My Dad Best Gift To Me - New Straits Times Newspaper

NST or The New Straits Times newspaper is the best gift that my dad ever gave me as a child.

Coming from a middle class Malay family, my whole family could read and understand English quite well because of my dad. You see my dad insisted that we all read the NST newspaper instead of the Malay dailies even though we don't understand what we are reading that time. Unlike other Malay families, we only get to read the Malay newspaper on Sundays. Only on Sundays my dad will buy the Malay newspapers for us.

He said that we could speak English better if we start reading NST from our young age. He also said that English will be an important language in the future.

How right he was. Thanks dad.

I saw the NST ad on the local television network last night that reminded me of my school days. That ad was about a group of some Malay school kids who were asked direction to go the National Monument by a tourist. That group couldn't gave a good answer as they don't understand or speak English. Another boy who was earlier teased by the group help gave the tourist a right direction. He then gave a copy of the NST to the group and told them that if they read NST they could get better jobs later.

Funny though, I went through about the same situation when I was kid. My Malay neighbours would always tease me for reading an English newspaper as if I understand. I should be reading the Malay newspaper they said. The Malaysians Malay should change their mentality about their "Malay" things.

Anyway, I just like to stressed that NST does help me and my family read and understand English better. Though our English is not perfect, at least nobody could bluff us about anything in English. We could sign those sales and purchase agreements with ease as we could read and understand the agreements. We don't have to get other people to read the agreements for us !!!

If you want your kids to read and understand English better, buy them the NST newspaper from their early schooling days.

For me, I have to thank my dad for his best gift to me and my family - The New Straits Times Newspaper.

Saint Joseph Secondary School Johor Baru Malaysia

Saint Joseph Primary and Secondary School Johor Baru Malaysia is the school I went to. Its the best school one could ever ask for. Just look at the school badge - was very proud to wear them at that time.

Anyway, I'm writing this post about Saint Joseph Primary and Secondary School Johor Baru Malaysia as I want look for my long lost school friends who went to the same school. I hope this post would be picked up by the search engines and those looking for Saint Joseph Primary and Secondary School Johor Baru Malaysia would be directed here hence the keywords...hehehe..

I recently met a few of those of went to Saint Joseph Primary and Secondary School Johor Baru Malaysia with me. I found them in Facebook and should I say they found me. Good work Edwin John. I also met Prathab Vengadasalam, Rajendra Balaratnam, Roderick Oliveiro and Chan Tur Wei. I was in the class of 84 with them, I think.

Anyway, we are looking for all other Saint Josephians who went to the same school with us especially those who were doing their form five in 1984.

So if you happened to know some body who goes to Saint Joseph Primary and Secondary School Johor Baru Malaysia to study, please ask them to join this Facebook group.

Saint Joseph Primary and Secondary School Johor Baru Malaysia Facebook Group

Working At Home In Malaysia Part 3

This the third part of my working at home in Malaysia series. You can read the first part here and the second part here.

Many Malaysians are still unaware that they could make money online working at home in Malaysia. I have been working at home since 2007 and though still not making enough money for my standard, I'm very happy to have reach this level. My income now is enough to pay for a lot of my bills every month.

With the rising cost of living and higher fuel prices, I know that I have saved a lot of money by working at home. By working at home I already saved on car installment, fuel, parking fees, working clothes, car maintenance fees, nanny fees (if you have kids) etc.. In fact, if you really calculate all your expenses, you will notice that you actually saves a lot money by working at home in Malaysia.

So what do I do to make money online working at home in Malaysia ?

Well, basically, I create websites and blogs. That's what I do. Creating a lot websites and blogs just like this blog. This blog is supposed to be my personal blog but I thought why not share my working at home experiences so that other could also work at home like me. Actually I create websites and blogs to share my online experience and at the same time monetize them so that they will make money for me. One of my favorite affiliate program to monetize to my sites are Google Adsense. I'm also using other affiliate networks to make money online and monetize my sites.

So, I created a lot of sites to make money online but what kind of sites do I create ?

I love to create niche sites that are targeted at certain niche readers. Some of the niche sites include camping, landscaping, credit cards, blogging, travel Malaysia, Malaysia events, get paid programs, work at home, paid surveys, digital cameras, make money online etc.. These are some of my sites that I monetize with Google Adsense and other affiliate programs.

When you create a website or a blog with the intention of making money, its better to stick to a topic or a niche. You will get better results than making a "general" site. You site will also have a better ranking with the search engines.

I'm also using PLR articles for some of my blogs. When using these PLR articles, you need to rewrite them thoroughly in order to not get penalize by the search engines for duplicate content as many other people might be using the same PLR articles. Using these PLR articles saves a lot of time in writing content for your sites but never use them as it is.

These are some of the tips for those who are interested in making money online working at home in Malaysia or any other part of the world.

Stay tune for more tips...

My Favourite Malaysia Local Food - Satay

I am so glad to be living in Malaysia, a country blessed with an abundance of food from various different cultures.


Every Malaysian has their own favourite food. My top Malaysia's local favourite food has to be the satay. I especially loves the lamb and beef satay. I love it if the lamb and beef satay has an extra bit of fat. That's fattening but the taste of that fat melts in your mouth just too much too resist every time. A lot of Malaysian simply loves satay just like me.

Sorry guys, this post suppose to be longer but I just can't resist after looking at the satay picture. I am going to that satay stall at Cheras located at that chinese shop opposite the shell station. The chinese stall is also directly in front of Carrefour Cheras. The satay stall is located within the chinese coffee shop. They have been operating for more than 20 years there I think.

Working At Home In Malaysia Part 2

This is the second part of my ramblings on working at home in Malaysia.

There are only a handful of people who actually works at home in Malaysia. This is not counting those street hawkers who can be categorize as work at home people as they do most their work at home also. Older generation of Malaysian Chinese shop owners are also work at home group as they normally double the shop as their business premises and the home. Those felda settlers are also working at home though they spend time at their plantations, they are based at home.

If you look at it, there are so many groups of working at home people right here in Malaysia. What I want to talk about is the group of Malaysians who actually earning money from the Internet working from home full time. Though the full time numbers are still very low, there are however a lot of Malaysians are earning money from the Internet in their spare time. These part-timers are consistently earning money from the Internet, why don't they work at home full time ? Many are not ready to take the challenge as yet. There are various reasons for this.

Many people are willing to give up their special benefits of working in a company like housing loans, vehicle loans, employee share ownership, company credit cards, pensions etc... When they resigned, all these special benefits are gone. So gone is their idea of working from home too.

I recently met some old friends who have been working online at home for a few years. One of them have been making money from the Internet for the past 6 years. That's awesome. He has more than 50 websites and blogs to his name. He doesn't want to tell me how much he is earning per month but from the car he drive and where his house is located, I know he easily earned more than $10,000 per month. His wife is full time housewife and he has 3 kids. Actually I think he earn much more than that judging from his lavish lifestyles. He told me he mostly make money from affiliate programs and Google AdSense. He like to create niche websites and blogs. Good for him.

But success don't come easy. Making money from the Internet like any other business does not come without hard work.

But he prove that he can make money online working from home right here in Malaysia. So who says one cannot work at home and make money online in Malaysia?

Working At Home In Malaysia

Working at home in Malaysia ?

My friends were surprised when I told them that I now work from home. That's the reaction you will get from other people when you tell them that you work at home in Malaysia. I guess there is not many people who actually work at home in Malaysia.

Work at home ? Doing what ?

Usually, this is next question that people will ask me. I told them I try to earn money from the Internet. Earn money from Internet ? In Malaysia ? More and more questions from them as they don't believe that one could actually make money at home from the Internet in Malaysia.

Well I don't blame them. A lot Malaysian are not exposed to the money making opportunities available on the Internet. There are, however, a sudden increase in the number of Malaysian blogger on the web. These Malaysian blogger are making use of the current political turmoil in Malaysia to make money online with the majority of them blogging about the topics that the Malaysian people would like to read. Pathetic people.

Anyway, I have been working at home since end 2002. That time, I got fed up with office politics and resigned my post as project manager at an IT company. A few weeks after that, I partnered with my friend to setup an event management company using my home as the office. It was great to be working at home. Answering phone calls in pyjamas and all that. It was fun because you could do your work at any time and you could have that afternoon nap every day without worrying about anything. The company grows and we managed to do a lot of events and making money.Anyway, I left my partners after he pissed me off late 2006.

To cut things short, my online money making adventure started with my first website creation in September 2007. It has been almost 10 months since I started working at home making money from the Internet and the same website continue to generate online income from me. I am quite happy with my achievements during these 10 months. From someone who doesn't know what HTML is, I now have more than 20 websites and blogs. This blog is one of the latest and kinda my personal blog.

What I am trying to say is that many Malaysians are not aware of the possibilities the Internet can offer in terms of making money. I can say that I'm already making more than $1000 per month working at home making money from the Internet. That's' RM3,200 in Malaysia's local currency. Not bad for someone who only start working online at home for the past 10 months. More info on my online money making tips on my next post. I aim to make at least $3,000 every month. That's my next target.

Working at home in Malaysia - Its possible. If I can make it, you could too.

Finding Extra Money During These Tough Times

During these tough times, every little bit of extra money helps. Cost of living are escalating with rising food and fuel prices. Monthly income remain static while expenditures have risen significantly.

A lot of people are dependant on their credit cards to survive till the next paychecks. What can we do about the situation ? Nothing much really as the factors affecting the rising cost of living are external. Blaming the government doesn't help either.

What we can do are to reduce our expenditures or find alternative source of income to earn extra money. If we are to reduce our expenditures, that mean we have give up much of the luxury lifestyle that we are used to. No more costly dinner, no more weekend golf, no more abalones or shark fin soups etc...

If you want to maintain your monthly expenses, you need to find that alternative source of income. A lot of people will be going for part-time jobs, working overtime, doing weekend job, drive taxi at night etc...

To me and a lot of other people, the best source of finding extra money is the Internet...

The Internet not only provide you with a wealth of information but it's a money goldmine ready to be mined. There are so much wealth on the Internet as Google have proved. From starting out in a garage, Google have evolved to a multi billion company. That's' the power of the Internet.

However, its easier said than done to make extra money on the Internet especially for the newbies.

Its difficult but not impossible. You just need to find the right money making programs and you are on your way to make extra money.

Did you notice I always use the phrase "extra money" and not "make money". This because its easier to make extra money than make money online from the Internet.

There are thousands of making money programs all over the Internet. You can choose one that suit your knowledge and budget or you can join the various "get paid" programs that free to join. You can easily make extra money with these get paid programs but be careful of the scam sites.

These are various get paid programs - get paid to read emails, get paid to click ads, get paid to visit websites, get paid to complete offers etc but my favorite are get paid to complete online surveys.

Online surveys are one of the best making money program on the Internet as all you need is Internet connection and your time. You can do these online surveys at home while watching TV. But, like I say, you can only make extra money with online surveys.

You won't get rich doing online surveys but it's a good alternative source of income when you are trying to find extra money during these tough times.

My Ramblings About Malaysia Politics - Wake Up Malaysia

Wake Up Malaysia...

Wake Up Malaysians...

Wake Up Malaysia People !!

There are too much drama in Malaysia politics of late. Malaysia politicians are confusing the Malaysia people by creating high profile "dramas". These are just part of their dirty politics to gain the people support and sympathy. I truly hope the Malaysia people will "wake up" before they are tricked into believing these dirty politicians.

Its your choice to choose the government or the opposition to support but choose wisely. There are so much lies and bickering in the Malaysia politics that Malaysians are finding it hard to trust who. I would say Malaysians should give the ruling government a chance to make it right. All the street demonstrations won't help in the Malaysia economy but will make it worse. Everybody is not happy about the rising fuel and food prices thus creating a lot of tensions in the country. The government is not to blame for the higher fuel and prices as the factors are external. Not much that they can do about it but they could have handled it better.

I am not a supporter of the Malaysian government nor do I support the opposition parties as I hate politics. But I believe all Malaysians should support PEACE. There are a lot politicians who are out to make a name for themselves - for THEMSELVES only. They are saying they are fighting for the people but all they do is creating tensions among the multiracial Malaysians. Malaysians should know these tensions could easily escalate to nationwide chaos which would disunite Malaysians. Many don't understand that these chaos will lead to one thing after another. Malaysia will be in a mess that time - street fights, burning of shops, looting, no food etc. A lot of Malaysians don't want this to happen but they don't know that by supporting the wrong people, this will HAPPEN in the future. Its important that we don't get tricked into believing all this so called politician's lies. Do a research and study what has happened before making a conclusion.

Malaysia are in a political mess now, it's up to the Malaysian people to make sure Malaysia remain a prosperous and peaceful country. We have live here all our life and I'm sure you miss the good old days where Malaysia politics are more "peaceful". These politicians are out for their own benefits only. Support who ever you want but make sure you get your facts right before making any conclusion. Read, research and analyse what is happening and you will understand. Its easy to create a "war" but its never easy to stop a "war"...

Wake Up Malaysia ... just my ramblings on Malaysia Politics... sigh

Malaysia Politics - Wake Up Malaysians !!

Malaysia Politics - Wake Up Malaysians !!

I hate to say this but the current political scenario in Malaysia is getting from bad to worse. Its hard to see this happening in this lovely country of mine.

Since the Malaysian opposition win a bigger margin in the last election, there have been lots of confusing and mind boggling events in the Malaysia politic scenes.

I am not the ruling government supporter nor do I support the opposition. I just hate to see the current political turmoil in my own land - Malaysia.

I just want to see Malaysia free of these political bickering. There are so much events in the Malaysia politic scenes that politics is all that Malaysian is conversing these days. You can hear it in the office, at home, in the train, during lunch, television, almost anywhere you can imagine...

Why is this happening ?

All because of one greed for power !!

The ruling Barisan Nasional government is protecting their interests while the opposition is greedy for more power. You can see them fight it out live on Malaysia national TV during the parliamentary sessions. What a disgrace to Malaysians... and they called themselves member of parliament !!

Wake Up Malaysia...

These politicians are out for the OWN benefit only. Next time you go to vote... vote wisely... vote for peace.

Again, Malaysia...please wake up

High Gas Prices Equals No More Starbucks for Me

High Gas Prices Equals No More Starbucks for Me

By Melissa Nykorchuk

It was no surprise to me when I read this morning that Starbucks is going to close more than 600 stores in the United States.

I know that I have been less frivolous with my money.

There are a number of things I’ve given up slowly as gas prices have increased.

I no longer go for a ride when I feel stressed out, I eat out less and I no longer get my daily grande mocha latte from my local Starbucks.

Yes, they made plenty of money off of me in the past years. At more than $3 for a coffee that costs about a quarter to make, I figure Starbucks has made more than $600 on just me alone this year. Times this by the number of people in line every morning, and my local Starbucks has done well over the years.

Now, when we all have to take stock in what we are spending our money on, what does the company do? When we have to fill our gas tanks using grocery store incentives and change found under the couch cushions, does Starbucks understand? No, they leave, deserting us when we are down.

Closing the door and keeping the coffee all locked up. The loyal followers are not being rewarded for our consuming of costly cups of coffee, but instead being scalded.

I don’t blame Starbucks for my woes. I can’t travel as much as I used to because of the higher costs of travel that have risen due to gas prices. I don’t have as much petty cash left at the end of the month because it costs almost $80 to fill my gas tank. Maybe being home more and enjoying the little things in life is what high gas prices are really trying to teach us.

Like the success of bars and candy stores in the depression, I figured that Starbucks would be doing well in our “not really a recession let’s give everyone a tax rebate” economy.

When we can’t afford big luxuries, we want the small ones like our grande mocha lattes. Maybe I can’t go every day, but I’d like to. I certainly spend more on coffee still than I do on clothes, electronics or even books.

Is there an end to the effects of high gas prices on my coffee consumption? Will I be forced to drink home brew that may be a good substitute for the gas I put in my car right now?

I think that Starbucks should be welcoming us all back with incentive coupons and discounted coffee. “Show us your gas receipt, we’ll give you a reasonably priced coffee” could be their new slogan.

We are all suffering with having to deal with the high cost of gas, do we really need to be without our coffee too?

Why Do We Like To Blame Others ?

I guess the easiest thing to do when something goes wrong is to blame others for it.

Doesn't matter who is right or wrong, we just like to blame others.

We blame others for being poor.

We blame the government for the high gas prices.

We blame our employers for not earning enough salary every month.

We blame others when our kid is sick.

We blame others for everything in our life.

Why ?

Because its easier to blame others than finding the truth.

Its not easy to be man enough to admit our fault but it is easier to blame others.

I hear people complaining about their job everyday. They blame it on their employer, their boss or even the goverment.

They complain about not earning enough money, too much work, long working hours, back stabbing co-workers, place of work too far etc etc...

We are what we are. We are the one responsible for what we do, what we want to be.. etc.

If you don't like your job - QUIT - RESIGN !!!!

Find a job you like or at least find a job that you will be happy doing. Doing a job you like with a lesser pay will make you a better and happier person minus the month end bills. You will be a much happier person if you don't complain that much and accept things as they are.

Why can't we blame ourselves for all the things that we are not happy about. If we are not happy with our current job position than we should only blame ourselves for not completing our studies better not the employer or the government. They are not to blame, we are...

BozoRozz - Learning to blame myself...