my-KART project updates

my-KART logo

One of the best things that I’ve been involved with outside of family and work is the things that Azlan and I started with my-KART.

my-KART started out as a way that Azlan and I could have regular kart races with our friends. We previously found it very difficult to get a good “quorum” individually so decided to “pool” our group of friends. We then formed the Yahoo mailing list and that was when the interest spread quickly – mainly thru word of mouth.

Today (Nov 05) we have something like 170 registered members (give or take 20). And we constantly attract around 40 participants for our monthly races and our quarterly enduros.

We now see a lot of opportunities opening up to my-KART. Certainly, my-KART has a key role in shaping the motorsports industry in Malaysia. Our vision of building racing talent for the country through popularising grassroots motorsports starts with the amateurs, the PBEM (professionals, businessmen, executives and managers) segment, the casual enthusiast, the parents, local companies, car-clubs and not forgetting the youngsters who are the country’s future. To this end our aims and behaviours must be noble and sincere. We must ensure we build the community and awareness whether they race or not.

Over the next few months until end 2006 we shall focus on 5 key areas (in no particular order):

  • community: building the community & be active in social activities
  • members: continue to drive memberships & inculcate our values amongst our members
  • excellence: focus on excellence in our racing events
  • alliances: forge alliances
  • awareness: create corporate awareness, and wider visibility

Now we have a group of 20-30 core members sharing common ideas and actively contributing towards my-KART’s and the local motorsports industry’s future. I would invite all of you to be part of this journey as my-KART moves into 2006 and beyond.

Who are the Japanese singers I listen to?

A friend of mine got into my car and heard some Japanese music playing on my CD player. Who are the singers and why do I listen to them? Do I understand Japanese?

Firstly, the singers I currently listen to are Mayumi Itsuwa (mainly from her Memories album) and Utada Hikaru (only “can you keep a secret?”).

Why do I listen to them and if I understand the language… well my father worked with the foreign service and was once posted to Tokyo for 5 years. I lived with my parents for 2 years before moving to boarding school.

Actually, I enjoyed our time in Tokyo as I got to watch a LOT of anime and found the country quite unique and beautiful. Japan is a country that successfully blends technology and tradition without diluting either. I also learnt to eat tempura which is a good thing. 😉

Am I a finance manager??

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about the challenges faced by finance managers in the world of business.

These are some fairly serious philosophical discussions. There are no right or wrong answers, but what is right for the circumstances and for the individual. I won’t bore you my dear readers (all two of you) on this particular site, but if you’d like to engage in philosophical or hypothetical discussions of financial & management topics you should go to my more serious website called “f.i.r.m. | financial responsibility and management network“.

What I’m watching nowadays

I’ve been watching Star Trek Enterprise and find it quite difficult to go thru the whole first season. Even T’pol’s character is not enough to make me stay the whole mile.

I had expected Enterprise to be more “edgy”, but it has ended up fairly safe using the standard formula from the original series. Given that this is humankind’s first foray into deep space, I would have expected to see some fear and trepidation of charting the unknown space. A bit of horror and some feeling of helplessness would be good.

So now I am watching Lost. Now this is a bit of what Enterprise should have been. One island / monster mystery as a background… the helplessness and reducing hope of being rescued, the characters with skeletons in the cupboard. Okay… I don’t expect Enterprise to be filled with dodgy characters… but hey they can’t all be squeeky clean?

I’m also going to start watching Battlestar Galactica… but not ready to comment | more info. Merely going by the rating it has earned.

wasted!

Happy Deepavali and Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri.

Unfortunately the same cannot be said for me. I have been practically wasted since Wednesday after being hit by a major virus. Not enjoying the Hari Raya today since I have lost my taste buds. Hopefully things will improve later today.