Book Review in the Star

Yesterday saw the publication of my first book review in the Star newspaper. This was on "Steve Jobs - The Man Who Thought Different" by Karen Blumenthal.

The Star newspaper is Malaysia's largest circulation English daily newspaper. Recently, they invited me to write book reviews for them. The review of this Steve Jobs biography is the first fruit of that.

Originally, I wrote a review of about 1,400 words, in which I said fully what I thought. This had to be cut down to 999 words. However, this was further cut before publication, to 856 words. Tellingly, my most critical passages were cut from the piece - the parts in which I was most blunt about Steve Jobs' true character and less flattering side. It seems that the Star didn't want me to express those thoughts so clearly. What remains hints at what has been removed. From my point of view, it is a pity that I wasn't allowed to say what I really thought, because what I had wished to say, needs to be said about Steve Jobs. He wasn't what many people think - although I must say he was very good at personal PR and creating a positive image. The underlying truth was rather different, however.

Please read my review here:

http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2012/7/27/lifebookshelf/11686256&sec=lifebookshelf

Let me know, below what you think of it. I will post the full unedited version soon, to allow you to read my analysis of Steve Jobs' character in full.

Happy reading!

Thank you.

Posted by Valentine Cawley


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Taxi reform required.

Malaysian taxi drivers are a national disgrace. They, singlehandedly, ensure that every visitor to Malaysia will be stolen from, cheated and predated upon. Since travellers have regular contact with taxi drivers, it is inevitable that they will go home, from Malaysia, with the impression that it is a nation of liars, cheats and thieves. Yet, this is not so, of course: it is the taxi drivers whose behaviour is unusually poor by the nation's standards - at least I am assuming so, based on my experience, so far.

It is negligent in the extreme and very short-sighted, not to do something serious about the level of dishonesty among taxi drivers, in Malaysia. You see, a nation's reputation is a great part of its natural capital. Without a good reputation for honesty, decency and fair dealing, Malaysia will compromise itself internationally. Now, of course, visitors to Malaysia may encounter fair dealing in many aspects of their visit - but if they frequently encounter dishonesty from taxi drivers, that can only leave a poor impression of the nation, in their minds. If Malaysia's leaders want Malaysia to "stand tall" in the world, they must, they absolutely MUST, stamp down on the dishonesty of Malaysian taxi drivers.

My experience the other day is typical of the situation in Malaysia. The situation here is a no-hoper for the customer. Whatever you do with the drivers, the customer loses out. I was in Bukit Bintang (KL's equivalent to Orchard Road). There were taxis parked everywhere. I approached about 20 of them and asked them if they would go "on the meter" - because I know that so many do not want to. To my displeasure, each and every one of the over twenty drivers I asked, REFUSED TO BE METERED FOR THE JOURNEY. They all quoted me fixed fares which were two to three times the price I knew was reasonable for the route. After ten minutes of asking drivers, I gave up on ALL the taxis parked in Bukit Bintang. Instead, I tried to flag one. After another ten minutes, I succeeded in flagging a cab. This one agreed to go on the meter, for which I was thankful. Little did I know that he would go off route, however.

Our driver took me on a giant detour through KL and its surroundings, though that wasn't clear at first. There were traffic jams, so I held my tongue, at first. However, after half an hour, on a journey that should have taken no more than fifteen minutes, I asked why I had seen no signs for our destination. "Yes, signs, have. Over there." he said, pointing into the distance.

I sat quietly waiting for these signs. After about another fifteen minutes, signs duly began appearing for our destination. However, he was travelling a route there, that I had never seen before.

In the end, the fifteen minute journey took one hour to complete and cost two or three times, the usual expected fare. My wife later made the same journey, at a third the time, and less than half the price.

So, here is another lesson about Malaysian taxi drivers. Whatever they do, they will almost always cheat you - especially if you are a foreigner. Either they offer you a fixed price well above market rate - or if you refuse that and find another driver willing to go on meter, they will take you on a giant detour and keep you in the cab several times longer than your journey actually requires. So, it is a case of heads you lose, tails you lose. Whatever happens, you will be cheated.

I should point out that I have met honest drivers. However, they are vastly outnumbered by the cheaters, liars and thieves who end up as cab drivers. I would estimate that, overall, about 70% of Malaysian taxi drivers are dishonest. In some areas, this reaches almost 100%, however. This is from the point of view of a foreigner. It is possible that they try to cheat foreigners more frequently, so this may not reflect a Malaysian's experience of taxi drivers - but it has certainly been my experience.

The situation, whilst problematic, is easily resolved, given political will. All that has to be done is for a penalty to be brought in against dishonest driving. If a taxi driver ever cheats a customer, in any way and that customer complains, then the driver should AUTOMATICALLY LOSE THEIR DRIVER'S LICENSE. They should also be BANNED FROM BEING A TAXI DRIVER, FOR LIFE. Should these two penalties be put in place, drivers would soon start behaving themselves. The ban on being a taxi driver would mean they would lose their livelihoods. The ban on driving is particularly ironic, since it would force them to take taxis and suffer at the hands of their fellow cheaters. That would soon teach them what it is like.

Teams of anonymous taxi inspectors should take cabs at random, looking for cheaters. These should be both Asian and European inspectors, to elicit different responses from the drivers, who may be preferentially cheating one type of customer. A single offense should automatically result in the two penalties being applied. There should be no leeway for the judge to decide on clemency, the penalties should be mandatory.

Were this done, Malaysian drivers would soon start behaving honestly. If this is not done, Malaysia will continue to mar its own reputation by allowing drivers to lie to, cheat and steal from every foreign customer they encounter.

I hope someone will listen and do something about it. The present taxi situation is a national disgrace.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 6 and Tiarnan, 4, this month, please go to:
http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html

I also write of gifted education, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, megasavant, HELP University College, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, Malaysia, IQ, intelligence and creativity.

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This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited. Use only with permission. Thank you.)

Short term greed, long term loss.

The past couple of days have been instructive. I have seen the same type of thinking on two separate occasions, from taxi drivers. It is a curious type of thinking because though both spoke in terms of planning for the future, they exhibited short term thinking as an over-riding priority.

Yesterday, I took a cab home. The driver was a smartly presented Indian man. He was also very talkative. I didn't mind this, so much, since I had been waiting a long time for a taxi. This is a common experience in parts of KL where cabs are more noted by their absence, than their presence. Like much of the transport infrastructure here, in this capital city, there just isn't enough of it to go around.

Anyway, this driver started complaining to me about how, in the last month, 37 of his "regulars" had been lost. He said it was because they were expats whose contracts were up, so they had to go home. He then went on to tell me a tale of how one regular client had gone overseas for a holiday and never returned. He had had a heart attack. In his tale, which seemed to place himself at the centre, somewhat, the wife went to all the trouble of calling him from America, to tell him that they wouldn't be back and so wouldn't be needing his services anymore.

He then went on to say how he wasn't like other drivers. He didn't normally do "pick ups"...but that he was usually booked, morning to night, by regular clients. They would ask him to do airport runs, or take them sight seeing - or even just drive them around, everywhere, for the day. He was quite the hero, the way he told it, quite the indispensable driver.

I just listened quietly.

Once we arrived home, he tore off the receipt and handed me the bill.

It was rather higher than I had expected.

"I didn't call you out, you know."

There was a two ringgit "on call" charge on the bill.

"Yes. That is for the luggage. We usually charge 2 ringgits for the luggage."

Indeed. Well, I didn't have any luggage - I had some shopping. Furthermore, taxis don't charge two ringgits for that anyway. However, this is a common ruse of taxi drivers, here. I have even had one driver who tried to charge 10 ringgits extra for opening the boot.

I said nothing. I just paid his phantom charge - but inwardly I thought the whole thing rather amusing. He had given me a huge spiel designed to impress me about what a desirable driver he was to have - about how many expats chose him, especially to drive them around - and there he was showing his true character, by adding on a fictitious charge. What an idiot. No wonder he is losing so many regulars. I have no doubt that many of those "37 regulars" have not gone home at all. They have just had the chance to compare his charging practices with that of other drivers and realized that he was overcharging them.

I thought his behaviour a perfect illustration of the tendency to sacrifice long term aims, to short term greed. It is rather common here, I think, having noted it, already, quite a few times. Rather than ensuring a regular customer, by behaving impeccably and offering a genuinely good service, such people would rather profit, in the moment, by a few extra ringgits. When you think about it, it is remarkably short-sighted behaviour. It could even be described as self-defeating and self-destructive.

He gave me his card and urged me to book him in future, should I need to travel around. He clearly thought he had fooled me: funny isn't it?

Today, I had another uncannily similar experience. This was also an Indian driver. This one older, and thinner, but equally well presented. He talked even faster than the first one. He too, made a pitch for long term business driving us sight-seeing, to the airport - or even "anywhere in the peninsula of Malaysia".

All the while, as he talked, I studied the meter. It was doing something very strange. It was going up in jumps of twenty cents, not ten. Not only that, but it was jumping up, EVERY FEW METRES. It wasn't behaving with the customary sedate pace of other taxi meters.

So, not only was the price per unit distance double normal, but the distance itself was clearly shorter than normal...several times shorter, by all appearances.

I treated the whole journey as a lesson in human nature. He babbled on, trying to impress me with the service he could offer - much as the other driver had. Meanwhile, I had the message of the meter to tell me the true nature of this talkative salesman. Again, it was almost funny...though a bit of an expensive joke, for such a short ride.

In the end, the journey, which was a short one, cost more than three times the usual price. Then, he too, added on a "toll".

"We didn't pass a toll.", I noted.

He changed tack.

"The luggage. That is for the luggage."

We didn't have any luggage...just shopping, again.

I said nothing, but paid him without the "toll" added.

He said: "That is OK."

Then he wrote his number on the back of the receipt, since I would clearly be in need of booking a driver who costs three times as much as anyone else.

What a funny world.

So, both drivers gave sales pitches, for long term, repeat business - and both blew it, by short-term greed shown by overcharging.

One detail I should add: at the beginning of the journey, the driver tapped the meter and said: "See this is on the meter...see?"

What he didn't say, is that he had a very special meter, unlike anyone else's. I wonder if he had tampered with it, himself?

Anyway, I have been watching drivers in KL, for a couple of months now. In that time, we have taken many cabs. I have, however, selected only three drivers, who showed spontaneous acts of honesty and good service. It is interesting how much such behaviour stands out from the likes of those above. The funny thing is, none of the drivers we selected made any sales pitch at all...they just exuded integrity and that was enough for me. The best sales pitch of all is a good character. KL's taxi drivers would do well to remember that.

Oh, and the first driver's number: HWC 4381. If you encounter him, expect rapid patter and imaginative charging practices. Good luck. (I don't have the second one's details: his hand written receipt had no identifying information).

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 6 and Tiarnan, 4, this month, please go to:
http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html

I also write of gifted education, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, megasavant, HELP University College, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, Malaysia, IQ, intelligence and creativity.

My Internet Movie Database listing is at: http://imdb.com/name/nm3438598/
Ainan's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3305973/
Syahidah's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

Our editing, proofreading and copywriting company, Genghis Can, is at http://www.genghiscan.com/

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited. Use only with permission. Thank you.)

Brother and the Great Printer Con.

Did you know that printers can be dishonest? Or should I say, that printer manufacturers design printers that lie to you?

How often has your printer refused to print by telling you that such and such a cartridge is "out of ink" "Low on ink" etc. etc.? Have you ever thought to check the offending cartridges? I have. In the case of my Brother MFC-240C printer the cartridges are usually fairly full of ink when it decides to reject them: ink sloshes in them and is visible in a little window. These are not empty cartridges, they have the heft and slosh of fairly full ones - yet my printer says they are empty and need changing. Now, who on Earth could have a motive for making a printer that lies? Well, Brother, of course, since they make the replacement cartridges and design those cartridges to make them non-interchangeable with others, so that you are forced to buy from Brother. I wouldn't mind this were it not for two obvious facts: prices of cartridges are inflated by this monopoly situation - and the cartridges are not even remotely empty when I am forced to change them.

What Brother (and I hear, other printer companies, too) are doing is illegal. There are even class law suits relating to this practice working their way through the US courts.

I, personally, will never buy another machine with the label "Brother" on it, after my experiences with this particular printer. Not only does it lie about when it needs new ink (it once asked for a new black ink cartridge the same day that I had just given it a new one - and I had printed nothing!); but it mangles paper as if that is its specific design purpose. On one particularly memorable day, it mangled paper on six consecutive attempts to get it to print one sheet of paper. This necessitated a lot of time pulling fragments of shredded paper out of its innards. As machines go, this printer is a piece of rubbish.

Of the two offences - printing incompetence and ink deception - ink deception is the harder to take, for it implies that the machine has been specifically designed to cheat each and every customer who buys it. That says a lot about the corporation that manufactures it.

So, the next time you are shopping for a printer, I would think of my story about the Brother brand. However, it might be difficult to find a brand that doesn't cheat you in this way for both Epson and Hewlett Packard are being sued, in class action suits, for just the same offence of which I have written. So, that is at least three brands to avoid in the matter of printers, then.

Good luck on your electronic shopping.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

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