. Who does democratically electing a mayor relate to the state of the river? Simple; when it comes to election time, all we need to do is to drill the candidates. This of course assuming we don’t run Saddam-style election. With the current system, I doubt the mayor gives a damn about the river and lots of other issues.

I might be wrong about the mayor but I bet my friends’ heads that I’m not wrong.

Malaysia was first accused as an agent of imperialism by Indonesia, and to a certain extent by the Philippines, back during the formation of Malaysian Federation. Both were against the formation of Malaysia which was supposed to encompass the Federation of Malaya, Singapore, Sarawak, Brunei and Sabah. War between Malaysia and Indonesia ensued later. In the end, Malaysia somehow won though Indonesia in the process managed to convince Brunei to opt out of the federation. Later, Singapore seceded, or kicked out of Malaysia, in 1965. And Malaysia has gone a long way since.

Now, in a time of uncertainty, it's time Malaysia expands its frontier again. Yea!

We could definitely start with Brunei. The reason Brunei refused to participate in Malaysia was because of Indonesian influence. The rest is history. Today, Indonesia struggles to hold its own territories together and Indonesia’s influence on Brunei certainly has been reduced to nil. Hence, this is a perfect timing for Malaysian federal government to initiate talk with the Sultan of Brunei of a possible ascension of Brunei into Malaysia.

The benefit of Brunei’s ascension for Malaysia is aplenty. I'll try to explain three of them.

First and foremost, such unification would increase trade by removing barriers that distort trade. Malaysian trade increase would probably be insignificant due to Brunei’s size but Brunei would definitely enjoy greater reap in term of percentage of GDP.

Second concerns natural resources, in particular crude oil and gas. What better way for Malaysia to secure a source of energy in light of rising oil price? Brunei could be the answer to Malaysia’s thirst for the black gold.

Thirdly, Spratly. Spratly is being claimed by multiple countries in the region, including Malaysia and Brunei. Brunei’s accession into Malaysia would strengthen Malaysia and Brunei’s case. And of course, with Spratly comes along superior inflow of black oil into Brunei and ultimately, should Brunei join the federation, Malaysia itself.

Should Brunei join Malaysia, certain arrangement could be made to soften the impacts of ascension. For instance, the Sultan of Brunei and Brunei itself could be given certain autonomy power, perhaps a power more generous than what both Sabah and Sarawak currently enjoy. Whatever the possible division of power between Brunei and Malaysia may be, in the long run, Brunei should embrace democracy complete with its participation in the Malaysian Parliament with the Sultan’s authority being balanced by the interest of common Bruneian (Do we call Bruneian as Bruneian?).

Steps towards the unification of Brunei and Malaysia could be done in the near future. Or, if it couldn’t, it would definitely be viable when oil in Brunei ran out. When Brunei ran out of its natural resources, it will be in Brunei’s best interest to join Malaysia.

Nice eh? Next time, we’ll talk other possibilities of strengthening out beloved federation.

So, before:



After:


For a greater Federation!

p/s - hail to the Rainbow Warrior! 20 years ago on this day, the French government sabotaged a Greenpeace vessel. One died.

pp/s - the reasons I read Samizdata.net are here and here and here.

The recent spat between Proton and Malaysian trade minister Rafidah Aziz has been interesting. Proton accuses the Malaysian government of not protecting Proton while awarding permits to South Korean manufacturers more than it was supposed to. I read that as possible corruption. The trade minister on the other hand accuses Proton of not being competitive, which I personally think so. So, both Proton and the trade minister's mud balls hit bulleye.

Whatever the outcome of this mud ball fights, I doubt I will be able to make much out of it since if Proton gets something out of this, that is only one thing – more protectionism which is ultimately bad for free flow of trade.

If Rafidah Aziz gets away, that means as if nothing happens as, if Proton’s allegation is true, more than allowed importation permits will be given away. Possible corruption stays unchecked.

I’m not against protectionism per se. New and small industries perhaps may receive some protection from global competition but Proton has been around approximately two decades now. It’s time for Proton to face external pressure. Furthermore, Malaysian government's protection on Proton comes at a price; Malaysian consumers is being forced to pay more than they should for car, be it foreign or local.

Of course, the two scenarios are not the only possible result. But whatever it is, let’s hope there will be no increase in protectionism policy and a curb on corruption.

About the mud ball fight, the jury is still deliberating but Proton seems to be winning. Damn, Mahathir, which is Proton's advisor, still has some power left in his punches!

p/s - paid Malacca a visit the other day and caught a couple wild flowers along the way.


That's one of them.

Many thought Paris were going to host Olympics 2012. They unexpectedly lost and even worse, they lost to London. The French should be angry. And then London suffered six four bomb attacks the next day.

Initial report suspects this is a work of Al-Qaeda. I on the other hand suspect it’s the French! Yes, it’s the French I tell you. Who else could it be? Why wouldn't the French do it?

But out of all seriousness, this occurence is unfortunate as it happened during a G8 meeting in Scotland. The explosions in London have already postponed G8’s talk on climate change to some time later. This distasteful incidence have already overshadowed all activities to bring the issue of climate change to the front.

I’d suppose Bush must be happy with this since he possibly won’t have to face a possible barrage from other G8 leaders to act on climate change. At the same time, G8 won’t have to worry too much about anti-globalization protest. It would put the protesters in a very bad light if the protests go on.

Regardless, it's comforting to know that Bush is finally out of denial mode and admits that there is a link between human activities with climate change. Hence, the work to fight against this environmental chaos is made a tad easier.

Let's see if China and India are going to accept some kind of emission capping as they have promised some years ago.

p/s – the American Solar Challenger 2005 is almost here. Check out Michigan Solar Car Team website! Go Blue!

Last week in the Wall Street Journal, I read a page paid by Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. of the microprocessor company’s intention of suing Intel. AMD alleges that Intel has been divulging in unfair competition. Just yesterday, I read an article in Malaysia’s The Star about the oncoming litigation. Just for the record, I’m a huge fan of AMD and I think neophytes are usually misinformed whenever they choose Intel over AMD whereas AMD’s chips offer on par performance along with cheaper price.

Though AMD accuses Intel of forcing computers assemblers such as Dell to exclusively use Intel chip, I can’t help but wonder, do we punish those that are successful?

While AMD is pursuing its course, the European Union is investigation the matter too. And, as the event unfolds, Microsoft has already been under heavy scrutiny for a long time now.

I do understand how efficiency depends so much on free market where monopoly or near-monopoly is absence. Yet, do we need to punish those that monopolize the market just because they are good are running their business?

The idea of punishing the successful doesn’t end there. The popular progressive tax regime is another instance where the successful is penalized. In this regime, those in higher income bracket pay more taxes compare to others that sit in the lower level. Why do those that earn more have to pay extra tax?

When I was in the Malay College, the administration applied such idea to tuition fee. Though I’m not sure how it was done, I have a strong suspicion that in total, those that come from well-to-do family will be charged higher fee while those that lower income is charged with cheaper tuition. At the same time, aid from the government is similar in amount regardless of families’ income. In this analysis, other forms of scholarship are ignored in order to make all things the same.

Now, I have no qualm if all is charged the same amount with aids differ according to socio-economic standing. Though I have reservation for welfare-state, given the system is hard to change in the short term, I don’t mind if those that come from lower income families receive higher aid and then pay less fraction (fraction is the total subtracted with government aid) of their total tuition fee, or no fee at all for that matter in comparison to those that come from higher income bracket families with, take note, all paying the same total, not fraction, tuition fee, with or without aid. If this is the came, I really don’t mind the less fortunate pay less. What I do mind however is why the well-to-dos need to pay more total, not fraction, fee.

Against that, with or without aid, those with higher affluent were forced to pay higher sum. Needless to say, with higher fee, the fraction that they pay is higher. As a side note, a flat tax-rate regime is far simpler to deal with; it saves time and money; takes less form to fill in and more importantly, saves more trees. w00t! (again, it’s pronounced as “woohoo”, never “woot”. It’s woohoo in l33t form. Now, l33t user might be retarded and lame but if you want to be retarded and lame, use it properly. Goddamn please)

Perhaps in the case of Intel and Microsoft, it’s comprehendible to see why the cases deserve the attention they get from anti-trust law due to the fact that both firms apply excessive pressure against others. After all, it seems, it doesn’t take an economic major these days to see why competition-based market is better than a market with one player. But, what about the progressive tax regime or anything that resembles it?

I’ve heard some argue that those that are richer need more security for their holding. Since the government is the de facto protector of these capitals, the government has the right to charge higher tax to perform that task of protecting more private property.

Really, if that is the case, shouldn’t the rich get more votes because they are richer? I mean, the rich should have more say since the government is representing all including the rich and there is more capital on the hand of the rich.

I don’t know about you but that is merely legalizing bribery and the vote argument should be flawed. And if that vote argument flawed, so too should the protection argument. And I’ve just committed a logical fallacy. Do you see where it is?

In any case, it is my opinion that the government uses the progressive tax regime as a source of securing the welfare of less fortunate citizens. In short, it’s just a reason to keep huge welfare programs afloat. Think Robin Hood.

Though the intention is noble, it’s unfair. I don’t agree with wasteful welfare programs but if the government wants it done, there are other ways to fund such program. One is employing fewer civil servants and shoo away any redundant post. Second, cut unnecessary subsidy, like oil subsidy for instance. Third, curb corruption. Hell, in Indonesia, aid worth a few millions dollar for the tsunami victims is gone due to corruption.

So, never trust progressive tax-rate regime and much less the government with your money. In order to do that, we need to strive for a smaller government. We need to persuade the government to charge (cough, steal) us less tax in order to make it smaller and ultimately it out of our bedroom.

p/s - Malaysia Airlines sucks. When the counter says for check-in without luggage, only those that want to check-in without luggage should be there and Malaysia Airlines should allow only those without luggage to be there checking-in. Instead, what happened was that there were loci of retards with huge bags lining up there. Worse, this occurred when there were, I approximate, 200 persons lining up, waiting time worth an hour or two I presume. I am only glad that I didn’t have to experience my presumption that day.

I wanted to say something to these uneducated mobs but I realized, complaining to a mob is anything but smart. So I approached a representative from the airlines and guess where they directed me to?

First-class counter and everything was done in less than 10 minutes. I’m free good about coming out and complained since it saved me a lot of time. Yet, here is to Malaysia Airlines – do it properly. Tell your representatives to tell your customers to check-in at respective counters, not every counter.

Well, I’d suppose, at least they lined up. Thank goodness for that.