The most educated taxi driver in the world

In Singapore, there is one particular taxi driver who holds a Doctor of Philosophy or PHD from Stanford University.

In his blog, he said he is probably the only taxi driver in the world with a PhD in Biochemistry from Stanford University and a proven track record of scientific accomplishments.

He had been forced out of his research job in Singapore at the height of his scientific career, and unable to find another another job.

As a result, he drives taxi to make a living.

He has a blog : http://taxidiary.blogspot.com/ where he wrote about his daily experience with his passengers.

This are among his blog entries :

April 21, 2009. Tuesday: Mutual understanding

(1) In the afternoon peak hours, a European man in his mid thirties boarded my taxi at the International Business Park in Jurong East and told me to go to Riverview hotel. He looked exhausted from the work of the day.

“Tuesday night must be boring in Singapore, huh?” He said with a lazy, European-accented voice, after making himself comfortable in the back seat.

“Depends,” I replied absently, while keeping my eyes on the traffic in front of me. “In some parts of the town, every night is Friday night.”

I had no idea why I said that. Maybe I was just trying to be nice to a hard-working foreigner, or maybe I was just making a conversation. At any rate, I immediately wished that I hadn’t said it, because I am not exactly very knowledgeable in that topic.

The man promptly bounced from the back seat and arched his body forward so that he could hear my next answers clearly. “Tell me, boss, where can I get sexual massage?” He asked the question in a way as if he was asking about the best chicken rice stall in town.

I knew this was coming. I rolled my eyes at him and answered reluctantly, “my guess would be Geylang.”

“What nationalities are the girls there?” His interest grew more intense now.

“All kinds. Chinese, Thai, Indonesian. You name it.” I put in use what I learned from a German customer just a few days ago.

“Can you find me a place that has Japanese girls?”

“Well, that’s a very good question.” I paused. The German guy never mentioned anything about Japanese girls. After a moment of appearing to be thinking really hard, I said, “sorry, I can’t think of any place like that.”

Unimpressed, he sank back into his seat and didn’t say much after that.

The fair at the end was $15.20. He gave me two $10 notes and asked aloofly, “I don’t suppose you could give me a 20c discount?”

“I would, if you give me a $5 tip,” I replied.

“No, no, no.” He shook his head like he had just come out of a swimming pool. “Not this time. Not in the middle of the economic crises.”

“Fine. So we understand each other.” I grinned at him, while giving him a $5 note back nonetheless.

He put a 20c coin in my hand as he took away his change. After that, he said goodnight and stepped out.


(2)

Late at night, picked up three young ladies from Tanjong Katong. One of the ladies keyed something into a mobile phone and showed it to me. It took me a while to decipher the fine letters on the old, smudging LCD screen, “Joo Chiat. Is this where you want to go?” I asked. They chuckled but no words came out of their mouths. I assumed that it was.

All three appeared to be in their mid or late twenties and were dressed in a similar manner. Low-cut tank tops and tight and short jeans shorts or skirt. Along with the overdone makeup, their profession was written on their faces in capital letters.

On the way, they were talking with each other in a language that sounded completely alien to me. I tried to speak English with them and they just chuckled, without a spoken response.

“Where are you come from?” I asked. They giggled to each other and then said something to me in their own language. Though I didn’t know any of their words, it was apparent that neither did they know mine.

“Where is your home?” I tried again. Only met with more chuckles.

“Home. Your don’t know home?”

No response.

“Where are your mama and papa?”

Bingo, they understood this time.

“Vietnam.” They said in unison, followed by yet another burst of giggles.

That’s all I was interested in knowing. I drove along quietly after that. But I had also learned something else. In some parts of the town, I realized, the “official” language being used in daily business is not English, not Chinese, not any other written and spoken languages that we know of.

It is the body language.

In Memory, Halim Abdul Hamid - First Malaysian to officiate a FIFA World Cup match

The first Malaysian to ever officiate a FIFA World Cup match, has passed away on Thursday, 27 August 2009, during the holy month of Ramadhan.

The demise of world-class football referee Captain (Retired) Halim Abdul Hamid is a great loss to the football refereeing fraternity in Malaysia and Asia.

Halim made history as the first Malaysian to be appointed by the world football governing body (FIFA) as Assistant Referee at the 1998 World Cup in France.

Halim was assistant referee in the highly anticipated match between England and Argentina in the 2nd round of the 1998 World Cup.

The highly charged and conroversial match ended 2-2 but Argentina went on to the next round after winning the subsequent penalty kicks 4-3.

The match was best remembered for 2 iconic occassions - a red card against David Beckham for a deliberate foul on Diego Simone and a Michael Owen wonder goal. Michael was only 18 at that time.


After England's exit from the 1998 World Cup, Beckham was a constant victim of criticisms and hatred by the diehard English fans.

He was singled out as the cause of England's premature exit from the competition.

It took Beckham 4 years to heal the wound - he scored a decisive penalty against Argentina again at the 2002 World Cup in Japan/Korea.

Well, back to Halim Abdul Hamid story.

The Kangar-born referee died at 9.25pm on Thursday, after losing the battle with lung infection at the Tuanku Fauziah Hospital.

He is survived by widow Wan Manira Wan Mustafa, 47, and their four children aged between nine and 16.

Meanwhile, Wan Manira said she accepted Halim's demise as fated although life would not be the same without her husband.

"He had a very strong determination and was always far-sighted. He always wanted to become a world-class referee and worked hard to achieve that," she said.

Also paying their last respects were Kangar Member of Parliament Datuk Seri Mohd Radzi Sheikh Ahmad, and other referees.

Halim was laid to rest at the Tok Peduka Muslim cemetery after Friday prayers.

Rest in Peace sir, God Bless your soul.

Here in this video, the late Halim can be seen at 00.30 onwards, leading the 2 opposing players of the giants of World Football - England's top striker Alan Shearer and Argentine's top goal poacher - Gabriel Batistuta can be seen behind Halim.

The Teoh Beng Hock inquest

Are allegations of suspects and witnesses in corruption cases, being abused and manhandled by Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officers, true at all??

Read the story below - source NSTP Online

Teoh Beng Hock Inquest told of interrogation methods
2009/08/28

The inquest into Teoh Beng Hock's death yesterday heard shocking revelations of how Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officers allegedly abused witnesses and suspects.

Police reports lodged against the MACC revealed how witnesses and suspects were beaten, forced to strip and punched.

The inquest was then adjourned to allow the witness in the inquest to decide whether or not to engage a lawyer as the issues raise may incriminate him.

Earlier updates:

Counsel Gobind Singh produced police reports by witnesses who were questioned by MACC officers at Plaza Masalam, alleging they were physically and mentally tortured during interrogation.

Gobind alleges these involved officers from MACC who are testifying in the inquest.

Witness MACC officer Mohd Ashraf Mohd Yunus told the court that he and another officer questioned Teoh for 2 hours regarding documents related to a graft case involving YB Ean Yong Hian Wah.

In those two hours, he denied he was instructed to psychologically break Teoh down to get the correct answers.

He said he had only sat in the questioning session to help sort out documents and that he did not ask Teoh any questions.

Kg Buah Pala issue, are't these villagers commiting contempt of courts??

The Kg Buah Pala issue in Pulau Pinang, has been dominating the news in Malaysia in the past one month.

Some residents continue to defy orders including orders from the highest possible authority in Malaysia that is the Federal Court, to vacate the land which does not belong to them.

So to my understanding, those who go against the court decision are commiting an offence known as contempt of court, and this offence is punishable in the court of law!!

Read this news report on the latest kg Buah Pala issue - source NSTP Online/Bernama

Kg Buah Pala residents refuse to vacate land

PENANG: The villagers of Kampung Buah Pala, Penang's High Chapparal, will not move out by Sept 1 despite the eviction order by the Federal Court, chairman of their residents association M.Sugumaran said today.

"Our stand remains the same for not moving out from the village unless a solid compensation agreement is achieved with the developer, Nusmetro Ventures (P) Sdn Bhd," he told Bernama today.

He said the double-storey houses offered by the developer would only be built in the next two years and the villagers felt insecure to accept the offer.

"We have nowhere to stay if we move out now," he said.

He also claimed that the state government had yet to issue a demolition order to developer and therefore the demolition on Sept 1 was illegal.

The Kampung Buah Pala villagers will have to vacate their land by Wednesday, 2nd September 2009, following the Federal Court decision on Aug 20 which rejected the appeal of the 23 families to stay on the 2.6ha land.

The developer had failed in its two attempts to demolish the village due to protests by the affected families.
-- BERNAMA

This guy is brave and crazy!!!

Which one is the largest crocodile in the world??

This one in Bangkok reportedly weighs 2,450 pounds



The giant corocilde of Burundi - known as Gustave, reportedly the largest crocodile in Africa and has killed 300 people!!!



And this giant crocodile caught in Borneo had an estimated weight of 2 tons!!!!!

No Smoking and No Prostitute???

Apparently a sign to prevent prostitutes from entering this establishment. But there is a spelling error there - 'ertering" instead of ENTERING.!!

Amazing video - Crocodile vs Anaconda in the Amazon!!!

Snake versus crocodile! The world's largest rodent, the capibara, roams the Amazon jungle and attracts fierce predators such as the crocodile and the anaconda. From the BBC Wildlife.

Amazing Video - Ants create a lifeboat in the Amazon jungle to protect their Queen!!!

A flood hits a fire ant colony in the Amazon jungle. An amazing chance to see footage on how the species has adapted to water to protect their queen. From the BBC Wildlife.

Eldery woman slammed hard by Police at Walmart in Columbus, Ohio, USA

Another police brutality case in the USA??

Another Fritzl like case, discovered in the USA!!

Josef Fritzl - the Austrian beast

After the infamous Josef Fritzl case in Austria where the evil father locked his own daughter in an underground cellar for 24 years, fathering 7 children, now there seems to be another version of Fritzl like case.

It happened in California, USA, the man known as Philip Garrido kidnapped an 11 years old girl, confined her in the hidden backyard of his home for 18 years and raped her numerous times, resulting in the birth of 2 children.


Nancy and Phil Girrado are suspects in the kidnapping and confinement of Jaycee Dugard.



Jaycee Lee Dugard, at age 11, and a computer-aged illustration of Duggard, at 24.

In 1991, Jayce Lee Dugard, then 11, was forced into a car outside of her California home by an unidentified man and woman.

Today, 18 years after her disappearance, a woman claiming to be Dugard turned herself into a San Francisco Bay Area police station.

The woman came into the police station and said she was Jaycee Lee Dugard, a blond, ponytailed girl when she was abducted as she headed to a school bus stop 18 years ago, said sheriff's Lt. Les Lovell of the El Dorado Sheriff's Department.

"We're 99 percent sure it's her," Lovell said.

He said DNA tests were being conducted. The woman was in good health. It was not immediately clear when she had surfaced at the station.

Lovell said Concord police did an investigation after the woman surfaced, and he received a call Wednesday from investigators who had tentatively identified her as Dugard.

Her family has been contacted and they are in the process of arranging a meeting, said Lovell, who was a detective assigned to help investigate the kidnapping in 1991. "We are very confident at this point in time that it is her."

Two people have also been arrested in relation to Duggard's disappearance.

Jimmy Lee, a spokesman for the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Department, confirmed that a man and a woman have been arrested in connection with the case but could provide no other details.

CNN affiliates have reported that Phillip Garrido, 58, and his wife, Nancy Garrido, have been charged.

Phillip Garrido is a registered sex offender and listed on the Department of Justice's Megan's Law page because of a previous forcible rape charge.

Later, a police press conference revealed that Jaycee Lee Dugard has been living in a series of sheds and tents in a hidden backyard at the home of her alleged kidnapper, Phillip Garrido.

Police also say that Garrido allegedly fathered two children with Dugard. The children are 15 and 11, meaning Dugard was just 14 when she had the oldest.

According to police, authorities were tipped off to Dugard's plight when Garrido was questioned by campus security at UC Berkeley when he tried to hand out pamphlets.

This led to a meeting with Garrido's parole officer where the officer met Dugard and the two children. The parole officer informed local police about the children.


News of the missing girl - Jaycee Lee Dugard being found after 18 years

Well Garrido case undoubtedly reminds us of the shocking case of Josef Fritzl - no doubt the worst rapist in the history of Austria, Europe and the world...

Fritzl locked his poor daughter for 24 years in an underground cellar and raped her more than 3,000 times........

Today, Josef Fritzl, 73 will have to spend the rest of his life in a top-security psychiatric hospital for murdering a baby boy he fathered during the 24 years he kept his daughter Elisabeth locked up in a cellar.

The murder charge related to Michael Fritzl, one of seven children Fritzl fathered by his daughter Elisabeth as he raped her.

The boy, one of twins, died in April 1996, just 66 hours after he was born. He developed breathing difficulties but Fritzl refused to seek medical help, making him guilty of "homicide by neglect".

Fritzl, 73, was jailed for life after a jury in St Poelten, Austria, unanimously found him guilty of murder at the end of a four-day trial at which he had already admitted incest, rape, false imprisonment and coercion.

The jury also convicted Fritzl of slavery – making him the first man to be convicted of the offence in Austria.

So now we await the outcome of the investigations on Garrido case.

May justice prevails.


The secrets of the Austrian cellar - a Documentary on Josef Fritzl

Rusty Blade - kumpulan rock terbilang dari seberang Tambak Johor

Jika di Malaysia, kumpulan Search, Lefthanded dan Wings adalah lagenda rock..

Namun di seberang tambak Johor iaitu di Singapura, wujud sebuah kumpulan rock lagenda tersendiri yang dikenali sebagai Rusty Blade - mula menggegar pada 1980-an..

Teraju Utama - pencipta lagu dan pemain gitar utama - Khalid Mobin.

Penyanyi Utama - J. Yantzen...

Dikenali dengan lagu lagu klasik seperti Ikrar Perwira, Tiada Lagi Aku, Taming Sari dan Penantian serta juga Langsuir Liar...!!!!







Tiada Lagi Aku - Studio Version




Tiada Lagi Aku - Live Version

Faizal Tahir - the new rock king of Malaysia, after Amy Search??

This guy has a bright future in Malaysian music

The name is Aweera from a northern state in Penisular Malaysia.

Shot into prominence when this 18 years old guy, qualified into the Grand Final of One In A Million season 3, 2009.

Aweera did not win the contest, but he surely caught the attention of Malaysians and the world at large...

With the right management and move, Aweera can go far in the music industry in Malaysia... He has the package - good looks, talent and superb voice.

Apabila lagu Agnes Monica disalah gunakan!!!!

Ini adalah versi Lagu - Matahariku oleh Agnes Monica yang sebenar!!!




Yang ini pula versi tak benar!!!!


Yang ini pula dinyanyikan oleh Via - seorang peserta realiti TV di Indonesia



Yang ini pula versi Rubisa dalam Akademi Fantasia musim ke 7, 2009

The beauty of Philippines women!!!

Gadis Misteri - sebuah lagi karya agung kumpulan Search

Selain daripada lagu2 bersejarah dan bertaraf lagenda seperti Isabella, Rozana dan Fantasia Bulan Madu, sebuah lagi lagu bertaraf karya agung kumpulan rock nombor 1 Malaysia - Search adalah lagu Gadis Misteri.

Tuan2 tak percaya?

Dengarlah satu daripada karya agung Search ini.

Hidup Search. Hidup Amy, Yazid, Din, Nasir dan Hillary Ang!!!

The Lockerbie bomber release from prison. Who is at fault?

In certain countries, if you are found guilty of murder, even killing one fellow human being, you will be sentenced to death or life imprisonment.

But in a certain country, a mass murderer who killed 270 people will go scot free and released after serving only 8 years, i repeat 8 years in prison.

Tell me, is this justice or what?

Well, this is where the so called justice system failed.

Libyan, Abdel Baset al-Megrahi is the only man convicted of blowing up a Pan American jumbojet during a Trans Atlantic flight in 1988.

Pan Am Flight 103, a Boeing 747 jumbo jet carrying 259 passengers and crews was on its way from London to New York, on 21st December 1988, when a bomb planted by terrorist(s) in the luggage sections, exploded.

There were no survivors.

It was so quick, there was no time for the pilots to make a MayDay call.

Another 11 people in the Scottish town of Lockerbie were also killed by falling parts of the plane.

A total of 180 US citizens, 169 passengers and 11 crews died in the harrowing incident.

Another 52 Britons perished.

It was Britain's worst terrorists attack.

Abdel Baset, a Libyan intelligent agent, was only convicted of involvement in the bombing in 2001.

He was sent to life imprisonment, but released after serving only 8 years, on the ground of humanitarian reasons for he reportedly have only 3 months to live due to some kind of cancer.

Come on, did Abdel Baset and his gangs showed mercy on their 270 innocent victims on 21st December 1988...????????????

On Friday, Britain condemned the "upsetting" scenes of jubilation in Tripoli at the return of Abdel Baset al-Megrahi and considered canceling a royal visit to Libya as a sign of displeasure.

US President Barack Obama said the warm welcome in Libya was "highly objectionable."

The families of the 270 people who died in the Lockerbie bombing, were understandably furious.

What if Abdel Baset al-Megrahi live more than 3 months??

What if terrorists carry more bombings on civilian aircrafts? Will they be pardoned as well???

Sometimes justice system fails.

19.19 seconds - new 200 metres athletics world record

The cheetahs in the African wilderness are wondering and are worried.

Their supremacy as the fastest being in the world has been taken over by a human being.

And the name of this Human Being is Usain Bolt.



Bolt runs almost 45 kilometres per hour - as fast as the cheetahs do.

Well, the greatest sportsman in the world right now is no doubt - Usain Bolt and not Carl Lewis, Michael Phelps, Michael Schumacher, Michael Johnson, Michael Jordan, Pele, Maradonna, Ferenc Puskas, Jeese Owens, Roger Federer, Tiger Woods, Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, Sergei Bubka or Michael Jackson..!!!

He did the unthinkable.



First and foremost, he broke the men 100 metres atheltics world record 3 times in a space of one year, clocking 9.72 secs, 9.69 secs and the recent one - 9.58 secs.

His 9.58 secs world record in the final of the men's 100 metres at the IAAF World Athletics Championship in Berlin, proved that he is not only the Olympic Champion, World Chanmpion, World Record Holder and World number 1, but also the greatest in the world.

My God, he slashed the current record 9.69 seconds by a massive 0.11 seconds.

As if that is not enough, he again did it at the Berlin IAAF World Championship final, slashing by exactly 0.11 seconds of the old 200 metres world record of 19.30 seconds, held by himself.

He clocked 19.19 seconds, and finishing 10 metres clear ahead the rest of the field.

The men 200 metres world record is one of the hardest to beat in the history of athletics.

In the past 41 years, the 200 metres men world record was broken only 5 times.

It took 17 years to see the world record broken, when Michael Johnson clocked 19.66 seconds on 23 rd June 1996 to break Italy's Pietro Mennea long standing world record of 19.72 seconds.

Mennea's time, set in Mexico City on September 12, 1979 was dubbed the sprint into the new century. No athletes except Michael Johnson came close to ever breaking it. No, not even the great Carl Lewis who won a record 4 gold medals in the 1984 Olympics Games in Los Angeles.

Michael Johnson again broke his won world record less than 2 months later, in the 1996 Olympics Games in Atlanta, cloking 19.32 seconds.

Nobody thought that record will ever be broken again.

But came Usain Bolt.

Johnson's 12 years old world record was finally broken by Bolt in the 2008 Beijing Olympics Games.

Bolt clocked 19.30 seconds in the 200 metres final, erasing Johnson record.

Now, in the Berlin 2009 IAAF World Championship, Bolt again showed supremacy and showed the world who is the greatest of all time.

He slashed his own world record by 0.11 seconds, timing 19.19 seconds in the process.

Who can beat that?

No, not even the great Michael Johnson.

And Bolt is only 23 years old.

He predicted that he can run 9.4 seconds in the 100 metres.

If he manage to do that, then he can go something like 19 seconds flat or 18.98 seconds in the 200 metres for a new world record???

Who knows.

In Bolt, anything is possible.

Beware of Hurricane Bill

MIAMI – Hurricane Bill became a Category 4 storm as it rumbled across the Atlantic early Wednesday with maximum sustained winds near 135 mph.

And forecasters say the dangerous hurricane could get even stronger.

The National Hurricane Center said people in the Leeward Islands should monitor Bill's progress, though the core of the storm was expected to pass well to the northeast of the islands late Wednesday and early Thursday.

"The wind sheer is light and the waters are warm," Todd Kimberlain, a forecaster at the center, said Tuesday. "Those are two essential ingredients not just for the formation, but also the maintenance, of hurricanes."

Early Wednesday, Bill was centered about 460 miles east of the Leeward Islands and moving west-northwest near 16 mph.

The most significant threat could be to Bermuda, which the storm could pass in three or four days, Kimberlain said. But it also could move directly between Bermuda and the eastern coast of the U.S. without making landfall.

Either way, people near the coast can expect wave swells and rip currents in the next few days, Kimberlain said.