Surprises, surprises & more surprises

Helo people, we have just entered the 1st 13 days of 2010, however too much surprises (events) have occurred in Brunei & elsewhere. Some things that we do not expect happened due to God's will, while some due to somebody saying the wrong words, while some due to commercial reasons, and more.

Surprise no 1: Kristal Astro pull the plug on Media Prima channels starting 1 Jan 2010 midnite (TV3, NTV7, 8TV, TV9)

While I was on holiday aka visiting relatives in KK, a few wks ago, I still catch up on the news in Brunei thanks to my cousin free TM Streamyx wireless & Ignatius Stephen Brudirect.com. 1 day, while I was scrolling down for news in Brudirect, then I saw the headline TV3, 8TV, NTV7, TV9 to go off Astro, so I click on the headline to get more details. I thought it was a New Yr joke but apparently ITS NOT! Some of the voices of the parties involved on this issue

Kristal Astro Sdn Bhd press statement (quoted from Borneo Bulletin): The cease of broadcast is due to unforeseen circumstances. Kristal Astro will use its best endeavour (sedaya upaya) to resolve this matter with the relevant parties & apologised for any inconvenience caused

Subscribers of Kristal Astro voice via letters to the editor in Borneo Bulletin & The Brunei Times: Reduce subscription fees

Paul Moss, Director Network Media Portal Media Prima: Kristal Astro didn't have the rights to show the 4 channels (my Twitter frustration tweet was replied)

My say: Well Brunei people still can enjoy TV3 via aerial wah, plus our 'slow or fast' broadband can see some of the TV program via tv3.com.my, ntv7.com.my, 8tv.com.my, tv9.com.my! My suggestion to Kristal Astro 'While Kristal Astro is 'sedaya upaya' settling the isu with relevant parties, untuk mengurangkan kemarahan pelanggan adalah disarankan supaya menurunkan kadar bayaran Kristal Astro ke kadar yg lebih munasabah sejajar dengan kehilangan 4 saluran. Bila dah selesai & 4 saluran tu tak hilang lagi baru naik kembali ke kadar asal' Ok tak idea ni? Tak kisahlah lima kupang ke satu ringgit asal turun bolehlah! 'Mami mami minta balik 4 saluran'

Khabar2 angin yg boleh percaya kah inda?: Mau kena caj bah 4 channels ni, lima kupang kali?

Surprise No 2: Church arson in Malaysia & stone hurled at Sikh temple

As some people say, a stroke of a pen could change everything, & so does a wrong choice of word could change the whole situation! Kata pepatah:Terlajak perahu boleh berundur terlajak kata tak boleh ditarik balik atau dinafikan

Apparently due to a certain people saying the wrong word, then on the next day denying that they had said it even though it was reported widely in the media, had caused the event to occur. Thank god its reported that the person had regretted that he had said that word. In these sensitive times, its not proper for me to offer any comments that could be misinterpreted by certain parties & may add more fuel to the fire to the battered situation. I really respect the stand of Malaysian Mirror for censoring comments that may add fuel to the fire, even those the words of PM & TPM. And even, the comments by opposition lawmakers . This may be seen as a biased reaction, but I see it as a responsible act by the online media such as Malaysian Mirror. Good job keep it up! While the pesalah of the church arson had yet to be caught, The Malaysian Insider had just reported that polis had identified the pesalah. I say put the pictures of the pesalah in newspapers, let the pesalah knows that he/she is wanted by PDRM, let him/her repent/bertaubat by 'menyerah diri' sendiri to the nearest police station or go to Kamunting sendiri. Tak payah susahkan PDRM, PDRM ada banyak kes lain yg perlu diselesaikan! Malaysia is a multiracial country, we cant let these people to cause so much damage to our multiracial stature! Apparently according to Home Minister, Datuk Seri Hishamuddin Hussein things are calming down which is a good thing.

Surprise No 3: 7.0 magnitude earthquake strikes Haiti

Today Haiti was struck by a 7.0 magnitude earthquake which was the strongest earthquake since the last major earthquake that had struck Haiti 20 yrs ago. Haiti was the poorest countries among all the countries in the Northern hemisphere. It had a population of about  10 million. The earthquake that had struck Haiti capital, Port-au-Prince this morning had damaged most of the capital major buildings including National Palace, Commerce Ministry building, UN building, etc including communication links. Good thing internet service is still available thus Haitians were able to post updates on Facebook & Twitter which was widely used by CNN in its breaking news coverage of the earthquake. It is feared that many many lives will be lost it could even be in the region of thousands. Wyclef Jean, pledged the people to offer IMMEDIATE AID. I am sure we at Brunei will help whatever we can to help the Haitians. So, lets have a moment of silence before moving to another surprise story.

Surprise No 4: GRAD Nite 2010

This is the last story for this posting, sorry if this posting is too heavy for you to read. I would never expect that 1 day I would be co-managing a party. This idea of Grad Nite came after reading so much comments on MV Nite, I thought since we are about to graduate from Pre-U why not we have a party to celebrate it. So I formed a group named Party Liaison Team to organise this Grad Nite. I know that people had expectation that this Grad Nite would be better than MV Nite so the team have to work very hard to make it work. Plus, 1 new idea that I have thought about is M-Ticket. Why need to print paper, since every1 is talking about global warming. Since COP15 is habuk pun tadak, we as the inhabitants of the world can also contribute in reducing global warming by using less paper so came the idea of M-Ticket. What is M-Ticket? Ticket via SMS! Right stop membebel go to main info on Grad Nite

Date: 6th March 2010 (Malam Minggu Saturday Nite) (to be confirmed but high chances)
Theme: Retro Nite or ZO

Place: Plaza Sutra Biru 6th floor Function Hall (subject to availability)

Ticket Price: $15 Single $25 Couple

Time: 7pm to 12 midnite (depend on police permit obtained)

Website:Grad Nite Facebook (rules & other info are in there)
Ticketing will start on the day statement of results is available for collection
For ticketing inquiry: 8943877 (Party Liaision Team SMS Line) 
                                    8211812 (Party Liaison Team Harith)

And lastly have FUN!

Alright people I hope you enjoy reading this posting as I enjoyed typing the posting too! Till next wk, Surprises is always around us you never know when 1 will pops up like the pop-up ads in websites. That pop-up you can block but surprises in life you can block, SO FACE IT! Tata & selamat bermuakafat