Weekly Update

I had been robbed by a Chinese guy at SS2 this Monday. I lost my RM300++ and my handphone while my gf had her handphone “taken” by the guy as well. He came with his Wira and a knife. Without thinking twice, I just fulfilled his unexpected request. We had made a police report and gave our statement. Luckily, both of us were safe but what concerns me is the safety of our country. We can use all the excuses but it seems that Klang Valley is not safe. It’s hurt and terrible!

Studied the Real Time Linux used in the current market. I managed to incorporate the patches of RTAI (a community effort for open source developer) for my host system running 2.4 kernel. Just simply run the test suite but the system crashed if running LXRT processes. For those who like to try it out, get the patches, tools and test samples from this web-site.

This week was really busy. Migrated the BSPs for two different processor architectures from older version of Tornado to the current version in my company. Then, resume my works on Linux PCI. Today, I succeeded to add the PCI-to-Local DMA transfer in my IO call with interrupt driven mechanism. The size of DMA transfer is limited to only 128K bytes from my host system’s RAM to the local device.

That's all! Enjoy the weekend

Collaborative Citizen Journalism

How does this concept work? The advent of Blogging.. Anyone who would like to contribute can access the following web-sites:

OhMyNews - http://english.ohmynews.com/
WikiNews - http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Main_Page

Can we trust the news? How can a person make a judgment based on his/her limited knowledge and nowadays too much information access? No answer …..

Newstrust - http://www.newstrust.net/

Earliest Sign in Time 2006

Alright, I had signed in as early as 8:05:26 AM today. After fetching my gf to her school, I had started my “sleepy” journey to my office. Apply multitasking concept on my journey, reading the report, typing the SMS….. All my colleagues (in the same lab) kept asking me, “Tak boleh tidur keh”, “Mimpi awal”. Based on my previous record, the earliest sign in time was registered on 6 March 2003. Guess? as early as 7:37:00 AM!

Have a look on head-butted Zidance. :)

PCI & World Cup

Writing the PCI driver for two different FPGA boards embedded with PCI bridge chip for my current assignment. Doorbell Interrupt, Mailbox Registers, I2O FIFO, DMA…..blah, blah, blah. Based on my previous experience, I was able to complete the “template” driver for Linux platform within two days. But care must be taken to provide the mechanism for accessing the unique features which is not common across all the PCI bridge chips. Both of the PCI bridges come with different features. These are the tricky parts. A glance on our testbed for E1 testing:

After all, the finalists for this year World Cup are France and Italy. How come these two teams entering the final? Italy beat Australia with a late late penalty. It will not given by Graham Poll (English Referee). Again, they beat German with a late late goal with a beautiful curling shoot from a defender. It’s a bit of luck. France, almost knock up in early group stage, beat the World Champion, Brazil.

It was pity that German could not enter the final, anti-climax. I actually don’t favor German because of the way they play the game. I still remember that I had to sacrifice my sleep just to watch them converting the penalty in 1990. Anyway, under the guidance of Juergen Klinsmann, German starts playing attractive football with a lot of pace and attacking minded. Much, much entertaining compared to last time. Hmm…there was a debate on the first choice goalkeeper during the start of the tournament. Oliver Kahn or Jens Lehmann? At the end, the long term No 2 became the No 1 and long term No 1 became No 2. Could this happen in our country? It was strange and unacceptable from Kahn’s point of view. Lehmann did say that he didn’t know the reason why he had edged out Kahn. My personal view is that Klinsmann would like to challenge the mentality of his squad and intend to reform the German football. I heard today that Lehmann is willing to offer his starting place to Kahn. Just wonder whether Lehmann will do the same if German enters the final.

Registered my second level of German course yesterday. Borrow three books (stufe 1) from the library after librarian persuaded me to do so.

World Cup Quarter Final

Today and Tomorrow Quarter Final:
England vs Portugal
France vs Brazil
Germany vs Argentina
Italy vs Ukraine

My prediction for the semi-finalists:
England vs Brazil
Germany vs Italy

Both Portugal and Ukraine haven’t won the World Cup before. So, I won’t think that they are good enough for this competition. Germany plays a very offensive style compared to the previous tournaments. They seem to pick up the momentum when times go on. However, they need to overcome Argentina which is full of talented players but always tumble in the last hurdle, same as Spain. Anyway, I believe that Germany stands a better change with home ground advantage. Unless Pekerman is brave enough to start with Messi upfront. This young talent with one or two magical moments can shape the game. Then, I pick England again. Sven and Scolari, who is better? The records favour Scolari’s team. But with Rooney in England team, everything is possible. He probably will make a big impact in the coming match. Boring tehnique but if they win, who care! Don't forget the Greece plays boring game in Euro 2004. Ukraine simply doesn’t have enough experience against Italy. With all the old folk, France is going nowhere. Even Brazil plays under par, they can simply overcome France. So, what’s your prediction?

One of two World Cup theme songs which I received from my love one, “times of our lives” from Il Divo and Toni Braxton

there was a dream
a long time a ago
there was a dream
destined to grow
into a passion
a fire within
a will to give everything
a desire to win

for the lifetime of heartbreakes
that brought us here today
we'll go all the way
It feels like we're having the time of our lives
Let there be sunshine let it rain
Let's come together as one and the same
Cause it feels like we’re having the time of our lives
We'll find the glory in the end
For all that we are
For all that we are
For the time of our lives

This is the moment
This is our chance
To do what we love and to be
What we're ment to be

for the lifetime of heartbreakes
that brought us here today
we'll go all the way

It feels like we're having the time of our lives
And I'll never forget
For as long as I live

Time for my new assignment!

Weekend Approaching....

Hardly have time to write my blog this week. I was able to solve the problem for my E1 board on Monday. Combine eight 2MHz data stream into one 16MHz data stream. Thanks God. By observing the Logical output from the PC-based logic analyzer on all the channels, I was able to understand my system and trace the correct pattern. Have a view on the diagram captured using the logic analyzer. Further verification has been done using the pattern generator developed by my colleague.

World Cup Update…. All the group matches will be ended this Friday. No Asian teams had been qualified for the knock-out stage for the time being, unless you want to include Australia. Australia joined the AFC and will be part of the Asian Family. Just to improve their changes for the next World Cup qualification. Saudi Arabia and South Korea both will play tonight. South Korea stands a better change for knock-out stage provided they can beat Switzerland, a draw simply not good enough. France will beat Togo, a team surrounded with players’ payment problem. Just hope that at least one Asian team makes it.

Countries qualify for the knock-out stage:
Germany – Europe
Ecuador – South America
Argentine – South America
Netherlands – Europe
Portugal – Europe
Mexico – North America
Italy – Europe
Ghana – Africa
Brazil – South America
Australia – Ocean
Spain - Europe
Ukraine – Europe

Couldn’t believe it if there is no Asian team in the Last 16…..

Finally, receive my German Language result from my teacher, Frau Lenz. I managed to score “Gut”. For your information, mark given in Germany is as listed below:

1 – sehr gut (very good)
2 – gut (good)
3 – befriedigend (satisfactory)
4 – ausreichend (sufficient)
5 – ungenügend (insufficient)

You must score at least 4 to pass your examination. Not bad… Yeh

Endlich

Finally, I finished my German EI level by sitting the Examination on Saturday morning. The day after German had won its group match, 4 – 2. Vemal said that we should have the luck since German won that day. The exam is composed of five sections: Listening, Comprehension, Writing, Grammar and Dictation. Each section takes about half an hour. The most difficult part for me was the Listening section. It was a conversation between an interviewer and a student about her study, living and etc. I hardly understand what they are saying and making a lot of wild guess. But quite confident that I can at least pass the exam and moving up to EII which will starts during the end of July.

Now, I had to wake up early on Saturday and Sunday morning since I have to be more discipline on my life now. FYI, I usually have my lunch as my first meal on Sunday. Anyway, I am willing and more than happy to do so. The answer is simple. Girl can make a guy change! Keke…..

I only managed to watch the match between England and Paraguay. Not an interesting match in my opinion. England seems desperate to field Wayne Rooney in the upcoming match. They need the inspiration from him. Tomorrow, there will be a match between South Korea vs Togo. Hope that Ji-sung and co. play well. Iran was beaten yesterday 1-3 by Mexico. How about Japan today?

Or “desperate” former PM said that his press statements are hardly seen in newspaper nowadays. Then, I heard from my colleague that he has a Blog. But I couldn’t find it in Google search engine. Anyone knows that? Perhaps, he also had his blog been googlewashed! He should be felt sorry for himself…..

Mid-week

Received a new E1 board and started my task on providing the correct setting for interfacing with baseband module. We have managed to bring up the previous E1 board but due to the limitation on the development tools, it is hard to modify the firmware to suit to our application. I am delight with this new E1 board since the development tools, such as the user interface to the chip, the portable device driver, the scripts and etc. are more powerful compared to the previous E1 board. Once we are able to solve the system interface, then we can start putting up more features for our product.

I am invited to join a sharing section on “football mania for upcoming World Cup” in Dema house. I don’t know why they asked me to do so. I just can talk about all the players, staffs, issues, and many others associated to my beloved club, Manchester United. :)

Alright…. List all the venues of the upcoming World Cup, which cities that you love?

Hamburg
Hanover
Berlin
Gelsenkirchen
Dortmund
Leipzig
Cologne
Frankfurt
Kaiserslautern
Nuremberg
Stuttgart
Munich

I will pay most of attention on the following teams:

South Korea, Japan, Iran, except Saudi Arabia - Carry the Asian hopes

England - Watch too much EPL, and recognize all the players

Netherlands - I love Total Football, and I love their Orange color!

That’s all….. Hmm… a lyric to share with you all, a Scottish folk song, recommended from the one who I love. Hope to share the rest of my life with her!

When I've done the work o day,
And I row my boat away,
Down the waters o Loch Tay,
When the evening light is fallin',
And I look towards Ben lawyers,
Where the after glory glow,
And I dream on two Bright eyes,
With a merry mouth below,
Shes my beauteous nigh-ean ruadh,
Shes my joy and sorrow too,
And although she is untrue,
Well I cannot live without her,
For my hearts a boat in tow,
And Id give the world to know,
If she means to let me go,
As I sing hee-re, ho-ro

Nighean ruadh your lovely hair,
Has more beauty I declare,
Than all the trasses fair,
From Killin and Aberfeldy,
Be they lint white, Brown or gold,
Be they blacker than the sloe,

They mean not as much to me,
Than the melting flake of snow,
Her dance is like the gleam,
O the sunlight on the stream,
And the song the wee folks sing,
Oh, they're the songs she sings at milking,
But my heart is full of woe,
For last night she bade me go,
And the tears begin to flow,
As I sing Hee-ree,Ho-ro

Light Moments

Attended a patent drafting seminar in Menara TM on Monday. It was my first experience to be in 50th floor of Menara TM, my parent company. The training is conducted by an oversea firm. Anyway, it is not easy to understand all the presented contents and materials. Reading the material is similar to reading the terms inside a contract. Conclusion from the patents drafting seminar is “Any inventory must not based on the hindsight”. Dilbert's comic strip to share....



I found a good web-site for those who like to take up German language.

And if you feel boring and want to test yourself on the maps quiz although I don’t find this interesting!

I can’t stop laughing with this Dilbert comic strip. If you can punch anyone in your office, that’s great!!!!!

~_~ -- @_@ -- *_* -- ^__^ -- o_o

A teacher’s pet is a student who is favoured and given special attention by the teacher. “I am worried that the other kids might get jealous if they think I am teacher’s pet,” Teddy said. I don’t think Teddy has to worry, for even though the students can see that he is teacher’s pet, they know there are serious disadvantages to that. “That’s because Professor Oxbridge can be pretty difficult to please!” Teddy explained.

World Cup Fever!

World Cup is approaching. There will be three more weeks before we all have the football fever. It’s hard and ridiculous to miss the match. The simple excuse is “once in 4 years time”. The first match of the day will kick off at around 9 p.m. Malaysia time and the second match at 3 a.m. morning Malaysia time. The major problem now is that Astro gets the right for exclusive telecast for certain matches. I hate this! Why we need to pay to watch WC matches? Yes, Astro is not free! Astro also gains the income for all sorts of advertisements during the matches so why we as the consumers need to pay double. Seem that my only choice is watch the matches in the Mamak stall again. As Vemal said, once we finish our German final exam, we will celebrate with the opening match in Munchen.

Share a really good posting on the Internet :)

ATTENTION all women –
this story just might save your marriage, relationship or boyfriend's sanity during the World Cup. Below is a list of vital rules for girls wanting to share a home with a footie-mad fella this summer. In an emotional plea, the men of the world have laid out the dos and don't-you-bloody-dares of tournament viewing which you can print out and stick by your telly.
These include vital pieces of etiquette from beer-in-fridge planning to schoolboy rules like when not to say 'it's just a game'. And here we've picked the best - doing the rounds on the web as an open letter to the world's women - to ensure the nation's guys and girls make the perfect team this summer.

LIST OF RULES

1. From 9 June to 9 July 2006, you should read the The Sun's sport pages so you are aware of what's going on regarding the World Cup and will be able to join in conversations. If you fail to do this, you'll be looked at in a bad way or be totally ignored. DO NOT complain about not receiving any attention.

2. During the World Cup the television is mine at all times - without any exceptions.

3. I don't mind if you have to pass by in front of the TV during a game - as long as you do it crawling on the floor and without distracting me. If you decide to stand naked in front of the TV, make sure you put clothes on right after because if you catch a cold, I won't have time to take you to the doctor or look after you during the World Cup month.

4. During the games I will be blind, deaf and mute - unless I require a refill of my drink or something to eat. You are out of your mind if you expect me to listen to you, open the door, answer the telephone, or pick up the baby that just fell from the second floor....it won't happen.

5. It would be a good idea for you to keep at least two six packs in the fridge at all times, as well as plenty of things to nibble on. And please do not make any funny faces to my friends when they come over to watch the games. In return, you will be allowed to use the TV between 12am and 6am, unless they replay a good game that I missed during the day.

6. Please, please, please if you see me upset because one of my teams is losing, DO NOT say "get over it, its only a game" or "don't worry, they'll win next time". If you say these things, you will only make me angrier and I will love you less. Remember, you will never ever know more about football than me and your so called "words of encouragement" will only lead to a break-up or divorce.

7. You are welcome to sit with me to watch one game and you can talk to me during half-time but only when the adverts are on, and only if the score is pleasing me. In addition, please note I am saying "one" game, hence do not use the World Cup as a nice cheesy excuse to "spend time together".

8. The replays of the goals are very important. I don't care if I have seen them or I haven't seen them, I want to see them again. Many times.

9. Tell your friends NOT to have any babies, or any other child related parties or gatherings that requires my attendance because: a) I will not go, b) I will not go, and c) I will not go.

10. But, if a friend of mine invites us to his house on a Sunday to watch a game, we will be there in a flash.

11. The daily World Cup highlights show on TV every night is just as important as the games themselves. Do not even think about saying "but you have already seen this...why don't you change the channel to something we can all watch?" The reply will be: "Refer to Rule #2 of this list".

12. And finally, please save your expressions such as "Thank God the World Cup is only every 4 years". I am immune to these words, because after this comes the Champions League, Italian League, Spanish League, Premier League, etc etc.
Thank you for your co-operation.

Regards,
Men of the World

Interesting Debate on Kernel

I believe that most peoples recognize the name of Linus Benedict Torvalds better than Andy S.Tanenbaum. Maybe I am wrong in this. Linus is the one who created the Unix-style operating system known as Linux, a monolithic OS. Tanenbaum is the one who created the Minix, a micro-kernel based operating system. I still have Tanenbaum’s book ”Computer Networks” on my desk. It was well written and easy to understand. Anyway, I just recently dug out the debate between Linus and Tanenbaum in 1992. I just cannot believe that these two smart guys are so defensive and hot-headed.

Tanenbaum:
Be thankful you are not my student. You would not get a high grade for such a design. Writing a new OS only for the 386 in 1991 gets you your second 'F' for this term. But if you do real well on the final exam, you can still pass the course.

Linus:
Well, I probably won't get too good grades even without you: I had an argument (completely unrelated - not even pertaining to OS's) with the person here at the university that teaches OS design. I wonder when I'll learn.

Why all of sudden Tanenbaum popped up with the comment that Linus won’t get a higher grade? Is this some kind of old mentality that we should do thing according to our professor or else we won’t get a higher grade? Anyway, Tanenbaum has a good advice to the public “use it before making any comments”. He looked frustration that a lot of peoples haven’t used his MINIX and kept on complaining that it was sluggish. I observed that many claims from the Linux developers (1992) have solved by minix developers. Read the latest posting from Tanenbaum about the Minix vs Linux.

Life

Received the E1 Evaluation board last week. Took three days to bring up the board and there are still plenty of features to explore! I spent time reading the data sheet which provides insufficient information (according to my perception). This company seems not too good in preparing the technical documents. You always find one or two mistakes, such as the block diagram, pin direction and etc.

There was a three-day break last week due to the Wesak day. Had a basketball game with the Church’s friends in the playground not too far away from my home in PJ. Not a good game for me. I was merely a spectator throughout the match. I couldn’t know how to position myself and get myself into the game. Since I cannot jump high enough, so I cannot get the rebound. My shooting was also terrible. I shot six or seven times and some of them could not even reach the basket. Sigh…… But it’s glad to meet some new friends. Then, we went to MidValley for Japanese food. It costs me around RM60++. Ended up in my senior home watching a Korean movie entitled “Lover”. The movie was all about a guy cheated and dumped by a girl.

A bad new from my ex-housemate, Yungyit, his father passed away on last Wednesday and I was not able to attend the funeral. My deep condolences to his families. I really understand how the feeling losing someone who is particularly important to your life. I had experienced it before - my dad who gives his undivided support throughout my life. I miss him …..

New Scoring Format

This was the first time that we applied the new 21-point scoring format in our badminton games. I am excited with this format since it was first time that I had beat Goi and his co.! ;-) A very close match, 21-19, it can go either way. For your information, this is the third time that IBF has changed the scoring format for badminton. IBF had implemented the 7-point format before (best-of-five), then switch back to old 15-point format and the latest one the 21-point format (best-of-three). With this new scoring format, those who lost the match 10-15, 11-15, 12-15 or etc., has a better change against the same opponents now. Anyways, players have to stay focus from the start until the end of the match. If you make too many unforced errors, I don’t think that you have an opportunity to win the match at all. This format will probably give a higher probability for the weak players to score more points, at least, at least 1 point ;). I heard that Indonesia and South Korea has objected this new scoring format, but China’s coach, Lee Yongbo claimed that China will not be affected no matter how the IBF changes the scoring format. A strong sense of confident from the China camp and they justified themselves by winning both the Thomas and Uber Cup. Malaysia lost to Denmark in the semifinal. Thanks to BengHong who was so nervous in the match and Hafiz who let himself down once again! Their body languages show that they are not capable to conquer the world. Hope that ChongWei can win his first ever world championship in Madrid.

Have fun with this new scoring format! You always stand a change to make an upset even though you are not good in service….

Jinho’s Farewell Party & Fraser Hill Trip

It was the time to say goodbye to our friend, Jinho after his nine months stint in Malaysia. He is such a lovely, caring and straight forward guy. Because of him, I have the opportunities to get to know more about my neighbors, making one and two new friends, visiting the night market in Batu Ferringhi for the first time (Shame of that ~_~) ….. and etc. Coming from different background, culture, and having the language problem, I believed that it’s not easy to understand each others in such a short period. Anyway, I have learned a couple of things from him and hope the same with him. All the best, my brother!

Alright, back to the Fraser Hill Trip. It was a good opportunity to get out from the hectic KL city. We spent two days one night there with a group of 11 persons. Having Korean style BBQ, watching ManU lost to Chelsea (sorry for England, you are now outsider), having a cup of coffee in Smoke House, enjoying a crazy moment in the waterfall… a really wonderful and enjoyable trip with a group of friends! According to my senior, KP, Fraser Hill is a place where the assassination of British ambassador by the communist members happened. Pity, I could not even recall this history. Some photos to share...

A Morning View

At the KLIA
Future Wife for Jinho?

SmokeHouse

Waterfall Moment

Jinho alone prepared the BBQ

Dining Time

“Not expecting to have an easy life, but expecting to have more courage and confident”.
eine Postkarte von Deutschland

May Day Declaration

If you are somewhere around the Merdeka Square on 1st of May, join the parade starting at 10 a.m.

DEKLARASI MEI 1, 2006

Sempena dengan Sambutan Hari Pekerja, 1 Mei 2006, kami para pekerja yang berhimpun di sini menuntut kerajaan Malaysia dengan segera:

Ø Hentikan Penswastaan Perkhidmatan Bekalan Air.
Ø Hentikan Penswastaan Perkhidmatan Hospital.

Selain itu, kami menuntut kerajaan Malaysia membuat undang-undang baru untuk menjamin dan membela hak rakyat tertindas:

1) Hentikan rancangan untuk mengimplementasi Cukai Perkhidmatan dan Barangan (GST)
2) Ambil langkah-langkah untuk memiliknegarakan (nationalisation) semua kemudahan asas seperti institusi pendidikan, bekalan letrik, kesihatan dan air kerana adalah tanggungjawab kerajaan untuk menjaga kepentingan pekerja-pekerja Malaysia dan keluarga mereka.
3) Gubal AKTA GAJI MINIMA untuk semua pekerja Malaysia dan mansuhkan polisi gaji murah.
4) Gubal undang-undang pembentukan kesatuan sekerja secara automatik.
5) Pastikan tempat kerja bebas daripada diskriminasi terhadap pekerja wanita, termasuk dalam sektor informal.
6) Mengubal undang-undang Anti Gangguan Seksual yang melindungi pekerja wanita di tempat kerja
7) Hak saksama kepada pekerja migran dan perlindungan dari dianiyai oleh pihak majikan, polis dan imigresen.
8) Mansuhkan segala undang-undang yang menindas dan mendiskriminasi para pekerja, antaranya ISA,OSA, Akta Universiti & Kolej Universiti, Akta Pertubuhan, Akta Mesin Cetak dan Penerbitan
9) Skim Perumahan Rakyat pada harga yang mampu dibeli, di bina di lokasi strategik, saiz rumah yang sesuai, sistem rumah campuran serta tabung perumahan untuk memberi bantuan kepada pembeli yang kurang mampu.
10) Iktiraf Hak Tanah Adat Orang Asal di Malaysia dan berikan hak milik kekal serta kukuhkan status tanah Rizab Orang Asli di Malaysia. Rancangan pembangunan tanah Orang Asli hendaklah berasaskan kehendak, keperluan dan aspirasi Orang Asli.
11) Beri kepentingan kepada sektor pertanian dengan peruntukkan tanah dan subsidi yang cukup, demi menjamin produktiviti dalam negara yang mampu menampung keperluan makanan asas rakyat. Elakkan pengkopratan sektor pertanian dan galakkan sistem koperasi petani.
12) Pastikan pemuliharaan sistem alam sekitar yang menyeluruh. Kami membantah apajua usaha menswastakan sumber alam semulajadi. Sistem ekologi mestilah dipelihara tanpa motif keuntungan dan komersil.
13) Menuntut suatu model pembangunan yang saksama, yang memberi kepentingan kepada rakyat setempat di mana segala rancangan pembangunan mestilah dibincang dan dipersetujui oleh semua.
14) Menuntut suatu sistem kerajaan yang benar-benar telus, bersih, kredible dan bebas dari segala bentuk rasuah, kronisme dan penyelewengan.

ICM - the future of Malaysia? and Updates

Just back from German class. I haven’t improved my pronunciation until now. The situation is getting worse. Maybe, I should find more German friends to practice. How about getting a German girlfriend? Was glauben Sie?

Received the phone call from my ex-roommate, who is now in Bohn, on Wednesday night. Thanks to him. I know that the “Playboy” channel in German is available until 5 a.m. Hmm… Indonesia government asked the publisher to stop publishing the magazine with the title “Playboy” because of the huge protest from the Muslim groups. So, how about Malaysia? Do you think that our government will legally allow that? The answer is obvious!

Met my insurance agent on Tuesday night. Yes, I still owe him RM300 ++ since he paid for my medical card. I said to him that I wouldn’t pay him until I have enough money to do so. Then, he kept coming with his new proposal “retire plan”. Save your money for 10 years and you get the cash back starting at age of 40 until 80… or 70... or 60 …. ???!!!!

Completed my first Linux driver framework to access the register and memory of the PCI bridge this week. Thanks to the open source, I can able to obtain sufficient information to kick start my job. Now, I am concentrating on understanding the PCI bridge architecture which provides various communication mechanisms between the IOP CPU and the system CPU. This is part of the tasks in the board to board level communication in cPCI backplane.

Some interesting facts from our MyICMS 886 Strategy drafted by Ministry of Energy, Water and Communication Malaysia to share:





What is 886? Our country luck number! No, it’s all about 8 new services, 8 essential infrastructures and 6 areas to stimulate our country’s Information, Communication and Multimedia service. A great future for Malaysia in ICM technologies if we can succeed!

SMS - Happy Birthday

Received a couple of SMS from my friends wishing me “Happy Birthday”. My brother sent me a message asking me to find a girlfriend and emphasizing that I am 28 years old! He and his girlfriend have a long relationship, almost 10 years, and yet to get marry. I think that he should marry first. The first two messages which I received were actually from my insurance agents. I bet that they used some automatic SMS generation machine since both the messages arrived almost at the same time. My mum did not know how to SMS so she had to make a call. Caught by surprise! Celcom in Northen region also sent an SMS to me…..

A Terrible Week for the Games

A terrible week for the games! First, our ladies were whipped by Australia and China. Lost to Australia 16 – 0 and China 22 – 0. Can you imagine that both teams score against us in every 5 minutes time? Then, our hockey team which won the bronze medal in Commonwealth Game put up a terrible performance in World Cup Qualification in GuanZhou. They lost to Japan 1-0 and lost to Korea 3-1. To qualify for the World Cup, they need to at least get the fifth place in the tournament. Then, Josiah Ng, a promising cyclist in the Keirin competition, could not even qualify for the final round. Maybe or just maybe, Malaysians are not good in any game. We can only be proud as best organizer of the game!

Most unexpected result came from ManUtd. They drew with the bottom team in EPL which is the worst record team so far in EPL history. No change to catch Chelsea any more ....... Maybe Bolton, the neighbouring team for ManUtd, can do us a favour!

AFC U20 Women Football Tournament

After completing the German class, headed back to my office to solve the interrupt problem. I am currently doing the board to board communication via cPCI backplane. After crashing my Linux host for several time, I found out that I forgot to mask out the IRQ generated from the 2nd board. Done!

Next, it’s time for the football match. This time, the venue was KLFA stadium in Cheras. Heavy rain started around 4.30 p.m. It’s hard to find the way towards the stadium. Managed to reach the stadium 5 minutes before the kickoff time. These were actually U20 women football matches. The first match was South Korea against India and the second match was between North Korea and Japan. South Korea is the former champion. At the end, South Korea thrashed India 11 nil. You wouldn’t believe that whenever the Korean player shot outside the penalty box, it was a goal. India is too weak to be in the competition. No pace, no stamina, no skill and …… North Korea put up a much respective performance against the Japan and lost 3 nil. Japan seems to have improved tremendously in the tactical area. At least, they knew how to apply the time wasting technique. The coach made three substitutions at the last 10 minutes. One player came on during the injury time when Japan had comfortably leading 3 nil. I think that the North Koreans are not too behind in terms of physical and stamina. But they lacked the exposure and I just wonder whether the peoples there have the opportunities to watch the football match.

Actually, there is no publicity for this tournament at all. So you can see in the picture that the players play in a almost empty stadium. Same old strory again. Even the World hockey tournament in Bukit Jalil two years ago, the stadium was half empty for the final match. Luckily, the South Korea and Japan participate in this tournament and are able to attract their “hard core” supporters.

Malaysia enters this tournament as the host nation. Our coach said that, “If I said to you that our team can beat China. I am telling lie. Just imagine, our team plays only for one month, like festive season, and eleven months doing nothing”. So, what do you expect from them? Bottom of the table without any goal, same with France in 2002 World Cup…..

Empty stadium just before the kickoff time

South Korea's Cheerleader

South Korea's Decoration

Small group of South Korean supporter

Japanese kids waiting for the kickoff

Japanese kid waving the flag

Japan's Decoration