Responsible Blogging 2013

*This post is inspired by the Responsible Blogging 2013 Campaign*

Hey there good people in the web ! If you are reading this post right now , you are most likely to be either a non-blogging netizen , or a blogger ! Now , if you're the latter , know this , you hold the power to change the world ( the world of blogosphere that is ~ )

In this world of blogs , you , the bloggers are the people with authorities , akin to the
government in countries , you make rules and regulations of your own blog , post stuffs that may influence people's life as well as providing people with news , entertainments and other posts that matters , to them . In other words , you are very important . What you posts may make or break a person in the most extreme case . Now, for you , the non-blogging netizens , you too are very important , as you all are the foundation of our world . Because , honestly , what would a country be without its citizens ? Similarly , we bloggers continue to exist simply because there are people reading our contents , and we appreciate that . You , netizens are the power that keep us in check , that make sure we don't go overboard with our postings , and ultimately , the primary motivation that inspires us to continue blogging .

Having said that , whether you are a blogger or non-blogger , I would strongly URGE you to check out this Responsible Blogging 2013 Campaign . Now , for the uninitiated , this Responsible Blogging 2013 is a campaign calling upon the entire online community in Malaysia to rally for and support an ethical climate in the blogosphere for everyone's mutual benefit . Basically , it advocates bloggers to blog with conscience , to post stuffs that are not causing any harm and does not infringe any moral or legal regulations in any way. The thing is , there have been too many news recently that points to bloggers getting reprimanded or arrested by the authorities for purportedly blogging about " sensitive issues that may harm racial harmony " and etc . This has caused a massive damage to the reputations of bloggers . Nowadays , many bloggers are perceived to have an ulterior motive or are wrongly accused as "cyber troopers" for political parties and etc .

This is totally absurd . Bloggers are some of the nicest , funniest and intelligent people around ( most of them ಠ◡ಠ ) . If you just just take time t o check out famous blogs like kennysia.com , timothytiah.com and etc ( just look at the blogs in the My Blog List , I assure you each and every of them are worth your time ! ) , you would understand what I mean . We are the voice of the community , using blogs to channel our frustrations , rants , musings and etc while at the same time providing news and other forms of entertainments for everyone . 

Still reading ? Good , now that you are aware of how great you are as a blogger , you will have to understand that with great power , comes great responsibility ( ah.. a timeless quote by Uncle Sam in the Spiderman movie ) . To make it easier for you , the campaign has introduced the " 9 Pillars of responsible blogging " to help you get started . 

They are :
1) Avoid Shortcut
- Copy pasting other people's contents and claim them as your own ( a.k.a PLAGIARISM ) is  
  unethical . What pride is there in publishing other people's contents as your own ? 
  Building a credible blog with readerships isn't an easy task , but that doesn't mean you  
  should take shortcuts . The sweet taste of success can only be savoured when you put in 
  enough hard works .   
2) Do Check The Verification of Your Information
- If you don't , when someone points out that your information is false or not credible ,  
  you might be seen as lying to your readers , betraying their trusts . Worst case scenario ,  
  you may be sued and brought to court for posting defametory posts ( in extreme cases )
3) Do Regard Your Reader's Opinions
- Like I mentioned earlier , in the same way as customers are the king , in blogosphere ,  
  you readers are the kings / queens . Without your readership , we simply do not exist .
  Therefore , it would be wise to consider your readers' opinions when posting something.
4) Do Be Aware of The Country's Copyright Law
- This one is serious issue . We have seen countless bloggers being arrested for allegedly  
   infringing the country's law . You don't want to be another one of them right ? 
5) Get Rewarded/Paid Ethically
- Sure , rewards are nice and all , but rewards through illegal or unethical means aren't   
  nice at all . As your readership grows and your blog gets more famous , you may be asked  
  to post something that promotes a certain individual / organization while bashing others   
  ,and you may get paid for them . Don't do it ! As these kind of rewards are unethical and  
  may damage your conscience .
6) Don't Forget to Give Credits
- Give credits where they are due . Simple enough .
7) Do Know That You Are Answerable for Your Blog
- As you are the author of your blog , do remember that you hold responsibility over what  
  you posted . There have been many cases of celebrities and artists who posted their 
  strong opinions regarding a particular issue many years ago, only to find these posts 
  haunting them back now .
8) Be Transparent With Sponsored Post
- Let your readers know if you are being sponsored to write a post . You don't want your  
  post to sound too advertorial and devoid of your original blogging style all of a sudden 
  without informing your readers first . If you did not do that , your readers may be 
  perplexed and end up leaving your blogs for good for fear that your posts do not interest 
  them any more .
9) Do Write a Disclaimer
- This is the counter-measure for point no 7 . If you have incorporated some strong 
  opinions regarding a particular issue , do write a disclaimer that those opinions are yours 
  and solely yours alone so as not to involve your company or other people linked to you in 
  the process.

So , there you have it folks ! The summary of what Responsible Blogging 2013 campaign is all about . This campaign is graciously sponsored by Crowdpot , the platform for brands and businesses to engage with bloggers .


 and Ninetology Marketing Sdn Bhd , the up and coming mobile device technology company  who aims to provide a affordable yet functional smartphones for everyone . 

For more information , please click on the logo below or go to http://responsibleblogging.my/ now ! Join us now , for a better tomorrow , for everyone in the blogosphere ! Do your part for our world , and it doesn't help that there are rewards for you in the process ヾ(●⌒∇⌒●)ﾉ !

Happy , Merry Christmas ~

Howdy ! Hello there , good readers from all over the world :D , How are you doing today ? It’s Christmas eve !!!! Which means that most of you are out there , counting down for Christmas , or celebrating it one way or another either with friends , family or your beloved ones , right ? Aww .. Christmas , the season of forgiving , sharing , caring and giving . Anxious children waiting to unwrap the gifts under the mistletoes , equally anxious parents who hopes their children could sleep early so they could disguise themselves as a fat man with funny, white beard , and a potbelly to surprise their child , people attending Christmas Mass , strangers becoming friends , couples forgiving each other and being reunited . That’s what Christmas is really all about right ?

Unfortunately , yours truly never did get to experience any of those . Even now , as the clock hits 12 midnight , indicating the start of Christmas , there are people shouting and started celebrating already , yet I am here updating this nondescript blog . However , it does not necessarily mean that it’s a bad thing . In fact, I am loving it . I am loving the  feeling of having the freedom to do whatever I want in this space ( my room ) . The truth is , for the past few days , life have been moving on quite a fast pace . The past 2 days seems to have gone by in a blur. And now  , finally I have a bit of breathing room .

I like breathing space / room . I like the luxury of having time by my side , to have the freedom to ponder and wonder endlessly about the whatever nonsensical thoughts I have in my mind , to reflect on the past and also to think about the future . Therefore , for me , I would say that freedom of time is the ultimate luxury in the world . Not money , not the other materialistic things that can provide conveniences , not even fame and glory . The ultimate luxury is without a doubt , freedom . In retrospect , I have been very lucky to be blessed with freedom of choice in most of my life . Being born in a middle-income family , materialistic things that could provide luxury are but a distant dream . Growing up , I have always yearned for those “luxuries” that other more privileged kids have . Branded gadgets , better mattresses , air-con , and a whole lot more of gadgets which I used to view as the ultimate luxuries money can buy .

However , as I grow older and wise up a little , I start to be more appreciative of the power of freedom . I still remember the marvelous feeling of thrill and euphoria I had when I slept at my own room for the first time . As the night falls  and  the only door that leads to my room closes, the faint moonlights sneaks in through the translucent blue curtain and  the subtle sound of the rotating Panasonic fan breaks the stillness of the room , emphasizing that me and only me alone exists in this room . I love the thought of that . At night , I would always imagine that this whole room is my territory , my area , my entire world , and I am the king and ruler of this world .

It is at these kind of moments that I truly cherish the power of solitude . Usually , the word solitude is associated with a negative connotation , i.e life of solitude = life without friends , forever alone , etc  , however for me , I believe that when you’re alone , that’s when you’re able to concentrate and bring out your biggest potential . I do not know about the rest , but I am pretty sure I thrive in a quiet environment , working by myself , devoid of any external disturbances . When I am alone , I tend to be able to think about things I normally not able to think of and able to produce more efficient and effective work . Perhaps that explains why introverts are so successful ? Speaking about introverts , one book that is definitely worth checking out is this :  “ Quiet “  by Susan Cain as she explores in great details about the power of introverts .

But I digressed . Recently , I have reflected on a lot of things . These few days reflection had me re-examining my principle of friendship , and discovering my own weakness . About the latter , I find myself not walking my own talk . You see, I have been a great advocate of change . I look down on complacency and advocates change whenever it’s possible as I felt that change and subsequently continuous improvement is the key to greater success . Yet , in recent days , I have not been changing much . I had a goal in mind 2 years ago , a road map of change so to speak , so that I could continuously challenge myself in various grounds and improve as much as possible . However , the progress of that plan is not quite as well as it should have been . In fact , it seems to have reached a plateau and becoming stagnant , which is very depressing . Being a guy who dreams big and talking big about importance of changes and self-improvement all the time , not doing the action is kinda counter-productive and saddening .

Next , recent events have also forced me to re-examine my friendships . I consider myself a very complicated person , as I am both extrovert and introvert at the same time . When I am being extrovert , I mixed around a lot , and thus have joined a few different cliques . But the problem is , with so many different cliques , each of them are special in their own way and all of them are friends with varying degree of closeness , I find it hard sometimes to find the time to entertain them . Perhaps “entertain” would not be best word to describe it , as when you’re with friends , you are supposed to be having fun and enjoying it right ?

Example of cliques

That’s what I thought too . Don’t be mistaken . I LOVE hanging out with friends and talking about everything under the sun in a kopitiam or café all day long . That’s life . However , the thing is , once you have a lot of cliques of friends , you will need to catch up with them on a different day or time , as more often than not , the cliques don’t mix . * e.g perhaps you have a clique of friends who loves shopping , and another clique of friends who love outdoor activity , they don’t really mix right ? * To make matters worst , money and time are limited resources , and I can’t really be spending time with different kind of cliques every single day . That , coupled with the fact that sometimes. the introvert part of myself just want to enjoy being in my cosy little home whole day . Thus , this brings us to a hard dilemma of prioritizing who to go out with .

Of course , the obvious solution being just hang out and connect with your closest best gang of friends and ignore the rest , allocating the rest of the time for yourself . And that’s what I have been doing for quite some time . Yet , there are times when you thought of this particular clique of friends and go “ oh , it’s been a long time since I last catch up with them “ , and then the question of whether of not you should initiate the gathering or hang out arises . I strongly believe friends , true friends especially are the best assets one could have . 

Some people view friends as networks that they could potentially exploit in the future as some of them may turn out to be politicians , leaders or even some influential figures that are forces to be reckoned with . And they may think that by getting close to them now , they would be able to take advantage of these connections that they have build up now . However , friends are friends , they are not “networks “ which are treated as benefits or liabilities according to what they can provide . True , some friends may be able to offer help in specific aspects in the future , and I have no qualms about people thinking of exploiting friends this way , however to rate friends according to what they can provide in the future is just despicable .

True friends are value over their loyalty and bonds that have survived the test of time . They are the people who know you well enough to be able to talk comfortably about your idiosyncrasies and patterns. They are the people whom you share your troubles , problems and secrets . They are the people who will be there for you , when the rest of the world left .

That being said , I am still having dilemma whenever I got an invitation to go out , because a part of me , really wants to just stay home for a few months and concentrate on making progresses . But then again , it’s all my choice right ? And once again I am grateful for this freedom to choose . * Friendship post inspired by this article in the star titled "Recipe for leadership" *

In a bid not to end this post in a solemn note , I shall wish you readers ( if there are any ) a Happy , Merry Christmas ! May you be able to celebrate this eventful events with your beloved ones with joy , happiness and love ~ But , if in the event of you failing to find anyone to celebrate it with , hey , no sweats , you can still celebrate it alone :D  . Cherish the moment of solitude and remember , you are not alone in celebrating it alone . Cheers !!! Merry Christmas peeps ~

Big Bad Wolf

As much as I loved boasting about my hometown’s attractions and specialties , about how it’s much better than Kuala Lumpur , or anywhere else in this world for that matter , there’s one thing I can’t deny , that is the fact that Kuala Lumpur is a much more happening place than Penang . Not to say that there’s not much events and activities in the Pearl of Orient , there are events , but it just pales in comparisons with KL’s events .

For the uninitiated , KL is the most happening state in Malaysia , all the coolest people and parties , biggest and most important events , yup , more often than not , all of the above mentioned activities are bound to be held in KL . KL is the heart of the country , where all the happenings , happen ( pun intended ) , and akin to the city that never sleeps , KL people literally have insomnia all year round , what’s with the clubs and never-ending night life . Seriously , if you’re crazy about night life , KL is the place ~

So , in a way , I am grateful that I am studying in KL , because thanks to that , I am able to go to the BIGGEST , BADDEST , MOST HEAVILY-DISCOUNTED English Book Sales ever in the WORLD . Situated in Mines International Exhibition & Convention Centre,  just 1 hour away from my university by public transportation , it holds the record of being the BIGGEST English book fair in the world by offering an astounding three million titles of books up for grabs , priced at 75% to 95% lower than their retail prices.

My exploits from the fair .

Side View of this gorgeous baby :D

Thanks to that I am able to go to this book haven and gained some great books  :D

That’s all for now . Enjoy the pictures .

A real life Lamborghini on display 

Cutest Book Title ever

Here’s a random question of the day :What differentiates a businessman and entrepreneur?

Of Failure , Learning and Re-Discovering

It has been a while . Lately , I have been on a competition frenzy mode , propelled by my recent “achievements” in the Samsung AppStar Contest . For those of you that may or may not know , in the last few weeks , I have participated in a contest called Samsung AppStar Contest , which is basically a contest that allows you to win up to RM 24 000 grand prize simply by presenting an idea for application . Me and my teammates have spent significantly large portion of our time , dedicating ourselves to prepare and trained relentlessly for this . In 29/11/2012 , finally , it was the day . I never have been more nervous in my life . It was the first major competition that I participated in voluntarily and prepared for relentlessly , and naturally , I have high confidences and expectations .

After the end of the presentations , I was still in high spirit , convinced that our team did our best and that presentation was sufficiently mesmerizing enough to earn us a place in top 3 placing . As we were the 5^th out of 12 groups to present , we were relieved of our stress and anxiety early and are able to watch other teams present their ideas , still having to face their fear of anxiety and trepidation . Finally , every group finished presenting . Upon watching other’s presentation , we , or rather I was convinced that our team did well enough to at least secure a place in top 3 . Slowly but surely , the confidence slowly turned into an uncalled-for arrogance , and my mind started wandering off into the not too distant future , thinking about how I would spend that big lump sum of money by treating my friends , my families , and keeping a bit for myself . You see , when arrogance takes over your head , your mind wanders easily . As my mind wandered further and further , it suddenly went blank , when I thought of what to do after I spent those money .

***

BLANK . Nothing at all . The abrupt stop of that train of thoughts jolted me back to reality . My heart suddenly feels empty , devoid of emotions . After I spent those money , then what ? You see , in retrospect , I am not a particularly long-term motivated person . I am the type that are easily motivated by short-term gains , as the direct implication of my short term attention span , and also for the fact that humans in general , always prefer instant gratification rather than a long-term , more sustainable gratification . As such , I never really tried my hardest and put in 100% of my effort or go beyond that most of the time , the closest I ever get to 100% of effort could probably be during major examinations period . 

However, even then , I am pretty sure I did not manage to put in all of my effort and dedicate and commit myself solely for that very purpose .  But this time is different . For the past few days , weeks in fact , all I could think of in my mind was the Samsung AppStar Contest ,the reason , mostly due to the fact that there’s financial gain to be made from this contest , and it’s huge sum of money ! Nevertheless , I cannot deny that in these past few weeks , I almost committed all of my time and effort into this sole purpose of winning the contest , as I am motivated to do it for myself , not being forced or coerced by anyone else , but on voluntary basis .

And that fact alone brought a big sense of relief , because during that period , it gave me a meaning to my life . No longer am I memorizing facts and figures simply to pass a stupid subject that I felt have no relevance at all to my life in the future , neither am I attending some lecture classes just to fulfill my 80% attendance rule to sit for the final exam . I am finally doing something for myself . That fact alone brought immense joy to me , coupled with the sense of thrill and excitement whenever I think about winning the contest . Ultimately , it’s not the money , nor is it the fame that comes with the contest that is important , it is the bittersweet taste of victory , knowing that you have put in your effort and carving a path to success by your very own hands is the best gratification anyone can ever have in life .  

But after this contest , I would have none of those anymore , I would probably have to return to the dull , mundane , repetitive task of a normal undergraduates , much like anybody else . And that , brought grief and sadness to my heart .  

***

“ and the winner is TEAM X~ “ announced the emcee of the night . I was shocked ! All those fantasies about spending the money , and finally the money did not come to us .And that’s how the much anticipated finale of Samsung AppStar ended . We did not win any placing , only the most favourite award that was given to app that got the most amount of Facebook Votes. I guess expectations does not really equate reality sometimes .

A few days after the incident , I am still having trouble to cope with the failure and having no more meaning in my life . I have lost that excitement of waking up everyday having something to look forward for and thinking about the same thing before going to sleep everynight . It took a few more days of social isolation and some trips alone to far away places to be able to move on .

There was this one particular trip of going to Cheras Leisure Mall ( I am currently studying near Petaling Jaya ) that’s worth reminiscing . I am a rather big fan of branded earphones . Being an audiophile , good earphones are one of those things that I am willing to burn my wallet for . A few days ago , I discovered a good deal about MEElectronic A151 earphone ( retailing for around rm 200+ ) in lowyat.net . Upon seeing the deal , I quickly became excited and messaged the dealer for his best price and also the method of transaction . Most dealers in lowyat would prefer cash-on-delivery ( COD ) method of transaction , which means the dealer and customer will have to meet up in an agreed upon places and exchange the cash for the products. As the dealer lived near Cheras and has agreed to give better prices should I come to him , I decided to do just that .

MEElectronics A151

Although I have never been to Cheras before in my entire life , and had no experience nor knowledge about how to go there , I said okay . And the adventure begins . There’s just something magical about the unknowns . When you said yes to something unknown ,  you get the thrills and excitement of exploring somewhere you’ve never been to before . It might be end up to be a bad choice and sure there are a lot of risks but hey , at least you tried right ? I would have totally regretted it had I not made that trip . There’s this quote that goes something like this “ Try to fail is better than fail to try “ . So , tried I did . Relying on only some directions instructions from the net and friends , I embarked on the journey , alone , with the risks that I might get lost there , get robbed , and get cheated and etc ( since KL isn’t exactly famous for peace and security ) .

 Along the trip , a few unexpected things happened . One of my friend happened to be living near Cheras and was coincidently going back on that day itself . I was lucky to hitch a ride to there . However , I was still on my own on the journey back . I had this philosophy that if you really wanted something very badly , somehow , the universe will conspire to help you achieve them , by creating some roads of opportunities to walk on . Whether or not you take those opportunities is an entirely different story . So , all in all , somehow, everything went well , I got my product and I went back alone safely . It might be a simple story , but the period of solitary had taught me a lot . Maybe it’s just me , but whenever I went to for a trip alone , I always felt more at ease and discover more things about myself and my surroundings .

Anyhow , after getting that earphone , I was excited and came back to my senses . The old wound of regret still aches sometimes , but I have moved on to focus more on other stuff , like joining more competitions and exposing myself more to the world . I strongly believe that university is a place for you to earn holistic education , and to do that , one must always expose him/herself to variety of activities and events , not just to commit themselves to academics .That being said , in a way I am grateful for the opportunity to join that many contests , either by chance or by choice . Recently , someone said this to me “ If you’re going to success , you’re gonna fail first . This is the harsh , cruel reality , if you wanna go down this path ( entrepreneurship ) , you are bound to fail at your first try . So , why not fail earlier ? Learn to enjoy your failures , only then can you enjoy your successes “ . ;)

Thank You Maybank2u !

*Note * This is a blog post for Maybank2u Contest* If you're interested in checking out more , please click on this link . 

I have a confession to make . Maybank was my first time . First time , in the sense that it was the first bank that I had dealt with for the purpose of doing my banking services . At that time , the only reason why I opened a banking account was to store the money that I have accumulated from the "Ang Pows" ( Red Packets ) given to me by my relatives during Chinese New Year . I remember how excited I was when I got my banking account book and subsequently my atm card ! In retrospect, at the age of 16 ,owning an atm card was trendy and cool , apart from the fact that it makes you feel like a grown up , capable of handling your own money . I was feeling euphoric and thrilled when I withdraw money from the atm machine for the first time . That was my first brush with MayBank .

However , the excitement dies down soon , as the hassle of physically going to the bank , and dealing with the sometimes long and frustration waiting time , lining up in a queue , slowly took its toll . At that time , since computers and Internet technologies were making waves and gaining popularity , I remember daydreaming about the idea of doing those banking services online instead , at the comfort and convenience of my own room . A few years later , never in my wildest dream would I thought that my simple wish have now became a reality .

Honestly , I was not a very loyal customer to Maybank at first . I have other bank accounts such as Public Bank , Hong Leong Bank and etc . Being someone who loves to explores , I actually tried and tested banking in other banks . Nevertheless , when Maybank introduces Maybank2u , it all changed . As mentioned before , I loved experimenting and trying something new , so when Maybank2u was introduced , I was thrilled and tested it as soon as possible . 

I am student in an university in KL , and being a student without any means of transportation to get around in KL could only mean one thing : inconvenience .Even the nearest banks in my area are not within walking distance . Therefore , I am really thankful for Maybank for introducing Maybank2u .After experimenting with numerous online banking services ,in my personal opinion, I dare say with confidence now that Maybank2u is the BEST online banking service ever ! After trying Maybank2u , i instantly became a loyal fans of Maybank and have never turned back since . Now , if there are anything that requires banking services , I use Maybank2u.

The Maybank2u experience was and still is fantastic and amazing so far ! A single log-in into Maybank2u website is all it takes for me to be able to check my account balance , make online transactions , settle my bills , top up my phone credits , dabble with online stocks and do many more banking services that are available in physical banks . Moreover , I can access them via my phone , which is all the more reason to use Maybank2u !!! What never fails to amaze me is that even with their almost perfect services , they still strive to improve themselves and make upgrades and improvements from time to time . Additionally , all those transactions and services I have done with Maybank2u are done securely ( Maybank have a feature called TAC which will send you an authentication code to your validated phone number , so that you can double authenticate your identity before making a transaction . I really love this feature !!! ) What's more my privacy is ensured and I trust that all my contact information and personal details are safe with Maybank .

If there's ever a need to rate and comment on Maybank2u services , without a doubt , I will rate it 5-Stars and congratulating them on providing a World Class Service to their customers . Thank you for making my dream come true Maybank2u . Please do continue to deliver these kind of quality , value-added services to your customers . We will never stop supporting you , as you have supported us all these times ! ; )