Will you eat a tiger ?

Man eating tiger (man who eats the tiger)

The Star reports that Kahang, a town approximately 40km from Kluang, Johor is fast earning a reputation for exotic food restaurants.

Apparently if you are a regular customer and the restaurant operator knows you, you will be offered dishes made from protected animals, including tiger meat.

As supply is inconsistent and scarce, a plate of fried tiger meat costs about Rm40.

The restaurants in Kahang also offer dishes of wild boar, mountain goat, squirrel, mousedeer, bat, porcupine, anteater, tortoise, civet and various types of fish and prawn found in rivers in the Endau-Rompin National Park.

The restaurants get their supplies from middlemen who bought the animals from the Orang Asli.

A tiger in the black market could cost between RM100,000 and RM200,000 each but normally, the meat, teeth, whiskers and sexual organ are sold to different people.

For the full story...

The Star

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I want to order a tiger steak and a monkey burger with cheese. Can you also give me a set of KFC (Kahang Fried Cobra) - Hot and Spicy. Does it come with medium flies ?

Puchong - the exotic food district of KlangValley ?

A restaurant called Puchong Lim in Puchong is renowned for its exotic meat dishes. It serves wild boars, turtles, snakes, squirrels, flying fox(bat), pigeons, dog, even monkey and tiger (when available). Exotic food is very "heaty" and we better drink lots of water and herbal tea. One can get ill if too much exotic meat is eaten.

There is also a makeshift stall at Pudu (its at the corner, opposite a shopping complex in Pudu). This stall also sells exotic meat dishes. The prices are quite reasonable.

Anywhere else anyone knows where exotic meat dishes are served ? please share.

Lure of the scams

BY REVATHI MURUGAPPAN

You’ve seen the ads in the newspapers, magazines and on the Internet — make money working from home assembling products and stuffing envelopes. Did you know these are two of the oldest home business scams?

The advertisements read:

# Part/Full time assembling job. Work at home. Earn extra income. SMS your name and address to 015-234 6789

# Earn RM300 weekly stuffing envelopes. More if you work more. Information free. Material provided. Email to stuffing@yahoo.com

LOOK familiar? Would you respond to this advertisement? And why not? It allows you the flexibility of working from home and gives you the opportunity to earn some money.

After reading it, you might rush to get more information only to be told you have to “register” as a member and pay a fee. So you pay the amount and you either don’t get your product or cannot locate the person. You feel cheated. If it’s any comfort, you’re not alone.

Home business or work-at-home scams rob unsuspecting consumers of millions of dollars every year. Victims targeted include homemakers, students, the unemployed, elderly, disabled, and anyone wanting to make a quick buck. From America to Singapore and Malaysia, there is always a gullible soul who will fall into the trap.

In this materialistic world, everybody wants to make money. So when you advertise something that tells people how to make easy money, it will sell like hotcakes. When you sign up to assemble products at home, you usually have to text your name and address to receive information by mail. Then, you have to pay a certain fee, after which sometimes you get the product.

The product arrives, you try to assemble it to the best of your ability and send it back. Bear in mind, you are paying for the postage. Most of the time, when you send the assembled product back to the company, they will tell you it’s not up to par. Afterwards, the crooks disappear.

What do you do? Where can you seek redress? Many of these dubious companies make their money off the “registration” fees.

Let’s analyse the situation. Do you think a company would spend money sending the parts of a product all over the country to be assembled? If it indeed were a genuine company, it would hire someone within the vicinity to assemble the products.

A check on some of these information flyers reveals that one person might operate a few scams. The signature on the flyers we examined, while having a different name every time, is markedly signed off in the same handwriting. These con artists employ deception, misrepresentation and fraud to lure their victims.

This year alone, the Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) has received an average of five complaints a month.

CAP’s head of complaints section Ravinder Singh says, “There are no laws in this country to bring these perpetrators to book and the authorities seem unwilling to stop the unscrupulous operators.” (At press time, the police couldn’t be reached for comment.)

“We advise the victims to make police reports but the police tell them there is no element of criminal offence. Such scams are frauds which fall within the ambit of the Penal Code. The police can trace the scam operators through PO Box numbers, phone numbers, tenancy agreement, bank accounts, etc,” he says.

Ravinder thinks the police should not dismiss reports of such scams as “contracts voluntarily entered into by consumers with operators of the schemes (scams)”.

“The intention behind such schemes is to defraud consumers. This is a criminal offence!”

Still, Ravinder advises victims to make reports to the police and to the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumers Affairs. They can also file claims in the Consumer Claims Tribunal, although it is practically impossible for consumers to recover their losses because the identities of the scam operators are not known as they hop from one address to another.

“For the matter to be heard in the Consumer Claims Tribunal, the victims need to know the person behind the scheme. And if the company has disappeared, there is no way of tracking these cheaters.’’ says Ravinder.

Since these advertisements are mainly in the print media and reach a large number of unsuspecting people, Ravinder believes newspapers can play a major role in helping check this scam.

“Newspapers should stop accepting work-at-home advertisements that do not give street addresses, phone numbers or names of persons. Full particulars of the advertiser should be recorded and copies of business registration certificates obtained. Curbing such advertisement would go a long way in protecting consumers from such scams,” says Ravinder.

While the ex-deputy registrar of the Malaysian Intellectual Property Corporation Moinuddin Ibrahim agrees these scams are rampant, he says consumers should be more alert when looking at advertisements.

“People just have to be more cautious when dealing with these ads because there is no loophole. The only way to check the situation is for the newspapers to monitor the ads or get the full details of the advertiser. Like how they (newspapers) require death certificates for obituaries,” says Moinuddin, who himself fell for such a scam.

Reporting to the tribunal is one way but it might take years before the case is hear. For a loss of just a few hundred ringgit, it is not worth the hassle. So, the money is burnt.

According to Moinuddin, those wanting to sign up with these schemes (the genuine ones) should check the existence of the company with the authorities first. The list can be obtained at the front counter of the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs.

So, if you come across ads that sound too good to be true, be wary. Don’t be fooled into believing you can make huge amounts of money in a short span of time. Learn how to differentiate between the genuine home employment opportunities and the scams.

Here are some tips to avoid falling victim to these scams, as suggested by CAP:

1. If you are asked to pay money to start the work at home, register as a vendor or get a licence to operate the business, do NOT participate.

2. Make a police report if you are caught in the scheme, and provide all the information you have.

3. Report the scam to the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs

Inform your friends, relatives and colleagues to prevent them from falling into a similar trap.

4. Don’t be greedy!

If no solution can be found to curb such businesses, CAP President S. M. Mohamed Idris proposes that the government ban all work-at-home businesses.

The Star

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I know someone who answered a classified ad in the papers about a typing job and was asked to pay a something like RM200 for the "opportunity" then was given some instructions and a link to another job "opportunity" online.

Do you know anyone who was cheated ? please leave comments.

Political chic

Politicians’ image consultants are turning out to be very important people because voters, like any other class of people, do judge candidates by their clothes. GUY TREBAY follows the political fashion trail. WHEN Senator John McCain’s campaign went into a midflight stall last week, it was not only the candidate’s hardline stance on Iraq or problems with his party’s conservative wing that enthralled the thumb-tapping hordes of the blogosphere. It was leaks from inside the campaign alleging that McCain thought his handlers were dressing him up as a metrosexual.

Political blogs like the Stump and the Swamp, and more gossipy ones like Radar, had a field day with McCain’s so-called “gay sweater,” a V-neck worn over a T-shirt. Fashion insiders, for their part, shrugged off the look as more appropriate to the buffet line at an assisted living centre than the pages of Out.

But McCain’s so-called gay sweater brought up a perennial political bugbear. How much attention should politicians pay to their clothes?

There is a fine line, that is, between ignoring Dale Carnegie-era notions of dressing for success (a particularly weird concept in an age of iMoguls in cargo shorts), and the truth instinctively acknowledged by canny public figures and generations of Miss Popularity: people judge us by our clothes.
“That is a tremendous suit you have on,” David Letterman told Senator Barack Obama last April when he made an appearance on the Late Show. “That is a very electable suit.”

Obama’s outfit that night was in some ways standard-issue Capitol Hill: a single-breasted two-button suit whose only nod to fashion was in the choice of colour — black in place of the regulation dark blue. His shirt was white and starched. His tie was a reassuring blue and of a width (6.35cm) that locates him squarely in the middle of the sartorial road.

Throughout his campaign, fashion experts say, Obama has managed to score hits with wardrobe choices — jackets nonchalantly slung over a shoulder, short sleeves in the heartland, neatly tailored suits on television — that somehow telegraph personal comfort without sacrificing authority.

“Voters are looking for a new language and a new thinking,” said Dori Molitor, the chief executive of WomanWise, a consulting company specialising in marketing to women. “Obama helps bring in that new language visually by breaking the dress code of blue suit, starched shirt and red tie.”

Unlike some candidates, Obama “comes across more like a common person and has an aura of authenticity,” she said.

Voters will be hearing a lot about authenticity in the coming months. Carrick, the Democratic strategist, called it “the one thing you’ve got to worry about.”

“If somebody doesn’t come across as real and believable in their image,” he said, “they’re not going to be believable in their content, either.”

They risk becoming Al Gore in earth tones, in other words, to cite a famously lampooned misstep the former presidential candidate undertook on the advice of Naomi Wolf, then his image consultant. They risk making the mistake that Nixon did when he wore lace-up shoes on the beach. They risk John Kerry’s damaging decision to turn up on television tinted the tangerine hue of a Mystic Tan.

“You neither want to be seen as somebody who cares too much about appearance or too little,” said Jay Fielden, the editor of Men’s Vogue.

“His magazine’s July-August cover shows John Edwards looking model-handsome and yet sufficiently populist. He wears, as Fielden pointed out, a Carhartt field coat from his own closet, presumably in an attempt to deflect scrutiny away from his wealth, his North Carolina McMansion and his costly grooming habits and toward the anti-poverty agenda he pursued last week on a sweep through the South.

“There’s a strict code that’s kind of understood, but that you know these guys can’t talk about,” said Fielden, referring to sartorial guidelines. “If you get into a situation like McCain did, it ends up seeming like you’re being dressed by your mother. It’s not very macho.”

And masculinity is always in contention, both at the level of instinctive emotional response among voters, and at the level of scrutiny maintained by the “army of professional interpreters,” as D. A. Miller, a literary and political critic, calls the legion of journalists and bloggers dissecting political minutiae like cyber-sibyls consulting the entrails of birds.

“Everyone reads everyone,” said Professor Miller, who teaches at the University of California, Berkeley.

So, when a candidate appears to be dressed by others, immediately that candidate is interpreted “as gay or effeminate or not butch enough to be president,” Professor Miller said.

That is, unless the candidate is Mrs Clinton, who has forgone the persona that the National Review contributor Myrna Blyth recently characterised as ‘Hairband Hillary’, the first lady whose unsteady self-image led to frequent coiffure changes and endearing wardrobe missteps.

The old Hillary Rodham Clinton has been replaced by a candidate who would never be caught dead in one of Nancy Pelosi’s flaming “Dynasty” suits, clothes that send up power woman flares. Mrs Clinton’s bid for an aura of Oval Office assurance is orchestrated around a wardrobe of the androgynous beige pantsuits beloved of policy wonks.

“For women it’s a totally separate game, a separate psychology,” said Juliana Glover, a lobbyist and longtime Washington insider.

“A female politician cannot afford to be too well turned out, Glover said, or she risks being read as untrustworthy, a virago, or worse, a vixen.

Mrs Clinton, of course, is far from clueless about fashion, counting among her friends the designer Oscar de la Renta, at whose oceanfront estate in the Dominican Republic the Clintons have spent holidays.

And her travelling chief of staff, Huma Abedin, enjoys semi-legendary status for maintaining an improbable level of chic on the campaign trail with a wardrobe of Yves Saint Laurent, Prada and Marc Jacobs.

“This is a bipartisan phenomenon absolutely,” Glover said. “Just as one would be suspicious of someone fabulously dressed, wearing top-of-the line skis who can barely get off the ski lift in Aspen,” she said, “in politics, there’s a high level of suspicion of anyone too finished and coiffed.”

Spit and polish, Glover said, is one thing. Spit and nail polish is something else. — NYT

NST

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Everything is image. People judge you based on the image you project. This is more so in Asia.
A businessman must look the part - he must drive a nice car and must show that he "has money" even if he doesn't. This similarly goes for politicians. People in Asia judge others based on face value. So, "fake it until you make it."

What do you guys think ?

Everything is energy

ART OF QI
By DR AMIR FARID ISAHAK

Science agrees that since everything that exists is either matter or energy, and since matter itself is another state of energy, then everything is in fact energy.

THROUGH the many articles that I have written, I have explained the proposition that the Universe began when God created “light” that was infinitely more energetic than the light we have now.

That light exploded in the “Big Bang” under its own intense and overpowering force. The “light” was then slowed down until it became slow enough to assume the characteristics of “matter” and formed the fundamental particles, and later, the elementary particles that make up all matter that we see or know to exist in the Universe.

Modern day quantum physics concedes that matter is just a different state of energy.

What about the origin of Life itself?

One of the most fascinating (and never-ending) debate is that between creation and evolution. Those who believe in God also believe that He created the Universe and everything in it, and then created living things as part of His grand plan. So it was God who created life, or gave life to His creations. Among the believers are scientists, including very prominent ones, too.

Atheist scientists counter that God does not exist, and that life exists through spontaneous evolutionary events which also explains the diversity of species in both the plant and animal kingdoms, starting from the primitive non-life forms like prions and viruses, and evolving into primitive life-forms like bacteria, amoebae and other one-celled organisms.

Humans, of course, are the most evolved ape, sharing 99% of our genes with the chimpanzees. “We are self-evolving organisms that do not need a creator for us to exist.” (Stephen Hawking).

According to science, primitive life began in the hot cauldron of volcanic soup where a fortuitous mixture of chemical elements and compounds somehow resulted in the first living organism – that was able to have an energy-generating mechanism (cellular respiration) for survival, and also able to replicate itself (otherwise the story ends there).

Although the scientists claim that several lab experiments mimicking those conditions have come close to “creating” life, it is indeed a monumental task for them to succeed in creating even the simplest life-form from bare chemicals.

All those who are familiar with qi (or ki, prana, tenaga hayat) believe that it is the energy that permeates the entire Universe, and it is also the energy that keeps our cells, and therefore ourselves, alive and healthy.


A clash of conclusions

Even believers cannot deny the scientific observations. In the study of the cosmos, the billions of galaxies, each containing billions of stars (each may have its system of planets, and the planets themselves may have moons) in the ever-expanding Universe is a scientific fact, only recently unravelled with the advent of sophisticated telescopes and space-satellites, combined with the brilliance of cosmologists like Stephen Hawking and his peers.

The above observations are acknowledged by scientists who are also believers, like me. The only difference is that atheist scientists do not have a clue about what actually exploded; why it exploded; and where did it come from? They theorise that a marble-sized super-dense matter somehow exploded between 15-20 billion years ago.

For believers, the answer is simple. God (who, by definition, is uncreated and eternal, and therefore does not need an explanation for His existence) created the super-dense light/energy/matter that exploded because the energy was too intense (much like a nuclear bomb, only a sextillion or more times stronger).

The believers have no reason to argue with the atheist scientists on what happened next, what is happening now, and what will happen in the future with the Universe, as proven scientific observations and evidences cannot be denied.

Where we differ is on whether everything happened and exists as a consequence of spontaneous, random events, or that these events were executed under some “Intelligent Plan” – implying the existence of a “higher intelligence” (read God for believers).

For example, atheist scientists insist that the precise respective sizes and orbital paths of the moon, earth and sun that enable total eclipse of the Sun with its beautiful corona are all coincidental (a chance occurrence). Any difference in the sizes or the orbital paths of the three celestial bodies would mean that the moon would be too big or too small to cause the corona-effect. It must be a perfect fit with the existing precise dimensions and orbital paths. Believers say that it is a result of “intelligent design”. “There is nothing in the whole of Nature to rival the glory of a total eclipse of the Sun.” – Michael Maunder & Sir Patrick Moore in The Sun in Eclipse.

The total eclipse of the Sun is indeed magnificent. Here is a description from the NASA website (http://science.nasa.gov/newhome/headlines/ast05aug99_1.htm): “Just before the Moon completely covers the Sun, tiny specks of light called ‘Bailey’s Beads’ appear. Caused by sunlight shining through valleys on the edge of the Moon, these points of light are spaced irregularly around the disappearing edge of the Sun, forming the appearance of a string of beads around the dark disk of the Moon.

“Bailey’s beads make their brief appearance up to 15 seconds before totality. When a single point of sunlight remains, a beautiful ‘diamond ring’ effect is created against the outline of the Moon. This final sparkling instant signals the arrival of the moon’s shadow. Bailey’s Beads and the diamond ring are seen again in reverse order at the end of totality when the Moon moves away from the Sun. During totality, colourful prominences and the reddish chromosphere are also frequently visible”.

The same divergent conclusions are made when it comes to observations on the creatures that live on earth. Believers cannot deny the evolutionary changes that have been scientifically validated ever since Darwin first proposed his Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection (Origin of Species 1859).

Again and again scientific observations have shown that evolution does occur. To the scientists, evolution is already a fact, not a theory anymore.

Believing scientists however, while acknowledging the facts as observed, differ in their conclusion in that the observed evolutionary changes are a result of a deliberate, planned, intelligent design, not a result of random, spontaneous mutations as believed by atheist scientists.

The argument is now becoming very heated, especially with the release of Richard Dawkin’s The God Delusion, calling on all true scientists to stop being deluded or hypocrites, denounce the existence of God, and embrace atheism and evolution by random mutation/natural selection.

On the other side, there is a growing community of respected scientists who maintain there is sufficient scientific evidence for Intelligent Design (ID) and Creative Evolution (CE), and therefore for the existence of God (see http://www.intelligentdesignnetwork.org).

If you believe the atheist scientists, it means believing that we have somehow come to be what we are, with all the complexities and sophistication of our intricate body, organs, mind, emotions and behaviour, through a series of spontaneous mutations over many aeons.

The origin of sex

I am a scientist. I am also a believer in God. When confronted with this enigma, I have to investigate, and not just blindly believe. Fortunately, I have found some answers which may be interesting to all.

No matter how much you theorise, you can never come out with a satisfactory answer on how the sexes evolved. The atheist scientists have conveniently avoided this issue. For the development of the sexes (male and female), two individuals of the same species must evolve at the same time, with complementary features.

For example, in animals, not only must the male gamete (eg. spermatozoon) have features that will enable it to fuse with the female gamete (eg. egg or ovum), but the external sexual apparatus must also be complementary (eg. the penis must fit the vagina).

And all this must happen randomly at the same time for them to be functional. Even in a hermaphrodite, the two sexes must develop at the same time for reproduction to be possible.

By Intelligent Design, this is not a problem. Note that any species will die off without the ability to reproduce. While lower organisms survive through asexual reproduction, everything else, including plants, have sexual differentiation and sexual reproduction (eg. via pollination). Indeed, in the Qur’an, God challenges the unbelievers to explain the mystery of the sexes.

Everything is energy

Readers who have followed this column will be familiar with qi, or life-force. I have described qi as being the intelligent force or energy that starts and sustains life, and (cellular) death is the depletion of this energy.

Qi also defies many scientific criteria, and is therefore not fully understood. It does have many properties of known energy-forms, but has others that defy science. Could qi be another form of light/energy with different characteristics from the light or energies we know?

Science at least agrees that since everything that exists is either matter or energy, and since matter itself is another state of energy, then everything is in fact energy.

Whatever it is, all those who are familiar with qi (or ki, prana, tenaga hayat) believe that it is the energy that permeates the entire Universe, yet is also the energy that keeps our cells, and therefore ourselves, alive and healthy.

It is interesting that in the Qur’an, God describes Himself as “The Light within the light”. Does this therefore explain in scientific terms the universal religious and spiritual teaching that God is everywhere?

While God certainly is not just a form of energy, could qi (or its higher forms) be God’s energy that shapes the cosmos and drives the evolutionary changes?

The truth? Only God knows!


# Dr Amir Farid Isahak is a medical specialist who practises holistic, aesthetic and anti-ageing medicine. He is a qigong master and founder of SuperQigong.

The views expressed are those of the writer and readers are advised to always consult expert advice before undertaking any changes to their lifestyles. The Star does not give any warranty on accuracy, completeness, functionality, usefulness or other assurances as to the content appearing in this column. The Star disclaims all responsibility for any losses, damage to property or personal injury suffered directly or indirectly from reliance on such information.

The Star

Black magic in Malaysia

By : Rizalman Hammim

The trussed-up dolls found strung upside down on a branch in the undergrowth near PJ Perdana in Paroi yesterday.

SEREMBAN: The discovery of two packages in PJ Perdana in Paroi, near here, has caused a stir in the community.

The packages, each containing two dolls and tied tightly together with black thread and wrapped in red and yellow cloth, were hung upside down from a branch in thick bushes.

They were found by a group of Seremban Municipal Council workers doing road maintenance work in Jalan Taman Pancur on Wednesday.

"After we finished work, at 4pm, a colleague saw the packages hanging upside down from a branch," said one of the workers, Isa, 47.

"When I got to the bush, I saw the two packages hanging from a branch.
"I had a bad feeling when I got near the packages as I know this has something to do with black magic, so I told the others to leave them as they were," said Isa.

He later informed his brother-in-law, Sham, a traditional medicine practitioner.

"The moment my brother-in-law saw the packages, he knew they were intended to put a curse on certain people.

"He then decided to remove them so the intended victims would not suffer any longer."

Isa and Sham, along with a group of people from the community returned to the site at midnight to perform a ritual to remove the packages.

The ritual began with Sham reciting Quranic verses and throwing salt at the packages before proceeding to take them down. He took them to his house and burned them.

"I believe the targets are a family of four comprising three siblings and the daughter of one of the siblings.

"Hopefully, with this intervention, the intended victims will be free from the suffering brought on by such heinous act," Sham said.

During the ritual, a boy became hysterical and was groaning in pain.

Sham said he spent over an hour calming him down.

NST

Living the stuff of his dreams

By JO TEH

TALL, suave and handsome. At 32, Zhang Zhen Hong will literally and metaphorically sweep any girl off her feet. If she’s not swayed by his prowess on the dance floor, she'll likely be won over by serenades and Canto pop.

But it's not just all salsa and showmanship. A respectable professional, Zhang holds a full-time job as a legal manager at a public listed company. His passion for law is equal to that for dance and song.

Pursuing a career as a singer did not seem a promising career for Zhang who is the second of four children from a traditional Chinese family. So he dutifully packed his bag and left for England to obtain his law degree.

Promising start: Zhang, who won his first singing contest a the age of eight, has finally released his own album.

“At the time, the typical Chinese mindset was that only lawyers, accountants and doctors made good money. But fortunately, I did have a strong interest in law and it was something that I wanted to pursue,” says the graduate from Exeter University.

Even while he was memorising cases and having his fill of Acts and provisions, he managed to take time off from the grind and put on his dancing shoes.

“I was reading law and taking dancing lessons at the same time!” says Zhang who now teaches salsa and hip-hop during weekends as a hobby.

Now that he earns a comfortable salary as a legal manager, his aim is to achieve his childhood dreams.

Born and bred in Kuala Lumpur, Zhang was just a few years old when it was clear that he had a talent for singing. However, his parents didn't take it seriously as they felt it was natural for most children to hum and sing along to songs.

Zhang took part in his first singing contest at the age of eight and won second place with a rendition of Mun Sui Qin San Zhong Xi Qing.

“I sing whenever I get the chance, in the shower, at home, in my car, at music studios and karaokes. It’s just in me. I love singing,” shares Zhang, who loves Canto-pop and Japanese pop music.

“Everyone has a childhood dream and mine is to sing and release albums,” he says, citing Tamaki Koji (lead singer of Anzenchitai) as his favourite Japanese singer.

“I was very active in musicals in my high school days and have had lead roles in My Fair Lady, and West Side Story.”

After returning to Malaysia with a law degree, Zhang got himself a job and continued taking singing classes after work and even managed to take part in the singing contest organised by the Malaysian Philharmonic Society in 2004.

“I was a finalist at the contest and I sang a song by Glen Mederos titled Nothing Is Going to Change My Love for You,” says Zhang who started composing at the age of 16 and wrote his first song to a girl he liked. Like a sad song, his romance didn't take off.

He managed to get a few production houses to help him produce his first album Shou Hou, which was released just a week ago.

When asked why a Chinese album, Zhang replied: “I grew up with Chinese music and am more inclined to sing in Chinese.”

“It took me three years to come up with this album. My work schedule is hectic and I can only record during my free time.”

He says he composed the entire melody in the album and wrote half of the lyrics. His inspiration came from poems, articles, and personal experiences.

“It’s comforting that I am finally able to release my first album and realise my childhood dream. I will continue producing more albums,” enthuses Zhang.

“I am living my dreams!”

The Star

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Fantastic guy. I also met a lawyer who plays in a band at night. I met a doctor who decided to become a journalist. A good friend of mine decided to change his career from accounting to advertising. I suppose in this time and age, people are more open to pursuing the career of their dreams rather than what society expects of them. This ideas whilst more prevalent in the west is getting more acceptance in Asia.

What do you think, pursue your passion or be practical and choose a "safe career" ?

New job regrets -- oh no!

(AP) -- Have you ever toiled to land a dream job, then dreamed of leaving after your first week? Many of us have regretted accepting a new job, but if your second thoughts persist for more than six months, it may not pay to stay.

Sticking it out with a job you hate could cause your performance and attitude to suffer, damaging your reputation and future job prospects, according to John Challenger of employment consultants Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

Some of the most common reasons Challenger cites for regrets over a new position are that the job differs from what the jobseeker expected, or the new employee doesn't get along with co-workers or perform well.

To avoid winding up in the wrong job, Challenger offered the following tips:

Before starting your job search, identify "must have" and "like to have" characteristics of the position you hope to land. Once you receive an offer, evaluate how many of each would likely be fulfilled. Don't compromise on "must haves."

Avoid rushing to accept. Most companies will give job candidates time to consider a job offer.

Talk to friends and family about all aspects of the position and solicit their honest opinions. They know you better than the hiring manager who interviewed you.

CNN

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This happened to me once. I moved to a new job with a better salary but in the first week itself I found that I didnt fit into the work culture of that organisation. If an organisation's values are inconsistent with your own values, you are indeed in trouble. My advice is to get out at once - you'd be happier.

Has anyone of you experienced the same thing ?