Do you really need a tourism university?

When I read this news, suddenly I feel like I want to cry. Why? Read the whole article :

PENANG: A tourism university is being planned at Balik Pulau to provide skilled workforce to meet the growth of the country's tourism industry as well as boost development of the Northern Corridor Economic Region.

Finance Ministry parliamentary secretary Datuk Seri Dr Hilmi Yahaya said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had approved the project and an announcement on the matter would be made soon.

“The university will be built to train the workforce needed in the tourism industry in our efforts to provide quality service to tourists.

“It will offer courses related to the travel industry like hotel and catering, service and transportation,'' he told reporters after the opening of the Balik Pulau Umno divisional delegates meeting yesterday.

Why the Government need to built a new university dedicated for tourism? Last time I check, UITM offered the course for students. If the Government really think the courses offered by UITM is low standard, the Government should provide more fund for UITM to upgrade the courses by hiring more professional lecturers and people who really know the industry well.

I'm not against building up a new university in Malaysia. But by adding new university, the Government need to add more fund or the current fund for universities will stretch to its limit. The cost for building up a new university is not RM 1 million but cost up to hundreds sometimes thousands million of ringgit. Why need to waste that much money in creating a new university? Why don't the government upgrade the existing ones?

Please, there are many Malaysian out there live below poverty line. At least can we cater about them for a while before building a university dedicated for tourism? And by having lots of universities will not make us a developed nation. Its the quality that really matters not quantity.

Blocking the web, it is a good idea?

Source : here and here

When Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad announced the establishment of Multimedia Super Corridor, he as Malaysian Prime Minister at that time pledged and promised that Malaysian Goverment will not blocked access to any website on the Internet. Now, Security Commission (SC) and Ministry of Finance (MoF) has broken our government pledged by blocking access to the scam websites just because many Malaysian were/are stupid enough to put money into the site. Its not because I don't agree with the government in this matter. I partially agreed with the decision but by blocking this sites, who can say that the government can't and won't blocked another site in the future?

After blocking the scam websites, now, someone already proposed to checked websites for pornography and seditious materials. Because the argument is, if SC and MoF can block access to the scam websites, why can't other ministry block access to this or that website. And what after this? The political party can blocked sites that didn't agree with them? For example, if I didn't agree with Lim Kit Siang's thinking, will the government blocked my site? See what I'm talking here? After a while, the blocking method will become a tool for political parties (BN, DAP, PAS, Keadilan and etc) to crush anyone who don't agree with them. And later, we can't even enjoy our freedom to surf the Net. No more Dilbert's, and PhD comics for me. No more porno for those guys and girls. No more good (and bad) articles for us to read. Imagine that.

I don't want our country go down towards China approach. I want the Internet free from blocking. So what if someone access pornographic content. It is their fault. Takkanlah kerajaan nak bertanggungjawab atas segala kebodohan rakyat Malaysia? Come on laa..Grow up la rakyat Malaysia. Sampai bila nak mengadu kat kerajaan. Sape suruh korang percaya kat website-website tu? Lepas dah kena tipu melolong2 kat kerajaan suruh block access ke website tersebut. Aduih, apa la nak jadi.

To my beloved Malaysian, please remember Dr M pledged back then. Please keep in your mind, the Internet is like this world. Not all in this world are good for us but not all is bad. Internet is like that. Read but don't believe 100%. Please read the finer point (e.g FAQ or Terms and Conditions) before you put your money. And please asked someone if you have some doubt towards those website or before you 'invest' in it. Please, we almost reached towards our 50th year of independence but by doing this, our independence is meaningless.

That's all I think.

UM will be relocated?

I read it here about it. When I read it, I am shocked about the news. I really don't like with this rumour. You know, most of rumours in our country is true after some time. Like Pak Lah remarried, the rumour already surfaced since the beginning of this year. And also the sour relationship between Dr M and Anwar in 1998. And many other things.

I hope this rumour is not true. Imagine if companies can relocate UM (the oldest university in Malaysia) to other place, what happened to other universities that resides on the prime land like USM main campus in Penang, UKM at Bangi and UPM at Serdang? I pray to God the rumour will stay as rumour but if it is true I hope the company who plan it will go bankrupt. If this happened, it is true that our countrymen doesn't respect knowledge and academic institutions.

Maritime unit for DoTCAM

Source : The Star
Link : Click here

The Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry aims to set up its maritime enforcement unit within three years to combat smuggling.

What the heck Shafie want maritime enforcement unit for his ministry? Don't he know what the role of Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency supposed to play? What he thinking when he gave the statement to the press?

Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (let just call them Malaysian Coast Guard) is established to create an agency that will enforce Malaysian Maritime Laws. The creation of this agency is believe will relieve TLDM (Malaysian Navy) from doing enforcement work. This agency will also centralized other maritime enforcement agency into one single entity. The creation of this single entity will also save government budget into purchasing new ship for enforcement. Instead of buying ships for several agency now the government can purchase ships for only two agency, Malaysian Navy and Malaysian Coast Guard. So, Shafie's proposal to create maritime enforcement unit for his ministry will shattered the role need to be played by Malaysian Coast Guard. If he didn't satisfy with the coast guard performance, bring it to the Cabinet for discussion. Train more personnel for the agency and buy more ships. Instead of creating new unit, just collaborate with them. We are in the same country and even in the same organization, that is Government of Malaysia. Don't be too 'boros' Shafie. The fund for you unit can be channeled into other things.

Will the Government servant get a pay rise?

Well, Ijok election has passed. Today is 1st of May and it is a Labour Day. Early this year, Cuepacs had sent a proposal to request a pay rise for government servant to the Malaysia Prime Minister and Government of Malaysia. Will the government staff get a pay rise? Pak Lah said the government will announced on 22nd May 2007. I'm not putting my hope high on the announcement. Now concentrating my efforts in finishing my management system so I could use it for my project and show it to people who has interest in it. I'm trying to develop it using .Net but since I use the legacy ASP, so, all the functions on the system is built using ASP technology. I think sometimes later this year or early next year when I has enough time, I will re-write the entire system using .Net.

Back to the pay rise. For me, the pay rise is important for productivity of government servant. But increasing productivity by increasing pay rise is just a tip of the iceberg. There are other things I wish the government will execute. The most important thing that I really hope is by allowing system analyst or computer programmer like me to work from home maybe once a week. I already do most of my codes at home during my leisure time. Maybe its not exactly 8 a.m to 5 p.m but it will encourage me to work harder since my employer put a trust on me as the employee. Maybe some people will say how about meetings or other important thing that will need our attention. It is easy. Today most of us use handphones. So, if there is something important, people can still reach us. But the thing is in most government office, most of the important thing is a last minute arrangement.

How about the work that need to access into main servers? The problem can be solved by creating some sort of certificate authority (CA) in the government organization. We can create two types of certificate, PC certificate and user certificate. If the main server is a really important server we can autheticate users by using this way :

1. Certify the user's PCs. If the certificate is valid and same as the certificate generate by CA, let the user pass the first step.
2. Then authenticate the user's user certificate. If valid let the user pass.
3. Asked the user to authenticate once again by putting password or passphrase (any term that you like. It is same anyway). If the password valid as the store password in the system, let the user pass.

But this type of security is useless if the medium (in this case network) use by both server and PC are not secure (or encrypted). And also the password store in the system must also be encrypted. Https came into mind and also SSH. Or if you don't want to use SSH, we can develop our own secure connection.

Other thing that I asked is I can ignore people who are not included in my project. Just a week ago when I was checking some of the equipment installed by the contractor, one of the staff in one department said to me that one of the 'professor' want to meet me. When I asked what it is all about, she said she don't know. Some of the technicians there tell my friend (then the friend told me) that the 'professor' is always want to control everything in the school. I don't agree with that. When I want to pass this project to someone else, I want the whole project intact. I don't want any piece of this project fallen under other people jurisdiction. Until now, I didn't meet this 'professor'. I get permission from the dean, the registrar and deputy dean. So, why the heck I need to report to other people? Since I get this project (and another project) entrusted upon me, I manouver quite a lot just to keep this project intact.

Although I'm not putting my hope much towards the pay rise announcement, some of my colleagues really hope the government will care for us. Some of my colleagues already sell phone prepaid, perfume, headscarf, and etc. Sometimes it really interfere with our jobs (especially during busy time) but since most of them want to survive in this everything-need-to-pay era, I just shut my eyes. If me that receive 1600++ every month can barely survive each month, how about others that only receive 600 per month? Granted, some of them live with their parents and some have spouses who also work. Surviving 1600++ in Penang as a family is hard. Now imagine how they survive in JB and KL? What I do with my 1600++? 500 is rent payment, 500 is car payment. I left with 600. But remember, I still not pay my bills. After I pay everything, I is left with 300 per month and that is for everything. Petrol, food, and etc.

Thats why I do freelance jobs. Once upon a time, I sold PCs and laptops. But after I've got lots of complaints from customer than I stop. Sometimes, I get people who broke their keyboard pin and expect us to replace it with new keyboard since it is in warranty period. Some burned their motherboard and expect us to replace it for free. Some expect their RM1800 PCs will perform as RM3000 PCs. I quit after that. I trying not to sell PCs and laptops anymore. So, now some of you will know why I didn't send you the PC's specification that you requested.

Now I just waited for the announcement from our 'dear' PM. And most civil servant hope for the pay rise although not as high as Singapore Cabinet Minister pay rise or even our own cabinet pay rise (remember after the election the first thing they do is propose their pay rise in the parliament and heck they backdated the pay rise).

Pilihanraya Ijok (Ijok Election)

Do you see the visual where the ugly incident happened during 'penamaan calon' process at Ijok? Really stupid for both camps. Yeah, both PKR and BN supporters are stupid. Bodoh la korang nih. Buat apa baling-baling botol air tuh. Siap baling kayu lagi. Aku malas la nak cakap sape-sape yang start sebab aku pun tak percaya gak dalam berita TV. Maybe BN, maybe Keadilan.

Yang bertanding bukan korang. Tapi dua orang yang dinamakan sebagai calon. Yang korang susah-susah nak bergaduh kat tengah-tengah tuh apahal. Ni yang aku malas nak vote waktu pilihanraya nih. Sudah-sudah ler buat incident yang bodoh-bodoh tuh. Macam budak-budak ingusan yang merempit kat tengah jalan waktu malam buta tuh. Ke memang penyokong korang budak-budak ingusan tu? Budak-budak bodoh yang aku dengan penduduk kat sini selalu doakan supaya mati tersepit bawah lori waktu race. Hahahaha..

Berbalik pada pilihanraya kat Ijok. Udah-udah la bergaduh. Ari tuh ahli MIC pukul ahli DAP. Tapi senyap. Pas nih apa lak? Ada orang mati waktu pilihanraya sebab kena pukul? Aduih. Sebab tuh la orang luar cakap kita masih tinggal 'atas pokok'. Cuba tengok. Waktu penamaan calon pun boleh bergaduh. Tu penamaan calon. Cuba waktu berkempen nanti. Nak berbunuh pulak ke? Kalau macam nih lah keadaan nya, sebab tu la ramai kawan-kawan aku malas nak masuk politik.

Oklah. Kalau aku sambung banyak-banyak karang, banyak lak aku kutuk korang. Banyak lak dosa yang aku dapat. Tapi ubah-ubah la perangai. Sedar sikit, rakyat-rakyat biasa nih tengok dari tepi. Jadi la matang sikit. Malaysia pun dah masuk 50 tahun dah. Takkan situasi politik kita masih lagi merangkak kot?

Isu Lojing

Sorry folks. This entry will be fully in Malay.

Dari mula isu Lojing nih diutarakan oleh pihak TV3, aku nak jugak komen tapi aku simpan. Nak tengok sampai mana salah menyalah nih akan berterusan. Malu jugak jadik rakyat Malaysia bila isu nih diketengahkan oleh media. Kerajaan pusat salahkan kerajaan Kelantan, kerajaan Kelantan sekarang salahkan kerajaan Kelantan dulu. Pastu timbul pulak surat dari Pejabat Menteri Besar yang tak benarkan pegawai dari Jabatan Perhutanan untuk tak memberi komen pasal isu Lojing. Kalau aku jadik Menteri Besar Kelantan, aku pun takkan bagi komen lagi. Bodoh la kalau komen. Tengok je sekarang nih. Segala komen masuk paper atau tv. Tapi banyak isu tak jelas lagi :

1. Siapa luluskan penebangan hutan kat Lojing? Kalau ikut waktu aku belajar dulu-dulu, Jabatan Perhutanan kena bagi kelulusan untuk projek dijalankan di kawasan tersebut. Patutnya Kementerian Alam Sekitar pun kena turut terlibat untuk meluluskan. Lojing tuh tempat tadahan air, tempat 'penapisan' udara. Ish, mesti sape-sape tebang pokok tuh tak penah belajar Geografi.

2. Siapa dapat manfaat dari pendedahan isu Lojing? Memang la penduduk Malaysia. Baru kita tahu bila kita tengah susah untuk adapt dengan taraf hidup yang makin tinggi senang2 mak bapak dia je tebang hutan yang dah mungkin lagi tua dari dia. Ish, aku sumpah mati la orang tebang kawasan tadahan air tuh.

3. Siapa yang dapat kekayaan dari penjualan hasil kayu balak dan projek pertanian yang dijalankan di Lojing?

4. Kenapa baru sekarang dedah? Kalau aku tengok kemusnahan kat situ, macam dah lama. Persoalannya, kenapa bila sekarang ada ura-ura pilihanraya akan dijalankan tahun nih, baru semua tergedik-gedik nak turun padang? Kenapa tak sebelum nih? Persoalan sekarang kenapa? Bukan aku tak suka. Aku suka. Biar orang-orang yang tamak haloba (yang terlibat dalam projek tu) duduk dalam jail. Tak yah masuk dlm jail la. Sebab dok dalam jail duit aku jugak tanggung makan minum diaorg. Apa kata campak je dari atas Lojing tuh. Biar sepanjang diaorg jatuh dari bukit tuh, diaorg dapat tengok kemusnahan yang diaorg buat. Kalau diaorang cedera ringan je, campak lagi sampai kaki tangan diaorg patah. Lepas tuh, biar diaorg rawat sendirik. (Patutnya ahli Parlimen kena buat akta kejam macam nih. Baru orang takut. Kalau terima rasuah, bakar semua duit rasuah tu depan mata diaorg. Muahahahaa).

Tapi apa-apa pun wahai kerajaan negeri Kelantan dan kerajaan Malaysia, bekerjasama la antara satu sama lain. Jangan la salah menyalah. Bodo aa korang nih. Suruh kakitangan kerajaan kerja dengan produktif, jangan salah menyalah. Tapi nih tengok, orang-orang kat atas tunding menuding, so, macam manalah orang-orang kat bawah nih tak ikut. Aduih...Fikir laa. Pak Lah marah jangan jawab menjawab dalam media. Nih pun jawab menjawab dalam media la pasal isu Lojing nih.

Ish..pening aa. Aku tak rasa pun orang-orang besar baca blog aku. Cuma entah ler. Rasa cam terkilan. Be gentleman la. Terima la kenyataan kedua-dua kerajaan bersalah. Kerajaan negeri salah, kerajaan persekutuan salah. Pastu selesaikan la masalah tuh dengan produktif. Jangan la bergaduh-gaduh dalam media nih. Tak elok bebudak bawah umur tengok.