The Black Kitten

I have failed you. But I did know what else to do. Should I stop and go under the car to pick you up. Then where should I bring you to? I do not know the nearest help. I felt as helpless as you. I am now punished by thoughts of how you fared. I feel angry at the inconsiderate driver who knocked you down.

I cry now for you. Did you manage to get up and crawl to safety? Or did more cars come to knock you down until you are no longer the black kitten I saw this morning? Why are humans so cold-hearted nowadays? Why didn't I stop and pick you up to safety, until I can figure out what to do to save you?

I feel irresponsible. I feel that I have failed you. I feel that I have failed myself. Because I have pledged to help those who cannot defend themselves like you. I wish now that if God has taken your life, let it be quick and pain-less. What now, should I answer to God. That I have failed you.

The Golden Compass

The Golden Compass poster

Synopsis:
Lyra Belacqua is an orphan who lives happily in Jordan College, Oxford, playing with local boys and terrorising the professors. However, when Lyra overhears scholars discussing a plot against her uncle, Lord Asriel, centering around a mysterious substance called Dust, her curiosity is roused. Soon Lyra is in over her head as she uncovers a frightening plot and a whole new world of possibilities.

My rating: 4/5

Ok, I must read the novel that is adapted into this movie (note to self: find 'The Northern Light' novel by Phillip Pullman). Even though the movie tells sufficiently of the storyline, I still need to understand some finer details to get the big picture. But it doesn't need me to read the book to know why some people are crying foul about this movie being anti-Christians. The Magisterium officer looks like he's wearing a priest robe and the leader slightly resembled the Pope (no puns intended). Enough said.

My two cents' worth:
I do feel a strong objection to Mr Pullman's statement in the Time magazine, that religion should not get mixed up with every day life. Yes, some religion-based organisations are fanatical, but it's not the religion itself which is at fault. After all, religion is to guide people through every day's life, guiding us on human relations, human-environment relations, etc. It provides a sense of purpose to us human beings as well. Otherwise, people would be asking, 'Why should I do good deeds? What good does it come from it when bad people can benefit more?' In conclusion, religion is our moral compass. For me, religion is the path to heaven.

HSBC Bank - No. 1 In Customer Service!



WARNING: DO NOT apply for credit cards just because the credit card salesman won't stop pestering you to fill up the form and cancel later. What kind of sales tactic is that? A trap to a consumer, most likely. Especially a consumer who was stuck manning a booth next to a credit card sales booth (read: ME). This posting is to illustrate why you should not rampantly apply for credit cards.

Last Friday, I took a day off to pay a visit to several banks and settle a few banking issues. Three banks to be exact. Sigh. It's really tiresome to be this rich :p

Bank #1

Firstly, there's this problem with one local bank of which I applied for personal loan to settle our house's MRTA and legal fees totalling nearly RM10,000. Since RM10,000 is too dear to part with, (there's a lot of things to do with that amount of money - we can buy two kitchen cabinets from IKEA for an instance, or we can go to Kota Kinabalu for our Mount Kinabalu ascension trip next year) we decided to get our aunty a bank to lend us the ringgits.

I was confident that the I will get instant approval because I honestly think I do not have bad financial track record. WRONG! I received a shocking call from the bank to inform that my application has been rejected due to a non-payment of my HSBC credit card. Wait a minute. I cancelled my credit card application before I even got the cards, how can I be charged for it?


Bank #2

So I called HSBC's customer service call centre to check this allegation. They confirmed that the cards had been cancelled, but it was only this year because I had not paid the annual charges. How can I pay the annual charges, I cancelled the cards and therefore, never received any statement! The CSA at the call centre was not very helpful. She kept asking for my previous home address when I was in JB and then told me to personally go to the nearest branch to settle the payment.

Bank #3

Before I lost more money to pay for non-existing cards, and because Suami Terchenta would not stop bugging me to save extra money this month to go to our first new house (dammit, I feel like cancelling the house purchase with all this financial hey-pening) I stopped by my bank to deposit half of my salary (bye-bye Bali anniversary getaway! Uwaaa!!) into ASB.

Back to why HSBC is the best when it comes to customer service...

HSBC Bukit Bintang branch is in Menara Genesis. To reach there, stop at Monorail Bukit Bintang station and walk a few metres and cross the road to a building with a big, hard-to-be-missed HSBC signboard. The bank occupied 5 levels (if not mistaken) and customer service is at Level 3. I like the way the bank makes everything personalized. Each CSA has their own desk which is kept sparsely from each other, so customers can have the privacy to air their banking problem.

I met with the Customer Service Manager himself, and he was ever so helpful. After giving a short recount of my problem, he immediately picked up the phone to contact the credit centre and checked the amount that is still accredited to my so-called closed account. In total, I was supposed to pay RM240+ before I can bid adieu to my problem. I bit my bottom lip and immediately switched mode to the rarely used 'damsel in distress' expression. It usually works. Including in this situation.

A few minutes later, he delivered the good news - my account has been cleared and all payment waived! No more blacklist from the bank! I can now go to as many aunties as I want to borrow money! Yippee!

I thanked the Customer Service Manager profusely and asked for a confirmation letter to show to Bank #1 that I have solved the credit card problem. Now, that's what I called 'First Class Service'. Kudos to HSBC Customer Service division! :)

Topup!

Siang tadi.
Aku sedang bersuka-ria dengan Photoshop Brush baru sebok bekerja.
PA Trump datang. Seperti biasa, periksa supaya staff tidak curi tulang.
Tiba-tiba dia datang ke tempat aku.
Aku lekas-lekas sambung kerja.
Tapi dia tak berganjak. Dia letakkan hp atas meja.
Dan RM10.

'Tolong topup.'
Erk? Aku musykil sekejap.
Macamana PA Trump boleh tahu aku seorang usahawan topup?
Nampaknya berita tersebar dengan luas.
Aku?
Pasti sangat gembira.
2 minit kemudian, topup telah diisi.
PA Trump sambung meronda2 bagi pihak Trump.
Aku sambung explore Photoshop.
Cerita tamat.

Photoshop Brush

(Entri ini ditujukan kepada Photoshopolic seperti aku)

Dalam pengembaraan alam maya hari ini, saya terjumpa sebuah website untuk download Photoshop Brush.

Saya rasa seperti dapat durian runtuh! Kerana aktiviti salin-menyalin ini adalah percuma secara sah di sisi undang2 (baca berita hari ini: pemuat turun tidak sah akan didenda RM50,000) jadi saya menjadi rakyat berhemah yang memuat turun secara agresif dari website ini. Syabas diucapkan kepada website owner ini.

Kalau ada lagi website yang offer add-ons Photoshop percuma, saya sangat berharap2 agar korang akan berkongsi maklumat itu (Peringatan: Kedekut info tidak mendatangkan manfaat kepada sesiapa) ^_^

Sekian.