Everything goes up!

Sometimes, I think we as a Malaysian is quite amazing because we can live with low income but high expenses. Read for the jokes: HERE. Even though my parent earns less than RM2000 per month but we can still afford everything that other people can't. Amazing, huh? After cut our Astro, I think is time to cut our Screamyx...NOOO!. Well, probably I suggest to cut others thing first....MOM, WHAT ELSE CAN WE CUT?

My Life

My current life can be summarized into 3 words:

A great testimony from Lee Kuan Yew on age-ing

'Stay interested in the world, take on a challenge':
Singapore Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew

This is Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew's advice on ageing the best way one
can. Yesterday, he shared some personal insights into how he himself deals
with ageing. Here is the transcript of his remarks.

MY CONCERN today is, what is it I can tell you which can add to your knowledge about ageing and what ageing societies can do. You know more about this subject than I do. A lot of it is out in the media, Internet and books. So I thought the best way would be to take a personal standpoint and tell you how I approach this question of ageing.

If I cast my mind back, I can see turning points in my physical and mental
health. You know, when you're young, I didn't bother, I assumed good health
was God-given and would always be there. When I was about
- '57 that was - I was about 34, we were competing in elections, and I was
really fond of drinking beer and smoking.

And after the election campaign, in Victoria Memorial Hall - we had won the
election, the City Council election - I couldn't thank the voters because I
had lost my voice. I'd been smoking furiously.
I'd take a packet of 10 to deceive myself, but I'd run through the packet
just sitting on the stage, watching the crowd, getting the feeling, the mood
before I speak. In other words, there were three speeches a night. Three
speeches a night, 30 cigarettes, a lot of beer after that, and the voice was
gone.

I remember I had a case in Kuching, Sarawak. So I took the flight and I felt
awful. I had to make up my mind whether I was going to be an effective
campaigner and a lawyer, in which case I cannot destroy my voice, and I
can't go on. So I stopped smoking. It was a tremendous deprivation because I
was addicted to it.

And I used to wake up dreaming...the nightmare was I resumed smoking.
But I made a choice and said, if I continue this, I will not be able to do
my job. I didn't know anything about cancer of the throat or oesophagus or
the lungs, etc. But it turned out it had many other deleterious effects.

Strangely enough after that, I became very allergic, hyper-allergic to
smoking, so much so that I would plead with my Cabinet ministers not to
smoke in the Cabinet room. You want to smoke, please go out, because I am
allergic.

Then one day I was at the home of my colleague, Mr Rajaratnam, meeting
foreign correspondents including some from the London Times and they took a
picture of me and I had a big belly like that (puts his hands in front of
his belly), a beer belly. I felt no, no, this will not do.

So I started playing more golf, hit hundreds of balls on the practice tee.
But this didn't go down. There was only one way it could go down: consume
less, burn up more.

Another turning point came when -this was 1976, after the general election -
I was feeling tired. I was breathing deeply at the Istana, on the lawns. My
daughter, who at that time just graduating as a doctor, said: 'What are you
trying to do?' I said: 'I feel an effort to breathe in more oxygen.' She
said:
'Don't play golf. Run. Aerobics.'

So she gave me a book, quite a famous book and, then, very current in
America on how you score aerobic points swimming, running, whatever it is,
cycling. I looked at it sceptically. I wasn't very keen on running. I was
keen on golf. So I said, 'Let's try'.

So in-between golf shots while playing on my own, sometimes nine holes at
the Istana, I would try and walk fast between shots. Then I began to run
between shots. And I felt better. After a while, I said:
'Okay, after my golf, I run.' And after a few years, I
said: 'Golf takes so long. The running takes 15 minutes. Let's cut out the
golf and let's run.'

I think the most important thing in ageing is you got to understand
yourself. And the knowledge now is all there. When I was growing up, the
knowledge wasn't there. I had to get the knowledge from friends, from
doctors.

But perhaps the most important bit of knowledge that the doctor gave me was
one day, when I said: 'Look, I'm feeling slower and sluggish.' So he gave me
a medical encyclopaedia and he turned the pages to ageing. I read it up and
it was illuminating. A lot of it was difficult jargon but I just skimmed
through to get the gist of it.

As you grow, you reach 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 and then, thereafter, you are
on a gradual slope down physically. Mentally, you carry on and on and on
until I don't know what age, but mathematicians will tell you that they know
their best output is when they're in their 20s and 30s when your mental
energy is powerful and you haven't lost many neurons. That's what they tell
me.

So, as you acquire more knowledge, you then craft a programme for yourself
to maximise what you have. It's just common sense. I never planned to live
till 85 or 84. I just didn't think about it. I said: 'Well, my mother died
when she was 74, she had a stroke. My father died when he was 94.'

But I saw him, and he lived a long life, well, maybe it was his DNA. But
more than that, he swam every day and he kept himself busy. He was working
for the Shell company. He was in charge, he was a superintendent of an oil
depot. When he retired, he started becoming a salesman. So people used to
tell me: 'Your father is selling watches at BP de Silva.'

My father was then living with me. But it kept him busy. He had that
routine: He meets people, he sells watches, he buys and sells all kinds of
semi-precious stones, he circulates coins. And he keeps going.
But at 87, 88, he fell, going down the steps from his room to the dining
room, broke his arm, three months incapacitated. Thereafter, he couldn't go
back to swimming.

Then he became wheelchair-bound. Then it became a problem because my house
was constructed that way. So my brother - who's a doctor and had a flat
(one-level) house - took him in. And he lived on till 94. But towards the
end, he had gradual loss of mental powers.

So my calculations, I'm somewhere between 74 and 94.
And I've reached the halfway point now. But have I?

Well, 1996 when I was 73, I was cycling and I felt tightening on the neck.
Oh, I must retire today. So I stopped. Next day, I returned to the bicycle.
After five minutes it became worse.

So I said, no, no, this is something serious, it's got to do with the blood
vessels. Rung up my doctor, who said, 'Come tomorrow'. Went tomorrow, he
checked me, and said: 'Come back tomorrow for an angiogram.' I
said: 'What's that?' He said: 'We'll pump something in and we'll see whether
the coronary arteries are cleared or blocked.'

I was going to go home. But an MP who was a cardiologist happened to be
around, so he came in and
said: 'What are you doing here?' I said: 'I've got this.' He said: 'Don't go
home. You stay here tonight.
I've sent patients home and they never came back. Just stay here. They'll
put you on the monitor. They'll watch your heart. And if anything, an
emergency arises, they will take you straight to the theatre.
You go home. You've got no such monitor. You may never come back.'

So I stayed there. Pumped in the dye, yes it was blocked, the left
circumflex, not the critical, lead one. So that's lucky for me.

Two weeks later, I was walking around,I felt it's coming back. Yes it has
come back, it had occluded. So this time they said: 'We'll put in a stent.'
I'm one of the first few in Singapore to have the stent, so it was a brand
new operation. Fortunately, the man who invented the stent was out here
selling his stent.
He was from San Jose, La Jolla something or the other.
So my doctor got hold of him and he supervised the operation. He said put
the stent in. My doctor did the operation, he just watched it all and then
that's that. That was before all this problem about lining the stent to make
sure that it doesn't occlude and create a disturbance.

So at each stage, I learnt something more about myself and I stored that. I
said: 'Oh, this is now a danger point.'
So all right, cut out fats, change diet, went to see a specialist in Boston,
Massachusetts General Hospital.
He said: 'Take statins.' I said: 'What's that?' He
said: '(They) help to reduce your cholesterol.'
My doctors were concerned. They said: 'You don't need it. Your cholesterol
levels are okay.' Two years later, more medical evidence came out. So the
doctors said: 'Take statins.'

Had there been no angioplasty, had I not known that something was up and I
cycled on, I might have gone at
74 like my mother. So I missed that deadline.
So next deadline: my father's fall at 87.

I'm very careful now because sometimes when I turn around too fast, I feel
as if I'm going to get off balance. So my daughter, a neurologist, she took
me to the NNI, there's this nerve conduction test, put electrodes here and
there.

The transmission of the messages between the feet and the brain has slowed
down.
So all the exercise, everything, effort put in, I'm fit, I swim, I cycle.
But I can't prevent this losing of conductivity of the nerves and this
transmission.
So just go slow.
So when I climb up the steps, I have no problem. When I go down the steps, I
need to be sure that I've got something I can hang on to, just in case. So
it's a constant process of adjustment.

But I think the most important single lesson I learnt in life was that if
you isolate yourself, you're done for. The human being is a social animal -
he needs stimuli, he needs to meet people, to catch up with the world.
I don't much like travel but I travel very frequently despite the jet lag,
because I get to meet people of great interest to me, who will help me in my
work as chairman of our GIC. So I know, I'm on several boards of banks,
international advisory boards of banks, of oil companies and so on.

And I meet them and I get to understand what's happening in the world, what
has changed since I was here one month ago, one year ago. I go to India, I
go to China.

And that stimuli brings me to the world of today. I'm not living in the
world, when I was active, more active 20, 30 years ago. So I tell my wife.
She woke up late today. I said: 'Never mind, you come along by
12 o'clock. I go first.'

If you sit back - because part of the ending part of the encyclopaedia which
I read was very depressing - as you get old, you withdraw from everything
and then all you will have is your bedroom and the photographs and the
furniture that you know, and that's your world. So if you've got to go to
hospital, the doctor advises you to bring some photographs so that you'll
know you're not lost in a different world, that this is like your bedroom.

I'm determined that I will not, as long as I can, to be reduced, to have my
horizons closed on me like that. It is the stimuli, it is the constant
interaction with people across the world that keeps me aware and alive to
what's going on and what we can do to adjust to this different world.

In other words, you must have an interest in life. If you believe that at
55, you're retiring, you're going to read books, play golf and drink wine,
then I think you're done for. So statistically they will show you that all
the people who retire and lead sedentary lives, the pensioners die off very
quickly.

So we now have a social problem with medical sciences, new procedures, new
drugs, many more people are going to live long lives. If the mindset is that
when I reach retirement age 62, I'm old, I can't work anymore, I don't have
to work, I just sit back, now is the time I'll enjoy life, I think you're
making the biggest mistake of your life.

After one month, or after two months, even if you go travelling with nothing
to do, with no purpose in life, you will just degrade, you'll go to seed.

The human being needs a challenge, and my advice to every person in
Singapore and elsewhere: Keep yourself interested, have a challenge.

If you're not interested in the world and the world is not interested in
you, the biggest punishment a man can receive is total isolation in a
dungeon, black and complete withdrawal of all stimuli, that's real torture.

So when I read that people believe, Singaporeans say:
'Oh, 62 I'm retiring.' I say to them: 'You really want to die quickly?' If
you want to see sunrise tomorrow or sunset, you must have a reason, you must
have the stimuli to keep going.'

This story was first published on Jan 12, 2008.

Rising Fuel Price Jokes‏

 Future Consumption!

 Next time, we need your organ. Be prepared.

 Environmental Friendly.

Speechless~~

 How to get your loan approved in 9 seconds.

Second Option!

Beggar must not be chooser, giver must not be cheap-skater.

We just want your GAS! NOT MONEY!

Auction! Anyone?

Implied Message

10 Most Stupid Questions People Usually Ask In Obvious Situations‏

1. At the movies: When you meet acquaintances/ friends... .
Stupid Question:-
Hey, what are you doing here?
Answer:-
Don't you know, I sell tickets in black over here..

2. In the bus: A heavy lady wearing pointed high-heeled shoes steps on
your feet...
Stupid Question:-
Sorry, did that hurt?
Answer:-
No, not at all, I'm on local anesthesia.. ...why don't you try again.

3. At a funeral: One of the teary-eyed people ask...
Stupid Question:-
Why, why him, of all people.
Answer:-
Why? Would it rather have been you?

4. At a restaurant: When you ask the waiter
Stupid Question:-
Is ! the "Butter Paneer Masala" dish good??
Answer:-
No, its terrible and made of adulterated cement. We occasionally also
spit in it.

5. At a family get-together: When some distant aunt meets you after
years...
Stupid Question:-
Munna, Chickoo, you've become so big.
Answer:-
Well you haven't particularly shrunk yourself.

6. When a friend announces her wedding, and you ask...
Stupid Question:-
Is the guy you're marrying good?
Answer:-
No,he's a miserable wife-beating , insensitive lout...it's just the
money.

7. When you get woken up at midnight by a phone call...
Stupid Question:-
Sorry. were you sleeping?
Answer:-
No. I was doing research on whether the Zulu tribes in Africa marry or
not. You thought I was sleeping.... you dumb witted moron.

8. When you see a friend/colleague with evidently shorter hair...
Stupid Question:-
Hey have you had a haircut?
Answer:-
No, its autumn and I'm shedding.... ..

9. At the dentist when he's sticking pointed objects in your mouth...
Stupid Question:-
Tell me if it hurts?
Answer:-
No it wont. It will just bleed.

10. You are smoking a cigarette and a cute woman asks...
Stupid Question:-
Oh, so you smoke.
Answer:-
Gosh, it's a miracle .......it was a piece of chalk and now it's in
flames!!!

When something is FREE, everyone is FREE!

Today our topic is FREE. Still remember the Big Bad Wolf Books Sale? Unfortunately, I unable to go because my Microeconomics assignment having some trouble at the last moment and I'm still facing some financial difficulty = pokai...hahaha. Even though, I damn sad but I feels totally relieved because I still have some books to read. Better finish reading those first before buying a new ones. I still remember one of my friends joke to me about the long queue.

Me: Walao, how come so many people queue at the entrance. Those people are really free meh?

Wennee: Haha...those books damn cheap. Not free also can be free.

Today, I going to show you another example, when something is FREE, everyone is FREE!

Yesterday my mom remind me to wake up earlier today to get FREE paint. Oh god...I thinking FREE paint only mah...need to wake up so earlier today meh. But, when my mom decided to go at 9.30 am and by the time we arrived, its proved that I was wrong.

Front view. Take 1

Front view. Take 2

Front view. Take 3

Can you see the three photos that I took ?...wow...at least more than 50 people queuing in front of us...

Back view. Take 1

Back view. Take 2

Middle view

No matter you are young or old, women or men, Malay, Chinese or Indian, poor or rich...as long as something is FREE...everyone is FREE!

Today, I noticed that there are THREE things that Malaysian not really know. First. they don't know what is "Thank You", "Sorry" or "Excuse Me". Second, smoking in the public area which are full of kids, women or senior citizens supposed to be illegal in my point of view. Third, throwing your cigarette butt on the floor is totally uncivilized. Only monkeys will do that!

Did you saw the guy who was pushing the trolley? Believe me, he is come from zoo. When he tried to push the trolley to pass among us, he didn't even bother to say "Excuse Me" or "Sorry"...the only word that I heard him muttered was "Oopss"... all the way from van to the restaurant to deliver the food. Really kns.

About the smoking even more teruk...one of the uncle in the front and one of the uncle at the back of us trying to make conversation with my mom. Oh for god sake! After the conversation have finished, they proceed to light the cigarette and smoking in front of us. Damn both of you, where is  your courtesy!...there are few kids playing nearby us, one old lady was sitting nearby us, my mom, my sis and me...One word that I keep telling myself, 

" Patience...patience...patience.." 

Then, they throw the cigarette butt on the floor nearby...WTF! I think they tried to increase my blood pressure by provoke my anger.

Anyway, when it is our turn ...I took some photos too. Quite disappointed that only left Dark Blue and Yellow for wall paint and Brown and Blue for metal and wood paint...haiz, we decided to choose Yellow for wall and Brown for metal.

In my opinion, their advertising strategy really works for me. Why? Because their voucher are really so cute.

 

Cute leh...I decided to make it as my phone accessories. 

For those who know nothing about this event...I post some info here.

 

Find 'Ben-Ben'!

Spot our Seamaster Cruisers as they make their rounds around Klang Valley to get your 'Ben-Ben' key chain or phone hanger, along with a FREE PAINT VOUCHER. Meet us at the locations listed with your free paint voucher to receive a FREE 5-litre tin of Seamaster paint!

Kuala Lumpur
Wangsa Walk Mall
26 Nov - 28 Nov 2010
10.00am - 10.00pm

Klang
Aeon Bukit Tinggi Shopping Centre
3 Dec - 5 Dec 2010
10.00am - 10.00pm

Petaling Jaya
Tropicana City Mall
10 Dec - 12 Dec 2010
10.00am - 10.00pm

For more info:Here

Remember bring along your voucher, IC and yourself! One people can only can have one FREE paint!

If you are kind, please tell your parent about this...they sure will be very happy like my parent.
If you are not kind and afraid drag by your parent just to grab some extra paints...then just keep it as a secret...lol