Chinese New Year Open House

Organizer : Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC)

Venue : Grand Ballroom, Pacific Sutera Harbour Hotel

Date : 20 February 2010

Pacific Sutera Harbour Hotel

I was invited to the HSBC Chinese New Year Open House this year held at the Grand Ballroom of Pacific Sutera Harbour Hotel on 20 February 2010 (Saturday). Admission was free but only invited guests may attend the function. So you see ? It's not a true open house event. They might want to change the title next time ...

Invited guests may bring their children or spouses to the dinner. Since i have neither, i decided to ask my cousin to go with me instead.

This was my second time attending such function. The first time being a small tea-party held inside the HSBC Kota Kinabalu branch just a few days before the Mooncake Festival last year.

The newly appointed CEO of HSBC Malaysia, Mr. Mukhtar Hussain was present. So was Sabah Chief Minister, Musa Aman and the Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak, Richard Malanjun.

The guy giving speech on stage in the picture above is the newly appointed CEO of HSBC Malaysia

The foods weren't great but were thousands times better than what i had at the Upper Sixth Form Prom Dinner at Shangri-la Beach Hotel & Resort Tanjung Aru. And no, they never ran out of desserts like what happened in my Upper Sixth Form Prom Dinner. But then, it'd be a joke if it happens in a party thrown by the largest European bank. Yes, despite its full name which screams Chinese and Asia all over, HSBC is actually British with its global headquarter based in London.

There were more than 300 people attending the function and i was sitting on Table 8.

Some of the foods served that night. Deep-friend spring rolls, black pepper lamb, fish and chicken are visible in the picture above. Also included are coconut pudding (scrumptious !!!), a glass of red wine, a glass of plain water and a glass of coke. I was very full by the time i took this picture and it was my fifth round actually. Should have taken pictures of the foods starting from the first round but i completely forgot !

Halfway through the dinner, they had Yik Nam to perform a lion dance for us. The Aussie sitting on my table liked the lion dance show very much !

That's it ! 恭 喜 发 财 ！

梦 醒 时 分

你 是 否 和 我 一 样， 发 觉 身 边 的 亲 戚 朋 友， 似 乎 少 了 很 多 ？

以 往 接 近 过 年 时， 各 种 聚 餐 排 得 满 满 的， 而 今 年， 似 乎 没 声 没 息 。

即 使 是 平 常 日 子， 电 话 少 了， 与 大 家 见 面 也 少 了 。

也 许， 大 家 各 忙 各 的； 或 者， 目 前 流 行 “宅 生 活”， 尽 量 避 免 出 门 。

也 不 尽 然 如 此 。 再 想 一 想， 很 多 老 友 和 亲 戚， 已 经 不 在 了 。 嗟 ！ 大 吉 利 是，他 们 都 还 好 好 的， 只 是 离 开 了 马 來 西 亚 。

老 余 去 了 中 国 大 陆 开 工 厂； 王 子 不 做 工 程 师， 移 民 到 澳 洲 开 小 食 档； 阿 风 离 开 本 地大 学， 去 香 港 做 讲 师； 青 蛙 去 了 台 湾， 开 展 事 业 第 二 春； 还 有 的 到 了 美 国、 英 国， 唔， 还 有 去 印 尼 的 …… 。

起 初， 以 为 这 只 是 个 別 现 象， 逐 渐 的， 旁 人 也 有 同 样 发 现； 原 來， 这 不 是 个 別 现 象， 而 是 社 会 现 象； 这 不 是 少 数， 而 是 相 当 大 的 数 目 。

外 交 部 早 前 披 露 了 一 个 数 字， 说 明 这 个 现 象 是 多 么 真 实， 多 么 贴 近 。

从 2008 年 3 月 至 2009 年 9 月， 已 经 有 30 萬 大 马 人 移 民 他 国； 其 中 20 萬 人 是 2009 年 1 月 到 8 月 移 民 的 数 目 。

累 积 下 来， 已 经 有 超 过 200 萬 大 马 人 移 民， 接 近 今 天 印 尼 外 劳 在 大 马 的 人 口 。

不 同 的 是， 移 居 他 国 的 大 马 人， 多 是 专 业 人 士、 中 层 阶 级 。

他 们 有 很 多 出 走 的 理 由， 追 求 事 业 发 展， 为 了 孩 子 前 途， 寻 找 个 人 更 大 空 间 …… ， 简 单 地 说， 就 是 对 马 來 西 亚 失 望 。

50 年 前， 大 家 说， 马 來 西 亚 真 好， 好 过 香 港， 甚 至 日 本 。

30 年 前， 大 家 说， 马 來 西 亚 还 不 错， 比 得 上 韩 国、 台 湾 （不 提 香 港 和 日 本 了） 。

20 年 前， 大 家 说， 马 來 西 亚 还 可 以， 至 少 超 越 中 国、 泰 国 （不 能 和 台、 韩 比 了） 。

10 年 前， 大 家 说， 马 來 西 亚 再 差， 还 不 至 于 像 越 南、 印 尼 （中 国 已 是 不 同 级 別） 。

今 日， 越 南 和 印 尼 的 经 济 成 长 率 遥 遥 领 先 大 马， 社 会 活 力 和 知 识 发 展 也 胜 過 一 筹； 距 里 愈 来 愈 近 了 。

怕 什 么， 还 有 菲 律 宾 和 柬 埔 寨、 缅 甸 。

但 是， 一 位 经 济 学 家 最 近 到 菲 律 宾 考 察 之 后， 认 为 再 过 20 年， 大 马 可 以 取 代 菲 律 宾， 出 口 马 籍 女 佣 到 全 世 界 了 。

半 個 世 纪 以 來， 马 來 西 亚 是 在 大 宅 院 里， 用 封 建 方 式， 分 配 祖 宗 家 业， 消 耗 社 会 资 源， 浪 费 和 逼 走 人 才； 不 谈 竞 争 力， 忽 略 生 产 力， 讨 厌 绩 效 制 。

亞 洲 金 融 风 暴 來 襲 時， 大 马 把 门 关 起 來， 以 为 避 過 一 劫， 有 人 还 自 我 陶 醉， 自 以 为 是 天 才 策 略 。

然 而， 其 它 国 家 面 对 风 暴， 走 出 风 暴， 進 行 体 制 改 革， 跨 步 向 前， 登 上 另 一 個 水 平； 大 马 却 还 在 原 地 踏 步 。

马 來 西 亚， 该 醒 一 醒 了 ！

Ooooh New Yoooork

Can't seem to be able to get this song outta my head ...

Happy Travelling the Air Asia Style

It's not that i hate Uncle Tony. I think the fact that he brought the low cost travel concept to this part of the world is great and noble as more people can have access to air travel nowadays. I just have a major issue with someone shamelessly taking up all the credits for something he or she did not pioneer.

A few years back, the no frills travel concept was such a stranger to Asians. Many people thought Uncle Tony was so creative and such as business savvy person (in a way he is) that he is the designer of this no frills travel concept. What many people did not know is that this kind of travel concept has been existed in the States way back in the late 70s. Ryanair sent several managers to Dallas so they could learn something from Southwest Airlines and they did. They modified the business plan a bit and whoever Air Asia today, it is the exact replica of Ryanair.

Besides the usual low air fares, the only good thing about Air Asia is their spanking new and modern fleet of SAS Airbus A320-200s. Used to travel on Air Asia several times, i found their flight attendants pompous and a great pain to deal with. If given a chance, Air Asia is the airline that i would avoid religiously besides Qatar Airways !

Below are some cartoon sketches about what the world of air travel is changing into. Ryanair and Easyjet have been doing so for quite a while (except having to pay for the use of lavatory and oxygen mask). Generally the Europeans hate it but at the end of the day, they will still vote with their wallets.

You've Been Warned !

Pondering

So many what-ifs

So many things to consider

So many things to do

I am gradually turning into my own worst nightmare

What a Day !

It was time for a scheduled medical check-up again at Subang Jaya Medical Centre (SJMC) - now known as Sime Darby Medical Centre (SDMC) on Friday morning. Flew in the day before.

As usual, my uncle sent us to the airport. The plane departed half an hour late but by the time the plane landed, we were only 20 minutes behind schedule. Took the 2.00pm ERL train to KL Sentral and arrived there 28 minutes later. I had an appointment with a customer service officer at Menara Citibank and it is more convenient to go there directly from KL Sentral. So i decided to go to Menara Citibank from there while mom will take a cab to the hotel herself. Dad will meet her up there as he already checked-in early in the morning.

There is a subway located just below Menara Citbank/Nikko Hotel named Ampang Park station. This station is served by Kelana Jaya Line (then known as Putra Line). Ampang Park Station is just four stations away from KL Sentral. So i should be able to get there in less than 20 minutes.

I was already inside the KL Sentral LRT station by 2.40pm. There are very little signages which is no surprise really as it is the same as in all other LRT stations. Announcements were made through the public address system over and over again but it was useless as nobody can hear it. Something was wrong with the speakers i suppose.

So, i've been waiting there for almost 10 minutes but there was no sign of a train at all. Finally, i saw a brand new train made by Bombardier with four carriages coming but it didn't stop. Shoot ! A few minutes later, another train came but this one didn't stop either. F**k ! Soon afterwards there was another train coming and thank God this one actually stopped. It was an old train with only two carriages and everyone basically just pushing each other into the train despite that there was no more room inside. Finally some people gave up as the doors close and we were on our way to the next station (Pasar Seni).

Just as i thought everything is fine now, i will soon be proved very wrong. When we reached Masjid Jamek interchange (above the subway is Wisma Lee Rubber, OCBC HQ, HSBC HQ and CIMB old HQ). There were the LRT staff shouting everywhere. The station was full of people and i simply couldn't hear them. This train stopped there much longer than usual. I was getting very frustrated. If my memory serves me correctly, the train stopped there for approximately 5 minutes. I was relieved as soon as the door closes.

Much to my horror, the train was heading back to KL Sentral. Oh my e**ing God ! Most of the people inside the train were shocked as well and we just looked at each other cluelessly. Almost everyone got off at Pasar Seni. There were cops everywhere in this station. It was in total chaos. Apparently Rapid KL screwed up the whole train schedules for the day. All the trains were running an hour late and some won't be taking any passengers at all.

We were told to wait for another train to come on the very same platform. Many were curious as why the trains could possibly move in both directions at the same time on the same track. Some even said : "bahaya, nanti langgar". Touch wood !

Another train arrived at the same platform a few minutes later but this one too, was heading to KL Sentral. Shoot ! Rapid KL really messed up the whole thing today.

Finally, a train heading to the station i was at before arrived. We were all told to get off at Masjid Jamek interchange if we do not want to come back here (Pasar Seni). I then waited for another 20 minutes at Masjid Jamek before i got into another train heading to KLCC and Ampang Park.

It was almost 4pm when i got off the train at Ampang Park station. I can't describe how happy i was when i saw Menara Citibank. Never have i thought that i'll be so happy just to see the Citibank HQ that has been standing there for the last 10 years. It took me 1 hour 20 minutes just to go to Citibank from KL Sentral. Should have taken a cab instead. Damn it !

Finished doing my thing at Citibank about 20 minutes later. It was time to meet up with my folks at the hotel. Have had enough of not-so-Rapid KL today. Decided i am better off just taking a cab to the hotel.

Juin Yi called me around 4.45pm. Going to have dinner with him at Pavillion Shopping Mall later that day.

Both of us got there around 5.45pm. Bought my Japanese Puddings at Lavender Bakery and then went straight for dinner at TGI Fridays on the 6th floor.

That was my first time there. I've heard many praises about the food served. So my expectation was quite high. Juin Yi ordered the 2 course meal while i ordered Jack Daniel's Chicken and Shrimp.

Well, i felt that the foods here are overpriced and seriously overrated. Juin Yi's Southwest Adobo Chicken had the green herb sauce on top and it's so gross. The drinks were very good though. The dinner for the night cost us a whopping RM106.40.

We left the diner around 7.00pm and went to Times Bookstore just located next door for some free readings. After that we went to Parkson gent's section. We were going to grab a drink at Starbucks later on but Juin Yi suddenly said he wanted to go to Jusco Wangsa Maju. I come to KL once a month since year 1999 but i've never been to Wangsa Maju. So i thought yeah, why not. I am always in for something new.

Parking at Pavillion is expensive. Apparently we've been there for 2 hours 12 minutes and Juin Yi will had to pay RM7. Well, this is the Golden Triangle. It is not really surprising. As a matter of fact, it is considered cheap if you compare it to other places such as Petaling Street. A private parking lot in Petaling Street just behind the shop lots at the main street will cost you RM4 an hour ! No joke ! My dad park his car there all the time we go to Petaling Street.

It was my first time to ride on Juin Yi's car in KL and i can tell you that he drives like a KL native. He really has mastered the KL's style of driving well. LOL ! It's not dangerous though.

As soon as we arrived at Jusco Wangsa Maju, we went to a watch shop to get Juin Yi's watch a battery changed. Then we roamed around Jusco gent's section. Didn't buy anything though. Had a drink at Starbucks on Ground Floor before we call it a night.

On the way back to my hotel, i was shown to the apartment he lives in. He lives a totally different life there. Such a hectic life yet so meaningful. You get to be more independent too along the process which is great !

So, that's about it. It was good catching up with an old friend in a different part of the globe as well as to learn more about his new life in a new city. Something i look forward to doing again in the future.