My Rants

What you need to pay:

1)Shipping cost via DHL, UPS, FEDEX - I will find out the cost of shipping if you're interested.

2) Tax - once it arrives in Brunei, you'd need to pay stamp duty tax.

3) The PS3 itself of course, with any peripherals you may want to have.

After taking this into account, I still reckon you'd be saving up to between $300-$500 from the Brunei pricing - depending on the games you'd like to get.

The games you can get include titles not in Brunei yet : Resistance - Fall of Man, Sonic the HedgeHog, Need for Speed Carbon, Call of Duty 3 and many more.

If you are a serious buyer thinking about getting one, let me know by leaving a comment and emailing me your details. I will confirm the pricing once I can confirm the best price I can negotiate for you guys (again I stress the price will STILL be significantly lower than Brunei pricing).

Hello everyone,
I'm in KaoHsiung Taiwan! Second largest city in Taiwan, No. 1 being Taipei up north. City of scooters and pollution. It is a shipping port and has an interesting history. People from KaoHsiung are a little more homelier than the Taipeinese (without being too rude, KaoHsiungers are also probably a little more Kampung compared to their northern brothers and sisters - my wife always gives me the evil eye when I say this though - but they are also nicer cos you know what they say about city folks). This trip has become an annual migration for us and its one of those times of the year where we look forward to getting away for Brunei for a little while, letting our hair down and relaxing in the hot springs, spas, and enjoy all the sumptuous food in the night markets of Taiwan. I will most definitely be keeping my postings going, updating for those of my visitors who are interested in knowing Taiwan a little better (no, I don't think Taiwan should be part of China.. heh, I don't marry into a Taiwanese family without getting slightly influenced!). I will also post some pictures up when I can. My sister in law will be getting her hands on a new Nikon SLR tomorrow, so I will take that and stick my 50mm 1.4 on and give it a spin. Should be fun. So far the trip has been marred by one little incident. The fucking (and I curse at them cos its just not on) idiots at Kota Kinabalu Airport broke into our luggage, AGAIN. It happened to my Mother in Law - they cut her luggage's zipper, and last year it happened to us - my wife lost some gold jewelry, however until today we thought perhaps we misplaced it, but now we are pretty sure they fucking broke in and stole in. How do I know...? well I put padlocks on my luggage, one was missing, the other luggage I have two on, and they destroyed one of them and left it hanging there as evidence - some pics to show what they did on the way. So when I am on my way back, that little evidence will go straight into the police report I am putting through at KK airport. Fuckers... By the way if any of you readers have had this happen to you, let me know, we can all write in a petition to the Malaysian High Comm and let them have a piece of our mind. (p.s. you are probably thinking maybe its the Taiwanese side, but I doubt it. My parents in law fly in and out of Taiwan and KaoHsiung airport frequently and this NEVER happened to them but did so only on the KK route. And it is NOT BRUNEI, cos Bruneians are not as low as our neighbours and Brunei outbound passengers NEVR complain about these sort of thing). Hell will freeze over before I put my camcorder and ALL my equipment into the check in luggage now..

In any case, enough cussing! Here's the plan for me and my filming in Taiwan:

1) Shoot some scenes to show the daily lives of Taiwanese going about earning a living over here. Taiwanese have business in their blood and they work hard. Something I truly admire. While our Bruneian traffic jam going home from work starts around 5-530, their rush hour going home is around 7-8pm. So you get an idea of their working hours.

2) Shoot a mini doco tentatively called AN AUSSIE IN TAIWAN. My sister in law's friends will be coming to Taiwan and this will be their first ever trip. I will film them, amongst other things : a) trying out smelly tofus, b) trying out squat toilets, c) interacting with the local people, d) reactions of the local people to 'white people' trying to speak chinese to them! and e) anything that pops up.

3) Riding on a scooter in Taiwan Traffic: This is a VERY tricky one. I hope to be able to zoom around the streets of KaoHsiung with my DVX on me and record how fast we go around the streets, while only inches away from big buses and insane drivers. I say this is tricky because a) to be careful of the traffic and be in one piece, 2) making sure no one notices my expensive camcorder and comes riding towards us to snatch it - yes it can happen and it is potentially scary. So most likely no night rides, but in the middle of the day around areas we are more familiar with.

4) Shooting the Pinang girls - if you want to know more, just stay tuned.. they are skimpily dressed and are always interested to look at... :)

Well that's about it I guess, very unlikely I will do any edits while I am here so there won't be any video postings, but pictures will come along when I can get around to upload it on the computer.

Chai Chien (see you again in Mandarin).

p.s. something wrong with blogger, I can't seem to put paragraphs into my postings. Not easy on the eyes so apologies.

I made this short little 'film' last night while playing around with my Mac. Trying something new. I hope you like the idea (if not the execution!)

Edited: I want to thank Zam, BruneiForever and AnakBrunei who have kindly volunteered for the Pusat Ehsan Project. The Centre reopens in January to their new term which is when your kind services will be needed. H and I will let you guys know more come January, so please bear with us for the time being. Thanks again guys.

A quick update on the Pusat Ehsan project. I have spoken to the chairlady of the centre and we had a discussion on what needs to be done for the centre. I mentioned to her of photographers happy to volunteer themselves to this worthy cause (thanks Zam and BruneiForever) and she said that will be great. The centre is currently being audited to be accredited into an association (I think - don't quote me), and part of the audit and requirement for the centre is to have some publications such as leaflets and booklets on the centre. This is where Zam and BruneiForever come in! What the centre would like to have is basically a small library of images ready which they can use for their leaflets and booklets. Of course I did mention that credit should be given to the photographers for their respective pictures used, so no worries there. The new term for the centre starts early next year so a good day's shoot during their term time would be great! H, let me know!

I'm going off now to do some editing. I shot a colleague's son's pre-wedding scene at the Empire Hotel on Sunday and am editing it. A little interview here and there and a nice sequence of the lovely couple along the grounds of Empire Hotel to cap off the little pre-wedding film. I am almost done, but I won't be able to post it until the couples' wedding is over (early next year) so until then, it will be kept under wraps. The scene is shot for the wedding reception when it will be played on a big screen for family and friends of the couple. Its similar to a photo slideshow but in this case, its a short little 10 min film. Something new and different for the Bruneian crowd...

Top Management of any company usually have a script that they stick to in situations where their judgment and decision making is required. This is necessary for them as they have very little brain capacity left after having to think all day about how they can squeeze every last drop of work and effort from their underpaid and undervalued employee. Top Management also usually have a motto, and most times these motto turns out to be hypocritical rants. For example, most top management of organisations say they value feedback from their staff, that they should be vocal and challenge them so that they can become a better organisation. They also say nice things like we don't shoot the messenger. So in any case, I write to the top about something I thought they should REALLY know as it was a critical issue. I write in my email, I am only feeding back to them what others have said to me and my colleagues and EXPLICITLY wrote in my email, I am just the messenger, DO NOT SHOOT ME. 5 days after my email, I received a reprimand about me being unprofessional, that I should not send my email to top management, all the while accusing me of making them look bad... I just shook my head and laughed out a cynical laugh at the same time. You see, its funny because it happens in every organisation, and it's sort of become a big joke for employees. These mottos are all finely captured in Scott Adam's Dilbert books, and here in all its glory, are some of the things that Top Management spew out as if they're truths, but are actually lies:

Dilbert's Management Lies

1. "Employees are our most valuable asset."

2. "I have an open door policy."

3. "You could earn more money under the new plan."

4. "We're reorganizing to better serve our customers."

5. "The future is bright."

6. "We reward risk takers."

7. "Performance will be rewarded."

8. "We don't shoot the messenger."9

. "Training is a high priority."

10. "I haven't heard any rumors."

11. "We'll review your performance in six months."

12. "Our people are the best."

13. "Your input is important to us."

Thanks Dilbert, you're obviously much smarter than our Top Management

I finally captured the video I shot for my daughter's birthday party last week. I am now in the process of editing it and it is almost done. I should be able to post it on YouTube sometime this week. I like this clip I am working on as I think it is nicely sentimental and the missus agrees. Stay tuned and I hope you like the clip!

As some of you might know, I am currently in talks with Pusat Ehsan to shoot something for them to raise awareness of the centre and their activities. I have received another email from my friend saying that the centre is also interested to come up with an information booklet but she is hoping that maybe a photographer would be interested to help them out a little (voluntarily). If you are interested, please let me know or leave your contact details in the comments section and my friend will come along and get your details to contact you. Please do lend a helping hand, it's for a good cause. As for me, we will have our first discussion on what I can do for the centre this coming weekend so we'll see how it pans out. I am obviously excited at the prospects but also a little nervous as to how this will pan out. Hopefully we can work something good out that'll benefit the centre.

Yesterday was our daughter's 2nd birthday celebration. Everything was in place, bouncer all set up, barbecue lit, I'm off to Mum's Bakery to pick up the birthday cake, only to get a call on the way, my mom's dog Patty has eaten something and is now seizing uncontrollably and foaming at the mouth. By the time I got to my mom's place, Patty was gone.

As you all probably already know, dog owners of Brunei are CONSTANTLY living in the fear that our beloved dogs are poisoned by either our neighbours or the authorities who hunt for stray dogs by leaving poisoned bait. Patty is a normal dog, who did nothing but look after my parents' house. She does not bite in anyway, greet us everytime we come to my parents', and will only bark at strangers. She is gentle beyond any expectations of us about a dog, lying down when kids play with her, and getting on fine with everyone.

Now imagine Patty being the friendliest dog and then imagine what my wife, and my nieces and nephew who were at my mom's had to endure:

1) Patty lying down seizing uncontrollably, knocking her leg against a wooden beam so hard you could hear it from far away.

2) Patty unable to move or stand up and in obvious pain, with us helpless to do anything.

3) Patty starting to foam in her mouth and seeing the fear in her eyes and how she must be suffering.

4) Patty dying an undignified death because someone undescribably evil decided to kill dogs for fun, revenge or a sense of duty.

5) Patty being buried in our back yard by my mom who is 60 years old, who has fed Patty and taken care of her since she was a puppy.

It burns me deeply that elements within the Bruneian society (including civil and educated people) see it acceptable to poison dogs. A society's civility is judged not just by the way its citizens are treated but also its animal (its helpess citizens). Aren't we taught in school that ALL animals are creatures of God, and despite the fact that they maybe be dirty, they should be treated like one of God's creatures, with respect? I was not at home when it happened, but if I had been, I might have had to unwillingy and painfully take my camcorder out to film Patty's death, not out of some morbid fascination with a dog dying an undignified death, but to show all of us how PAINFUL it is to watch an animal die needlessly and to see how Patty suffered an immeasureably painful death. It would show to the global animal loving community how fundamentally wrong it is some of the values that are instilled in of our society. In some way I am glad I wasn't there because it would've pained me greatly to have filmed it and disrespecting the last moments of Patty.

As I write this, there is an undescribable level of anger towards those who have done this and those who will continue to do these evil acts. We may never catch these people and never bring justice in this world, but to these people who see fit to poison dogs, or cats or any pet that is part of a human family, I tell you this:

You may do what you do, and you may do it with pride. You may do it and get away with it and not have to answer to me, or anyone who have lost their pet to poisoning or being run over by your car. You may not have to answer to the dogs or cats you have killed intentionally, and you may not have to answer to the authorities. But some day, I promise you, whatever religion you are, YOU will have to answer to God. And when He turns to you and ask you:

'Why did you kill one of My creatures in the most undignified way?'

I hope you better have a good answer for Him. And I'm pretty sure, whatever your answer to Him is, He will send you where you deserve to spend an eternity.

Best of luck to all the 2006 Brunei Marathon runners.
Remember to train hard.. erm..maybe it's abit too late already
Anyway, remember to drink plenty and have a good race...

If you are like me and you are lucky (or perhaps unlucky) to be able to work in a big organisation, you would undoubtedly have to contend with the issue of office politics. Office politics usually put people in a quagmire. Should we engage in it? Should we get our hands dirty? I have been through various episodes in my work life where people throw office politics at me to either a) make me look bad so they look better, b) retribution for my lack of capitulation to their tune, or c) my overly argumentative nature which makes them uncomfortable. Invariably my response to these situation is this: I bite their head off... You see, I've come to realise that office politics is nothing more than bullying that we see day in and day out happening in schools. The strong pick on the weak and defenseless so that they can get their way. I come from a big family - 7 boys and 1 girl, and being the youngest, I was sometimes bullied in one way or another when I was growing up, sometimes by my brothers (only sometimes) but usually by my school mates. Again without fail, I always fight back despite my smallish stature when I was young. Headlocks were not uncommon between me and my bullies and when they have felt my fist rubbing on their forehead, they also usually stop bullying me.

The same can be said of office politickers. They are nothing more than grown up school bullies picking on those who either do not know how to defend themselves, or think that by defending themselves, they have dirtied their hands by playing politics. Sometimes however, in the face of being bullied, office politics is a necessary evil. 'Never wrestle with a pig if you're afraid to get dirty' is a favourite phrase of mine because when push comes to shove and someone tries to bully me in the office with their own brand of politics, I can become a real dirty pig, pissing and sh*tting mud down their throat. Ask my ex Head of Department. She's felt my kind of mud in her face before and I can tell you, she did not enjoy it one bit. I'm not saying that we should seek to engage in office politics. God knows I try to avoid it because it is a waste of time and achieves nothing. It is emotionally draining at best, and emotionally destructive at worst. But as Steven Seagal says, don't go looking for trouble, but trouble finds you, you bite its head off. Not defending yourself in the face of an onslaught of toxic politicking amounts to nothing more than you committing career harakiri.

I'm sure there are alot of people out there who disagree with me on this. After all, an eye for an eye is the real reason why we have unreconcileable wars. But for me, bullying is something that doesn't sit well with me, and I hate people who pick on other people because they can... and when it happens in the office and people's careers and livelihood are at stake, that's just asking for trouble... I guess that's why they say dragon birth signs have a fiery nature.. tickle my tail the wrong way and you'll hear me roar and then roast you!

I hear the different banks in Brunei are rife with office politics. Any bankers out there want to share their stories?

This is EVEN cooler. This is a MUST see... trust me.. This guy's Matt. He got this idea from a friend and on one of his travels round the world, he decided to dance in every place he visited. When he finished his trip, a chewing gum company in the US called Stride called him up and offered him another Round the World ticket so that he can do it all over again for their company.. Lucky git!!!

This is going to be sooooo cool!

As I re-read my blog from the past few weeks, I realised that alot of my posted rants have started to revolve around my experience from commuting daily, Monday to Friday. So today I decided to add a new category to my Rants, which is one focusing on the things I see while I am driving on Bruneian roads. Having to commute is extremely tiring, the mundane and monotonous task of commuting can also be dangerous, so we try to drive slowly and safely, following the 5 rules set out for us by our big boss man. I hope that by starting this new category, it might liven up the mundane commute and to keep my eyes peeled for interesting things to report on. Today's posting revolves around the madness of some drivers and their kids. How shall we begin....?

Almost reaching our house, and while turning into my simpang, I noticed this lady in her white little Toyota with several kids in the car. The kids were UNbuckled, with one little boy sticking his whole head out of the window. Even my maid quipped, he's going to get his head decapitated if he is not careful. I honked my horn, pointing at the little boy and giving her the concern parent look, only for the lady to give me a quizzical blank stare, as if to say 'what are you on about? why are you honking me and what's the big deal?'

Here's what REALLY gets to me... the idiot parents who let their kids stick their heads out are top of the heap for the subgroup of the human species that we label as Idiots. Here's their own flesh and blood and they have absolutely NO consideration for their safety. And I can bet you the ten dollars I have in my wallet now, if I had come down from my car to confront this lady, which I was EXTREMELY tempted to do cos there was a traffic jam and I could've skipped out quickly, I can guess with a degree of certainty that she would have told me in her own idiotic flair of pride 'F*CK you, it's my kid. Why do you care?'

Why DO I care you may also ask? Beyond the most obvious that this kid's safety is the parent's priority and responsibility, and THEY should protect their own kids, there are also bigger societal issues that require comprehension that goes beyond the processing capaibilities of these idiot's pea sized brains. Take this situation for a moment: God Forbid, that if that kid had fallen or knocked out of the car and hits his head on the road and ends up in RIPAS, who do you think have just paid for the IDIOT parent's stupidity? Yes, the Bruneian people and the Bruneian Government. The parents may pay with grief and sing the follies of their way but WE as a society pay for their mistakes. Instead of using our allocated money to RIPAS to save the lives of those who REALLY need it, we have to channel away precious resources for medical treatments to idiots who brought it on themselves (and worse, on their kids). Multiply this with thousands of idiot parent's letting their kids stick their heads out in the middle of traffic and you start to see how potentially costly it is to us as a society, and the risk our kids are exposed to because of stupidity. And don't get me started on doing an economic analysis of the potential loss of able-bodied workers of the future within the Bruneian Labour pool which would have otherwise been able to contribute to our National GDP (I won't go into that, as an economic analysis of this issue would only depersonalise this VERY personal issue). I am appalled that people still continue to do these acts of stupidity and unfortunately I see no end in it until perhaps a miracle happens and we find that these people can manage to lift themselves to some level of consciousness and awareness about the severity of the consequences of their random acts of stupidity.

After much reflection about this particular episode and asking myself why I didn't step out to confront the lady, I have vowed to do this: In the future, if I see any parent who let his or her kids stick their heads out, I will step out and confront them (where possible) and tell them to stop being an idiot (in the most POLITEST way possible). If they tell me to F*CK OFF, I accept that but at least I have done my part as a caring citizen. And if you see me in the Borneo Bulletin with a black eye being reported on how I was a victim of road rage, then you'll know I was punched while doing my civic duty. A small price to pay if it saves a kid's life.

1) While driving home from work, I came across a REAL freaking idiot of a motorcyclist probably wishing a death wish. I am driving my SUV on the fast lane at around 110Km/hr just in front of Empire Hotel and suddenly I see this IDIOTAS zoom pass me.... between my SUV and the metal barriers on the right hand side.. Sometimes I really wonder what goes through the brains of these idiots when they drive so recklessly the way they do? Is he not able to use that complex human brain (as complex as an Idiot's brain can get, I guess) of his what might have happened to him if we had accidentally clip each other? He would probably do an impression of Superman before being mangled up on the tarmac.. I just don't understand why they do the things they do... I certainly do not want to have to deal with that in my conscience....

2) Yet another traffic related event: kids sticking their heads out of their parents' car and the dad doesn't even bother to get them to sit down and buckle up.... I don't know what to say and do about these people, so I don't bother.. As a young boy I distinctly remember a little girl of around 10 falling out of her vehicle when her dad turned her car at a traffic light cos I think somehow her door opened accidentally.. It was not a pretty sight.... but she was ok.. just in shock..

3) On a lighter note, over the week I've seen a rather nice white MX5 with full bodykit parked outside my office. Me being an avid MX5 fan have been admiring it and thinking to myself how wonderful it would be to own one, especially that one cos it looked good. Add two blue stripes running through the middle and you'd have a pretty cool roadster.. Yesterday while admiring it, I noticed though it had something stuck on the front bumper grill.... and what are the odds.. I see, yes, a dead bird... like the one I mentioned in my previous post.. stuck on this little roadster's bumper grill.. nice..

4) Today, we brought our daughter to her FIRST ever Movie at the cinema. My daughter has this fascination with Penguins and when she saw the big Happy Feet poster, you could see her face light up! I think she enjoyed the experience and I hope somehow she remembers it when she is all grown up. The first time to the movie was a magical moment for me and I still vividly remember my first ever trip to the cinema (Bolkiah) to watch a chinese film .. long long time ago..

5) The person who contacted me about Pusat Ehsan has turned out to be someone I know. She didn't know who I was until I told her and she was very surprised. I am waiting for Pusat Ehsan to call me for a meeting. Very eager to get going on this so I hope they contact me soon. Fingers crossed this pans out...

6) Dec 10th will be the Brunei Marathon. I will be out there this year, not running the marathon, but taking some footage of the event with my DVX+Letus35. I am sure there will be some inspiring moments and I hope to capture them as they unfold... oh wait..... just as I was writing this, I just remembered.. December 10th is my daughter's birthday... have plans for it already.. Bouncers and all....oh well we'll see how I can fit in the Marathon cos I'd much rather take videos of my daughter's birthday party....

7) My MacBook Pro did not go to sleep again when I closed the lid! This time I had already put it in the sleeve but left it in a cabinet in my office. Half an hour later I opened up my cabinet to hear the fan whirring away and the whole thing getting hot.... ! Something's up with the latest security update patch!..

8) I've realised after seeing a friend and colleague of mine working on Photoshop that I might be not so good at Titleing (or is that Titling? yeah it is titling). When I saw him work with Photoshop, and how he transformed a blank canvas into a work of art, I was amazed.. He's a true artist as he REALLY has the vision to create works of art.. He has kindly agreed to work on a new logo/avatar for me as well as working on titling for me for future projects (note: Photoshop PSD files can be transferred into Final Cut's timeline and rendered into the timeline as a clip. I have tried this before where I animated each individual layer of the PSD file individually). Not difficult but a fair bit of work and time consuming while waiting for it to render).

9) We caught a small monitor lizard in my colleague's office.. yes in his office. He was about to reach for a bag and there it was. We managed to get it out by trapping it in a bin, and when we released it, it tried to attack us .. it eventually walked off into the bushes...

10) It's almost the end of the year, and a few more training sessions to go and I will be pretty free apart form the odd projects to work on. Once I have more free time, it's back to Hobby Time and I hope to do something before jetting off to Taiwan for a well deserved holiday and opportunity to shoot a doco...

That's about it for now.. I've just brain dumped the whole week into this post. Tomorrow is a full day of errands but hopefully not a stressful day....

Until the next post...

Oh and if you have the time please visit this site and show our support for it.

p.s. I had a hlel of a tmie wtih bolsgopt's slpel cechk for tihs psot!! A firend of mnie snet me tihs tdoay and I tohuhgt I wulod try to witre a psot by jmbliung up my ltteers. it was thgouer tahn I tohuhgt. It was esay to raed but to tpye it was emetrlxey dffiulict!