Lectures have ended, only 2 exams left before I am completely through with uni life. So I heard, working life is more challenging huh? Well, bring it on. I simply can't wait to join the corporate world, the competitive capital market, the place where only the strong survives so to speak. Hopefully working life is not overrated.. I just hope for a fresh start in Petronas (if I manage to get accepted).
And more importantly, I can't wait for the day me and Aim tie the knot. Finally..I will have someone I can call my own. Not that I don't already have one at the moment (my parents), but I guess husbands and wives have stronger sense of belonging to each other as compared to other family members. And that is something I can't wait to experience.
Speaking of sense of belonging, my circle of friends have began to notice I actually have a blog. It never occurred to me that it would be an issue...but apparently it is. To my friend Hedaya and Hazwani, I have always wanted to announce the blog to you guys, after all you guys are the best of friends, but there is always this...
Aidil Fitri pada tahun ini memberi pengalaman baru kepada diri ku. Rinduku teramat kepada kampung halaman di Damansara Jaya, beraya di samping mak, ayah, abang, abangah dan kakak. Tetapi kerinduan itu berjaya diredakan, terima kasih kepada gelak tawa di samping sahabat taulan yang bagaikan keluarga baru ku sejak 3 tahun yang lepas. Walaupun tadi ketika solat Aidil Fitri, Tok Imam dari Fiji banyak memberi peringatan dan kata-kata nasihat lantas membuat hatiku sedikit gundah gulana, semuanya bertukar menjadi ceria sebaik sahaja bertemu kawan-kawan. Kami bergurau senda, bercerita tentang memori raya di Malaysia sambil menjamu selera dengan hidangan istimewa Hari Raya. Ketupat nasi, rendang, briyani, kuih senperit, semuanya mengimbas semula ingatan ku kepada ibunda yang tiap-tiap tahun tidak pernah gagal untuk menyediakan makanan di pagi Syawal.
Raya tahun ini di tengah-tengah minggu; kuliah tetap berjalan seperti biasa. Lucunya gelagat menyambut 1 Syawal semalam. Tuan rumah Ali, Shazwan dan Aio mengkhabarkan betapa mereka malas untuk ke kelas. Tetapi mereka memujuk hati untuk ke kuliah jua kerana risaukan assignment yang pastinya lebih sukar...
Unlike Fitna, this film made a clear distinction between the radicals, who are the minority, and law-abiding Muslim citizens, who are the majority...so cheers to that.
But a bigger task awaits us: Where do we draw the line between what is radical and what is not?
I am impressed with Khairy Jamaluddin. He is indeed capable of making cogent arguments when he is not playing politic. However, much as I would like to agree with him that students find learning Math and Science in English really difficult, I’m afraid the system must go on.
By claiming that the system fails to improve English proficiency among students, Khairy is evidently an impatient guy. One year of learning Math and Science in English and you expect them to speak and write English like you? Come on, get real Khairy. I live in New Zealand for almost 3 years already, yet I still can’t make sense of the Kiwi accent, let alone talk in that accent. Given the policy is only 1 year-old, it is only natural that it hasn't been fruitful.
And of course there are flaws in the policy, one of them being Math and Science teachers not proficient in English themselves. But this is just as true as not all Math and Science teachers are proficient in Bahasa too. I had first hand experience learning Phisics with a teacher who can barely speak in Bahasa; most of the time she taught us in English. Malay...
Calculating ratios is indeed what most people (including me) thought what Financial Statement Analysis is all about. But after reading the first chapter of TKWAV, my view has changed whereby I realised they are of no good to me in assessing my firm’s value mainly because the figures are historical – they tell us little about the future. However, to my disbelief, as I am doing this write up, my view has changed again. Financial ratios are of much assistance in fact. They tell me what has happened in the business in the past, what’s happening now, and some hints about where the firm is heading in the future. I feel like I can talk about Dexion with greater confidence.
After calculating the come financial ratios, I thought I should compare them to the industry trend, but unfortunately I can’t find a firm similar...
I have quoted Malik Imtiaz Sarwar a few times in my writing. I look up to him as a person who is brave enough to delve into the issues of race and religion. I may not necessarily agree with all his principles, but I believe credit is due to his effort in trying to tackle the 'real issues', unlike many others who are more interested in manipulating them to serve their own interests.
His commitment in finding solutions for a stronger and more united Malaysia is evident in his act of launching a website called "Project Malaysia". With the intention of sharing my thoughts with others, I sent in my writing about my experience attending some interfaith talk here in New Zealand. And it has just been on-line recently today. This is my first article being published. Comments are welcome. Apologies if it is not up to your standard or expectation :D.
Three months from now I will be graduating from university. I tried to recollect all the things that I have studied for the pass three years and ask myself – what have I learnt? I may be getting a university degree, but am I getting a university education?
Not long ago I had an interesting conversation with a lecturer. He teaches Financial Statements Analysis, and hence he is the ‘guru’ in analysing firms. This course has neither tests nor exams; just assignments and surveys. Every week after class we are to report anonymously what we learnt in his class, after which he will publish them in the course website. He told us that “Judging by the surveys that the students have done, I finally come to a conclusion that I have overestimated your knowledge in accounting”. He went on saying “How do you explain final-year accounting students not knowing the real meaning of equity?”
I was struck by this question. To be honest, I took more than a dozen of accounting courses but surprisingly I could not apply any of them in my daily life. How pathetic is that? I went for class, I sat by myself, took some notes,...
Is the Pengetahuan Moral subject taught in schools ineffective in instilling moral values into the heart of our youth? Most would say yes, Hishammudin said yes. Because it is too narrowly structured, students could memorise the answers and regurgitate them in exam, which is useless. So the government is thinking of reviewing it, maybe adding some 'kerja khusus', reducing some of the nilai(s) and wa-lah. There you go, the 'modified' version of Pengetahuan Moral is ready to rumble. But how different could it be? No matter how you dress the syllibus with, teaching moral is still teaching moral.
Malaysia is not the only country facing this dilemma of how to teach moral values to its citizens. Many other developed countries, like Britain, Australian and New Zealand are in similar situation as well, though the scenario is somewhat different.
The lack of moral values among Malaysians is causing corruptions to happen. Leaders are practicing cronyism and nepotism, civil servants especially the police are taking bribes, business entities causing pollution to the environment, drivers are impolite, teenagers indulge in drugs, alcohol and adultery, and the overall citizens are hopelessly civic-minded creatures with negative habits like littering everywhere especially the river...
3rd World Mentality: Malaysians or the Malaysian government?
August 22, 2008
Often we hear Malaysians who have gone to overseas to further their studies came back with the conclusion that Malaysians are terribly stuck with 3rd world mentality, despite having 1st world facility. It is not the Malaysians really, rather it is the government who is stuck with such cookie-cutter mentality, though there are some 'loyal' citizens who decided to join in too.
Although the Malaysian government is made up of fellow Malaysians, we have to be able to distinguish between the two by acknowledging the fact that not all Malaysians are involved, or allowed to be involved, in policy making.
Malaysian Government has problems dealing with criticism. Whenever our policy is being criticized by the western (most of the time it is U.S.) someone from the government will make statements that sounds like this: “It is funny how the U.S. talks about democracy when they themselves are disrespectful of other country’s right”. Then they start blabbering about issues like Iraq, nuclear weapon, so on and so forth. Shouldn't they at least ponder upon the criticism presented to them and work on it to improve their policy, rather than dismissing it because it comes from an unworthy...
When going about restating Dexion’s financial statements, I found myself smiling throughout the process because Dexion has a relatively straightforward business operation whereby, with reasonable diligence, readers of its financial statements can easily comprehend its business. Dexion has no minority interests, neither does it enter into agreements like interest rate swaps or forward rate agreements. Unlike Ryman Healthcare, Dexion does not even revalue its assets, except for intangible assets which they are required to under the IFRS. Therefore, I spend more time comparing Dexion’s FS with that of other firms.
On the balance sheet, I found only one item to be classified as financial activity i.e. loans and borrowings. But after reading through the notes, I found that Dexion has many other financial activities. For example, Note 5 discloses that Dexion uses forward exchange contracts to hedge any currency risk. This is further explained in Note 28 which discloses that at balance date, Dexion had taken out foreign exchange cover for the initial payment due for the acquisition of Shanghai Xiao Bao Storage Systems Equipment Co Ltd (from Note 34) by purchasing forward RMB12million (AUD equivalent $1.9million) for delivery in March 2008. $1.9million is a material amount,...
