I love Malaysia

I love Malaysia. I am a 23 year old Malaysian Chinese. I have spent about 20 years in total since my birth in the country. Therefore, yes, perhaps I am biased in my opinion. Malaysia is my country of birth, my place of origin and I love Malaysia indefinitely.

Our country will be celebrating her 51st Independence Day on August 31st, 2008. Congratulations!

What I love about Malaysia?
I have seen the outside world, I have stayed and visited other foreign countries and I have heard about other cultures as well. However, deep in my heart, I have no doubt in my heart that Malaysia is the country I love. Malaysia is unique in her own ways.

Malaysia is made up of 3 major races, yet unity and co-operation spirits is often found during the most difficult time. The mamak stalls are allowed to operate 24/7, you may find some stalls in other countries closing as early as 5pm or 9pm the latest. Due to a variety of races in our population, we celebrate many different festivals regardless of race and religion. We exchange presents during Christmas, we offer ang pow and duit raya to younger generations, etc. We are a greedy lot too, we love to eat, we never seem to pass up an opportunity to have nasi lemak, roti canai, satay or cha kueh tiau. We can do whatever we want in the country as long as the activity is legal, we have unrestricted freedom in practising our religions and rights. I am especially proud of Malaysia's active participation in world issues (in United Nations and also among Islamic countries) to make the world a better place to live in. It is also comforting to know that Malaysia is still producing the world's best badminton players years after years. Mentioning sports, I also would like to congratulate our youngest Datuk for the award - Datuk Nicol David, she has been raising the profile of our country for numerous times and is one of the most recognisable sports figure in our country.

I think that would be enough, there are other things about Malaysia which I love but I would like to keep that to myself.

Ohh, by the way, I think I am also proud that Malaysia has an ambitious and strong-willed entrepreneur in quachee, he is the man behind the book above and he is involved in many businesses and entertainment industry too. He is the owner of www.themalaysiapage.com and the site is currently running a contest where 100 copies of the above book (worth RM51) will be given away. Quachee, keep up the good work, would certainly hope to meet and know you one of these days!

Are you Malaysian? What do you love about Malaysia? If you are not Malaysian, what have you heard about Malaysia? What is your experience in Malaysia?

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BobbyT Blogging To a T has been Blogged

Last week I received an email from one Amy Liu from the marketing department of Blogged.com. According to her, BobbyT Blogging To a T was recently reviewed by the editors of Blogged.com and they have graciously awarded it a score of 8.2 out of maximum possible 10 in the Technology/Computers category of Blogged.com. She also stressed that the score is quite high and is an achievement. Needless to say, I am surprised and pleased to have my blog recognized in a certain way.

The score is given based on certain criterias: Frequency of updates, relevance of content, site design and writing style. Considering the age of this blog and the fact that it is a 1-man blog, I am quite proud to display the score chart below (in comparison with the 9.9 score of slashdot.org in the same category).

Blogged.com is a site aiming to discover as many blogs as possible, present interesting content to blog readers, review and categorise blogs accurately and finally make life easier for blog authors and readers and to realize the potential of blogs as new free media.

Feel free to look around Blogged.com to discover more interesting blogs. You can participate in the rating of blogs and you can also add comments for certain blogs that you have visited. If you are a blog author, you can also submit your blog(s) to be reviewed and categorised. Who knows, you might attract many more new visitors to your blog.

Thank you Amy Liu for informing me about the rating I have received. Keep up the good work, Blogged.com :)

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Something imminent coming up shore!

Since the announcement of licensed WiMAX providers in Malaysia, a fast and furious competition has ensued between the service providers to be the first to roll out WiMAX services to the end users.

The four licensed WiMAX providers in Malaysia, namely Bizsurf, Packet One Networks, Asiaspace Dotcom and Redtone-CNX Broadband have prepared for almost 2 years to introduce WiMAX services to the general public.

WiMAX is a relatively new technology and service in Malaysia, as such nobody can be certain regarding the future of WiMAX. The main concerns are:

• do the licensed WiMAX providers have enough experience to implement WiMAX services nationwide?
• will the pricing of the WiMAX services be affordable to a majority of the population?
• what are the effects of WiMAX to conventional broadband and wireless internet services?

With so much at stake, the licensees will probably adopt one of the following strategies:

1. Be the first to offer WiMAX services and gain first-mover advantage.
2. Sit back and let someone else be the first, duplicate the success of the first mover and avoid mistakes made by it.
3. Be indifferent to other licensees' moves, introduce WiMAX services when it is ready, according to the company's plans.

Of special interest to consumers is the pricing for WiMAX services. Will it be cheaper or slightly more expensive than the current internet services (broadband and wireless inclusive)? I personally think that initially, WiMAX services would certainly be more expensive than the average Streamyx package, I estimate the price to range between RM120-150 per month.

Whatever the pricing may be, it won't come cheap IMHO because there is the cost of WiMAX modem to consider. The WiMAX service providers may charge a 1 time fee for the modem or they may charge monthly subscription fees. Considering the history of the internet packages in the country, it is highly possible that the WiMAX providers would also require consumers to sign a contract, tying them to the service for a fixed amount of time (minimum 1 year perhaps?).

How much do you think WiMAX will be charged? How much are you willing to pay? I am anxious to try WiMAX and willing to pay a slightly higher price if I could be guaranteed to receive a fast and stable connection. What about you?

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WiMAX to be preferred for internet connection

Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, or the technology better known as WiMAX is expected to be widely adopted anytime soon and will be replacing the conventional modes of internet connectivity (the likes of wired broadband, WiFi and even HSPDA).

Why is WiMAX preferred?

1. WiMAX is essentially a wireless digital communications system, that naturally explains its advantage over wired broadband internet connection.
2. WiMax (IEEE 802.16) is superior to its predecessor, WiFi which uses the 802.11 specifications (WiMAX has wider range, higher speed and less interference effects).
3. WiMAX is also more cost effective to deploy than cables to each house especially in rural areas.
4. During emergency and for security purposes, WiMAX's advantages are undisputed (being far-reaching, it can also be easily set up through fixed or mobile transmitters).

How WiMAX works?
To the end users, there is not much difference in using WiFi and WiMAX. They only have to get WiMAX enabled devices and as long as there are WiMAX services and facilities around, they should be able to experience good internet connection. For further information on how WiMax works, check the following articles:

• HowStuffWorks "How WiMAX Works" (general information)
• WiMAX technical information on Wikipedia (for tech-savvy consumers)

Future Development
World leaders and technology analysts are convinced that WiMAX has plenty to offer and will be adopting it in stages as the wireless networking standard. In mid-2006, Sprint Nextel announced that it would be investing about US$5 billion in WiMAX technology over the next few years. Meanwhile computer developers, led by computer chip giant Intel are preparing to release computers integrated with WiMAX receivers. Other multimedia applications are expected to be enhanced by WiMax.

"For a faster, richer and more reliable network and internet"

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Easy MoneyBites Contest

It has been quite some time since I have entered a contest through this blog. This time the MoneyBites Contest caught my attention and since the entry method is rather easy, I have decided to join in the fun.

MoneyBites is a blog about how to earn online. Unlike other contests out there, this contest is very easy to join, all you have to do is to write a simple blog post about the contest (just like this one), link to MoneyBites with the required anchor text, and subscribe to MoneyBites RSS feed through email.

There are 3 great prizes up for grabs:

1. $50 cash via PayPal
   
2. $20 cash via PayPal
   
3. $5 cash via PayPal

If you have multiple blogs, you can write unique post on each blog to increase your chances of winning the prize on offer. Winners will be selected using a randomizer.

No contest will be easier to join than this one! Hurry up now, the contest is ending on 15th July 2008. Good luck :)

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