My Nephew, Lou-Lou's Wedding

Time passes very fast, and 25 years ago, my nephew was a baby, and I remembered I brought him to a clinic with a caretaker, as his ear was having an infection.....and now, he is all grown-up and settling down,...whereas, this uncle of his is still single, haha, sometimes, life is funny and meaningful at the same time. I feel happy for him (though personally I hope he can marry a bit later, to sort of enjoy life a little bit more, if you know what I mean). And I think having the chance to be with all my cousin..big sis, big bro, it was kind of nice feeling, may be as we grow older, we tend to be more appreciative of our siblings, our family members, our relatives......etc.

Thanks for giving us the opportunity to meet up and re-build our cousin-ships, our friendships, which I think will bring us closer.

May all of you be happy and healthy for a long time to go, and we have more opportunities to have gathering like this one.


Sincerely,
Choong
KLIA
7March2016

Best Friends

In our lifetime, I am not sure how many best friends we will every have?
And I think I can count myself as blessed for having a number of close, good friends, and Chee Soon is one of them....and one of the closest, if you allow me to say that.
And coincidentally, whenever there is the need for the emotional support or his presence, without prior arrangement, he will usually appear.....from nowhere, haha, may be, though kind of hard to explain, more to do with our fate and destiny.
Anyway, I am always thankful for that.

And this time around, he visited me in Shanghai, at the timing where I need to move and leave Shanghai, and he is helping to move some stuffs to keep at his home in Singapore, close to 70Kg, OMG, but somehow, we managed that.

And for my record, if u decided to stop your tenancy contract earlier, your deposit will be forfeited and during the notice period, you are not allowed to stay in the rented premises, hence I have to move our urgently, before 10 March, and at the time I am writing this article, I already made two trips out of Shanghai and already moved out close to140Kg stuffs, mostly my beloved ceramic wares.

And I am making my 3rd trip back to Shanghai now.

Thanks.

Choong
KLIA
7March2016

Chinese New Year 2016

This CNY break, I think I had the most meetings and gatherings with friends, relatives......
Felt very happy that I managed to arrange and attended all these....
I think as we grow older, we tend to treasure these kind of get together more and more....it also means I am getting older, haha... Anyway, feel gratitude...nothing else... and happy meeting them all.

Thanks for being connected, in this world....at this stage of time.

Sincerely,
ME,
CSH.
14 February 2016
KLIA

I Am Worried.....

https://www.facebook.com/themalaysianinsider/posts/10153567106804633


Seeing the news of us, Malaysia wanting to bring in another 1.5 Million Bangladeshi workers, I am worried.
Having the chance to walk around KL city, and also  around Penang, my question is are we overly dependent on these foreign workers?
Even if there is the demand from FMM or whoever they are, are they justifiable? Or just because all employers wanted to cut cost, and wanting to enjoy lower salary cost with these foreign labours?
Just walking around the cities around Malaysia, you can see they are everywhere, in restaurants, in shops, and some even have their own shops, and I have seen some selling watches and flowers around the streets in Kuala Lumpur? Are they doing their own business, and why is it so easy for them to do so? I am not sure?
I have seen in passer madam (nite markets), where the "employers" just sit or sometimes not around, and Indonesian selling noodles and manning the stall for them. In Sungai Wang Plaza, I have seen a lot of them manning the small stores or outlets there. Why aren't our people doing this, as I understood a lot of our youth and young graduates are without jobs?

But my key points are:
1) can we manage these foreign workers well, well in the sense of being fair to them, and fair to Malaysians in general?
2) Can we control the big numbers of them coming in, knowing there are a lot of cultural differences
3) Are we able to make sure they follow the rules and regulations of the country?
4) When can we become a more developed country if we keep on over-dependent on these so called "cheap labourers" who are getting more and more expensive,
5) And what happen to jobs supposed to be given to our people, who are demanding a better package, as we have to pay higher taxes, and with current living cost level, it is hard to really work with lower salary being offered being local employers.....who in general are taking advantage of this situation...
6) Are we not able to learn from some developed countries, Singapore, Japan or Taiwan for examples....though they have some imported labourers, but not this our extent....what are they key success factors here, are we able to get something from here.
7) Have we conducted studies, on what industry really needs these labourers,... and why....?
8) Are all demands for these labourers genuine in the sense that, they cannot get local people to fill up the vacancies?
9) How do we make sure that the imported labourers and workers stay and work here legally, following the terms and conditions of the contract, and leave when the contract is due or expiring and not building their own teams and "businesses" in illegal ways...
10) Most importantly, are we able to monitors all their activities and also make sure these workers welfare are taken off, considering the resources and capabilities of various departments in the country.....

Just wondering.. I hope Malaysia will be better for sure, but personally, I think without studying properly and bringing in these 1.5 Million workers will bring us more problems than what we can manage, for the time being, meaning the cons might be more than the pros. Hopefully, we will have a good outcome from these, and I keep my fingers crossed.

Choong
Kuala Lumpur
14th Feb 2016

BKK, before the trip home for CNY holidays 2016

Every time, during CNY holidays, if I happen to use Thai airways, I will usually stop by here in Bangkok, a kind of "rituals", and this year is no exception.

First I just want to talk about the hotel I stay, Ibis hotel Nana...The hotel is good, but the location is not, hence in future, this will not be the place for me. The road leading to the hotel is so messy, and dirty, and if u are walking along the street with your luggage, there is no walkway or pavement, and you have to fight the space with the public vehicles moving along the road. Though I would agree that the atmosphere at nite time could be fun, if you like bars, pubs, drinking and girls, they have plenty here.
One thing I have been observing most of the times, I think westerners or foreigners like to visit these kind of places...I am not sure why, possibly these places offer them what their home place could not, for example, cheap beer, cheap and tasty good, with lots of girls and ladies surrounding them...There is nothing wrong for sure, as where is the demand, there is the supply, and that is what making BKK special in this sense. But u can see lots of the tourists, most of them westerners frequenting these places. Do not get me wrong, there is nothing wrong, but I am just amazed sometimes, at how it attracts so many tourists....I am just curious sometimes, and if I can do a survey to understand why, it could be kind of interesting for me... was it the cheap beer, was it the comfortable environment, was it the "worth every cents of your money  versus food, versus services, was it because of the comfort the places give to the visitors, was it the sex service, was it the girls and ladies....
I like the overall feel for sure, kind of like it is a place where you can do what you like and nobody just care about what you want to do....do as u like within the laws, and spend your money on what you like to so, kind of freedom I guess.

And putting that aside, for this trip, somehow, I do not feel so much excited on the shopping that I did, or things that I bought. I mean the feeling is different, from the past....perhaps I do not get too attached to the material stuffs...but for sure I am happy to buy things I want and can afford too.. but I do feel more happy if I can get some stuffs for my family members of friends....it gives more a kind of satisfaction, a balance feel for me.

I love Bangkok, somehow, it is not perfect, but it shows a lot about us human beings, about survival in this kind of environment, about finding ways to work and make money, on being self dependent, on using all your capabilities, ....a lot, I do not know if I say it gives opportunity for you to reflect yourself is right, but I begin to have this kind of feeling more and more. And begin to also ask the purpose of life......a lot to do with the Buddhism topics I am trying to understand, learn and discover too.
Thank you Bangkok, for all these.

The road to the hotel, and this is Sukhumvit soi 4, nite time it is very busy with lots of bars and pubs and massage parlour

The food gourmet at Siam Paragon, I like this place a lot cause it is where I can get the best good in one stop...and around Siam Square, there are plenty of good restaurants at reasonable prices too

Gifts for ?

Clothes and other accessories that I shopped

Choong

IBIS hotel, Nana

BKK, Thailand

31st Jan 2016

My Biz Trip This Time Around....

Have never had so long continuous biz trip for so long until this time around, close to 8 days...covering 3 cities, Guangzhou, Hongkong and finally Seoul (Songdo and Seoul).
Meeting with colleagues, meeting with customer and meeting with old friends.....and enjoying discussion, good food and good company.

Gan en.

Choong
Hotel S.R
Bundang Seoul,
Korea
Written on 15/1/2016, posted on 31st Jan (missed out)

Okinawa Trip-Part 2

This trip was not planned and it was last minute decision to come here.

And every new place I go to, I usually will take it easy, as everything is a new experience, new exposure, new feeling....it is always good and always positive.

And having explored almost all of Naha, and walked close to 60km, from 2nd Jan to 5Jan, I think this is a kind of great achievement for me, though my leg muscles are painful but I feel great...really.

And finding my pottery/ceramic bowls....that makes me even much happier....

Thanks and thanks.

I am ......

Warmest regards,

Choong

Naha

Okinawa

Japan

Okinawa.....my walking journey

I seldom record the details of my walking distance..but now with proper software it is very easy to do so. And you know, if I am not in a rush, usually when I am traveling alone, I like to explore the city by walking... And for the last few days, or starting 2nd, my arrival date, around 6PM when I reached hotel, I managed to cover close 8.77km (mainly around Kokusai area), the on the 3rd, I went to Katsuren Castle, and most of the time I was in the bus until on the way back, I again walk another part of the city, covering Meibashi area and if not because of the rain, I would have walked more. Then on 4th, I was walking a lot, mainly around Suriyo castle area, and from Suriyo I walked to Shikinaen, a kind of achievement for me. And today, the 5th, almost the finale day (tomorrow I might only have a few hours, hence I do not think there will be much walking)...I walked around the beach area-Naminoue, then I walked until Pacific hotel area, then back to Kokusai street, to Tsuboya Pottery Village and again, I walked from Tsuboya Village back to my hotel, that is Mercure at Tsubogawa...it must be a kind of super achievement for me...haha.

And to have met a local Japanese friend during my walk around Naminoue beach, Mr. Kunio Shimabukuro who has been very courteous and nice and I have invited him to visit Penang when he has the free time to do.
And I am very much happy, contented and feel very blessed....

I am....

Sincerely....