Kindly Yours

  My thoughts about AI are that once AI gets embedded into massive use, we will soon not realise or distinguish, what is the truth or reality, from what is made up with dubious agendas and out to mislead. Technology will offer new fangled or useful mechanisms.  How one uses them is the bottom line reality for society, economy, philosophy, art, personal relations, geopolitics and in the broad management of Mother Earth. Unlike offerings from past Industrial Revolutions, AI heralds a more serious concern to the human race, as AI can sophisticatedly self learn at a fast pace to emulate otherwise inherent human abilities like observing, copying plus self developing - and gradually become more independent from human intervention. Applied negatively, AI will increasingly become a useful ingredient for destruction, manipulation and greed.  At the same time, AI can save significant costs, bring more efficient supply logistics, eliminate repetitive work in human labour and pr...

What do I at times try to get in Penang to bring back to Oz? 1.   Kaya - egg based and  coconut spread for toasts at breakfast time.  You can have the choice of commercially made jars or vacuum sealed packets - or home made can be best or organic, but not allowed into Aus. 2.   Iconic biscuits baked in the Fujian and Cantonese traditions, a carry over of immigrants to Penang.  These range from Hiong Pnieh (aromatic ones utilising caramel inside and textured outside layers) to Beh Tau Saw and Loh Por Peng (literally meaning wife's biscuits). 3.   Nutmeg  or Mace seed oil is known for application on the body to relieve various ailments. Myristica Fragans is the Latin name for this captivating tropical fruit. Penang has a plethora of nutmeg plantations first cultivated under the British colonial period. The inside of a freshly plucked nutmeg reveals a seed with bright red coverings at the centre.   The bite on a fresh nutmeg can be sti...

    The land jutting out in the city centre comes to view with a hundred details.  There is a mixture of architectural styles. What I like most of all are the Victorian styled terrace shophouses, with louvred windows, strong supporting columns, the covered five foot ways and the coloured tiles of the roofs. Welcome back to George Town, and you can most likely see it first from the air as your air craft is landing.    Sited on the north-eastern corner of an island smaller than Singapore, with a geographical feature of an island shaped like a tortoise and named after the areca nut palm.   The settlement has had humbled beginnings, with this cape partly cleared of the jungle by the cannon shooting of coins to help accelerate clearing of the jungle.   The conurbation that developed is a testament to the days of monsoon winds powering sails, of adventurers from another side of the Earth and of trading and the search for spices driving schemes...

At times I do wonder...... So called professions impose a strict regime on the entry of members to their groups. The rules, policies, examinations, continuing training and unspoken traditions can be viewed, at the very best, as maintaining or enhancing the quality of admitted members. At the other end of the scale, it also works to limit the quantity of practitioners, imbue them with a privileged sense of exclusivity and pull into better consensus as to which future directions the profession's core wants.  Is politics a profession? If it is, there do not seem to be the same formal admission processes required otherwise of most trades and professions. The clue is in the nature of the beast - politics essentially thrives on informality, flexibility, relationships, strategisation and personalities. Yet the stark difference is that one does not have to obtain academic qualifications to enter politics. Politics can be compared to fulfiling tribal tendencies and imperatives of human...

 Spring time is near for the Northern Hemisphere  Now the air is still crisp, but with not so much of a bite. What do we choose when things take a flip, The right path, even when so dark, is when we do see the light.  It can be the best time of year, to have blooms and buds on shrubs and trees, when gentle becomes the night. There can always be so many things to do with busy bees, and the most joy is to see what is deeply bright and just right.  The mood lifts, or is it just me, As we ignore fights and diversionary might, Grow upon our journey forward to be truly free, To open our hearts without fear or fright.  Time we have can be just spent like a passing night, like a ship that goes out of sight. We are born with a fresh page and delight, We leave behind a trail of memories and likes.  #yongkevthoughts

 The coverage of news and communication powerfully funded media dishes out to us can be fickle, ever changing and held captive by selfish interests. Freedom of access to what we need to know, has been replaced by manipulation, of such a freedom, to that of us being subject to propanganda, political brain washing and strongly vested interests. Here are some of the news that we are rarely reminded of. That things and experiences we seem to get for free and access so easily rob us of more significant personal costs. That promises to reimburse us, upon the occurence of specified events, regularly drain us of our earnings as cash cows.  Such parties can play on the emotion of fear, risk and misplaced assurance. That repeated behaviour of consumers can be the most rewarding of revenue source to parties that sell products and services to them. That market capitalism and privatisation increasingly do not work in the interests of ethical behaviour. That nutrition, medicine and health t...

  The Illawarra region depends significantly on only the normal surface commute trains for public transport to and from Greater Sydney. There are no underground Metro trains, no light rail gliders and no ferry services between Circular Quay in Sydney and Port Kembla. No regular bus services operate between the Illawarra and southern Sydney border. Many baby boomers from the Illawarra area and NSW south coast use the rail to get to Sydney Airport flights or Circular Quay Sydney Harbour for their cruise ships.  It is an almost two hour trip one way. There is an over dependence on private cars on the long highway from Sutherland to Wollongong and vice versa. There is under developed infrastructure in the Illawarra, whose voters have always elected Labor - and which Labor at State, Council and National levels may possibly have taken the region for granted. I am told that AUKUS submarines paid for by Canberra to the USA, if realised, are going to be stationed at Port Kembla....

  Viewing New Zealand as only a refuge from nuclear war is to under rate the country's potential, its advantageous features and uniqueness. When NZ as a nation signed the nuclear non profileration Treaty, it was quickly recognised as likely safe geographically away from military nuclear impact, especially when it was perceived nuclear risks were higher in the Northern Hemisphere. The rather more pure nature of the NZ environment has potential for hosting technology industries that do not tolerate pollution.  When congestion, industry and energy needs have significantly caused low and bad quality of air, water and resources in many countries, the refreshing alternative in NZ is not sufficiently recognised. As the rest of world gets quagmired in more military, trade and cultural squabbles, NZ's value can rise in the background - provided NZ does not get involved in geopolitical alliances that can unnecessarily drag any nation down fighting for the causes and agenda of other ...