Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps

This is a boring sequel to the 1987 milestone film Wall Street. In this new film, Gordon Gekko has been out of prison for seven years. When he is released from prison there was no one there to meet him. His estranged daughter, Winnie, has not been in communication with him for years. Out from prison Gordon Gekko lives a rather modest lifestyle in comparison to his heydays - he now lives in a rented apartment and commutes using public transportation. To support himself, he writes a book on what he knows best - the financial markets, in which he predicts the economic downturn in America. Unknown to many, Gordon Gekko has prior to entering prison, secretly set up a trust fund of US$100 million in Switzerland for his then underaged daughter, Winnie. He now needs this money to get back into the game of high level finance.

Meanwhile, young financial trader Jacob Moore, the boyfriend Winnie, befriends Gordon Gekko. Gordon Gekko then manipulates Jacob Moore to persuade Winnie to get the US$100 million transferred to him. Once the money is withdrawn from the trust fund and is in Gordon Gekko's hands, he disappears from the lives of Jacob Moore and his daughter, Winnie. Gordon Gekko then uses the money to set himself up in London as a hedge fund manager and is once again a player in the financial markets. Watch the movie to know what happens next...

To me, the best part of the film was where Bud Fox, now a successful financial wheeler dealer, bumps into Gordon Gekko at a party and recites the immortal phrase popularised in the first Wall Street film: "Blue Horseshoe loves Anacott Steel." [Only those who have seen the original Wall Street film would understand the meaning of this].

I give this film only 5 stars out of 10.

Money Never Sleeps had the potential of being another milestone film because of the recent global financial crisis but Oliver Stone has not taken advantage of this to the fullest. He has instead made a pseudo love story cum family drama. I wonder if Oliver Stone has outsourced the storyline of this film to someone in Mumbai, India - the story seems familiarly so "Tamil type movie".

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iPhone 4 In Malaysia - Free iPhone 4

On Thursday night, the iPhone 4 was launched at separate events by DiGi Telecommunications Bhd and Maxis Bhd.

The iPhone 4 which was launched in the US in June this year is a major redesign of all previous models and has more features than its recent predecessors, the iPhone 3G and 3GS.

The crowd at the launch

At the launch night, free iPhone 4s were given to the winners of the lucky draws. This is one of the ways you can get a free iPhone - participate in lucky draws on product launching events.

However, for those of you who are interested in purchasing the new iPhone 4, you can obtain free iPhone 4 information here - the Maxis Plan and here is the Digi plan.

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Clogs At Jonker Street In Melaka

Jonker Street in Melaka (or Malacca, in English) is the centre street of Melaka's Chinatown which is renowned for its antique shops. Recently this street has also featured many clothing, crafts outlets and restaurants.

Like Amsterdam, Melaka has a cottage industry in making clogs, a type of wooden slippers.

In Jonker Street, there are still a few of these traditional clog making shops . In some of these shops, you can persuade the shop keeper to let you in to the back of the shop to see how these clogs are made. This is a fast disappearing trade as it's difficult to recruit young apprentices.

A pair of wooden clogs can cost up to RM35. The more intricately designed ones are even sold at RM50 a pair.

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SME Microfinance Institutions

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For Malaysian entrepreneurs, apart from the conventional loans by banks, the above is the list of Malaysia's financial institutions providing microfinancing to Small and Medium Size Enterprises (SMEs).

For further information visit SME Info.

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Dancer At The Blue Boy Club Kuala Lumpur

This is one of the dancers at a dance competition held at the Blue Boy Club in Jalan Sultan Ismail, KL (its around the corner from the Regent Kuala Lumpur).

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Dissapearing Car Doors

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Watch This. Simply Amazing

Watch carefully...

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Tokay Geckos For Sale

The current local market price for a Tokay gecko above 300 grams is at least RM25,000. What price it fetches abroad is anybody's guess.

A kampung folk who has a marketable sized Tokay gecko for sale will not have to wait long for serious buyers to make him an offer.

In light of its high market value, catching and trading in Tokay geckos have become a lucrative side business especially for villagers in the northern West Malaysian states and in East Malaysia.

Residents in northern towns of Peninsular Malaysia such as Pendang in Kedah and Balik Pulau in Penang have seen the gecko business grow into a cottage industry after news reports revealed that overseas buyers are willing to pay up to RM1 million for each reptile.

As the supply is getting scarce in Malaysia, agents have started to head towards Thailand to source for fresh supplies. Just drive into border towns such as Bukit Kayu Hitam in Kedah and you can easily sport wildlife trappers and agents advertising the Tokay gecko for sale.

While numerous gecko species are sold as pets at nominal prices, the highly prized specie in demand for its medicinal value is the Tokay gecko.

Tokay geckos are in high demand by the traditional medicine industry abroad as it is believed that the reptile’s tongue can cure AIDS. Some believe that its meat is also an aphrodisiac while its blood and bile suppresses tumors in cancer patients.

Despite the on going rumours of the medicinal cures of the gecko, Augustine Tuuga, the deputy director of Sabah Wildlife Department, was quoted in one news report saying that there is currently no scientific evidence to verify the claims.

Villagers who are involved in this business say that although the Tokay gecko is difficult to find and capture, those who manage to find this illusive reptile can expect to sell it at a lucrative price while the current gecko market is still sizzling.

As buyers are only interested in Tokay geckos weighing 300 grams and above, those possessing smaller Tokay geckos would rear the reptiles hoping to sell them once their weight exceeds 300 grams. Although Tokay geckos usually feed on insects such as crickets, cockroaches and grasshoppers, the Tokay geckos in captivity are also fed chicken liver to speed up its growth process.

The Tokay gecko (also known as the Gekko gecko) is a nocturnal arboreal gecko whose native habitat is the rain-forest trees and cliffs. The Tokay gecko is commonly found in northeast India and Bangladesh, throughout Southeast Asia and western New Guinea.

According to a news report, Rahim Ahmad, the director of the Department of Wildlife and National Parks of Peninsular Malaysia (Perhilitan) in Kedah, said that the Tokay gecko is not classified as a protected species of animals and it is thus not an offence to capture and rear the reptile.

The typical current prices for Tokay geckos are as follows:

300 grams - 399 grams = RM25,000 - RM35,000
400 grams - 499 grams = RM80,000 - RM120,000
500 grams - 599 grams = RM200,000 - RM400,000
600 grams - 799 grams = RM500,000 - RM700,000
800 grams - 999 grams = RM800,000 - RM980,000
Above 1000 grams approximately RM1 million.

At the moment there is no indication whether the Tokay gecko business will continue to grow as an industry or will fizzle out just as the Flowerhorn ornamental fish business did a few years ago. For those who remember, during the peak of the Flowerhorn craze, mature cichlids were sold for up to hundreds of thousands of Ringgit.

Despite the current demand for the Tokay gecko, the Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry has thus far not taken any steps to assist people to formally commercialise the business.

Anyway, if anyone of you have a Tokay gecko for sale, just shoot me an email. I have genuine buyers waiting impatiently to purchase mature Tokay geckos.

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Gecko Deals

New: Join this page for the latest updates on genuine geckos buyers.

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The Malaysian Lizard King

Picture from The Star

Anson Wong Keng Liang aka The Lizard King, a notorious wildlife trafficker, was jailed for 6 months and fined RM190,000 for attempting to smuggle 95 snakes out of the country.

The 52-year-old Lizard King, who hails from Penang, was caught at the KL International Airport on 26 August trying to smuggle 95 boa constrictors, 2 rhinoceros vipers and a matamata turtle to Jakarta.

He was previously arrested and prosecuted in the Uni­ted States in June 2001 where he served a 71-month jail term and was fined US$60,000 (RM187,000) for wildlife trafficking.

According to a report in the Star, Anson Wong started his wildlife trading business by exhibiting reptiles at the previous Bukit Jambul Reptile Sanctuary. This is apparently a portion of the Bukit Jambul Orchid, Hibiscus and Reptile Garden, a zoo in Penang he and his wife had owned.

"Zoos make good cover. Smugglers in control of a zoo can move endangered species with CITES paperwork, and a zoo can use its breeding program to explain the appearance of a new animal. CITES generally doesn't monitor what happens to an animal after a zoo imports it." - The Kingpin, a story of the Lizard King by The National Geographic.

The report further says that from the early 1990s, the Lizard King used various companies such Sungai Rusa Wildlife, CBS Wildlife and Aerofleet (an air cargo operator) to facilitate his illegal wildlife trade.

Many conservation groups had expressed disappointment with the sentence. They say the Lizard King's sentence is too lenient as he could have faced 7 years jail and fines of up to RM1 million or both under Section 10(a) of the International Trade of Endangered Species Act. The provision of the Act states that those convicted face a maximum RM100,000 fine for each animal listed under the Act, with the fine not exceeding RM1mil in aggregate, or imprisonment not exceeding 7 years, or both.

The Attorney-General's Chambers has filed an appeal against the light sentence given to the Lizard King.

Update: News on 8 October 2010 - National Parks and Wildlife Department (Perhilitan) seized 50 wild animals from farm and private orchard belonging to convicted wildlife smuggler Anson Wong and his wife:



I think it would be very difficult to curb this illegal trade as long as the pet shops and the restaurants keep fueling the demand for erotic wildlife.

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Who Says Luck Is Not Important ?

The Star reported a few days ago that a technician in his 30s, from the Klang Valley, has won RM11.66 million in his 1st attempt at the Power Toto 6/55 lotto game.

Although he is a regularly punter of various Toto games, this was his 1st try on Power Toto 6/55.

He went with a friend to claim his winnings at the Sports Toto's head office in Kuala Lumpur.

He said that as he has always invested in shares and unit trust funds, he would now buy properties for himself and each of his family members.

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