New element discovered!

I thought I'd share this little nugget with you. Had me rolling about for ages...

Research has led to the discovery of the heaviest element yet known to science. The new element, Governmentium (Gv), has one neutron, 25 assistant neutrons, 88 deputy neutrons, and 198 assistant deputy neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of 312.

These 312 particles are held together by forces called morons, which are surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called peons. Since Governmentium has no electrons, it is inert; however, it can be detected because it impedes every reaction with which it comes into contact. A minute amount of Governmentium can cause a reaction that would normally take less than a second to take from four days to four years to complete.

Governmentium has a normal half-life of 2- 6 years; it does not decay, but instead undergoes a reorganisation in which a portion of the assistant neutrons and deputy neutrons exchange places. In fact, Governmentium's mass will actually increase over time, since each reorganisation will cause more morons to become neutrons, forming isodopes. This characteristic of moron promotion leads some scientists to believe that Governmentium is formed whenever morons reach a critical concentration. This hypothetical quantity is referred to as critical morass.

When catalysed with money, Governmentium becomes Administratium, an element that radiates just as much energy as Governmentium since it has half as many peons but twice as many morons.

Us and Them (With thanks to Pink Floyd)

My nephew who is studying law had his first encounter with overt racism just the other day. A lecturer made some pretty disparaging, but increasingly common, remarks about the Chinese going home.


Us and them
and after all we're only ordinary men
me and you
God only knows it's not what we would choose to do


One can’t help but reflect on the parlous state of affairs in Malaysia presently. Contrast this with my own positive outlook just 3 years ago when I went cycling to, as the New Straits Times put it ‘reaffirm my faith in Malaysia’. See some of my blog entries from that time.. When I just finished the Celebrate Malaysia! ride, and my articles in The Star here and here.

At that time, I declared the Malaysia of old still exists. Certainly there was evidence of this in my encounters with the rural or less-urban folk. It would seem, however, that the intervening years have conspired to undermine my optimism. The numerous cases in recent times of increased racial intolerance seem to be evidence of a rising tide that we would do well to be more than just wary of.

In many ways I am unmoved. I still hold out some hope that things will be resolved and that one day we will move away form the politics of division, suspicion and hate and back to the ideals my generation and the generations before me grew up with.

But it seems those clinging on to power (and its attendant benefits and rewards) have an opposing view, using every tool at their disposal to create wedges and divisions among the racial groups that once lived in harmony.


forward he cried from the rear
and the front rank died
and the General sat, and the lines on the map
moved from side to side


In a way, this is not unlike a war. One where the Generals sit, manipulating the armies through governmental policies, the insidious propagation of racial stereotypes and thus racism, the refusal to condemn (and thus implicitly supporting) racist groupings or individuals and the tight control over any attempt to express a contrary opinion.

As it was in the Great War, the infantry were the sacrificial lambs, expendable and indeed, expended in great numbers. The difference lies partly in the fact the sacrificial lambs are not losing their lives, though many are losing their livelihoods.

The main difference though lies in the fact the Generals today are not manoeuvring to gain an advantage in a just and honourable battle. This is an economic fight and the rewards are personal financial gains, no matter the cost to the pawns. I won’t discuss the strategies, the reasons and the benefits of this modern equivalent of the ‘divide and rule’ ideology. We know how it works. We know they’re trying to make it work. And we know that with each passing day, their hold on power is gradually slipping and like the desperate lunges of a drowning man, they cling ever harder to the only way they know how to rule.


Black and blue
and who knows which is which and who is who
up and down
and in the end it's only round and round and round


Amongst the pawns, there are those who know no better and thus we can begin to forgive them their racist transgressions. But when one encounters an educationist who spews ignorant, intolerant, reprehensible invective as has been the case with my nephew’s encounter or with the two recent cases reported in the press, one can’t help but feel some sense of alarm.


haven't you heard it's a battle of words
the poster bearer cried
listen, son, said the man with the gun
there's room for you inside


I encouraged my nephew to speak up the next time he has a similar experience. Being his first time, he was understandably nervous and caught off-guard. I am hoping he will not be the next time.


Down and out
it can't be helped but there's a lot of it about
with, without
and who'll deny it's what the fighting's all about


Silence and neutrality benefit the status quo. And the status quo right now is totally unacceptable. It is, in fact, abhorrent. As citizens of a democratic society it is our duty to speak up and to protest against the ignorance and intolerance that is insidiously seeping into every aspect of everyday life.


out of the way, it's a busy day
I've got things on my mind
for want of the price of tea and a slice
the old man died 


The foundation of how we operate as a society is based on certain tenets including respect for and acceptance of one another. Every society needs to engage within itself and without too, in order to grow and survive. Racism diminishes a society’s ability to prosper whether economically or culturally. Any government that chooses to allow racism to fester eventually corrodes from within and falls in on itself. History has enough examples of that.

Love after Love

In that iteration of me which is part counsellor and part coach, I have often observed or worked with people who exhibit a confident exterior only to reveal a sensitive, uncertain side of their personality under certain circumstances.

In actual fact I would not exclude myself from this category - and the more astute among you would note my attempt to disguise this side of my character in double-negatives phrasing.

Recently an old friend posted a few lines of a Derek Walcott poem and I had cause to read it through again and again.

I reproduce it here for no other reason that it struck a chord within me.

Love After Love
by Derek Walcott

The time will come
when, with elation
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror
and each will smile at the other's welcome,

and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you

all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,

the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.

IKEA sees the (LED) light!

I’ve been flogging LED lighting systems for a couple of years now. Some time ago I did a project that involved a large number of AC LEDs. Most LEDs run on 12 volt DC power but there are a couple of manufacturers who put out AC power LEDs, including the little MR16s we bought from Seoul Semiconductor - the Acriche LEDs.

The advantage is that they don’t require a separate transformer (or driver) and can be dimmed steplessly.

I grabbed one from the warehouse and after an hour or so of tinkering transformed my IKEA uplight’s spotlamp. This uplight has a branch which contains an E14 bulb - when it first came out, people used incandescent spotlamps which were tremendously hot. Soon after, they switched to cold cathode or compact fluorescents and I had a 7 watt unit in mine.

As the AC power MR16s have a GU10 base, I had to take apart the IKEA lamp and replace the E14 base with a GU10 one. This was done easily enough and even though I could not screw the new base into the lamp unit, the wire, when pulled and secured, keeps the base snug in the back of the spotlamp unit.

As the LEDs use 240 volt AC power but employ a GU10 base which can typically be for either 12 volt DC or 240 V AC, I thought it best to mark this clearly.

The Acriche 3W light gives a very good colour, not unlike that of the halogen it typically replaces, but cooler and flatter which is perfect for near use. Besides, I like how the bulb looks when seated in the lampholder - the fins of the heatsink make the whole look interesting when switched off.

Besides, I now enjoy a host of other LED light benefits including a lifespan 15 times that of halogens and 6 times that of cold cathode, power consumption of about a tenth of halogens and half of cold cathode, and also the feeling I've just done something rather clever.

I still have to modify the uplight section and might use some MR16s there as well. I’ve run out of Acriche ones so may try an array of Revolite ones or perhaps some LED modules. Will keep you posted.

Incidentally we have another of the same lights in the hall and I will likely switch that to an on/off foot switch rather than a dimmer and use the same E27 fittings that are in place. I’ve got some non-dimmable E27s sitting in the warehouse which I can use.

Recipe for an Eco-Friendly Household Cleaner

We’ve stopped buying Cif and Bang as I’ve been making our own eco-friendly and completely bio--degradable spray cleaner. I mixed this up and poured it into an old spray bottle and we’ve been using it to clean sinks, bathrooms, the kitchen and even my MacBook’s white keyboard.

For the last, I prefer it to the sudsy Bang (which, I must admit cleans remarkably) and it doesn’t leave any residue like Cif.

As most spray bottles are about 500ml, you might do well to mix up a quarter portion at a time. And remember - the mix separates if it’s been sitting too long so shake it well before use.

With a bit of experimenting, I’ve also found that a little more baking soda makes it even more effective.


INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup baking soda
2 litre water
half a lemon

TO PREPARE
Mix up the vinegar, baking soda and water. Squeeze in the lemon, taking out any seeds that may fall in as you do so. Pour into a spray bottle.

Make sure you let the foaming stop and the mixture subside before you screw back the cap of the spray bottle or it'll bulge out under pressure.

You'll have to shake it up before use as the mix starts to separate when left to stand.

It settles when left standing, so shake it well before use!

TO USE
Use this as you would any spray cleaner. A wipe with the mix then another with a damp cloth makes a whizz of most household cleaning jobs.

To clean your computer keyboard, spray a little on a soft cloth and wipe down the keyboard. I think it is best when the laptop is shut down, but if you use a very absorbent cloth, you can attack the keys while the computer is on - just open a text file so the key presses don't screw up whatever you're doing.

The tricky keys are the function ones as they make all sorts of weird things happen.

Note that we're so used to seeing sudsy and foamy cleaners that this may not appear to be working but trust me, it does.

Happy cleaning!

Some friendships are best kept distant

Call me naive, but I have only recently learnt that there are some friendships which work best when you don’t see each other that often.

I have a smallish circle of friends, preferring close friends rather than many friends. In part this is due to circumstance - having studied and lived abroad at key times of my life means I don’t have the advantage of being close geographically to my alma maters and, thus, the alumni and the network that accords.

I do, however, also naturally prefer close rather than superficial relationships and if there is one regret I have when it comes to friends is that I have lost touch with one or two very good friends with whom I shared the  experiences of some of my crucial growing years.

That regret is balanced out by the warm, accepting, unconditional and at times intense friendships with a select few with whom I’ve spent long hours, days, weeks together, sharing meals, work and in some cases, homes, with.

So it’s taken me awhile to understand what I think many people instinctively know and that this doesn’t always work. My natural sledgehammer approach to life, where I insist on banging things into the shape I want them to be, has once again caused me to have a protracted learning curve in this instance.

But like all things else, it is a valuable lesson. I have begun to understand that there are some friends who will drift into your life every other year or so, cause a stir, then meld back into the mists of time only to reappear again some years later. And I now see that this is actually a healthy thing and it’s just one more life-lesson I am grateful for the opportunity to have learnt through experience.

Now if only someone could link me up again with my erstwhile best-buddy from Secondary School days, Ng Kien Hoon. Last I found he worked with Pinsent Masons in Hong Kong and I think he was also with Project Orbis. Anyone have any clues?

What NOT to do as a good parent

This was a song I first heard in the 80s and when I became a father for the first time, it guided my actions and decisions.

I like to think I’ve done a reasonable father’s job and I think the bits I’ve done well are due in no small measure to the idea of being there for your kids. The bits I’ve sucked at are another matter entirely…
Meanwhile, I think it would be good to remember Harry Chapin’s wise words on what NOT to do:

Cat’s in The Cradle
by Sandy and Harry Chapin

My child arrived just the other day
He came to the world in the usual way
But there were planes to catch and bills to pay
He learned to walk while I was away
And he was talkin' 'fore I knew it, and as he grew
He'd say "I'm gonna be like you dad
You know I'm gonna be like you"

And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man on the moon
When you comin' home dad?
I don't know when, but we'll get together then son
You know we'll have a good time then

My son turned ten just the other day
He said, "Thanks for the ball, Dad, come on let's play
Can you teach me to throw", I said "Not today
I got a lot to do", he said, "That's ok"
And he walked away but his smile never dimmed
And said, "I'm gonna be like him, yeah
You know I'm gonna be like him"

And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man on the moon
When you comin' home son?
I don't know when, but we'll get together then son
You know we'll have a good time then

Well, he came home from college just the other day
So much like a man I just had to say
"Son, I'm proud of you, can you sit for a while?"
He shook his head and said with a smile
"What I'd really like, Dad, is to borrow the car keys
See you later, can I have them please?"

And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man on the moon
When you comin' home son?
I don't know when, but we'll get together then son
You know we'll have a good time then

I've long since retired, my son's moved away
I called him up just the other day
I said, "I'd like to see you if you don't mind"
He said, "I'd love to, Dad, if I can find the time
You see my new job's a hassle and kids have the flu
But it's sure nice talking to you, Dad
It's been sure nice talking to you"

And as I hung up the phone it occurred to me
He'd grown up just like me
My boy was just like me

And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man on the moon
When you comin' home son?
I don't know when, but we'll get together then Dad
You know we'll have a good time then

Don't wait too late! Five Regrets of the Dying

These words weren't mine, but I find they just make so much sense, hence I'd like to share them with you.

Recently I've been contemplating the topics of childbirth and additions to the world with two good friends soon to be parents - one for the first time and one for the second, and another who became a parent for the first time some months ago.

It's made me reflect on my own fatherhood, my successes and my failings and it has also made me look hard at a philosophy I've espoused for years:
Forget about life after death. It's Life before death that we should all be focussed on.

I've tried to live this way, with varying degrees of success and some extremely painful consequences. The regrets I have in my life are all from not living true to these tenets.

I hope you never have to have those regrets.


Five Regrets of the Dying
By Bronnie Ware, Platinum Quality Author

For many years I worked in palliative care. My patients were those who had gone home to die. Some incredibly special times were shared. I was with them for the last three to twelve weeks of their lives.


People grow a lot when they are faced with their own mortality. I learned never to underestimate someone's capacity for growth. Some changes were phenomenal. Each experienced a variety of emotions, as expected, denial, fear, anger, remorse, more denial and eventually acceptance. Every single patient found their peace before they departed though, every one of them.

When questioned about any regrets they had or anything they would do differently, common themes surfaced again and again. Here are the most common five:


1. I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.This was the most common regret of all. When people realise that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how many dreams have gone unfulfilled. Most people had not honoured even a half of their dreams and had to die knowing that it was due to choices they had made, or not made.

It is very important to try and honour at least some of your dreams along the way. From the moment that you lose your health, it is too late. Health brings a freedom very few realise, until they no longer have it.

2. I wish I didn't work so hard.This came from every male patient that I nursed. They missed their children's youth and their partner's companionship. Women also spoke of this regret. But as most were from an older generation, many of the female patients had not been breadwinners. All of the men I nursed deeply regretted spending so much of their lives on the treadmill of a work existence.

By simplifying your lifestyle and making conscious choices along the way, it is possible to not need the income that you think you do. And by creating more space in your life, you become happier and more open to new opportunities, ones more suited to your new lifestyle.

3. I wish I'd had the courage to express my feelings.Many people suppressed their feelings in order to keep peace with others. As a result, they settled for a mediocre existence and never became who they were truly capable of becoming. Many developed illnesses relating to the bitterness and resentment they carried as a result.

We cannot control the reactions of others. However, people may initially react when you change the way you are by speaking honestly, but in the end it raises the relationship to a whole new and healthier level. Either that or it releases the unhealthy relationship from your life. Either way, you win.

4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.Often they would not truly realise the full benefits of old friends until their dying weeks and it was not always possible to track them down. Many had become so caught up in their own lives that they had let golden friendships slip by over the years. There were many deep regrets about not giving friendships the time and effort that they deserved. Everyone misses their friends when they are dying.

It is common for anyone in a busy lifestyle to let friendships slip.  But when you are faced with your approaching death, the physical details of life fall away. People do want to get their financial affairs in order if possible. But it is not money or status that holds the true importance for them. They want to get things in order more for the benefit of those they love. Usually though, they are too ill and weary to ever manage this task. It is all comes down to love and relationships in the end. That is all that remains in the final weeks, love and relationships.

5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.This is a surprisingly common one. Many did not realise until the end that happiness is a choice. They had stayed stuck in old patterns and habits. The so-called 'comfort' of familiarity overflowed into their emotions, as well as their physical lives. Fear of change had them pretending to others, and to themselves, that they were content.  When deep within, they longed to laugh properly and have silliness in their life again.

When you are on your deathbed, what others think of you is a long way from your mind. How wonderful to be able to let go and smile again, long before you are dying.

Life is a choice. It is YOUR life. Choose consciously, choose wisely, choose honestly.

Choose happiness.