With the recent rise in crime especially towards women and the much publise Canny Ong case many parties have been touting about self defense for women.

However, no one actually highlighted the definition of self defence.

As a result many would be thinking about self defence in terms of learning martial arts, may it be karate, taekwondo, wushu or even silat which unfortunately is not the end of the road where the concept of self defence is involved.

Undeniabley, taking up martial arts will definitely tone up your physique, natural relfexs and for some their confidence level as well when facing adversary.

However, having learnt a few manoeuvres or even defense and attack techniques is not sufficient at all in preparing one to face his or her assailant in real life -- which most of the time happens on the street or in your own home in the night.

Also, for people who have never experienced street fights or who have never experienced the breaking out of cold sweat when a 6 inch vegetable knife was pointed at their stomach, learning martial arts with the sole purpose of self defense may only serve to give them a false sense of security which may cost them dearly.

In most places around the world, the enforcement agency has always advise their citizens to use precaution when facing assailant especially with one who is armed.

The most common advise is to refrain from fighting back which may serve to agitate the already agitated assailant but instead to go along till there is an absolute chance for you to retaliate.

However, in real life situation, the absolute chance to counter attack may never come, on the other hand, if you opt to retaliate at the first point of contact you may also be at a disadvantage because the aggressor may already be expecting your reaction.

So, no matter whether you are a 1 Dan black belt exponent or a White Belt junior, you must understand that the experience you gained in the dojo doing katas and the experience you gain from sparring with your fellow martial artist is not sufficient in preparing you for the real life encounter.

For those who really wanted to take up martial arts for self defense, it would be wise to check out what the martial arts school can offer in terms of training your natural reflexs, toning your physique and most importantly sharpening your mental alertness in avoiding and evading confrontation.

Should the confrontation is unavoidable you must be ready to disable the assailant with speed, precision and iron clad determination. Hesitancy in such situation will only jeopardise your chance of survival. Always remember that your assailant may be more agitated than you are scared so any hesitancy in your action will be follow by dire retribution by the assailant.

In learning martial arts one should not only go for the forms, like blocking, punching or kicking but one must also focus on mental training. In ancient time, mental training comes in the form of meditation however, given today furious pace of living having to meditate for a minimum of 4 hours a day is not practical.

The alternative is to engage in mental visualisation of a "what if" scenarios. This kind of mental visualisation has been used by most atheles in sports and it has a proven record in achieving results.

So, when you go around looking for a martial arts school to join, do make sure that they have qualified instructors not only in free form sparring and katas demonstration but importantly that they actually put aside time to instruct you in meditation based on mental visualisation.

Lastly, having learnt martial arts would not transform you into a Bruce Lee or a Hang Tuah, the best defense is still to be alert and observant of your environment and avoid placing yourself in a disadvantageous position.

In The Straits Times Sporeyesterday (Thurs, 26th June) it was reported that Datuk Seri Abdullah speech during the UMNO general assembly was peppered with verses from the Quran and that this is an indication that he is ready to fight PAS on their turf so as to win more votes.

I dont know who is Datuk Seri strategist but he ought to be sack and be ask to join the National Service Program to relearn the Art of Warfare Strategem all over again. (opps! do they teach the art of war in National Service?? hmmm...the last time i check it sounds more like a scouts gathering minus the firepower, that is. Anyway...)

No doubt PAS is an Islamic party and have always trumpeted the Islamic state ideology for awhile but they have never been a major threat to the BN coalition before, have they? Until that is when the omnipotent, omnipresence great one declared that his deputy is such and such that disgusted so many simple folks who just wanna earn a decent living that all these simple folks simply decided on one fine day that enuf is enuf and since simple folks voices are never meant to be heard the alternative for them is to make their action heard by giving the votes to another party.

However, pls bear in mind that that is the mother of all tornados that set things into motion becos b4 d mother of all tournados arrive there have always been small thunderstorm happening that actually shake the very pillar of livelihood of the simple people but since it is but just a small thunderstorm and since they are but just simple folks they have no choice but to let the storm ride over and all they could do is to shake their head, take a big sigh and continue with life...

But the mother of all questions that have to be asked and answer is -- is it really that Malaysians in general has become so religious all of a sudden that the secular government has to also become religious and outdo its populations or at least certain very small percentage of a population?

Or is there something else which the Datuk Seri strategist fails to see or refuse to acknowledge and that is in actuality what is irking the simple folks and irking them so much that this simple folks may just choose to give more votes to the other side again?

Taking the enemy in the enemy turf requires not only indepth review of your internal strength but also you must know whether that is the ultimate solutions which can ensure your victory. Dont suffer the disillusionment that you can live Julius Ceaser famous saying of "I come, I see, I conquer" . JC know what he wants to do and importantly who his enemy is...do you? Only thing i can say is PAS is defintely not the "real" enemy neither is the general populations. (no prize for the correct guess .... )

The government has always been a secular government and that has always been the branding and that is what makes it attractive but if you want to rebrand your famous brand please learn a lesson from a chapter in COKE history and why they lost tremendous market share to Pepsi.

And if you still think that by out-religious thy neighbor will bring you back more votes I can only wish you go luck and pray hard!

I have always respected Datuk Chan KC. During the MCA fracas he has lied low, maybe because he is a behind the scene man but whatever, my respect for him is he threw less mud than the rest.

But I have to disagree on his speech about "Chinese must work with other races."

Maybe I am mistaken but I thought all this while the chinese has always been too happy to work with anyone who has a viable business proposal that can be translated into a win-win situation. (maybe at times the "win" situation is leaning more towards the other party but hey, who's complaining, we are not a greedy lot!)

Today MCA should be thinking about regaining their lost "chi", not to worry too much about how the chinese should work with other races. Our history of adaptability in any countries in the world is good testament of our ability to work with any race in the world.

But working together doesnt mean we dont compete -- hey, we have to compete even if we work together in the same office. Competition is good for growth - all these years we have always been competing - we compete for a share of the market, weaving betwen the rules set by the other team, we compete with our neighbor next door -- buying the latest Honda or BMW, we compete with our family -- buying the best present for our father and so on and forth.

Today, I dare say Malaysian Chinese businessman is well known over the world for our innovation which I strongly believe was borne out of our competitive nature.

So, Datuk dont worry about us not being able to work with the other races -- let's focus on something much more important.

For a start, Let's keep MCA strong . Over the years this so call Chinese representative organisation dont seemed to have done much to voice our concern. Over the years, our political strengths and economical power seemed to have deteriorated -- so much so that some of our fellow chinese can be branded as communist in public without any retribution. (retribution here doesnt mean violent. We have always be a diplomatic race..) Someone once threaten to burnt down the Chinese Hall and what did the MCA do?

Well, that's history and there's nothing we can do to change history. But we can, starting with our new President and your good self today, rebuild our past glory.

Let's unite the Chinese (not for the purpose of fighting each other or fighting others..) let us build our economic strength -- to benefit all the chinese not only the people in the rich man club aka MCA.

Let us grow our membership honestly so that we will become relevant again in the political arena -- let us get in more professionals who can offer real ideas for growth for the chinese community -- let us impress on our chinese brothers that when we say united we stand we really mean united we stand and not united we stand but I stand on you first.

Maybe I am asking for too much, but I really hope that with the new line up at the top our community can once again rise back to our former glory and economical strength. Or am I asking for too much?

The National Service Programme is a grand idea borne out by some politicians who rightly deduce that unity and patroticism is lacking in today youth or should I say malaysians?

The proposed 3 months training period of which 1 month will be on camping stint and 2 months of hostels living.

The main component in the national service curriculum are:-
1:Basic military training.
2:Nation and character building
3:Social Service.
(for further infor refer to The Star Paper June 14th 2003 Headlines.)

The aim of this program is to enhance patriotism and to promote national unity as quoted by Defence Minister Datuk Seri Najib.(The Star Paper June 14th 2003)

I am not an enlighten politician who have all the statistics in their disposal but going by what the program offers it sounds more like a 3 months Adventure Program where you are taught about living in a camp, using woods fire to cook your own food in basic cooking utensils.

Of course there will be team building games, treasures hunt, songs and trivias. And yes, each morning before we embarked on our programs everyone will have to "fall-in" raise the Malaysian flag, sing the national anthem and go through 2 hours of basic drill...kiri-kanan-kiri-kanan....

I went thru all this when I was in the St John Ambulance in my Form 1 - Form 5 life. Is it enjoyable? Yes indeed and I learnt a lot about team work, living in the outdoors and of course discipline.

There is another organisation which have all these programmes and more and that is the Scouts. Every other year they will have a big Jamboree where Scouts from different countries converge, camped together and learnt new things from each other.

Of course, there is the Hatch Club and the Outbound School and the......

Now, what is so different about our National Service Program which incidentally is not about preparing fellow MAlaysians to defense the conuntry? (Our Army, especially the Commandos 69 are well known over S.E.Asia -- who needs conscript with them around..)

What's so big deal about the 3 main components of the program that the government need to spend and initial RM500 million or more? (estimation make by our esteem former Opposition Leader Mr Lim Kit Siang the bill could add up to RM35Billion.)

From my view, there is nothig in the National Service Program main components which our existing school dont already have -- albeit not in the same name.

In schools we join clubs and orginsation and participates in the programs laid out -- that by itself is already nation building abd in the clubs we have all walks of life, now isnt this national unity?

If there is really no patrotism or national unity as percieved by some politician, then the best move forward should be in taking a long hard look at the human resources perspective when hiring for Deans, Lecturers, teachers, headmasters etc..

A comprehensive plan on revamping our education system especially in the higher education sector ( where most polarity is reported ) should be undertaken -- and that my dear politician is a well spend RM500mil.

Some of the things that need to be done is to interview the students from our university to understand about the problems they faced, conduct checks on some of the administration staffs of the university for their leaning on political issues, hire more liberals or at least staffs who are able to accept constructive cristicsm for growth, encourage an open minded style of adminstration where students are free to debate and voice their 2 cents worth without being censure etc.

Well, all being said, please relook into the Bill -- we are not an autocratic negera as was pointed out so often by our PM to foreigners -- remove Clause 29-- patriotism and national unity cannot be forced or coerced therefore there is no need for such a draconinan piece of rule.

If you want people to particpate, make the program sound more interesting -- How about calling it, The National Training Adventure?

While we are at it, Datuk Seri, please keep to your word that this Program will only affect 18 years old -- remove Clause 3.

Pulling in working people, especially in the late 20's and 30's group will affect our national productivity unnecessary since we are in no immediate danger of being infiltrated by external forces, oops! have I forgotten? Afterall, this program is not about national defense!

Before I end, one last piece of ranting, despite all I said, I am not unpatriotic neither am I trying to discourage this program, on the other hand it is because I love my country that is why I AM RANTING!!

Wrote this to the "Letters" page of The Star

In reference to your report about "Efforts to lower prices of original VCDs, DVDs" 19th Jun article.

I laud the move by the local licensee to bring down further the pricing for original VCDs and DVDs. Being savvy businessman this conglomerate licensee should be able to feel the pulse of the consumer market and respond accordingly.

However, I cant say the same of our governtment. Beside cracking down on Pirated VCDs and Softwares what other measures have they taken to encourage the consumers to use licensed softwares and VCDs/DVDs?

I will gladly buy VCDs/DVDs at the price of between RM9.90 - RM40 because the quality will be assured but I will not want to spend the same amount of ringgit if the original movie was censored so much so that I cant even make head nor tail of what is the original storyline.

Can the relevant authority who is overseeing the censor board wake up and feel the pulse of the "matured" rakyat? Censoring away certain scenes (like kissing, or when a pendekar is about to pierce someone ) wont make the rakyat domicile, as a matter of fact there are plenty of other revenues that the rakyat is also exposed to such censored scenes -- just read the daily headlines.

We have already implemented the Classifications (U, 18SG, 18SX etc..) so the consumer who will be offended by a little bit of blood or a little bit of nudity can opt not to purchase according to the Classifications. For the liberals or should I say more "open-minded" folks such scene is nothing special but is part of the scripts which if removed may render the film as not complete.

If the governtment is really serious in helping out the licensees and providing the consumer with quality entertaining programs they should explore all other factors rather than just going after the "pirates" and part of what is needed is to relook into the censoring procedures.

Today in The Star MCA Secretary Tan Sri Teng suggested members be registered only at the branch where they live or work. I have always thought this is the case since it is only logical. How can I register myself in Johor if I hail from Ipoh but work and live in KL? What can I do for the Johor branch if I am not physically there?

However, to actually implement this suggestion will take some house keeping. First they will need to consolidate their members list, put it into a database which they can data mine and drill down to the first member who signed up.

I dont think they have any thing sophisticated ( I mean a sophisticated database with all the bells and whistle of the day) to keep their database, I think the member names are all entered into a simple spreadsheet developed years ago and enhanced over the year by volunteers.(or am i being too optimistic??) And I think it will be a herculean task for them to search for a particular member names, least of all know where that particular member is at that very moment, i mean pyhsically.

i've emailed a few "people rep" listed on the MCA website as well as to the site administrator sometime in late 2000 or early 2001 requesting them to check whether I am still a member of the MCA. ( if memory did not failed me my late father has registered me as a life member when i was in my early twenty in Ipoh)

The result? no one reply me ... my conclusion? I am such a small fly it dont justify a reply from them busy "people rep" or my name have not been entered into their system and is still sitting in that big pile of member list somewhere in the corner.

But what really distressed me was why "no one" actually bother to reply? Are they that busy that they dont have time for a simple question from someone who want to know his status as a MCA member? And i thought MCA is very keen on signing up more members....

Going back to MCA Secretary proposal, may i also proposed that all branches be hook up to the HQ server so that they can perform query for members. Or are the branches already hooked up? I dont know but what i know is I've written to YB Ong TK ( AMpang Jaya) pertain my email to MCA, i've spoken to someone in MCA pertain trying to find out about the status of my membership and know what, i was asked to make a "CALL" to a certain number in MCA HQ to check on my membership status....

Think about it... in today broadband era, no one in MCA ( I mean the members with portfolio like the one I spoke to and of course YB Ong whom I wrote to ) seemed to have a line connected to the MCA HQ to perform a query on the status of its members. How long would it take to do a query?? seconds...? how long does it take to place a call ( and be charged for it??)

The ideal way would be to put up a search engine in MCA website so that the general chinese community can perform searches to see whether they are registered as members. Hoewever, there may be some political connotation which I may not know which deters MCA from doing it.