“Mara pays RM42 320 for a laptop” WHAT?!

And it’s an Acer Aspire.

Here’s the article:

Thursday October 22, 2009

RM42,320 for a laptop

By YENG AI CHUN

KUALA LUMPUR: Who in their right mind would pay RM42,320 for a laptop?

Kolej Kemahiran Tinggi Mara Balik Pulau in Penang not only paid the price but bought two units of the same brand – Acer Aspire-5052ANWXMI, at a whopping price of RM84,640, said the Auditor-General’s Report.

In addition, the college purchased 450 units of computer CAD with network card at RM3.45mil for 12 labs. Each 19-inch monitor costs RM8,500 while a 17-inch monitor costs RM7,500.

“A check with local companies showed that the market price for the latest model is between RM5,350 to RM6,500 each. Worse still the computers, Precision 390 Dell, that were supplied are no longer in the market,” it said.

Also purchased were 15 laser printers, Hewlet Packard P3005X, at the price of RM7,722 each when the market price was about RM5,000 per unit.

In reply, Mara said the equipment were purchased in a lump sump and there was no price breakdown for the laptops.

The price breakdown was only done after the equipment was supplied for the purpose assets record and it could not be used as a basis for reference.

“Nevertheless, Mara has created a task force and is conducting a price adjustment for all the equipment,” it said.

The report also stated that the college had paid between RM1,398 and RM2,945 for 204 teaching manuals.

“Checks found that the teaching manuals supplied were bound using comb binding. The teaching manuals obtained at a cost of RM358,476 is a waste because they were never used,” it said, adding that the supplier has been notified to provide the original version of the teaching manual in hard cover.

Mara also spent RM2.08mil buying computer software it didn’t need.

Audits also found many discrepancies in prices paid for the same equipment, including the same LCD projectors that costs RM3,500 and RM8,000 for two different laboratories.

“Swivel stools were also purchased at three different prices – RM340, RM350 and RM450 per unit and they did not even meet the agreed specifications in the agreement.

“Other swivel chairs were bought for between RM810 to RM1,050 per unit when the college had bought the same chair previously at RM336 per unit,” it said.

The report also stated that the German-Malaysian Institute which was picked as the consultant, had proposed a ceiling price of RM84.5mil for the purchase of equipment for the college while the Economic Planing Unit (EPU) fixed the price at RM127.65mil.

“The reason for the higher price was to speed up the process of obtaining the supplies. In the end the agreed contract was fixed at RM112.42mil. Mara had submitted a letter to the Finance Ministry to say that the figure was reasonable.

“Audit found that the agreed price for the purchase of equipment is not reasonable. This is because the approach taken by Mara did not fufill the criteria set by the Finance Ministry, which is to negotiate for the lowest price possible.

Article taken from : the star (http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/10/22/nation/4953964&sec=nation#)

Seriously, this is ridiculous. You be the judge.

Me and Leanette (and some Versailles news)

Leanette….

My piano, my keyboard, my synthesiser, my Leanette Madison…

I want to play the piano. My keyboard is just… the feeling is just missing. How I wish I can go back to piano/keyboard class but my mother is being stingy.

Stingy, stingy, stingy… Don’t tell my mother, yes?

Hmm… my keyboard…

Maybe the keys are too light?

Maybe I think too much?

Anyway, Versailles will be performing in the V-Rock Festival on the 25th of October. Tickets are still on sale. They are finishing up their new album too. Hizaki completing the bass parts and so on.  Kamijo-kun is doing an “important ballad”.

Let’s wait for the album, shall we?

Love ~äpfel und Plätzchen~

Love ~Apples and Cookies~

What is love? What IS love? … It is an emotion where you feel warm and fuzzy and somewhat miserable inside. It is a very deep feeling. It is something that sometimes you cannot define. It is something that you just… feel. Yes, feel.

Like I like someone. Love is deeper than like. To like something is to have affection. To love something is to have even deeper affection. Like I like apples but I love cookies.

For me, love makes me miserable because I tend to fall for fictional characters… but I cannot help it.

Maybe I am a little obsessed with pain, I don’t know, but I cannot help myself from falling for Mr Sniper. It’s err… a sticky situation. If my mother knows about this, she’s going to say “Are you mad?!”

Psh, I am a little derange here. I think, dream, and every time I listen to music, my imagination will lead to him playing the guitar (I listen to too much rock, so…) and that’s not great… in a way.

Love makes us feel irrational and crazy at times. When the person says he/she hates you or you see him/her with someone else, you will obviously feel sad, angry, and so on so forth. You will start feeling really bad and maybe the big scream “WHY????!!!!!” will be coming out from you.

“Mon amour pour toi…”

Love is something you can’t totally control. Sometimes, you fall for someone for no particular reason, like me. It just happens and it can happen anywhere, anytime and to anyone. Fine, you can contain it but it’s not really easy to get rid of. Even if you slap yourself, it will still be there. But some can wear off in a few days and that’s a crush.

Then there’s this…

WHY IN THE WORLD DO YOU HAVE TO THINK THAT IT’S THE END OF THE WORLD WHEN YOU GET HEARTBROKEN?

Well, it’s okay if you think that way for a few days… but don’t ever let it lower your self-esteem.

I have met someone, and he said that he got heartbroken a lot of times and he said he lost his pride and he’s a loser and so on…

Ah, stop whining and get back on your feet!

I hate people like that! It is as if they are special enough to think that they are giant losers. You are human too. There are other people who are like you and there are those that are even more suitable for you than those who broke your heart. You just have to know where to look. Don’t be so vain. If you still think that way, then you just want to stay weak, do you?

Well, nevermind. This isn’t about getting heartbroken. Back to the subject at hand.

I think that love is a feeling that can appear anywhere, anytime and is somewhat unavoidable. Love can also be a deep affection for something or people like your friends and so on. “I love my friends” is an example.

Love makes people miserable and warm though it always manages to hurt me, it’s hard to breathe.

Is it a great thing? Everything has it’s pros and cons, mein Freund.

To some it is great, wonderful and blah blah…
To others or few, it is painful, unbearable, silly and so on…

I think it’s painful. But I’m not afraid of it. Sometimes I get shortness of breath because of love. During those times, I will try not to think of Mr Sniper, which is evidently futile… so I have to live with it, somehow, just hoping that nothing serious will happen to me.

Well, what you think of love depends on you. You may have various conjectures, but it’s your brain, yes?

Ah, no, you won’t die because of love. Nobody dies because of love unless the overwhelming feeling somehow manages to physically affect you, which is a rare case… but love can be a motive. That’s all.

Now, we come to problems… related to love that is.

Eh, well, say A and B broke up but A still loves B…
Say C cheated on D…
Say E got bored with F…
Say G broke up with H for funny reasons…

etc.

Anything can happen. So expect the unexpected. You’ll never know… I think I have stated the obvious.

Oh, I like apples and cookies.

私のセビーちゃん！

Yes, it is Sebastian Michaelis, LIVE!!!

Just my figurine… I apologise for the poor quality. I used my handphone camera to take them…

Your cross necklace, young miss.

En garde!

Surrounded...

Here, my arm.

Alright, alright, that's enough...

I warn you...

If you look at it properly, it’s a Nendroid figurine. Sebastian comes with 2 other facial expressions, a black cat ( I’m sure it has a name but I think I forgot…), 3 different arms and a display stand.

I want to keep him with me wherever I go… I should get him a proper casing.

Parallel Souls ~Le chuchotement de la lune~

The moon’s whisper…. Not literally, however.

When I look at the full moon in the sky, I felt like a certain longing to return to something.

But what could it be? It feels like the moon is calling on to me.

Have you ever heard of each and every one of us having 6 doppelgangers? An interesting statement, I would say.

I wonder how are the others who look like me like?

I wonder where do they live? How do they live? What do they do? How are their attitudes like? That is if the statement is actually true.

… If it is indeed true… then, will our souls be parallel, too? Will our fates intertwine?

It will be very interesting… The combination of each and every human’s DNA can result in many things… Would it not be interesting to see what the results are? How the DNAs will influence a human’s characteristics, appearance, deformity, intelligence and so on?

And what about their souls? How will their souls be like?

Humans are indeed interesting creations, no matter how foolish they can be.

Like a dream ~Le rêve du violon~

Ah, it is strange how time flies when you are having so much fun.

Why the sadness? When you can only see your friends once in a very long while and meet other people that you might wish to befriend, yet time flies faster than a blink of an eye, this is of course something to be sad about.

Jump to another topic.

Alistair’s dream

“To my dear master who has placed me in this darkness, in my slumber I write this to you. You have been sleeping alone, crying alone, keeping a lot of things to yourself, only to unlock my case and cry by me.

Down my neck, your tears flow. The sorrow that cannot lie has surpassed my lifelessness, that of which you have felt within me.

You have named me, yes? Like granting knighthood to me, though I am not the one you really wanted at that time. You preferred the more refined, more expensive one, yes? The one you wished to entrust the name Mathias to.

But in the end you chose me, of which I felt both joy and uncertainty…”

I wonder, Alistair, what is your dream?

“You are… ah, such is you, is it not? …. Do objects have dreams? What is the meaning of having a dream? Of what importance does a dream have?

…If you insist, I will tell you. I dream of the day when you will play me again.
Does this answer fulfil the requirements of your question?  “

Yes. It does…

” Then, there is something I would like to say.

I think you are being very cruel to me, leaving me in this case to a long slumber. But how can I complain? The weather has been awfully hot and you do not really get a chance to play me. The steps where we used to sing together will be flooded by the sunlight you dread so much.

However, I look forward to having another session with you, no matter how short it will be.”

I miss my Alistair Lambert… He is sleeping now in his case. I wish I could give him something better to sleep in, though I doubt that will satisfy him. A Stradivarius can be quite demanding.

I will play him when the afternoon is cold. I’m sure he would be very happy. Maybe Thursday will sound good?

Alistair, let’s play Teddy by Vidoll and The Red Carpet Day by Versailles.

Giant Spider Saga

No, this is not a saga. Just an exaggeration.

A new character has been added! The giant spider that represents pressure has arrived. How does it work???

When there’s pressure, the giant spider will land on top of your head. You will feel heavy, so will your heart too. And voila! You are officially pressured. 

There are many giant spiders in the world. So, to avoid it, do relax and think in an optimistic manner. Being pressured can lead to some mental and health problems.

50+ posts!

Ping! It is! A small celebration, great for your health.

To commemorate this wonderful day, I have created this banner. It features my favourite band, Versailles Philharmonic Quintet.

Well, the actual reason for this is because today is the release of their major debut single! So, hurrah! If you are wondering, type ‘Versailles ASCENDEAD MASTER’ on YouTube.

Then, there’s another celebration this Friday… yes, it’s salary day! The day when my mother will get her wages and transfer some money into my account. On Saturday will be outing day! On Sunday it’s assignment shoot down day!

Ahem, to make it even better, we celebrate this glorious day with pancakes for breakfast.

I’m feeling a little generous today so I’ll say this…

Two of my cats are fat.

Note to self (1)

Completed projects:

RozengarteN Gertrude military dress
RozengarteN Delacroix crusade shirt
RozengarteN Lillia jacquard dress
RozengarteN Rosso glossy corset skirt
RozengarteN Weiss blouse
RozengarteN Noirik long vestment
RozengarteN Lobelle jumper skirt

RozengarteN black beret
RozengarteN mini top hat

RozengarteN Blanchette lace choker
RozengarteN Noirik leather collar
RozengarteN Noirik leggings

Next project: RozengarteN Vlad long coat

The tale of the smelly fish

Listening to: Devil Summoner Theme

Smelly fishes swimming in the air…

What is this perculiar gray creature? It is what it is… stress.

Do you know how a person’s reaction is like when they smell its scent?

Yes. Disgusted. The longer they smell it, the more… tension they feel. Yes, that’s where it earned its name.

The smelly fish sticks on the backs of many.

Now you know.