cglow.com

Welcome to my virtual house … however it’s still under heavy renovation.

google’s lively is an in progress jab at linden lab’s pioneering second life. The anime influences for the avatars are unmistakable, and adds the fun factor to entice younger audiences. But otherwise, it’s really more of a novelty at the moment, with the typical google influences scattered all over it. Watching youtube on your virtual LCD and having a photoframe to show off your picasa web albums comes naturally with lively.

… or maybe one day i can accessorized myself with an android phone to surf the web with. Now that will be surreal (and a sign to get a life).

Can i vote for him ?

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Obama’s gonna the next US president. No doubt about it - unless The Bradley Effect takes place. There’s a consistency and emphatic touch in his campaigns that’s the exact prescription for Americans holding on to the American Dream in very depressing times.

I pity McCain’s strategist. The rash choice of a Republican vice presidential candidate more suited for SNL in Palin and having a wrong kind of war hero in McCain just when the only war worth fighting is on America’s economic turf, doesn’t augur well for his campaign.

Read this Time article “The Lost Leader” for a great recap on why America’s choice does not matter as much for the rest of the world anymore, even if we do follow it with great interest.

Over the past month, i’ve given P1 a positive review followed by this not so great review. My conclusion is that while WIMAX shows great potential in Malaysia’s broadband landscape, early adopters might need to bear with stability issues.

I’m blogging about P1 because from forums and postings some already see W1MAX as a local broadband salvation, some are already not happy, some can’t be bothered changing (from Streamyx), and some are … waiting for a sign. It is however my believe that they are the ONLY real competitor to tmnet NOW. Hence their unfolding is worth blogging space.

Interestingly, I find that PacketOne’s greatest strength lies with it’s parent company greenpacket. Why ? Here you have a parent company who’s core R&D is in wireless technologies and has an internal software development team that is capable of building carrier-grade applications. Through it’s partnerships in China, P1/GP also has the ability to swiftly bring converged WIMAX devices to the market. If that’s not a great synergy for an ISP startup aspiring to go beyond broadband, i don’t know what is ! When can we expect to see a converged WIMAX, WIFI, VoIP and IPTV device from them?

The greenpacket stock has taken a dip past year due to concerns over their WIMAX investments. The global economic gloom aside, P1’s future can only be assured if they continue to refine their brand of converged devices and applications for a wireless home. Being a smaller player, they have a marked advantage of speed to market, and that is crucial with TM looming over the horizon with HSBB. But that vision can only be solidified if they have the right device and applications to promote consumer stickiness. Otherwise it will turn out to be a tough fight with TMNet, where it’s an open secret that IPTV is poised as the killer app post HSBB rollout. It’s just a matter of time before TM debut and aggresively push an ADSL/IPTV/etc converged device for their vision of a digital home. Judging by the number of college students forgoing the idiot box for youtube (not any smarter), that really sticks like glue.

On a parting note, It is really good to see that at least P1 has their marketing priorities right - with a series of viral ads and from what i’ve heard, engaging the online community (bloggers) to share it’s vision and product roadmap. For “other” ISPs - It’s the internet stupid ! What better way to read your user’s mind than to sieve through the wealth of review, forums and user feedback of exactly those that use your services. I laud P1 for at least getting that part of the equation right.

So will WIMAX be a success in Malaysia? All i can say is that it is interesting times ahead for the broadband community … but only time will tell.

Malaysians finally gets to enjoy Mobile Number Portability, after more than 2 years since work started in the industry. I for one will be watching out for the mobile ads, esp. what digi does with their ducks (kewl) or what maxis does with their donuts (lame) etc.

Here’s a snapshot of our beloved telco’s websites today, for posterity :

DiGi and Maxis did quite a bit of prep work. with “porting” portals (DiGi) and a rate plan recommendation engine (Maxis)

Celcom and Umobile’s was a bit more subdued.

Next to come - PRICE WARS. Or it had better lead to that otherwise it’s all in vain - as at the end of the day most expect it to be a zero sum game for the local telcos.

It’s a good day. Our phone numbers are now truly mobile.

Came back yesterday night and my mom had a big hoo haa over her latest blossom in the garden. She insisted i take a picture before it’s too late.

This, my friend - is the bloom of a dragonfruit. The dragonfruit, or Hylocereus undatus belongs to the cactus family and the flower above easily measure over 30cm.

According to this source, it is not only a night blooming plant but shows off for one night only. I am so glad my mom was right.

I can perhaps sum up my P1 WIMAX experience with 3 key words -

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“Speed”

When it works, WIMAX is a speedy monster for most internet usage. But that’s also partly because we set ourselves very low benchmarks here in Malaysia (Read: Streamyx). It is afterall a wireless technology that was created specifically for Broadband. Some naysayers from the 3G camp expects it to fail, but who the hell cares? This is not VHS vs Betamax. Bring on good speeds in any technology at a reasonable price (not just “competitive”) and Malaysians will PAY, whoever comes first.

That is if you sort out the problems of …

“Stability”

We are guinea pigs. Some will wait. Some are too desperate they will try anything! But we cannot escape the fact that poor old streamyx brings us comfort in knowing we’re connected via a physical line. It is obvious that P1, like any WIMAX provider will need time to sort out the niggles. Some i can control, like placing the modem on the 2nd floor facing my grand window so the light on the modem is always green (short of consulting a feng shui master). But some you can’t, like feeling helpless when the connection is lost, rain or shine.

Downtime is rare for wired connections even if the speed is poor, but with WIMAX you’re truly a goner if it doesn’t hook on, for whatever reason. NO Internet. I can tell you that sucks. Heads will spin, some will fly.

I guess i needed to see this as a paying “experiment” in …

“Wireless”

as It’s inevitable that one day we will all want wireless broadband in our homes. Whether WIMAX is THE solution that pipes you up to the internet remains to be seen. For a start, the sensitivity of the WIMAX modem means that you cannot place it flexibly within the house. Unless you’re inclined to MIMO up everything and live life on the cutting edge, this can be an exercise in frustration for the average joe trying to get on the internet.

Ultimately WIMAX devices needs time to mature. Hopefully Intel can pull their weight and work their Centrino magic all over again, but this time the stakes and competition are much more higher.

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I have some suggestions to ISPs (P1, Redtones and others looming) wanting to fulfill their Fixed Wireless Access vision and subscriber targets :

1. Set up a moderated forum to help users. This is new tech so what about some official answers ?
2. Empower the Call Center with good cheatsheets to help users troubleshoot modem locale or technical issues.
3. Certify wireless router/APs to work with your black box, esp. when you lock the device. Everybody shares their internet and would be glad to have some assurance.
4. You have our phone numbers and location. Send out SMS to inform affected users on service downtime.

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I wanted to like WIMAX, I really do. But i still can’t feel that it will be a consistent experience for most. It was not for me so sadly I’m giving back my modem.

I’ve had my 15 days, so good luck with yours. The potential is always there. And try to be grateful you even have a choice !

… Now where the hell did i put my phone cable again?

If there’s anything worth reproducing - it’s this -

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29 September 2008

YAB Dato’ Seri Abdullah Badawi
Prime Minister of Malaysia
5th Floor, East Wing
Perdana Putra Building
Putrajaya
Malaysia

Dear Mr Prime Minister

In our proclamation of independence, our first Prime Minister gave voice to the lofty aspirations and dreams of the people of Malaya: that Malaya was founded on the principles of liberty and justice, and the promise that collectively we would always strive to improve the welfare and happiness of its people.

Many years have passed since that momentous occasion and those aspirations and dreams remain true and are as relevant to us today as they were then. This was made possible by a strong grasp of fundamentals in the early period of this nation. The Federal Constitution and the laws made pursuant to it were well founded; they embodied the key elements of a democracy built on the Rule of Law. The Malaysian Judiciary once commanded great respect from Malaysians and was hailed as a beacon for other nations. Our earlier Prime Ministers, Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Razak and Tun Hussein Onn were truly leaders of integrity, patriots in their own right and most importantly, men of humility. They believed in and built this nation on the principles and values enunciated in our Constitution.

Even when they had to enact the Internal Security Act (ISA) 1960, they were very cautious and apologetic about it. Tunku stated clearly that the Act was passed to deal with the communist threat. “My cabinet colleagues and I gave a solemn promise to Parliament and the nation that the immense powers given to the Government under the ISA would never be used to stifle legitimate opposition and silent lawful dissent”, was what the Tunku said. Our third Prime Minister Tun Hussein Onn reinforced this position by saying that the ISA was not intended to repress lawful political opposition and democratic activity on the part of the citizenry.

The events of the last three weeks have compelled me to review the way in which the ISA has been used. This exercise has sadly led me to the conclusion that the Government has time and time again failed the people of this country in repeatedly reneging on that solemn promise made by Tunku Abdul Rahman. This has been made possible because the Government and the law have mistakenly allowed the Minister of Home Affairs to detain anyone for whatever reason he thinks fit. This subjective discretion has been abused to further certain political interests.

History is the great teacher and speaks volumes in this regard. Even a cursory examination of the manner in which the ISA has been used almost from its inception would reveal the extent to which its intended purpose has been subjugated to the politics of the day.

Regrettably, Tunku Abdul Rahman himself reneged on his promise. In 1965, his administration detained Burhanuddin Helmi, the truly towering Malay intellectual, a nationalist who happened to be a PAS leader. He was kept in detention until his death in 1969. Helmi was a political opponent and could by no stretch of the imagination be considered to have been involved in the armed rebellion or communism that the ISA was designed to deal with. This detention was an aberration, a regrettable moment where politics had been permitted to trump the rule of law. It unfortunately appears to have set a precedent and many detentions of persons viewed as having been threatening to the incumbent administration followed through the years. Even our literary giant, ‘sasterawan negara’ the late Tan Sri A Samad Ismail was subjected to the ISA in 1976. How could he have been a threat to national security?

I need not remind you of the terrible impact of the 1987 Operasi Lalang. Its spectre haunts the Government as much as it does the peace loving people of this nation, casting a gloom over all of us. There were and still are many unanswered questions about those dark hours when more than a hundred persons were detained for purportedly being threats to national security. Why they were detained has never been made clear to Malaysians. Similarly, no explanation has been forthcoming as to why they were never charged in court. Those detainees included amongst their numbers senior opposition Members of Parliament who are still active in Parliament today. The only thing that is certain about that period was that UMNO was facing a leadership crisis. Isn’t it coincidental that the recent spate of ISA arrests has occurred when UMNO is again having a leadership crisis?

In 2001, Keadilan ‘reformasi’ activists were detained in an exercise that the Federal Court declared was in bad faith and unlawful. The continued detention of those that were not released earlier in the Kamunting detention facility was made possible only by the fact that the ISA had been questionably amended in 1988 to preclude judicial review of the Minister’s order to detain. Malaysians were told that these detainees had been attempting to overthrow the Government via militant means and violent demonstrations. Seven years have gone and yet no evidence in support of this assertion has been presented. Compounding the confusion even further, one of these so-called militants, Ezam Mohamad Noor, recently rejoined UMNO to great fanfare, as a prized catch it would seem.

At around the same time, members of PAS were also detained for purportedly being militant and allegedly having links to international terrorist networks. Those detained included Nik Adli, the son of Tuan Guru Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat the Menteri Besar of Kelantan. Malaysians were made a promise by the Government that evidence of the alleged terrorist activities and links of these detainees would be disclosed. To date no such evidence has been produced.

The same formula was used in late 2007 when the HINDRAF 5 were detained. Malaysians were told once again that these individuals were involved in efforts to overthrow the Government and had links with the militant Liberation Tiger of Tamil Eelam of Sri Lanka. To date no concrete evidence have been presented to support this assertion. It would seem therefore that the five were detained for their involvement in efforts that led to a mobilisation of Malaysian Indians to express, through peaceful means, their frustration against the way in which their community had been allowed to be marginalised. This cause has since been recognised as a legitimate one. The HINDRAF demonstration is nothing extraordinary as such assemblies are universally recognised as being a legitimate means of expression.

In the same vein, the grounds advanced in support of the most recent detentions of Tan Hoon Cheng, Teresa Kok and Raja Petra Kamarudin leave much to be desired. The explanation that Tan Hoon Cheng was detained for her own safety was farcical. The suggestion that Teresa Kok had been inciting religious sentiments was unfounded as was evinced by her subsequent release.

As for Raja Petra Kamarudin, the prominent critic of the Government, a perusal of his writings would show that he might have been insulting of the Government and certain individuals within it. However, being critical and insulting could not in any way amount to a threat to national security. If his writings are viewed as being insulting of Islam, Muslims or the Holy Prophet (pbuh), he should instead be charged under the Penal Code and not under the ISA. In any event, he had already been charged for sedition and criminal defamation in respect of some of his statements. He had claimed trial, indicating as such his readiness and ability to defend himself. Justice would best be served by allowing him his day in court more so where, in the minds of the public, the Government is in a position of conflict for having been the target of his strident criticism.

The instances cited above strongly suggest that the Government is undemocratic. It is this perspective that has over the last 25 plus years led to the Government seemingly arbitrarily detaining political opponents, civil society and consumer advocates, writers, businessmen, students, journalists whose crime, if it could be called that, was to have been critical of the Government. How it is these individuals can be perceived as being threats to national security is beyond my comprehension. The self-evident reality is that legitimate dissent was and is quashed through the heavy-handed use of the ISA.

There are those who support and advocate this carte-blanche reading of the ISA. They will seek to persuade you that the interests of the country demand that such power be retained, that Malaysians owe their peace and stability to laws such as the ISA. This overlooks the simple truth that Malaysians of all races cherish peace. We lived together harmoniously for the last 400 years, not because of these laws but in spite of them.

I believe the people of this country are mature and intelligent enough to distinguish actions that constitute a ‘real’ threat to the country from those that threaten political interests. Malaysians have come know that the ISA is used against political opponents and, it would seem, when the leadership is under challenge either from within the ruling party or from external elements.

Malaysians today want to see a Government that is committed to the court process to determine guilt or innocence even for alleged acts of incitement of racial or religious sentiment. They are less willing to believe, as they once did, that a single individual, namely the Minister of Home Affairs, knows best about matters of national security. They value freedom and the protection of civil liberties and this is true of people of other nations too.

Mr Prime Minister, the results of the last General Election are clear indication that the people of Malaysia are demanding a reinstatement of the Rule of Law. I was appointed as your, albeit short-lived, Minister in charge of legal affairs and judicial reform. In that capacity, I came to understand more keenly how many of us want reform, not for the sake of it, but for the extent to which our institutions have been undermined by events and the impact this has had on society.

With your blessing, I attempted to push for reform. High on my list of priorities was a reinstatement of the inherent right of judicial review that could be enabled through a reversion of the key constitutional provision to its form prior to the controversial amendment in 1988. I need not remind you that that constitutional amendment was prompted by the same series of events that led not only to Operasi Lalang but the sacking of the then Lord President and two supreme court justices. Chief amongst my concerns was the way in which the jurisdiction and the power of the Courts to grant remedy against unconstitutional and arbitrary action of the Executive had been removed by Parliament and the extent to which this had permitted an erosion of the civil liberties of Malaysians. It was this constitutional amendment that paved the way for the ouster provision in the ISA that virtually immunises the Minister from judicial review, a provision which exemplifies the injustice the constitutional amendment of 1988 has lent itself.

I also sought to introduce means by which steps could be taken to assist the Judiciary to regain the reputation for independence and competence it once had. Unfortunately, this was viewed as undesirable by some since an independent Judiciary would mean that the Executive would be less ‘influential’.

I attempted to do these things and more because of the realisation that Malaysia’s democratic traditions and the Rule of Law are under siege. Anyway, there is nothing wrong with giving everyone an independent Judiciary and the opportunity to a fair trial. This is consistent with the universal norms of human rights as it is with the tenets of Islam, the religion of the Federation. Unchecked power to detain at the whim of one man is oppressiveness at its highest. Even in Israel, a nation that is perpetually at war, the power to detain is not vested in one man and detention orders require endorsement from a judge.

If there are national security considerations, then these can be approached without jettisoning the safeguards intended to protect individual citizens from being penalised wrongfully. In other jurisdictions involved in armed conflicts, trials are held in camera to allow for judicial scrutiny of evidence considered too sensitive for public disclosure so as to satisfy the ends of justice. If this can be done in these jurisdictions, why not here where the last armed struggle we saw, the very one that precipitated the need for the ISA, came to an end in the 1980s? Any doubts as to the continued relevance of the ISA in its present form should have been put to rest by the recommendation by the National Human Rights Commission (SUHAKAM) that the ISA be repealed and an anti-terror legislation suited to the times enacted in its place. Containing as it did a sunset clause in its original times, the ISA was never intended to be a permanent feature on the Malaysian legal landscape.

Through its continued use in the manner described above and in the face of public sentiment, it is only natural that the ISA has become in the mind of the people an instrument of oppression and the Government is one that lends itself to oppressiveness. Its continued use does not bode well for a society that is struggling to find its place in the global arena. It does not bode well for the democracy that is so vital for us to develop sustainably.

Mr Prime Minister, I remember very clearly what you once said; that if one has the opportunity to do what is good and right for the country, then he must take on the task. I respect you deeply for that and if I were confident that I would have been able to do some good for Malaysia, I would have remained on your team. Sir, you are still the Prime Minister and you still have the opportunity to leave your footprint in Malaysian history. I urge you to do so by repealing the ISA once and for all.

Let us attempt to fulfil that solemn promise made by our beloved first Prime Minister to the people of this country.

Yours sincerely

ZAID IBRAHIM
Kuala Lumpur

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AAB, at the end of his political life with months to go, abolishing ISA is possibly the single significant legacy he can leave behind. The history books already do not judge him well.

Close to over a decade ago, a time when local calls were (nearly) free and i could logon to local BBS at 9.6kbps the whole night playing LORD, through the days when the Internet required Trumpet Winsock, to the bittorrents and youtube net life of today, i’ve pretty much stayed with TMNet as my ISP. Since it’s raya break and i’ve got time to burn i’m giving another local broadband provider a spin.

P1 is PacketOne, a subsidiary of greenpacket, which recently premier-ed WIMAX services in Malaysia. The WIMAX device offered is a black square brick, small enough for a home but probably not one for carrying around. Experience is pretty much plug and play, which i gathered means the device is pre-configured when i signed up with P1. So, on to the tests -

Test #1 - Speeding Around the World … technically.

A comparison of speedtest.net results -

For streamyx i could barely get the London server to start and it crawled to the result above. In any case even if it’s 1MB vs 1.2MB it’s obvious who’s the clear winner. Speed test can vary but no matter how you see it, Streamyx is just pure congested and nearly twice as slow for me.

Winner : P1 w1max

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Test #2 - Download a file on the web

64MB Apple iTunes download at http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/

P1 W1MAX 1.2MB	8 min 23 sec
TMNet Streamyx 1MB	35 min 25 sec

Consistent with Test 1, the P1 download was over 4x faster.

Winner : P1 w1max

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Test #3 - Streaming on youtube

Loading a ~5 minute clip at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHO1JTNPPOU

P1 W1MAX 1.2MB	1 min 29 sec
TMNet Streamyx 1MB	2 min 37 sec

Youtube streaming on Streamyx has often been choppy. So much so that it’s common practise among my friends to press pause, make coffee, fry an egg and take a bath before streaming the vid. Your results might vary but i have to say streaming on the P1 line was great.

Winner : P1 w1max

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Test #4 - Bittorrent

Download a 25MB torrent at http://beta.legaltorrents.com/get/190-vhs-recall

Below is a snapshot of a 25MB download in utorrent, give and take 10kB/s to the Down Speed. This is on a fresh install of utorrent - no tweaking of any settings. It’s common knowledge that TMNet bandwidth throttle on torrents.

P1 W1MAX 1.2MB	4 min 11 sec	~110kB/s Down
TMNet Streamyx 1MB	29 min 45 sec	~15kB/s Down

Winner : P1 w1max

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Test #5 - Pricing and Bundles

With P1 you’re getting 1.2Mbps/500Kbps for RM99 at 12-month contract and RM89 at 24-Month contract

With Streamyx you’re getting 1.0Mbps/384Kbps for RM88 no modem without contract. Synergies with Celcom means that bundles such as the recent Home, Hop and Away plans are hard to beat to value for a Mobile/Fixed Broadband combo.

Winner : TMNet Streamyx

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Test #6 - Network Stability

NOW HERE IS THE CATCH. When i first brought back the box and placed it where my PC usually sits, it can’t even negotiate a connection. Bring it closer to my front door and window, it flies. WIMAX, typical of any wireless solution like HSDPA, is susceptible to the usual interference and constraints of your house. You cannot beat a physical copper line. Although i’ve expected it, it is nevertheless dissapointing when you hit a red light(literally on the modem). On the bright side, P1 does offer a 15 day money back guarantee.

Winner : TMNet Streamyx

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Verdict

You really can’t take the results above as yours because simply, it is my results with my constraints. The age of your copper line, your distance to the nearest DSLAM, network congestion and even which floor you are in pretty much defines which may be the best service to go for.

If you can spend a bit more, don’t mind fiddling with the WIMAX modem placing (assuming coverage is decent in your area) and is comfortable with setting up wireless network devices to compensate, P1 can be a good alternative mainly due to it’s (current) low congestion and the imminent rise of centrino 2 in every intel powered notebook. If you’ve got a fixed line or maybe even a celcom line, TM has got great value for money HSDPA/ADSL bundles and is probably more foolproof to set up.

While the competition’s great, Broadband in Malaysia is sadly still too darn expensive. We’ll need to wait a while longer for the promises of WIMAX, Mobile Broadband and HSBB/HSBT to break down the price barriers and all these term contract non-sense that just ties us down. On an end note, most ISPs around the world has already implemented capped bandwidth plans and bandwidth throttling. So you have to count your blessings sometimes if you’re a torrent-addict and bandwidth hogger. For the rest of us it’s irrelevant. All we’re asking for is for a speedier and more pleasant internet experience - and of course - a lot cheaper.

Winner : Poor You and Me (Hopefully)

After 3 weeks in Europe for my honeymoon, the longest vacation i’ve had, I’ve decided to mark it all up in google map for the memories.Click on the placemarks to see the photos.

My map for the rest of the year of course will be pretty static as i’m darn broke now.

Now here’s (not exactly) the deal (of the century) - you pay RM38 to feed a bunch of doctor fish for half an hour.They feed veraciously nibbling on you like there’s no tomorrow and you get a million tingles all over your feet. I can assure you this is not therapeutic on the go but after a while - it’s kinda novel not to mention fun, but then if these “doctors” can cure psoriasis, it must be good for your feet.

I don’t remember these fishes being this BIG the last time i came here when Kenko Fish Spa first launched in Pavillion (I understand there’s another one in 1U called Foot Master). Business must be darn good for them to grow at this rate, what with them eating dead skin for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Verdict : Try it out. It’s a win-win. The fish gets fed, and you end up with an interesting weekend, a good story and smooth leg. and it’s still cheaper than a gold class ticket next door.