RON95 and Diesel up by RM0.20 per liter

As of midnight tonight, Malaysians will have to pay RM0.20 more per liter of Petrol (RON95) and Diesel. This increase comes in after holding fast for nearly 3 years since 2010, with the news travelling fast through cyberspace (testament to the power of social media). What timing for such news, following Merdeka (Independence) Day, which was just 2 days ago....

RON95 and Diesel prices are subsidized by the Government taxpayers' contribution to the IRB, and with the reduction in fuel subsidies to RM0.63 and RM0.80, the projected savings are estimated to be in the region of RM3.3 billion annually.

As mentioned earlier, news travels fast these days. My colleague showed me an SMS on his cellphone, and counter-checking on the internet at a reliable source (good practice to counter-check for hoaxes), I found that this was true : http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2013/09/02/ron95-up-20-sen.aspx

After work, on the way home, I passed by the Petron gas station next to the 24-hour McDonald's (at the Melaka Mall), and found a massive traffic jam made up of cars waiting in line to refuel. This was not something I had not seen before - as this reaction was triggered each time there was a price increase announced.

Makes no difference to me, as I just refueled 2 days ago on the way back from town after bringing my family to watch the annual Merdeka Day Parade. By a simple calculation, you would only save 50 x price differential (RM0.20) or RM10.00, with the following assumptions:-

1. You have enough space in your fuel tank to fit in 50 liters (mind you that 50 liters is the size of the fuel tank in many family cars)
2. Not factoring in the time and fuel spent driving to the petrol station and waiting in line (and really, really long line it is)

The ugly consequences from greedy traders will be coming up soon, as even insignificant fuel price increases such as these will serve as excuses for them to increase the price of goods, food and services.

There are always those who will complain (ironically, they can afford cars, but not the fuel). For the rest of us, life goes on, with this reminder that things that we often take for granted (just like water) can have a big impact on our daily lives.

Meanwhile, I remind everyone out there, to drive in a more-fuel efficient manner (driving slow like a road hog actually uses more petrol) and when appropriate, use public transport or skip driving altogether (walk / cycle).

Farewell to Elene

Parting is such sweet sorrow, especially for those of us who have been working together for many, many years. And so it turns out that the next in a long line of farewells is none other that our old friend, Elene Tan.

Personally, I've known Elene for over 10 years now, way back in the days when the "pioneer group" of Vishay were all young and restless. Ahem, we're all still young today (at least I believe so) - just that we were younger way back then. Since then, many of us have already become fathers and mothers, but the Gen X spirit is still burning strongly in our hearts.
L to R : "Auntie" Chong SC, Elene (VIP Queen for the night), Sussan from Singapore, VSM-ex-VSM-VSM Chea Thin, "Pinky" Foo (if I understand correctly from Low CL)

Elene was initially in the production planning group, but somewhere in the years gone by made a successful transition to the logistics team. Always on top of the situation, managing things as they happen, and not waiting for something to happen, working with her sure dropped the difficulty level down a couple of notches.

A few of us banded together for a night together at the i-Tango family karaoke, conveniently located at the 2nd floor of the Bukit Beruang Bazaar opposite the gym. I had no idea there was a karaoke there in the first place, but we're most fortunate to have Chong Sew Chu in our group, as she is very "in" when it comes to this genre of socializing....

The VIP room was fitted with 3 screens and was large enough to accommodate our group of 20+ pax. I'm not one with "golden ears", so I can only say that the sound system was not lacking in any particular way. There was 1 wired microphone provided, along with 3~4 wireless ones. Throughout the night, there appeared to be some minor technical challenges with the microphone, mostly coming from weak batteries / dropped connections.

As for the karaoke system itself, the interface was at least orderly and user-friendly and the song list appeared to be quite extensive. Did not really look into it in detail, as my main intention that night was to see Elene off, and not to practice singing. Overall, I do rate the experience more positive relative to the one we had at Mybox karaoke last year.

Though there were many of us from the original pioneer group, like Chong SC, Tan HC, Low CL just to name a few, there were also some "new guys" like Ang CK, Lim CN and Goh YF, and even Sussan from Vishay Singapore, which just goes to show that our team spirit extends across all boundaries.

Ultimately, people come and people go, for various reasons, sometimes unique to the individual. As I understand it, Elene exits the world of semiconductor manufacturing - in fact, leaving entirely the workforce, to focus on family.
Must be the effect of haze getting in their eyes....


A hazy Sunday morning in Melaka

Penang license plate in front - poor guy, having come all the way here and get caught in bad haze....
The haze is back in this part of town. I found that the entire town was shrouded in a cloud of haze, engulfing the sun and turning what was to be a bright and sunny Sunday morning into a gloom. Like a scene out of one of those Chinese watercolor paintings, only this is actually a real-life depiction of environmental disaster.

At the traffic lights, in the distance I can just barely make out the transmission tower on top of Bukit Beruang. I hope that there are no low flying aircraft around, for visibility is really terrible today.

This isn't the first time we've had such a bad haze - occasionally in the past, this recurs practically each year, as it is believed to be caused by the clear-and-burn methods of the farmers in a close neighbouring country. Of course, we cannot deny that there are local open burnings going on in our country, as anyone driving around in the vicinity of Nilai (towards KLIA and Cyberjaya/Putrajaya can verify).

As if the sight of haze wasn't bad enough, then there's the stench in the air and stinging in the eyes. Lots of respiratory problems potentially waiting to occur - not a good time for those with hay fever or asthma. For those of you out there, who are unfortunate enough to be around here, do stay indoors and drink plenty of water. Putting on a proper face mask when going outdoors seems like a good idea - but make sure you're wearing one that's effective and not just for show.

Really puts a damper on my spirits - as a result, did not manage to bring Charmaine and Christopher for outing. Kids trapped at home really is a sad thing.

The DOE (Department Of Environment) or Jabatan Alam Sekitar Malaysia publishes the API monitoring data on a daily basis on its website : http://www.doe.gov.my

I hope that these people will be struck with realization on the consequences of their actions. Cannot claim that it is perfectly ok to continue what was done since ages ago - lack of awareness and understanding. Till then, holding on to hope and perhaps my breath as well....

Return to Gunung Datuk

Sometimes, you really get more than you're looking for when going out on an adventurous outing. Such is the case of the predicament that I found myself within when I decided to go for a hike up Gunung Datuk once again.

I've been up this famous mountain once before, way back in early 2011. Not really that high, being just 870m/2900ft above sea level. Of course, that's the vertical distance, that you'd have to traverse if Gunung Datuk resembled a wall. The hike from the base to summit was roughly 2 to 3 kilometers (for lack of accurate measuring equipment that could trace my ascent in 3D). The journey starts at the office at the foot of the mountain trail, located at N2 32.598 E102 10.148.

Since my last visit, the climbing fee had increased by RM2 to RM5. Still a fair fare, in my humble opinion. It was a public holiday, on the occasion of the birthday of the Agong. There were many fellow hikers that day, thus forcing me to park my car somewhere along the road that led to the parking area. Which was where, unfortunately, that I found myself stuck in the mud.

Trapped in mud - can't go back, can't go forward....

Using wood didn't help

The other side of the car was looking pretty bad

Turns out that it had rained the night before, which turned the grassy earth by the side of the asphalt road into a tractionless dirt surface. Which I found out after some 2 seconds, while trying to correct my parking position. My car was on a slight incline, so with practically no traction, trying to go forward only resulted in wheels spinning in the mud. Going backwards was possible, but there was a car behind me so there was no space to back out. After some attempts at extraction (all ending in failure), final strategy was to wait for the mud to dry and the car behind me to get out of the way. Incidentally, disabling VSA (vehicle stability assist) at least enabled my wheels to move, but did not get me free. As spinning the wheels appeared to be getting me no where but deeper into the mud, decided to stop before sinking until my car bottom touched the ground. First time bring trapped this way - Honda Civic being a FWD, was most unsuitable for this kind of terrain. Wonder if I had been driving a 4x4, probably would have been laughing. Should leave it to Jackson and the guys at the Puma 4x4 Club.

Anyway, since I was "trapped", decided to make a quick climb up the mountain and come back down. I'm not sure how long I took when I was here two years ago, but it seems to take a longer time that I remembered. Got up to the top in roughly 3 hours. Not right to the top - just to where the big rock and steel ladders are. Getting there was the plan, as beyond that required some climbing up ladders. After all, my main aim was to get some exercise and to gauge if I can still make it up to this point.

As far as I planned to go - target met!

Coming back down was faster, around 1 to 2 hours. Yes, I'm sure there are many of you out there who can do this in half the time. Well, for me, personal goal has been achieved, and I don't have to climb up like Gollum (from Lord of the Rings) to be happy with myself.

Once back down, after recovery and re-hydration, and waiting for mud to dry, I went to check on my car. I found the front of my car covered in mud - apparently the car in front of me had also gotten stuck, and had covered my car in mud in the process of breaking free. Looks like I have some car-washing to do when I get home....

Mud bath by the car in front - fortunately, no dents or collisions

Unfortunately, that was not all - the mud was still, um, muddy. But, at least the car behind me was gone. So, taking a risk of getting stuck deeper off the asphalt road, I turned my tires away from the road and reversed until one of my front tires was on the road. Once that was done, I shifted to "D" and gently stepped on the accelerator. The tires were still slippery with mud and slipped a lot, but as I persisted it somehow managed to grip the road and started to inch forward. I pulsed the throttle to get the tire spinning fast briefly to throw off some mud to get better grip. Finally, when the other tire reached the road, with both tires, I finally managed to pull free of the muddy trap!

There was no place to wash my car, so I just used the wipers to clear the windscreen. Looking like I just came out of a dirt rally, I drove back slowly (as my tires were still muddy, didn't want to risk loosing traction) and eventually arrived home safe and sound - albeit much later than expected. On this adventure, my car was for once more involved than myself....

On terra firma - free at last!

Not so bad, just have to drive home like this and spend some time washing car

Overall, I'm happy with myself, still being able to make it up and down without collapsing halfway from sheer exhaustion. I had originally planned to try climbing Gunung Kinabalu (again) this year. Something that I've never succeeded in doing before, in spite of numerous attempts - one of which resulted in me fracturing my left ankle. Unfortunately, cannot find any of my friends to join yet, so as of today, this plan remains just a dream. Hope that one day I will get another shot at it, and for once, succeed. Until then....

The end of Multiply.com - another one bites the dust

First and foremost - my blog posts earlier than 2012 no longer have linked inline photos, only dead links. I'm very sorry for this, but as Han Solo would say - "It's not my fault!"
This is what you see when you key in "www.multiply.com" in your browser

When I first started blogging, I created my first blog at Blogspot (now known as Blogger), marvinchong.blogspot.com (which you can tell was created by a beginner, just from the name). However, at that time, features were very basic, so after looking at numerous hosts, I finally decided to put the stake in the ground at Multiply.com. At that time, decision was made due to its promise for an all-in-one solution, as well as unlimited photo hosting (which as very attractive to me, as an avid photographer). Best of all, I was able to cross-post - that is, post on Multiply.com and automatically the post would also appear on Blogger, including the inline photos.

Since then, did try to do some parallel blogging to Facebook (which was not very suitable as there's no indexing, and other blog basics) and as of late, Google+. However, in the end, going back to the grassroots and stick to Blogger as my main interface to the world.

My last post on which I've made my former blog on Multiply.com and cross-posted to Blogger was in Jan 2012. After this date, I've started blogging exclusively on Blogger, as the Multiply was already planning to abandon it's user base of bloggers to focus exclusively on e-commerce. As one might expect, this created quite a uproar and got a lot of feedback from the blogging community (some quite vocal and verbose, others like myself just quietly switched to another platform). Whether because of this bad decision, or perhaps Multiply.com was already doomed to a fate not unlike Myspace and Friendster (due to Facebook, undoubtedly), it looked like a downward spiral of no return.

And thus, it came as no surprise that Multiply.com ceased all operations as of 31 May 2013. Another one bites the dust. The effect on me is that for all of my cross-posts, hosted photos are no longer valid as Multiply servers are now offline. Therefore, a lot of my earlier posts will now look horrible.
Pineapple tarts? No, just a placeholder for the dead image link (now scattered through the earlier years of my blog)

Multiply also offered free unlimited photo albums with their photo hosting, so I'm afraid the links to those photo albums are now also deader than doorknobs.

Fortunately, due to cross-posting, all of the text is safe (for now) at Blogger. Would be quite an effort to edit all of the past posts and re-insert the photos, so forgive me for leaving them as they are. A grim reminder of the truth of impermanence.

Sigh - what to do now? Moving forward, I hope that Blogger will not pull a Multiply on me somewhere in the unknown future. As for my early blog posts, instead of deleting them, I will leave them in place, as blogging for me started out as an experiment in keeping up with the times (don't want to get left behind by the wave of technology and become a dinosaur). Somewhat of a hobby - unlike some other bloggers, I don't monetize my blog with ads, nor do I intend to make it a source of income.

Well, here's hoping for a bright future ahead, both in real life and in cyberspace!

Farewell to Mr Moey

It was the eve of May, Labour Day. A fitting date for our farewell dinner in honour of one of Vishay Semiconductor Malaysia's "founding fathers" - Mr Moey Sam Fook.

Mr Moey had been with Vishay since 2002, heading the Finance / Costing departments (which I always manage to mix up, sometimes even today), literally keeping a watchful eye on every penny that goes in and out of Vishay's pocket.

Besides his "real job", Mr Moey has also proven himself as a natural orator and radiates confidence, as anyone who has attended events with Mr Moey as the faciliator / host / MC can agree. With a small but diverse team of individuals in VSM, it was no easy task keeping the people all working together as a team, and feeling great while doing so. Call it the soft skill or art as you may, team building sessions conducted by Mr Moey were far more effective that the typical generic offerings of the garden-variety consultant (with the possible exception of Dr Lawrence Walter Ng, perhaps).

In my years working with Mr Moey, I've had the opportunity to come to know him as a friend and fatherly figure. In the recent years, I thank him for introducing me to great "spiritual software" that is the work of Don Miguel Ruiz - The Four Agreements.

The most memorable piece of advice that I got from Mr Moey was "If you believe that something is yours, just reach out and grab it!". Which has since brought me far in my life, inspired to go all out and work for what I truly believed I deserved. Thanks a count-less many times for this - Mr Moey!

So today, though I was late to arrive (as those who are close to me can already guess, due to work - why else?), my thoughtful friend reserved some tasty dishes for me so that I did not have to dine on only the standard servings of rice and noodles.

It was nice to see everyone get together for this occasion outside of working time - a true depiction of the closeness or "kam cheng"-ness of our circle of friends. Set for the occasion, I had my trusty DSLR with me to capture some memorable photos.

As our event drew to a close, we all bid our fond farewells and best wishes to Mr Moey as he enters a new and well-deserved phase of life called "semi-retirement", going back to his family somewhere in the region of Subang Jaya. I bid good night to a dear friend, with hopes for a happy and healthy life ahead!


Photos:













An evening with friends @ Restoran Ayoob, Batu Berendam

There are those who shun work, as working life has it's rough edges and nerve-wrecking moments. Especially for those who work in a semiconductor manufacturing facility running 24-hours round the clock.

Outside of the factory walls, after office hours are over, I'm fortunate to have a close circle of friends, who have instilled in their hearts at least one of the four of Don Miguel Ruiz's famous Four Agreements - don't take things personally.

To be honest, I was not very sure where exactly that was, so luckily I happened to look left when I was trying to look right - and just managed to make the left turn off the main road. Good thing no cars or motorcycles were near me - otherwise I'd have to drive onwards and U-turn somewhere in front.

I was "highly engaged" at office today, so just lost track of time, resulting in my arrival some ten minutes after the official starting time of 8.00 pm *sharp*. It was still relatively early, so there was a lot of available parking spaces. My friends were already there - joining together four separate tables to accommodate everyone.

Kam and Florence were there with their two sons at the far end of the table, with Kua, Amelia, Lim KS and Chong Wee Kiong seated along the opposite length of the table. On "my side" were Tan SH and wife, and Lo Chea Thin as well. Our group of friends go back a long way to a time when Infineon was Siemens, when there was still the OJV department. Still keeping in touch although some have already left Vishay for Sunpower, Texas Instruments (formerly knows as National Semiconductor) and Infineon.

It's not possible to have a single group discussion with such a large crowd, so there were several "chat rooms" discussion different topics (different languages too). So, it's somewhat like channel surfing where I occasionally switch to a different group and join in the discussion. I find it's a good mental exercise to be able to do this seamlessly.... :)

Kam and Florence were the first to leave, not a surprise as they had their two sons with them. We had some some more friends joining too (arriving later than me, so I wasn't the last). Jenny See, Heng and Chong FC with his wife Sim BL kept the headcount balanced after Kam and family left.

I found out that Chong FC was going on a trip to ascend Gunung Kinabalu next month - unfortunately he did not tell me earlier, as I'm still keen on going there. Have yet to see for myself what lies beyond Laban Rata - failed the last time, just like the attempt before....

We were there for some time - it was not very hot that day, and the volume of the TV was not so high as to impede our conversations. Something that I strongly emphasize when choosing a place to sit down with friends. By the end of the session, I had consumed 1 roti kosong, 1 roti telur, 1 cheese naan, 1 kopi-o kosong, 1 teh-o and 1 teh tarik. All for the price of RM8.70. Expensive or cheap, you decide....

Coincidentally, patronizing Ayoob too was a senior colleague (former big boss) who I refer to as "Uncle Terry" (our friend know who I'm talking about). Also saw Yeo EK there too. The world is really small - at least when everyone is still in Melaka. After my friends decided to call it a night and head for home, I hopped over to the next table for "second round" of catching up on times since we all went our separate ways.

Time moves quickly in the company of old friends, so it wasn't until someone realized it was already midnight that we finally decided to call it a night (for me, the second time).

Today's gathering was a good one, as usual, as it was always good to see friends together outside of work (though sometimes in large companies, this doesn't always happen). Apart from Heng, Kua and Chong FC trying to figure out how to check whether it was high tide or low tide (all set for going fishing next), none of us were glued to our phone / tablet. Chea Thin did share a video clip of some of our other friends dancing to a "quite famous Korean song". It's the one like riding a horse, so you can probably guess what song I'm talking about...!

I'm always happy to meet up with my friends and not only keep in contact in cyberspace. Hope we can keep ourselves together as we have done throughout these years - from single and young to family and... still young (just not as young as before)! :)


75,000 km PM service for my Honda Civic FD2

It's been roughly 10 months or ~5000 traveled kilometers since my car was in for preventive maintenance. Not that I'm saving cost or anything like that, but this is really due to the low amount of mileage I'm clocking on my Honda Civic FD2.

Having a routine job = boring life is one of the secrets behind the really low rate of odometer advancement. Obviously, I'm not in the sales line, otherwise I'd probably be in just the opposite predicament. Even with the occasional drive down to the capital city of Kuala Lumpur, there's just not enough distance between my home, work place and frequented venues to rack up the kilometers. Not that I'm complaining. Besides the funny feeling of not having serviced my car for as long as I can remember, it does help to keep the monthly expenses low, which is always a good thing in times where everything goes up except one's salary....

Well, back to the subject matter. As usual, I made a service appointment earlier that week by phone to the GS Tay Honda Service Center at Muar, which, adhering to the legal speed limits, is roughly 45 minutes away from my home. Always good to do so, as it may significantly reduce your waiting time.

Upon my arrival in the morning earlier today, I found that there was practically no space to park my car in the area surrounding the service center, as there were many cars with the red triangle numbers on them, in queue for service. Hmm, I thought to myself, it was going to be a long wait here today.

I finally stopped my car by the road side near by and walked to the service reception. Was greeted by the friendly staff who then took my keys and proceeded to log in the necessary documentation while I waited in the next building. The customer waiting lounge was packed with fellow Honda owners, so I stood around briefly before I was approached by the staff, who needed some help to locate my car (it was really THAT crowded today). Good thing about the staff here - whether there was no other people around or when they were overloaded with customers, they were always friendly and helpful. Having observed how their techs go about servicing cars, they are also very competent and not sloppy at their jobs. For these reasons, I have no qualms about driving all the way here to service my FD2, as I'm confident my car is in good hands over here.


There was no place to sit at the customer waiting lounge, so I just got myself a cup of coffee and sat down at one of the unoccupied tables in the showroom area. Right next to the table was a bright red CRZ on display. I peeked inside at the gear lever to see if if were the manual or auto. I was interested to try out the gearshifts and feeling of the clutch, had this been a manual - unfortunately, it was an auto, so it dropped out of my attention faster than school from a schoolboy's mind after the bell rings....

45 minutes after my arrival, I saw my FD2 being driven into the service bay. Roughly 1 hour later, I was back in the driver's seat on my way home. That included confirming a change of windshield wipers and paying for the entire service.

The oil that goes into my engine is the standard issue oil from Honda, albeit the fully synthetic variant - never had any issue with using this so far. 4.x liters, so the balance engine oil was returned to me to keep for my next service (hope that there's no expiry date on this).

At the rate of which I'm using my car, my next preventive maintenance service would likely be some time in 2014. Which is quite long, as my feeling is that besides mileage, one should not go too long without doing some checking and servicing on your car, irrespective of how far it has traveled  Imagine if I were to service my car after every 10,000 km instead of 5,000 km.... :)

iOS 6.1.2 update available


One thing that users of PC's should be accustomed to by now, regardless of whether running off Windows, Linux or Mac OS, is the frequent updates that are made available from time to time. Looking at the nature of these *updates*, they are almost always meant as a fix, rather than to improve on functionality. This trend applies also to Apple's iPhones and iPads as well, which run off the iOS operating system.

The latest update just announced is version 6.1.2, which will patch up the following Apple devices:-
  • iPhone 3GS and later
  • iPad 2 and later
  • iPod touch 4th generation and later
  • iPhone 5 
So what's new? Officially, it's to fix "an Exchange calendar bug", which may reduce battery life as a result of increased network activity. That's all, as written on Apple's support site at http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1639. As battery life is dependent on several factors (like how you actually use the phone, what apps you have running in the background, WIFI, GPS, 3G, etc.), I'd sure like to know if anyone out there had any positive experiences after the OS update (with real data, as opposed to feeling, which is highly subjective).

Although iXXXX products from Apple appear very similar through the generations, there may or may not be a lot of changes going on under the hood. Products which are a couple of generations back are either no longer compatible with the latest updates, or are intentionally not supported (perhaps a clever marketing strategy to force users to upgrade?).

Well, obviously, this update is from Apple, so if you are using an, ahem, alternative but similar OS for your iXXXX device you may want to give this a walk over until such equivalent update is available.

Otherwise, you should patch up your device anyway, as there is generally no harm in running the latest updates from the manufacturer, even though you're not immediately affected. Never know what the future holds....

A family CNY dinner @ Nyonya Makko

It was time again for the Chinese New Year get-together. Relatives from Australia were in town, so we decided that a dinner was in order, and what better place to dine that at one of our favourite, old-time restaurants, Nyonya Makko in Melaka Raya.

Now, this place was the earliest Nyonya Restaurant that I came to know about, as far as I can remember. We had already come to know and patronize this establishment a long time ago, since I was just in school. Being half Baba Nyonya, the food here was quite compatible with my palate. Of course, there is no way they can match my grandmother's cooking, but they do manage to come in a close 2nd place...! :)

Actually, I was here just a week ago, with a some colleagues from work. Overall, thumbs up from everyone, so can't go wrong if you choose to dine here.

Location - Melaka Raya. Here's a snapshot of Google Maps, where this place is also listed:-


You can get more information about this place from their website at http://www.makkonyonya.com.my/main.html

The restaurant has been in its present corner-lot location since day one, and little much has changed over the years. I believe that many years ago, it was slightly smaller, until there was some renovations to increase the number of dining tables. The restaurant is fully air-conditioned, so it's very comfortable inside (some might say too cold, varies according to individuals). Good news to me, as this means "no smoking". The interior is nicely decorated with old photos and paraphernalia unique to the Baba Nyonya culture, like the iconic Bakul Siah.

There are no pork dishes served here (therefore, not 100% like my grandma's cooking), but there is no "halal" certification. If you ever stop by this place, you simply must help yourself to the "cendol" desert, which is basically a mixture of finely shaved ice, red beans, santan (coconut milk), gula Melaka (palm sugar) and of course, cendol (green rice flour).

Food is reasonably priced, which, being a relative thing, all I can say is that it's comparable with the rest of the market. I'm happy that this place hasn't degenerated into a commercial, profit-oriented business. Will definitely continue to recommend and patronize Nyonya Makko. Just as my elders introduced me to this place at a young age, I now do the same for my kids, hope that they will also enjoy the unique Nyonya food and dessert at this establishment!

Lunch with Yan and Jue on a quiet afternoon

It's the 4th day of Chinese / Lunar New Year. Though the office today was notably more populated than it was yesterday, it was still relatively quiet, with the majority of the ethnic Chinese staff away on planned vacation for the entire week. I was able to to make a lunch-time appointment with my good friends and colleague / ex-colleague Jue and Yan.

Actually, there'd be a larger group, if it weren't for the fact that practically everyone was still out of office and virtually unreachable.

The original plan was to meet up at "Nasi Ayam Gemas" just outside the Tesco at Cheng, which was a short drive away from Vishay. Unfortunately, seems like they were very much in the spirit of Chinese New Year - closed! Well, behind every good plan is a plan B, so after about 2 seconds of careful deliberation, Yan suggested we fall back to Secret Recipe which was in Tesco itself. As there were no other proposals from either me or Jue, so Secret Recipe it was. For those who have never heard of it, Secret Recipe is an Asian food franchise with over 280 outlets to date (according to their About page on web site : http://www.secretrecipe.com.my). To me, they're more famous for their large assortment of cheese cakes. Great tasting, but with a high calorie count, so with just the three of us, neither of us actually ordered any cheese cakes (since working in a semiconductor manufacturing plant is essentially an office
job with low physical demands). I was keen to try something different, so I ordered a Stewed Aussie Beef Steak. Sure there were some asian dishes on the menu too, but no point coming to secret recipe to eat curry mee or fried rice, right? Plus, it wasn't a lot more expensive compared to the other stuff.

We weren't alone in eating out (as opposed to eating in the cafeteria back at the factory, which usually served very limited food, especially during holiday seasons when the number of potential patrons are not working). At the next table were Lye Yin and Blosson from HR (plus one other lady who's name unfortunately eludes my frail memory at this time). On our way out, also there to pack some cheese cakes were Deva and Kumar. Talk about it being a small, small world....

Well, lunch was over, just in time as the bright sunny sky had a complete make-over and was slightly drizzling in fact. It's great to sit down with friends once in awhile over a meal to break the monotony of an otherwise routine and clockwork-like life.

Anatomy of a Google+ post - a viable blogging platform?


Blogs come in all forms - for better or for worse, depending on the artistic common-sense of the blogger. *Traditional* blogs on platforms such as Wordpress and Blogger allow plenty of customization options. You can opt for a simple, minimalist approach, or a psychedelic overload. Depends on what audience you are trying to reach out to.

With the advent of social networking these days, the look and functionality (more on this later) may differ, but essence of blogging still remains. After all, you are still reaching out to some audience (general public or limited audience, depending on the privacy and content control capabilities of the social network in question).

As I mentioned in my previous post, blogging without pictures, a blog is merely a platform to express oneself and communicate with an online audience. No need to adhere to a fixed template or appearance.

Let's look at Google+, as it is today, and how it compares to an "open / highly customizable" blogging platform such as Blogger.


The screen shot above is what you will see as a user of Google+. In the place of "Share what's new" you can type away, limited only by practicality. It's quite easy to guess what the icons to the right symbolize - options to upload photos, a video, a calendar event (the least obvious) and lastly a web link.

One thing about Google+, there are no text formatting options. Very much like Twitter, only you're not restricted to just 140 characters.

Although there are those 4 icons above, you'll find that you can only select one when making a post. Thus, it's not possible to make a "multi-media" post as you could in, say, Blogger.

If you've keyed in a URL, Google+ will automatically pick up the first one and display a small preview at the bottom of your text. You can delete the picture, description, or the whole thing.

The way I see it, using Google+ requires a more focused approach when posting. You can't really make a list of say, top 10 movies of the year, with individual links for each movie, all in a single post. What you CAN do is make 10 different posts, and sum them all up in the 11th post. Or, post it elsewhere on a more conducive blogging platform and link to that post in Google+.... :)

Photos uploaded in Google+ are not compressed (though add up towards a limited quota if they are too large), so quite an attractive option for photo bloggers.

A Google+ post is also devoid of labels or tags, which means you can't group or categorize posts. So, there's not going to be any tag cloud. This may or may not be a great loss, though, as when was the last time you read a blog by category?

Absent too is the blog archive, where posts are grouped by posting date by year and month. Again, this is one feature that readers don't really use (unless your posts are seasonal AND timely).

Lastly, there's no way to add a dedicate title to your posts on Google+. You can't even type it into the body of the text and underline it, due to lack of formatting features. On the plus side, no need to crack your head to think up a title for your post - just start typing! However, since only a preview of the text is visible in Google+, to draw attention to your post, you'll need to make use of an interesting photo (which may be more tedious and difficult to find that a good title) or make the first few lines of your post as an "executive summary" to hook the reader to expand the post.

As the look and feel of Google+ is fixed, you'll have to consider how to fit in your photos and other media to support your written content. This does put the emphasis on writing and content.

For those of you who have been blogging on traditional platforms and have tried out Google+, what are your opinions? Which platform best fits your style and which one enables you to better interact with your readers?

Blogging without pictures

These days, practically everyone has a some way of taking a photo and posting it on the Internet. I still remember the days when a 2 megapixel compact camera was a rarity, when it was really exciting to have a digital photo of yourself, and blogging was practically a logical extension on an online journal with the world as an audience.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words - does this mean that each and every blog post should include at least 1 picture or illustration? I must admit that having something to look at does captivate someone's attention compared to a sea of text. Strategic use of graphics to augment your words can serve to amplify the effectiveness of your blog, more effectively than can be done with words or pictures alone.

While it's nice to do so, it's not always easy to find an appropriate or convenient photo to go with the rest of the post. In some cases, finding the right photo seems to be the hardest part of writing a blog post, and can actual stop your blog dead in its tracks if you simply will not click on "Publish" until you find that very perfect photo for the job.

In general, using a picture that is not yours or "stock" lacks that personal touch, and in some cases will land you in hot soup (just as if you're using someone's photo without a model release, or using someone's pictures without permission).

There's no hard or fast rule for this. It's largely a matter of what kind of audience you're reaching out too, as well as your personal style. Besides a photo blog (which would be rather pointless without any photos), it's generally OK to use a photo or an illustration once in awhile to break up the monotony of text. OR, you may opt for a high photo-to-text ratio (especially popular with some asian female bloggers like Wendy Cheng a.k.a. Xia Xue), which is quite OK these days since internet connections are much faster than they were back in "those old days".

Just because you're a photographer doesn't mean you can't have a text-concentric website / blog. Just take a look at Thom Hogan's website - he's a serious writer as well as a photographer, and it does require some focus and thought to go through his articles, which as often picture-free.

In my humble opinion, a blog is a form of expression, which allows anyone to reach out to the masses. More importantly, it's a form of communication, so it shouldn't be a case of "I speak, you listen". Every blogger should be prepared and looking forward to getting feedback and responding to inputs from readers - after all, if nothing comes back, then what's the point of publishing online?

I like photography, though these days my forefinger spends less time over the shutter button compared to before. I like writing too, though working in a multi-national semiconductor manufacturer, there's not a lot of time spend outside of work (detailed writing about work is a surefire career-limiting activity). Yes, someday, when I'm no longer working in this industry, I may look back and make a career out of my life's experiences (like Scott Adams does with Dilbert). So, if there's something to write about (or at least I find an interesting way to write about something mundane), it'll find its way into my blog, either illustrated or sans-photo.

[UPDATE: 23 Mar 2017] There's always an option of using royalty-free stock photography as part of your blog post. Perhaps it's better than having no photo at all, but it might give an impression of being disconnected / generic. Searching in the Internet, there are more than enough free resources to keep your post illustrated.


How about you readers out there? I'd like to hear what you look forward to in a blog. As for fellow bloggers too, do share your thoughts on how you choose to connect to your audience.

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