Randy Pausch's Last Lecture

What would you want to tell others if you know you're only going to live for a few more months?

Randy Pausch, a professor in Carnegie Mellon University (Pennsylvania) gave his "last" words before his pancreatic-cancer-driven death. He gave a full length "last" lecture in September 2007 in his university for 76 minutes, but the one I'm posting here is a shorter version of 10 minutes shown on Oprah two weeks after the original lecture.

He gave some really sound advice on life and how to live. I should say that most of his advice is the kind of advice any father would give to his children. Spend 10 minutes to listen to what Professor Randy Pausch has to say by clicking play on the video below.

Between Age, Media and the Truth

I was talking to my dad yesterday, and I expressed my concerns over the overwhelming information I have gained through the internet, where there is too much revelation about government's bad practice in Malaysia, while all I have learned since I was small is that BN forms such a good government it'll ensure security and cater the citizen's needs across religions and races. I asked him what's his take on such issues.


Answering my question, I remember he said:

"Memanglah kerajaan ni ada yang tak betulnya, tapi banyak juga benda betul yang dia buat. Lagi banyak yang betul daripada yang tak betul. Banyak yang dia dah bagi kita. Kita mudah nak cari kesalahan orang lain, tapi takkan ada kerajaan yang perfect. Kalau opposition memerintah pun, tak tentu lagi bagusnya. PAS di Kelantan pun bukannya 100% bersih dari segi corruption ni, bang. Lagipun, kerajaan sekarang ni dah lama dan ada banyak pengalaman mentadbir."

"Ayah dulu macam abang juga waktu muda-muda. Banyak perkara yang ayah tak setuju dengan kerajaan. Tapi bila dah makin tua, ayah makin rasional. Ayah fikir-fikir, kalau ayah pun di atas sana, ayah takkan dapat puaskan hati semua orang. Pilihanraya kali ni pun nampaknya macam tak ada isu langsung. Mungkin lagi kurang isu daripada pilihanraya yang lepas-lepas. Memang betul ayah baca suratkhabar tempatan, tapi ayah pun dah tua dan ayah tapis jugak apa-apa information yang datang daripada sumber-sumber ni."


I did present few arguments that question his judgments, but in the end, I should say that like always, I still fully respect my dad and his words. I took his lines as wisdom I should live by. But when my dad said that there's not much issue happening for this upcoming election, that contradicts with a lot of things I've been exposed to. I mean, does that mean I'm wrong? Or has my dad been exposed to the local newspapers too much that he now thinks there's no big issue happening?

If there's no issue at all, what about Bersih and Hindraf? What about reports that talk about the police force arresting people on peaceful-gatherings without any solid reason? Is this the effect of a government-controlled media? (To report that the situation is okay while it's not). Or, just like him, but on the opposite side - probably I have been too much exposed to foreign and free internet media that my mind is now clouded by thoughts like "The government is wrong", while actually Malaysia is doing just fine? Is Malaysia doing fine?

I also believe him when he said that he had the same thoughts when he was young. As in, maturity matters. Young people are often immature and doesn't have much experience. This is true. But could this be the reason why a lot of us are concerned after hearing even the slightest issue being reported? At the age of 20 something, do we not have sufficient logical and rational mindset to think that the government is wrong even after few revelations have been made? Are we too young to judge that we easily get emotionally irritated over petty things? And, is it true that only young people are concerned over things like power abuse because youngsters are immature, don't have experience and often too idealistic? Or will my dad change his thoughts if he also gets access to much of the free media? Same goes here - Will I change my thoughts if I also read the local newspapers everyday, apart from the internet?

What is going on?

To be honest, my conversation with my dad has left me quite confused.

Between age and media, I do not know which one to believe in.

Therefore, until I truly understand the dynamics as a whole and get as much information as I could from all kinds of sources, I'm keeping an open mind and choose not to take any sides. This is probably the best solution for now. Since I can't vote because it's too late to register, I will keep myself updated and wait for the results on March 8.

I am willing to learn and grow. I prefer to be wise than extreme. Let the results show how good our government is doing now. Like many have predicted, I'm pretty sure BN will still form a government, but I'd like to see if it'll maintain two-thirds of the parliamentary seats. If it does, congratulations on the achievement, for it proves that the administration has done a good job in keeping majority of the people happy (Assuming that this 12th General Election is free, fair and clean). Otherwise, the opposition might need to make some changes in current policies for the betterment of the country.

I pray to God for the truth and give whatever that is best for us. Amin.

The Cost of Independence by Diplomacy

"We got our independence by diplomacy. We didn't have to go to war. Not a single drop of blood was spilled. And we're damn proud of it."

These were the thoughts that our history textbooks generally convey, and we Malaysians wanted to brag about not having to go into war like how Indonesians got their independence from the Dutch. Well, at least this was how I felt when I was eleven or so.

Looking from the other side of the story, could we question that there might have been a "cost" that came together with the diplomacy-based independence? I mean, what led British to giving us independence by diplomacy?

I didn't want to inquire about such information. Like some people say, "Ignorance is Bliss". But one day I bumped into one documentary that tells some important stories that are not included in our history textbooks. And because this documentary has filled the knowledge gap that's been there among Malaysians for a while, it was awarded the title of "Most Outstanding Human Rights Film - Freedom FilmFest Award 2007".

Now, I know a lot of us DO NOT like to learn history because it is SO BORING we would sleep throughout the class from the first second to the last, yadda yadda yadda... But I have to tell you guys that this one is DIFFERENT. It'll keep you awake (Okay, now I feel like I'm selling a direct-selling product). Well, no this one is not something like that. It's an objective film and it'll just enrich your knowledge about Malaysian history.

This film is a true story told by interviews done with some important figures who were also fighting for independence. It has really given me an opportunity to learn some additional knowledge and stories happening ten years before Malaya gained independence. This is interesting and I'd say it's definitely a must-watch.

The title of this documentary is "Sepuluh Tahun Sebelum Merdeka", by Fahmi Reza (and crews). The total length of the clips is approximately 30 minutes, so you're gonna need some patience.

To know more, feel free to click here:

Youtube - Sepuluh Tahun Sebelum Merdeka - Part 1

Youtube - Sepuluh Tahun Sebelum Merdeka - Part 2

Youtube - Sepuluh Tahun Sebelum Merdeka - Part 3

Youtube - Sepuluh Tahun Sebelum Merdeka - Part 4


And to go to it's official page, click here:

Sepuluh Tahun Sebelum Merdeka Official Site


Cheers.

Relationships Are Like Jual-Beli

Here's something a friend of mine told me recently, which I think is very interesting to share with you guys:

"Sometimes, being in a relationship is very much like being in a market. You, orang kedai, and your partner nak beli your products. You know barang you tak perfect, tapi you tau ada quality. You gotta sell it! Sell the quality. She knows these barang tak perfect, tapi that's not the only thing she looks into. She weighs the good and the bad. If you know how to sell it, she'll buy it. So, sell it to her!"

Imperfection-based insecurities, anyone?

Remember, like my friend said, "If you know how to sell it, she'll buy it".

And another thing. This also applies to girls. Just change all the "her" and "she" to "him" and "he", and you're good to go.

Cheers.

Proton - A New Saga?

Proton, as we all know, is the Malaysian carmaker established in 1983. A collaboration with Mitsubishi and government protection by applying excise duties on foreign cars helped this company to grow slowly and managed to control approximately 73% of the market share five years after it came into business.

Later, performance of Proton dropped, letting Perodua become the largest national carmaker with 42% of market share, while Proton's market share dropped from 40% in 2005 to 32% in 2006.

Things got worse for Proton, and as some people described it, "Proton is bleeding".

But early this year, Proton launches it's latest model, an enhanced Proton Saga, codenamed Proton BLM during it's design and development process.

From my observation, this latest model is by far the most successful model that Proton has designed. Comments on existing blogs are mainly positive and a lot of people seem to really like this car with 23000 orders placed for this model within just a few weeks of its launch. I personally think that the car looks good, at least for the fact that it is an economical B-Class car.










Source: http://proton-edar.com.my


Is this a new beginning for Proton?

It seems like one, and I surely hope so. It is reported that this new design is a really different design compared to the previous models in every aspect, which could be the base of designing better enhanced models in the future.

With historically unsatisfactory customer service and losses that it has experienced, Proton cannot afford to be any less efficient than it's current state. Proton needs to move forward no matter what. And moving forward doesn't mean moving forward alone. Proton desperately needs positive changes in QC, as well as customer service.

If Proton fails again in the future (and yet still want to save the 100 000 jobs created from the company and its vendors), I think it'd be best if Proton gets a talented foreign CEO by selling its shares to some non-Malaysian companies just like how Nissan sold 37% of its stakes to French's Renault in 1999 and started to generate profit afterwards. Now, Renault owns 45% of Nissan's shares.

I am not a Proton basher, neither do I think it produces the best cars in the world. I do think government's protection is a must for Proton to help the company grow at first but at the same time this has caused the situation to be somewhat like rent seeking, so protection can't continue forever or Proton will die once it is exposed to the real competition.

I am just like any other Malaysian, hoping to see that someday Proton will make it to be one of the world's biggest players in the car business. So, if Proton has the same vision as this, it better get serious in the business. It is a tough business, so it's only now or never again. If Proton ever screws up again and expect Petronas to cover the consequences like what happened before, that'll be the end of it. I will never ever hope for anything better from Proton other than this one time.

To Proton, good luck in making this brand new saga a reality. May this company bring the pride and benefits Malaysians are supposed to get from it.