Corruption Statistics

I attended the Anti-Corruption Seminar held this morning by the Brunei Anti Corruption Bureau. The content of the seminar talk wasn't really telling us what we should do when we encountered a possible corruption, what to do when being offered gifts, how to prevent corruption, or what sort of offers are termed corruption. None of that is actually presented or clearly conveyed. I feel the talk is more towards statistics rather than knowledge on tackling corruption. Or I was probably asleep. As expected, the seminar was boring, however a little information from the talk that I would like to share with you.

In 2004, Ministry of Finance has 5 cases of corruptions, that being the highest reported among other Ministries or departments. In 2005, the highest being recorded was from Royal Brunei Police Force (RBPF), second highest being Land Transport Department, and Ministry of Finance is nowhere to be seen in the 2005 list. Strange?

Where did that 5 cases go? Has it been solved? And MOF civil servant are no longer accepting corruptions? This isn't a question that can be answered easily. For example, the World Bank statistics showed that the chances of Customs and Excise Department worldwide is 15% likely to accept corruptions. This is a very big percentage considering that the Customs and Excise is one department that generates a big amount of revenue to the country. The department may have a zero tolerance on corruption, but do we know if corruptions are still around? If no one reported, would it go into statistics?

One particular video during the presentation caught my attention. It is a presentation on how the Seoul Government manages applications from the public on a wide range of services. It's abbreviated as OPEN system, I cannot remember what it stands for. It is a system to improve efficiency at the same time prevent corruption. This suddenly reminds me of E-Government. The E-government has the objective as being the centre for all government ministries in any IT related services. This will include efficiency benefits to governments, private as well as to the public. Now I realised that in the future, if many applications were to become paperless, as in you can do it online, it not only saves time but prevent corruption. This I think has never been stated in the objectives before.

It seems to be that this could be a total wipe out of corruption, considering that corruption exists only when there is human-to-human interaction. But then again, not all applications are feasible to be made online. It was also being presented in the statistics that Singapore ranks top and Hongkong second worldwide for having the best management on prevention of corruption. Bangladesh being the bottom-most. And Brunei, we try to achieve in between Singapore and Hongkong. A big challenge.

The Neat Bookstore

I was visiting a few book stores in Brunei to search for a self-improvement book. So I visited this probably most popular Bookstore 'X' that has been in the business for at least 10 years. They have a lot of business books as well as self-improvement books and every single one is wrapped up in transparent plastic.

So basically, any prospective buyer will need to ask the shopkeeper to open the plastic in order to browse through. I gave 3 books to the shopkeeper to have it opened. Then I found more books which are of interest, but I fear I might be offending the shopkeeper if I carry on asking her to open it. So I left and went to other bookstores hoping to find a store which I can browse easily. However other stores do not have as much choices as Bookstore 'X'. These stores have only few books which were wrapped up in plastics.

When we buy a story book, we read the back cover page for the story line. Browsing the pages of story books are not really necessary. For self-improvement books, management or business books we normally have to browse through the pages to see how the teachings are conveyed. Moreover the back cover page of self-improvement books normally only shows the comment of book magazines (or famous people). Reviews like "This is a must-have book for first-time blah blah... - Timeline magazine". So we do really need to browse the pages not just for the content, but also the topics covered.

Having no other choice, I went back to Bookstore 'X' the next day. On entering the shop, I saw the shopkeeper wrapping more books. Then I started my hunting once again. Took three books to the lady shopkeeper to have it opened and at the same time, asked her the reason for wrapping. She replied saying it's because some customers requested books like this to be neat and clean. They only have a single copy for some books and they need to keep it in good condition. I did not furthur my conversation as her reply tone was rude.

Bookstores I visited in other countries hardly wrap their books, and I see no real benefit in wrapping them. Anyway I feel I had conveyed my message to them. Let's keep this in mind: Mind your own business.

Making Maths Simpler

Bullshits and their associated lessons

A turkey was chatting with a bull. "I would love to be able to get to the top of that tree," sighed the turkey. "But I haven't got the energy." "Well, why don't you nibble on some of my droppings?" replied the bull. "They're packed with nutrients."

The turkey pecked at a lump of dung, and found it actually gave him enough strength to reach the lowest branch of the tree. The next day, after eating some more dung, he reached the second branch. Finally after a fourth night, the turkey was proudly perched at the top of the tree. He was promptly spotted by a farmer, who shot him out of the tree.

Lesson 1: Bull shit might get you to the top, but it won't keep you there.

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A little bird was flying south for the winter. It was so cold the bird froze and fell to the ground into a large field. While he was lying there, a cow came by and dropped some dung on him. As the frozen bird lay there in the pile of cow dung, he began to realize how warm he was. The dung was actually thawing him out! He laid there all warm and happy, and soon began to sing for joy.

A passing cat heard the bird singing and came to investigate. Following the sound, the cat discovered the bird under the pile of cow dung, and promptly dug him out and ate him.

Lesson 2:
(a) Not everyone who shits on you is your enemy.
(b) Not everyone who gets you out of shit is your friend.
(c) And when you're in deep shit, it's best to keep your mouth shut!

HiCcUpS

We all had hiccups once in a while. Hiccups happen when the diaphragm (the muscle that we use in breathing) suddenly contracts during breathing. The vocal cord quickly closes and then an odd sound suddenly comes out from the throat.

The usual way to cure hiccups is to drink plenty of water. There are a few others, I'm not sure if they really work:

- Holding one's breath and then exhaling very slowly
- Holding the nose
- Breathing into a paper bag
- Sucking on ice cubes
- Sucking on hard candy
- Drinking water from the far side of a glass (I doubt this will work)
- Gargling
- Pulling on the tongue (???!!!)
- Biting on a lemon
- Swallowing granulated sugar (heard of this before)
- Swallowing hard crusts of bread
- Sneezing
- Peeling onions (errr...)
- Bending over so that the head is lower than the chest
- Surprising or frightening the person with hiccups
- Slapping the person with hiccups on the back (ouch)

Most of the above solutions probably take too much trouble than just to drink plenty of water. But how much water do you need? Sometimes even a cup, right? How about just one sip and the hiccups is gone?

I was reading an article about a new invention that cures hiccups instantly (yes and it's guaranteed), and is already on sale now. The above photo is the Hic-Cup. The cup is made of stainless steel, while the rod and ball is made of brass. That rod is not a straw. It's designed so that when you drink water from the cup, the brass rod must touch the outside of your cheek. The science theory behind it is that this action creates a galvanic stimulation. Because they are made of different metal, a mild ion will be created between the two metals. The electrochemically produced bio-electric energy that cures hiccups.

Truely genius.