My Blog

WIRED & WIRELESS BROADBAND service in PENANG is very poor, that is what the foreign investors are telling the state minister, Mr. Lim Guan Eng, to add salt to the wound, PENANG is bearing MSC status city. This is not just in PENANG, this is a nation wide problem. So what is happening to our BROADBAND industry until it lands itself in such a pathetic state.

First of all, I think is lack of investment from federal government. For several years, our federal government has been relying too much on 1 single GLC company (not plural) to bring up the WIRED BROADBAND. End up what we get is 512kbps and 2Mbps the most, and not even everyone is getting that speed. My friend whose rented home just few km away from intel Malaysia, cannot even install WIRED BROADBAND service. As a benchmark, Malaysia is the first in South East Asia to introduce ADSL service. Then fast forward now 2008, Malaysians are still living with 512kbps and 2Mbps, our neighboring country Singapore is already living with minimum 2Mbps to 100Mbps service…Yes, my friend 100Mbps! only scare you dont have money to buy the service. You can say they are a small country, yeah but Penang is not very big either.

Secondly definitely lack of competition, if all contracts are given to one company, you cant really expect them to put effort or invest heavily to improve their service, after all if they dont improve, nothing will happen right? Contract will still come, no sweat.

Third I think is also lack of expertise, I think although we are in 2008, 12 years before we reach the lauded wawasan 2020, still our pool of experts in the area of networking are simply not enough. Our education doesnt educate us to be ready to work, they teach you something already obsolete in the industry. They give you professional degree while others look for professional certificate, damn with your professional degree. People looking for cisco certified experts, we gave them UTM certified non-quite-there expert. End up for most of our IT experts, they have to start learning again while working, this slows down our expansion programme.

There you have it, lack of government investment and push, lack of competition and lack of human capital. Not to make laugh of Malaysia internet experience, but if you have a chance to use 56kbps Jaring dial-up nowadays, it is actually faster than Streamyx sometimes.

Ok how about wireless broadband? We do have competition there right? like MAXIS, CELCOM, U-Mobile offering UMTS-3G service. Yes we have competition, but they come a little too slow, too late. MAXIS, CELCOM are after all not seriously competing with each other at initial stage, after securing 3G license they adopted a wait and look strategy as they seem to not believe in the technology itself, taking their own sweet time in 3G basestation deployment with the "tidak apa" attitude while MAXIS continues to charge exorbitant fees on GSM users. There is another company TIMECOM with 3G license, this company didnt even deploy a single basestation after few years and sold the license to Digi by the end, what a joke. U Mobile just joined the fray this year, and where the hell is Digi, still waiting for approval? Come on MALAYSIA, this is just too slow.  

End result is still the same…pathetic. Other than that, it is also the problem of the technology itself 3G. 3G technology in MALAYSIA is using WCDMA developed by NTT Docomo Japan but somehow still infringe patent hold by Qualcomm, this is a company that is really smart. They dont deploy 3G service or sell 3G equipments, but they collect royalty for every piece of equipment you sell, that makes the technology expensive.

Once the technology is expensive, private companies cannot afford to expand properly, therefore will result in limited coverage area, this is the same problem worldwide even in US. Some companies in Europe even spent billions just to bid for the spectrum before even deploying the first base station. So now if this is a global problem, it should be fine right? No. The wireless broadband service in Malaysia is having problem to be honest, they are selling package the promised you 3.6Mbps but it delivers in 384kbps. This lands us into the problem of morality, how could you sell a service in 1Mbps and 3.6Mbps when both deliver 384kbps. The government body MCMC as a technology consultant and governing body, is also at fault for not leading the country to the right path, putting in too much faith in UMTS-3G while they should have put more improvement effort into the WIRED space. UMTS-3G is a stopgap alternative to our poor WIRED broadband service in MALAYSIA that should see its demise very soon in the near future.

By the way 3G data charge 1kb/1cent, 1MB/RM10. If you use 5GB/month, that will be RM10000. Go figure out who can afford that, no one person working at home uses less than 30GB/month. 1GB/day.

Now in the immediate future we will see some improvements for WIMAX deployment starting this month in KLANG VALLEY, GreenPacket will spearhead the effort supported by intel capital. There are 3 other companies that will begin anytime soon by Q3,Q4 this year.(Redtone, YTLE & cant remember the last one) This time round we will have better but still not enough government support, a more matured pool of experts and competition. WIMAX field test shows to reach uplink downlink speed of 3Mbps is not impossible, but still it depends on your basestation deployment strategy. So I hope they do it right this time and reset others peception towards our country poor reputation of bad BROADBAND SERVICE.

Still I preferred wired service, as it is more reliable, when will the government give green light to release the parallel fund to support TM effort to deploy high speed fiber optic cable for the next 3 years…and please, let others help you also because TM is not good enough and not aggressive enough.

Will SAMSUNG be coming to PENANG? Bringing in RM 3.5 billion investment. Currently the deal is hanging in a balance, with the issues of rising electricity tariff and question of who should bear the cost to build factory power station. Other than PENANG, SAMSUNG is considering Philippines, Vietnam etc. Currently the more likelier destination is Philippines, well I sincerely hope SAMSUNG will come to MALAYSIA, setting up 2nd factory after the 1st one in SEREMBAN. Vietnam is less likely now. Vietnam is not an ideal destination now with its inflation at 26% high, Singapore is at 7~8% while Malaysia should rise from 3.8% to 7% in June due to petrol price hike. 

Other than SAMSUNG, Honeywell of US (Aerospace, defence and engineering) and IBIDEN corp. of JAPAN had already agreed to invest in PENANG. Honeywell invested RM100 million and IBIDEN RM1.2 billion, none of them as large as the scale of SAMSUNG investment. Honeywell investment is a little bit controversial as it is involved in military defence contract, nevertheless from business perspective, it is good news for PENANG.

When will JOHOR, SELANGOR, PERAK, SABAH, SARAWAK etc. be the next ideal destination for foreign investment, definitely not in the near future with the lack of infrastructure investment and human capital.

The story goes like this, 1 employee very unsatisfied with his manager because he was not treated fairly, so he decided to quit to show his unhappiness after he got a good offer from another company. But then his manager gave him a pay rise of 20%, so he happily stayed back. Then he becomes very unhappy again with the same issue after 1 month, so he decided to quit again. Then his manager gave him a "supervisor" position and gave him another pay rise of 20%. Too good to refuse, stay back again. Then he found himself becoming more and more unhappy, cannot explain why, but because money is good he stays back and choose to become forgetful. After a while, he was fired because company not doing well, retrenchment, his manager happily wield the axe over him, no heartache. The good offer already not present anymore because economy is no good, while he had to start all over again with another job. 

This is how things work out for most of us. We always get unhappy, but we didnt address the root of our unhappiness. We easily become forgetful when we are given "gula2". When we move out of our comfort zone, we easily become uncomfortable and move back to the comfort zone. We are all brought up to keep quiet and dont dive your nose into other people matters even if it means it will affect you. We become forgetful because RM 625 is a good money to spend. We become forgetful because we want the share market to rise, not share market to fall. We become forgetful because last time can do business easily and have many lobang for money, now no more projects. We become forgetful because we get scholarship to go overseas while others equivalent qualified people dont get it. We become forgetful because we already made our first million while others havent. We become forgetful because we can emigrate to other countries and live happily ever after while forget about Malaysia.

So they said stop political bickering, go back to work! (sounds like very noble) Well, the truth is if you are doing such a good job, the political bickering wouldnt have taken place, or there is any need or relevant in political bickering. What is not right, must be fixed, and cannot be forgotten just like that with a few "gula2". We fight for all equality and not for our own benefit. So we must be firm and united, be patient, things that are not right now must be fixed and changed, even though it means we need to go through a difficult process.

KLSE can dip, but once things are stabilized, it will return even to achieve higher grounds, want to see KLSE acheiving 3000 points? Projects can be lost now, but once thing is fixed, you can get project based on meritocracy and not relationship. 

So if your manager offered you "gula2" when you are changing for better course, just tell him "no, thanks!". - Too bad companies are not built on democratic system. :D   

I work as a RF test engineer. At my work, the most critical test is signal "imbalance". But today I am not blogging about this test, but about the word "imbalance".

I find it such a coincidence so many people talked to me about "imbalance" recently, especially when economy is not good and peer pressure is playing the trick. Therefore I find it something good to blog about…

Firstly someone in my company told me someone had left recently and joined a new company, got 50% salary hike, then he said he felt very "imbalance" after hearing about it.

Secondly someone said many people felt "imbalance" in Malayisa now because they cannot catch up with the salary of certain quarters, to make things worse those people are very young.

Thirdly I hang out a lot with my good pals from university mates recently and they also mentioned about the word "imbalance". Because one of them rumored to have salary that is relatively too high compare to the rest. 

Number fourth, I also used to tell people I felt very "imbalance" when I was working temporarily in Singapore last few months because I felt like very poor, have to take MRT, walk everyday while admiring those driving. Then I earned ringgit but have to spend in Singapore dollar, hard life.   

The feeling of "imbalance" actually is something real and cannot be ignored lightly, it can be damaging too, if not handled with care, it will eat into your lives and make you feel miserable, very unhappy. Surprisingly, having a lot of money wont make you happy long enough, but having the "imbalance" heart makes you very unhappy for a very very long time. To make things worse is when you start believing the myth, start buying into the story, you will completely move into negative territory. So how to cure it? It is easy, demystify it.

First of all, about the guy who left and got 50% hike, apparently his salary was averagely 50% lower compare to most of the people. Good for him, he told the guy the good number, he forgot to tell him the bad number…or I said purposely forget. Dont ask me how I found out, somehow managed to dig out.

Second thing, many people in Malaysia become rich at very young age, actually if you understand why, then it will make you more "balance" and motivate you. I would like to admit some are just clever and hardworking mixed with some good luck, but in most cases many people get help from rich parents and gov, it is not your fault if you are lagging behind as long as you know you are learning and working hard, but try to work smart sometimes also. Some people pure good luck. But it is just the habit of people to show off the number and assets, but didnt tell you how they get it or how much effort they actually had poured in. 

Number 3 indeed many friends from my university had become rich through different method, but again sometimes it depends on your luck and how good you are in grabbing opportunities. For example some get a lot of travels, some just got rapid promotion because no competition within the group, some got into oil and gas company, some went to Singapore, some 1 month OT dont know how many times, some just good at talking their way up, some really clever and skilful, some keep on changing company, some stick with really rich company etc. Relocation money can easily earn you 50~100k, provided you willing to lead a ultra thrify lifestyle that makes you look like refugees from Africa in US. Rapid promotion is good but makes you feel miserable when your subordinates start questioning your ability. Talking your way up is excellent but by the end of the day you have to deliver, if failed becomes talking your way out. OT a lot is good but that is when you have no life and single. So there is no magic trick in getting cash, just whether you want it or not, if you want there are many methods above that can be set as "good" reference. You can also go and sell pirated DVD of course. 

Number 4, unfortunately there is no cure for this, going to Singapore will always make me "imbalance" because the place is very small, crowded, cost of living also high. So I better stay in Malaysia to make me balance

One more thing why I blogged a lot recently, because I am "imbalance" too after staying alone for 3 weeks, my wife is not around these few weeks, I will resume into normal mode in August.

So to all out there, when you feel "imbalance", restore your rational, then you will become "balance", because we dont always tell others the whole nine yards, and dont you realize, it is our hobby too to make people feel "imbalance", why? Because it is fun to see people feel nervous…

This reminds me also of a friend in uni who always walk around naked, normally before exam, he will come and make you imbalance by asking you question like "have you read up page 1000?"… Anyway, I restore my balance after asking him "is that grape or cherry?" , referring to his red nipple.

Be "balanced", be happy, that will help you to lead a healthy lifestyle….

Recently there are many people and bloggers complained they are sick of Malaysia politics, they are sick of the political bickering while nothing is delivered. All they ever wanted is the leaders to go back to work and resolve the immediate issues. Restore everything back to initial situation, back to stability. If it is that what you are looking for, then I think in March 8th, you might as well stay at home and dont go out to vote.

People are forgetful, they like to stay in comfort zone, they dare not be vocal or dislike change for the sake of long term stability but prefer short term stability. How fast had we forgotten the June 8th flip-flop policy that resulted in immediate 41% petrol hike without proper planning. How fast had we forgotten the 9th malaysia plan that asked the bumiputra equity holdings to not reduce but extend to new sector. How fast had we forgotten the 9th malaysia plan to asked companies to list the % of races working in each company. How fast had we forgotten the promised gifts of 3.2 billion mega project to Penang was taken back without even a promise of single cent. How fast had we forgotten that a leader can step away from an accusation without even revealing the investigation result. How fast had we forgotten the quota system inequality from education to job opportunities. How forgetful are we that all these that we try to unite and fight for more chances dont matter anymore, we just need to go back to initial state.

Then one fine day you will be struck with the same problems again, why everything so expensive while our ringgit had appreciated? why my son cannot find a proper job in public sector?  Why are we so incompetitive that our universities lie at #200? Why my son cannot get into university even he gets good results? Why I need to pay so much for a hybrid car? Why I cannot get to my destination with a complete public transport system? Why Why Why?

It is all because we are forgetful, that is why. Or we choose to be forgetful for the sake of our comfort zone. Why? Because it is the easiest way out.

According to Honda Malaysia, since the introduction of Honda Civic 1.3 SOHC iDSL-Malaysia 1st hybrid car last year August, with a price tag of RM 160,000++, up to June 2008, a total of 14 had been sold.

Honda Civic Hybrid promises 5.2L/100km on highway, 5.9L/100km on normal town drive - equivalent to Proton Savvy 1.2 AMT petrol consumption.

14/28,000,000 =  0.00005% of Malaysia population, the main factor hindering the public mass adoption definitely is the steep price tag, how many people can afford a car costs more than RM 100k, let alone RM 160k. It still costs too much to go green in Malaysia.

More effort is needed from the government to bring in more hybrid cars by reducing the excise duty and import tax.

According to information from Wikipedia, Toyota Prius offers better power electronic assist motor of 67 BHP vs Honda Civic 20 BHP. However gasoline wise Honda Civic is more powerful 1.3L 95 BHP vs Prius 1.5L 76BHP. Definitely not a bad option to bring in Prius, it will offer more alternatives for public to go green.

I am recently looking for a small car for my wife to move around town while I am away at work, with condition it must have reasonable petrol consumption. I had done some research and saw this great piece of information on the Star - Sunday. Will like to share it. I will only quote the car with automatic transmission. 

Reference to my 1.5L (automatic) car; Fuel consumption 7.6 to 8.0 lit/100km.

Proton Savvy 1.2 (AMT) - 42,050 ; Fuel consumption 5.3 lit/100km.

Proton Saga 1.3 (automatic) - 37,998 ; Fuel consumption 6.3lit/100km.

Perodua MYVI 1.3SXI (manual) - 43,027 ; Fuel consumption 5.8 lit/100km. 7.3 lit/100 km (automatic)

Perodua VIVA 1.0EZ (automatic) - 39,800 ; Fuel consumption 6.6 lit/100km.

Summary, SAVVY 1.2 AMT is the most petrol saving cars. Surprisingly VIVA 1.0EZ fuel consumption is even higher than SAVVY 1.2 and SAGA 1.3. SAVVY obviously is the better choice, with bonus of the excellent Lotus tuned suspension system. : D

Time to save money then…   

My friend, A, said money not enough. He earned 6k/month, but money not enough after petrol hike. Last time he can spend 1k on drinking and clubbing, 1k on branded stuffs, 2k on anything he likes every month, now it is just impossible. So my friend, A, said the government is wrong, very wrong, very corrupted, very weak. So I smiled along the way as I listened.

My friend, B, also said money not enough. He earned 6k/month, but money not enough after petrol hike. Last time he can spend 1k on gadgets- new phones/ipod/LCD TV etc., 1.5k with her girlfriend(s) monthly to go on good food, another 2k on pampering himself with perfume and good clothes. So my friend said the government is very wrong, its officials should be hang, Petronas officials should be fired, PM should walk to work, MP should walk to work too. So I smiled along the way as I listened.

My friend C, is married. He said money is not enough after petrol hike, he earned 5k/month. He just bought his house, he spent everything on top grade items, he torn down everything and rebuild everything with top grade, quality material. Therefore money is not enough. He left no stones unturned, everything is smashed and redesigned. He said the government decision is crazy and should be overturned, he doesnt understand politics, but government that increases price is bad government, the worst of its kind and should be sent to hell. I smiled along the way as I listened.

A,B,C with a annual per capita income of USD 18,000 , with no dependant is suffering. Malaysians annual average per capita income is USD 6,500 is suffering also. A, B, C therefore said government is to be blamed but not themselves, country income should be spent on Petrol subsidies and to subsidy their habit of spending lavishly.

They continue to live lavishly today. They had forgotten the petrol hike last week because it is just too minor to worry. They are now living on credit card, anyway plastic is the new trend now, so they said.

Look around you, I hope you understand there are more people-especially with dependents suffering today because country income has been misplaced all the while and thus our public transport system continues to be very bad today, resulting in everyone needs to own a car or a motorbike.

The government of the past maybe corrupted, but subsidies is creating an artificial economy value that should be put to a stop anytime soon, as it is misplacing our country money, allowing the public to waste, waste, waste, waste, waste…

So, to everyone else, money still not enough? Help yourself to help the country and fellow countrymen please.

Many people thought installing NGV will resolve the problem they are facing now with petrol hike, well, sadly the fact is it will not. Sadly again on the ground, the government didnt do enough to educate the public.

Gas price is subsidised by Petronas thus it is selling cheaper in Malaysia and also why it is selling in Petronas station only. No other oil and gas companies are selling it because the price will not be subsidised by government (unlike Petrol) and it will be more expensive compare to Petronas. Gas price remained subsidised because only small number of vehicles are using it especially taxis and industry vehicles - which was its original intention. All this will change if the demand suddenly increases tremendously, it will not be cheap anymore. If demand increases, the loss sustained by Petronas will increase thus it will pass the cost to consumers, not be heavily subsidised anymore, sooner or later, it will float at market price.

Any natural resources that relies on demand and supply, will subject to free market price fluctuations and speculation/future buying. Therefore very simply NGV is a stopgap solution, temporary solution but not long term solution.

Limited stations that offer NGV also quickly become a problem not only for drivers that installed NGV, but to NGV taxi drivers who cannot afford to queue up long time just to wait for refill. Thus they will either go to fuel up with diesel / petrol, passing cost to passengers or if they dont do that, their profit will fall.   

Additionally NGV remained something very new and not widely used, therefore its effect to your vehicle after installation may vary. Thorough validation, tuning to specific car model in automotive industry is very important to guarantee zero defect per million, for the sake of your lives, however this is now being installed at any workshop which is not certified by any standard body.  They will just tell you it will work, without doing any due diligent work or research.

Definitely I am not automotive expert to advise on this matter, but relying on gas, which is secondary to oil, the ending is the same. It will only encourage the repeat of another vicious cycle of price increase.

If you choose NGV to go green.- YES.

If you choose NGV to save your wallet.- YES for now, but for how long in hyperinflation state.

Our future couldnt be any scarier, crude oil price hitting record high USD 143, DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL beaten down to less than 11500 points, uncertain in local political scene, gasoline price in MALAYSIA runs up to RM 2.70/liter, RICE, SOYBEAN, CPO all prices increased by almost >100%, steel price rose 40%, copper price rose relentlessly etc. Inflation is at all time high, if this trend were to continue, our future is unthinkable, bleak, hopeless, inflation outrunning your promotion and pay rise or investment return, how could one survives?

What will happen in future? I dont know, but I do know one thing, with maximum pessimism comes extraordinary men and measures, this is the time where heroes are born and legend is created. With maxium pessimism comes opportunity.

You think crude oil price of 200 is scary, but on the flip side it is a good thing. Never have I seen the automotive players such as GM, FORD paid so much attention in R&D of hybrid technology that they are actually starting to roll out new hybrid model annually. If crude oil price were to stay at USD 20 per barrel, who cares about R&D, we will continue to waste the resources as we like as if there is no tomorrow. But do remember, like it or not, oil will still run out one day. So instead of scrambling like mad when the day of reckoning arrives, it is actually a good thing that we start worrying right now when we still have 20~30 years of oil to spare. Even as I am typing this, hybrid plug-in is on its way, a car that runs on Li-Ion battery that can run 40 miles without petrol and charged through socket outlet, THAT IS WHAT I CALLED INNOVATION ! Isnt that impressive ! INNOVATION can only be spurred when CRISIS arises.

As someone working in a semiconductor company that witnessed almost the demise of it, only to see it to rise from ashes again within a year, surprising everyone from WALL STREET to MAIN STREET, to reclaim number 1 spot, sometimes the fact is you need a CRISIS to get the attention. Without the crisis, we will still be running today 400W 5GHz Pentium 4, you not going to like that, the CPU fan noise will blow you away, not the performance. Now we have a cool efficient sub 100~200W quad core processors instead of the power hungry monster.

So how about in local scene, RM 2.70/liter gasoline, dead liao lah this time. But wait do you notice some changes recently, where are the peak hour jams? do you know road accident fatal rate is dropping? With CRISIS comes extraordinary measure, and the measure actually comes from the public. Although our government is responsible for the poor public transport service, but undeniable we are also part of the wastage system that doesnt practice car pooling, use public transport when we can, buy fuel efficient cars, we have to ADMIT it that we also didnt fully do our part. Now I start to see people car pooling, using public transport, opt for fuel efficient cars when buying, isnt that wonderful thing that MALAYSIANS are changing - indirectly helping the environment. Although many are changing for their wallet sake, but what the heck - IT IS a good thing - undeniable, PERIOD.

So how about in political scene? Couldnt be any messier, running like a circus. Weak leader, racial issues, open criticism everywhere - so what can we do? With CRISIS comes extraordinary men and measures, and that is witnessed now across MALAYSIA. MALAYSIANS now, the new generation, more vocal, understand their rights and speak up their mind, even the older generation politicians are following the trend. We no longer keep our silence for the sake of stability. Regardless of opposition or government supporter, we should speak out and criticize when it is right and when it is wrong. This will not only ripple through the government administration, soon, it will ripple through the whole private sector work force. In this transition period, many will find it hard to swallow and adjust to it, but this is a MUST for MALAYSIA democratic system to be jump started after years of dorman. Draconian laws should be abolished if not now, old generation politicians / leaders should make way for new generation.

So how about relentless rise of crude oil price /raw material due to future trading, now it seemed that we cannot do anything about it, but I doubt this speculation activity will be allowed to run free hand forever, sooner or later the government will be forced to take action. US administration is already thinking how to curb the hot money from pension fund, investment fund from flowing into the oil that rose from 2 bil fund to 260 bil fund within a short frame of 2 years time. IT is a little bit more difficult on the agriculture front where global warming effect is punishing us, but with this CRISIS comes the need to innovate the agriculture and push for more R&D fund into agriculture sector.

If inflation and rise of raw material is hurting your wallet, perhaps you should start to think how you spend your money every month? Do you just leave the electricity running when you are out? do you just leave your PC “ON” 24 hours a day when it is doing nothing? do you go for RM 15 coffee although you have a choice of RM 1 coffee? do you cook yourself? Do you always buy unnecessary branded stuffs? Do you spend on most expensive items without planning / thinking /comparing? Do you use public transport when you can? - without CRISIS, you will not think about this and continue to waste because good future never end. Unfortunately, reality is harsh, and often end when you least prepared and expected.

When things turn into CRISIS, it is an ALARM to remind us that we had overlooked something for too long and it will force us to take action, spurred for more ideas, innovation. So CRISIS is good, because with CRISIS comes extraordinary men and measures. If things dont turn into CRISIS, we will take things for granted, we will waste, we will forget our responsibilties. So my friend, be hopeful of the future and stay optimistic, because CRISIS had started, and we are in maximum pessimism state, the changes is just not far around the corner. - CJ