pelf-ism is contagious

KUSTEM’s Fourth Convocation will take place this coming Saturday at our 3-year-old turtle-shaped convocation hall. As usual, an exhibition will be held to show the Board of Directors how much some researchers have worked, and how they deserved certain awards and how they should be sent overseas for further training, and so on and so forth.

I particularly dislike all these fuss because I know the exhibition is just one of the easiest ways to boast about the research we have done, or NOT. Every year, the same researchers will be instructed to display their research results and products. And if they do not have any new findings, those in-charge will dig their old posters to be displayed.

A HUGE portion of the exhibition hall is allocated to researchers who have won awards in national or international symposia. This is NOT a problem because we really should tell the VVIPs that our researchers are hardworking people who consistently publish papers and produce products. But no. Researchers who have won awards as far back as 2001 will also have their medals and certificates displayed. Wei, you think the VVIPs have not seen them meh?!

Anyway, I digress.

I was supposed to show you a very nice poster I designed yesterday. You’d better say it is nice because I spent 8-freaking-hours designing it. Unlike researchers who were instructed to put up the exhibition, I was asked to design a new one because my Supervisor didn’t want the VVIPs to see the same posters year-in-year-out. I thought it was a good idea though because we need to have some new posters up to attract potential sponsors and all, but I would really appreciate it if I could be given more time to design it.

And, more time does NOT mean just calling me in the morning and telling me that you would like me to design a new poster for an exhibition that will take place 3 days later. Like you, I have other things to do, too. I have other matters to tend to, too. I have my project to work on, too.

Anyway, after 8 hours of sitting in front of the computer and cracking my head (because I’m NOT really a creative kind of person), I finally got it done.. TAA-DAH!

Click here for a bigger, readable version (1000 X 1414, 468 KB)

Nice or not?

Update: AARRGGHHHH!! Why didn’t I notice the spelling mistake earlier??! *pulls hair*

All these news are depressing.

All of a sudden everything you do sounds soo dangerous and life-threatening. You go out for dinner and on your way back, you could get hacked and left to bleed to death. You could be walking back to your place from the LRT station and some guys on a motorbike could threaten you with a parang. You could be in school and still robbed at knife point.

Seriously, what has become of our society?

The “snatch thief” issue has been around for way tooo long. Remember those days when snatch thief victims were hanging on to their lives in the ICU? Remember those days when pictures of these poor souls were plastered on the front pages of our dailies? Remember those days when we followed closely on the progress of these victims? Remember how badly we felt when news of their deaths were made public? Remember how we cursed the snatch thieves and their entire families for causing so much grief not only to the victims’ families but to the whole nation?

Now, remember those days when the oh-so-caring government proposed the oh-so-holy bill for heavier penalty if the snatch thieves were found guilty? And, for goodness’ sake, whatever happened to THAT bill now?

Has the government forgotten about it?

Have we, the rakyat, forgotten about it?

When will we EVER learn..?

Update: PM wants theft curbed and the public kept safe

Is it ME, or is it the way certain news articles were written? After reading about the ridiculous plans to track and breed turtles yesterday, another news item annoys me today. Read this:

KUALA TERENGGANU: Traffic congestion at Sultan Mahmud Bridge spanning Terengganu River here may be lessened with the construction of another bridge soon.

State Exco for Infrastructure, Public Amenities and Communications Development Wan Hisham Wan Salleh said that under the Ninth Malaysia Plan, the Government had allocated some RM60mil for the construction of a 2km bridge to link Kampung Losong, Pulau Sekati and Teluk Pasu.

�The plan to build the bridge was made some time ago. However, there was some land acquisition problems. But now, the problems have been resolved.

�Now, the plan to build the bridge is completed, and construction can start next year,� he told reporters after officiating the Terengganu Smart Community briefing here on Monday.

He said the proposed bridge was necessary because traffic, particularly at the Sultan Mahmud Bridge and Manir Bridge, was too congested and accidents frequently occurred there.

�With the third bridge, it is hoped that road accidents and traffic congestion at the two bridges will be reduced,� he said. � Bernama

So.. “Since there are so many accidents on the Sultan Mahmud bridge, we will build one more bridge”, says Datuk, or did I read it wrongly?

And I thought it is perfectly natural for a “developing state” to have more cars. And more cars naturally means more accidents. So now another equation is being added: More accidents means more bridges must be built. Sooo funny.. But then ar, why is there only ONE bridge to Penang and Singapore respectively? No money meh?

And I thought to solve the problems, we must start from the grassroots level, i.e. to educate new drivers about the importance to drive carefully, to be more stringent when it comes to awarding driving licenses, etc. But no. Maybe the Government feels that it’s way toooo much work to educate the rakyat, hence the decision to “build more bridges”.

Hhehehe, I think I can imagine what Kuala Terengganu looks like in the next 20 years. Bridges all over *winks*

A lot more facilities can be built with RM 60 million, you know, e.g. a new bus station which I personally think is essential since the existing bus station does NOT look like one. But then again, thank God they did NOT propose the construction of 12 cages to breed turtles!!