Get Rich or Die Trying: The trilogy

No doubt you've seen the posters for the new 50 cent movie plastered everywhere. To me, the expression means striving for everything that you can, and if you don't get it, at least you gave it your all. Well maybe not exactly. Fiddy was a drug dealer/thug, and he was determined to make it rich and was shot 5 times in the mouth and almost ended up dying. Here's my version of the real life movie.

Get High UAI or die trying

Lil brother done did it - finished the HSC. Want to know what he got for his UAI? He got approximately the same mark as the year the Bulls won their 4th championship. For those non-basketball fans, tough! Go ask someone.

It always interesting asking him or anyone for that matter what they are going to do at uni. I remember I was stuck in a dilemna - which course, which uni? My brother is in the same position now. He actually had two scholarship interviews at UNSW for IT courses. Problem was, he didn't know much about the course, let alone have a suit or tie to wear.

Like any career obsessed older brother, you know that I prepped him hardcore. I made him do research on the course, and did a mock interview, prepare responses for questions, made sure he dressed right, did the "hard" handshake. With my other brother, we made him sit down and do a 1 hour interview. We did a bit of roleplaying as there were meant to be two interviewers. I was the industry rep and my other brother was the academic.

Let's just say, I grilled him hardcore like any loving brother would, asking him "where do you see yourself in 3 years time?", "Why should we give you the money?", "why do you want to work in IT?", "What are the current industry trends in IT?". I mean you can't expect a 17 year old to answer all this stuff, but I wanted him to give it his best shot.

Get Filthy Rich or Die Trying: RIP Messers Packer

Sadly Kerry Packer, the richest man in Australia passed away two days ago. Dude was worth a mint - $7billion fortune to his name. He definently was larger than life. This guy had his fingers in every pie - Media, Sports (Da*m, he owned the cricket), Casinos, IT, Real Estate, Managed Funds. True mogul, Rockafeller style. But at the end of the day, his poor health took him to the grave. It shows, money ain't everything. So Get Rich or Die Trying, young one!

Money ain't a thang

I think to be successful in life you don't need to be rich like Kerry. You don't need to own half the world. Money is only one measure of success and a poor one at that. Too often in life, I've made decisions or treated people or viewed certain individuals with a certain disdain, based on what? Money.

Take my parents for example. I think they've been relatively successful - they've come from overseas, educated themselves here, raised a family in Australia, we've got a nice house, two cars, own an investment property. Two of their sons are highly anal to argue with because they've both got law degrees and the third one just got a ripper of a HSC mark! In their eyes and mine, they've made it. Compared to most families, we are very well off. Most important to them though, is the fact that they raised three good sons.

That my friend, is true success.

I leave you with one of favourite bible verses to reflect on: "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" - Mark 8:36

Peace Out.

DJ Ho.

Christmas reflections

Firstly, just want to say Merry Xmas y'all. It's a day late but you know what I mean. Hopefully, we'll all get a chance to have a break and spend it with our family and friends. Usually, this time of the year we'll eat and spend $$$ like crazy......but it's all good.

Secondly, I think the true meaning of Christmas gets lost in this commercialised environment. As a Christian, it probably means a lot more to me than most people. It is the time that Jesus was born into the world, the day that our saviour arrived. I think even for Christians, that meaning gets lost with all the presents, the family commitments, the holidays.

This time three years ago, I made the decision to become a Christian. It wasn't a light or rash decision. Being born into a Christian family, it probably was a lot harder for me to make a rational, independent decision. And if you read my post, you can probably tell that I'm very analytical, logical person (codewords for anal and slow decision maker) - so making a decision like this took a lot tossing and turning. I took one of those baptism courses and at the end of it, I decided to give my life to God and there hasn't been any turning back since.

On a different note, I think about all the food and presents that I have recieved. This time last year on Boxing day, I arrived on the coldest place on earth (well to me anyway): Beijing. And it was here, that I saw true poverty. People in real need. People are always in need, but it just seemed like these people were just a lot poorer than the beggars I've seen on the streets of Sydney.

As tourists in a country with favourable exchange rates, we ate like crazy and bought fake goods like they were out of fashion. Still remember polishing off 5 Peking Ducks amongst a group of 13. And paying like $8 for the pleasure. Hitting up this Beijing DVD store, which seemed like a video ezy/blockbuster and had every movie you could imagine for $2.

After visiting other cities, like Shanghai, Xian, Hong Kong in my travels, I feel that:
1) I had more interesting stories to tell at parties
2) I want to travel again to other parts of the world
3) Most importantly - I became a lot more worldly

The most important thing that you gain, is the experience - being out of your comfort zone, meeting new people, the new experiences and being free from the commitments back home. Just being able to chill out and relax. Although we were on a backpacking tour, it felt like it was Me & Tim against the world. I realised that hardly anyone in China could speak a world of english. This place was absolutely freezing. The lack of white people around. That some people were definently living beyond their means. That not all of us were going to have a nice cooked meal that night.

It was interesting spending Christmas holidays in China. It wasn't even really celebrated over there. I think I saw one Xmas tree the whole time i was there, in Xian. New Years was an uneventful event in Beijing - no celebrations at all. I spent it in a 3.5 star hotel room, watching replays of Chicago Bulls championship game, drinking cheap Chinese beer with some American and French backpackers.

Peace.

DJ Ho.

Let me take you to funky (new) town

The city of men dressed in leather skirts, an eclectic bunch of residents, the Dendy theatre, and a thai restaurant on every corner.

Here are some pics from the Newtown Community Festival, putting on display the best food, arts, crafts, music the town has to offer. Pics taken 2 months ago. Inspired by Pickos.

They came out in their thousands!~ People everywhere on a sunny Sunday afternoon.

People as far as the eye could see.












Soul Food baby!.

Thai food on display. The most unhealthiest thing at the festival - a banana springroll - real greasy.

Newtown is a city of tatts. I've never seen so many tatts in my life. So I had to get a tempoary one. And I was grimacing too!~

A bunch of orange haired people supporting Orangutans in Indonesia who I donated money to. I think they liked me cause I had a bright orange backpack.

An old skool keyboard? Retro!

Newtown is very much a lefty society - very out there . So you know there were going to be selling t-shirts like that. Loved this one - except it cost $30.

Crips do bleed: Founder of the Crips is executed

Hundreds gather to mourn 'Tookie' Williams

Staff and agencies
Wednesday December 21, 2005

Hundreds of mourners have attended the funeral of the former gang boss Stanley "Tookie" Williams, who was executed in California last week. A series of celebrity speakers at the service, held in south Los Angeles, criticised the California governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, for his refusal to grant clemency to the 51-year-old convicted murderer.

More than 1,500 mourners, including religious leaders and gang members, attended the service at the Bethel AME church. Speakers included the hip-hop star Snoop Dogg, the anti-death penalty campaigner Bianca Jagger, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, the Nation of Islam leader, Louis Farrakhan, and the motivational speaker Tony Robbins.

Williams, who co-founded the Crips street gang and was convicted of murdering four people, was executed by lethal injection at San Quentin prison last Tuesday. He was killed despite a high-profile campaign for clemency in which supporters claimed he had become a reformed character during more than 20 years on death row. At a service lasting for more than four hours, speakers denounced capital punishment. Ms Jagger said Mr Schwarzenegger's actions "revealed disregard for human rights, due process and the US constitution".

Snoop Dogg recited a poem entitled Until We Meet Again, in which he referred to the execution. "It's nine-fifteen on twelve-thirteen and another black king will be taken from the scene," he said. A stanza that read: "I don't believe Stan did it," drew wild applause from the car park outside the church where more mourners - including some gang members wearing blue, the colour associated with the Crips - were watching the service on large television screens.

Williams was executed for the shotgun murders of 26-year-old convenience store clerk Albert Owens and motel owners Yen-I Yang, 76, and Tsai-Shai Chen Yang, 63, and their 43-year-old daughter Yu-Chin Yang Lin in 1979.

He had always claimed he was innocent, although Robert Martin, one of the prosecutors who sent Williams to prison, recently claimed the evidence had been thoroughly scrutinised by the courts and was "rock solid".

Mr Martin questioned arguments that Williams had redeemed himself while on death row, where he wrote children's books warning against gang life.
There was a high police presence in the area surrounding the funeral. After the service, many of those outside the church dropped to the ground at the sound of what appeared to be three gunshots being fired nearby. There were no reports of injuries or arrests.

The death of Williams - who asked for his ashes to be scattered in South Africa - was an "abuse of power," the Reverend Al Sharpton told mourners by telephone from New York. Mr Farrakhan compared Williams' trial and execution to those of Jesus. Both, he said, were innocent men executed for political reasons. "Every true revolutionary, every man that will not bow down to the forces of this world, will be rebuked and scorned," he said.

He called on gang members to become "natural leaders" of the black community, and urged them to down their guns. Williams "is the patron saint of all those struggling in gang life," he added. Rev Jackson said that, at the end of his life, Williams saw himself as a "healer, not a predator".

Several dozen gang members watched the service in the car park. One who identified himself as "Killowatt the Third" said of Williams: "That's my role model, man. That's the CEO of the Crips."

Other mourners included Al Birdsong, a 54-year-old school security officer who said Williams did not deserve to be executed after more than two decades in prison. "I'm here to pay my respects to humanity, and that goes to Tookie and everyone else they do in ... what if it was your son?" he said.

A message recorded by Williams in prison was played for the mourners. "The war within me is over," he said. "I battled my demons and I was triumphant."
He asked listeners to spread a message to their loved ones, saying: "Teach them to promote peace and teach them to focus on rebuilding the neighbourhoods that you, others and I helped to destroy."

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I'm not sure what to say. This guy did start up the Crips, one of the most violent black american street gangs. Let's not kid ourselves here. He was no saint. I'm sure he did murder people - but if the evidence wasn't rock solid and he didn't kill those people, well I can't agree with that. If he did, then he deserved to be in prison. Not down with the whole capital punishment thing.

On a different level, he must have influenced a lot of young African-Americans to join the Crips. Although he did reform and discourage gang membership, think about how many Crip gang members there are in Los Angeles. Think about the killings, the drive-bys, the drug deals that happened amongst the crips. He started it all - kinda like the guy that created the nuclear bomb.

For those of you that don't know, I actually know a lot about gangs. It was just something that I found interesting to read. I still remember borrowing a book from my the library on "Gang dynamics" and having Brett pay the sh*t out of me. Or how I was explaining to Fergo the difference between different prison tattoos. Knowing obscure stuff like some Crips wear British Knights, because the initials are "BK" which stand for "Blood Killer" (Bloods is a rival gang you see).

As you see, I must have issues. I used to study street maps, and learn which streets certain gangs use to hang out, how to read their graffiti - trust me its hard, understand gang identifiers (clothing, police web reports, tattoos). It wasn't just African-American gangs I was interested in. I was also particualry obsessed with Asian gangs as well - in fact there is triad book on my shelf "The Dragon Syndicate".

And all this makes for interesting party conversation.

Peace Out,

DJ Ho.

Thought Leadership Series by DJ Ho

The Agile Corporation
By DJ Ho B.Bus (Accounting) LLB (Hons) Grad Dip Legal Cert

The phrase “agile corporation” was first coined by Bill Gates, CEO of Microsoft to describe a new style of corporate entity that was nimble, flexible, fluid and responsive enough to meet today’s ever-changing corporate environment. The term agile corporation invokes images of a large semi-visible skeleton that is able to jump, hop, sidestep and maneuver with ease. The concept of agile corporation was relevant to Bill Gates as his company was faced with ever decreasing software production costs from the sub-continent, rapid globalization through the internet’s capabilities to unlock new areas of commerce, as well as anti-trust litigation threatening to split up Microsoft’s dominance.

Is the concept of the “agile corporation” relevant to today’s managers? Yes, because agility is the only way that corporations can thrive in today’s rapid white water environment.

The rapid and fluid environment that we live in consists of major changes to the status quo. We have been through and are continuing to experience privatization and deregulation of our traditional industries. Consider that industries that were once dominated by fierce competition of several major players have now been forced to merge to continue their growth. Our workers and their needs are also changing, as they look to develop work-life balances and the gradual influx of generation Y employees to workplaces dominated by baby boomers and generation X. Our ability to communicate more rapidly has reduced time lags on market movements. What happens at the NYSE will be reflected almost simultaneously seconds later at the Hong Kong Stock exchange. And more importantly the way we do business is changing. Before personalized service was a key factor in deciding who we did business with. Now, we pay our bills over the internet. We order stock in real time from our suppliers using just in time systems. We can service millions of customers using e-commerce platforms instead of stores and cash registers.

But are we changing at a rate greater that the past? Yes and No. There is an argument that today’s changes are no different to changes in the past. Is the internet all that different from Gutenberg’s printing press that resulted in the explosion of information? Are rapid advances in science any different to when Madam Curie developed radioactivty? Yes, because as society becomes more educated, as society places more money into research and development, as industries become more competitive over time, as people become globally aware, advances in society will continue to grow at an exponential rate. Therefore the rapid water environment will only become more turbulent.

Therefore, the corporations that recognize or pre-empt the changes of this rapid white water environment can gain a first mover advantage and adopt a market leading position. By the time the “inflexible” competitors respond, the agile corporation has already entered the market, determined which sectors are worth servicing, and grabbed the attention of the potential customers. In addition, a first mover advantage is that customers will already recognize the brand name and can quickly build up a reputation.

But what makes a corporation agile? Agility refers to the ability to respond quickly and to move with ease. Experience shows that larger organizations, particularly multi-nationals tend to be less agile that their smaller competitors. This is obvious as bureaucracy levels increase with organization size, as well as the longer time experienced to implement plans and decisions. More formal procedures create a culture that is resistant to change. Flatter organizations with less links in the chain of command can respond at much greater speed.

But will responding quickly be good enough? More is required that just making fast decisions. Companies need to foster an innovative culture, develop forward looking plans that are flexible, anticipate market movements as well as having employees that can create change.

By that time, the agile corporation will be the first one paddling up the rapid whitewaters.

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I wrote this article when I was in my fifth year of uni. This article didn't count for anything - it wasn't a uni assignment. I just sat down one day at the uni computer lap and wrote it straight off from the top of my head, so its raw and unedited like a Jay-Z freestyle in a studio.

It has and will always be a dream of mine to be a business journalist and this article was designed for the opinion section of the BRW. The plan was to write a whole series, like the McKinsey Quarterly News Update.

I think the biggest compliment I got from my brother was like "You sound exactly like those people in the BRW" lol.

Tell me what you think.

I'm out like the three remaining workdays,

DJ Ho.

p.s. Those academic qualifications are for real playa.

Thanks for coming everyone!

Just want to say thankyou to everyone that came to the DJ Ho/Chuck birthday drinks @ Red Room at Hotel Chambers. last night. The place went off, as the alcohol flowed throughout the night, with old skool rnb tunes filled the air and being surrounded by all you beautiful people.

About 23 people turned up, from high school friends, uni peeps, work people, Dawen's friends. We occupied this corner lounge seat area at the front and was real good, because it was behind this massive wooden pillar which blocked off the rest of the place and gave us privacy to mingle, catch up and dance.

I love Red Room @ Hotel Chambers coz it plays the best music on the planet - . Old skool hip hop and rnb. that's where its at! In fact it aint even that old skool. Mainly the 90's type music, everything that I grew up on. I think Bosco/Tim was in some kind of musical ecstasy, cause i know I was. They played 6 Janet Jackson songs (only my bro knows stuff like this), Biggie!!!!, Soul for Real's "Every Little Thing I do", Drop it like its hot, Groove Theory's "Tell me", Return of the Mack, Earth Wind and Fire, Monica, Sexual Healing, OPP, Mary J Blige's "Real Love" twice.

Plus I got two birthday shoutouts from the MC! What more could a birthday boy ask for?! Well two things - that Rahul (rocking the Bouncer unfriendly red sports shoes) and my man ivan coulda been let in. Will have to catchup with you guys soon.

Highlights/Random scenes during the night:

1. Hoi Tak headbutting everything in sight.
2. Tim and Chuck grabbing some random ass from chick's they met the night before.
3. Having a dedicated poetry corner for Me and Bosco, discussing my latest poem with Bosco and Alvin.
4. Free alcohol! From memory I had bout 3 or 4 coronas, 2 bourbon and cokes, 2 tequlia shots, and a red face after one drink.
5. Presents! Who woulda thought?!
6. Alvin on the dancefloor constantly saying "What!...... What!" even after I told him it wasn't cool anymore, just kidding dawg.

Once again, thanks for coming everyone. And I would like to go back there again maybe next year in January or Feb cause that place is just simply awesome (hardly any asians in the place except our massive group) which is so much better than having 18 year old gangsta asians and five foot asian chicks running around in Martin PLace bar.

Peace.

DJ Ho.

Sons of the Shire v Lions of Lebanon

I'm a son of the shire
Sticking up for what I believe in
Gathered in our thousands, this ain't no choir
Defending ourselves not committing any sin
They've invaded our beaches
They're loud and they're proud
I'll show them Aussie pride if they dare to reach us
Hey wait...how dare one come towards us
So I grab my bottle and clench my fist tighter
I reach him first and unwind like I'm a fighter
Feel this, and feel that
It's all my aggression
Feel this and feel that
Your body be stretchin
After this one sided boxing session
Feel this and feel that
For 9/11
Feel this and feel that
For those gang rapes
Take this and take that
For beating that lifeguard into another shape
It set it off but this ain't what its about
It's protecting our white culture from you louts

I'm a Lion of Lebanon
Yeah I'm loud and I'm proud
Feel this and Feel that for your aggression?
Well feel this fist for my oppression
Planned 9/11?
You ain't seen nothing
Like random acts of violence
No longer stand by and be silent
Gather my boys and show you true force
Rocks, iron bars, molotov and baseball bat
Break all your car windows and show you who's the boss
With little remorse
Hit us and we'll hit back harder
We'll make you jump higher than Vince Carter
Won't let me come to your beach?
Better pray to Allah that you can't be reached
When you come runnin'
I'm gonna be gunnin'
One sided boxing session?
Ha! Come to our town and your police force be stretchin
You know what also brings the anger in what you see
The media which marginalises me
And makes us violent like Bruce Lee

I'm DJ Ho, and this war has to stop
We can't progress with this fighting
As it brings too many blood drops
Living in a multicultural society its going to bring stress
With different values and cultures
Some say we're a cesspool, a mixed up mess
I see it differently
Its about diversity and living together, no more no less
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My first poem since Year 9. Inspired by Bosco.

Peace out,

DJ Ho.

Riot Akt - Race Motivated Riots

The stuff that went down at Maroubra and Cronulla on the weekend is just plain disgraceful. I never thought Australian society would go downhill like that. People just acting like savages and animals. I've always said that Australia is a multicultural society and a very tolerant one. But after this weekend, I might be reassessing my opinion.

Fueled by hate, alchohol, heat it just got real ugly. What's the point of beating up random Lebanese people with a mob of 5000 people?

I must admit though, there is a minority of Lebanese people that do cause a lot of trouble and make the rest of them look very bad. I work with and am really good friends with lots of Lebanese people. There's a huge population where I'm from and I've grown up with them. They are good hardworking people.

The problem is with some of them when they are in those massive groups. I've been chased/almost robbed by gang of Lebanese people. My brother was robbed at knifepoint on the way home by a Lebanese person. I've seen a pretty Australian girl get hassled by a gang of 6 Lebanese men and having to deal with sexual taunts on a trainride. And this was at 3pm, in a train full of people, at the time that those rapings were going on.

By the same token, I've also experienced racism first hand from Australians. When I was 15 or so, I was walking along Beamish street in Campsie with my cousins and aunty. We walked past this pub and this drunk Aussie came out. He spat on my cousin. Reloaded, and spat on my other cousin. Then spat on me. And the worst part, he spat on my Aunty. I was so mad that someone could make me feel like I didn't belong, like I was some second class citizen. If I wasn't so young and my aunty wasn't there, I'm sure my cousins and I would have beat the **** out of him.

But if I look at the larger picture though, I've had many more good experiences with Australians and Lebanese people. I'm not going to let a few very bad experiences and a bunch of idiots ruin my opinion.

I still remember having a heated arguement on a train ride with a dark Fijian man. He was telling these American tourists that Australia was a racist society. I was minding my own business but I couldn't put up with his biased crap. So I stuck up for all y'all - the Lebs, the Aussies, the Aboriginals, the Greeks, the Asians, you name it. But I can see where he is coming from. I believe he was talking about his experiences where he faced a lot of racism in the 70's and 80's in Australia. As he left the train, I told the Americans that Australia was not like he made it. What they told me I will never forget: "He's got a lil' bit more colour than you".

Something tells me that this mob violence won't die down soon. At time of writing, I just saw on the news of more riots at Lakemba Mosque and at Brighton-Le-Sands.

For once, saying "Peace" never had so much meaning.

Peace Out,

DJ Ho.

p.s. For some laughter check out George Bush.

Tribute to the Greatest Sidekick: Scottie Pippen

Before my room was renovated and painted, I had two posters on my wall. One dedicated to His Airness, Michael Jordan and the another one with Scottie Pippen.

On Friday, Scottie Pippen was given the ultimate tribute an athlete can recieve (besides being on my wall) - his jersey was retired and hung up as a banner in the Chicago stadium where he spent the majority of his career. It also means that no other player can wear #33 on the Bulls. Pip will always be one of my favourite players of all time.

Unfortunately, he lived in the shadow of the greatest basketball player of all time - the guy that wore #23, Michael Jordan. However, I see it the other way around - it was fortunate that he played with Jordan. Because that helped shape him into the player that he became - Jordan gave him the drive, the motivation, being able to practice against him every day.

I think Pippen will be remebered as one of the greatest defenders - check his 8 NBA First Team selections. Coaches acknowledge that Pippen could shut down an entire wing of a basketball court. He was verstaile enough to be able to defend four positions on the court, play point guard, and must be considered one of the best all around players in the game. Pippen also sacrificed a lot by being MJ's sidekick, but honestly, I think he preferred it that way.

Unleash the Dobermans,

DJ Ho.

p.s. Question of the day: Who is the better defender - Ron Artest or Scottie Pippen in his prime?

Congrats are in order

Two reasons to celebrate:
1. Dawen got a promotion! A long time coming, since she's been moved up to the level she should have been on ages ago.

2. Aadesh got engaged! it's about that time playa!~

One reason not to celebrate
Blackstreet concert got postponed til late Jan. Word on the street is that ticket sales were slow. Hopefully won't clash with Common.

Two new insights
I remember the comment Ivan left on my blog saying I should keep telling y'all how it goes down at work.

1. I became directly responsible for someone. It's not a major thing - we have these new interns over the summer and I've been allocated one. I'm showing them the ropes, being their first point of contact for questions, introducing them to key peeps, and just being their mentor. It's like the roles have been reversed. That used to be me two years ago - the noobie!

2. Went to a networking dinner and heard a speech by Jane Halton, Secretary of Department of Ageing and Health. She basically runs a goverment department with 4000 people. And she is responsible for kinda everything in the health system - that doctors give you the care that you require, you get processed quickly in a hospital, the drugs that we buy are safe, and how to contain an outbreak.

The one key thing that I walked away with from that speech was her talk on how leaders motivate people. It much easier to motivate someone when you can advocate to them directly - eg face to face. In an organisation of her size, its not feasible for her to do that, thus its very hard to motivate each person individually.

But with 4000 people how is it done? Or in an organisation like mine with 100,000 people globally? As a leader, you've got to be able to find that connection of what motivated yourself in the first place. It's finding the reason that she worked that extra hour beyond the 9-5 day, what made her put in an extra 10%. So the first step is to understand the reasons that pushed you to work hard, and using those reasons to motivate people. Hopefully, i can now motivate my intern!

Peace out,

DJ Ho.

I'm excited! COMMON IS COMING!!! oh and my bday too

First off, my actual birthday is on the 14th of December but I'm organising something for Saturday 17th of December. Keep that date free! The place where I want to go is Red Room at Hotel Chambers. It plays old skool rnb (mid 90's mostly), all the stuff that I grew up with like Groove Theory, R Kelly, Monica, Boyz 2 Men, etc. I figure if I go to a place like Martin Place Bar, its going to isolate a lot of my non-asian friends. Plus the crowd at Red Room is funky and diverse.

And secondly, Common (aka Common Sense), the best hip hop artist out there at the moment is coming to Sydney! Hold it down! He's playing at the Metro on Wednesday, 25 January 2006. Its $50 and tickets are on sale this friday. Common is the best! Although I've downloaded this concert he did in Switzerland, it wasn't that great but it mostly to promote some kind of beatnik festival and the crowd was mostly wack media types. how could you not feel Common?!

Just in case your wondering, (and I know you are) here's my list of what I would give my left arm for a birthday present:

1. Common concert ticket (see above!)
2. Ben Gordon (Red) or a Dwight Howard (Blue) jersey.
3.Cancellation of world debt for the poorest 52 countries
4. For you to be at the Red Room this Saturday

Common! Common is coming! I used to love her! Just Be! Testify! Like water for chocolate! One day it'll all make sense! I reckon if I could go to one concert next year, I'd go to Common.

Why am I so excited at 4am in the morning?

Cause if you ask me where hip hop is going, it's Chicago-ing,

DJ HO.

A year of reflection: HOcean Eleven.

Eleven things to reflect on.

1. I've never seen a greater divide between rich and poor. And I've never seen such blatant commercialism yet so much commerical potential. Standing on the Huang Pu River in Shanghai, I swear I saw the past and the future in the same glimpse. China is the future y'all.

2. I've going to start studying for Masters from the START of the semester (been saying this for 5 years). But cramming does work.

3. I'm going to be a lot more aggressive when playing basketball.

4. There's a big adjustment from being a graduate to working full time. Time and the quality of work that you produce is much more important than at uni.

5. Credit cards are good! Bank statements are not!

6. NBA TV on broadband is the greatest thing to happen to the NBA in years. Who knew that Nate Robinson could dunk?

7. It's been a year since Ron Artest punched that guy in the stands. Ron might be hot headed, but would we have done any differently?

8. I need to work more on my relationship with my significant other.

9. I miss uni and the good mates that I saw every day.

10. The price of freedom is eternal vigilance. And lots of $$$.

11. I will be 24 in 8 days. I'm getting old.


Peace Out,

DJ Ho.

Gangsters don't dance we boogie

Lot of things to blog about. Feel like I've got blogger's itch - gone cold turkey for like 1/2 a week, need to say something. Firstly, finished my exam today for my second masters subject. Let me say this - nothing's changed. Still cramming, still allocate too much time to one question, and not to the next one. Oh well, better luck next time.

Some people are just anal

On Saturday, my brother and his "crew" was at Bankstown square, doing some breakdancing to raise money for their PCYC Breakdancing competition. They were doing their thing selling $2 raffle tickets, had permission from Centro (the centre's management), had a allocated floor space, and things were going well. There was a nice little crowd building up and they were doing flares, windmills, flips, somersaults, etc.....

Miss OHS Officer (occupational health and safety) walks up to them and demands to know who is in charge. One of the boys pipes up and says they're in charge. They figure she wants some tickets but instead she says "I'm gonna fine you $5000 for endangering the lives of the public". Word for word quote. Centro management shows up and the $5000 fine is levied on them, with $2000 on the boys.

Although PCYC (Police Community Youth Centre) will be paying, its ridiculous. Ok they didn't have a barrier to separate themselves ffrom the public, some of the flips came a bit close to the public but they each stopped themselves in time. No once was injured, and it was a fundraising type event.

These guys will probably have to work twice as hard now to raise money and help pay off the fine. Some people just levy their rules strictly. She could have easily ignored it or simply said guys you need to stop, you might run into someone. Not walk straight up and be Judge & Jury and fine them $5000 like its strict liability offence. Maybe it is, but still its too harsh.

Enough ranting, more about the event. Unlike the "Danceoff" event I read on Emily's blog, this is a bona fide hip hop event. PCYC crews from all over Sydney and interstate are coming down to compete in a battle knockout style competition. Its four on four, mano el mano (there are some females as well) but you know what I mean. Its the first time they've done it, and its being held in Bankstown, my local area (City of Thugs and apparently breakdancers). I think the event is in mid-December and they are $5 at the door.

Peace out,

DJ Ho.

Violence ain't necessary

Is it just me or society too violent these days? Or maybe violence always existed but we just oblivious/desensitized to the killings, deaths, beatings, lootings that are going on. I've never come across more violent lyrics than songs written by Notorious BIG, but they are a sign of the times.

Ready To Die

"I'm ready to die and nobody can save me"

In several hours, Van Nguyen will be weighed & measured to determine the right length of rope to make his neck snap when he is hanged. In less than 24 hours he will be dead. Why does Singapore insist on hanging people convicted of drug offences? They are the only first world country to do so. As if killing people really deters drug offences. Is this violence necessary?


Gimme the Loot

"Then I'm dipping up the block and I'm robbing bitches too/
up the herring bones and bamboos/
I wouldn't give f*ck if you're pregnant/
Give me the baby rings and a #1 MOM pendant/"

Last week, a Vietnamnese man who owned a newsagent was stabbed to death by two other Viets that robbed his store. I was reading this and was amazed at the guy's contribution to his own community. Another brother lost to the streets. Is this violence necessary?

Machine Gun Funk

"The rocket launcher/
Biggie stomped ya/
High as a motherfuckin helicopter/
That's why I pack a nina, fuck a misdeameanor/
Beatin m*therf*ckers like Ike beat Tina/[What's Love, Got to Do]/
when I'm rippin all through your whole crew"

A few months ago, a 20 year old Asian man was playing arcade games at Parramatta. He had beaten all challengers, but two Asian teenagers weren't down with that and they stabbed him in the back and he died shortly after. A friend of mine knew him and I was with him when he recieved the phone call that he had passed away. I actually had read this on Emily's blog and that death really shocked me. Another innocent life lost to the streets. Is this violence necessary?

It Was Written

I don't want to make this post too long, but this is an interesting article about how French rappers were telling the story of how things were about to erupt.

"Three weeks of riots, arson and attacks on police ripped the cover off problems that French hip-hop artists like Disiz have been rapping and raging about for years"

"What are we waiting for to set everything aflame? What are we waiting for to no longer follow the rules of the game?" NTM rapped. "We have nothing to lose because we had nothing to start with. I wouldn't sleep soundly if I were you. The bourgeoisie can quake, the scum are in town."

Click here for more. Was this violence necessary?

Peace.

DJ Ho.

Darwinian theory: Natural selection?

There is that classical arguement, are we a product of our environment (nuture) or are we born with the abilities that we possess today (nature)? The issue I want to discuss today is with the amount of Asians in selective high schools. I've cut and pasted the main parts of the article.

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Sweeping Chinese revolution

By Linda Doherty, Education Editor
SMH
November 26, 2005

THE immigration success story continues apace, with students of Chinese background securing one third of the places in Sydney's selective academic schools.

Nine out of 10 students at James Ruse Agricultural High School - NSW's top-performing school - have a non-English-speaking background, predominantly Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean language groups.

Across the city, students from a migrant background - mainly from Asia - account for two-thirds of enrolments in selective schools, or 9451 out of 14,300 students.

The Herald has analysed the cultural mix of students in the 19 fully selective state schools using NSW Education Department data obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. More than 5000 of the 16,000 selective school students say they have a Chinese-speaking heritage and all but 100 of those students live in Sydney, where 4.9 per cent of the population speaks a Chinese language. The next largest language groups are Korean (601 students), Vietnamese (528).

The dominance of students from non-English-speaking backgrounds ranges from 92.3 per cent of enrolments at James Ruse and 83.6 per cent at Sydney Boys High.

Lynne Irving, the principal of Sydney Technical High at Bexley, said her school represented the changing demographic. "We reflect what the community looks like," she said. "Irrespective of the national background, the students all have a very high work ethic and they're very well supported by their parents."

Author Don Aitkin said the performance of many students from Asian backgrounds followed the success enjoyed by previous waves of migrant children. "It's in effect a parental sacrifice in the interests of the child," he said.
The migrant parents would typically "work their butts off" so their children could get a good education. The children were aware of this and would often forgo "present gratification" like going to the beach to study hard

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I think this article and the comments made are totally correct. Migrant parents do sacrifice everything to ensure their kids got the best education. My parents were exactly the same. Secretly, I think they wanted me to be everything they couldn't be - upperclass, rich, white collar professional. I will never forget the struggles that my parents went through to put me where I am today.

I think I had no choice but to be successful, and I'm not saying that I'm good. Just that I graduated highschool, went to uni, did law and got a job at big company. And to them, that is success because they never went through that whole process. My mum still tells me she arrived in this country with $500 in her pocket and nothing but a hope for a better life. Asian parents push their kids so hard because they simply want the best for us.

One thing that this article misses, is that Asians aren't necessarily smarter. Being bright is not the reason that they get into selective school. It's a tough call for me to make as an Asian. On the one hand, I feel that Asians are smart. But why is that? - Is it nature or nurture? I think most of us Asians got into selective school because:

1) we were bright
2) we had coaching
3) our parents pushed us so hard and sacrificed a lot to ensure we got in

You combine those 3 factors and you've going to take the place of for say (and I'm generalisng here) an Australian person who is naturally bright but might not have had factor 2 and 3 - there is the exception: see Tim and Ashby. That is why 33% of students are Asian.

To many Asian parents selective high school was the be all or end all. If they couldn't get in, they had to go to a public high school and they couldn't settle for that. That would mean failure. My parents couldn't afford a really good private high school, but I'm sure they would have done sacrificed everything financally to make sure I got in to one.

So what is it Nature or Nuture for Asians in selective high schools? I say both, although a lot of "nuturing/pushing/sacrificing" from my parents.

Interesting side note

It never became more apparent to me how important it was to go to a good high school when two years ago I had interviews for internships. I had several interviews and one was @ Proctor & Gamble. I walk in, and the manager looks @ my resume and goes "Oh, you went to Sydney Tech?.....You know Ms Berios was a b*tch". Firstly, I was stunned, then laughed and nodded my head in agreement. What was I supposed to do? I did get a job with them, and probably did help that he was a former Tech.

Next up was an interview @ Big 4 Accounting firm. Again, Partner looks at my resume and goes "I'm an old boy from tech. I organised our 50th reunion with your new principal......Ms Irvine". Didn't get a job with them, but still, that old schoolboy connection was strong.

During my internship, I went to a client meeting. I'm sitting at their board room, minding my own business while the client chats away with my boss. Suddenly, the client wants to talk to me and asks me what High School I went too. I mumble "Sydney Tech. Its in Bexley." He gives me this scrunched up face look and smiles and repeats that all too farmiliar line "Your're looking at an Old Boy. Class of 1960........ Is Mr Booth still there?".

I'm out like Ashby from Australia,

DJ Ho.

p.s. Did you spot the Ms Irvine, Sydney Tech comment? Represent!

Sons of Enron.

The inspiration for this post was the fact that a friend of mine lost a lot of money investing money in Sons of Gwalia, a gold mining company. The loss occured more than a year ago but they recieved a form asking to put their names down for a debtor's list - even if there is any money left over very little will go to any shareholders.

My facts are a bit hazy but it happened when Gwalia gambled on gold prices, and took out a gold derivative hedge to lock in a certain price. Prices moved against them and the banks made a margin call, telling them to hand over the gold NOW.

Problem was, Gwalia didn't have enough gold reserves to meet the request. They couldn't go out and buy gold either because the prices had skyrocketed. Gwalia couldn't come up with the $700million in gold and it went kaput. Investors lost out because they failed to disclose this information relating to the hedge.

Obviously, this person is not happy about it but there was little that they could do. The accounts were audited by Ernst & Young, prior financials were strong, and gold prices have never been higher. They were one of the world's biggest producers of gold. IT WAS A BLUE CHIP COMPANY.

But Gwalia never disclosed the true risks to the market of their hedges. They f'd up basically - their judgement was wrong in calculating it.

Why I am angry

We as members of the public hand over money to these big organisations hoping that they will make us money. It might produce a profit or a loss. That's a risk that I as an investor am prepared to take. But at the very minimum, they need to tell us of the risks. They need to disclose that information so we can make fully informed decisions. And if they do disclose it, the essential information is buried in some 60 page annual report, which even the most sophsticated investor has trouble understanding.

We are at the mercy of these organisations - in a very vulnerable position. They know much more than we do, yet they are unwilling to tell us what's going on, but are SO willing to accept our hard earned money.

A lot of people lost money on Gwalia and there was no way that they could see it coming. We have so many laws on what companies should disclose but do they really force companies to tell us what really goes on? Accounting standards are so complex that ways can be found around them. And derivatives, a new kind of financial product weren't regulated by existing laws and accounting standards.

I watched the Enron movie last week, and it annoys me that corporate greed has gone so far. Enron, was the 7th LARGEST corporation in the US before it collapsed. People had blind faith - the share price kept rising, the company kept announcing new markets and services that it was launching. No one really questioned the company until it was too late.

They used a lot dodgy practices and financial engineering to make the company look better than it was. But it was all smoke and mirrors.

You can't do a thing

Whether you like it or not, we are all exposed to this problem. We all make money. And to make that money grow, you need to make it work. If you invest in shares, you can do as much research as you like to "value" the company. But if they aren't providing you sufficient information, you can never make an informed decision to compare prices, risks and future returns. You're on slippery ground from the get go. You have no objective basis for comparison.

But I hear you say "hey I don't invest in the stock market", BUT you do playa. Compulsory superannuation forces you to put money somewhere and it usually ends up in shares, or managed funds, which in turn invest in property or shares. You can't do a thing because when you hand that money over it is up to the discretion of that fund manager to do whatever they want with it. You've lost control of your own money. Sure you might say I want to invest in international equities at steady growth rate. But that don't mean squat.

Best choice? Put your money in a shoebox and lock it away. It'll still be there in a year's time.

Fighting for shareholder's rights,

DJ Ho.

He's so grown up now......awwwww

I think I spend like 50 hours a week on the computer. You don't need to be a scientist to work out that's not very good on your eyes. Yesterday, finished at 8pm and got a cab ride home. And tonite, couldn't be stuffed staying any later, grabbed the laptop and worked on it on the train ride home. Cracked open a can of coke and knuckled down and submitted my part of the project at 9.30pm. I'm officially a corporate slave. Welcome to the real world, DJ Ho.

More importantly......my lil bro has finished the HSC! He's gone off to alternative skoolies - the central coast. I can't believe how fast this little kid has grown up. I dropped him off at the train station, stood back and thought, woah things done changed.

I gave him my massive backpacker backpack that I took overseas. It looked a lil big on him, but he was strong enough to carry it. The plan was to go with him to Central station to make sure he got the right train but i just plain stopped. If he's going all the way to the Central Coast, he's gotta be able to make it to Central Station by himself and get on the right train.

I also forced him to carry the heavy backpack from our house to the car, and from the car to the train station. He's got to be able to take care of himself - to survive on his own, otherwise he'll never grow up into a man.

I used to be able to beat him up (ok - that's not something that I'm proud of), out run him in a foot race (maybe I'm just unfit these days), have bigger muscles than him (all that breakdancing and walking around on his hands have sure made him into a lil beast).

I miss having our daily basketball one on ones since our basketball ring got taken down. Every day I use to take him to school. Our ring was only like 6 feet off the ground and I used to take it to the rack and dunk on him all the time. Then one day, something happened. He exploded to the ring and straight dunked on me! That made me realise two things. Baby boy is on the come up and I had to posterize him a few times to show him who was the man.

Always have your back bro (well until you break it carrying my stuff!)

I got 99 problems but freedom is 1

A tale of two people. Different cities. Injustice and Justice.

I don't know what annoys me more. The fact that Michelle Leslie walked free or that Van Tuong Nguyen kid will die in 12 days. Wait, scratch that. Michelle deserved to walk and Van deserves to live. Sure, Michelle pretended she was a Muslim, tried to sell her story to the media. But she shouldn't go to jail over two ecstasy tablets. She did what she had to do to get free - she played the system that tried to bring her down. I can't blame her for trying to take advantage from the situation either. But dang, at least lay low for a while.

Now Nguyen shouldn't get off scott free but he should face the consequences of his actions. To me drugs are the scourge of our society and people should be punished accordingly. But death ain't one of them. He was a mere drug courier but the difference is in the commerical quantity. Its the drug dealer king pins that should face death for getting organized and peddling that stuff. He made a mistake and facing 20 years incarceration would surely make him realise what he did was wrong. protect society, rehabilitae him and all that other junk. Just because he doens't model Antsy Pants underwear, have the money to bankroll a legal team that can outwit the legal system AND the media. That's some injustice right there.

But that's my opinon according to the society, the laws and the legal training that I was given in Australia. It's different in some Asian countries. There's zero tolerance for drugs. You can't even chew gum in Singapore or even spit on the ground. But its one of the safest cities in the world. And supposedly one of the cleanest. I couldn't live in a society like that. Not one that executes people for being drug couriers or would jail people for having two eckies on them.

Damn, I don't know what its like to have freedom. I think its only when its taken away from you like Michelle or Van that you really appreciate what you have. Being able to hang out with friends, feel the sun beat down on you, the freedom to travel overseas, or simply going to the shops to buy a pair of stilhettos.

New Jack City Tour

Two of my all-time favourite rnb groups are coming to Sydney. Blackstreet and New Edition!!!! Joined by SWV, Bell Biv Devoe and Johnny Gill. Growing up in high school, they were the bomb. Then Blackstreet kinda dropped off but their first two were off the heezy. New Edition's "Home Again" was awesome, "Can you stand the rain" is one the greatest tracks ever.

The tickets are $89 (seated) or if you're feeling rich, $120 on the floor. It's @ the Sydney Entertainement Centre, Dec 11th. If you would like to come, leave a comment/ring/email/whatever, just let me know as I would like to buy tix soon.
For more info, click here and here.

No Diggity. No doubt.

DJ Ho.

Hectism

This week has gone like a blur.

I've been absolutely flat out at work the last couple of days. Been pumping out reports constantly for one of the biggest funds managers in this country. My second finger actually hurts from all the mouse clicking I've done! RSI I tell ya!



Had my first project debrief - went really well. It happens after every major project, you have a feedback session. And I was told I being transitioned onto this client and it will be my client !!!!!Woohoo.....my first client!

Also, been sitting at a client site with another team member for two days with a bunch of random contractors from other accounting/consulting firms. I'm not doing the most exciting thing, but I'm learning to work independently, in a team and dealing with the client directly.

Yesterday was fully hectic. Had so many things to do, and was getting mentally challenged with what I thought was a simple question for a investment bank. It involved a mixture of international tax laws, understanding consolidation accounting (a very yucky uni subject), accounting standards. A huge headache.


The GZA - Genius

My highlight of the week? Waking up on two consecutive mornings at 5am in the morning.....as if! No, I woke up at 5.30am because there was a breakfast on at 7.30am and I had the chance to hear a CEO speak. It was optional to go the breakfast, but I really wanted to hear a CEO speak - it's not everyday that you get to hear one.

When i think of CEO's, i think of very big companies. This was different - Dr Robert Dane was CEO of Solar Wind, a small start up company. The business focuses on making boats that utilise solar energy and wind power.

What differentiates his idea is that his solar panels can move. Normally you think of solar panels as flat - attached to the roof of a house or car. His idea was to make them move up and down, twist sideways, to obtain the maximum sun light possible. See the pic below - basically they can move like wings on a butterfly. It's a mad, breakthrough idea based on how insects adjust their wings to gain the maximum sunlight for energy. The boats also have traditional backup fuel generators.

His vision is to create " green ferries for blue highways". I love it, because they are energy efficient vechicles and can be used in 3rd world countries where they don't have access to good road infrastructure and the cost of fuel seems to be rising constantly.

Robert is someone that didn't give up on his dream. He was a medical doctor and loved sailing. He started his company 6 years ago and still hasn't made a profit yet. But it's very promising. The Americans and German venture capitalists have started investing in the company to the tune of $40mills. Bob Hawke (former PM) is the Chairman of the company. He's won tenders to build 10,000 boats that don't require human crews for the US government to man their coast line to stop drug smugglers, etc...Military companies have also been knocking on his door to build solar sea planes.

He talked about a lot of things, the conception to product design, getting funding, the setbacks he had to deal with, and realising the reality of his dream. There were many times that he could have given up, but he stayed focused. How many of us would still have the persistence to run a company that hasn't turned a profit in 6 years?

Breakthrough

What was really interesting was when another presenter got up and spoke about new ideas. The best breakthrough ideas come at intersections - when someone has deep technical expertise in one area and are self taught in a totally different area. In this case, a doctor had a passion for sailing - and looked at it from a different perspective - why don't we use solar panels that move like insect wings? When you look at some of the greatest inventors or even business people, its the intersection between their original training and entering into a new field that creates explosions of ideas. It's then that people start challening the status quo and question why can't we do it this way?

It the same reason that nearly all the greatest mathematical ideas come from people under the age of 30. The untrained mind can be a powerful thing because you have no idea of history, of the past and its failures. See "A beautiful Mind" for more detail.

I'll going to go a lil corporate on your ass so pay attention. Why is my company or other companies working so hard to come up with new ideas. Why invest so much money in R&D? Because it is new ideas that generate growth. If you can come up with something that your competitiors don't, you have what's called a competitive advantage - leading to getting into the market first, or being able to differentiate from your customers, building up a reputation as being innovative, making more sales, generating more profits.

That's why there's such a huge race to take a product or idea to the market first. American start up tech companies focus 90% of their time on marketing their idea and then going back to their tech guys and saying "we need to make this!". Wheras Aussie companies spend 90% of the time making the thing.

Companies grow through several ways. One is organically - hiring more people, generating more sales from existing customers, or through new ideas. The second method is by acquistions - by combining or in very sexy IB talk "mergers and acquisitions", "takeovers", etc. The third method is by financial injection - by listing on the stock exchange, issuing more shares to obtain more capital, getting loans to play with the money. One of the best ways to grow and increase your earnings, is through new ideas.

Because that is a growth advantage that cannot be taken away. It is lasting, well until your competitors catchup, but by then it could be too late. You may have already dominated the market, and or even moved on.

That why the saying goes "your only as good as your last idea".

Thanks for reading my very long post.

I'm out like Urugay from the world cup (oohhh did I just say that?!),

DJ Ho.

So proud to be an Aussie!

The picture says it all. We are on our way to the World Cup in Germany!!!! We did it tough - beating U-R-Gay (sorry Urugay - can't spell, who cares) on penalties. So nerve wracking. We were up 1-0 but because they beat us last time 1-0, the game went into 30mins over time. No one scored so it was decided on penalty shootout. Mark Schwarzer take a bow.

The first penalty taken by U-R-Gay was stopped by Schwarz. You could tell the shooter was going to stuff it up because he paused twice on his run up and changed his mind where he was going to kick it. The pressure was too much for him. But then Mark Viduka almost stuffed it as well. I was thinking he's taking it, it's in the bag for sure. He took a lil slow run up and MISSED the goal completely!!!!!!!

BTW i agree with TOny Vidmar's comments - the other side needs to get some humble pie, especially Recoba (leading striker for U-R-Gay) who said that we didn't consider us a chance and they had a divine right to be there. Well, in the nicest possible way screw you. Recoba's actually a very good player, so I dont understand why they took him off in the last 15 minutes. THey needed him badly, well because he's a great attacking player.

Now that we are in the world cup after 32 years, what are we actually going to do? I think we'll make some noise but honestly we are very slim chance of going all the way - at least we'll be in the FIFA World Cup computer game!

The Sport of Kings (well after basketball!).

Peace.

p.s. Did you know that Ashby (US), Tim (Canada, UK), Nam (Japan), Jaarden (Europe) are going overseas for a very loooong time? But Chris Lau (HK) is coming back for a week?!

The Asian Takeover

A very interesting article which either will represent you (asians) or affect you in some way. Whether you like it or not, its happening. Bright, young, hardworking Asians are coming out of uni and taking a lot of the good professional jobs out there. It won't be white collar anymore - it's yellow collar -DJ Ho

The changing face of our professional elite

By Michael Duffy
November 12, 2005
Page 1 of 2

THE big change no one talks about is the growing success of people from Asian backgrounds in the professions. If present rates continue, they could form a majority of Australian professionals within a generation or two. Such an outcome would be unusual: perhaps the first time in history a nation's elite has invited another group to come in and replace it.

Asians are the first significant group of immigrants to this country to come from, or at least aspire urgently to enter, the middle class. They are far more successful in education than other Australians. For instance, in the 2004 HSC, about 350 of the top 1000 students had Asian
surnames. As people of Asian background comprise about 7 per cent of the population, this means they did five times better as a group than other Australians. This success has been going on for more than a decade: in 1993, for example, the figure was 330.

I don't have figures for all pupils (there are almost no publicly available figures on any aspect of this subject) but there's a lot of anecdotal evidence to suggest this level of achievement is reflected in all HSC results and continues into university courses. An article in
People and Place by Siew-ean Khoo and Bob Birrell looked at how many males aged 25 to 34 in 1996 had tertiary qualifications. For those with parents born in Australia it was 17.7 per cent, for China 48.8 per cent, and for India 31.3 per cent.

At university, many courses have well over 7 per cent Asian students. For example, one informed academic told me four years ago that about 50 per cent of entry level dentistry students and a quarter of medical students were from Asian backgrounds. The general pattern is that the numbers are highest in numerate subjects such as IT and accounting, and lower in courses such as law. Whatever the figures might be at the moment, they will increase, as more than 50 per cent of immigrants have come from Asia for many years now.

Many university students are full-fee foreign students, of whom there are more than 200,000. Between 30 and 40 per cent get visas on graduation. The Government has hardly increased the number of domestic university places since 1996, so these graduates are literally taking jobs that would once have gone to Australian citizens.

In 1998 foreign full-fee students comprised 34 per cent of all degree completions in IT and 32 per cent in the business/administration/economics field. Last year, 5267 visas were granted to foreign IT graduates at a time when 30 per cent of domestic graduates were having trouble finding work. Madness.

Recent report for CPA Australia said that in 2003-04, 47 per cent of all commencing students in accountancy came from overseas, mainly Asia. It also noted the estimate of IDP Australia (the universities-owned firm that sells Australian education abroad) that by 2025 there will be
almost as many overseas students studying at Australian universities as there are local students today.

Does it matter if, say by 2030, people of Asian background make up 10 per cent of the general population but several times that of those in elite jobs? Opinions would vary if people were asked, but they're not. The nation is making this big change without any public discussion.

What is certain, though, is that many young Australians have been excluded from university over the past decade, due to the failure to increase domestic university places in line with the growing population.

Perhaps the reason there has been no public discussion of these changes (apart from fear of being called racist) is that those who contribute most to public debate have not yet been seriously affected by them.

There are, after all, far less than 7 per cent Asian faces in Parliament, the media, and the humanities and social science faculties of our universities. And those of us in these circles who are parents are (relatively) smart and wealthy enough to help our kids get into university, with a bit of luck.

It is interesting that the Prime Minister, once a critic of the rate of Asian immigration, is now presiding over what amounts to the demographic reconstruction of this country's elite, at the expense of the children of those once known as Howard's battlers. Strange behaviour from a self-declared conservative.
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Guys & gals, i'm interested in your comments - post'em!

I can't sleep baby - blogging!

It's 4am in the morning and I've pretty tired but still up and about on the internet, reading other people's blogs, watching video's on uselessjunk, and of course watching highlights on NBA TV.

I make it a habit to voyeur into other people's lives by reading their blogs. I don't know what it is that makes it interesting to me - perhaps its being able to read their raw emotions, unedited opinons, being able to relate to what they do.

I once describe the blogging experience to someone at work and compared it to the Great Wall of China. Having a blog is like having your own little poster on the Great Wall. People are free to stop and read or just ignore it. Maybe that's why I like blogging - the freedom to write whatever I want to the world and the liberty to read whatever I want.

After you read blogs for a while, you'll start to notice this kind of sub culture of writers (bloggers) - people that leave comments or links to other blogs. I go through a kinda routine making sure I read my favourite blogs.

My favourtie ones are: (in no particular order)

- Humanity Critic: Winner of 4 Black Weblog awards. The funniest blog I've come across as well as the most insightful one. Respect.

- Obi: I came across this one whilst searching for a hiphop blog. Love it because he keeps it real - sharing thoughts from London. Plus music downloads are awesome.

- Ivan: I've never come across a blog so full of anger, intensity and criticism. He'll pick a topic that pisses him off and just destroy it.

- Bosco: The metro who writes poems and about music. It was I that mentioned to Bosco to start blogging again!

- Emily: Poledancing, pilates, food loving chic. I like reading this one because she has a simple writing style & enjoys life. Met her b4 @ Bethany formal (loooong time ago).

- Tash: Ivan mark 2. This girl just keeps it raw, and when frustrated you'll feel it.

- Hoi: Loved reading your blog but hasn't been the same as you've been busy. Your blog was the inspiration to start my own. Wished you'd write longer, engaging pieces.

And there you have it folks. The blogs on my must read list. As I said b4, feel free to peek a look into their lives, leave a comment or just walk past.

That's the beauty of blogging. Enjoy.

DJ HO.

p.s. Links of the week - Top 10 NBA plays. Skinner's block on Marion in preseason - NASTY! Vince Carter over Zo - Nastier! And for those soccer fans out there - amazing skills here.

Top 5 Mc's Dead or Alive

Wow, saw this on Obi's website, and this is really cool. Jin Tha Emcee has produced this song with a video clip called Top 5 Mc's Dead or Alive. You HAVE to watch it here.

The idea is that he takes the question to the streets and gets people to write their top 5 Mc's on a ballot card and totals them. In the end, he writes his top 5, but he doesn't show you?! Lyrically the song is awesome, and its so witty - cop this sample:

10th grade I became a hiphop addict ass backwards copped/
It Was Written and then Illmatic/
some say Ready To Die was Biggie’s best/
but then again theres always Life After Death/
way before Dame and Jay changed views and split/
on the real 22 2’s was my shit/
just when you thought PAC only brought drama/
he had joints like Keep Ya Head Up and Dear Mama/
Pun did it his way just like Carlito/ ...........
Puffy is good but Wu Tang is for the children/
Scarface ya mind playin tricks just illusions/
Pharoah Monch out to Organize the confusion/
tryin to figure out this fly chick I discovered/
at the same time Common said He Used to Love Her.........

You can find the rest of it here.

So who's your top 5 Mc's dead or alive?



Here's mine:
5. Guru
4. Jay-Z
3. Tupac
2. Rakim
1. Biggie

If I could put 6, I'd put in Nas or Big Pun or KRS-1 or Common .......the list goes on. IT'S TOUGH!!!!!!! It's hard trying to decide who's in your top 5, dead or alive.

patiently waiting

Have you ever waited on something that's really important but it can't happen fast enough?

Is out of my hands and all I can do is wait.

Should get back to my assignment - a 3000 word assignment on "income recognition for emerging profit accounting" - sounds interesting doesn't it?
it's due in 8 days and i haven't even started. It's quite hard having to study and work at the same time. Come home at 8pm or so, and just don't have the ability to switch on and do study, but you force yourself cause its the only way.

Patiently waiting 50 cent style.

How boring would work be without email forwards? I love'em because they bring a little humour into my day. This is quite an ingenious forward sent to me......check it! Read the names of the links carefully - double meanings!

Choosing the right domain name

It's not always easy choosing the right domain name but you can't do much worse than these people.

Firstly there is "Who Represents?" - a database for agencies to the rich and famous: http://www.whorepresents.com

Second is the Experts Exchange, a knowledge base where programmers can exchange advice and views: http://www.expertsexchange.com

Looking for a pen? Look no further than Pen Island: http://www.penisland.net

Need a therapist? Try: http://www.therapistfinder.com (Jerm I think your listed on this page!)

Finally we have the Mole Station Native Nursery, based in New SouthWales: http://www.molestationnursery.com

Sip fine wines.....

Does anyone out there know anything about wines? Besides the fact that they are made out of grapes?

I can honestly tell you that I know jack all about wines. I have decided that I will no longer be socially ignorant to fine wines. Essentially, I'm gong to learn the lingo, the different varieties, what wines go with what kinds of food, the best regions for each type of wine and so on. My motivation for doing so? 1/2 work, 1/2 social I guess. I go to work functions and friday night drinks, and I feel quite inadequate drinking wine at dinner - my pallete isn't quite used to it yet. When the wine list comes around at dinner, I'm like "what is this?".

So I've been reading up on wines, googling phrases like "drinking wine", "how to drink wine", etc. Coming from a conservative, middle class, Asian family, I haven't been exposed to this kind of drinking culture at all. You could say that we are only used to ordering "green tea/bo-lei" /water / Coke at restaurants.

Aside from that, I've purchased the ultimate book: "The Idiots Guide to Wine". It's quite user friendly, in simple terms, and covers all the basics. Much like how Ivan bought some books on mens fashion so he could make sure he looked good and dressed right for work, I'm doing the same with wine.

Very soon, I'll be able to tell you the difference between a Merlot, and a Shiraz (a much spicier and fruitier wine), distinguish between a wine from Coonawarra to one made in the Hunter Valley. Drop' some science on what a Cab Sav is, telling y'all how storing the wine in a oak barrel makes the taste different to a steel barrel, and learning how to drink wine properly.

But ultimately, the best learning experience is actually from drinking the product. Not getting trashed but learning the differnet tastes on your pallete and experimenting on what wines go with what foods, and finding out what my wine "profile" is.

As Kanye said "It's the last call for alcohol/why don't you raise your glass with me". I think socially and if you plan on moving in important business circles, its vital that you understand and appreciate fine wines. I want to be able to have a deep conversation with someone about wines - other than Zhang spewing up Shiraz on his white pants @ Bamboo.

Peace Out,

DJ Ho.

Ball above all?

What would you do if your employer forced you to take a DNA test?

I look at the Eddy Curry situation and I think its a very difficult situation for both parties. For those not in the know, Eddy Curry is a basketball player for the Chicago Bulls. He missed the tail end of last season because of an irregular heartbeat. This was also the final year of his contract.

Before the next season started, both sides wanted to negotiate a new contract. The Bulls had 7 different doctors check him out, but the results were inconclusive. But they still wanted to resign him on one condition. The Bulls (the employer) wanted Eddy (the employee) to take a DNA test.

To show and prove if there was a continuing condition and if it was life threatening. If the test was positive and showed no future ailments, he would recieve a $10million per season contract. If he failed.....

.......the Bulls would give him $500K installments for the next 10 years. That's not the worst part though. Its the fact that he would never play again as no team would have signed him. It would be too big of a risk to sign a player with a life threatening injury. The DNA test would also bring up other possible conditions he might have.

For the Bulls - it was pure "business never personal"decision. The organisation didn't roll the dice without knowing the risks. As a Bulls fan, I think John Paxson made the right decision not to resign him. By offering him the guaranteed payments, they showed they wanted to protect Eddy's future too.

For Eddy - it was a pure "ball above all" decision. He didn't want to know the hand that God had dealt him. As a lawyer, I believe he had every right to refuse the test. As a human being though, I think he made the wrong decision for himself to refuse the test. For him, it was to play basketball or nothing. To give up the only thing that had given him relevance, that had brought him fame and fortune, that had taken him from the 'hood to the NBA.

At the last minute, the New York Knicks came in and offered him a contract for $60m, guaranteed.The Knicks have traded for him and have encouraged him to take the test, and will honour their contract even if the test is negative.

But does all that matter? If you have a life threatening condition, you need to get it checked out. For some people, like Eddy, they don't want to know the truth. They don't want to know what is wrong with them. The cost of knowing might be too great.

Or is it? An athlete reaches the peak of their profession by the physical gifts that God has blessed them with. It is in their bodies and in their mind, that they feel invincible. As Scoop Jackson says, he feels like he has no choice but to keep playing. Remember that Eddy's only 22 years old.

Let's hope that Eddy learns the most important lesson in his life.

That "Ball is not above all".

AND1 MIXTAPE COMING TO A TOWN NEAR YOU!!!

Streetball finest's are coming to a town near you. No, not Ashby, Hoi, Tim and the rest of the Flavos team. Rather the And1 mixtape squad. With new members:
1. Spyda: check out pic below - incredible hops.
2. Baby Shack: powerfully built 6'2 guard, plays like a center. Very ferocious.
3. Pat the Rock: awesome passer.
4. The Spinmaster: whirling, like a hurricane.

Joining the veterans are The Professor, AO, Main Event, Escalade, 50, and Black Widow, and Go Get It.

I want to buy tickets this weekend, so if you wanna come, act like Gwen Stefani and 'Holla back girl'!

Check out this pic of Spyda:

Crouching Tiger Hidden Ho

I will show you many styles

(In Anglosized Asian voice)

"Shaolin shadowboxing, and the Wu-Tang sword style/
If what you say is true, the Shaolin and the Wu-Tang could be dangerous/
Do you think your Wu-Tang sword can defeat me?"

The intro to "Bring da Ruckus" by Wu Tang.

The reason I'm feeling this? Coz last night I went to a Jeet Kune Do lesson @ Hurstville Aquatic Centre. I coulda spent my friday night out on the town, drinking beers with colleagues, having dinner with my girl, playing basketball.

But instead I swapped it for learning how to throw a right jab-left cross combination, stick fighting and to how to "protect ya neck" (Inspectah Dek style) from getting sliced by a knife attack.


"No fixed position"

To clarify, there seems to be a bit of confusion between Jeet Kune Do (JKD) and Tae Kwan Do with a similar sounding name. Essentially JKD, is a martial arts system invented by Bruce Lee. Its name means "way of the intercepting fist". Its basis is in Wing Chun Kung Fu buts its a style without style. Its more a concept of fighting. Bruce Lee took a lifetime to perfect this art and wanted to create the ultimate fighting system by mixing and borrowing moves from other fighting styles.

He didn't care about tradition and stripped away hundreds of years of traditional techniques that were too slow in real life street combat. He used punches from boxing after watching Ali, Filiopino Kali knife and stick fighting, jujitsu grappling moves, and anything else he considered effective.

It's a fluid style that doesn't have traditional blocking defense moves. Its always about attack and counterattack. Never keep defending because eventually you'll get hit. Hence the quote "way of the intercepting fist". Its about checking the offender's move and straight away moving into an attacking mode.

JKD stresses four ranges of combat: kicking and punching range from afar, grappling (wrestling) range and finally trapping range from extremely close range. If kicking and punching are long distance weapons i.e. missiles, then trapping are your nuclear weapons.



Bruce Lee focused on moving into your opponent into the trapping range coz this is where you can cause the most damage, as fast as possible, to finish off the fight and walk away. At the trapping range, the smaller man can neutralize the size disadvantage which he doesn't have fighting from further away. Utilising devasting elbows, headbutts, neck grabs, attacks to the vital organs, its simply awesome.

Here comes the Wu-Tang Show Guns

Back to the lesson! It was really fun and an eye opener. We learnt how to defend ourselves from a knife attack by blocking, grabbing the area below the thumb to open up and control the knife hand, taking the knife away and stabbing them back in the arm. The instructor was really good and stressed that you always look to run away, if you can't run, seek to grab anything lying around or if there's nothing available you need to counterattack with your forearms.

The best part?

When he went through the legalities of the knife defense moves: "Self defence. Self defence. Self Defence." (pauses after controlling the weapon) "manslaughter. manslaughter. manslaughter". (when stabbing the person back in the arm). And then I said? "Murda, Murda, Murda".

I'm hoping to start up Martial Arts again cause I love JKD. Hopefully one day I can say: "I will show you many styles, wu tang is forever".

Monty Python Style

Yes Bosco, this post is long but I don't care. On another note in case you missed this pic in Thursday's MX newspaper, check out this mighty clash, python style v alligator bite:

How High?

"10 9 8 7 6 5 4/
3 2 Murder 1 lyric at your door/
Tical bring it to that ass-raw/
Breakin all the rules like glass-jaws/
Nigga, you got to get mine to get-yours"

How High - Methodman and Redman

What do you get when you put some of hip hop's biggest names together? I don't mean big as in Nelly/Ja Rule/50cent. I'm talking real artists. Not that "good music/soul music" that Bosco talks about either. I mean straight hip hop gangsta rap. I'm talking about The Ticallion Stallion. Brick City's Funk Doctor. The Godfather of Noize. Premo. JS-1. For those not down with real hip hop I mean Methodman,Redman, Rahzel, DJ Premier and DJ JS-1.

Last Saturday nite at the Hordern Pavillion was crazy. I was hoping that the $90 I paid for the Buggn tour would go longer than the estimated 80 mins advertised. If you've got such a stellar lineup surely we could squeeze some more tracks out them. I was not disappointed, as the artists played a combined 3 hour set. Meth/Red were still on the stage when I walked out.

Premo came on first and straight killed it. Dropping classics like KRS 1's "You Must Learn", Group Home, Onyx's "Slam", NWA, his own Gangstarr tracks as well as educating the crowd with that he called "the real sh*t" - tracks from the 80's. Gotta show some love for the East Coast beats that he dropped. I think Premo could have played anything and I would have still loved it. He's not really a performance DJ - as in he doesn't do tricks, he just drops mad beats and scratches them up occassionally.

Next up was Philly native, Rahzel (aka The Godfather of Noize). He was cool and did some impressive beatboxing. My fav that he did was "All I know". I love the way he does his own rapping, scratch effects, with his own voice. He actually battled DJ JS-1. JS would drop a beat from a famous track, and Rahzel would replicate it as best he could. It was awesome when he did the Kanye "Jesus Walks" melody. And you know he couldn't walk off without doing "If your mother only knew". The crowd went nuts when he did the bassline, the melody and the chorus, with his voice at the same time. Simutaneously fool. I have to admit though, some of his sound effects started to sound very repetitive, particulary the sratching sounds. Though nothing beats the female "please enter your password".

The main act of the night was the infamous duo, M.E.T.H and Red. They came at us all night with so much energy and flowed so well together. Started off by dropping tracks they did together from the Blackout LP and their other joint venture album. However my highlights are when they did their own songs - like Redman's "Time for some Akson" or when Methodman did the main bars for "M.E.T.H.O.D Man.". And of course they did "How High". Twice in fact - the normal version and the Toni Braxton remix. You know the crowd went beserk like when Bannister transforms into Hulk.

Again, I hate to admit this since it was such a mad concert, but towards the end of their set, I didn't recognise a lot of their songs and did get boring and repetitive. The best part of the night was when it seemed like the show was about to finish and they were giving shoutouts. I thought, aiight cool I've got my money's worth, I'm gonna jet.

But as they were playing music in the background and packing up their gear and randomly saying words, Methodman starts doing some freestyling. In fact, they decided since it was the last show they would do it for a bit longer. Meth pulled Rahzel who was on the stage in the background, into the front and told him to do his thing. So Rahzel drops the beat of "Wu Tang Clan ain't nothing to f with" with Meth pulling some the illest freestyles I've heard. I've always been skeptical of impromptu freestyles, since they don't really sound, well, impromptu. I'm not sure if that one was, but it was all gravy baby.

One thing I want to mention, is that I felt a bit uncomfortable with all the references to weed. If you don't know these artists that well, 50% of their content is about weed. Personally, I don't think I'll ever touch the stuff. Not that there's anything wrong with it, its just a personal choice not to get high. (Although I did smoke this massive apple tabacco pipe the other day - but I digress cos that's different).

I mean they kept telling the crowd "to roll that sh*t, light that sh*t, smoke that sh*t" and there were peeps everywhere smoking it. A lot of hip hop concerts I go to its like that but this one seemed even more than usual. The artists themselves were getting blunted on the stage with massive joints.

Funny moment of the night: They did a song with the line "If you see a bag of dope, what do you do? Pick it up/Pick it up/Pick it up". And you know what happened? Someone actually chucked a baggy with some sticky icky onto the stage and Street Life (a support rapper) actually picked it up. Hilarous.

Overall? I give the concert a 9.3 out of 10. Very entertaining, definently got my money's worth. All the artists lived up to their reps. For anyone that read's Humanity Critic's latest blog comments, there will be no post adjustment like Biggie's Ready to Die LP.

Peace Out,

DJ HO

1.

p.s. Did y'all know that AND1 mixtape tour is coming to Sydney on December 3rd? If you wanna go, holla back playa.

p.p.s. Best ad ever? Gotta be the brand Jordan ad with the Common sonudtrack. It combines my fav song "BE" with Jordan. Ain't nothing sweeter. Click here .