Unemploymenet = Funemployment.

During the financial crisis resulted in many unemployment in the year 2008 - 2009. There are many of these unemployment individuals who decide to enjoy themselves during the free time. The term Funemployment describe those who had recently lost their jobs and were choosing to use their new found freedom to travel, go to the beach, by physically active and generally enjoy themselves until they found a new job.

People who describe their jobless is actually funemployment are typically younger individuals with fewer fiscal responsibilities or people who have accumulated enough saving to enjoy the extra time their unemployment has afforded them.

Robert Kuok still holds number 1

Kuok Group Chairman Robert Kuok still holds the number 1 richest man in Malaysia despite the slump in the stock market. Robert Kuok who made his fortune by trading sugar (85 this year) being announced to head the the 2009 Forbes Asia Malaysia Rich List with a net worth of US9 billion down from US10 billion last year.

Ananda Krishnan, the owner of Maxis Communication Bhd, being the second in the list with a net worth of US7billion and followed by Lee Shin Cheng (Chairman of IOI Corp) with US3.2 billion net worth.

Kuok and Krishnan are two of the richest man in the Southeast Asia accounting for 44% of the top 40's wealth, Forbes said.

eBay starts acquiring again

eBay seems to have decided to go back to what it does well, and get rid of the stuff it doesn’t know much about (StumbleUpon (), Skype ()). Reuters reports they’re buying a controlling stake in South Korean auction site Gmarket for up to 1.2 billion dollars.

The deal, which is expected to close this quarter, should give eBay at least 67 percent of Gmarket, with the help of Yahoo which agreed to sell its 10 percent stake, as well as Interpark, which will sell its 29 percent stake to eBay for $350 million. The price of 24 per share that eBay is offering is a solid 20.2 percent premium to Gmarket’s current market price, which now stands at $19.96. After the deal closes, Gmarket will delist from Nasdaq.

Gmarket has over 10 million registered users and it’s a strong competitor to eBay’s South Korean auction site Internet Auction Co. eBay plans to combine the two sites, which focus on different products (Gmarket is fashion-oriented, while Internet Auction focuses on electronics and sports goods). The two companies combined will have 87 percent of South Korean’s online customer-to-customer market.

As far as eBay goes, it hasn’t had much luck when it ventured out of its core business; perhaps this latest deal means they’ve finally learned their lesson.

Business Isn’t Personal

I’m going to express an opinion that might not be shared by all in this current social media world.

There’s a thread going around in small business about something called personal branding and, while I think it has merit and can certainly give some people a leg up on the competition, please don’t confuse personal branding with building a business.

Again, when a person creates a brand that allows them to stand out, they may be able to charge more for their services or get higher profile gigs, but what they’ve created is a job. (In some cases that’s the grand payoff of a personal brand, a better job.)

Now, I’m not against personal branding, as I said it may offer some people that ability to create the best job going, but a business is an asset, something that gets more valuable over time and, here’s the biggie, can be sold. It is very difficult to sell a personal brand. Some of biggest personal brands you could name on twitter right now would be worth very little without the person behind the avatar.

It’s really not a right way or wrong way, it’s a strategic choice, but know the consequences of the choice. Funny thing is it’s actually easier to build a personal brand online than it is to build a business brand and that’s where some people get tripped up. It’s a balancing act that must be intentionally orchestrated and gradually implemented.

Here’s what I mean. To get a business started, you may find it much easier to just be you, provide great service and let people remark all over town how you’re the next big thing. But, at some point, you have to take yourself out of the equation and let the idea of what you’ve started be grown into a brand, if, in fact, you want this business you created to be worth more than your book of business this month.

The first step may be the name of your business - I changed Jantsch Communications to Duct Tape Marketing six years ago and went from a guy in Kansas City slinging marketing to, I’ll just stop at something more. Now, I did 483 other things, some of them really stupid and half-baked, but the change started with the name. The more Duct Tape Marketing is a brand and less John Jantsch, the more valuable it becomes to the secret list of companies I am courting to buy it.

Obviously, creating a business or a brand is not simply a matter of picking a good name and packaging it, but it does need to originate from the idea that a business is likely worthless unless it can operate without the owner or the personal brand of the founder.

Confirmed: CNN Acquires CNNBrk Twitter Account

Earlier today The Business Insider reported that CNN may have acquired the massively popular CNNbrk Twitter account, which is currently in a heated race with Ashton Kutcher to attain 1 million followers. Thing is, up until recently CNN didn’t actually own that account, which made the story’s coverage on the cable network over the last few days all the more bizarre.

I just got off the phone with James Cox (whose personal Twitter account is here), who created and has maintained the account. He confirms that CNN has in fact acquired CNNbrk. CNN has confirmed the deal (see below).

As of this writing, CNNbrk has over 945,152 followers (and rising fast), making it the most popular Twitter account.

Update: CNN has confirmed that it has taken control of the CNNbrk account, though the company isn’t viewing it as an “acquisition”. Rather, CNN has signed James Cox to a consultant contract agreement, which included the transfer of the account as part of its conditions. Any financial compensation due to Cox is being offered for his services, which happen to include his Twitter account along with teaching social media workshops, among other things (though I suspect he’s getting paid substantially more than the market rate for his consulting).

And while the ownership of the account has only changed hands in the last few days, CNN says that Cox has actually been working alongside the network since early 2007, only a few months after Cox created the account as a way to send breaking news stories to his cell phone. The two parties decided to transfer ownership as the account’s number of followers began to take off over the last few months (and especially in the last week or so).

Update 2: As a

Why all PM like to try LRT?

If you remember, there is one time when Pak Lah (the Malaysia's 5th Prime Minister) also tried the LRT but had changed after that trial? Nothing!! I hope that Najib would be different. Change and make it more efficient after your trial would be appreciated else there is just trial and trial and trial without improving.

KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak had a taste of the trials and tribulations of daily commuters when he boarded a packed LRT coach at the Masjid Jamek station here yesterday in his second walkabout in three weeks.

The Prime Minister stood all the way to the next stop, the Plaza Rakyat station, from where he walked to the Puduraya express bus terminal and had a cool drink.

Najib was on a surprise walkabout in the area, just three weeks after going down to the ground to visit three other localities in the city.

Dressed casually in a brown shirt and beige pants, he arrived at Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman (Jalan TAR) – near Semua House – at 3.20pm and walked about the bustling street.

Waiting for his ride: Najib waiting for the LRT train at the Masjid Jamek LRT station in Kuala Lumpur Saturday. — Bernama

He was accompanied by Federal Territories Minister Datuk Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin and his de­puty Datuk M. Saravanan, and Kuala Lumpur mayor Datuk Ahmad Fuad Ismail.

He then spent about 30 minutes there, stopping to chat with the business people and the public.

At Jalan TAR, which is famed for its textiles and jewellery shops, Najib was briefed by Ahmad Fuad on a proposed multi-storey car park, to be located near Semua House, and other upgrading plans.

Najib then proceeded to the LRT station on his way to inspect the long-abandoned Plaza Rakyat building project next to Puduraya. He ended his walkabout at 4.25pm.

Raja Nong Chik said Najib had voiced concern over the lack of facilities and congestion at the places and wanted urgent improvements made.

“He experienced first-hand, by the walkabout and boarding the LRT, what people have to go through daily – like jams and other difficulties in congested areas,’’ the minister said. — Bernama

Mat Rempit again

PETALING JAYA: Many people detest the Mat Rempit because of crimes associated with this group of bikers, and people are now incensed as they are getting more brazen.

Just last Thursday, some 20 Mat Rempit surrounded Kattryn Eng’s 23-year-old daughter, who is deaf and mute, at a petrol kiosk in Subang Jaya at 7am.

They slapped and kicked her daughter before running off with her bag, in the presence of other patrons and attendants.

“My daughter could not even call for help. I am really devastated that such an incident could happen. When my husband brought my daughter to the police station, there were two other parties making similar reports,” said Eng, 57, a travel agent. (Read Eng’s account in the letters page – N30.)

She considers the Mat Rempit a “dangerous nuisance” and insisted that police act before this group became even more daring.

Student T. Selvesvaran, 21, encountered a group of 20 Mat Rempit in Shah Alam six months ago.

“I was sending my friend home. While we were talking in the car, a man on a bike rode past. We thought nothing of it until a few minutes later, when he returned and shouted at me kau keluar sekarang! kalau tak, kau tengok! (come out now or else),” said Selvesvaran.

He immediately started his car to drive away and while doing so, grew alarmed as some 20 motorcyclists joined the man.

They began to hurl rocks as they chased after him.

Selvesvaran drove away as fast as he could and was thankful the Mat Rempit stopped giving chase after a while.

He did not report the matter to the police because he was fearful of retaliation by the group.

Business development executive Daniel Tan, 28, no longer parks by the roadside after encountering a group of menacing Mat Rempit two years ago.

“I parked my car at Old Klang Road early in the morning and got out for some fresh air after a night out with friends.

“A group of six men then approached the car. I thought they wanted to help me, but instead they attacked me without warning.”

One of them hit him on the head with a helmet while the rest started kicking him once he fell.

He added that the Mat Rempit even attempted to steal his car but failed when one of his friends, who was asleep in the car, woke up and fought back.

Tan quickly got into the car and drove away. The motorcyclists chased them for a while before giving up.

Tan needed seven stitches on the head. However, he did not lodge a police report because he doubted the police could do much.

Other recent cases of Mat Rempit attacks include the assault on a Filipina in Kelana Jaya by 15 rogue bikers and another in Kuala Lumpur where at least 40 of them attacked a housewife and her son. - TheStar

Innocent Puppy

KUALA LUMPUR: First, they strangled a four-month-old puppy to death, then
they threatened its owner.
A puppy named Maya, belonging to Indonesian
national Sri Indria, was killed on Friday after it entered a neighbour's house
in Kampung Padang Lalang, Langkawi. The incident took a dramatic twist when the
neighbour's son, who had killed the pet, came to Sri's house on Saturday armed
with a metal pipe and spoiling for a fight.Sri called the New Straits Times to
say she had returned from the pasar malam at 7pm on Friday to find Maya missing.
"I was only away for about an hour. I knew something was terribly wrong when I
didn't see her," she said in the telephone interview.

After a futile search around the kampung, her neighbour, who lives about 50m
from her house, told Sri very angrily that her puppy had entered her house.When
Sri asked for Maya, her neighbour brazenly told her "we have killed it".Sri
turned back to enlist her sister's help before returning to the neighbour's
house to look for Maya's carcass.They found the dead puppy in the undergrowth
with a wire noose around its neck."They watched my sister and I look for my
puppy. They were still scolding me as we carried the carcass home." Sri, whose
Malaysian husband runs a travel agency, did not lodge a police report initially
as she took partial responsibility for the puppy's disappearance.

She was forced to lodge a report after the neighbour's son threatened her the
next day.A distressed Sri rang the NST to say that he had come to her house
armed with a metal pipe, shouting for her and her husband. He was angry that the
incident had reached the ears of the media. "I'm so scared. I'm home alone and
I'm pregnant," she cried. A friend later took her to the police station to lodge
a report and there Sri and her neighbour settled matters."I've made peace with
them. What they did was wrong but I understand why they did it. It's the culture
and religious beliefs."

They killed an innocent puppy. No matter that culture or religious beliefs, I do not believe that they're being taught to kill. These people should be jailed and fined. Why does our police doesn't do anything in order to prevent it from happening in future.