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  The most important tools that we need the most now... Without a doubt, the challenges faced by all of us today are unprecedented. Not even a Hollywood (or Bollywood!) script could have written about the  Covid-19 pandemic at such an unimaginable and devastating scale. In my beloved Malaysia, 4,446 cases were reported today. with a record number of 45 deaths. At the time of writing, at least 273 people needed respirators (or intubation). If that doesn't scare anyone, I wonder what would. Unfortunately, the majority of Malaysians in their own unique way are just like that. It is a trait that a friend once observed, "If it doesn't happen to them, they will never believe it." And, from what I have observed so far in my life, there is also another trait in Malaysians. We call it the "Belum cuba, belum tau" attitude. (Translated, it means: "You won't know, if you haven't tried") As Shakespeare wrote:  "A fool thinks himself to be wise, but

We are heading into the unknown in this pandemic. Let's just stay calm and compassionate.  Stay patient and help others in dire financial need if able. Be grateful for all that you have. What Social Distancing? @ Patrick Ho, 2021 When the first Movement Control Order (MCO) was announced (Mar 18-21,2020), the first thing most Malaysians worried about was food. "How are we going to buy food ah?", "The markets opened or not leh?" were questions that were seen in comments on social media. Most of us were not even clear how many from the same house could travel in a car. There were SOP's and there were changes made to the SOP's. Hence the new "abnormal" (I hate it when they term it 'the new normal'. What's normal about disruption?). Thankfully, the "new" government allowed marketing and tarpao (takeaway) at wet markets, supermarkets and restaurants. Obviously, Grabfood and Food Panda made handsome profits, not too mention givin

After more than a year of enduring the Covid-19 pandemic, many people have had to make drastic sacrifices and adjustments to their lives. Masks have become a mandatory piece of clothing for the majority, while there are those who do not believe in masking up. Don't they trust the science? A child's formative years in school has become abnormal to say the least... home schooling and online classes was the safe way to go. But, as many experts have said, the foundation laying of a child's psyche has been affected. Most kids without siblings will not learn how to overcome their fear of standing up to bullies. Normal social skills will also be lacking in years to come.  The worse part is the lack of play time and interaction with other children. While children will be children, and all is not lost, the actions and reactions of adults during the pandemic offers food for thought. A friend informed me of how a leading restaurant in Changkat Bukit Bintang was asked by their landlord

Staying indoors is not a problem, it's the confusing SOP's that are getting Malaysians agitated. My fellow Malaysians, It is time for us to come together and do our part. Again. PLEASE STAY AT HOME IF YOU DON'T NEED TO BUY FOOD OR MEDICATION AND WORK FROM HOME. MCO 3.0 started for Selangor-ians on May 6th, before Kuala Lumpur was added to the list immediately the very next day. This move happened after a backlash by netizens. Among them were Segambut MP, Hannah Yeoh, who raised an intelligent question regarding the MCO on Twitter. "I'm trying to understand the new MCO to combat Covid-19. On the the 1 Utama side = MCO. But cross just one traffic light, on the TTDI, KL = No MCO. I don't understand  @MKNJPM strategy. "  Here's the link to that story:  https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2021/05/04/daps-hannah-yeoh-says-mco-in-petaling-but-not-in-kl-baffling-when-both-are/1971668#.YJYEdgmEQ1U.link Although I stay in KL, I have no complaints to be part

The Covid-19 Pandemic Created Chaos In Business And Life In General. But is it a blessing in disguise? The majority may not agree with this opinion, but take a step back and reflect. We all had to make changes in the way we live for more than a year. Most of us lost business contracts, did not get paid by clients or to put it plainly, lost everything that we have worked hard to achieve. Globally, the majority lost their jobs due to companies going bust or staff cutting exercises. That was unavoidable. We cried.  We lost sleep worrying about the uncertainty of the future.  We lost profits and earnings. BUT WE ARE ALIVE!  I am thankful that I discovered meditation through a guardian angel. It certainly helped and changed my perception on life. I found peace, and I am still discovering what is inside me, my soul. During this period of quiet solitude and reflection, it dawned on me (or made me realise) that we do not need many material things in our lives. A change was happening to me. The

Being someone who got bitten by a mosquito and getting floored by dengue fever in the past, it was a blessing that I received the chance to use and sell this 5-year-old Malaysian-made product. Invented by Dr. Koay, the MozOne repellent compact 40g (66ml) aerosol can is a must have at home, in your handbags, backpacks, in the car and golf bags. Priced at only RM20, the odourless MozOne works well in rooms and the effectiveness certainly gives one peace of mind when the mosquitoes are running rampant. The memory of the high fever still scares me, I must admit.  Knowing that the can comes with a metered valve, all I need is one push for each metered spray. I use it daily in my living room, the bedrooms, the kitchen, the balcony and the toilets in my condo. I even spray it on my backpacks, sling bag and on my clothes to be safe.  Furthermore, this compact aerosol spray certainly offers more savings compared with other large cans that I have used in the past. It certainly is more convenient

Never bow down to kleptocrats Just thought I should share this experience... Its wasn't the first time, but it hit a nerve as already times are bad during a pandemic. An aquaintance asked for a quotation for a PR job recently. The brief was that it was for a new company. Not surprisingly, he asked that I consider giving a low rate. Reasons given: It's his friend, they have other businesses and etc. Blah, blah, blah... When I eventually emailed the quotation which was a reasonable RM10k for what was required from the brief. Not even a "Thanks for your quotation, we will let you know if you get the job" reply. Is this how people in their 30's operate nowadays? Whatever happened to professionalism or common courtesy? Don't get me wrong, I ain't mad. I suspect he wanted to make his own profit margin and the client probably said the PR services were too high. Is it the client's fault, or was my contact looking to exploit? I guess I will never know, and if t

Observations of Daily Life In The Pandemic BY PATRICK HO By now, Malaysians and their families would have been used to a "forced" groove of life during the Covid-19 pandemic. Donning masks, hand-carried sanitizers in the pocket, scanning QR codes at restaurants and markets, endless cooking and online home schooling has become a new way of life. Of course, the latter is made more difficult due to the fact that it is an abnormal way for teachers to teach. Imagine yourself as a primary school teacher today... you've never been trained or had to teach by looking into a laptop camera. I have received many tales of teachers getting so frustrated and angry that they had to message the parents because either the kids were not paying attention, or went missing during the online classes. Most kids don't even register themselves during the online classes. Behavioral science anyone? For the kids well, many parents have told me that it is a stressful experience to say the least. B