Foo Ong Pin dies

A poem from a good friend of his, Lai Wing Fatt.

Dear all

Chiang Quan has confirmed that the funeral will be on Wednesday. Those of you who wish to pay your respects can do so tonite or tomorrow nite at his house. 2 pictures taken during our Class of 67 reunion on 16.2.2008 at KDU is attached. Ong Pin then had not the slightest idea of his impending pancreatic cancer. He only had first symptoms due to stomach discomfort when he was on tour in Japan in end March and pancreatic cancer was diagnosed in early April. Out of privacy for his family, this matter was known inly to his family members and close friends.

Here's a poem I wrote for Ong Pin for sharing.

Poem for Foo Ong Pin

Lived his life so full of love
Ready and willing to serve
Husband, father, son and scout
Mission is clear heart is stout
Friends like him cause he's cheeky
Give his school his loyalty
His family's his fortress
No one can say he care less
At fifty nine he's come far
We see him as a bright star
Who reaped the joy of success
Enjoying what he does best
Let's remember the good times
Well shared and the bonds that bind
Friendship he valued in life
With fondness we bid goodbye

(Note: Every line has 7 syllables)
Lai Wing Fatt

June 30, 2008








The following is a message from Datuk Vincent Lee, of Naga

Great Poem, Dr Foo will be missed by my family especially my youngest Daughter. She was saved by Dr. Foo 19 years ago. We will be eternally grateful to his attention to our little kid then. Without his detail medical attention we wont have our daughter today. regards.

Ong Pin wrote:

When I die, I request that my body be placed in my living room, in a low to medium priced coffin, for those who have known me to bid their farewells. As a believer in all religions but being non-aligned to any particular one, I will have no need for any priests or ceremonies to conduct my last rites. Simple soothing music and perhaps a speech or two will do. I would like my body to be cremated. If I die in Malaysia, then the crematorium of choice should be the one near home, such as the one in SS1, PJ, or the one in Cheras. Should I die outside the country, it would be any convenient State-sponsored crematorium, if possible, and my body's ashes either thrown in the foreign land or brought home for throwing, whichever is convenient for my surviving family members. My body's ashes can be distributed in any spot convenient to my family members, such as a grassy spot in Taman Jaya, or Gasing Hills, or a jungle along the road to Genting Highlands, Bukit Tinggi, or Fraser's Hill, or into the sea.I do not wish for any memorial of whatever size or complexity to be erected in my memory. It is sufficient that those who have known me will remember me occasionally, hopefully with fondness. Ong Pin, of sound mind and capability,

dated 1st May 2006. (Year 2006 is not a typographical error)

Dr Foo Ong Pin

It is indeed extremely sad to learn that Dr Foo Ong Pin has passed away this morning at 1.40am succumbing to pancreatic cancer. He is survived by his wife Yang Soon Peng and their two daughters.

You may know him as the child specialist in Subang Jaya Medical Center. He also has a clinic in Damansara Jaya.

Dr Foo was my schoolmate a few years my senior. He was my mentor. At one time I used to visit him on a regular basis to his room on top of the coffee shop cum hotel in Jalan Bukit Bintang owned by his father. I was then perhaps 13, 14 years old. I was particularly impressed with his personal library of books spanning a wide range of subjects.

I was under his care and another mate when I went on my first hitchhiking trip to Fraser's Hill when I was 12 years old. We were in the 10th Kuala Lumpur Air Scout Troop then, Methodist Boy's School Kuala Lumpur.

I have some recent photos of him at the last 2 school functions he attended. I shall try to locate them and post them up.

Albert Leong Kok Keong

Albert Leong has always been unique in a variety of ways.

On the left is a picture I took of him a few days ago at the Curve. He did not look a day older than the last time I saw him 20 years ago! You may think he has less hair now. Not true. Actually he did not have more hair then 20 years ago. You may want to crawl the canonmalaysians gallery in photobucket.com to see for yourself on this phenomenal man.

Albert was our IT guy in Canon long before the Internet was available in this country. He was our professor then. Whatever we needed fixing, he was the MAN. Whatever he cannot fix, we deemed it impossible to fix.

I did not know anything about flexi-hours until I saw him coming in and leaving at all hours of the day, weekdays and weekends.

I was in charge of service revenues at one part of my Canon life and we needed to take meter readings of copiers and deliver toners timely in accordance to usage. We were not supposed to use our technicians for some reasons. I consulted this man. He said he would come back to me.

The next day, he presented a brilliant solution of tying in toner phone requests with simultanous meter readings; permutations of quantity of toner needed to be given; and the invoicing of both meter readings/signed toner receipts with deliveries by our warehouse personnels. We took a big leap in efficiency. (my opinion).

I do not know what sort of prestigious awards he should deserved, but he should deserve at least a prestigious national award. (my opinion)

Fifty years from now, Canon may decide to heap accolades upon this man and award him in some Dinner event. But, fifty years .... . Why not do it next week? Will somebody please speak with Liew Sip Chon?

Albert is now with the Securities Commission and can be contacted. His email address is in the Registry.

J.K. Rowling - Tne Harvard Commencement Address June 5, 2008

You may have noticed that yesterday, I posted the speech made by her and I mentioned that I recommend you read it a couple of times.

I have since changed my mind. I recommend that you listen to her on youtube. I did a moment ago.

A wonderful speaker indeed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkREt4ZB-ck&feature=related

Chan Sow Lin FishHead Moving

So we went to Chan Sow Lin Road 3 to have the usual blackbeans sauce steam fishhead, braised pork with yam and fresh stir-fried choy sum.

There was the usual decent size crowd on this early Saturday.

The boss came to greet us and informed that today will be the last day of operation there. They are moving. He promised to give me a card and the directions to the new place.


So the food came and we fed our faces. Tasty, of course. The quality of food here is one of the most consistent that you can find. The waiting time is even shorter than McDonald's. We enjoyed the food as always.

So sudah habis, Geraldine washed down the last bits with tea.




Along came the fresh fruit lady on her sales pitch. She said she will move too to join the other fler. The new place will be on the opposite side of the main Chan Sow Lin road and on Road 5. There will be a air-conditioned section as well. I guess that would augur well for Serena Ong. No change in trading hours. (only lunch and off on Sunday)


This is the banner bearing the new address to notify patrons so that they all do not have to go hungry.



For older people who can't see so well. Here my photo picture of the card I received from the boss.


The saddest part is to see this 37 year old tree go. The land has been sold to some new owner and the likelihood is that this tree will be chopped.

Frank Tan

Bumped into Frank in a reseller's place recently.

He was a manager in Canon 1991-2001 in the then fax department on Teh Meng Chee's watch.

If I recall correctly, this gentleman was the no nonsense guy specializing in the management of the government accounts going about his work effectively and quietly. You can bet he has no time for intra-company romances and sex trysts unlike some people I know.

Today, he is running his own company MillenStar, again very wisely addressing the largest national customer; The Government. It is very likely that he now has become pretty well to do. (buy lunch?)

I am no football fan. Somebody said I should at least watch the Spainiards and Germans go at each other this coming early Monday. The Euro 2008 finals. Well, let's see if I see.

J.K. Rowling, The Fringe Benefits of Failure...

I am not a big fan of this person. I have not read any of her books. I have only seen one of her movies in its entirety.

I read this commencement address of her at the Annual Meeting of the Harvard Alumni Association. I then read it again a couple of times and I am most impressed. I like to share this. This is indeed a little long. If you have the patience, I think you would not have wasted your time.


The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination
June 5, 2008


J.K. Rowling, author of the best-selling Harry Potter book series, delivers her Commencement Address, “The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination,” at the Annual Meeting of the Harvard Alumni Association.


Text as prepared follows. Copyright of JK Rowling, June 2008

President Faust, members of the Harvard Corporation and the Board of Overseers, members of the faculty, proud parents, and, above all, graduates.

The first thing I would like to say is ‘thank you.’ Not only has Harvard given me an extraordinary honour, but the weeks of fear and nausea I’ve experienced at the thought of giving this commencement address have made me lose weight. A win-win situation! Now all I have to do is take deep breaths, squint at the red banners and fool myself into believing I am at the world’s best-educated Harry Potter convention.

Delivering a commencement address is a great responsibility; or so I thought until I cast my mind back to my own graduation. The commencement speaker that day was the distinguished British philosopher Baroness Mary Warnock. Reflecting on her speech has helped me enormously in writing this one, because it turns out that I can’t remember a single word she said. This liberating discovery enables me to proceed without any fear that I might inadvertently influence you to abandon promising careers in business, law or politics for the giddy delights of becoming a gay wizard.

You see? If all you remember in years to come is the ‘gay wizard’ joke, I’ve still come out ahead of Baroness Mary Warnock. Achievable goals: the first step towards personal improvement.
Actually, I have wracked my mind and heart for what I ought to say to you today. I have asked myself what I wish I had known at my own graduation, and what important lessons I have learned in the 21 years that has expired between that day and this.

I have come up with two answers. On this wonderful day when we are gathered together to celebrate your academic success, I have decided to talk to you about the benefits of failure. And as you stand on the threshold of what is sometimes called ‘real life’, I want to extol the crucial importance of imagination.

These might seem quixotic or paradoxical choices, but please bear with me.

Looking back at the 21-year-old that I was at graduation, is a slightly uncomfortable experience for the 42-year-old that she has become. Half my lifetime ago, I was striking an uneasy balance between the ambition I had for myself, and what those closest to me expected of me.

I was convinced that the only thing I wanted to do, ever, was to write novels. However, my parents, both of whom came from impoverished backgrounds and neither of whom had been to college, took the view that my overactive imagination was an amusing personal quirk that could never pay a mortgage, or secure a pension.

They had hoped that I would take a vocational degree; I wanted to study English Literature. A compromise was reached that in retrospect satisfied nobody, and I went up to study Modern Languages. Hardly had my parents’ car rounded the corner at the end of the road than I ditched German and scuttled off down the Classics corridor.

I cannot remember telling my parents that I was studying Classics; they might well have found out for the first time on graduation day. Of all subjects on this planet, I think they would have been hard put to name one less useful than Greek mythology when it came to securing the keys to an executive bathroom.

I would like to make it clear, in parenthesis, that I do not blame my parents for their point of view. There is an expiry date on blaming your parents for steering you in the wrong direction; the moment you are old enough to take the wheel, responsibility lies with you. What is more, I cannot criticise my parents for hoping that I would never experience poverty. They had been poor themselves, and I have since been poor, and I quite agree with them that it is not an ennobling experience. Poverty entails fear, and stress, and sometimes depression; it means a thousand petty humiliations and hardships. Climbing out of poverty by your own efforts, that is indeed something on which to pride yourself, but poverty itself is romanticised only by fools.

What I feared most for myself at your age was not poverty, but failure.

At your age, in spite of a distinct lack of motivation at university, where I had spent far too long in the coffee bar writing stories, and far too little time at lectures, I had a knack for passing examinations, and that, for years, had been the measure of success in my life and that of my peers.

I am not dull enough to suppose that because you are young, gifted and well-educated, you have never known hardship or heartbreak. Talent and intelligence never yet inoculated anyone against the caprice of the Fates, and I do not for a moment suppose that everyone here has enjoyed an existence of unruffled privilege and contentment.

However, the fact that you are graduating from Harvard suggests that you are not very well-acquainted with failure. You might be driven by a fear of failure quite as much as a desire for success. Indeed, your conception of failure might not be too far from the average person’s idea of success, so high have you already flown academically.

Ultimately, we all have to decide for ourselves what constitutes failure, but the world is quite eager to give you a set of criteria if you let it. So I think it fair to say that by any conventional measure, a mere seven years after my graduation day, I had failed on an epic scale. An exceptionally short-lived marriage had imploded, and I was jobless, a lone parent, and as poor as it is possible to be in modern Britain, without being homeless. The fears my parents had had for me, and that I had had for myself, had both come to pass, and by every usual standard, I was the biggest failure I knew.

Now, I am not going to stand here and tell you that failure is fun. That period of my life was a dark one, and I had no idea that there was going to be what the press has since represented as a kind of fairy tale resolution. I had no idea how far the tunnel extended, and for a long time, any light at the end of it was a hope rather than a reality.

So why do I talk about the benefits of failure? Simply because failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena I believed I truly belonged. I was set free, because my greatest fear had already been realised, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea. And so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.

You might never fail on the scale I did, but some failure in life is inevitable. It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all - in which case, you fail by default.

Failure gave me an inner security that I had never attained by passing examinations. Failure taught me things about myself that I could have learned no other way. I discovered that I had a strong will, and more discipline than I had suspected; I also found out that I had friends whose value was truly above rubies.

The knowledge that you have emerged wiser and stronger from setbacks means that you are, ever after, secure in your ability to survive. You will never truly know yourself, or the strength of your relationships, until both have been tested by adversity. Such knowledge is a true gift, for all that it is painfully won, and it has been worth more to me than any qualification I ever earned.

Given a time machine or a Time Turner, I would tell my 21-year-old self that personal happiness lies in knowing that life is not a check-list of acquisition or achievement. Your qualifications, your CV, are not your life, though you will meet many people of my age and older who confuse the two. Life is difficult, and complicated, and beyond anyone’s total control, and the humility to know that will enable you to survive its vicissitudes.

You might think that I chose my second theme, the importance of imagination, because of the part it played in rebuilding my life, but that is not wholly so. Though I will defend the value of bedtime stories to my last gasp, I have learned to value imagination in a much broader sense. Imagination is not only the uniquely human capacity to envision that which is not, and therefore the fount of all invention and innovation. In its arguably most transformative and revelatory capacity, it is the power that enables us to empathise with humans whose experiences we have never shared.

One of the greatest formative experiences of my life preceded Harry Potter, though it informed much of what I subsequently wrote in those books. This revelation came in the form of one of my earliest day jobs. Though I was sloping off to write stories during my lunch hours, I paid the rent in my early 20s by working in the research department at Amnesty International’s headquarters in London.

There in my little office I read hastily scribbled letters smuggled out of totalitarian regimes by men and women who were risking imprisonment to inform the outside world of what was happening to them. I saw photographs of those who had disappeared without trace, sent to Amnesty by their desperate families and friends. I read the testimony of torture victims and saw pictures of their injuries. I opened handwritten, eye-witness accounts of summary trials and executions, of kidnappings and rapes.

Many of my co-workers were ex-political prisoners, people who had been displaced from their homes, or fled into exile, because they had the temerity to think independently of their government. Visitors to our office included those who had come to give information, or to try and find out what had happened to those they had been forced to leave behind.

I shall never forget the African torture victim, a young man no older than I was at the time, who had become mentally ill after all he had endured in his homeland. He trembled uncontrollably as he spoke into a video camera about the brutality inflicted upon him. He was a foot taller than I was, and seemed as fragile as a child. I was given the job of escorting him to the Underground Station afterwards, and this man whose life had been shattered by cruelty took my hand with exquisite courtesy, and wished me future happiness.

And as long as I live I shall remember walking along an empty corridor and suddenly hearing, from behind a closed door, a scream of pain and horror such as I have never heard since. The door opened, and the researcher poked out her head and told me to run and make a hot drink for the young man sitting with her. She had just given him the news that in retaliation for his own outspokenness against his country’s regime, his mother had been seized and executed.
Every day of my working week in my early 20s I was reminded how incredibly fortunate I was, to live in a country with a democratically elected government, where legal representation and a public trial were the rights of everyone.

Every day, I saw more evidence about the evils humankind will inflict on their fellow humans, to gain or maintain power. I began to have nightmares, literal nightmares, about some of the things I saw, heard and read.

And yet I also learned more about human goodness at Amnesty International than I had ever known before.

Amnesty mobilises thousands of people who have never been tortured or imprisoned for their beliefs to act on behalf of those who have. The power of human empathy, leading to collective action, saves lives, and frees prisoners. Ordinary people, whose personal well-being and security are assured, join together in huge numbers to save people they do not know, and will never meet. My small participation in that process was one of the most humbling and inspiring experiences of my life.

Unlike any other creature on this planet, humans can learn and understand, without having experienced. They can think themselves into other people’s minds, imagine themselves into other people’s places.

Of course, this is a power, like my brand of fictional magic, that is morally neutral. One might use such an ability to manipulate, or control, just as much as to understand or sympathise.

And many prefer not to exercise their imaginations at all. They choose to remain comfortably within the bounds of their own experience, never troubling to wonder how it would feel to have been born other than they are. They can refuse to hear screams or to peer inside cages; they can close their minds and hearts to any suffering that does not touch them personally; they can refuse to know.

I might be tempted to envy people who can live that way, except that I do not think they have any fewer nightmares than I do. Choosing to live in narrow spaces can lead to a form of mental agoraphobia, and that brings its own terrors. I think the wilfully unimaginative see more monsters. They are often more afraid.

What is more, those who choose not to empathise may enable real monsters. For without ever committing an act of outright evil ourselves, we collude with it, through our own apathy.

One of the many things I learned at the end of that Classics corridor down which I ventured at the age of 18, in search of something I could not then define, was this, written by the Greek author Plutarch: What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality.

That is an astonishing statement and yet proven a thousand times every day of our lives. It expresses, in part, our inescapable connection with the outside world, the fact that we touch other people’s lives simply by existing.

But how much more are you, Harvard graduates of 2008, likely to touch other people’s lives? Your intelligence, your capacity for hard work, the education you have earned and received, give you unique status, and unique responsibilities. Even your nationality sets you apart. The great majority of you belong to the world’s only remaining superpower. The way you vote, the way you live, the way you protest, the pressure you bring to bear on your government, has an impact way beyond your borders. That is your privilege, and your burden.

If you choose to use your status and influence to raise your voice on behalf of those who have no voice; if you choose to identify not only with the powerful, but with the powerless; if you retain the ability to imagine yourself into the lives of those who do not have your advantages, then it will not only be your proud families who celebrate your existence, but thousands and millions of people whose reality you have helped transform for the better. We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better.

I am nearly finished. I have one last hope for you, which is something that I already had at 21. The friends with whom I sat on graduation day have been my friends for life. They are my children’s godparents, the people to whom I’ve been able to turn in times of trouble, friends who have been kind enough not to sue me when I’ve used their names for Death Eaters. At our graduation we were bound by enormous affection, by our shared experience of a time that could never come again, and, of course, by the knowledge that we held certain photographic evidence that would be exceptionally valuable if any of us ran for Prime Minister.

So today, I can wish you nothing better than similar friendships. And tomorrow, I hope that even if you remember not a single word of mine, you remember those of Seneca, another of those old Romans I met when I fled down the Classics corridor, in retreat from career ladders, in search of ancient wisdom:As is a tale, so is life: not how long it is, but how good it is, is what matters.I wish you all very good lives.Thank you very much.

Juno

Geraldine, my daughter must have watched this movie 352 times. The DVD is still in the player and she probably hasn't finished with it yet.

I agree with her that this is one of the most watchable movies currently. This happened to be one of the 10 best movies in 2007 according to either Time or Fortune. (I can't remember a lot of things nowadays.)

I strongly recommend you watch this movie.

As I mentioned a little earlier, it's about a 16 year old high school girl who decided to lose her virginity to her boyfriend, doing it on an armchair. She later became pregnant, tried to go for an abortion, changed her mind and decided to have the baby. She put it up for adoption with a couple; the would be mother played by Jennifer Garner. (Alias?)

Juno was played by Ellen Page to perfection. She seemed to me to be so street smart and yet so well balanced in her outlook on life. Made me kind of feel that I too should be so worldly wise.

Do not try to relate to anybody else as the movie centred on just her and her alone. It will take you on a journey of wanton abandonment, a logical follow-up, decisive execution, wise perseverence and eventual revelation and enlightenment.

Whoa, what a mouthful.

Here's being long winded, .. Ellen Page played Juno to perfection.

I don't think you can catch this in your local cinema. I don't think it got passed the local censor board. Be streetsmart and take your sourcing to the streets.

Happy viewing.

Amy Teoh

I knew I mentoned writing about the movie Juno. Okay so I've changed my mind.


Amy was originally from Penang, the land of the chow kwai teow. Worked in Canon there in 1994. Came down here in kayel and started in 1995.


She caused quite a sensation here, you know, this hot chick from the north. I remembered her joining a group of us for some drinks in a pub on her first or second day here. Crazy Larry's was my pub then. She sat in a corner smiling and laughing and soaking in all the attention from the boys. I thought then, jeez, this woman will probably be in some scandalous scenarios in the not too distant future.


Then I did not know she was openly frolicking with her boyfriend Simon Yam Tat Wah. Wild! This happened in Penang before she eimigrated down. Maybe she've had enough of him and came down to end the relationship.


I had lunch with her today and she remained the joyful, talkative, positive, the devil may care girl I knew 10 years ago when she was in my team in Canon. Amanda Yap, the girl with the ample behind was supposed to join us for lunch. Alas, Badawi went ahead and increase gas prices to RM2.70 and she thought it not cost effective to come down from Mutiara Damansara.


Yes, after having left Canon, she joined the late Mario Lum in Riomark and is still running the day to day's.

Among other things, they specialized in check encodings, note counting machines and things that banks would normally need.

So, should you own a bank or two, please...

Her email address can be found in the registry on this site.

Incidentally, I read in the papers today that Raja Petra made a statutory declaration that he believed the source that says that Rosmah was there when they blew up Altantuya. She was one of the three witnesses who were never named.

I don't know what you think. I think this is explosive. (pun intended). I can't wait to hear more.

Struck by Lighting

My computer was struck by lightning
Last Saturday evening
There's nothing really that I could do
Except wait, and listen to the radio

So impatient, I waited to have it repaired
I was walking up and down the stairs
How long now do I have to wait
Its fast coming to Tuesday

I needed to blog, now this is my life
I can't afford to kiss my computer goodbye
There could be people out there waiting for me
Telling them things about the birds and the bees

C'mon Jeremy, get this computer going
I just needed to go on writing
About my friends who may come
To read and see what's the outcome

Tomorrow I shall be writing about Juno
A movie that you may not know
It's about a girl who was sixteen
Lost her virginity in the beginning

Alas, she may not be aware
The outcome can be happy or sad
I shall tell you more tomorrow
Sleep tight, Jennifer, John and Carol.

Bythe way, I've received a mail from Joan
So ahm, in this month of June
It's being so long since I hear
A word from a friend so dear

You would remember there was a time
She had a friend so kind
A Mercedes she was driving
To KL Tower when it was raining

So pretty this girl she was
Amongst so many thorns
In the end she has to leave Canon
To a man, she has to be taken.

Goodnite folks

Friday Night

Back on a friday night now, what should I write
In front of the computer, oh, yawn and sigh
Drank some beer now, and am a little high
Its a wonder how I even want to try

I am sure we have some friends, far and near
Coming here, anonymous and without fear
Reading what I write, nonsense or what
Enjoying nonetheless, oh what the fuck

This stanley, writing about everyone
Keeping himself happy, only for fun
Doesn't care if he has hurt someone
Not caring, whether they want or don't want

I have to end now, running out of juice
Gotta go to sleep, to dream about you
First Eric, now about somebody else
Or else, there may be nothing to tell

Goodnight folks, talk to you again
Canon to HP, yes there we have Yan
Eric and Pearly, who else to pen
Let's just wait, wait until then










Guess who?

Eric Er

I had a dream about Eric Er last night.

Stanley: Hi Eric, you've left Canon for Hewlett-Packard. Why? Don't you love Canon?

Eric: Of course I love Canon. But.. but, don't you see, I have to go over to HP to show them how things need to done. They have to survive, you know.

Stanley: But I thought you guys have already sent over Yan Yoke Ping.

Eric: Correct, correct, correct. Yan is a great man. But not enough. They need more to cross over to gain control of the situation. You are not Anwar; you sure won't know one.

Stanley: But they also have Martin Tan, Aaron, Kelvin, Jovern etc. Somemore they go to the gym regularly and have great bodies, these flers.

Eric: But not as good as mine mah. You want me to take off my shirt and show you?

Stanley: No need. I saw you once when you were recuperating in Assunta, semi naked. I was pretty impressed then. I think you are even more awesome now. Especially now that you are older, you may need more to impress the girls.

Actually Eric, how many girls have you scored. I mean in Canon. A lot?

Eric: Stanley, you mad ahr? Of course there was only one. She is my wife now, you know? Jesus, what the @#%^ are you talking about. I've got to go now. I think you better fly off too.

Stanley: OK, ok Eric, since this is my dream only, one last question. Are you sure you did not cross over to HP because of Kym Lim? Everybody knows over the last few years, she is the most beautiful woman in the IT/printer industry.

Eric: I think Stanley, you are a mad motherfather. .... I am sure you don't want me to be honest, right? This report going into your blog and so many flers can see. Aiyah, don't lah. Make me shy only.

Stanley: OK ok, anyway, I think there are some people who read this blog and do not know how you look like. Can you maybe stand up and show yourself?

Eric: Okay, here goes...

A Bit of History Here

I knew nothing about Canon prior to my joining before 1974. (long ago lei?).

Canon then was a brand being distributed nationally by Guthrie Trading Sdn Bhd. In 1974, there were 4 products, namely calculators, cameras, photocopiers and micrographics. Digital stuffs? nobody knew shit about these things.

Our chief then was Steven Wong and his gangsters Victor Chan, Christie Low, Richard Wong, Wendy Ng and myself. That's about all the people doing the Canon business in this country. Liew probably was still catching spiders somewhere in some schools.

Guthrie Trading also have other agencies like Kanebo, Vat69, KitKat, Livita, Kjeldsons Butter Cookies. Kind of fun then when you can buy staff prices of those other brands.

Some years later, Multi-Purpose Bhd has some grand plans to go international (sogoshosha sp?) and among other things, went to acquire Guthrie Trading, changed the name to Mulpha Trading and took over the spoils. Tan Kwoon Swan was the really big man then before he went to jail in Kajang.

Canon Electronic Typewriters came in, in 1982 and beat the shit out of the then competitions IBM, Adler, Olivetti. Liew then was in Olivetti, saw fit to jump ship and join our winning team. He later became the best salesperson. Lucky for him then, because I was already being promoted to Area Sales Executive.

Hey, would you look at this link?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1K2n0YFjGrw

Facsimiles were now available. Then came printers, the next big thing.

The big change came in 1987 when Canon came in direct and Japanese bosses started appearing. Steven Wong then was the General Manager and Jack Lim the Managing Director. Our chairman then was Mr Kawamura. You could only see him smile or laugh either outside the office or outside office hours.

For those of you who may want to know where some of managers have moved on.

Steven Wong. General Manager in CMMSB and now a director in Fotokem.

Larry Poon. GM in CMMSB and now runs Avaxx, one of the 2 distributors for Nokia.

Goh Kheng Peow, instrumental in the listing of Compugates and now runs it.

Ralph Tay, boss of TechnoNiche, distributor for Samsung.

Yan Yoke Ping, country manager for HP IPG Group.

Andrew Lee, country manager for JOS Distribution.

I am sure there are more. I am getting a little tired now... shall come to add some more to this post later.

Kindly note that accuracies of people and events are not guaranteed as I am now on the doorsteps of Alzheimer's house.

Sanie Goh Marries

Once upon a time in Canon Marketing (M) Sdn Bhd, there was a girl so handsome who then put to shame the likes of Danny Cheam, Eric Er, and even when Steven Wong aka Tang Kong Weng was young.

She was Sanie Goh, and what did she do last week?

She got married. Now she became beautiful.


How did I know? Pearly went to the wedding and she told me. Currently, Pearly is the officially blog busybody. Thank you, Pearly.

Unless she got herself sacked recently, Sanie is now with Samsung. I think Jeffrey's new wife Evon Pua is also in Samsung. Jeffrey hasn't cross over yet. Anwar Ibrahim did not ask him.

I hope somebody can give me some pictures of Sanie's wedding. Also when she was in Canon earlier. Then you will appreciate how handsome she was.

Lynda Chung

Earlier I blogged about Pearly Chew going on this eco-adventure to Thailand. Recently I was informed by her that one of her team mates was Lynda Chung. She mentioned that Lynda left about 15 years ago and has worked in Canon for 8years. Pearly asked if I'd remembered her.

Of course I remembered Lynda Chung. She was doing copier sales successfully on Larry's watch. She was one of the most courteous, friendly and helpful person I know.

It will be an honor for me to buy her lunch anytime. Hope she reads this and contact me. In the picture on the left, she is not Pearly and she is not the man.

So Lynda, give me a call, write me a mail or best still, comment on this post in this blog.

Cheers =)


I have here a video of a song "Dear Mr President" by Pink. It's haunting and will probably grow on you. Give it a few listens. I think you will like it.

What Happens in Vegas

Watched this last evening with Geraldine, my daughter. Mediocrity would best described it, I guess.


Well, it was about Ashton and Cameron in their roles coming into a really bad patch in their lives, decided to go to Vegas to 'get away', met up; get entangled in crazy and supposedly hilarious situations.


I wasn't impressed. The only good thing would be that it is better than that 'wasting time' movie The Holiday starring Kate Winslet, Cameron, Jack Black and Jude Law.


You should watch Ashton Kucher in 'Punk'ed' and not here. Cameron Diaz.., Geraldine opined that all her characters in all her movies are the same. Like, she acted herself all the time. Geraldine said, "You can put all her movies together and come out with her life story. She started off being naive, getting married (Best Friend's Wedding). After her first divorse, she left for London and have an affair (The Holiday). Then she forsake relationships and got involved in some crime bustings (Charlie's Angels). Then after all the excitements, she got hooked up with a boring guy who dumped her and she went to where?..... Vegas (What Happens in Vegas). Would you say she would be out of character in this compilation? .. Oh Yes, you can slot in (There's something about Mary) somewhere."


Of course, there were some worthwhile moments in the movie in the second half. You just have to be patient enough.


Sex scene? (Where got?).

Thomas Chinniah

Hey, my friend Thomas Chinniah is in the papers today.

Saturday June 14, 2008

Canon gives RM12,000 to quake fund

KUALA LUMPUR: Canon Marketing Malaysia has donated RM12, 200 to The Star’s Sichuan Quake Fund.
According to its Planning and Support Department assistant service manager Thomas Chinniah, the contribution came from kind-hearted staff members of Canon.

Concerted effort: Chinniah and Sia Pooi Ling from Canon presenting the cheque to Chua.

“The money was raised in just five days and although it is a small effort, we believe if everyone makes a little effort it will go a big way for the relief of the Sichuan disaster victims,” he said after the cheque presentation at Menara Star on Thursday.

Representing The Star was advertising sales manager Chua Chee Beng.
When asked, Chinniah said the organisation felt the fund was the perfect catalyst in translating the money to the victims.
To date, the fund stands at RM948,694.26.
'

40 Children

The Star newspapers yesterday.

This 54 years old man with three wives wants to marry a girl 30 years his junior. He already has 25 kids and wanted 15 more.

HE DOES NOT WANT TO BURDEN HIS THREE WIVES.

So he is going to marry another one. How considerate. So for all you men who wanted more kids, can you please take a lesson here and be considerate? Please?

I think the next thing he did was not right. He knows the natural secret of getting it up. You must have read about this bath in the morning and pouring water on your right leg first before attending to the rest of the body. He should have kept quiet.

Now everybody knows this trick for free. World population is going to skyrocket. Share prices of Pfizer will plummet, there will be a lot of young children with old fathers, husbands will start turning being considerate AND he will not make any money out of all these.

NIAMAH! (Hope Patrick Teoh does not mind me borrowing what is his, now and then.)


I trust you will find this clip on modern dancing quite entertaining.

Pearly off on EcoAdventure

The article below appeared in The Star yesterday. This is for those of you who only get your dose of news from Raja Petra and that fler Niamah Patrick Teoh. Our friend Pearly Chew since having 'lasik'ed her eyes has become quite an adventurer. First Mt. Kinabalu, then other places not telling me and now, wah; eco-adventure.

No, she did not go with that person in this picture and she did not dress like this on the trip.


Thursday June 12, 2008

Convoy sets off on eco-adventure

IT WAS a holiday to remember for a group of Malaysians and Singaporeans, who recently went on an amazing eight-day / seven-night family eco-adventure trip to southern Thailand.
Initiated by Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Kuala Lumpur office director Wiwatchai Boonyapak, the trip was a collaboration between Four-Trax 4x4 Academy and TAT.

The convoy of 26 vehicles – comprising four-wheel-drive vehicles, multipurpose vehicles (MPVs) and sports utility vehicles (SUVs) – with more than 115 people, left for Thailand on May 25. It was led by TAT deputy director Saratwadee Asasupakit, who was assisted by Jackson Paul Xavier.

Local fare: The group partaking of a kampung meal during their homestay experience.

The convoy travelled about 2,800km, traversing one of the most scenic routes in southern Thailand that covered Trang, Krabi, Ranong, Klongrua eco-village, Ratchaprapa Dam and Hatyai.

The highlights of the trip included a grand welcome dinner that was hosted by the TAT Ranong office and attended by the governor as well as TAT southern region heads, top officials of the hotel association and VIPs. The group enjoyed an evening of cultural dances and performances as they were introduced to Ranong by the TAT domestic offices.

The participants had a great time visiting eco-tourism sites, experiencing homestay and camping at Klongrua eco-village where they enjoyed organic meals and village cooking, went water rafting and hiking, and relaxed by the waterfall. They indulged in freshly plucked fruits and were served aromatic coffee in bamboo cups, making the homestay even more memorable.

Remembering those who lost their lives: The Tsunami Memorial at Krabi.

They also visited Ratchaprapa Dam, which is located within Khao Sok National Park, one of Thailand’s most beautiful national parks. Because of its majestic scenery and biological diversity, the park is nicknamed the “Guilin of Thailand”, comparing it to the very scenic place in China.
There, the group stayed a night at a resort overlooking the lake, and went on a scenic boat cruise before heading to Hatyai for the return leg.

As the group headed home, many eagerly enquired about the next scheduled trip to Thailand. For those keen on another adventure in Thailand, a trip is being planned to I-San – North-East Thailand – during Christmas.

Okay, a little bit of a commercial here. Remember to buy mutual funds from Pearly so that she can have enough money to, maybe go further the next time.

"If all the people in this world have ALL become Muslim, we will still be fighting among ourselves for Allah. Did he ask us to do so? Sigh." - Surich.

It is a comment on RPK's article "Divide and be Condemned". What a revelation.

Patricia Lee - Farewell Message

Today is Patricia Lee's last day in Canon. I've received her farewell message in my mail and I reproduce it here.

A very good day to all, Warmest Greetings. Today, 12th June 2008 , is my last day service in Canon. I've been with Canon for the past 3.8 years & started my journey with Canon on 4th October 2004. The memorable years had been the most enriching period of my career life & it has taught me so many things in life. After many thoughts & considerations, I have finally decided to move on to a new chapter of my life. Bidding farewell wasn't an easy

decision for me and I’m leaving with a heavy heart. It has been an honor to work with all of you & I would like take this opportunity to extend my sincere gratitude & heartfelt thanks to all business partners & my bosses who has been taking care of me, given me support, guidance & warm friendship through the years. I have learnt a lot from all business partners & my ex-boss, Mr. Eric Er and the experiences that I have gained will definitely be very useful in my future undertaking.

Taking this opportunity, here's wishing you & your family happiness, good health and greater success in every aspect of life! Do keep in touch…….. My h/phone number: 012-3128366 My e-mail address: patricialee10@yahoo.com ** Special thanks to all distributors for early orders log in for June'08 billings. :) P/ s: You may contact Mr. Lee, Dealer Sales Manager, BIS Division at his mobile no: 012 - 3814192 or my team mate Alicia Hooi for all sales matter in future. Some photo to share, Japan Sakura trip, April 2007., seen Canon products in Tokyo & Osaka , JAPAN "BIG CAMERA" IT Mall ......... Thanks, Regards, Patricia LeeBusiness Imaging Solution Division Canon Marketing (M) Sdn BhdDID : 03-78446117Fax : 03-78446196H/P : 012-3128366email : patricialee@cmm.canon.com.my
Attached here along the left are some of her photos of her trip to Japan last year in April, where her daughter was conceived. (wondered how many times she tried there.) Anyhow, amongst such beautiful surroundings, I am sure the daughter will grow up into a beautiful child.

I've asked her earlier today if she cried. She said sure will do but not then, as she has quite some paper work to complete before she cabut. Such commendable professionalism.

" Good Luck in your future endeavors, Patricia. Photos for canonmalaysians.com gallery?"

Wong Choon Heng

A dreamer, poet, philosopher, a student of Michealangelo, lady killer...

Oops, sorry.. I was dreaming.

Oh Yes, Wong Choon Heng. Handsome, young, ambitious, IT savvy, worldly.... .. married.

I received a mail from this young gentleman earlier today. What a nice surprise. Before he became some hotshot in Canon Europe, he worked in Canon Marketing (M) SB, worked as a big time reseller, went to London to join Canon E, came back to get married and off back to London.

Do not be surprised if he became the President of the United States after Obama. By the way, Obama said he is going to change the name of the White House when he became head honcho. The name is too racist.

Anyway, he has to leave when Liew Sip Chon became the President/CEO of CMMSB as the company is too small for the both of them. He was with the BIS (OSS then, methink) Division of Canon, being in charge of copier/fax and was once watching over my account. His colleagues include Alfred Chan, Pearly Chew, Adrian, Shareen Thum, Eric Er and Jeremy Lee.

He is the one not in black and white.

Too small to see (lei?). Goto www.photobucket.com/canonmalaysians and look for Wong Choon Heng sub album (folder).

The picture is CMMSB, OSS class of 2003. In that year, all these people were responsible for the performance.

PEAK OIL

In the light of the recent petrol price hike, I would like to introduce the concept of Peak Oil, first told me by someone from my other loop discussion group. This concept basically say that oil production will follow the traditional bell curve where upon reaching the peak, a terminal decline will follow. With reduced production and no subsequent reduction in consumption, turmoil will ensures, possibly even with nations going into war to secure supplies.

Nobody knows exactly if we have reached or surpassed the peak yet as the oil producing nations are not obliged to disclose their actual reserves. However, experts believed we have. You may want to click on to the link below to know more.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_oil

I hope I do not come across as being too alarmist to you, but I think it is good to know.

Langat Hill

Went to one of the restaurants at the Look Out Point in Langat Hill earlier this evening. Went with my kids to join my former school mates (attendants: 60 strong) to have dinner at the Bread and Olives Restaurant.

I will be surprised if you have heard of this place, let alone went there. Arriving at 7pm the car parks were half full. At 10.00pm, there were so many cars that double parkings will be the undestatement of the year. Wanting to leave early will certainly be a problem. Granted, it was a Saturday. See, although you have not heard of this place (like me a week before), a lot of people are not like us.

I recommend you pay this place a visit. Where? in Langat Hill of course. There are two ways to go. I went by the Ampang way. Not that far from the Ampang Ipoh White Coffee money making double story outlet.

Besides Bread and Olives, you have Gasoline and (the other two names, I forgot).

The view of Kuala Lumpur City is spectacular. KL is not a particularly beautiful city, but from here, it looks good. It was kind of drizzling though and have spoilt the sunset somewhat.


The food in B n O is Mediterranean. Not something to kill for. Maybe because ours was a buffet.


I read reviews somewhere raving about the food. Oh well .....





A good friend of mine and my two kids, Jeremy and Geraldine.










Jeremy and Geraldine's 15 minutes of fame.





Incidentally, this is partly a Selangor state government project and therefore liquor cannot be served. Ya, I know, damned!


An update.

You know, if you are a CanonMalaysian; likelihood is that you will find at least a picture of youself in www.photobucket.com/canonmalaysians. Currently we have quite a few contributors to the collection in the likes of Jack, Jullie, Simon Tan (Ipoh), Amy, Serena, Ann, Mario. You can find their contributions in the various sub albums on the site. (like sub-folders).

I am tagging the photos beginning with my album. Here it means that when you look at the individual photos, the jokers/jokresses are identified. Also you can click on the list of named tags to access photos where they are featured. Jullie did not like the old format, pre-photobucket. "Hey, Jullie, this format could be up your alley."

Cheers =)

RM2.70

Petrol price at RM2.70 per liter.

Wah, I couldn't believed it. It took me 45 mins to get from my office in Taman Desa to my outlet in Danau Desa, a mere 1 kilometer away. The problem is that from A to B, there was a petrol station. Two thousand drivers were trying to fill up their tanks before the 12 midnight deadline when the increase was to come about. The road has become two, one way road with both opposing sides converging into the service station's entrance. And I have to get into the station before I can get out the other way. And I have already got a full tank of gas. And as Patrick Teoh puts it, "Niamah!"

It happened last evening at 7 something pm.


Somebody sent this saying this is how her piggy bank looked like after putting gas in her car. lol

Naturally, I wasn't too happy about the increase in gas price as both my company's and personal expenses will certainly be higher.

However, thinking about it a little, there are very little merits in most subsidies while a large part of the world pays market prices. We are surrounded by higher paying countries viz. Thailand, Singapore and Australia noting that the people in the latter two pay close to double our new price currently. Subsidies ultimately reduce our competitiveness. Look at what harm the years of the NEP has done to us.

On a lighter note, this UP UP prices reminded me of a Japanese advertisement. Want to watch? Go click.

No pictures of Pearly Chew

Met Pearly last evening in my office as planned. We hope to be able to do a little bit of business together. You do know, she left Canon a couple of months now. Once again, I report that she is in mutual funds. She promised to make some money for you. Contact her?

She looked pretty upbeat last evening. Might be because she has just come back from Thailand. Could have had a mighty good time there. Songaleow. or maybe ...

Steven Wong once said that people who resigned will always try to look happy and upbeat; wanting to give you an impression that they did not make a mistake in leaving. I am sure Steven did not know what was he talking about. What does he know... this old cucumber. People always look happy when happy.

As I thought of writing in my blog on this meet-up; I tried to take a picture of Pearly for once again, putting a face to the story. But no.. she was protesting so violently.

"Arg, arg, no, no, I don't look good now, no, no, not now, another time, (she put up her hands and turned away, elbow in my face), no, no. "

Women!

But she looked like that all the time (mah?).

Asked her to contribute her photos for our gallery. Jeremy (my colleague) showed her how she can use the free private sharing site www.drop.io to upload digital photos for me to download and organise later. People. This is one of the avenues to pass your photos to me for sharing here, stored in our gallery; www.photobucket.com/canonmalaysians.

Do contact me at stanley@canonmalaysians.com or stanley@stone-mashe.com for arrangements.

Would you guys want to see more of Jessica Alba? more than just her face? (as in the earlier post).

Mr Mario Lum

Unless you were stalking the American couple stalking lions in Botswana 300 days in a year, you would have known that Mr Mario Lum has gone over to the other side. No, he has not joined UMNO ala Ezam. He is now in the happy hunting ground. God bless his soul.

His company has been in existence for so long that nobody knows when he started. The only company I know longer than his was Typewriter and General Agency which started before the World War. The 1st World War, that is. Riomark has extremely strong connections with the local banks specialising in encoding stuff, the business that contributed to his wealth of which is evident in his houses and the lavish wedding reception and party for his son Allan. Heresay, as I could not then attend. Allan now has taken over the company.

You thought Amy Teoh was here, right? Of course. Since leaving Canon, Amy has been loyally contributing in Riomark and is currently still. She has quite some photos with me. Check her out in www.photobucket.com/canonmalaysians. Allan, I have no photos of him yet.

You thought Mr Mario Lum was never with Canon, right? Of course. I have taken an exception here as he has been an exclusive Canon dealer for so many years that he can only be considered as part of the family. Period. Go ask Liew Sip Chon if you do not believe me. Part of his picture collection can also be found in the same URL.

For two whole weeks after his emigration to the other side, I could still hear him talking continually. This guy talked so much that you can't help but miss his presence.

Ok, so you asked why Mr Mario Lum, and not just Mario like all the rest of us on a first name basis. Remember, you are not there yet.

Bye Mr Mario Lum. I miss you.


Here I give you Jessica Alba without being distracted by her body. The Stare.

Atonement

Watched this movie. Well the story line wasn't anything to shout about. It's about a young girl who was party to the elder sister's boyfriend being incarcerated for a crime of sexual assault, insisting that she was certain in her testimony, although otherwise. Hence, as a result, several lives were irrevocably changed. Later she much regretted her action and in her last book before she dies, she detailed out all the facts, baring truths for atonement. The movie was set beginning at about the time of the 2nd World War.


Inspite of the not so impressive storyline (in my opinion, of course), I enjoyed the movie immensely being mostly awed by the chain of events throughout. Keira Knightly, the anorexic and sweet face one was suitably forlorn and irrepressibly optimistic at the same time in her character. She was the elder sister. Great performance. Vanessa Redgrave as her character in the end portrayal of the original young girl was unforgetably impressive during her narrations at her end of days.

There was a sex scene. Of course there was a sex scence. It was in the library in a standing starfish position. Picture? (aiyah, go google yourself lor.)


Vanessa as I remembered her last before I watched this movie.

Vanessa, as she looked like in this movie, elegant and distinguished.

I am going to watch this movie again.

Saw this the other day. Hey, don't you wish you have a kid or a kid brother like this?