Fire in the Belly

There are many types of guys in this world. We have the soft type, the sensitive type, the patience type, the cowardly type, the gung-ho type, the hot-headed type and many more. Of course when I say that there is different type of guys, I mean their behavior and not their IQ or physical conditions. So what type of Men are your guy?

ol'Jon is the hot-headed + gungho + aggressive + tenacious type when I was younger. I'm also very smart and good in studies but when the goings get tough, ol'Jon is an animal. I've got into so many fights when I'm young
and crazy that I've lost count of. A lot of times, things would've been settled if I've just walked away or if I do not pursue the matter further. I would say 70% of the fights is avoidable but being me, I just fight it anyway! I remember back in 1999 when I was in a fight with a guy. I practically owned him and the poor sod has no chance that he had to bit me to get away. The reason I remember this fight was that after the fight, I was introduced to Silly Bean by one of my friend. :-)

As I grow older and wiser, some say richer; the fights turn to verbal fights and I got less and less of the action that I think, if the 2010 Jon were to fight the 1999 Jon, it will be over in round 1. In short, ol'Jon has gone soft, became patient and calm. There is 2 ways to look at this, the good side is that I don't get bruises and pains now but the other side of me hate it if I've walked away from a fight!

On Sunday night, God gave me a chance of redemption. I was having a bad back ache, driving back from my mum's place with Silly Bean and Natster in the car. My mood was affected by the back ache and the constant jams on the road. At the junction of my apartment's carpark, an idiot with a lousy slow car with big exhaust was turning out from the wrong direction. Common sense will tell you that if you're in the wrong, you move your(ugly and loud) car aside so that the RIGHT party gets to go home. But no, he ain't moving and we grind to a standstill with his car flashing wildly at ol'Jon. I was prepared to wait(though by now my mood has turn from moderate to bad) and sit it through. I mean you're wrong and I'm not moving an inch for an idiot like you.

And a standoff ensued, until the idiotic Indian driver decided to come out of his car and do some provocative hand languages. Without thinking twice, ol'Jon jumped out of the car, hand clutching a wooden bat and point it straight on to his face. Just like in the movie ol'Jon said; "Move your car now or I smash your silly little face right here!" He was shocked and sort of run back to his car, but after some thoughts and knowing that he has just ran away from a fight(feeling ashamed) he come out again and says, "Oh, if you want to hit me, then hit me" while looking the other way. ol'Jon was so tempted to slammed the bat at his puny head and was faking a strike. A reaction to hold his head and avoid the 'fake swing' makes him look more like an idiot.

After a few exchanges, he moved his car and I drive up with the agreement we settled this when I send my family home. Silly Bean was nervous as I park my car and wanted to go down. Her sad worried eyes tell me that I shouldn't be in a fight when Nathan and herself was now safe and sound. I look at her and told her, no fight is going to happen tonight. So coolly, I walk down to face that idiot who is still smarting from the embarrassment he had just now for chickening out. I walk down, talk to him in a stern voice saying that what he had done is wrong and he was on the wrong direction. Then he told me that I was wrong to threaten him with a bat and trying to pick a fight when it was not necessary. ol'Jon knew I was a bit over the top on this one and agree with him on the bat thing. But I asked him, "What would you've done if someone act aggressively at you and your family?" "Would you've not done the same thing as me?" He couldn't answer and he just told me he did not see my wife and kid. So I guess he kind of agree that I'm entitled to protect my family when provoked. In the end, no fight materialized and the crowd is disappointed. Frankly, I'm a bit disappointed that I did not whooped his ass but accepted his handshakes. Gosh, I'm really grown old!

It took me a whole day to understand why the sudden aggression in myself when I've been a cool old head for a long time. I guess the situation that day triggers an automatic defense system in me knowing that I need to be more aggressive than the aggressor to keep my family safe. No man will allow harm to come to his family no matter how soft he is. And this incident makes me realize how important Nathan and Silly Bean are to me. Important enough to make an old man with a bad ache act like a 17 year old punk with limitless aggression and energy.

I felt pumped up, I felt good....most importantly I understand now that nothing is more important that Natster and Silly Bean...

Goodbye K & Hello ix

Life is full of surprises, a cliche perhaps overused over the years. One of my favorite lines in a movie was by Tom Hanks in the hit movie of 1994, Forrest Gump. I mean this movie could be the inspirational movie of the decade. It matter not that one is not intelligent mentally, it matters not that one speak with funny accent or how one has to wear support braces on the legs. It really doesn't matter if one is bound by the physical nature of its body. What matters is the heart to do things. What matters is the passions one has to do things. What really matters comes from the strongest muscle in our body, our HEART!

You see, poor Forrest was struck down by polio(need to verify) at a young age. He had to wear braces to support his movement. But one day when chased by a group of bullies, his poor legs about to fail him, he broke free from the braces and run like a stallion, powered by the will of the Heart. He went on to become one of the most famous faces in the history of US(in the story) and had the chance to be the first American to shake the hand of a Chinese premier during the cold war. He was apt in Ping Pong, he went to war in service of his country and he run the entire length of America. He also singlehandedly help invent the Smiley Face success story. But did Forrest had a superb body? Nope! Did Forrest had an intelligent mind? Nope! All poor old Forrest had was the Power of Will and the Passion of the Heart. Oh, before I forget, his favorite tag line was; "My Mama always says, Life is like a box of chocolate, you'll never know what you gonna get!"

Closer to home, ol'Jon has had a turbulent life thus far in career sense. Moving on from Keyence has been quite traumatic to my ego and self-believe. I've always thought that moving on will not be a loss to me, financially(immediate) and career prospect wise. There is quite some number of companies keen on getting my services on board. But none has the potential as Keyence, or so I thought. Some pays me more but need uprooting or put simply a competitor outfit(which I don't want). Some gave awesome titles and chances to lead a branch but numerically it is no match for my previous earnings. So I was in conundrum, do I accept a higher pay check and move my young family or accept my competitors offer? Or do I bask in a great title with great responsibility with mere chicken feed? Ok ok, the chicken feed part is exaggerated. So it really bothers me a lot and I've lost faith so many times and sort of thought about the dreaded What If situation over and over again in my head.

My pillar of strength is my wife CP. She supported me all the way and she pick me up from when I was down. She gave me advices and listen to my grouses and even give me a good kick on the backside when needed. She played the Good Cop Bad Cop role to perfection and in the end it gave me renew Will Power and Passion from the Heart to be brave enough to say NO to the jobs that I do not like/want. And then the call came for an interview with ixmation Asia. At first I did not put much thoughts to it and just went for the interview. It went well and before you know it, I've got the job. All in all, I would like to say that being a physically abled and with a sound intelligent mind person, we have to always learn from the less fortunate and be brave in making decisions, be powerful enough to resist things we don't want and be optimistic enough to know that Fortune Favors The Brave.

Every now and then, we need to be brave!

Special Thanks to CP for the Support/Love/Advice/Kicking in the Arse
Special Thanks to Joan for the Prayers and Supports
Special Thanks to Charlotte for the Believing in Me and Encouragements
Special Thanks to Siew the Funny Man with Smeagol Impersonation for Well Wishing
Special Thanks to All who has texted me, called me, mailed me and met me to offer Support

My new journey has begun.....God Willing it will be a fruitful and rewarding one!

Fiat Coupe Rear LED Final Design - Merchandize Unit (Reduced 16mm size and Black PCB surface)

Smoke Black Off

Smoke Black On

Smoke Black Brakes On

Smoke Black Left

Red Side View(Reduced Size)

Smoke Black Reduced Size - Side View

Red Off

Red ON

Red Brakes On

Reduced Size Top View

Signal Lights Close Up

Focus View

Red Right

Reduced Size Lenses vs F430 style Lenses

Reduced Size Whole Package comparison

More than 16mm lower than original

Height difference

Side by Side Comparison

Angled shot

All in all a good 16 height reduction in order to prevent the lenses sticking out of the cup. I shall post the pics of it installed on the coupe soon.

Fiat Coupe Rear Light - LED Type

Bottom Housing - Original

Side View - Bottom Housing

Bottom Housing with Custom Rubber Gasket

Side View - Gasket

Complete Housing - RED

Complete Housing - Smoke Black

Final Merchandize Smoke Black Tone

Bottom Housing with PCB - Cree High Grade LEDs used

Prototype PCB without Lenses

Smoked Black

Smoke Black - ON

RED Brakes ON

RED with Brakes ON

Smoke with Lights ON and FOG lights ON

RED ON

RED Signal Lights ON

RED Side View

RED ON - Finger there as a reference to how big the light beam

Signal On - Rest of Light off

Hazard Lights ON

Side View

Smoke Black

RED Side-View

RED OFF

Red Signal Light On

RED

Karma Bites!

Do you believe in Karma? ol'Jon is a firm believer in Karma, you reap what you sow. You get what you deserve and sooner or maybe later, karma will catch up with you. You see, the place where ol'Jon grew up is a harmonious kampung(village in malay language) and everyone from the Malays, Chinese and Indians live in peace with one and another. Festivals was celebrated with each other, offering foods and wishes with all, irrespective of ones race. This is all good but like all good places, there sure to be a bad apple around the corner. There is this scoundrel called BIRD, who is a troublemaker of enormous talent! He is a chinese man who picks on everyone and will do a lot of bad things to everyone if one does offend him.

ol'Jon absolutely hated this guy and cannot stand his bullshit at all. He is much older, circa 15 years older than ol'Jon. Though he did not directly harm or hurt my family members in one way or another, ol'Jon just cant stand his bullying stance and his utter fugly face. He would throw stones or sometimes faeces to his neighbor's house(thank god ol'Jon lives a good 8 blocks away. He would start rumors about someone(in the village) wife being a slut and sleeping with someone else. And he has killed or injured numerous neighbourhood pets with firecrackers. He would also purposely smoke and puff the smokes at you if you happen to be close. I was once a victim and I was having none of it. If it was not because of my mum and sister, ol'Jon would've given him a bashing and a proper and timely one too. He is just so full of shit that even his mother hated him!

He also happens to sell drugs and earn a very good living. I remember that he drove a Nissan Sentra(100k) car doing his illegal stuffs. ol'Jon had to break his back and work his socks off to own one and till now still has a few loan payments to go. Cars are generally very much expensive in Malaysia due to the insane taxes and the low Ringgit value. He live a luxurious life doing illegal stuffs and was showing it off to good effect. I need to note too that he is always in and out of lock-ups as well during his glory days but the good times overshadow the bad ones. ol'Jon once asked God in a very strong worded question; " Dear God, if justice exists and you're all fair and mighty, how come a scoundrel like BIRD gets good money and easy life when he does all the baddest thing on earth?"

This morning while having breakfast with my parents and my niece, mum told me that BIRD was diagnosed with a deadly cancer. It is lethal but not those that take your life away quickly(liver & brain cancer comes to mind). He has a slow and painful lung and throat cancer. Those that take your life slowly and painfully. I was thinking to myself, is this Karma? Has God punished him by letting him suffer in life before welcoming him to Hell not Heaven? I think God answered my question to him 5 years back and it sends a cold shiver down my spine. HE is basically telling me; "I'm watching and you better be good in your life!"

ol'Jon has never ever been a bad person to make others life difficult. However I must confess I have my fair share of sins. Cursing is my habit, lying WAS my occupation and breaking hearts is what I'm good at. I'm fearful that one day HE will come and punished my for my wrong doings. In fact I'm very nervous about it.

So tonight, I make a decision to do A Random Act Of Kindess To A Stranger A Day whenever possible. However small the deeds are and however insignificant it might seems, I'll try to bring cheers and a helping hand whenever possible. I shall then be able to answer my Maker when my time comes and be proud to have done a difference in life. It's a challenge....

N then it becomes clear~

Just today I revisited a social website thingy called Friendster! I know it is dinosaur era now but back then when ol'Jon was active in the web, Friendster was a cool site to hang out and post things. Then along the way came Facebook and after the 2 guys convinced the world that it is a must have thing to be involved in, Friendster became the yucks and euls of the internet savvy crowd. In fact Baskin Lee was having a field day teasing me about me revisiting Friendster when she peek into my laptop.

Fact 1, I had stopped visiting Friendster for more than 1 1/2 years. I was in the site today to try to close down the account(alas I couldn't do so). Fact 2, I do not have a Facebook account(yes I know this is not acceptable but hey, it's a free world) so I could not possible have known how much 'in' Facebook were and how convenient it is. I do not know what is Tag and I do not fancy telling the world (or my list of friends) what I had for lunch, or how smelly Ryan's fart is nor I fancy telling people how I feel about gay people. So, enough of the explaining then...phew, all this because I was 'caught' browsing through my Friendster's page? :-)

I finished updating my resume a while ago, and while waiting for it to be loaded to JobsDB, Jobstreet and so on, I couldn't help by thinking of how defensive I was when I was 'caught' browsing Friendster this afternoon. I mean a couple of  years ago, it was ThE SitE to go to. It was modern, proper, cool and must have thingy and along came Facebook and it has been consigned to the dust bins? I gave a good 10 minutes thoughts into it and came to the conclusion that it is the human nature of wanting the best in life. Given a choice a human beings will ALWAYS want the best(they thought so anyway) for themselves. Second best is not good enough unless the Best comes with a price tag. If it is free, then of course only the best will do. If  say the Government says each tax paying(damn them taxmen!) citizen can get a free car of their choice free of charge, will ol'Jon pick a Ford Mondeo or closer to home a Proton Insprira(clone of Mitsubishi Lancer)? Hell no, give me a 2010 Chevy Camaro SS HPE 650 Supercharged Hennessey please! So the significantly important Friendster was consigned to history whereby its user(I'm sure there is still some die hard fans out there) need to crouch ontop of the toilet bowl with the door shut and put on the stealth mode when they are browsing Friendster. Friendster or Facebook?? It's a no brainer choice, even to a non-Facebooking fella like me....

Also in the menu today when 'browsing' up my Friendster's page was my old blogs in Friendster. I remember 85% of my blog contents were sappy, sad and depressing. Indeed when I started blogging, my love life plunge into disarray!
I broke up with the love of my life, I hung on to lots of girls to ease the pain(sometime doing doubletakes) and I basicall wasting my life with boozes, ciggys and late nights. All unhealthy and bad stuffs, things that I regret doing(the ruining other girls heart part) and things I wouldn't do again(ciggys). Now, all my life people have been telling me that I'm a bad lover. I can get them girls easy but I do not know how to maintain them relationships well. I'm more of a parasite whereby the other party does all the loving after I've reached my objective(nope, not going to reveal anything here) and I will move on and get attracted to other girls a.s.a.p. I felt powerful, egoistic and good doing it but at the same time, I felt horrible, I felt empty and I felt miserable when I'm alone. I couldn't figure it out why this happen to me, why I couldn't just be happy and get on with life. Heck I supposed to be having the time of my life with so many ladies in my life, but deep down I'm just a lonely boy hoping to find love again.

I now understand why I feel that way. I'm also much wiser to see things from different perspective while analysing my own feelings and emotions. I would like to say that ol'Jon felt the love of his life when Silly Bean was with him. When we went our seperate ways, ol'Jon couldn't swim and the fear drowning make me hung on to numerous girls for support and comfort and end up hurting them. ol'Jon had never let go of Silly Bean and it was very sad that we cannot be with the one we loved the most. Silly Bean is the most important person to ol'Jon and without her life was empty. She was full of flaws but I love her to bits nonetheless even though she is imperfect. She makes me feel alive and she completes me. We're never meant to love someone who is perfect but we must love the person we cherish perfectly! I believe this is the reason for the sappy sad blog posting in my Friendster account. Reading back, I can feel the pain residing in me when Silly Bean is not around me and the desperate attempts to forget her only makes it harder and more painful....

When I 'migrate' to blogspot, I no longer write sappy sad blogs anymore because God blessed me with the wonderful CP and our lovely macho son Nathan. For these two people are the singularly most important folks in my life. Hope that idiotic Soon Aik will not comment about my sappy sad blogs ever again coz I'm most certainly could not live without them in my life. If ever CP has doubts on my love for her, she'll just need to know that she is the only person in the world that can make ol'Jon's heart beat faster and slower at the same time.....it always had been and will always be so....

Ikh Ho Van Jo CP! It's a promise~

The Beginning of a New Chapter

Come 29th of October 2010, my association with Keyence will come to an end. It has been a 5 years and 2 months relationship with this company and boy; it is a wild ride indeed. I'm leaving with a clear conscience and stable feelings, sort of the happy break-ups that couples have, though it is rare and ol'Jon has always had nasty break-ups, I would think that this feelings(leaving Keyence) and happy break-ups are the same.

First off, I would say Keyence is a fantastic company for any man/woman to grow his potential and career. It has given me a platform to learn, to do things and to achieve things I wouldn't been able to do if it wasn't for Keyence. Of course I do work my socks off and performed to the high level expected of me by the management in order to reap the fruits of my labor. Many friends were made during this time and relationships strengthened during this 5 years plus in Keyence.

Today, my posting is of gratitude and admirations to the people who are still in Keyence.

1. The first person I would like to thank and appreciate will be Charlotte. Oh Charlotte, she is the admin exec who brought me in the office for a test. She even speculated I look like 30 when ol'Jon is barely 22 and by the first week of training in KL, lots and lots of comments were flying in KL about a guy who is 22 but looks like 30 had joined the company. During my time, she helped me a lot with my day to day work and was very patience and supportive in administrative part of my jobs that I need to do. She is also a very hard worker and staying back late to finishes her job(don't you get it? Jobs can't be finished!) and through her dedication and hard work, she basically infect all of us juniors to work extra hours and be a responsible, discipline worker. And she was the role model. I will also never forget her melodious voice singing touchy mandarin songs or her infectious smile that greets me everyday I come in to work. Charlotte my friend, thank you for 5 wonderful years of companion, it has been an honor!
2. Perhaps the second person I would like to mention is Jason Tan. We call each other Bro and for the past 8 months he was my leader. To be honest, he is a great guy to have around and though we have had some frictions in the past, thankfully all is well now. He is a great football 'kaki' and a fantastic singer as well. Rumor has it that he was rejected at the Astro Talent Quest due to his height(for the lack of it) and his age(over-age). Jobless and facing of the prospect of singing at 'getai'(stage singer), he duly signed up for Keyence and his life has changed ever since. Yo Bro, take care and keep on walking...You'll Never Walk Alone.
3. The 3rd person I'm about to say my gratitude will be Simon Lee. Yes he is a wild card entry and he is one of the more passionate person I've met in Keyence. He helped me a lot during my transition period to Automation Division and gave me plenty of advises and support. For all the joint-visit, IDs and help that you gave, thank you Mr. Simon.
4. Wei Ling is one of the vainest person on earth. A self proclaimed Penang Top 3 Beauty, she will check up herself in the pocket mirror every other minute. She also happens to have bad skin thus the name Baskin Lee. She is actually very helpful to ol'Jon and would never shy away from taking on tasks. For all the work you've done for Jon, a big thank you Ms. Baskin Lee
5. Fifth will be Ms. Goh. She is 162 while I'm 161. Thus we're from the same batch and this meant that I've know her for 5 years 2 months. That I think is a long time and thus far I've nothing but good things to say about her. She have good taste in fashion and cars, she also had a fantastic singing ability. Thanks for the 'FIT' namesake!
6. Suprisingly, Reinee gets a shout too. She is the admin exec from KL. And she has the nastiest jokes about my size and outlook. Though she keeps on 'chai'(step on in cantonese) me and say bad things about me but I know she is just joking. She is also ultra sporting, valiantly supportive and ticklishly funny. Poo Wae Wae, I will miss your sick joke!

A good shout out goes to SH Low as well. When he joined Keyence, he told everyone that a condo without a swimming pool is low class. Incidentally my condo doesn't have one. :-) It was all fine until the day he found out I'm his new leader, they say fate has a cruel twist! Another buddy I would like to mention will be Ryan the Giant. He is a big guy with a soft heart. His voice is very very very irritating but I love him nonetheless. Take care guys....

Working in Keyence also let me meet and know very good and steady ppl like;

• Siew (the funny man)
• Gary
• Mathew
• HK Lee
• Chang (leaving at the same day)
• Joan (the siaolang)
• Sung Po

The first week I was depressed and sad that I'm leaving. The second week I was nervous and anxious with my future. The third week I was very happy and excited to leave and embark on a new journey. The last week I'm awashed with grief to leave my group of good friends and brothers...


You'll Never Walk Alone~

Some Futsal snap shots by SH Low ~ 17th September 2010

The night before our Company's Presentation 1H 2010, the few of us from Penang office decided to join our KL comrade for a game of futsal at Setapak Futsal Center. We're straight of the plane, ran to the LRT station, hop on the next train and transit to the futsal field in no time. Our dedication was top notch and kudos to Jason, Ryan and SH Low(photgrapher) for the dedication and passion for the game.

Arrival ~ 5 mins before kick-off (Jason and Jon) getting ready

Jason trying to potray a cute face to hide his Jason the Destroyer image

Simon, looking serious and wanting to hurt someone!

 

Jon posing with a jet-lagged face

 

ol'Jon laughing out loud when he notice that Jason & Jon brought the wrong kit(turf shoes for rubber court)

ol'Jon unleashing a right foot volley ala Didier Drogba style (ol'Jon is a leftist fyi)

 ol'Jon's sidefoot shot beating Simon(eventual goal)

ol'Jon trying to stop Daniel(Red Arsenal shirt) from attacking

Jason's ferocious shot just missing the near post.

Post match pic, from left: Kevin, Simon, Daniel and Chin

Simon weighing his options!

     Ryan's distributing the ball to his players.

 

Jon in the thick of the action again

 Kevin displaying some MessiNess skills.

 Chin trying to catch Daniel's friend

 Daniel ditching Ryan and Chin and enroute to the goal mouth.

Daniel stopped on his track by Jason the Destroyer and Ryan the Great Wall

 ol'Jon trying out some skills he learnt from Fernando Torres!

All in all, it was a good game although the end result ol'Jon's team lost by a 3 goal margin. My team is called the Fat Boyz Roller (Chin, Chin's brother, Ryan, Jason and ol'Jon) whereby one need to weigh more than 85kg to be admitted. Our nemesis, the Slim Boyz Rultz consist of (Daniel, Kevin, Simon, Daniel's Friend 1, Daniel's friend 2). Until 8th of October, the Slim Boyz Rultz is king, but the Fat Boyz Roller will seek the revenge....Revenge of the Fatz Boyz Roller!