Another Pretty Blogger

I have knew her since secondary school, that's about more than 10 years I guess. I caller her her, because I know her name, but I am confused now, as she said "My frens call me ah bee, bak kean & Vivien", all of which I can't remember is what I used to call her. So from here you can imagine it's quite a long time we never contact each other.

Anyway, that's not important. Most important is she is hot and pretty. Don't believe? Pay a visit at iamMe. Bee Kean, of course I know you're you. But colour wolf, hands off please.

And it's also the rare species (among my friends) who actually blogging, and newest one I found after Pei Fong (no update like me already?)

A Little Update

Been busy updating now my main site at My Digital Life which is basically a blog that I hope to be success in blogging for some regular income, or blogging for money. To increase the earning, I have concentrated most of my time on the blog. But I guess now it's time to spend some time on some personal interest again.

I have backed from Hong Kong on March/April and Endau Rompin National Park in Johor, Malaysia on May, yet my travelogues at Travel Diary for the destinations yet to be completed. Plus, the part on the Jordan for Egypt and Jordan Travelogue not yet even started much, which I went in 2004, not to say about plan to migrate and incorporate from the blogspot (Blogger) to my own wordpress blog.

Beside, my trip to Cambodia will be on August, so time is running short for me to update the previous trips, or else my backlogs will get more and more. Beside, I need to spend some time to plan for the Cambodia trip too.

And I just remember that the I don't even document yet about the trip to Sabah which happened in 2002. Hopefully I can get all these done as soon as possible.

Application as Editor of Open Directory Project Failed Again

As expected, I received the email from ODP that my application to be a volunteer editor has been rejected, of course, without proper reason. Here's the email that been sent by ODP, and it's actually a template, used whenever for rejected application:

Thank you for your interest in becoming an Open Directory Project editor.
After careful review, we have decided not to approve your application at
this time. The most common reasons a reviewer will deny a new application
include, but are not limited to,

* Incomplete application. Insufficient information has been provided in some
fields including reason, affiliation and/or Sample URLs.
* Improper spelling and grammar.
* Sample URLs are inappropriate for the category which one has applied to
edit. They may be too broad, too narrow, completely out of scope, poor
quality, or in a language inappropriate for the category. All non-English
sites are listed in the World category. Applications for World categories
that include sites only in English will be denied. Likewise, applications
for World categories that include sample URLs in languages other than the one
appropriate for the applied category will be denied.
* Not properly disclosing affiliations with websites that are, or have the
potential of being, listed in the category.
* Titles and descriptions of sample URLs (and other information provided)
were subjective and promotional rather than unbiased and objective. ODP
editors do not rank or write website reviews. ODP editors provide objective
and unbiased descriptions of websites and their content.
* Self-Promotion. Application which leads us to believe that the candidate is
interested primarily in promoting his/her own sites or those with which the
applicant is affiliated. The ODP is not a marketing tool, and should not be
used to circumvent the site submission process. If this is an applicant's
motivation for joining, then we ask him/her not to apply. Editors found to be
inappropriately promoting their own site will be promptly removed.

Due to the large number of applications we get every day, we are unable to
provide personal responses to every application or to respond to inquiries
about why you were rejected. If a reviewer chose to provide additional
comments to you, they will be given in the "Reviewer Comments" section below.

Your willingness to volunteer is greatly appreciated and perhaps we will be
able to utilize your talent in the future.

Regards,
The Open Directory Project

Reviewer Comments:

The Reviewer Comments section is empty, and it's most likely the case for most rejected application. I feel that it's very unrespected and disgusted to be treated like a person with hidden agenda in ODP. The existing editors seem like very much like to keep the ODP as a treasured pet for themselves. May be there are too much non-genuine application and scam, but with proper system, that can be filtered out. Anyway, it's unlikely I will apply again to be a volunteer. I simply don't see the need to be in that directory. Search engine rules nowadays.

Apply to be Open Directory Project (ODP) Editor

Today when I recovered my posts, I came across my post about ODP Open Directory Project which aims to produce the most comprehensive directory of the web by relying on a vast army of volunteer editors. I used to apply a few times to become an volunteer editor for ODP, but none success. I finally gave out as I concentrate into blogging for money.

And now I will try to apply again, let's see how hard it's to "volunteer" to become ODP editor. I never fail to volunteer in any social events that I want to volunteer, except ODP. Of course, those who review my application in ODP may feel that I may have "udang di sebalik batu" (in Malay language, which means hidden purpose), as some website owners hope listing in ODP will helps their websites to boost the ranking in search engines, but I guess for most professional seo (search engine optimization) expert out there, ODP is either a miss or they would have ways to get around it.

Blog Been Deleted by Blogger

All my blogs that been hosted by Blogger on BlogSpot server been deleted in one go, without notice or warning or clarification. What happened was when I logged in to Blogger and looked at the Dashboard, I had a rude shock. My dashboard was empty, and all the blogs were gone. And of course, when I tried to access the blog, it returned Blogger: 404 error.

I emailed the Blogger Support, and waited for 3 days before a reply came (may be it's because of weekend, hence the delay, as subsequent correspendence was fast). Alexandar from Blogger Team said "It seems that your blogs were mistakenly targeted by our automated spam classifying system. However, I have checked your blogs and can verify that they comply with our Terms of Service. I was able to restore them to your account, so you should see them the next time you log in. I also cleared them for regular use so that this problem will not recur. Note that you will need to republish your blogs in order for them to be visible online again."

Unfortunately, he helped me to restore all my blogs except this. As I don't have any backup for my posts, so I have to get back all posts from search engines' cached copy, if they're still available. And Google cache is fast dropping the pages from its storage, with now the cached copies on available up to August 2005. So I will try my best to recover and restore previous posts, but some may have gone infinitely.

Finished 5.6km Again in JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge

After ran at last year JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge, this year I ran again with more colleagues of my company. Last year we had only 5 persons from the company, this year the group grew to almost 15 persons.

But I found I was weaker this year, although the timing a just a little faster than last year timing. Even so, I found I was more tired nowadays, unable to run for too long distance, may be due to the fact that I seldom exercise nowadays. So most of the route I was walking instead. Luckily I was still able to finish the course.

This is the third year for JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge event in happens in Singapore. And I just noticed that I have actually participated in all three of them, so far. First year as a volunteer, right after I back from Jordan, and last 2 years as runner.

Treasure Life

Just received sms from San Yew that Teoh Hang Weng, one of my 'political' activity mates in university has passed away. I was a bit shocked actually. Although we have not contacted each other since graduation from university, and we had some arguments during university time, but loss of life at the age of 32 is still something I can't apprehend.

I first faced, and awared with the issue of death at about year of 1997 or 1998. That time, Fu Niang (direct vocal translation) passed away, due to (I heard) high fever. I always met her in the library. She is a very outstanding girl. You can imagine, at that point of time, she was the secretary of the University of Malaya's Chinese Language Society. Well, from that day onwards, she nowhere to be found. I feel like a loss of something.

Then came the passed away of Tian Yu (again, direct vocal translation). I not so close with him, but he was then the boyfriend of my only good friend in Second College at the time, Shiow Miin. He died because of an accident. Shiow Miin (I heard, again) cried for a few days at University of Malaya's Varsity Lake.

Anyway, Hang Weng is helping a Chinese primary school in legal matter, so his news was shown on newspaper. Here's the excerpt:

ChinaPress (9 March 2006)

新中華小校方律師團成員趙漢榮心臟病猝發
（檳城9日訊）新中華小校方律師團的成員之一趙漢榮律師，今早不幸心臟病猝發逝世。32歲的趙漢榮，未婚，生前已有1名親密的女朋友。他是於今早上午8時許在其位於高淵的住家突感不適，被其父趙國民送往爪夷縣醫院不久后身亡。據瞭解，趙漢榮在送院途中已陷入昏迷，死因是心臟血管阻塞。其父親趙國民為1名小販，趙漢榮是家中長子，有一弟一妹。死者趙漢榮是於1999年畢業於馬來亞大學法律系，曾當選1996／97年馬大學生代表，生前為北海C/O MESSRS WONG-CHOOI& MOHD.NOR律師樓的執業律師，同時也非常積極參與政治，是民政黨黨員。隨著新中華小事件爆發后，他也是校方律師團的成員之一，過去幾個月來，一直在為新中小學的訴訟案奔波。

Sin Chew Daily (9 March 2006)

拆校官司未了新中律師趙漢榮病逝updated:2006-03-09 20:24:28 MYT（北海訊）在威北新中學校的拆校官司尚未完結之際，校方律師團的4位代表律師之一的趙漢榮，不幸的在週四（9日）早上9時左右因心臟病發作而逝世。据知，現年才32歲的趙漢榮（未婚）在週四早上8時許原本要到法庭時，突然覺得不舒服，致電給家人要求送他到醫院治療。豈知在送到威南雙溪峇甲的政府醫院後，即因心臟病而不治身亡。趙漢榮是威南人，在大山腳日新國中畢業後，就在馬來亞大學法律系肄業，生前是民政黨法律局的委員，並在去年當新中學校被發展商手持庭令拆除兩次不果後，就毅然與謝隆泰、許文思及馮繼宗四人組成律師團，接手新中學校的拆校官司。据新中學校律師團代表之一的許文思受詢時指出，趙漢榮是他的學弟，為人活潑、熱心、開朗及樂於助人。在大學時期，趙漢榮已是個很活躍的學生領袖，曾擔任過馬大華裔生代表。他表示在接獲噩耗時實在很難相信趙漢榮已經真的逝世了，並表示時常都有和漢榮保持聯絡，雖然他住在檳島而漢榮則在威南，但是只要有時間，他們都會相聚在一起喝茶聊天。他表示漢榮平時都有做運動和打羽毛球，而朋友和其家人都不知道他有心臟病。義務為新中打官司校方對漢榮逝世表哀悼威北新中學校董事長黃旭寬對趙漢榮的英年早逝深表惋惜，並表示死者是一名年輕和積極的律師，在新中事件上給予很大的幫忙，而且都是義務性質，不收費。他說，在去年當發展商前往新中學校拆校的時候，就是趙漢榮負責駕車，載著他和許文思從北海法庭趕到檳城高庭去申請庭令，才來得及阻止發展商進一步拆除校舍。他說，趙漢榮為人很隨和又積極，每次新中事件開庭時，都會出席給予協助及咨詢，並會和董事部及相關單位共同商討對策。他表示新中學校董事和校長等人，將會到死者府上憑吊。

Anyway, I found this website while searching for Hang Weng name - Halaman Web Kelab PENA which dated back from year 2000! It obviously is a political website from the so called 'green' side of University of Malaya Malay students. I am quite surprise with the commitment and advancement of them. If I should then spent more time, then the university life will be more fruitful.

Nice and friendly blog

Surprise always comes. Noticed today that there was a hit that coming from http://spaces.msn.com/members/PF2005/ to my own blog. It ends up is the blog of a very pretty and nice girl called Pei Fong. Hardly got any friends who is blogging, so quite happy to know that she is starting a blog. So next year, may be, may be ... can have a partner to go Bloggers.SG by then.

Visit 凤情日记.

Volunteer for World Toilet Organization

Went to volunteer for World Toilet Organization just now. It's a bit of useless as I was allocated the slot of 4.30 pm to 7.30pm, but the event was ending by 5.30 pm. But anyway, it's interesting to know that such a organization exists in order to promote better sanitary and cleaner toilet. And the staffs from the World Toilet Organization are very friendly, really made felt like at home.

For more information on World Toilet Organization, visit their homepage at: http://www.worldtoilet.org.

Met Kind and Warm Heart People Again

Few days ago (or on Sunday August 7), my car tire punctured while I was driving at Sungai Petani, near my hometown in Kedah. I didn't notice it initially, but heard some weird sound from the car. I stopped my car twice to check. At the second checking, I stopped the car in front of a mini market (ops, I forgot the name of the mini market). At this time, the front passenger side tire was obviously punctured.

I was a bit nervous, as I never changed the tire before. At this time, 2 nice gentlemen from the mini market (not sure if they were customers there or owners of the mini market) came to help me. They taught me step by step on how to change the tire. More importantly, they helped me to unscrew the tire, as the screws were very very very tight. I doubt I will be able to unscrew it if I was alone.

So finally the tire had been changed. To the two nice and very kind gentlemen, who I even forgot to ask the name, thanks again.

Cheaper Way to Get to Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA)

The official one-way express rail fare from Kuala Lumpur Central station to Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) is RM 35.00. It's expensive, but it's possible to as low as RM12.50 to travel from KL Sentral to KLIA. It's all due to the fare structure different between so called KLIA Express and KLIA Transit. Basically, KLIA Express is the direct express rail service to KLIA from KL Sentral, for RM 35.00, while KLIA Transit stops at several station along the way, with cheaper fare because it mainly caters for locals. A closer examination on the ERL fare structure at Express Rail Link will reveal some interesting fact. The fare is listed at KLIA-Transit section.

KL Sentral --> Bdr. Tasik Selatan RM 4.20
KL Sentral --> Putrajaya RM 9.50
KL Sentral --> Salak Tinggi RM 12.50
KL Sentral --> KLIA RM 35.00

But,

Bdr. Tasik Selatan --> Putrajaya RM5.30
Putrajaya --> KLIA RM6.20

So to save money on fares:

1. Either take the ERL to Putrajaya for RM9.50. Get down and buy another ticket from Putrajaya to KLIA for RM6.20. Total cost works out to RM15.70 instead of RM35.00 The inconvenience is having to wait for the next train for about 15 mins(peak) or 20 mins(non-peak). But the substantial saving of RM19.30 per person may be worthwhile.

2. Take the Komuter to Bdr. Tasik Selatan for only RM1.00. From here take the ERL to Putrajaya for RM5.30. Get down and buy another ERL ticket to KLIA for RM6.20. The total costs add up to only RM12.50 instead of RM35.00. This option is cheaper by RM3.20 but the additional hassle may not be worth the additional saving.

ERL is banking on the fact that despite this apparent weakness in the fare structure, nobody will take advantage of it mainly because everybody is in such a hurry nowadays!

Lost, and Found Again

I read a news report about where on earth, when you lose an item, you will have the highest chance that somebody picks it up and returns it to you. In that report, Singapore ranked among the highest. Today, it seemed like it's a bit proven.

I lost my PDA on the bus. I believed the PDA just slipped down my bag, but I didn't notice it. I alighted the bus halfway the bus route, and when I noticed that my PDA was gone, the bus was long left.

I suspected that the PDA was left behind in the bus. But to be certain, I called back to office to check if the PDA was there, as I pretty sure that I took it with me when I left home this morning. It's not in the office. I called SBSTransit hotline, the office was closed. Finally, I called the TransitLink hotline (1800-CALLONE), and was given the phone number for SBSTransit Lost & Found (63837211) and Tampines Interchange Control Centre (67811360).

As the bus was heading to Tampines Interchange, I called them first. The first guy who picked up my phone thought I was his friend or something, kept telling me where is the Tampines Interchange. The second guy took my phone number, and promised me they will call me IF somebody returns the PDA. At this point, I decided to give up any hope of recovering the PDA.

As I was on the bus back home, somebody called me. He picked up my PDA! Victor Aw picked up my PDA on the bus. The PDA does have my number, but it's hidden. So Victor Aw found Aki's phone number. I wrote her phone number, together with her chinese name in the PDA's note when we volunteered for 117th IOC session. Luckily, Aki could recalled that I am the one wrote her name in Chinese.

So, thanks to Victor Aw, the nice guy, with her wife, and Aki indirectly, I got back the PDA. Victor Aw actually waited me at Han's at Century Square. He is such a friendly guy. Too bad I didn't have much thing for him, except some drinks.

Well, guess Singapore rating might go up a bit?

Celebrity at 117th IOC Session - Hillary Clinton

Oh no, I really want to throw away my camera phone. She is HIllary Clinton.


Everytime a famous celebrity walked out of the Esplanade's theatre, sure will caused a human traffic jam. So did Hillary Clinton.


Here's a better one of Hillary Clinton, taken by other on another occasion.

Fellow Volunteers at 117th IOC Session

With Ke Yun. First met her with Aki and Sandy together at the bus stop after the first briefing.


2 pretty volunteers Aki and Sandy


With Charles, IC of Circle 2. The photo took with my low end mobile phone camera.


All volunteers in Circle 1 and 2 of the Esplanade ushers, thanks to camera phone of Raffee.


Another photo of our group at Circle 1


At the end of the opening ceremony, directed guests from Roof Terrace to bus at Raffles Avenue.

Celebrity at 117th IOC Session - Jacque Chirac

I think it's time to upgrade my handphone, as the camera quality is sucked. Anyway this is Jacque Chirac.


Jacque Chirac taken from the staircase to Foyer Stall. The lady in front of me is actually from the 117th IOC Session organizing committee. She said I will be safe for taking these photos. Hopefully.


More of Jacque Chirac


Jacque Chirac was giving pretty long interview at the Foyer Stall, causing massive human traffic jam.

Celebrity at 117th IOC Session - Sven Goran Eriksson

He was walking down, nobody seemed to know who is he.


He is Sven Goran Eiksson, the coach of England football team. Later in the night we saw him again going into Equinox, but too late to catch him up.

At the Volunteers Lounge of 117th IOC Session

After the rehearshal on 4th July 2005, a group of us went to Volunteer Lounge and met some other volunteers.


Another photo of the group.

Fortress Singapore

Fortress Singapore, a Today newspaper headline, seems very suitably named. The Today's news article is about how the authorities have stepped up the security for the 117th International Olympic Committee (IOC) meeting, which among other things, will choose the host country of the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Sometimes I really wonder if the Singapore authorities have over-reacted to the security threat. Even before this event, the security measures across the island has tighten up. So I see machine-gun at Orchard Road! And the big Security t-shirt at the MRT station, which I think is useless. Not to say the 'cannot take photograph' immigration checkpoint at land crossing with Malaysia, which doing nothing else other than causing long traffic jam. Oh ya, may be they stopped the gun flowing in, but I don't heard much of it even before 911 attack. Anyway, luckily they don't jail if you take photograph at the immigration building. The worse if confiscation only.

Anyway, here the full article:

Fortress Singapore

Along with IOC glamour comes security burden

Wednesday • June 29, 2005

Ansley Ng
ansley@newstoday.com.sg

THE smiles have been perfected.

But as Singapore prepares to hold the 117th International Olympic Committee (IOC) meeting to choose the host country of the 2012 Summer Olympics, one group has its guard up.

For eight months, security officials have been sparing no effort to ensure the safety of delegates at one of the highest-profile events to be held in Singapore this year.

More than 2,000 police officers, soldiers and civil defence personnel will be deployed to protect about 3,500 foreigners, including heads of state, celebrities and sporting greats.

"This will be one of the biggest security operations in Singapore in terms of scale and numbers," Senior Assistant Commissioner Aubeck Kam, the Singapore Police Force's director of operations, told reporters yesterday.

For a week starting on Saturday, security will be tightened for the arrival of world leaders such as British Prime Minister Tony Blair, French President Jacques Chirac and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.

Football stars David Beckham and Raul, and boxing legend Muhammad Ali will also be in town.

Police have been working closely with the armed forces, civil defence force and organisers to "ensure all delegates have a safe time and see the best of Singapore", said SAC Kam.

For example, police may conduct checks on shoppers at the Raffles City Shopping Centre, next to the convention centre where the meeting will be held.

Vehicles entering the mall's basement car park would also be checked, while visiting delegates would be assigned bodyguards.

While the authorities prefer to err on the side of caution, security experts told Today that the threat of terrorists mounting attacks on the meeting was low.

"You can never rule out the possibility of an attack but I would be extremely surprised (if it happened)," said Dr Tim Huxley, senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

"Singapore is such a hard target that it is extremely likely to deter terrorists from thinking seriously about attacking this event because Singapore has been proactive in the war against terrorism."

The attendance of so many world leaders and sports stars is viewed as a sign of the world's confidence in Singapore's security.

"In Singapore, the level of security is very high," said Dr Huxley, who specialises in Asia-Pacific security and defence. "It is precisely that sense of security that not only reassures leaders attending such a meeting but also helps attract them."

But it is the high-profile nature of the event — and the guests — that has driven the authorities to take no chances.

Of the cities vying for the Games, New York has already been the victim of the most spectacular terrorist in history. Madrid and Moscow have also been hit by terrorists. London is Enemy No 2 for some, because of Britain's ties with the United States. And, until recently, the Al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah terror group was sharpening its knives in the region.

But the authorities can breathe a little easier, knowing that the militant group — whose last significant act of terror was the bomb blast near the Australian Embassy in Indonesia last September – has been crippled.

"We have seen it mount significant attacks … but it's leaders are on the run," said Dr Huxley, speaking to TODAY from London.

"They are probably more worried about evading capture than mounting significant attacks at the moment."

Another security expert, Dr Andrew Tan of the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, agreed.

"They (JI terrorists) have to assemble a team of people, have local logistical support, be able to smuggle weapons in and carry out surveillance," said Dr Tan. "It's difficult for JI as many of their commanders are either on the run or arrested."

Last weekend, Basque terrorist group Eta set off a car bomb next to a proposed Olympic stadium in Madrid to protest the city's bid to host the 2012 Games. Could they try to grab the world's attention here?

"Eta does not have the capacity to operate worldwide … chances of them carrying out attacks here would be remote," said Dr Tan.

"Eta has political demands. They explode a bomb but they usually don't want to kill too many people. They want to make a political point," he added.

Nevertheless, along with the smiles, the officials have been striving to perfect their defences too.

Blogsome is Down, hence blog on Dae Jang Geum

I host my blog about Korean drama series Dae Jang Geum in Blogsome. It's an instant hit. Within 2 days it's found, indexed and crawled by Google, and sending numerous visitors to it each day. However to my horror today, it seems like Blogsome is down today. I can't access my blog and even Blogsome homepage at all. Hopefully it will be up very soon.

NB: The site is up and running again after about 5 hours outage.

Page Rank Update

Ever since Google floated the idea of Page Rank, it has became one of the most important aspect of Search Engine Optimization. Higher Page Rank will push the position of a website towards the top in a Google search, which is the major search engine in the world. However, the information on Page Rank is scare. The only ways to view what is your website's Google Page Rank is via Google Toolbar or Google Directory. Even so, the Page Rank is not updated instantly. It's updated only once about 3 months.

SEO Company's Page Rank Update List History provides some important information on when a Page Rank update occurred, and predicts when is next. It also contains information about backlinks update, and other Google related update. Backlink is the link from other website to your website. Basically, the more quality backlinks you have, the higher the Page Rank will be. So the information of the backlinks is important too.