Life Of A Typical Malay - July 1999

Thursday 1/7/1999

Was so tired last night I went to bed at 5.00 am. Missed my Subuh. To PKNS Complex for lunch, then to a few handphone shops after that looking for JET coupon. JET coupon? What the heck is JET coupon? I got the same question from all dealers.

It's a coupon for Jaring online services, to register for new user, online payment and a few other services. It sounds cool, I really need to have a back up account, just in case Jaring gantung my account again. I cannot afford not to have internet access, I need to get all the latest news on commodity market.

Left for work a bit early today, traffic was heavy especially near the roundabout leading to Bukit Bintang area. To Lot 10 after Isyak, managed to find a shop that sells the coupons. Bought 3 for RM 150-00. and quickly logged on and registered an account using Nuar's name, wow, just under 3 minutes. Way cool.

Jeffery's investor (Werner, a German) was at the office looking for him and Tony. Took me and Kumar nearly an hour to explain the basic trading procedures. It was hard for him to understand and we promised to help him to do his transactions.

Friday 2/7/1999

I nearly missed my Friday Prayer today. I thought hari Khamis, nasib baik aku bangun awal sikit dari biasa. Wanted to say my prayer at the usual place (ITM Islamic Centre) but there was no parking spots left and since it was a bit early, I drove to Masjid Negeri. I don't really like to say my prayer here, it's far too comfortable and I tend to lose my concentration.

I always find it "difficult" to find a place for lunch on Fridays, almost all restaurants and stalls are packed. I usually end up driving for half an hour all around Shah Alam, looking for a place where it's not too crowded.

Traffic was heavy when I left for work, there were a few accidents along Federal Highway, both directions. Besides, it was a Friday night.

Market played sideways again (as expected) and we basically did not pay much attention to the price movements on the computer screens. Instead we went out for drinks, cracked jokes and did our own things. Bukit Bintang is such a happening place, a place where you can find all types of people, all kinds of fun (?). From one red district to another. And there are no zebra-crossings.....that's Bukit Bintang, a place that doesn't sleep. To be honest, working here (our office is located right smack in the middle of the so-called red districts) makes us feel cheap. Really. And that's the price we have to pay.

Nous avons parlé au sujet de la façon dont nos vies changent depuis travailler la nuit. C'est amusement. Il est agréable. Et surtout il est différent. Le type de travaux que nous effectuons. C'est dangereux aussi, très dangereux en effet.

Price tumbled again to the lowest figure for September contract. Many brokers liquidated their long positions because of the long weekend in the States, 4th July holiday.

Saturday 3/7/1999

Lately,I've been spending my time online looking at some "cool personal sites" - that is, those with lots of talented people and great projects and the like, and I wonder why I don't seem to "understand" the Web.

These websites really make mine dead pale in comparison. Yes, I'm well aware it's not a competition but I kind of feel way way behind these talented desingers. I have an extremely standard Web page - information about me, an online journal, links, and miscellaneous things and craps - along with a very standard navigation. But that's not the point. I'm not really sure what to do about it.

Right now (and throughout most of my life) I'm slowly being pulled apart by the wide range of things I want to do and the multitudes of people who want me to do a wide range of things. This is what led to my problems before, and what I fear might lead to them again in the future.

Now, I'm getting the same feeling when looking at some of the stuff to put out on the Web.I measure myself against these people and find myself coming up extremely short.I don't have the willpower to continually learn new things; I procrastinate too much and just sit here doing nothing.

On a much brighter note, I've started up learning "futures trading" again (on-line). I'm progressing rapidy; the more I know the more I know I don't know...ah,well...

I've also been visiting lots of German and French websites (with RealAudio) when not doing "futures" (too much of this is not good for my health...*LOL*); I can understand a lot of what they're saying right now. I will gradually be able to fully understand what they're saying, I hope. I realize that it will take a while - to gain aural competency, to be able to speak German like a German and to converse in French like a French.

Oh God, I want to be in Europe again, just get me out of this country. Life in Malaysia stinks to the highest heaven...

Sunday 4/7/1999

I sounded a bit down yesterday, probably because it was a Saturday night when I wrote that.

Today was no better, the sky opened up and it poured for a good 2 hours. Ida and her friend were here visiting, so did Nuar's friends. Spent the night printing stuff from binews.com,esok aku nak pergi Tanjung Malim, tak ada masa nak buat benda-benda ni.

Oh yea, Happy 4th July to all American friends, also to Great Nehi for linking my page to his.

Monday 5/7/1999
12-30 am -
I'm tired, really am. But I can't go to bed at this time, have tons of reports/news to be printed out. Tomorrow commodityexpert.com will start charging to surf their website so I better be quick and get all the infomations printed. Promised Kumar and Dominic that aku nak buat betul-betul serious. Mungkin aku ni good in "fundamentals but technically" memang aku lemah. And there are lots of websites where I can learn and refer to. I have to be more organised, I have to learn everything, as much as possible. Lucky I'm not into mirc and stuff, so basically I have this internet as tool to achieve my goals.

I was in Tanjung Malim this afternoon, visiting investors and friends. I worked in Tanjung Malim before, a small town about 100 km from Shah Alam. Thanks to PLUS Highway, it took me just under 40 minutes to reach there. Had my lunch (after Zohor at Masjid Batu 8) at Kak Nab's stall. Met a few known faces and we talked until Asar. Then lepak at the mosque until about 6-00 pm. Haji Ramli invited me to his house but it was already late, instead we went for tea. Reached Shah Alam just before Maghrib. Malam ini tak kerja pasal kat US cuti ganti 4th July Holiday.

It's 4-45 am now...
I've just finished printing the whole 4 megs of commodityexpert.com, I'm so damn exhausted I better get some sleep, I can hardly open my eyes...With papers all over the floor, my apartment looks just like a trading pit...

Tuesday 6/7/1999
J'étais dans le lit jusqu' environ à 2-30 cette après-midi, je n'ai eu aucun plan pour le jour et c'était la raison pour laquelle. En outre, c'était extérieur nuageux, il m'a rendu la sensation très somnolente.

Chris was at the office tonight, he wanted to close his account. Very tight schedule, that was his reason. Pity, convinced him to hang on a little bit longer.

Server was down again tonight, had everyone in very bad mood. I couldn't get connected to bridge.com to check on latest/current price so we had to keep asking Hamli and Ricky to call Norbiton Ltd. Managed to get quotes from bloomberg.com towards the end of the session. Price plunged to 91.65c - the lowest so far.Tak tahulah apa nak jadi, risau aku dibuatnya,what if harga turun lagi sampai bawah 80? 50?...Mak, seramnya aku...

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