We are constantly bombarded with choices. And we make the best decisions based on the collective knowledge of what we know from the past (hindsight), what we may know about the future (foresight) together with information that we can gather from around us (insight).



>>Liverpool Fernando Torres flanked by Chelsea players>>

Example, lets look at the recent football match:

Chelsea FC vs Malaysia's Best XI.

Which team will be victorious?

Obviously, Chelsea won of coz. 2-Nil.

When everyone expects a bigger goal margin from one of the most succesful clubs in the world, Chelsea should have been free scoring every 5 minutes.

But who knew that they would win by two goals only? Most likely, only the Chelsea team.

Football bookies/pundits would have probably made more accurate forecasts based on their finite wisdom in hindsight, foresight and insight compared to non-bookie/pundit persons.

But what if:

• you are a bookie/pundit
  
• you bet a substantial amount of your life savings on the game like all the other gamblers
  
• you are hoping for a huge return of investment for retirement after the game
• but your predicted forecast goes horribly wrong.
  

"Subject: FW: A good one by Raja Petra (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raja_Petra_Kamarudin)

Last month, Umno Johor said that the greatest mistake they made was in giving the non-Malay immigrants citizenship in August 1957. Now that they have been given citizenship they show their ingratitude by voting for the opposition. Yes, non-Malays, even those born in Malaysia , are immigrants. And, being immigrants, they must vote Barisan Nasional. And if they do not vote for Barisan Nasional then they are ungrateful.

Yes, voting is your right. This is your right according to the Federal Constitution of Malaysia. Malays can vote for whomsoever they would like to vote for because the Constitution allows them to do so. Malays, therefore, can vote for the opposition. But, if you are non-Malay, then you must vote for Barisan Nasional because you are an immigrant. If you vote for the opposition then you are a traitor, you are ungrateful, and it was a great mistake giving you citizenship in 1957.

Tun Dr Mahathir's father was born in India . But Tun Dr Mahathir can vote opposition. He can even oppose Umno like he is doing so now. In fact, he can even become the Prime Minister. He is not an ungrateful immigrant who should be sent back to India . Tian Chua, however, can't oppose Umno. Tian Chua, whose family settled in Malaya long before the Portuguese came in 1511, is an immigrant. And if he is not happy and if he opposes Umno then he should go back to China . And Umno Johor regrets giving Tian Chua citizenship in 1957 but does not regret giving Tun Dr Mahathir citizenship.

Why? Because Tun Dr Mahathir is Muslim while Tian Chua is not. But if Tian Chua circumcises and takes on the Muslim name of Musa Bin Susah and marries a Malay woman, then he need not go back to China and Umno does not regret giving him citizenship in 1957.

The Malays have a very warped view of justice. Malays practice two standards of justice. There is one standard for the Malays and another for the non-Malays. And 90% of the tax is paid by the non-Malays and 10% by the Malays, says Tun Dr Mahathir. But 10% or the scholarships must go to the non-Malays and 90% to the Malays. And when they propose to change this to 40% for the non-Malays and 60% for the Malays, the Malays raise a hue and cry. And they call this justice. And they say Islam is about justice.

If this is an example of Islamic justice then I just shudder to think what would happen if Muslims start becoming unjust."

Opinion in reply to the email:

“To a certain extent I do agree to his statement. but not 100 % correct and valid. That's for the Malays in Malaya. It's different for Sarawak natives (Dayaks, Malays, Melanaus, Kedayans etc) and Sabah (KadazanDusunMuruts, Bisayas, Bajaus, Brunei etc). We became independent and formed Malaysia in 1963 based on 20 points. Therefore we regard ourselves in Sarawak & Sabah as Natives. The real & original natives of Malaya are the Orang Asli. They never talk about Orang Asli. They are bias, prejudice & double standards. In my own opinion, Sarawak & Sabah shouldn't have formed Malaysia but independent on it's own like Brunei or Singapore. I am opposing Malays or Malaysia policies for that matter but I am totally sad that Dayaks in Sarawak & KadazanDusunMuruts in Sabah are not given the fair full package cake based on 20 points forming Malaysia in 1963 as championed by non than Tun Jugah Ak Bareing for Sarawak Dayaks & Tun Stephen Fuad for Sabah KadazanDusunMuruts.”

Based on the reply, it sounds to me that Sabah and Sarawak native's should have rights similar to the Malay Bumiputera. After reading the email, it prompted me to do a google search on the Sarawak/Sabah 20-point Memorandum prior to the formation of Malaysia, which is something i've never heard about.

Racial tension always seems to be high in West Malaysia and not so much in East Malaysia, and somehow it is always linked with religion.

But did you know that in the Sabah 20 point memorandom it states in Point 1 that:

While there was no objection to Islam being the national religion of Malaysia there should be no State religion in North Borneo, and the provisions relating to Islam in the present Constitution of Malaya should not apply to North Borneo.

"The 20-point agreement, or the 20-point memorandum, is an agreement made between the state of Sabah (then North Borneo) with what would be the federal government of Malaysia prior to the formation of Malaysia in September 16, 1963. A similar agreement was made between the state of Sarawak and the federal government but with certain differences in their 18-point agreement.

The agreement was written for the main purpose of safeguarding the interests, rights, and the autonomy of the people of Sabah upon entering the federation of Malaysia. It was originally envisaged that Sabah be one of the four entities in the federation, the others being Malaya, Singapore, and Sarawak. However as times passed, Sabah and Sarawak has ended up being merely one of the 13 states in the federation.

Main agreement points validity as of today:

• Point 1 - No state religion for Sabah. Thus Islam is not the state religion of Sabah.
• Point 4 - Sabah Head of State can never be the ruler or PM of Malaysia.
• Point 7 - Sabah no right to secede from the Federation.
• Point 9 - No longer applicable.
• Point 12 - The native of Sabah have equal rights as those of Malays in Malaya. Thus native of Sabah is not second class Bumiputra or Bumiputra Lain Lain"

To view the rest of the 20 point memorandum, go to:

http://malaysiadigest.blogspot.com/2008/04/sabah-20-point-agreement-prior-to.html

I did a search for "Sarawak 18 point agreement" and this is what i came out with:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/18-point_agreement_%28Sarawak%29

Maybe somebody can provide a better link?

From: ************************************
Sent: Thursday, 12 June, 2008 15:40
To: **************************************
Cc: **************************************
Subject: RE: The Hardest Thing To Say To Someone

Do what you like.

The price of gasoline at the petrol station is set by the Government, not PETRONAS.

PETRONAS  has done its patriotic duty by paying the dividends, royalties, corporate tax, petroleum tax etc to the Government for YOUR benefit (rakyat lah).

And bear in mind that 30% of its revenue comes from overseas operations, thus bringing in foreign exchange to the country.

OK. Assuming that you buy this idea proposed by whoever it was.

So PETRONAS will have reduced revenues. Bear in mind that the costs of operations are also increasing. So the profits are reduced. Then PETRONAS and other oil companies pay less taxes.

Then the Government will have less revenue. (Note: at least 40% of Government revenue for 2007 came from the oil industry). With less revenue, there will be less Government projects (you can then forget about bridges and highways, and rail tracks, and smart schools and not-so-smart universities, and hospitals, etc). So contractors and consultants, and con-sultans and con-cronies will cry and scream. Makan batu lah..

The Government has already announced freezing of recruitment. So, many new graduates will be unemployed. Makan batu lagi. Maggi mee pun tak mampu dah.

Later, all sorts of allowances for civil servants will have to be withdrawn. Treasury tak cukup duit.

On top of that the oil industry may have to scale back many of its new investments, totaling about 45 billion ringgit over the next few years. Contractors, service providers, steel fabricators, maritime service providers etc will join the ratapan tangisan – no jobs.

Don’t forget that PETRONAS is sponsoring thousands of students in universities and even high schools – at any one time there are more than 4,500 university students being sponsored by PETRONAS in Malaysian universities and overseas. Also more than 2,000 high school children receive minor scholarships – children of poor families.

Kalau PERTRONAS tak ada duit, kesian lah mereka di atas tu. Shall I ask them to see the proposer of this idea (to boycott PETRONAS) and seek help from them instead?

So, it is to YOUR benefit that you make sure PETRONAS keeps making enough money to support YOUR Government so that your children can continue to go to school without paying for fees and books, and to go to universities at peanuts rates.

CONCLUSION: Help yourself and your family and your country by making sure that PETRONAS keeps making profits. Go to the nearest PETRONAS station and fill up now!!

Don’t forget that if you go to non-Petronas station, the profits that these companies get will go their shareholders OVERSEAS.

So, be patriotic. Do your duty. Go to PETRONAS!!

(I hope you guys will help to send this response to as many contacts as possible to counter this subversive proposal).

THIS WILL SHOW YOU HOW WE CAN GET PETROL BACK DOWN TO RM1.92/LITRE.

This makes MUCH MORE SENSE than the 'Don't Buy Petrol on a Certain Day' campaign that was going around last April or May! It is worth your consideration. Join the resistance!

We are going to hit RM 2.70 a litre and it might go higher. Do we want petrol prices to come down? We need to take some intelligent, united action.

Why?

The oil companies just laughed at last year's action because they knew we would not continue to 'hurt' ourselves by refusing to buy petrol.  It was more of an inconvenience to us than it was a problem for them.  Since we all rely on our cars, we can't just stop buying petrol. BUT whoever thought of this idea, has come up with a plan that can really work. Please read on and join with us!

By now, you're probably thinking petrol priced at about $1.50 is cheap. It is currently RM2.70 for regular unleaded. Now that the oil companies and the OPEC nations have conditioned us to think that the cost of a litre of gas is CHEAP at $1.50, we need to take aggressive action to educate them that BUYERS control the marketplace...not sellers.

With the price of gasoline going up more each day, we consumers need to take action. The only way we are going to see the price of petrol come down is if we hit someone in the pocketbook by not purchasing their petrol! And, we can do that WITHOUT hurting ourselves and STILL have an impact on petrol prices if we all act together to force a price war.

How?

Here's the idea:

For the rest of this year, DON'T purchase ANY petrol from PETRONAS, the biggest price-up driver company. If they are not selling any petrol, they will be inclined to reduce their prices. If they reduce their prices, the other companies will have to follow suit.

Simple enough? Well, not quite.

To have REAL impact, we need to reach literally millions of PETRONAS petrol consumers. Keep reading and I'll explain how simple it is to reach millions and even BILLIONS of people!!

The Malaysian population as of July 2007 is 24,821,286. I am sending this note to 20 people. If each of you sends it on to at least twenty more that's (20 x 20 = 400).

And those 400 send it to at least twenty more (400 x 20 = 8000 ... and so on, by the time the message reaches the fifth group of people, we will have reached over SIXTY FOUR MILLION consumers!!!!!

20x20 = 400
400x20 = 8,000
8,000x20 = 160,000
160,000x20 = 3,200,000
3,200,000x20 = 64,000,000
64,000,000x20 = 12,800,000,000

That's 12.80 Billion people folks (or >50% of the population), who will have been contacted! Unbelievable? Do the math and see for yourself!

Again, all you have to do is send this to 20 people.   That's all! I'll bet you didn't think we had that much potential, did you! Acting together we can make a difference. If this message makes sense to you, then please pass it on.

They will lower their prices to below the RM1.92 range and keep them down. Forward, cut&paste or blog about it because

THIS IDEA CAN REALLY WORK!

It's simple ￠ send the message along to others and consciously choose to not buy petrol from  PETRONAS.

Twenty five point six billion consumers; Now THAT’S people power.

Let’s do it together, more power to you friend. Now pass it on!

*********************************************************
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*edit | Check out the response to this email:

Link

or http://parans.multiply.com/journal/item/99/FW_Oil_Prices_Explanation_-_from_VP_Education_PETRONAS

Last Thursday weeknight I checked out the official launch of Creative United Movement 2007 at Palate Palette organized by Lucideas and Strat-a-G Designs. It was a huge success based on what the objectives were set out to achieve. I was a bit hung-up over the event afterwards though.

It all started with an idea; invite a few individuals together towards a platform where they can share their creative values with other people from opposite backgrounds. The only thing that connects these people would be the theme of the event for that night. And since the movement is virtually unheard of, the theme was appropriately titled “What the duck?” where it’s permissible for the viewers to assume its context in however way they please.

The venue itself is a humble double storey bistro that’s chic with artsy designs and interiors. Think of bohemian eccentricities but with a lot of white, blue, red and yellow accents; the twin sister of black goth in a bleached white dress with rosy cheeks. It has artificial grass for tiles, adding a totally unique vibe to your whole experience being there.

The spiraling stairway leads to the first floor where all the mingling takes place. For the center piece of the event, they had 3 empty canvases on easels in the middle of the room, and a few more leaned against the walls. The invited artists (http://creativeunitedmovement.com/munkao.html), would start with basic sketches, stencils, acrylics or crayons on these canvases and after they were done, the guests were invited to add on to their work. The result produced organic and spontaneous works of art. Very rojak, very tasteful, very Malaysian indeed.

One person sketched a young mans face, and throughout the evening, more people added even more details to it. And what you see literally on canvas, is a young man aging older and older every 15-20 minutes. It was bizarre and surreal. The place was packed, people were chatty, the music was loud, there were people pogo dancing to the beat, and ultimately, everyone was interacting with each other through the art that was being created. Who needs a babel fish when there’s the Creative United Movement where everyone can go to and speak the same language. I wont bore you a minute more with elaborate words, see the pictures here:

Unfortunately, ‘yours truly’ eventually recovered from his inebriated state about halfway through the event and became suddenly conscious of his physically tired self. For someone who is extremely uncomfortable in large crowds, being inebriated helps to go a very long way. Nevertheless, Creative United Movement has left a rabbit hole that hopes to get deeper into the Malaysian Creativity scene. Look out for more C.U.M. events in the near future.