Adamo-Inch'Allah (Italian)

This is the Italian version performed by Adamo Salvatore. You can search for the English version if you want to understand what he is saying. The version is beautiful to my mind with poignant message on the conflict in the Middle-East.

"Requiem for millions of souls

Of people lying in nameless tombs

In heaven there's room for them all

Now enough blood, Salam! Shalom!"

Paul Mauriat - Inch Allah (1967)

Paul Mauriat's music has never ceased to give pleasure and amaze his fans the world over. This particular piece I found today is so soothing to my mind that I practically and  unconsciously become relaxed  and so I would like to share this with my music-loving blog readers.

This is an instrumental interpretation of the original song by Adam Salvatore. It has been put into several versions, Spanish, French, English and Italian. I love the Instrumental version by Paul Mauriat best as it is universal. However to give that feel of a person singing this composition I want to post it on the Italian version as it seems to be more sedate and kind of romantic.   I think Insya Allah means "God Willing".

I would also like to share a couple of comments I like on Youtube about this great,classy and gifted composer:

** May there be a special place in Heaven for people like you Mr. Mauriat who have never failed to bring us such delight and unspoken wave of memories with your gift of music. You live on in our hearts.

WINDYCLAIR

 

The message from Japan :
** Hello, thanks a lot for your uploading it. This is my very favorite music. Though Paul Mauriat is no longer living, he left many many beautiful performance and music. I will continuously listen to them, and have a good time.

Thank you.

Financestaff 

 

Go on, close your eyes and listen to this heavenly gem..

Paul Mauriat - LOVE IN EVERY ROOM ( EL AMOR ESTA EN CADA HABITACION ) ...

Bumi Armada.. say what you like, investors just love it!

Bumi Armada, as expected, made a fine debut today at its relisting and I really want to congratulate a dear friend of mine DMJ who made that massive capitalisation. Gosh! that was really cool . He got 98% of his IPO application! Real lucky. Armada trading under trading and services sector opened at RM3.65 and closed at RM 4.14, more than 35% of its IPO price of RM3.03.

DMJ cleared 30% of his position at RM4.10 this afternoon... so dinner at Tatu Coffee House Shangri-La resort is on his house, ( instead of on the house ).

The stock performed well despite the current worries on American default ( I really don't think America is that foolish to make that happen) and Eurozone debt. You can see that the New York stock market is really volatile as it is rather clueless on the resolution of those two issues. So I secretly thought that Armada would not have risen so fast. In fact when my remisier Jenny rang me up on the opening price, I told her to wait till it comes down to below RM3.60... that was a joke, by 11 am, Jenny came back and reported that  the price had gone up to RM3.92 and by that time my appetite for the stock had gone sour.

As I was watching Atlantis's historic final landing at 5.57pm this evening on my desktop, I  was also listening to CNN business news on my flatscreen and understood that sentiment had gone up again because of better reported companies' earnings and market went up yesterday and today it seems to have improved further. Could tomorrow, being a Friday be a day of  minor selling off for Armada?  Anything could happen over the weekend so some people might just take their profit and sleep well over the weekend.

Interesting to watch  guys, tomorrow I will go to the market again and offload the refunded ESA at whatever the Armada's price when I  note any sign of a minor profit taking... see I was not successful this time though I cannot really complain seeing that my MSM is doing quite well. My friend did not get MSM IPO so it is fair that now he is successful with Armada though I am rather envious at the number of shares that are allotted to him  because  my successful MSM IPO was only at 30% from the total number applied.

A Market analyst has put a target price of Armada at RM3.91 at 25x PE based on  earnings in 2011 and first quarter of 2012 but also with respect to other big cap O&G service providers' peak cycle P/E's but today's closing price beat the analyst's prediction. In fact I believe, on many occasions,  it is the investors who determine the price they are comfortable with and in some cases, not unhappy to lose.

Bumi Armada is a good counter based on its fundamentals,good governance and book orders but we must be aware of its potential  downsides affecting the stock price and possible dividends, for examples  the company is subject to risks such as the following:

• Cyclical O&G industry- growth decreases at end of cycle
• Project execution risks e,g cost overrun or delay with penalty imposition
• Unexpected vessel downtime- breakdown/repairs
• Forex losses due to weak USD ( as most earnings are in USD)

Okay people, you buy this stock at your own risk ( read the prospectus!)  as I am only trying to convince myself to buy this stock before the company  reaches its peak cycle for which it would be like Pchem or MHB  and for me it is part of the fun I derive from investing. Lose or gain is taken as a challenge in creating wealth. If you are going to fret over losing money in the stockmarket, go somewhere else to multiply your precious "ringgit".

Happy investing and good luck to the well-informed risk-takers.

Atlantis Final Return to Earth

NASA TV

Space Shuttle Atlantis lands at the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida. The landing of Atlantis marks the end of NASA's 30 year space shuttle program. Picture: AP

It was a momentous event  for Space science-loving people especially for those who have worked in the shuttle program for 30 years to see Atlantis, the last of the three shuttles, returning from its last mission into outer-space and landed at the Kennedy Space Center just before 6am EDT on 21 July 2011. 

Following this, Atlantis like the other two remaining space shuttles, Discovery and Endeavour is heading for a museum, to be visited and admired by the public. What a fantastic machine!

Among the most important program's objectives is the building of the International Space Station (ISS) which has proved to be a united international collaboration since the end of the "worthless" COLD WAR. The shuttle astronauts have also, over the years, helped to set up and maintain the Hubble telescope giving us spectacular images of the universe. The program has also enabled many scientific research in the various fields including medicine and engineering to be conducted in space. Undoubtedly, the shuttle is an ICON of American science and technology.

It is inspiring to listen to what Commander Ferguson of Atlantis said about their space journey would only be completed once they manage to make the young continue the quest for space exploration for the future of humanity.... well said, Commander. In this limitless universe, it is impossible that we are alone. The continued quest into outer space might see human discovering another earth-like planet - interesting? Frightening? One will never know unless one gets there.

A NASA official also said that in order for America to advance,  going deeper into space  and far beyond, they need to change and ceasing the shuttle program is a form of change for them to concentrate on  more ambitious projects of reaching other planets for example, Mars and maybe an Asteroid.

Bravo America! And thank you for your endeavours for the benefits of all of humanity and what a great space nation!

 

Gout and Secondary Cellulitis

A 61 year old man came in this morning and he specifically requested to see me. I was quite touched though this was not the first time that patients had made that kind of special request. This man had a more than 28years history of hypertension, heart disease and gout. He was actually being followed up by a Cardiology clinic at the General Hospital but had been coming to the clinic and saw various doctors for simple aches and pain.

I greeted him as he was hobbling into my clinic. He had a swelling on his right foot and according to him it had been there for the last four to five days following his attendance of the Sultan of Brunei's birthday a week before. He had felt some pain in his right foot and had attributed it to the gout that he had been suffering from. It seemed that the attack came on just when he had to go to the palace where he had to wear shoes. So as the skin area above his first metatarsal began to swell, he had forced his shoes over it and bit his lips and took a painkiller.

He went to a doctor who prescribed him with indomethacine, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) and told him to rest at home but the swelling  had become bigger, extending up to to his right ankle,  the tenderness had also worsened and he was beginning to feel feverish.

He looked well despite his temperature of 38deg C (normal 36.8). I took one look at his right foot and noted that it was no longer a simple gout but has become a rapidly spreading skin infection (cellulitis) as his right groin nodes were palpable I could see that this man needed a rapid antibiotic therapy which could only be given through an intra-venous line so I quickly referred him to the Emergency Department of the GH for admission possibly for 24 hours and following which an oral antibiotic would follow and he could return home to rest. Cellulitis can be dangerous as it could spread over the whole body and causing  fatal septicaemia.

Foot cellulitis- red,swollen,warm and tender

What could have happened was his affected foot, upon being squeezed into his shoe,  had  the swollen area  scratched and thus provided an entry for the surface germs causing rapidly developing cellulitis.

I  took an x-ray of the foot and tested his random blood sugar (RBS) just  to exclude any trauma and  the possibility of diabetes before sending him off to the hospital.

Bone spurs on Ist big toe joint -site of constant gouty attacks

It is sometimes difficult at the primary care level to distinguish between a gouty attack and a cellulitis. My usual question is whether the person is feeling off-colour and that the swelling is extending Unless you ask the patient you are going to just give him a painkiller and ask him to go home only to suffer from a worst outcome.

He gave me permission to to take the photographs of his affected foot and that of his x-ray for my record purposes.

Banana - What has it got to do with her heart?

Two months ago  this 51 year old hypertensive patient of mine, SS, came for her usual follow-up. She has been  my patient for the last two years and has attended clinic regularly. It has been my practice to always feel the pulse of all my hypertensive patients before I take their blood pressure. And so when I felt for SS's pulse that instant, I could feel her pulse bounding and her heart rate was increased compared to the last visit. And she was not on any drug that could have caused an increase in heart rate.

I then asked her whether she could feel her heart beating stronger and faster than usual. She then related, yes, for the last six week or so she did sense her heart  was beating abnormally. I then asked her whether he had taken any another drugs or herbs without my knowledge, for which she denied vehemently.

Now what was it? I persisted by asking her what had she been eating which was different in terms of amount or frequency for example caffeine-containing drinks such as coffee. She thought hard about it then reminded me that I once  told her to reduce fatty foods as her cholesterol level was abnormal and that she was on a cholesterol-lowering drug so for the previous two months before coming to see me she had decided to take bananas as it does not have any fat according to her. Yes, she took six bananas each day and since then she had experienced her heart beating faster but did not attribute it to anything,... Ahah..

I immediately advised her to stop taking bananas especially in that amount because banana is known to convert amines in the body into 5-hydroxytryptamine (5HTT) or serotonin which can cause an increase in heart rate and strength of the heart beat especially in some predisposed patients. Had I not examined her pulse, she would not have voluntarily given me that information and an undesirable heart outcome could occur in the long term.

Taken daily in large amount can make some peoples' hearts go "bananas"

Today she returned to report that she had not been feeling her heart racing since she stopped the large daily intake of bananas. I felt for her pulse and noted that the rate had returned to normal though the bounding was still there.

It is indeed my work-satisfaction to be able to detect a  risk before it becomes another medical mishap. This can only be done with careful physical examination and history taking and engaging  patients on their health habit.

Medical Error and the Medically-illiterate Patient

A fifty-seven year old lady came in 10 days ago  with a complaint of discomfort and feeling faint (light-headedness) for the previous two weeks. Now this lady has been on on my hypertension clinic follow-up for the last six months. For many years she had been treated by a general practitioner for hypertension and was prescribed with a beta-blocker to be taken once a day. She came to our clinic when she noticed that her headache was getting worse.

As per our medical protocol, patients detected to be hypertensive are fully investigated to determine their biochemical status with respect to their signs and symptoms. Prescription of medications is based on their allergy history and drug tolerability . Antihypertensive drugs are prescribed in stepwise manner, what is called "titration" of drugs and dosages. So with this lady she was started on a drug which unfortunately had induced a rapid heart rate. To counter that relatively common side-effect, another drug was added. Upon further monitoring, her blood pressure was still high for which another class of antihypertensive drug was further added. During this time she was coming to the clinic fortnightly. Her blood pressure eventually had stabilised in the normal range.

So it was rather out of the ordinary for her to come 10 days ago with the presenting complaints. Her blood pressure was on the high side and she admitted that she did not take the medications for the last few days because of the discomfort she had felt following the ingestion of the three drugs. Now I was stumped. What had happened to her in that short duration?

But as luck would have it, this very pleasant lady brought out her three sachets of medications and laid them out on my table. Yes, I always ask my patients to bring along all their medications especially when they are not as well-educated  so that I could explain explicitly which drugs could be causing their adverse effects if there were any. And also to reconcile with my medical notes.

Examples of drug sachets and a  blister pack that is inserted in  a sachet

Upon checking the sachets, I noticed that perindropril was interchanged with  amlodipine  sachet and atenolol  was in its original sachet..... Dear me! She had inadvertently changed the drugs and their respective sachets and was following the direction on the individual sachet  which was stated in terms of tablets rather than actual dosage in milligrams. And so this patient had mistakenly taken twice the dose of perindropril ( an ACE inhibitor) and half of the dosage of amlodipine and this combination had somehow depressed her blood pressure below the desired level and she became light-headed.

My medical notes for the month previously was 2mg (half a tablet ) of perindropril and 10mg (one tablet) of amlodipine. This has become a medical error  to me, the fact that the drugs were mixed up as the patient did not take precaution to keep her medications in the respective original sachet, And I also noticed that the sachet did not bear any name of the drug instead it was taken for granted that the patient would put back her drug in the right sachet, which did not happen in this case.

Having explained the slip-up. I  advised the patient to take each medication and then return each blister pack back immediately to its original sachet and then only take the other drug and do the same thing. Even if the Pharmacist has stated the name of the drug on the sachet, a medically  illiterate patient  has a higher risk of not being able to discern them.

It would have been a disaster had those drugs been more biologically active such as L-thyroxine or digoxin  due to their more immediate adverse effects. Due diligence on the part of the health personnel and the patients themselves is critical to prevent such consequences. 

Anyway, the lady patient came in today and her blood pressure was in the normal range and her discomfort and light-headedness had all but  disappeared and I am very pleased with the outcome. Indeed, it has been a lesson in medical error for all of us at the clinic. We certainly cannot take our patients for granted and any measures that can be taken to reduce this medical error would certainly  improve our patient care.

Winter Sonata

Constantly In My Heart

LoVe and CoMmiTmENt

My Audio Tonic

Spare Me A Minute Of Your Time

City of Brisbane - Revisited and Reunited

I feel suddenly sentimental and my mind is singing away as I picture myself  faraway in some romantic city with someone I love walking hand in hand on a cold and beautiful winter evening. Such pure bliss... just walking in grateful silence. Nestling close, with Paul Mauriat's interpretation of Bach's Toccata playing non-stop in the background.

Brisbane city where my heart will always be

I also posted my favourite classical composer, Mozart's pieces, Symphony No 40 and Andante to accompany my sentimental walk and that Corazon de Nino by Raul Di Blasio serves as fantastic food for my restless soul. And the sound of that baby whimpering in the background is tagging at my heart strings.

Music so beautiful is mind-calming and soul-appeasing. A world without music is a Sad World. 

 

A 

treasured view

A View of  Anzac Square from Sofitel's Coffee House

Brisbane Sofitel Central where I stayed

My recent visit to Brisbane (fondly referred to by locals as Brissy) and reunion with a dear old friend was a trip down memory lane. The city has been transformed into a vibrant place with creative urban redevelopment. Beautiful architecture and places of recreations and the arts. Casinos are mushrooming mostly patronised by wealthy Asians from Hong Kong and mainland China!



Somehow it is less than the Brisbane I used to know. Many familiar buildings are gone. A Pedestrian Mall has come out right on Queen St with underground tunnel and bus routes... I was kind of lost. Only the majestic Brisbane City Hall looked pleasingly recognisable and served as a landmark for me in the city where I spent nearly 10 years of my life. I studied at UQ ( Queensland University) at St Lucia.

The old City Hall building....  the square is an ice-skating  ring during winter

The new Brisbane Magistrates Court building on George St looked imposing. It wasn't there before. My UQ friend, now a member of Queensland Judiciary, took me to visit the building and I could not help noticing the high-tech security features guarding it. Walking in the transformed city I came to my old favourite departmental stores, Myers and David Jones  on Queen St that have taken on a totally new look upon mega rebuilding and renovation. Bayard, Cubana, McDonald and East have all gone....

New Brisbane Magistrate Court building with state of the art security

The city's landscape has changed as the sleepy south bank  has been redeveloped into an area for public to rest and play. An incredible array of recreation spots and creative designs are on display. There is a big new library, a modern art museum, a theatre complex, a performing arts centre, a gargantuan Ferris wheel like the London Eye and all kinds of restaurants dotting the area connected to the city by an artistic white bridge.


The city awoke to claim its place as another world's capital city following the hosting of the Commonwealth Games in 1982. They suddenly discovered that they could move faster... and as they say, the rest is history.


There were,by the way, no signs of the recent devastating floods of January 2011. The whole South Bank Complex, the City's Pride, was re-opened  just a week before our visit following a massive cleaning up by city folks with the Mayor himself scrubbing the floor of the underground car park by the Brisbane river. Just fancy that! The Lord Mayor, by the way, is celebrating his 100-day in office this week. The office is elected not appointed like in Malaysia.

Sofitel Coffee House.... memorable luncheon

 Lunch and afternoon tea at Sofitel and dinner at Sebel, how can I ever forget the joy of a reunion.

And Paul Mauriat's Toccata continues to play on ceaselessly in my mind.

Lingering Secret Memories

This is Toccata by Paul Mauriat and played beautifully by his grand orchestra. This piece brings memories of time past not only for me but for many fans of Paul who passed away at the age of 81 in 2006. With his passing his orchestra is also no more. But his legacy of mesmerizing compositions will go on  to delight people who find music enchanting and relaxing.

PAUL MAURIAT - El Bimbo

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Piano Concerto No. 21 - Andante

Spurring Your Soul

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Symphony 40 in G min KV 550

Ending a long love affair with....

Caught you didn't I? Sorry there is nothing as sordid as you thought in this posting. Actually I am selling off all of the remainder of my PICORP shares today despite the market being down, in fact I am disposing the blinking stock, on buy and hold silly strategy, at a ridiculously low price. I bet the person who bought them is laughing out loud today. Oh, it doesn't matter when I am already compensated by sweet gain on my successfully acquired MSM IPO shares recently ( please don't be jealous AC and gang!).

The reason I went headlong to discard PICORP purchased before 2008 world  financial crisis was to buy KENCANA Petroleum on news of its merger with SAPURA Crest (kicked myself for selling this gem despite knowing it was going to go to 4.20. I bought it at 3.63 in January this year and sold at 3.93!). Never mind if the investment bank was saying not to buy KENCANA at higher offer as the stock has been fully valued because sometimes people are not listening to stock analysts especially in this volatile market period. I am just hoping the crude oil prices will not dive steeply as to indirectly affect the income of both of these oil and gas companies.

You know what? I feel a sense of relief offloading PICORP, never again will I touch penny stocks. I learnt my lesson the hard way, buying a stock based on people's recommendation is one of the downsides of investing. Another wise-after -the event lesson is not to be greedy. Anyway, in my experience, it is better to stick to well-known companies with tangible outputs and so my purchase of blue chips TM,MAXIS and AXIATA when their prices were low prove to be my investing highlights.

I am also sad to sell off my THPLANT shares bought during the heyday of plantation stocks being the darling of investors. The consolation about THPLANT is during the massive selldown of plantation stocks in 2009 the company graciously gave us bonus issue, one to one and when the price recovered slightly many of us made gains. And it also gave relatively high dividends. I will buy back this stock later.

So here I am today ending my love affair with non-performing stocks held for more than three years and "uncautiously" beginning a new affair with oil and gas stocks. actually I have begun this affair in January this year by purchasing SAPURACrest and DIALOG. I am keeping the latter but it is climbing very slowly albeit steadily.

Looks like I am going to regret acquiring KENCANA at this knee-jerk high price today for the short term but I am taking the long position on this one. Yes, CAVEAT EMPTOR... is ringing in my ears!

Colonial Mentality of Certain Asians in Hospitality Industry

I have traveled rather extensively around the world particularly the Asian region. I have noticed one particular annoying habit of some Asians when dealing with their kind and Caucasians. I want to relate some of my experiences on this matter.

Pan Pacific KLIA-used to stay here many times

Have you all ever noticed when you are in the hotel, the staff will usually politely ignore you if you were an Asian but will vigorously wish "good morning sir, how are you sir this morning..blah..blah .." loudly when they see an "orang putih" (Caucasian)? I was going to breakfast one morning in a local 5-star hotel when, as I entered, nobody said anything and then when a couple of Europeans came after me , I could hear the friendly greetings erupted behind me. Here I was a professional and paying the same hotel rate and for all you know the Europeans, in this case, Australians could be welders in their country and was given such warm greetings. I did complain to the hotel manager and after that I found I was acknowledged vociferously by the staff of that hotel. I hope they do the same to other local patrons.

In Indonesia was the same. Once I stayed at the Borobudur hotel in central Jakarta and a friend a British (Caucasian) World Health Organisation (WHO) Consultant was with me. I entered the handicraft store at the hotel first as I wanted to buy some silver jewellery, my colleague, Gordon just wanted to accompany me and he was slightly behind. I went straight to the jewelery counter and would you believe it? The sales girl moved quickly over to where Gordon was and asked what he wanted to buy, completely ignoring me! I heard Gordon say " No, it's the lady over there (that's me) who's got the money". I was riled up and told Gordon we were just leaving!

Hotel Borobudur, Jakarta

Another occasion at the Sukarno-Hatta airport as I was arriving in a taxi I could see a man with a trolley coming over to me only to veer off when he saw the taxi behind mine had a Caucasian man. Another man behind the first had to come to collect my bags! Ironically after our bags had been offloaded to the check-in counter, the Caucasian tipped the worker RP500 (60 sen Malaysian) and I gave the worker who collected my bag RP2000 ( about RM2), I heard the man arguing with the European who completely ignored him and moved off. Serves him right I thought.

Coffee House at Manila Pavilion

Then there was an incident at the Pavilion Hotel in Makati Manila when I was coming back from shopping with another UNICEF French Consultant, Jacques. As we entered the lobby two security staff searched my bag and pointed some gadget all over my body before allowing me to enter. The strange thing was Jacques, a tall good looking European, was not even checked the way I was! Anger overcame me as we went to the Coffee House and I refused to drink and was quite upset at the unfair treatment. Then Jacques did something surprising. He pulled my hand and virtually dragged me out of the hotel and we re-entered the lobby and before everybody, he said in a loud voice, " Check me! I want to be checked too!". The two security personnel were rather bewildered as they quickly pressed the gadget over Jacques's body. It was hilarious. Then we went to the Coffee House with my friend Andrew from Sarawak and I drank happily with a cheese cake too paid by Jacques. I always remember the Frenchman.

MAS cabin staff are one of the best in the world

My most recent unfortunate incident was three weeks ago. Having shown my boarding pass to the female staff at Gate C26 at KLIA satellite building for MH139 bound for Australia, I proceeded through Channel A towards the business class cabin. As I was walking I heard a male voice calling out to me and said in a rather loud tone, "Excuse me the economy class is this way!" pointing to Channel B in full view of other passengers. I was stunned and in a split second I realised that this male MAS ground staff, seeing that I was an Asian, had thought that I could not possibly afford business class. I was irritated and told him, " Yes, I am on economy but I am coming through THIS WAY!" and proceeded to the business cabin and promptly complained to the Leading Steward about the behaviour of the pathetic ground staff. As it was, I was the only Malaysian in the cabin but that did not mean that the staff should make any assumption on anybody. I have lodged a formal complaint against this staff who has sullied MAS's reputation.

I have traveled on business class during my international assignments many times but I have never encountered a blinking MAS staff with a chip on his shoulder. Would he have behaved the same way had I been a Caucasian? I very much doubt it.

These are examples of people who are stuck with colonial mentality, pandering to the "orang putih" as if these people cared for them. I related this bad habit to my Aussie friend JDC and he cheekily said, yes, Asians seem to give preference to  Caucasian male travelers especially if they are six-foot tall ( like him!) and in a nice suit.... my "pied" Your Honour!! (that's "foot" in French).

Brisbane International Airport

Ironically, I was treated very nicely at Brisbane International business class check - in, was invited to Qantas Club lounge and graciously ushered in to the cabin by a Caucasian MAS ground staff on my flight home.

Let's Light this Shuttle One More Time! : Historic final launch of Atlantis STS135

NASA Commemorative Patch

Stayed up late last Friday 8 July 2011 to watch the shuttle Atlantis being launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida. It blasted off at 11.29pm our local time. This is the last launch of  the 30 year US shuttle program which started in 1981 with the shuttle Columbia.

Atlantis blasting off into history on Friday 8 July 2011- Credit:NASA

Atlantis blasted off at 11:29 a.m. EDT (1529 GMT) from Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, thrilling huge throngs of spectators who had descended on Florida's Space Coast to see the swan song of an American icon. NASA estimated that between 750,000 and 1 million people turned out to watch history unfold before their eyes.

"On behalf of the greatest team in the world, good luck to you and your crew on the final flight of this true American icon," shuttle launch director Mike Leinbach told the astronauts just before launch. "And so for the final time, Fergie, Doug, Sandy and Rex, good luck, Godspeed and have a little fun up there."

"Thanks to you and your team, Mike. We're not ending the journey today, we're completing a chapter of a journey that will never end," Atlantis' commander Chris Ferguson replied. "Let's light this shuttle one more time Mike and witness this nation at its best. The crew of Atlantis is ready to launch."

The above were the exchanges between the Atlantis shuttle commander Ferguson and the launch Director at Kennedy Space Center.

After 135 launches over 30 years, the space shuttle will never streak into the sky again. 

The three remaining shuttles, Discovery, Endeavor and Atlantis are being retired to the museum. The other two shuttles, Challenger and Columbia met with accidents in 1986 and 2003 respectively with the loss of 14 astronauts. All together more than $200 Billion had been spent on the program over the period.

The four Atlantis crew with Commander Ferguson on the right

: Credit NASA

Space shuttle Commander Chris Ferguson and crew mates Pilot Doug Hurley, and Mission Specialists Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim are on their way to the International Space Station 

The 12-day mission will deliver the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module filled with more than 8,000 pounds of supplies and spare parts to sustain the International Space Station (ISS) operations after the shuttles are retired. STS-135 is the 135th shuttle flight, the 33rd flight for Atlantis and the 37th shuttle mission dedicated to the station assembly and maintenance.

May Atlantis return safely to earth as scheduled on 20 July 2011.

It has been an awesome human endeavor and fantastic space mission on the part of  USA to run the program enabling many scientific research to be undertaken, the launching of the Hubble telescope to study the universe and the establishment of the International Space Station (ISS). No wonder people are rather emotional and sentimental following the termination of the program.

I cannot help but marvel at those skilful people who are involved in this industry for the last 30 years and the brave and intelligent men and women who were astronauts carrying out individual  mission. Many useful spinoffs from this space program have improved the fields of e,g  health, electronics, engineering and telecommunications and not to forget the old Hubble being tuneups  many times by the shuttle crews over the years to give us some of the most spectacular views of the universe!

Thank you to the vision of the leaders of America, the world has also benefited from your dream. And farewell to all three shuttles, the astronauts who operated them and all NASA staff who are also being laid off because of the program's termination. You are all indeed the greatest team in the world!

Space shuttle Atlantis STS135 final launch: NASA video

Bumi Armada IPO, here we go again!

Many of my friends were not successful in their application of the recent MSM IPO and this next news-grabbing IPO may just be their next best bet. I am sure many keen investors are not going to miss this relisted stock under Ananda Krishnan's stable of companies. Such companies are reputed to be infused with good governance so you can be sure that investors will flock to get their IPOs!

Foreign funds managers' interest in this IPO is also expected to be high.

Bumi Armada is an oil and gas services provider. Yes, they provide the mechanization for oil exploration currently in more than four regions of the world. It is I believe the only company based in Malaysia that is involved in this niche industry. Bumi Armada was taken private in 2003 when its share price was RM7. Its relisting was postponed several times due to world's financial crisis and economic uncertainties.

The number of shares offered for retail investors are much more than that of MSM which by the way had a fine debut on 28 June with an upside of more than 30% of its institutional IPO price. We should expect Bumi Armada to have that kind of debut . Your chances of getting this IPO shares are slightly better than MSM.

The IPO price for Bumi Armada is set at RM3.15 and the closing date is on 7 July at 5pm and its listing on Bursa will be on 21 July. As I've  just returned from Australia, I am unable  to truly garner my finances to apply for this IPO so I am forced to sell  my PNB units to get the necessary cash. I am , by the way , offloading my non-performing stocks  just so I will be able to put back a good percentage of my withdrawal.

I will only perform my ESA on 6 July a day before the closing date as I am waiting for other financial sources to apply for this IPO so as to increase my chances of getting a portion of it. It is conceivable that at balloting the more shares you apply the greater the chances of you getting it. Many of those who applied less than 20k shares for MSM recently had failed to be picked out.

The post-listing price of Bumi Armada is not expected to be wildly dictated by market forces as its anchor institutional investors like PNB and Insurance  and investment companies are expected to keep their investment for up to two years. Pricing the IPO at RM3.15 seems to provide the company some kind of buffer in case the world economy becomes more volatile or decline on Greek Debt woe, American uncertain economic data and the easing of the economy by China. The globe is indeed  interrelated now by default.

However those who could withstand the current volatility pressure will eventually benefit. That is why it is important to buy shares using your own money and not otherwise.

And so here's wishing you all the best of luck again for your application of the Bumi Armada's IPO units.