Intel Malaysia Blog

Hate to Wait?

Do you hate to wait? Have you experience moments of frustration during the workday, staring at your computer as the hourglass spins and freezes? Do you find yourself practically pulling your hair out waiting for your technology to work so you can upload your photos, send that important email or meet a deadline?

Have you missed out on the perfect concert or sporting event tickets or get jammed in the back row, middle airplane seat because your technology could not keep up with you when you tried to check-in? You may be experiencing what Intel is now humorously calling “Hourglass Syndrome.”

Familiar isn’t it?

In July 2010, Intel commissioned some research that found performance is the number one pain point for consumers, especially when it comes to the speed of performance and their processor. The average computer user spends about 13 minutes per day waiting for their technology to catch up to them, which equates to up to 3 days a year just waiting. And waiting. 

By launching the new 2010 Intel Core family of smart processors, Intel is tackling the dreaded Hourglass head-on and helping to reduce the wait. The new Intel processors use Intel® Turbo Boost Technology, automatically adapting to an individual's performance needs, providing a boost when you need to speed and conserving power when you don't - reducing the wait for some users. In fact, the Intel® Core™ i5 processors are about twice as fast as three-year old PCs for video, photo and music downloading experience.

Click here to read the full article on Hourglass Syndrome ()

Intel Media Buka Puasa – Ramadhan Bazaar style!

It’s that time of year again when people from all walks of life throng their favourite Ramadhan bazaar as their Muslim friends prepare to break a hard day’s fasting.

This year, Intel Malaysia hosted a “buka puasa” dinner with the media at Intel’s own Ramadhan bazaar aka Intel Office! Breaking away from the norm of having it in hotels and restaurants, Intel and the media savoured the best of Ramadhan bazaar spread without the hassle of long queues and unpredictable weather.

Whilst awaiting the hour of iftar, Ryaz Patel, Country Manager of Intel Malaysia, gave an exclusive media tour to one of the sections in the the Intel office overlooking the KL skyline with the Petronas Twin Towers, KL Tower and (when the sky is clear enough) Resorts World Genting in spectacular view.

A couple of guests even found the time to engage in a friendly battle of foosball before adjourning with everyone else to the multi-purpose hall where a scrumptious repast had already been laid-out for the evening’s buka puasa.

The buffet tantalized with a wide array of local favourites including the ever ubiquitous Nasi Briyani, Ayam Percik, Satay Kajang (a whopping 180 sticks of it!), Beef and Chicken Rendang and even Putu Piring. Special mention is required for the evening’s pièce-de-résistance: iced cupcakes made especially for the occasion.

The evening concluded on a sweet note with Ryaz thanking the media for their great support and telling them to keep a look out for the coming quarter with great enthusiasm! Something brewing? Stay tuned to find out yo!

On this note, we would like to thank all the media for joining us last night! Hope you enjoyed our cozy little dinner and of course the indulgent Royce’s chocolates!

Selamat Berpuasa and Selamat Hari Raya, Maaf Zahir dan Batin!

Intel Exemplary Teacher Award 2010

 

The Intel Exemplary Teacher Award 2010 (Hadiah Guru Mithali Intel 2010) is an activity organized by Intel Malaysia in conjunction with the 10th year anniversary of Intel® Teach Program in Malaysia.

Teachers play an important role in our children’s education and hence the nation’s future. Transforming teaching practices in schools then contribute to the competitive advantage of a country.

An apt quote from past Intel Corporation chairman, Craig Barrett, ‘computers are not magic, teachers are,’ succinctly highlights the salient role of teachers in schools.

Given the tremendous challenges our nation faces politically, economically and socially, teachers represent the beacon of our hope and agents of change.

This award recognizes teacher’s role via rewarding their contribution in transforming the landscape of education.

Intel now calls for teachers and educators from public schools and teacher education institutions under the Ministry of Education to submit application.

Prizes are:

Gold (1 winner)
RM3000 cash each

1 Netbook each

Certificate of achievement

Silver (2 winners)

RM2000 cash each

1 Netbook each

Certificate of achievement

Bronze (2 winners)

RM1000 cash each

1 Netbook each

Certificate of achievement

Winning entries will be judged on the basis of these criteria:

· Impact to learning (30%)

· Use of innovative pedagogy (30%)

· Integration of technology (30%)

· Sustainability of the exemplary practice (5%)

· Potential replication (5%)

Important dates:

Closing date for nominations: 15 October 2010

Selection of shortlisted nominations:1 November 2010

Final selection winners: 10 November 2010

Award ceremony: 26 November 2010 (Tentative)

Click here for more information: http://bit.ly/aSLrsM

Customize. Build. Play.

If you have a penchant for pawning deserving noobs in a skirmish AND know your way around a customized desktop powered by an Intel® processor, boy do we have the perfect tournament for you!

Prove your mettle in battle royal at our Starcraft II Battle.net tournament at FTZ Asia.net Cyber Café Penang and FTZ Asia.net Cyber Café Subang Jaya and show your friends (and enemies) what you’re really made of.

 Sign up now at your nearest FTZ Asia.net Cyber Café or email your full name, age and mobile number to gamingparty@in2.com.my.

Confirmed participants will receive exclusive door gifts, witness exclusive gaming demos and stand a chance to win great prizes in contests including one for the Best Customized PC.

Tournament venue and registration details are as follows:

Starcraft II Gaming Party at FTZ Asia.net Cyber Café Penang

27^th August, 2010 (Friday)

12.00pm – 10.00pm

Registration closes on the 25^th of August, 2010 (Wednesday)

Starcraft II Gaming Party at FTZ Asia.net Cyber Café Subang Jaya

17 18^th September, 2010 (Friday Saturday)

12.00pm – 10.00pm

Registration closes on the 14^th of September, 2010 (Tuesday)

Seats are limited so get your game face on and sign up now.

Download your registration form here

*EDIT*

The Starcraft II Gaming Party at FTZ Asia.net Cyber Café Subang Jaya will be held on 18th September (Saturday) instead, so do take note of that.

Registration is closes on 14th September (Tuesday), so hurry and send your details in soon!

This event is brought to you by Intel Electronics Malaysia.

Malaysian Overclocker Breaks Overclocking World Record with Intel-based Gaming Rig

Overclocking history was made at PIKOM PC Fair (II) KL 2010 as a Malaysian overclocker managed to put Malaysia on the global overclocking map. The GameAxis Overclocking Rig, which was comprised of top-of-the-line hardware components from high-end clients such as Intel, ASUS, Kingston, and Seagate, was part of the Intel PC Guru showcase at the biannual PIKOM PC Fair.

The GameAxis Overclocking Rig managed to break a world record for the Intel® Core™ i5 PCMark05 category by achieving a clockspeed of 6.06GHz on the new Intel® Core™ i5-655K processor and total PCMark05 score of 20195, over 6500 PCMarks more than its previous record holder. The base clock speed for the Intel® Core™ i5-655K processor is 3.2GHz, which makes the overclocking record of 6.06GHz a whopping 89% improvement over its base clock speed. The results were validated by HWBot, the world’s largest online overclocking league.

Local overclockers Looi Hou Tee and Juan Chong, also known as dblooi and sanko respectively among the overclocking community, managed to achieve the record on the very first day of PIKOM PC Fair (II) KL 2010. The two overclockers used a combination of liquid nitrogen cooling and dry ice to chill their record-breaking system, which mainly consisted of an Intel® Core™ i5-655K processor, ASUS Maximum III Extreme motherboard, Kingston HyperX DDR3-2000 memory kit, and ASUS Matrix 5870 Platinum graphics card.

Throughout the weekend at PIKOM PC Fair (II) KL 2010, the two overclockers continued to demonstrate their overclocking prowess by utilizing air-cooling for the same set of hardware, this time switching in Kingston HyperX Blu RAM for the benefit of mainstream users. The daily overclocking sessions were part of the Intel® PC Guru showcase, which not only gave technical advice to PC owners and allowed visitors to have a hands-on session with the latest Intel-based systems, but also highlight the performance and capabilities of Intel’s latest Core™ processors.

“Intel is thrilled with the new world record set by the Malaysian overclockers using the Intel® Core™ i5-655K processor! The newly launch unlocked desktop processor Intel® Core™ i5-655K targets enthusiasts who want to push their systems to the limit with all the necessary overclocking tools and features at their fingertips. A growing number of power users and computer manufacturers are interested in having more control over their systems’ processor behaviour. PC builders can now take benefit of features like Intel® Turbo Boost technology, Intel® Hyper-threading technology and the unlocked CPU architecture, all at mainstream price points,” said Vanessa Ng, marketing manager of Intel Malaysia.

“What has been achieved by our local overclockers is certainly noteworthy and has left a mark in history,” said Jacky Lim, Manager of Open Platform, ASUSTeK Computer Malaysia. “We are proud to be part of such a grandiose accomplishment. Truly, ASUS has always believed in Inspiring Innovation with Persistent Perfection, and those principles are manifested not only in our products, but in these highly-esteemed individuals. We at ASUS hope that our products will continue to encourage more people to pursue such achievements as we strive ever more to provide the means to do so.”

“Kingston is delighted to have contributed to the record-breaking result,” said Ann Bai, DRAM Memory Sales Director, APAC Region, Kingston. “HyperX memory is positioned as the premium product line that provides customers with outstanding performance. The success achieved by the brilliant overclockeres whose systems are equipped with Kingston HyperX DDR3-2000 kit proves the top-rated performance that Kingston is always committed to its customers since established in 1987.”

The GameAxis Overclocking Gaming Rig 2010 was comprised of various premium hardware components, handpicked by the experienced editorial team of GameAxis Unwired Malaysia, Malaysia’s leading multiplatform video game magazine. The full list of the hardware components that made up the GameAxis Overclocking Gaming Rig is as follows:

Processor: Intel® Core™ i5-655K

Motherboard: Asus Maximum III Extreme

RAM: Kingston HyperX Blu 4GB 1600MHz DDR3 Memory Kit

Graphic Card: Asus Matrix 5870 Platinum

Hard Disk Drive: Seagate Momentus XT 3GB/s 500GB Hard Drive

Power Supply Unit: Cooler Master Silent Pro Gold 1200W

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master V6GT

Optical Drive: Samsung SH-S222A DVD Writer

Monitor: Acer S231HL LCD Monitor

PC Casing: Cooler Master HAF X

Speakers: Edifier S330 2.1 Speakers

Headset: Logitech G35 Surround Sound Headset

Keyboard: Logitech G19 Gaming Keyboard

Mouse: Logitech G500 Gaming Mouse

 

Buy Smart Fly Smart

Intel Malaysia is continuing to promote the new line of Intel® Core™ processors to the mass market with the Buy Smart Fly Smart campaign.

Under the Buy Smart Fly Smart campaign, consumers who buy any Intel® Core™ i7 or i5 -powered desktop or laptop will be in the running to win a return trip for two to Sydney, Australia on Singapore Airlines’ Airbus A380.

Launched in July, the Buy Smart Fly Smart campaign will continue until the end of the year. To participate, consumers only need to purchase any Intel® Core™ i7 or i5 -powered desktop or laptop and proceed to register online. Alternatively, consumers can download the contest form at www.flysmart.com.my.

WiMAX-ready 4G laptops are finally here in Malaysia!

The wait is finally over! The much talked about WiMAX-ready 4G laptops have finally reached the shores of Malaysia! Intel, together with Packet One Networks, launched the first WiMAX-ready 4G laptops in Malaysia at Sunway Resort Hotel, Kuala Lumpur. The event aimed to announce the availability of WiMAX embedded laptops in hopes of boosting the uptake of WiMAX in Malaysia.

At the launch, six major OEMs comprising Acer, Asus, Dell, Lenovo, MSI and Toshiba have introduced a wide selection of notebooks and netbooks based on Intel® Core™ processors and Intel® Atom™ processors, and featuring the dual-mode Intel® Centrino® Advanced-N + WiMAX 6250 embedded solution, which has been certified and ready for use on the P1 W1MAX network.

At the event, Intel Southeast Asia Director Debjani Ghosh delivered the keynote speech, announcing the availability of Intel’s WiMAX-embedded technology in Malaysia. Subsequently, Michael Lai, CEO of P1 Networks gave his speech from the perspective of the leading WiMAX operator in Malaysia. The launch was immediately followed by a press conference with Ryaz Patel, country manager of Intel Malaysia and Michael Lai, CEO of P1 Networks. A WiMAX Mobility Bus Tour was also set up around Bandar Sunway for members of the media to experience WiMAX on the go

WiMAX-ready 4G laptops are poised to change the face of mobile computing in Malaysia, offering the best available on-the-go Internet experience with service covering entire metropolitan areas. With WiMAX-ready 4G laptops, users no longer have to stay within a Wi-Fi area to be connected, thus turning the city into one big hotspot that delivers strong, fast Internet connectivity.

Simply put, WiMAX-ready 4G laptops combine the best of both wireless worlds, delivering the ease and flexibility of Wi-Fi connectivity with the performance and coverage of a 4G WiMAX network!

Get yours today!

 

Happy Birthday Ryaz!

Today the country manager of Intel Malaysia, Ryaz Patel turns…… err you ask him the next time you see him! :P

Ryaz on BFM!

Ryaz Patel, Country Manager of Intel Malaysia was on TechTalk, BFM recently to talk about the opportunities for Malaysia to compete in the area of ICT innovation. He elaborates on the impact of the innovation by Intel employees in Malaysia and discusses the company's priority areas as well as existing programmes to support local innovation.

Check it out here!

Ryaz with Azura Rahman, Producer/BFM Radio host

Malaysian students win accolades at Intel ISEF 2010

Great news! Three Malaysian students did the country proud by clinching an award at the recently concluded Intel International Science and Engineering Fair 2010 (Intel ISEF) in San Jose, USA.

Intel in collaboration with the Ministry of Education (MoE) and Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA), sponsored a group of nine young Malaysians to showcase their creative innovations from 11-15 May 2010 at Intel ISEF.

Three female students from Tunku Kurshiah College, Seremban clinched the Second Award of United States Coast Guard for their team project for their invention of Natural Oil Boom. The team represented by Nor Adibah Mohd Hadzi, Nuradiza Rani and Rohaizah Mohd Faijan each were presented with a US1,500 award for their research on unutilized plant used as boom to counter oil spill problem.

Natural Oil Boom was developed based on the concept of utilizing ‘lalang’ as oil absorbent boom which can contain and absorb oil. ‘Lalang’ aka Imperata cylindrica is an economical alternative to current product in the market as it can be found in abundance everywhere in Malaysia.

This year, 1,611 young scientists from 59 countries, regions and territories were selected to compete in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. Nine Malaysian students represented the country in this year’s event. Through Intel’s sponsorship, Malaysia has had 77 students participating in the annual event to date, and have thus far produced 16 winners, including the 3 this year.

From Land to Ocean, From Tigers to Trees

Yesterday Intel Malaysia launched the company’s year-long environmental programs, themed “From Land to Ocean: From Tigers to Trees” in conjunction with Global Earth Day 2010.  Together with the communities of Kulim and Penang, Intel Malaysia aimed to drive greater awareness, inculcate a sense of responsibility. 

The event was graced by Dato’ Haji Abdul Rahman bin Haji Ahmad, Kulim’s District Officer who gave a speech and applauded Intel’s environmental efforts. Guest speaker Mr. Gurmit Singh was invited to give a talk on environmental issues. Mr. KW Lee, Director of Corporate Services of Intel Malaysia was the spokesperson for Intel and shared his views on Intel’s environmental initiatives throughout the past year as well as Intel’s latest collaboration with WWF on the Tiger Conservation Awareness programme. 
 
Intel also rewarded recycled laptops to the winning schools for the Intel Solid Waste Recycling programme, as well as a mock cheque presentation to PIFWA for Intel’s Global Hero Award winners.

The highlight of the event was the announcement of Intel’s Tiger Conservation Awareness, a partnership with World Wide Fund (WWF) which organizes briefing to Intel Involved Matching Grant Program (IIMGP) schools. The campaign educates students on the importance of protecting the wildlife and conservation of tigers. The collaboration is set to take place between May to July 2010 is in conjunction with WWF’s Tx2 campaign which aims to double the number of tigers from 500 to 1000 by year 2020.

Intel also rewarded over RM 12,000 to 14 schools that collected 56,774 tons of recyclable wastes in 2009 for Intel’s Solid Waste Recycling Program; a campaign introduced by Intel since 2003 which has successfully reached out to approximately 100,000 students and teachers within the northern region.

Other activities during the launch event included a talk on climate change by distinguished guest speaker, Mr. Gurmit Singh from Centre for Environment, Technology and Development, as well as exhibitions on the environment by schools, NGOs, local municipal councils and Intel employees.

 

 

 



 

Submissions for the "What's Your Core?" poster competition

Malaysians are a bunch of talented people! The posters were really creative and impactful. The judges will now have a tough time choosing the winners!

 

A BIG shout out to all who participated! You guys and gals ROCK!! Thank you so much! Stay tuned for the results.

Check out all the posters by clicking on the collage below:

 

 

You can also visit our Facebook page to vote for your favorite posters to help them win the People’s Choice category so they can win RM1,000.00 worth of prizes!

Good luck to all those who have submitted! We will be announcing the winners during the launch of the all-new 2010 Intel Core Processor Family on January 13, 2010! Stay tuned for more information! ;-)

 

"Exercise your Core"

The International CES (Consumer Electronics Show) 2009 begins today!

How about some humour to start the day?

Enjoy! And remember, exercise your Core!

At Christmas Time...

I’m a product of the 80’s – and when it’s Christmas time the one song that always comes to my mind goes like this: “It’s Christmas time, there’s no need to be afraid. It’s Christmas time, we let in light and we banish shade…”. You’d know the song by now – it’s ‘Do They Know it’s Christmas’ by Band Aid.

It is one of my personal favourites and it is symbolic of what Christmas is all about – caring and sharing. And most of you would most likely have your own favourite Christmas song and why it’s special to you – do share with us on this blog.

By the way, we at Intel have a Christmas song specially rendered
for you entitled ’12 Days of Christmas Tech Song’  :) Check it out below!



Merry Christmas and a blessed 2010 to each and every one of you!

Regards,
Simon Chan

What's Your Core?

 

Intel Malaysia is organizing a poster design contest for you to tell us, “What’s your core?” You must be wondering what core? Core of your body?  Core personality? Core belief system? Hardcore? Softcore? Core of a fruit?

 

According to the Oxford English Dictionary…

CORE [n]: The central or the most important part of something

 

We want to know what drives you? What motivates you? What characteristic matters the most to you? We want to know what is the ‘core’ personality, in relation to your computing needs, that makes you.

 

Could it be…

Environmental	you’re a tree hugger! You recycle…you like green computing…
Fast	you’re a fast person, you work fast, talk fast, eat fast…
Friendly	you’re a friendly, you are socially connected, you have many friends…
Multi-tasking	you’re a superman/girl! You work on 1001 things at the same time…
Entertainment	you love watching movies, you cannot live without music…
Extreme gaming	you’re a die-hard gamer! You eat, sleep, play games…
Powerful	you like power, you like to feel powerful, you like to be in control…
Turbo-charged	you want to have the extra speed when you need it…
Intense	you’re an intense person, you focuses to get what you need…
Intelligent	you’re smart, you like to work with smart people, smart technologies…
Sociable	you’re facebook and twitter junkie! You have 20000 friends online…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

… or ANYTHING ELSE! Tell us in not more than one caption and one picture! Go ahead and snap a picture or create an image that rightfully depicts ‘what is your core’, caption it, and be as creative as possible because the prize is RM4,000*!

 

There are TWO categories for this poster design contest so TWO winners will be selected, one from public entry and one from the media.

 

Prizes:

1.    Public winner will receive an Intel-powered notebook worth up to RM4,000.

2.    Media winner will receive RM4,000 worth of Harvey Norman vouchers [*Competition is open to all members of the media from all departments. You can even consider working together and splitting the prize later! J ]

 

If your poster is shortlisted, we will print it out and display it ala art gallery style during  the launch of the all new Intel® Core™ Processor Family event in Jan 2010!

 

Wait, that’s more. We also have a “People’s Choice Category” which will consist of a selection of entries from both the Public and Media Categories, determined by the appointed judges and subsequently uploaded on the PC Guru Malaysia Facebook Fan Page for voting purposes. The visual that receives the most `LIKE’ votes will be the Winner for People’s Choice Category and win a prize worth RM1,000.00.

 

 

 

                        So tell us. What’s Your Core? 

 

                                 

 

 

 

*Terms and conditions apply. 
 

PC Guru is back, bigger, better and even online!

PC Guru is coming back for the 4^th time at PC Fair, December  this year! Yes, it will be taking place at 3^rd floor, Room 302 & 303, KL Convention Centre, Kuala Lumpur, from 4^th to 6^th December 2009.

PC Guru is a one-stop centre for those who intend to seek solid and useful advice regarding PCs. Get useful advice and tips from Intel experts on your computing-related matters. View and play with the latest Intel-based systems to find out more before you make your purchase decisions. All this consultation is provided FREE by our experts from Intel Malaysia, with no obligation whatsoever.

Come for a consultation with our PC Guru, and you might even stand a chance to bring a HP Mini or a Dell Red Mini 10 back home!  
 
   
5 simple steps to win the NETBOOK:

1. Pose for a photo with our “PC Guru Mascot” @ PC Guru room
2. Be a fan of PC Guru Malaysia Facebook Fan Page
3. The Organizers will upload your photos on the Facebook Fan Page
4. Look for your photo, tag yourself and get your friends to “like” your photo
5. Two photos with the most “likes” win the netbooks courtesy of HP & Dell!

Besides that, the PC Guru website will be launched for the first time! The PC Guru website will serve as an online platform to give computing advice, brought to you by Intel Malaysia.

In conjunction with the PC Guru website launch, you also stand a chance to win a mystery prize by Intel Malaysia if you are among the first 1,000 visitors of PC Guru Website to do the following  -

1. Take a picture of the PC Guru icon in Christmas hat on the website via your mobile phone, camera or print out the screenshot of the icon
2. Present the "evidence" to our staff at the PC Guru Room during PC Fair 2009 (III) to claim your mystery prize from Intel!

That’s it, it’s that simple.  What are you waiting for? See you at the PC Fair this weekend!

*Terms and Conditions apply.

Intel Comments on Budget 2010

The 2010 Budget has just been announced and Intel has been anticipating this announcement especially since we had our wishlist for the Government to consider.

The 5 subjects which were in our interest were:

Education
-    The netbook bundle is a great initiative to ignite computing and broadband adoption among students.
-    Intel hopes that this can be scaled out to student at all educational levels.
-    Intel had hoped for a stronger integration of ICT in education, particularly to drive learning in and outside of the classroom.
-    Intel had also hoped to see more allocation for higher education research and strong collaboration between Malaysian universities and top-ranking engineering schools around the world.

Human Capital
-    Intel lauds the government’s move to simplify the movement of relevant skilled talents to Malaysia.

Information Infrastructure
-    The PC loan for civil servant is a boost towards increasing PC penetration. However a refresh period of 3 years would make broader economic and social impact.
-    Instead of a tax relief, Intel had hoped the government would subsidize the cost of broadband access as well as the devices (similar to the netbook package for university students). This subsidy should be targeted at a broader audience especially those outside of the tax net

Research and Development
-    Intel lauds the establishment of the National Innovation Center that will help to promote a culture of innovation and inculcate the value of raising productivity levels. Intel hopes to see higher participation from the public and private sector alike in this initiative.

Health
-    While having more hospitals is vital, improving the quality and delivery of healthcare services via technology integration is equally important to reach a wider audience. ICT is a proven critical enabler for the delivery of healthcare services.

To view our Press Statement commenting on the results of the 2010 Budget, you may click here for more info.

Above all, we'd like to congratulate the government in their efforts to put Malaysia on the road towards a 'high-income' society. I look forward to a better year ahead.

Taking a Leap Beyond Tomorrow: Intel's Perspective on Budget 2010

As the nation celebrates its achievements over the last 52 years, it reminded me that our past – both successes and failures – helps us define our present and shapes our future.

This is usually an exciting time of the year as the government is preparing for Budget 2010 and many organisations are getting ready to do the same. Instead of providing Intel’s post-Budget comments as we usually do, we’ve decided to be proactive and share our recommendations for the Budget upfront. I hope that Intel’s viewpoint will assist both the public and private sector in their planning for 2010 and beyond.

Innovation
We would like to see Budget 2010 adopt a more aggressive stance in tackling economic challenges head on.  The Budget should focus on addressing critical growth areas by promoting a culture of innovation and inculcating the value of raising productivity levels viz the global (not local) industry.

In that regard, we would like to see Budget 2010 allocate a significant percentage of funding and incentives to support R&D endeavours for both the public and private sectors.

Commitment to Productivity
We would like to see Budget 2010 introduce programmes and incentives to encourage organisations to invest in raising productivity in order to be more efficient and competitive.

The Budget should consider providing incentives for companies to provide the infrastructure that supports telecommuting, a remote workforce and a virtual enterprise. Similarly, the Budget should also consider making allocations for the adoption of a nationwide remote learning system or virtual classroom environment. This will ensure that continuity in learning is preserved despite the closure of schools for health reasons.  Various studies have shown that organisations can recover investments in less than nine months if the appropriate technology is implemented correctly.

Education
Budget 2010 should make allocation towards establishing stronger collaboration between Malaysian universities and top-ranking engineering schools around the world. This would enable our universities to learn from the best and ultimately satisfy the country’s demand for more engineers that possess industry-relevant skills.

For higher education, Intel would like to see programmes that encourage and support university professors to undertake more research-based projects. The quality of our local universities will improve when educators are given the opportunity to expand their knowledge beyond lecture halls and into the commercialisation of ideas.  The benefit is industry-aligned talent.

For 2010, Intel would like to see a budget allocation and commitment towards the implementation of a long-term programme that makes teaching and learning more effective through the use of technology. Such a move will help guide the nation towards building a knowledge and innovation-led economy.

Outcome-based Policies
Further liberalisation of the telecoms sector:  Intel believes more competition in this sector, particularly in the international backhaul/landing rights aspect, can help resolve broadband cost and quality.

Digitizing health records:  Countries around the world are enhancing service delivery around personal health.  Intel would like to see both policy and funding support in Budget 2010 towards digitizing health records and improving clinical research and development through technology.

Immigration policies:  There is strong global competition for human capital, talent, knowledge and resources, and Malaysia must be in the position to attract and retain a talented workforce. In order to fast-track the recruitment process, Intel would like to see changes in the immigration policies that would ease and expedite the entire process of recruiting and retaining high-value foreign talent.

Intel would like to see Malaysia emerge stronger with an edge in innovation and productivity.  The Tenth Malaysia Plan begins now.  Rather than wait for the new decade to dawn, let us usher it in with enthusiasm and determination. It is all about taking that leap beyond tomorrow.

I've put the full version of our wishlist up online. Click here to view the full article.  

My next post will comment on the 2010 Budget results.

Intel® Core™ i5 is coming to Malaysia!

On 15 September 2009, Intel Malaysia will be launching the all-new Intel® Core™ i5 processor in Malaysia. In the days leading to the launch, Intel is organising a "Give Me 5" contest for you to stand a chance to win a brand new Intel® Core™ i5 based desktop.

Want to be one of the first to get you hands on the Intel® Core™ i5? Follow these simple steps!

Simple steps in standing a chance to win an Intel® Core™ i5 based desktop*!

1. Become a fan of Intel® Core™ i5 (Malaysia). Click on http://tiny.cc/givemefive

2. Spot the giant Intel® Core™ i5 badge walking around Lowyat Plaza from Sept 10-14, 2009 & snap a photo of yourself with the giant badge.

3. Upload the photo on the "fan photos". The link to the album: http://tiny.cc/fanphotos

4. Get as many of your friends to “like” your photo. Photo with the highest "likes" will be the winner!

*** Bonus***

Be the first 55 fans to upload your photo with the Intel® Core™ i5 giant badge to receive a special prize from Intel Malaysia!

So what are you waiting for?

Be a Intel® Core™ i5 facebook fan, hurry to Lowyat and snap a with the Intel Core i5 logo today!

*Terms and Conditions apply.

Proud to be Malaysian

Intel Malaysia’s PC Guru was at PC Fair earlier this month. Back for the 3rd time, we were bigger and better then before! This time, in conjunction with the Merdeka celebrations, we held the “52 Reasons to be a Proud Malaysian” contest for all PC Fair goers.

PC Guru visitors expressed their patriotism with pen and paper and they stuck their proud little note on the Intel PC Guru giant notice board. At the end of the 3 days, the blackboard was swamped with little post-it notes, all boasting of Malaysia’s achievements and a host of other praises. We had over 3000 entries! Whoaa.. we were so impressed  by the strong patriotism shown by PC Fair goers that truly displayed the spirit of 1Malaysia. You guys rock!

We personally love this one:

“Where else can you find Yong Tau Foo cooked by an Indian, Nasi Lemak cooked by a    Chinese and Muruku cooked by a Malay? Malaysia!” - Hapipah Binti Sulaiman

Choosing ONLY 52 out of the 3000++ entries was not easy, but we pulled through. Finally, after much deliberation, we decided on the top 52 reasons listed here.

 Winners list! *click on image to view full size*

Do you see your name there? If you did, you are one of the 52 winners, and you’re on your way to receiving a pre-loaded Touch’nGo card worth RM100!

If you didn’t make it to the top 52, don’t worry. You can follow us on Twitter or on this blog to be updated with the latest contests and happenings from Intel Malaysia.

Here are some photos taken at the Intel PC Guru giant notice board! Check how FULL the notice board were! Cool aint it!

 

 

To end, we at Intel Malaysia would like to wish a hearty ‘Congratulations!’ to our 52 proud Malaysians, ‘Selamat Berpuasa’ to our Muslim friends and last but not least ‘Happy 52nd Merdeka’ to all Malaysians. Let’s take pride in our homeland!

“Rakyat hidup, bersatu dan maju..”

Community Broadband Centre Open Day @ Besut!

Remember the blogging competition we held in Besut Terengganu?

Well, we proudly announced the winners today at Pusat Jalur Lebar Kampung Raja, Besut.

Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) held an open day at the Kampung Raja Community Broadband Centre(CBC) to celebrate the prize presentation to the deserving winners of the blogging competition.

A total of 368 blog contest entries were received, it totally exceeded our expectations!

With such enthusiastic response from the students in Besut expressing why they want broadband, we're convinced that a lot of students in Besut truly desire to be connected via the internet. We were very impressed with the creativity from the students and how skilled they were at blogging and decorating their blogs.

The event was with filled with music in the atmosphere and throngs of students gathered with the families to witness the prize-giving ceremony. There was even homemade food made by the community, for the community in true “kenduri” style! Such communal spirit, ain’t it?

The first prize winners of the primary and secondary school categories both won an Intel® Atom™ based nettops each.

 

First-prize winner of the primary school category, Syahira, a sweet and soft-spoken 12-year-old girl, was so happy to know that she won a nettop. She was so grateful to her CBC trainers who guided her in setting up her blog. Check her blog here.

Mohd Nahies, at only 14 years old, posted a song he composed on his blog. That was what impressed the judges. We tried to persuade him to sing the song to us, but he was much too shy to even say a word. Guess he was still shocked that he won a nettop. Do visit his blog here.

 

 

Here are some photos we took at the open day.

 

  

Intel's booth at the CBC Open Day

 

A Family Affair - attempting to answer The Intel Trivia Quiz to win some exclusive prizes!

 

Full house attendance at the open day despite the scorching hot weather!

One of the many young bloggers who participated in blogging competition.

For more photos, check out our flickr site at http://tiny.cc/CBC_Besut 

Reporting live, from Besut, Terengganu! :)

Blog Contest for students from Besut, Terengganu

Good news for students from Besut, Terengganu!

Intel Malaysia together with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and MSD Technology Sdn Bhd is co-organizing a Blog Contest 2009 specially for all primary and secondary school students in Besut.

Students with winning blog posts stand a chance to win nettops, digital camera and other attractive prizes! The contest will run from 17th July – 9th August 2009.

The theme of the blog contest is "Mengapa saya inginkan broadband" (Why I want broadband). Well, we have a thousand and one reasons why we want broadband, don't we? So we trust the students will put on their thinking caps and express their thoughts creatively to walk away with the attractive prizes from the organizers!

The students just need to visit the Community Broadband Centers (CBC) in Besut, Terengganu to collect the entry forms and start blogging from either the CBCs or from the comfort of their homes!

For more details, click here.

"Inside Matters" - The Winners

Intel Malaysia recently organized a blogging competition themed “Inside Matters”. Opened to selected bloggers that Intel have engaged previously and branded as Intel Insiders, these bloggers were invited to submit their creative or technical interpretation of why or how ‘inside matters”. The contest theme was chosen to highlight the importance of what is inside – be it inside a person, food or any other element that matters.

 

“We wanted to use the theme to bring up the fact that the processor inside a computer matters and plays a significant role in the computing power of a PC. While the exterior of a computer may be big or small, heavy or light, it is ultimately the processor inside each computer that determines the power of the machine. Once consumers have decided to buy a PC, we recommend that it is Intel inside,” said Norhizam Kadir, marketing manager of Intel Malaysia.

 

The resulting blog posts from Intel Insiders demonstrated their creativity and imagination, and Intel was visibly impressed with the variety of entries they received.

 

“It was tough selecting one single winner, so we decided to give runners-up prizes to two other deserving Intel Insiders,” added Norhizam.

 

The winner for the contest, Chan Wern Shen, walks away with a netbook powered by Intel® Atom™ processor. “It doesn’t always matter how flashy your computer looks, nor does it matter how much it costs. It’s the things that are inside that matters - both in your machine, and in your expectations,” Chan blogs.

 

 

Wern Shen with his spanking new netbook powered by Intel Atom processor!

 

The runners-up who will receive an iPod shuffle each are:

 

(i)   Song Huei Juin, who blogged about her significant other’s gentle and shy character despite his exterior serious look. “While he looks tough on the exterior, he’s actually one soft person. So before you decide to judge a book by its cover next time, flip a page; you’ll be surprised by how great the inside is.”

 

(ii)   Sean Soon, who recounted his nasi lemak experience. “Yes, indeed inside matters. Who knew that a small packet of nasi lemak could taste so good? Though the packet was oily, sluggish and looked as though it had very little content, unexpectedly you tasted heaven in that one small packet. It’s not what is on the outside, but what is inside that matters most!”

 

Other Intel Insider's entries are found below.

·         Goldfries - Buying Your Computer - Knowing That Inside Does Matter

·         Goldfries - Temperature Inside, Temperature Outside

·         Goldfries - Extending Your Mobile Computing Time

·         Justin Koh - What's Inside the Mind of a 13-Year-Old

·         Rinie Ramli - Intel Insider Inside Matters

·         Danny Foo - Simpleet on the Inside Matters

·         Adrian Wong - Do YOU Really Know What's Inside Your Computer?

·         Katheryna - Oh Pappa Puffs

·         Kugan -  Inside Matters

 

A hearty congratulations to all our winners!

And the Answer is....

I guess the furniture gave the answer away. I was inspired by one event recently, the Terengganu ebook program. I participated in the recent launch of the program in Terengganu a couple weeks ago where the State had organized for 3500+ standard 5 kids to gather in one auditorium. The enthusiasm & excitement in the kids' eyes was amazing...hard to describe to be honest. I'm sure you've all seen the write-ups in the media.

But this is just the beginning, there's a TON of work ahead for the State to ensure the devices are put to good use and integrated into the curriculum. What's even more amazing is, it's an initiative taken by one of the poorest income per capita states in the Country.

That said, I couldn't help but to wonder what if our Government launched a program to subsidize, NOT donate, a little netbook in the hands of every student, we would probably not see pictures like the ones below and we would obviously have a seriously amazing pool of whizzzy IT savvy kids running around. So very cool and so very possible!!

But let's face it, basic IT skills have clearly become an absolute necessity for the future...someone told me, the average student in Malaysia gets 15 minutes of PC exposure in a 'formal' setting per week. I was shocked!! In Manglish my reaction was 'eh, how to learn anything in 15 minutes???

Net net, I believe in personal ownership, I believe in exposing our kids to ICT significantly more than we do today, BUT, must be balanced. Would love to hear your thoughts on this.

Where is this?

Can anyone guess where this is? Ie: An office, a used PC shop, a warehouse, other ideas???

Stimulus, Broadband, PCs, and Organizational Changes

As you probably read in the papers, I was happy to see the support for broadband in the mini-budget. Shortly after the mini-budget I went on leave for a couple weeks and came back to a new lineup in the Cabinet. The interesting one to me was the integration of the Communications agency with the Ministry of Information, Communications, Culture & Arts.

I won't spend anytime discussing 'right' or 'wrong' or my opinions on the change BUT I do want to address my one concern, which is TIME. I am a BIG believer in our ability to achieve the 50% HH Penetration goal by end of next year, and I'm a big fan of SKMM's (MCMC) engine and efforts to get us there, BUT that means we can't afford to waste a single day, hour, minute, second, and yes to the extreme, nano-second.

Change and integration always take time to settle, something we don't have the luxury for today. Here's some interesting data for you: According to EPU, the HH penetration for PCs was at 24% ~18-24 months ago. Assuming it's grown, PC penetration in the HH is probably at 26-28% today, so effectively not very far from the BB penetration number of 22%. To get BB at 50% HH penetration by the end of next year, you have to get PCs in those households too....

Arguably we will need to see a significant increase in the broadband and PC bundle promotions than we're seeing today (with more attractive offers), some of it will happen naturally, some of it will require Government support which can't afford the waiting of change and integration.

I want to KEEP this ball moving and I'm sure all of you do. 'Slow', 'Wait' , and 'Hold' are progress killers. I would love to ban those words in our vocabulary!! I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Bloggers@Intel

Today must be a good day as my 'attempting-to-be-creative' writing juice seems to be flowing once again, I hope :) As a follow-thru to Hizam's earlier piece entitled 'Intel & the Blogging Community', I am writing after attending the 'meet-and-greet' session with the bloggers. It turned out to be an excellent opportunity to get to know our local online community. After my 5-minute presentation about how Intel was founded in 1968, with a current workforce of approx 85,000 in 300 offices and facilities worldwide, that the Malaysia facility built in 1972 was the 1st. out of USA, and sharing a bit about Moore's Law and Tick-Tock Model, I got to spend some really quality time with our guests.

What strikes me most is they are so real and so down-to-earth. They are just like you and me. And I guess that's what makes bloggers so popular. I can relate to them. We talk about food :), trends, places, events, current affairs, WiMAX, April's Fool :), Nehalem EP, family, common friends, and almost all things that comes to mind during the few hours we were together at our still spanking-new Intel office in KL.

We also managed to enjoy a few rounds of Wii and Foosball, while others tried their hands on some super-fast Core i7 systems. Now I know our local bloggers are really an exciting and varied bunch of individuals.

To my bloggers friends, I am really glad to have spent the last couple of hours meeting and getting to know you. Here's looking forward to our next 'meet-and-understand more' session. Thank you for taking the time to be with us. Cheers!

Intel and the Blogging Community

At the time this entry is written, I had just finished reading through the foils (read: powerpoint slides. It's Intel's terminology) to be presented to 15 plus bloggers. They are coming to Intel's office for a 'meet-and-greet' session where ideas are going to be exchanged. You see, with the rapid and sporadic progress of the Internet and the advent of social media, communication has taken a new shape. The online community, bloggers included, has become an important advocator. The voice of bloggers is sacred; a personal view that is friendly in tone, and most importantly trusted. Intel has always believed in online. Before it becomes a much integral part of the lives of many Malaysians, we've forecast it long before that it will eventually take over any other forms of communication medium, if it hasn't done so.

Quoting David Lian "The key word is understand". And that magic word is what I want to practice. In expecting bloggers to understand our key messages our product attributes, I should take the step first in understanding who they really are. Inviting them to attend our product launches, issuing them press releases do not do them much justice as they are not your traditional media. These folks are the media with empowerment, and I believe that this empowerment is a friend or foe to many companies. To the 15 plus bloggers coming to Intel Malaysia's office today, welcome. I want to understand you more. :)

On the Growth Path to Emerge Stronger

Sorry I know it’s been a long time since I last wrote, needless to say, sooooo much has happened since and the scary part is, I heard from a senior think tank today, “we’ve just hit the tip of the iceberg”. 

I was recently at Low Yat to check the barometer of consumer demand for IT products. Scary man, very scary.  Simply described, temperature in the mall was cold, ie. very few warm bodies. While on an average day you would struggle to get a salesman’s attention in the retail store, this time, too much attention.  Every corner there was somebody handing me a flyer with some promo or other…it reminded me of walking through the broadband provider section at PC Fair.   

While it’s not ‘official’, the feeling that the ‘R’ word has reached our shores is inevitable.  Our Government is working on a ‘mini-budget’ due for announcement on March 10^th.  I am hopeful, crossing all fingers, toes, you name it that the ‘intelligentsia’ of our Government will have a stimulus package for ICT.  

Personally I am hopeful we get support in two areas:

1)    A compelling incentive & stimulus to get as many households and residents in the country connected to broadband and access to a full internet experience.  Ok lah, self-serving as it may sound, nobody will refute that the reality of the decade and the future requires the internet through broadband and some basic PC skills. 

 

Who benefits from a big, broad incentive like this?

 

Let’s think about the jobs it can create: 

 

Directly, it’ll impact…

the retail sales person who sells you the broadband and internet device (ie: the PC),

the marketing people who created the broadband package you’re buying,

the designer(s) who creates the flyers and brochures for the promotions.

 

Don’t forget…

the technician who loads the software,

the software developer who wrote some of the cool applications you use,

the broadband technician who tweaks his network to support your subscription.

 

What about…

the delivery man who stocks the stores,

the factory worker who assembled your PC,

the procurement person and

the accountants, the banks, the finance people in the backroom?

 

The impact will trickle down to…

the cleaner who keeps the store dust-free and windows clean,

the security man who walks around making sure you’re safe after your purchase,

the insurance salesman who sells insurance to the retail store in case of theft or fire.

 

I could go on and on, but you get my drift.  

 

The domino effect the stimulus package can have when it is well allocated.

 

Everyone needs to stay employed and a strong incentive and stimulus from the Government will go a looooong way in keeping all the people described above (and then some) employed and more importantly, spending to keep our economy chugging on a growth path so we can emerge stronger when this mess is over.

2)    Another thing I want to see is Malaysia being more competitive than our neighbors in providing backhaul internet access. Let me tell you why.

 

I recently discovered that many Malaysian businesses go to our neighboring country across the Straits, you know lah, Singapore, to get cheaper backhaul internet access.  

 

What is backhaul internet access?

 

Well simply put, when you hit ‘yahoo.com’ your browser slowwwwly takes you to the US where Yahoo hosts a large number of servers and you get to access their website.  The fees your service provider pays in Malaysia for you to carry your request across the Pacific Ocean is terribly expensive relative to Singapore.  

 

So what happens, our Malaysian businesses go down South and host their websites and buy their bandwidth there since there are many backhaul providers, makes it competitive and the businesses win because they get Internet bandwidth at a fraction the cost of buying in Malaysia.  

 

So I sit here thinking, why is Singapore cheaper than Malaysia for bandwidth? The answer is pretty evident, I won’t elaborate. 

 

Let’s face it, what a waste to see our Malaysian businesses spending precious Malaysian Ringgit & US Dollars in neighboring countries when it’s pretty evident that we would be able to employ all the people here (almost the same long list, albeit different skills, but still long list of people who get employed here) and we can keep our economy chugging on a growth path so we can emerge stronger when this mess is over.

I just read a report in the Star online that our Government has taken into account feedback from the business community (for the record, Intel did provide our feedback also).  I am hopeful, trusting, with my fingers, and toes crossed, the Government will not forget the ICT community as they did in the first stimulus package.

  

We must keep our economy chugging on a growth path so we can emerge stronger when this mess is over.  Malaysia CAN CAN!!

PS: Feel free to leave your comments. Would love to hear what you think..

Malaysia Boleh!

Malaysia is at its helm again!  We recently sent a gamer who won the Malaysian league to the inaugural Intel Asia PC Gaming Showdown held in Hong Kong.  And boy, did he make us proud.

Following weeks of intense competition across seven countries, Rinie Bin Ramli, a well-known gamer from Malaysia has been announced as the champion of champions.  Rinie had to compete with gamers from Thailand and Philippines, in a fiery three-cornered grand finale held at Hong Kong’s well-known landmark, The Peak.  

The Intel Asia PC Gaming Showdown gave us the chance to witness the amazing skills and camaraderie of Asia Pacific gamers across the region, in games that showcased a level of detail and life-like experience made possible through the use of Intel Core 2 Extreme processors.

When more is better, the Intel Core 2 Extreme processor delivers unrivalled performance for the latest, greatest generation of multi-threaded games and multimedia applications. The Intel Core 2 Extreme processor is based on Intel's cutting edge 45nm high-k metal gate technology. Utilizing hafnium-infused circuitry to deliver even greater performance and power efficiency, the Intel Core 2 Extreme processor delivers the most graphically intense gaming experience for today’s demanding gamers.

And the technological excitement doesn’t just stop here.  Watch for this space anytime soon on latest updates on the best processor on the planet.  The Intel® Core™ i7 processor.

Good job Rinie! Continue to make us proud.

 

 

Speed, Focus, & Efficiency

The current uncertainty in global economic conditions make it difficult to predict the road ahead, so what do we do? Sit tight, enjoy kueh mueh, and wait till it's over or do we take this opportunity to look at our organizations and figure out how we enable a culture of SPEEDY decision-making, and efficiency to capitalize on market opportunities? Yes I know it's a rhetorical question. I couldn't help but to relate to the verbiage Lightning McQueen uses at the beginning of the animated movie, Cars. "Speed, I am speed. Faster than fast. Quicker than quick. I am Lightning. 1 winner, 42 losers. I eat losers for breakfast". He goes on and before the doors open, he says "Focus, Speed". I spent some time with one of our financial institutions a couple weeks ago discussing their infrastructure and I came out floored. For customer confidentiality I obviously won't be giving names but here's the quick summary: 1) they run their branches on a really old operating system where it's becoming increasingly difficult to find components that are supported by that O/S, hence paying a premium to keep those machines running, & 2) their datacenter is BURSTING at the seams because every department wants their OWN server for fear of data corruption & integrity and the average server is running at < 15% capacity. And as you can guess by now, there's an "if it ain't BROKE, don't fix it" culture prevailing in the institution. I'm thinking, what a shame, what a waste. So what happened to efficiency, and getting maximum output from our investments?? What's happened to our efforts to consume less energy? Low-power servers anyone? And utilizing virtualization? And fine tuning the applications to take full advantage of the infrastructure? Anyways, I can go on and on, I think you get my drift.

It is absolutely critical for all of us to 1) take a step back and define what we want to be when the global economic conditions improve and, 2) invest your way to get there. It feels like we may have a little bit of time on our hands to actually take a step back and look at ourselves in the mirror. Are you faster than fast? Are you intensely competitive and focused on winning? Are you eating your competitors for breakfast? And finally, are you focused? If you're not, take this opportunity to make the appropriate changes and emerge stronger coming out of the current economic challenges than you did going in. And needless to say, this does NOT = cost-cutting. The magic words of the hour are: Speed, Focus, and Efficiency. Let's get on it.

Intel & marine turtle conservation

What do Giant Pandas, Marine Turtles and the Great Apes have in common? They are all on the endangered species list!   

For its environmental conservation program, Intel Malaysia joined forces with the World Wildlife Fund in its first marine specie adoption, i.e. Malaysia's very own Green Turtles. On 8-10 August, 25 Intel Involved volunteers travelled 11 hours each way to participate at a Turtle Camp at BP-Ma' Daerah Turtle Sanctuary in Terengganu. Through generous donations from Intel Malaysia employees, 178 turtles were released into the sea in addition to the adoption of 68 nests.

Our story does not end there. 'Intel' the adopted green turtle was captured at 10:50pm on the night of 17 August 2008 at Ma'Daerah Turtle Sanctuary. Her tag numbers are MY3208 and MY4057 tagged on the right and left flippers respectively. She laid 112 eggs. She was released at 1:50am, after being fitted with a satellite transmitter - not unlike the one on Mumble in the Happy Feet movie!

The RM30K transmitter was donated through collections from the Intel Malaysia & Friends Recycling Campaign, a community program. Through satellite telemetry and computer mapping technology, 'Intel's journey will help to identify important coastal turtle habitat, nesting period, migratory routes and foraging areas. The information gathered will be crucial in persuading policy makers to ratify relevant international treaties relating to marine turtle conservation. You can follow 'Intel's journey at www.seaturtle.org

Sea turtles have been living on earth in their current form since the age of the dinosaurs. If not for anything else, this should be good reason enough to protect them and ensure they continue to be a part of earth's delicate ecosystem.

The many facets of Intel

This is Intel's 40th birthday and like any other human, it is a milestone for Intel. Most of us hear about Intel and changing the way we live for the last 40 years from the 4004 to the latest Quad core products, Intel has managed to change the way we live. But there are many sides to the way Intel has changed the way we live - right from education to recycling to environmental friendly products, to preserving the environment (not to mention turtles in Terengganu - but more on that in the next blog) to providing classes and fun activities for students in the communities that we operate upon. Internally we also have one of the most extensive training programs on Innovation and leadership.

How did we change Malaysia - here is a snap of what Penang looked like when the first site selection was done in the early 1970's and there is a picture of what the Free Trade Zone in Bayan Lepas and the Kulim Hitech Park looks like a few months ago. Do you recognize the person looking at the camera in the first photograph? None other than Andy Grove.

It has been 36 years since Intel has been in Malaysia and I am sure that we have made a positive difference to the lives of the people that we have touch and we are passionate and committed to make a difference with our products, our people and our community programs.

And the winner is....

I went to purchase a notebook yesterday, brand & store I purchased from shall not be disclosed, but I have to say it was not a pleasant experience. To put this into perspective, I had ~15 minutes to decide on a notebook & pay. Here's how it went down:

Part 1: I walked in the store (it was a big store), VERY empty and 'loitered' around for about 10 minutes trying to find somebody to help me. Unfortunately nobody approached me, so I went and proactively asked for help after which a retail sales person came ~2 minutes later. I'll spare you the details, but the retail sales person who ultimately attended to me did not know his notebook products very well. Fortunately I was an informed buyer so it was easy for me to make my decision. But I couldn't help but to think of the poor uninformed buyer and how often times they purchase purely on the retail sales guy's advice. So moral of Part 1, BE INFORMED.

Part 2: The notebook I bought did not have Windows preloaded and I tried to negotiate for the Windows O/S as part of my purchase but in vain. But, during the negotiation process with the retail sales person, he whispered, "if you dun wanna put the original O/S, can buy the pirated one". Of course I dismissed him and proceeded to the counter to pay. For the record, the original Microsoft O/S was RM285. I will come back to this shortly.

Part 3: Arrive at the counter, the cashier hands me the receipt after I paid and says "this is your warranty card". I was in shock. I'm used to an actual warranty card from the vendor. Told him I was buying the notebook as a gift for someone and I did not want to hand them (the recipient) the receipt. So I asked for a receipt without the price on it. Of course that doesn't exist. So we proceeded to open the notebook box searching high and low for the warranty card. To my surprise, there wasn't one. Next the retail sales person reaches into the box, takes out all the manuals and asks his colleague to "chop" one of the manuals. The colleague leaves the shop for like 5 minutes (while I continue to wait) and comes back with a company stamp with the date on the manual. I quickly said thank you and left. I realized it was futile to try and make sense of it all. On the way out, the cashier said to me, "anything, just come back". And of course, no surprise, but this always bugs me, I didn't get a basic "thank you".

Buyer's remorse on my way home: Surprisingly, I didn't have one this time around although I must say, this was an exception. BUT, I can't get something out of my head and that is, the issue on the preloaded OS. While the OEM who chose not to preload the OS was giving the consumer (me) the flexibility to choose and in this case, I obviously will NOT purchase a pirated Windows OS, in the end I lost. The large laptop OEMs I believe have the power to negotiate a lower price for the Windows OS than what you & I would pay for in retail, in my case, RM285. So I couldn't help but to think, in the end the 'good, law abiding' consumer is worse off. Whatever the case, the recipient of the notebook will have to spend RM285 to purchase the Windows OS when they could have potentially gotten it for cheaper if it were preloaded. Here's to giving consumers much improved customer service, choice, flexibility, and winning 100% of the time. On that note, take a look at Intel's latest Power Deals. Pay only for what you need, what a concept!!

Of Power Deals, Savings and Murtabak

Nicely put by Ryaz in his previous entry, I do not want to be rungg-out too!  Many people out there would rather wait and see, hoping that things would get better before they make their purchases. Boy, am telling you that the financial situation that we are in may be sticking with us for quite some time.  So will you be delaying the investment for the future of yours or your children too?

Fret not.  We know that you worry about the increasing expenses.  My brother loathed about it every single minute during our breaking fast yesterday’s evening. And with four kids and a wife to take care off, the situation can be a little daunting. I smirked and had to agree with him on the cost of murtabak (for those unfamiliar, it’s Malaysia’s very own pizza except that it tastes better!) has gone skyrocketing.  Peddlers at Ramadhan food bazaar are really riding on this wave to their advantage.

But I kid you not.  We at Intel understand your concerns.

Introducing, Intel Power Deals.  Not only it helps you to save up in this turbulent time, and for business owners to reduce down your operational IT expenditures, you will stand a chance to win the grand prize 5.1 home surround sound system and a 32’ LCD TV!  It’s high-time now for you to be making that investment for the future and if luck is on your side, you’ll bring some exciting prizes home.

1.  How to do it?  Easy.  Those who already have a desktop at home, when it’s time to get more of that superb performance of our processors or when your computing needs are changing, what you need to do is just to ‘pimp’ your existing desktop up. Buy a combo deal #1 of the Intel Core 2 Duo processor E7200 + the G31PR DT Board from RM599 or the combo deal #2 of the Intel Core 2 Quad processor Q6600 + the G31PR DT Board from RM849 or any combo that are higher in technical specifications from our participating resellers (for a full list, click here to download it), and replace your current processor and board on your system, you have made that significant saving without compromising the performance.  Based on an average selling price of a brand new complete Intel® Core™2 Quad system retailing at RM2,387 in comparison to combo deal #2, you just save up RM1,538. Good deal eh?  More than enough to prepare for your duit raya when you hit your kampong end of the month.

2.  The excitement doesn’t just stop there. And for the enthusiasts, if the processor is the Intel Core 2 Quad processor 9xxx series, boxed or the whole system, you get a chance to win a free PC upgrade from us for the next 15 years!  Or if you’ve used up an allocated amount estimated for a spending of upgrades within 15 years time period.

3.  It still doesn’t stop there. If you buy the combo deal, we would also give you, courtesy of Sendi Mutiara, the gaming title distributor, a 50% discount on the the latest Warcraft Battle Chest game.

4.  And you know what… this upgrade deal is also applicable to notebooks!!  At the moment, notebook owners of the Acer and FTEC brands of selected skus, can also enjoy that fantastic mobile performance by having their notebook processor upgraded.

Four awesome deals in one promotion.  So, the next time you visit the Ramadhan food bazaar, you will not sigh so much as the savings made in your PC upgrades can now be channeled to your murtabak purchases. Now, if only murtabak can also be upgraded. J

Selamat Berpuasa folks!  And Happy Savings!

Ringg-IT or be Rungg-OUT

I am not a financial analyst or an expert in global trading, but I do have some common sense. When it comes to trading, (ie: the buying & selling of goods) global trade is dependent on many factors, and no one will argue that the price of the US Dollar relative to local currencies and the price of oil probably have the biggest impact on global trade. 

Just about every component that makes a desktop, notebook, or a server is manufactured outside of Malaysia, so we basically import almost everything (ie: Motherboard, hard disk drives, optical drives, memory, etc. etc.);  Not ideal, but it’s reality. Just about every sector in the economy seems to have been affected by a combination of oil prices &/or currency fluctuations and the IT sector is no exception.

Most desktops, notebooks, or server brands have held their pricing somewhat constant (+/- 5%) in the recent and continued turbulence, but the real question is how much longer will the industry keep holding is anyone’s guess. Oil prices, while down today are up almost 4-fold from their low, and the US Dollar is now close to its 12-month high relative to the Ringgit.  Then there is another factor, financing costs.  For those of you who buy your computing devices via financing deals, you’ll notice, interest rates are on the rise too.

To summarize, the US Dollar is up, interest rates are up, and oil prices are down. If you’re sitting on the fence, undecided about whether now’s a good time to buy or not, then my 2 cents is don’t wait.  Just Ringg-it in or you risk be Rungg-OUT.

Check out how the Ringgit has fared over the last 12 months viz the US Dollar (Source: Yahoo Currency Converter)

Connected Malaysian

I've had my iPod touch for quite sometime but never really got a chance to meddle with it long enough to appreciate it. Until last nite when I downloaded a bunch of apps online onto this device. And here I am blogging at leisure pretty much anytime anywhere. Isn't that amazing? A small tiny sleek device that can connect me to a wealth of info. The point am trying to make is that they are more and more options available now for people to just simply communicate. And to think that 5 years ago none of these ever existed.

This is not a promo for iPod. It's just my own personal fascination how technologies evolve.

If we ALL Tele-Commuted....Additional Comments

One more thing I forgot to talk about is, optimal implementation of telecommuting helps organizations save BIG $$ in office rentals. There are many companies, including Intel who have implemented the concept of "hotdesking" for those who telecommute so that office or cube-space is shared as opposed to a dedicated cube for everyone. It saves organizations big money and those $$ can be redirected for employee training or for team building events. Have a great weekend and here's wishing everyone Selamat Hari Merdeka and for all the muslims, here's wishing you Selamat Berpuasa.

If we ALL Tele-Commuted....

As defined by Wikipedia, Telecommuting, e-commuting, e-work, telework, working at home (WAH), or working from home (WFH) is a work arrangement in which employees enjoy flexibility in working location and hours. In other words, the daily commute to a central place of work is replaced by telecommunication links. Imagine if 100% of us worked from home and didn't have to physically commute to work everyday. Possible, yes. Realistic, hmm..maybe not 100% but even if 50% of us worked from home ONCE a week, think of how our lifestyles would change. First of all, we'd save a ton of money on fuel, and we'd feel great about our carbon credits. And then the obvious ones, we'd be able to spend more time with the family, we'd be more efficient in getting through our day's work with fewer interruptions and my list goes on. Technology today allows companies to implement telecommuting very easily, very efficiently, and very securely. Notebooks are VERY affordable. Broadband, not WOW, but truth is it's not that bad. Try broadband in Australia and you'll feel GREAT about what we have here. So what are the barriers?? I think the single biggest barrier is overcoming perception. A large number of people believe telecommuting = vacationing at home. Coming to the office = I can watch over you. Ok let's get a little real...The majority of employees in Malaysia are in their late 30's and I'm thinking if you need to babysit a 30-year old, then you probably shouldn't have hired them in the first place. So here's a simple solution for managers: 1) Ensure roles & responsibilities are clear with your employees, 2) goals and objectives are agreed upon, and 3) check progress in your regular 1x1's with your staff and course-correct. Empower & trust your staff...it's really that simple. If you can't trust, you know what I'm thinking.

At a macro level, I have a couple recommendations: 1) The HR organizations need to implement a telecommuting policy, IT needs to ensure their infrastructure supports telecommuting, ie: VPN, for example, and lastly managers must encourage and role model.
And then 2) I'd like to encourage the government to implement a tax incentive model (work from home, save on fuel, less tax money spent on fuel subsidy, allows those precious ringgits to be spent elsewhere...I'm thinking healthcare, education etc.) for companies who encourage and have a % of their staff telecommuting.

In closing I'd like to say Intel has excellent telecommuting policies and managers are encouraged to be flexible and allow their staff to work from home. In fact at our office here in KL, there are three employees I see on average once a month. They work from home full-time...pretty cool! Say YES to mobility, say YES to telecommuting!

What's The Big Deal About WiMAX?

WiMAX.  It's on the pages of your local papers on a daily basis.  What's the big deal about it.For the uninitiated, here's what Wikipedia has to say:

WiMAX, the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, is a telecommunications technology that provides for the wireless transmission of data in a variety of ways, ranging from point-to-point links to full mobile cellular-type access. The technology is based on the IEEE 802.16 standard (also called WirelessMAN). The name "WiMAX" was created by the WiMAX Forum, which was formed in June 2001 to promote conformity and interoperability of the standard. The forum describes WiMAX as "a standards-based technology enabling the delivery of last milewireless broadband access as an alternative to cable and DSL" (and also to High Speed Packet Access).  Click link for more details: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wimax

Err... wait a minute.  These are technical jargons.  These mumbo-jumbos are not to be understood by the average Ali (Ali is our own localised Joe).  How would I simplify it?  Aptly enough, it's simple.  To me, it's wifi on steroids.

Wifi is now my new limb attached to my body, with other 'limbs' including my ever loyal mp3 player (refuse to give out the brand name! maybe we need to start charging as traffic to the site is getting higher! :-)) It has become so common, and to certain extend, many mobile users have taken them from granted as access is widely available in Kuala Lumpur.  Every evening, before I get to bed, I turn on my notebook to check on emails or upload photos or update my songs list on my ever loyal brand non-disclosed mp3 player and wallahh!!... the seamless connectivity is on!  Without having to configure anything. 

And now, here comes WiMAX.  Wider range, bigger radius, stronger connection.  Enabling you to 'Explore More'  That was what communicated at the P1 W1MAX launch that I attended yesterday.  It has been quite awhile since I attended a massive launch event and what P1 W1MAX delivered was impressive.  Wish I had brought my camera and snapped photos for this blog readers.  White cloth covering all four walls of the Mandarin Oriental grand ballroom.  Tables in classy setting named after various locations of P1 current and future coverage.  And drinks in some fancy colors... yeaah... green, pink, blue...  Launch gambit was awesome, but what made my day was when the Minister of Energy, Water and Communications, accompanied by bigwigs of P1 on a teleconference to parties in other locations.  Connected to P1 W1MAX CPE (the device that connects WiMAX to your computing device), that launch gambit was all made possible by the superb, awesome, fantastic (ok.. ok.. i made it too hard sell) Intel Centrino 2 processor technology based notebook.  I silently had my 'aaawww' (that feeling you had in on of those sweet moments of American sitcoms) upon seeing the logo of Centrino 2 on the big elongated screen.  Haha... and what made it even better was its performance.  Running on a superfast P1 W1Max connection, that notebook was, at least, my superhero of the day.  It rocks man!

Now that it has been launched, we are working with the P1 team to aggressively go to market.  Consumers are now getting smarter and they want everything that have maximum values (watch out for my entry on this!!)  This combination is awesome... and forgive me for being hard sell, superb, awesome, fantastic results are what you gonna get!  Go Centrino 2! Go WiMAX!

Go Green Batu Feringghi

What could make approximately 800 people descend to Batu Feringghi as early as 8 o'clock on a Saturday morning? Bus loads of Intel Involved Program volunteers, school teachers and students from our communities in Penang and Kulim, the MPPP, Penang Forestry Department, hotels' staff, friends from Agilent Technologies and local communities came one and all, to participate in the Go Green Batu Feringghi beach clean-up on August 16th. At the point of this entry, data is still being tabulated as to the amount of trash collected for recycling and proper disposal, an effort through collaboration with the Ocean Conservancy's International Coastal Clean-Up Day in September...I guess that makes the Batu Feringghi clean-up ahead of the rest! :) Last year, six million pounds of trash was cleared from the coast and waterways globally.

To me, the thing that mattered most was that many people cared enough to give up their time and come together for a common cause - there is hope for planet earth! Let's all continue to reduce, reuse & recycle - every little bit you can do to help goes a long way.

And the coolest of all these is the 2000 over volunteer hours contributed by Intel employees that will go back to the participating schools in the form of cash through a matching grant from Intel Foundation!

Cleaning up begins!

Intel Involved Volunteers scouting for debris along the Ferringhi Beach

Overwhelming response from the Penang community

For more pics, do check it out at our Flickr site! Cheers!

Want to Win an Intel Core 2 Quad Machine?

Olympics, of a different kind

While we're all glued to the Olympics these few weeks, I'd like to talk about an olympic experience some of the brightest Malaysian students and their teachers had in what I call the olympics of science & engineering, the International Science & Engineering Fair (ISEF) 2008. Intel is a sponsor of ISEF. Quick background, ISEF is a yearly event which sees ~1500 students from ~50 countries & 1200 science & engineering projects competing for ~US$4 million in prizes. But that's one aspect of the olympic experience. I'll come back to this is a minute, let me say a few words about how Malaysia did.

I was very pleased and proud of the Malaysia team who bagged two awards at this year's event, one project was about our very own kadok (Piper sarmentosum) root as an anti-ulcerogenic agent and the other award was for a hybrid electromagnetic drum brake system. You can find more details about them at http://sciserv.org/isef/, and you'll find numerous press write-ups about the Malaysian team on the internet.

Back to the 'olympic experience'. Like the Olympics, these science & engineer athletes go through a fairly rigorous selection process and then a prep phase to get them ready for the big show. I had a chance to hear directly from the students and teachers about their experiences and how amazed they were at the quality of the projects displayed at ISEF but they also confirmed the competitive environment and how the athletes (students in this case) and the coaches (their teachers) spent months ahead of the event fine tuning their project. That was all exciting.

Now to the part that needs attention. The Malaysian teachers who attended, and prepared the students to attend discussed how they were challenged for resources ahead of their trip. Some teachers talked about how they had to take money out of their own pocket to fund some of the transportation and in other cases to purchase some of the basic materials they needed for their respective projects. So I can't help but to wonder 'why?' We are fundamentally a well-to-do nation, blessed with natural resources, with a growing emphasis on human capital development. So it begs the question, why are some of our brightest short of resources to complete (thoroughly) their science & engineering projects. I was told there isn't a shortage of project ideas and proposals, just seemingly a lack of focus & attention. Feels like we should be at the other end of the spectrum, the students should be complaining about an excess of resources. We must build a system that gives all ideas a chance. We are competing on a global platform, and it only gets more competitive from here, we can't afford to under-resource our students in the subject matters (science & engineering) that will be critical for the country's future. In fact, let me take it one step further, we have to be paranoid about the bigger risk, which is, we start to see a significant decline in our student's interest towards science & engineering fields. How exciting if Malaysian minds found the cures for illnesses & diseases we have been unable to solve today. How exciting if Malaysian minds were at the heart of finding solutions to save our environment. That is possible, I believe it is....BUT, again, it needs focus.

The iCafe Debate

As we were discussing icafes earlier in the office today I thought I'd spend a few minutes and share my thoughts on this never-ending debate on icafes. iCafes, in case you don't know are places people go to, typically with friends, to play and socialize on the Internet. The question is, are they good or bad for Malaysia society?? There isn't a straight answer on this one, because if there was, there wouldn't be a debate about them!! But let me say a few things about these venues. For many, iCafe's are the "1st PC experience" particularly for those who can't afford to purchase their own. In China for example, there are >120 thousand iCafe outlets throughout the country, in Vietnam, there are 14 thousand outlets and in South Korea, thousands too. In fact once upon a time, Korea was leading the world in icafe outlets. In all countries, they have provided an opportunity for millions of people to get online, experience what the web has to offer, both good and not-so-good and of course they've created significant business opportunities for some and inspired others. The impact of these outlets to society are intriguing and I can probably write an entire book if I ever had the time.

For example, icafe's in Korea have provided a platform for some of the world's best online gamers to emerge, and these professional gamers, ie: 'pro-gamers' as we call them have laughed all the way to the bank with big sponsorship $$, scholarships, TV interviews, etc. etc. How?? By spending many hours at these venues and at home perfecting their game. Good or bad? It's not for me to pass judgment. But something else has emerged as a result of this in both China & Korea, HUGE game developers who are now creating & developing games not only for their domestic markets, but the global marketplace. Companies such as Shanda Entertainment, http://www.snda.com/en/index.jsp in China now trades on NASDAQ, and NCSoft, http://www.ncsoft.com/global/ who trades on the Korean Stock Exchange have spawned from very small 'shops' to huge businesses creating significant amount of wealth not only for their shareholders but their employees too. So you ask yourself, wow, what were the factors that contributed to these? Besides government policy, there's probably one thing that contributed the most, and that was the buildout of a solid broadband infrastructure since the majority of the games they play and develop are online based.

So let me bring this back to us in Malaysia. What's happening here??? There are approx. two thousand officially registered icafe's today in Malaysia and probably another one thousand operating unofficially but they seem to be growing. But, every owner I talk to says, there's a stigma around these venues, in particular, with the way they look, the décor, and a not-so-good perception about what icafe goers do once they get there. I strongly believe there are ways to overcome some of these hurdles with things like star-rating system, ad-hoc audits, turn this existing icafe infrastructure to create a network of schools where budding developers can learn how to create 3-D animation, etc. etc. and then let the rest build from there. Whether you go to ESWC, The DOTA tournament that SMM is running or the World Cyber Games, gamers are growing in number...we have an opportunity to shape some of these enthusiasts in a way that builds the next 'Shanda' or the next NCSoft. We can do it, it requires focus, but definitely within reach for Malaysia! I know this is long, but this discussion can never be summarized in a couple sentences, believe me I tried, but couldn't.

Small is the next BIG thing - Contest Entries

Click here to check out all the entries of our recent "Small in the next BIG thing" contest held at PC Fair II, KL!

Stay tuned as we will be announcing 3 winners who will be walking away with a brand new netbook each courtesy of Intel Malaysia!!

What Economic Recession?

Who ever said there was an economic recession in Malaysia?? PC Fair yesterday (Saturday August 2nd) was rockin'! I couldn't help asking myself the same question over and over again, what economic recession? Our Intel booth was very busy with lots of interest in all the three major products we were showcasing, the Skulltrail-based plaform for serious gamers, the Atom(tm) based netbooks and then the latest Intel(r) Centrino(r) 2 lineup from all our customers. I am heading back again right now so if you read this before you come to the PC Fair today in KL, come and say hi at the Intel booth. Looking forward to seeing you all there!

The Next Billion, Continued

I am back, really excited to be home and of course just as you'd guess, I hit my favorite food joint (a discussion for another day) the moment I landed. To close out on the training I attended, we spent 10 days with some of the brightest minds at Intel dealing with The Next Billion, checkout http://www.nextbillion.net . You'd imagine we would have done unfriendly things to each other by day 9, but we didn't, in fact it was one of the most memorable 10 days I've ever had in my career.

On the topic itself, the more research we did, the more we realized just how BIG this opportunity is and just how under-served this audience is today. So you're thinking, what's new?? Well what's new is these folks, supposedly at the 'bottom of the pyramid' are flush with cash to spend today because of the increase in commodity prices. That audience also hasn't grasped the concept of savings (neither have many of us urbanites), but it reinforces the fact that there is money out there chasing goods to buy, and now we're playing catch-up because the world at large has not given them due attention for so many years. So I think it's high time we got our act together and put our energies together to narrow this divide.

Lookout for more from Intel on this topic coming very soon. And now, on to my next favorite topic, PC Fair, in a new entry.

LIVE From PC FAIR!!!

Using an Asus Eee PC powered by the small yet powerful Intel Atom processor, this blog hath been entered! Live from PC Fair and on a P1 WiMAX connection!  How cool is that?

I'm fortunate to be among the first to be experiencing the best in technologies.  45nm processor, seamless WiMAX connectivity... This excitement will soon be mass as at the rate of consumers response to our booth, it's two-thumbs up all the way!  Also when you are here, don't forget to check on our awesome mean gaming machines powered by the Intel Core 2 Quad processor.  And those mobile warriors, check out the wide range of Centrino 2 procerssor technology-based notebooks.

So watch out for more entries live from PC Fair!  We will also be uploading pictures from the small is the next big thing contest.  Do put in your comments!

Till then, here's Hizam.  Signing off... live from Intel's booth at KL PC Fair!!!

Small is the Next Big Thing - 4th Chapter

All this chronological numbering to the title making it sound like Star Wars... Jedi Rules!

Anyway... back to the topic.

I wrote about the Small is the Next BIG thing contest at PC Fair recently where you need to bring or act out anything that carries the essense of small yet powerful, like our processors. Read more here.

Here's the clinch.  We've decided to give out some prizes to entries that are creative, original and just simply whacky and out-of-the-world!

They are small.  Cool and slick looking.  And powered by some ass-kicking powerful processors, the Intel Atom processor.

   

So come and visit us at KL PC Fair starting this Friday!!!

Small is the Next Big Thing - Part III

For the uninitiated you must be wondering what is this all about? What's so big about small? Why should I be excited over something so small? Well, it has to do with our 45nm processors.

Intel's new 45nm Penryn microprocessor relies on a new recipe that combines the element Hafnium and metal gate technology to increase performance, significantly improve eco-friendliness, and reduce wasteful electricity leaks. But what does that mean to you?

Check out this video.

So you are now ready to help save the world but are not sure which processors to look out for at PC Fair? Without oversimplifying things, just asks for Intel Core 2 Duo or Core 2 Quad processors with the numbering 7XXX, 8XXX or 9XXX and you'll find the right one to suit your needs and budget.

See you at PC Fair :)