Uncle Keong – Malaysia’s most honest cab driver

Hey guys,

I believe that good deeds should be rewarded so lemme share you a story.

Last month, on the only day I decided to take an LRT in 2009, the bloody thing breakdown. So I waited as the train crawled to Bangsar station, got down, and jumped into a cab. Because I was already late for my appointment, I was in a hurry to get off once i reached Mandarin Oriental. Only after my appointment did I realise that I left my 2-month old iPod Classic 160GB in the back seat!

Because I didn't get the cab's number or company, the only thing I could do was to call the Mandarin Oriental and ask them to just check if any cab driver would return it the next day. I asked them to call me back the next day to double check and they said they would. Unfortunately, they didn't.

Assuming it was lost, I was thinking of getting another one. Luckily I am a procrastinator, cos 2 weeks later I get a note saying that my iPod is with my neighbour! I am totally confused, but when I go to collect it, my neighbour says the cab driver tried dropping it off at my house but i wasn't home. So he left it with a note.

Dear Lau Chak Onn,

I found your iPod in my back seat. Call me at 012 923 2333.

Uncle Keong

HOW THE HECK DID HE KNOW MY FULL NAME AND MY ADDRESSS?!
When I called hi that night and explained who i was, he sorta mumbled into the phone something like

I can't hear you... Ï'm drinking, call me tomorrow!

Next day when I called him, he said he passed the phone to his daughter, who pressed some buttons and found my home address AND my IC and full name! Confused, I thanked him for returning the iPod, and wanted to meet up with him to offer an AngPow. He said he was very busy and would call me when i was in his area.

After I hung up, I immediately went to my iPod to see what button he pressed. At first I thought because I bought it online that Apple puts your data in there. But it wasn't in the About section, it was in the Photo section cos iTunes automatically syncs with My Pictures, and I had a very old scan of my IC there!
And up to today (about 2 weeks after the incident), Uncle Keong hasn't even called to collect his reward.

3 Lessons I have learnt from this.

1. Even when in a rush, always remember the cab number if you can, and look back at your seat.
2. Be careful what you sync on your iPod
3. Sometimes, a Malaysian cab driver can offer much better service than the ridiculously expensive Mandarin Oriental

Thanks for listening, and Thanks to Uncle Keong for giving us hope in an increasingly hopeless country.

Please give him business at 012 923 2333.

chak
www.foldees.com

No it’s not an April Fool’s joke, it’s a Modern Fairytale

Sorry to disappoint, guys. We actually totally forgot to con you guys today, unlike last year. In fact, irony of ironies, we’re launching something actually quite different (no, really… we are this time).

We’re making wedding cards. No seriously, we are.

The theme is “A Modern Fairytale”, and what we’re looking for is an update on wedding cards, beyond the frills and fancy cut-outs. Here are four pointers to get a better idea of what we’re looking for.

1. They shouldn’t be too slapstick, and yet, not too normal instead. Think a nicely cut suit with a modern pastel colour on the inside, rather than a clown suit with flower buttons.
2. Be sure to include lots of empty space on the inside of the card so that couples can add their details. You can even leave room for photos on the cover of the couple. 
3. For wedding cards, people like to write the words themselves, so use a maximum of 10 words, or better none. Instead, try to convey as much of your idea through illustrations as possible.
4. Submit EARLY! For a new category like this, we anticipate quite a bit of tweaking of your designs before they’re market-ready. The earlier you submit, the more time we have to assess your design, and give you the appropriate advice on how to improve it.

Speaking of the cover, we have THREE new templates for you guys to try out, just for this contest. Please note that we are not accepting cards made in the standard template.

• SQUARE & TALL Templates – These are essentially the same format as our Good ol’ A5 sized cards, except one’s .shorter, and the other one’s taller. This is because people getting married want things a little different. Don’t ask us why.
• SPLIT Template – This one’s a bit tricky. Basically the cover splits in two, to reveal the inside. We actually allow you guys to customise the back on this card, so do feel free to put a little colour there (although don’t depend on the back of the card to convey your idea entirely).

On top of that, we now allow variants of a single design, meaning that the same card can be translated into up to 4 variants. Our upload engine at www.foldees.com/contestentry.aspx should allow you to do this quite easily. Once all your entries are in, we’ll nominate one as your main entry.

Here are some additional idea directions to explore.

• Pop Couples – particularly for the SPLIT template, you can use a Mario and Princess, or R2D2 and C3PO combination, or even an Orc and an Elf.
• Updated Fairytales – Very much in theme, feel free to update classic fairy tales like Snow White or Alladin with a modern twist. If you want to see a great example of this, watch the Shrek trilogy again. Now.
• Modern Romance – These days, people meet in all sorts of never-before heard places – in Warcraft, on forums, over a game of poker, texting on their mobiles or even on Facebook. Perhaps they might also like to buy cards that highlight these moments.
• Motifs – Modern cards have alot of twirls and flowers on them, repeated in patterns ad infinitum. Perhaps you could come up with a modern intepretation of those paterns, using iPhone earplugs or even keyboard pieces.

*Whew*…. okay. This is going to be our last contest for a while, so do your best! Also, because wedding cards are usually ordered in quantities of 200 or more, you can look forward to some really juicy royalties as well!

Contest closes 5th April 2010, so hurry on to www.foldees.com/contest now.

 

 

 

Ok, that last part was a joke. HAH! Gotcha… contest closes 15th May 2010.