Systems Thinking and Common Sense

Occasionally I read forums/facebook groups on transportation(s) in Malaysia. I’ve noticed that the questions most often would be along the line, “Why aren’t we having this ______ in Malaysia, it’s super advanced technology!” I would sometime reply and mention the restrictions and constraints related to the technology proposed. Sometimes people would reply, still pushing and…

Are We Aliens

After dinner tonight, my son asked me the reason why Allah made us like this. “What do you mean like this?” I asked. “You know, like this,” he said and raised his arm.”You mean five fingers?” ”Yes,” he said. “Allah could have made us like a blob and like an alien, and then if we…

The Pursuit of Worrying

I have just finished IRSE module C and D today, a completion of the IRSE exams. Altogether there are 4 modules, A, B, C and D, and I started taking the exams with module A, in 2022. It has been 3 years constantly preparing for exams, that today I feel a bit ’empty’ after completing…

Dopamine and Waking Up

As I was growing up, the term adrenaline became popular. Or at least I became more aware of it in writings and shows. “When the adrenaline starts kicking in…” was one of the phrase that I remember. Nowadays, there are more variety of hormones that has ‘become’ mainstream. One of it is the dopamine. Dopamine…

Passive and Active: Learning and Level Crossings

In railway signalling, one of the most problematic or challenging part is, subjectively, the level crossings. It is the part where the road meets the rail, where normal railway operation which is rigid and structured, meets the road operation that in some ways, very loose and has many variables. It’s an interface and interface always…

Santiago Rail Crash

02/10/2024 – Update: SARS is organizing a ‘repeat’ of this webinar, available for registration here. I joined a webinar yesterday, discussing the rail crash of a high speed train in Spain about 11 years ago. The presenter gave evidence during the court prosecutions, which resulted in the safety director being sentenced to 2.5 years in…

The Cart Before The Bus

Apparently the news in my home country, in respect to public transport, is that the government and some companies, is planning to introduce an autonomous self-driving bus. Needless to say, this caught people’s attention. But it is still in trial, and it is not clear when the technology will be mature enough to be in…

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Life is an Exam

Life is an exam, or not. All my life, or at least my early years of life, I have been prepping for exams very year. In Malaysia there is the primary school exams (UPSR) that determines whether you can go to a boarding school with better facilities and reputed more experienced teachers. There you prepare…

Wales of Fun

Recently I went on a short holiday to a short distance away place, which is Wales. To be more exact, the Snowdonia area in Wales. I must admit it was better than I expected; I’ve seen videos and people telling how beautiful the places are in Wales, but visiting it myself is another whole level….