Ervan’s Weltanschauung

In case you were wondering, that title was in Italian. Go look it up, or guess it.

I travel a lot in my line of work. Hence I get to visit places. When I was small, I tend to follow my parents wherever they go. I remember, going to Jakarta, Padang, Singapore, US, Japan and some other places that I no longer remember.

I also spent my time travelling to France, all over UK and US during my time in the UK. So, when I travel for work, it is became a norm to me, as travelling comes naturally for me. And adapting to new places is not a problem for me. Except for sleeping at hotel beds, which, I have to admit, I had to really tire myself to ensure a good night’s sleep.

One aspect of my travelling is enjoying the culture, and language of the place that I went. Sipping coffee by the sidewalk of a small French town called St Malo. That was enjoyable. Visiting a Japanese Shinto shrine, and witness the prayers. Or even hanging out at a very dodgy pub in the city of London. And somehow, I tend to be able to “blend” in with the local folks.

Buying groceries at a Japanese convenience store whose clerk can only say yes or no is definitely a challenge. But it was fun, and she did take the effort to be patient with me, while I was trying to figure out what she is telling me. Or the laughter of one hotel staff in Seoul, who assisted me when one Korean approached me and started to talk to me in Korean. Apparently, he thought I was Korean. Man, I do have the typical Korean office worker look just because I was wearing my glasses at that time.

And, ooh, the language, somehow or rather, despite the difference, we do use the same words, although the meaning might not be the same. Hence me coming up with the title, tradutore tratitore.

Heck, I even had some problems when I go across the border to Indonesia. Like a friend of mine told me, talking to me is tiring as she has to talk in standard bahasa Indonesia and not the bahasa prokem most Jakartans are used to. But my brain still have room to absorb new words, and new languages…

And in doing so, I am avoiding being a traitor in translating……

Whenever I am on the plane, in the train, or in a taxi, people tend to make small talk with me. Asking about the weather. The popular one recently was about the haze. Those are general talk, until they ask of my employer. Then, it gets interesting. Of course, with the recent price increase of petrol….

Their most favorite question. Why can’t the petrol prices be subsidised?

It seems, despite the effort by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Mustapa Mohamad, some never bothered reading his report. For me, it is a simple matter…

PETRONAS is owned by the Government. It is free from the Government’s control. They pay back what they profit in dividends. To put all the profits to subsidise fuel prices is a bad business decision. Especially in a highly skilled and technology intensive petroleum industry where billions are spent in securing exploration blocks, exploring the acquired blocks, actual production of crude oil, refining the oil to produce different products, et cetera, et cetera. You need the money to secure the best people, the latest technology, and all in order to maximise your profit. If you put all the profit for subsidies, you will not expand the business, hence stagnating the growth.

So tell me, is it wise to give subsidy just for our sake today, and not tomorrow? We need to look beyond our today’s need, beyond our tunnel vision.

We have worked hard to make PETRONAS to where it is now. We even lost our people to others just because the pay is not good enough. And I feel insulted to be questioned why we can’t subsidise the petrol price. True, we were given the trust to take care of our petroleum reserves. But by giving subsidy, we are not taking care of our petroleum reserves, we are encouraging wastage.

It’s like pouring water over sand…. and before you know it, our reserves that should last 20 years, runs out in 10 years.

If one bothers to actually read Datuk Mustapa’s report, you will read this statement, at the current consumption growth, Malaysia will be an oil importing nation in 2009. Or something to that extent. So, do we still have a lot of oil? Well, not many people know that Indonesia, an OPEC member country, is no longer an oil exporting nation. And Malaysia could be very well headed to that direction, if we do not take appropriate steps.

Please do surf to this website, http://www.peakoil.net. Or for an even scarier doomsday scenario, go to http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net.

Next time, I wish people would not just assume, and if you do meet me, don’t ask that question. Let me and my colleagues continue to do what we know best, and we’ll continue to provide the Government with the revenue needed for it’s development plans.

Subsidising oil is like giving a man to eat a fish for a day. Money which is best spent on education, health and others, now, that is like teaching a man to fish so that he can eat a lifetime….

Man, the durian pancakes at Lai Po Heen, Mandarin Oriental Kuala Lumpur is to die for.
Thank God I joined my boss to host the long service award recipients from our Group. Hehe, priceless question, huh? Ervan has served the company for 20 years?

And I just completed a quarter of that….

But still, listening to the veterans of the company, always a lesson in itself….

Am right now at a cc somewhere in Plaza Seni at Johor Bahru. Crazy really, I should have stayed at Singapore, but somehow, my adventure bug came in. Decided there and then to go to JB. And to top it up, even the driver of my boss offered to drive me up to Woodlands while waiting for them to finish golf. I said, it’s okay, I am going to take the MRT. And for once, I ventured out from Singapore city proper. Some of my friends in Singapore would kill me, I did not call them up to tell them I am, or was in Singapore.

Anyway, the journey from Orchard to Woodlands was nothing much to shout about. It is the weekend, where most Singaporeans are not in the country. Arriving at Woodlands, met up with a friend of mine who is getting hicthced in November. Oh boy, that means I will have to go to Singapore again in November. Then off I went to JB. Took the bus, and I went through some sort of musical bus. Took 2 different buses just to get through the Malaysian & Singaporean immigrations. And the two immigrations are so different, Singapore, being, you know what, and the Malaysian, well, if we can have Putrajaya, why not doing the same for ours?

Ah well, I will be off for dinner with my friend, this is definitely gonna be a tiring weekend… but fun..

I watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It is a totally different adaptation from the 1970s Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. I had fun, especially you had such enthusiastic people watching it. One screamed in delight when Charlie found the last of the Golden Tickets. Another was laughing so loud after what happened to Mike Teavee. I remember when I watched the 1970s Willy Wonka, I cried in delight when Charlie found the fifth ticket, and I could not help feeling the same when I watched it last night.

One thing I appreciate about Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, is the flashbacks that explains why he is such a social recluse, and understanding his passion for chocolates, candies and anything sweet. Indeed, his dad, who is a dentist is the one reason why he became so passionate with chocolates. Passion, something that I find, sadly lacking in me….

I used to be very passionate on basketball. Playing it almost every day. Still do, but alas. Not much passion left now. I remember my New College Cardiff coach likes to play me in the forward position because, I was very active in the paint. I lack the height for a centre, but, I can take rebounds, or steal rebounds from unsuspecting players. Then I discovered that I can always hit the long twos. So, I, despite being a forward, played less in the paint, and start shooting long twos… Even one coach back home commented, after a long 2 years of absence from basketball, I got the talent, and skills, but lack the passion….

Hmm, need to find something that interests me…

And oh yeah, at least now the haze is gone! Yippee! (imitating Grandpa Joe).

Man! This is bad, really bad. The haze is choking me. I don’t have asthma and I already have trouble breathing. Have to resort to wear a face mask, courtesy of my employer. And being politicians, they just love to talk rather than doing something about it. Najib said on Tuesday (9/8/2005) that the API (Air Pollution Index) will not be released to the public. Next thing we know, we were told that the numbers will be released to inform the public. Thumbs up Pak Lah! See, there’s no panic at all. People still try to continue on with their life. Who’s silly idea was it to have the API secret?

And now, we should also demonstrate in front of the Indonesian embassy. This time is not about who owns whose land. But, this is about people’s life. This haze is hazardous, and how long must we endure this? And where is that keris wielding hero of the UMNO Youth? Bleah. Like I said, politicans, no action, talk only….

But hey, my Indonesian friends, I can understand the problem you have. When I heard some Malaysians wanted to sue Indonesia, I laughed. Not worth sueing at all, cause the Indonesian Government is not exactly healthy in terms of money. Best option to do is…

1. Put off the fires first. Heck, you need airborne fire fighters, and unfortunately Indonesia is lacking in this.
2. Cloud seeding….
3. Education. Very very important. And I applaud the present Indonesian government effort to make schooling compulsory till Junior High. You see, in Indonesia, due to Suharto’s regime, people have to pay for education. And it’s not cheap mind you. Put it this way, for each kid you send to school, you need to spend at least 10 percent of the average wage earner. And this education will help these people to understand the causes of haze….

Finally, find out those plantation owners, and sue them…. you’ll be surprised to know that we don’t need to go all the way to Indonesia to sue them cause most probably, their office is in Kuala Lumpur….

I am hearing Alanis singing “Isn’t it ironic? Don’t you think?”

But despite the suffering, the haze has opened my eyes to many things… and I thank Allah for that.

A round trip in 23 hours…

Tired… had an effective 2 hours of sleep for the last 23 hours..
but enjoyed the trip… should have stayed longer, but had plans for the weekends…
Anyway, hopefully I will come to Sri Lanka again….