Cycle And Carriage PJ - Lousy Service and Lousy Workmanship

Allow me to warn every existing Mercedes Benz car owner from servicing their car at Cycle And Carriage PJ (Lot19 Jalan 51A/219)

I sent my E200K (2007, 29343km, bought brand new from C&CPJ) for a fault that was displayed on the dashboard. The ESP warning light came on, and the car prompted out inoperative See Owner's Manual. I also had a problem whereby there was a knocking sound whenever I drove over a bump.

I sent the car in on Friday 28th October 2011, and was informed that the following items were found when the diagnostic machine was plugged in:

1. Steering Angle Sensor Unit
2. Front torsion bar bushing cracked.
3. Compressor vacuum hose leak

At first, the bill amounted to RM7200, but after speaking to the service manager (Bala), the amount was reduced to RM6600. The car was released to me on Monday, 31st October 2011. This wasn't so much an issue for as I drove the car for one day and all was well.

On Tuesday, 1st Nov 2011, the same ESP warning light prompted out again. The car was brought back to Cycle And Carriage PJ on Wednesday morning, and after the same diagnostic test, the brand new Steering Angle Sensor unit was found to be faulty again!

Since the unit was under warranty, it was replaced, and the car was released back to me at 4.55pm. The moment I drove the car out of the centre, I was faced with yet another problem whereby the steering was angled wrongly to the left even though the car was heading straight ahead. The car was brought back into C&C immediately and the steering was repositioned.

MY HONEST ADVICE TO ALL MERCEDES BENZ CAR OWNERS IS TO AVOID USING CYCLE AND CARRIAGE PJ AS YOUR SERVICE CENTRE. I HAVE HAD MANY PROBLEMS WITH THIS PLACE EVER SINCE I SERVICED MY CAR HERE AND THERE IS NO DOUBT THAT THE CAR IS NOT MADE TO LAST, REPAIRED WITH LOUSY COMPONENTS, AND LOUSY WORKMANSHIP. AVOID AVOID AVOID!

This is a list of other lousy incidences that I have experienced at Cycle And Carriage PJ before:

1. Warranty request to adjust headlights beam height since the car was delivered to me with wrongly adjusted beam height.
2. Warranty repair of fog lamps which had water condensation on the inside.
3. Warranty replacement of broken seat control unit.
4. Car ECU reset after servicing as the car reverted to emergency mode (ENGINE WARNING LIGHT, CAR MAX SPEED 40KMH) after car delivered back to me after a normal service!!!
5. Front camber bolts installation as camber had drifted (29000km only, yet requires camber bolts!)
6. Car drifting to the left after wheel alignment done. Had to resend back to Cycle And Carriage.

My Service Assistants were Vicky, Ben, and another gentleman who has since resigned. I bought the car from Sales Assistant Albert.

Again, do not go to Cycle And Carriage PJ. I have decided to not use their facilities any further.

UNIFI Why you so problem!

I had my unifi done recently. First thing first was the change my unifi wifi router password, and get online to change my login password.

Could not change my unifi account password though cos the servers were down. Oh well, later on.

Biggest problem was my unifi HyppTV. EVery 5 minutes, the screen will freeze. No solution. Apparently, this is a common problem, as my colleague experiences the same problem.

UNIFI has been told, still no improvement so see how.


Anyway, after gettting unifi, here's a link to Nazham who can guide you on how to secure your unifi network.

http://nazham.com/2010/06/01/things-to-do-immediately-after-getting-your-tmnet-unifi-hsbb/

Notes About Worship Playing for Church

Notes about worship playing.

It is what it is, the service is a performance with a crowd. Understand that you are playing songs to help that crowd to engage emotionally and spiritually with God. This means that a bad performance will not achieve that. Here's a few tips to address the many incidents that happen during a normal performance.

Engage with the band before engaging with the crowd

Lead. Use eye contact or established signals with the musicians. Three piece bands do so much better due to the quality of the communication. A bigger band requires much more planning and agreements between musicians to achieve a quality performance.

When the song is played, not nice to talk during the song. Breaks concentration. Nobody can engage with the song emotionally when you are gabbing away.

Speaking once in transition is good enough. Stick to a few seconds of exhortation, more than that will risk a mood dip.

When the song ends, end it musically confident. A definite end. Wrong notes are the most audible at this point. Decide on chords before the performance. There is only so many times you can wing it by saying "in faith".

Transition without dead sound or awkward silence. Only if the situation calls for it, otherwise do not. Any eyes that were closed in spiritual alignment will begin to open in curiosity.

Begin the new song confidently, for goodness sake! Weak vocals or instrument will dull the song. A vocal squeek that builds into a roar is highly regarded as odd. Or bad.

When an instrument is playing the lead, don't clash with a verbal conversation. Nobody can hear the gibberish. Yeah, really. GwannnggPRAISEOURGODANDSTARTYOURPRIASEANDDONPTjengjengjengRAISEYOURHANDSANDGIVRTTULTIMATEPRAISEbwuanhbwuangsgywkpfhrhejamam...etc

See how gibberish it is?

Do not close your eyes if you are leading the song. If the holy spirit is leading, He needs your eyes to see what's happening!

Nuff said.

The speed and tonal range of the songs can be the definite theme of the service. Choose wisely and with assistance from senior experienced leaders. A song too fast or too high in tone or vice versa can murder the performance.

Pastor is the Ultimate worship leader. There is no co-leading. Follow what he says, signals or requests. Do not at any time close your eyes so that you can play to Pastors leading.

Any instrument mishap is not the end of the service. Kill other instruments by playing with fewer instruments to have enough time for repair. Pick up the song in due time.

No matter what anyone says, mistakes are audible. They are heard. Too bad, deal with it later, and polish up the performance later. End the performance with a quick round up.

Learning and knowing the song by heart is excellent. Quite good. Having the sheets as reference is good.

If you are a worship leader, knowing an instrument to convey the song is fantastic. If not, make sure the song is conveyed PROPERLY and the expectation defined. Musicians are emotional people and reacting to failed expectations is prelude to an argument.

State of Things Are

Have u read Malaysia Today yet?

Have u read of the allegation about Samy Velu?

Have u read about the allegation of why Chua Soi Lek was sacked?

Have u read about how Xavier Jayakumar demands Hishamuddin to step down?

Have u read about how The Star reports that Hishamuddin wants the Cow Head Carriers (CHC, kinda catchy) to to be brought to justice?

Interesting eh?

h1n1, baby, wife, innova....

I am getting better.

Actually, I am very much better. I've just spent the last 4 days cooped up at home, coughing and hacking and fevering away. I was convinced that I had h1n1, but my health didn't deteriorate that badly, and today, SATURDAY, i am ok. It was no fun sleeping and dozing in bed, while trying to find a good position to sleep in (I HAVE GOT TO GET A NEW PILLOW!) and the worst part was thinking if Hannah would get what I got.

She did, I think, cos she got sick too. But thank God (and I do mean You, God) that she is ok this evening. Her temp was on the high side (about 38.6 degrees at one point) but she's down to 37. We're watching her. Wife got the bug too, sore throat and coughing, but her throat may have something cos its itching and its really bugging her. SJMC, here we come! Get ready for my wife cos I'm bringing her in.

I destroyed my INnova tires last week. Totally ripped both tires on the left side as I was taking a turn, promptly shreded the side walls. My fault. My own stupid fault. Called the tire shop, and they came with an extra tire, which was wrong. Had to wait for the guy to bring one of the bad tires to their shop to repair and come back again to finally get BOTH tires up. Got a burger while waiting.... and the Pakcik wasn't fully convinced that I wasn't muslim, simply cos I chose to wear a baju melayu that day. Hey, i love baju melayus, cooling and comfortable. Don't need to assume I'm muslim cos of it. Comon..... anyhow, the Pak and Makcik were quite impressed with me. Made me cheer up a lil.... not for long though cos after I fixed the innova, came the bill.

600 bucks.

*sigh* there goes my new Nokia E66 that I was hoping to buy. celaka.

Last week, attended ECFD on Sunday after the Awning company installed the awning. Heard that Ryan wasn't feeling well, had a fever. Hope things turned out OK guys! Our prayers are with you! Let me know how things turned out yah.

And about the awning company. They were recommended by a friend, and let me tell you how disappointed I am with them. First of all, they FORGOT the installation date and came one week later, then they installed faulty awnings, and wanted to escape the blame, and destroyed the flooring at the same time. Who are they? They are PIONEER IRON TRADING. DO NOT BUY FROM THEM. CALL ME, I WILL RECOMMEND A BETTER PERSON. First of all, the installation crew came at 11.30am, dropped off the awnings and went for lunch until 1pm. Then, they dragged a normal 2 day job into a potential 5 day job (bcos they now have to bring in NEW AWNINGS to replaced the screwed up ones they installed).

Of course, money is power, and they need to finish the job before I pay. Hey, Stephen... here's a hint.... change the installers, i don't like that guy who keeps disappearing between jobs. We caught that guy sleeping and having a jolly time strolling while the other three dudes were working their butts off doing his share of the work.

Ahwell, one can never expect perfection until one's expectation is significantly imperfected.

I have been up awake throughout the whole night. I found a Myvi that I like. Will call the guy later and find out how much he wants for it. Let's see if I can get it below $40k. Hee hee.

How Malaysians treat Malaysians

Recent developments in Malaysia show that PKR and UMNO are at logger heads. No big deal. Its been like that since time immemorial.

The similarities are there too. One declares itself better than the other and convinces the rakyat to believe them. The other retorts and come up with something to say 'nay!' The cycle repeats itself, and its been like that for 40 years.

That sucks.

However, what makes the difference between this fighting is that PKR and UMNO are fighting over leadership of Malaysia, which is basically about Power. This is a stark contrast to how the rakyat fight with each other. I se the word fight, cos its shorter than the word 'disagree', and my fingers find it easier to type the word 'fight'.

This is how the rich and powderful Malaysians treat each other...

The rakyet 'fights' with each other over car accidents, dirty roads, rubbish thrown over each other's lawns, accidentally bumping into each other in the mall, jumping queues, flinging rubbish or dirty water into each other's face, pets encroaching into the neighbors lawn to poop, car parking, letterbox rubbish, getting kids into school, getting kids to stay in school, finding a seat at a hawker centre, ordering food, paying bills at the post office.....

No fights regarding power, just daily basic amenities. We fight over the stuff that we do everyday. While a portion of people, who have bungalows and garages of cars, and companies under their datukship titles, are fighting with each other to stay rich, the rest of us are 'fighting' to feed ourselves and our families. Every 4 years, the portion of rich greedy people will have to find the 'support' of the rakyat through a process of voting, The promises begin, and the emotional war cries are made, but after that short time, things go back to what they were, with the rich fighting the rich, and the so-called-poor fighting themselves. This is how the everyday blue collar Malaysians deal with each other...

Malaysians like to call themselves courteous and kind, but we aren't, actually. We like to call ourselves knowledgeable and talented, but we're not. We like to call ourselves enterprising and hardworking, but that's just a shadow of a distant time. In truth, we're a bunch of lazy incompetent idiots, who are a laughing stock of the South East Asean countries. Singapore looks at us and sneers (even the Malaysians who work in Singapore do it!), Indonesia giggles because without them, we won't have any labor do do anything! Bangladesh and Myanmar just found out about this, and give them a couple of days and they'll probably be chuckling too. The services industry in Malaysia is ironically manned by foreigners, and this gives visitors and tourists the impression that we are short handed, untalented, and physically incapable of doing everyday routine work.

At the same time, Mat Rempits on motorcycles go about robbing people of their money and phones because they say they don't have 'MoneY' or work to do!. What the heck??!

So, who wants to improve Malaysia? For one thing, its going to take a long time for that to happen. No Malay boy I know would degrade themselves to picking up rubbish or mopping canteen floors, or sweeping streets because it would make them look 'poor' in front of their friends or relatives. This is the Malaysian way right, to be technically superior! How can you look technically superior sweeping floors? Better to stay home and do nothing rather than sweeping floors right? Hah!

Indian boys feel the exact same way, but they are different. They are willing to put their emotions aside just so that they can earn a respectful living, and please their families by putting food on the table. Many Indian boys I know do this. Yes, they talk big, and swagger, but they aren't afraid to work.

Chinese boys who find themselves short on cash only just need to head over to the local DVD shop and help their brothers sell their wares. Hence, DVD DVD!! Or sell beer at the kopitiam. Or fix motorcycles, or cars, or make money being electricians or air conditioner repairmen. Or sell chicken rice or char koay teow at the local hawker centre.

"Screw you!" they say, as they make you pay $8 for a single DVD that costs $2 to make and sell.

"Kiss my Arse" as they install the Astro unit in your living room.

"You suck!" they mutter as they deliver the third plate of noodles at your table in the cafe you are at.

I digress. I was thinking about how Malaysians shouldn't really be called Malaysians. We should come up with a new name for ourselves, something that will reflect the TRUE nature of our beliefs and origins. We should politically declare to the world how selfish and useless we really are (based on majority of course!) and that the only reason we come to existence is because a huge bunch of us choose to sit down and relax while another chooses to make money at the expense of the lazy ones.

Hmm, Moneysians is nice. Or how about Lazicia. Or omit the Y in Malaysia so that we truly declare our love for sitting on our butts all day and typing meaningless blogs. Malasia.

The Malaka Barisan National UMNO MP, made a comment saying that Chinese should go back to China and Indians should go back to India. He said this because some political party was 'betraying' UMNO and making some fuss (as they all do!) Bearing this in mind, should the Malays go back to Indonesia (Bugis, Jawa?).

Oh noooo, cannot.... Malays are from Malaysia he says. Malays have rights.

Screw you dude, I'm from Malaysia and I have every right as deserved in this country. Telling me that just because my forefathers are from China doesn't mean a thing, because then that rule should apply to ALL Malaysians, and not just 'some' Malaysians.

You know what sucks? What sucks is having some unemployed dude choosing crime to earn a living, because he can't imagine himself sweeping floors. What sucks is seeing Mat Rempits terrorizing communities while Indonesians and Bangladeshis working their asses off building government buildings and toll booths. What sucks is seeing Chinese boys earning from International Companies because the local companies are obligated to employ shadow Malays who don't know how to run companies and rely on proxy Chinese boys to do it.

Malasia needs a big kick in the rump. Start working eagerly. Enough with the spoon feeding already.

I am Malaysian. But I am also Chinese, and because of that I am feared...

If you were following this blog, then you would know that I was racially attacked a few days ago.

I was verbally assaulted by a Malay man, who screamed about my presence in Malaysia, yelled at how I eat pork, and threatened with the return of May 13.

All after he kicked my wife's car door. WTH?

Thing is, I was trying to make heads and tails about it. What made this elderly man get so worked up, and so threatened by me. Was it because I was Chinese? I did a wiki search, and I found out a few things:

1) Chinese are generally regarded as freaking rich industrialists who have the means and power to overcome any condition no matter how destitute they are to grow to be a considerable authority in the financial and economic industry.

2) Other races hate the chinese because of that.

An article in wiki regarded Sinophobia (the fear of Chinese people, their culture and origins) explains that all wonderfully, even going so far as to give examples like the Malaysian May 13 1969 incident, and the Indonesian Jakarta Riot 1998.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jakarta_Riots_of_May_1998
Bottomline, as long as I'm Chinese, other races will fear me. Why? Because they will. Malaysia is no exception, especially with the May 13 incident. Indicently, 2009 will be the 40th Anniversary of that catastrophe (I'm considering leaving the country during that time, seriously).

Why has it become so? Why is there fear everywhere we turn? Is it biblical? Well, there was a consdirable amount of fear in the bible (from the fear of God to the fear of man) and all that just explains and details the very nature of man that when we are threatened, we will respond (positively or otherwise)

So, how will I deal with this? I will continue to live my life without compromise, BUT I will always be looking around with eyes at the back of my head to ensure that my life and my family is protected.

To the extremists out there, note this. Do to others what you want others to do unto you. What goes around, comes around.

Before, I could say I was proud to be Malaysian. Ask me again when you see me, and I'll tell you what my new answer is.