The economy is not looking rosy at all. Everybody's feeling the pinch..from individuals, to families, companies, organizations and even the Government. Here are some examples of the sign of the (bad) times that i happened to observe.
Koi vs Talapia..a Government's dilemma
Just the the other day, I went to INTAN (Institute Tadbir Negara), Bukit Kiara, for an economic lecture on the current economic crisis. INTAN is the federal government's training centre for management and administration. The lecture was done at the auditorium. You see, there is a pond under the stairs leading up to the auditorium. And in the pond there are quite a number of talapia fish and a few koi fish. In 2004-2005, i attended a 6 month course (Diploma Pengurusan Awam) there at INTAN. But the difference is that, all the the fish there were koi or carp. I guess when many of the koi fish died, INTAN could only replace them with a cheaper type of fish. Yup, you guessed it, sign of the times.
To replace or Not To Replace..a kancil's dilemma
Yesterday, I went to Sunway Pyramid. At the parking area i saw a white kancil car. The weird thing about that kancil was that, it's front plate number was made out of plywood. (darn...i regret not taking that picture). On top of that, it was handwritten using a permanent whiteboard marker. It doesn't cost much to replace a broken plate number I think. Maybe around RM20-RM40. But then again, it is the sign of the times after all.
Anyone has anything interesting to tell about the sign of the times, feel free to share. Thanks and cheers!
About Me
- hsuimin
- Hi there! I am a Sabahan, Malaysian who is currently working for the Ministry of Education in Putrajaya. My hometown is in Penampang, which is 15 minutes away from Kota Kinabalu. To anyone who happen to stumble upon my blog (please excuse my royal language), please feel free to comment. I would be writing about anything under the sun. I wouldn't want to confine the topic/s on a particular subject because my interests are many. I'm passionate about my family (I'm crazy about them actually), my home state(Sabah), my race (I'm a Kadazan, proud but not snobbishly proud), sports(football,golf,etc...fyi, golf is not an old man's game, and only for the elite, though it is still a little bit on the expensive side), politics (I'll try to steer away from this topic, though it's very tempting) and about the economy, and, financial/banking system (do i sound intellectual??). I am told that i am an all-rounder (just like my waist-line) and humorous!(really??). Welcome to my blog and Kopivosian! :)
Tobpinai, congratulations and welcome to the blogging world. I will definitely drop a line in your blog. Meanwhile, please read the DE yesterday, 22/02/09 on the comments by Datuk Ayub Aman when interviewed by Mary Chin. Pl give your comments and email it to me because our President, DML, would like to get views from people like you on the subject matter before we can make a formal reply to Ayub's comments. Thanks and happy blogging.
ReplyDeletewelkam, welkam to da blogosphere. pasal ko punya topik ni...byk tu example dia...keliling pinggang bule nampak.
ReplyDeletei don't know if this one can be considered as the sign of the times but every morning on our way to send the kids to the babysitter's house, we will always see this man riding a bicycle and carrying his baby (over 9 months old, I assume) in a baby carrier and once when it was raining, he was "handling" the bike with one hand and the other hand was holding the umbrella. doiii...kesian tu baby sia nampak.
That's a sad example of life's reality. Strucked a bull's eye on my heart. Coz i've seen something like that before as well..a family of four on a kapcai. The dad was on the handles. Two young kids, one a baby and the other a toddler of just over two years, in between the mom and the daddy. Mom holding on for their dear lives.
ReplyDeleteThe Global Economic Crisis has certainly taken its toll. UK is not spared when a British man had to advertise his wife for sale.
ReplyDeleteI have received an email from Linudus follower and would like to share with your readers "The Sign of the Times". Here is how it goes:
ADVERTISEMENT
LONDON (AFP) - - A British man fed up with his wife's complaints advertised her for sale -- and got a number of offers.
"Nagging Wife. No Tax, No MOT. Very high maintenance -- some rust," wrote Gary Bates, 38, in a small ad in Trade-It, more usually used to buy and sell cars or household goods.
Bates, a self-employed builder from Gloucestershire, southwest England, snapped after his wife Donna got on his nerves while she was watching television and decided to place the ad as a joke.
"She was nagging me for doing something small, while she was watching some rubbish on TV. So I just thought I'd put an ad in to get rid of her.
"I didn't think anyone would ring up but I've had at least nine or 10 people calling about her. It's gone mad. There was no one I knew -- just people asking, 'Is she still available?'"
The couple only married last year, and Bates said his 40-year-old wife -- whom he advertised in the magazine's Free to Collect section, along with some of his fishing tackle -- initially gave him "a bit of an ear-bashing."
But he said: "She's seen the funny side of it now though!"