Passing of an Unparalleled Talent

Michael Jackson, a powerful music icon during his era passed away on 25-6-2009. He may have been a very controversial figure, but I, for one will honour him not for the way he lived his life but rather for his incomparable talent. Regardless of whatever human mistakes and weaknesses, his passing is a big loss of an invaluable talent.

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AFP summarised his story as follows:-

I wasn't a big fan of his but I grew up having to inevitably listen to his music. Not that I had his CDs and tapes but those days, the radio stations were all filled with his music. Some of his songs are really nice and I'll honour them by refreshing their good tunes and noble intentions here:

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And a message about not looking at others by the colour of their skin:
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Hybrid Solar-Diesel Power - Part I

If in March 2009, someone by the name of En Hamid (a deservedly Sabahan Hero) showed to the world that one does not need to have a certificate to build a hydro-power generator, this time Tambunan came to light again with the commissioning of a hybrid solar power-diesel generator in mid-June 2009 at one of the remote villages.
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Suitable for places at remote locations, this system supply electricity continuously during wet and rainy seasons. The term hybrid refers to a system in which two or more supplies from different energy sources are integrated to supply electricity to the same demand.
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Schematic diagram of a hybrid PV solar-diesel power generator

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Simply put, an array of PV panels is installed side by side with a diesel power generator and the operations is controlled via centralised control panel manually. The system can be upgraded such that the changeover from solar power supply to starting up of diesel power generator takes place automatically.

Storage batteries are used to store energy harnessed through the PV panels during sunny days. During wet season, whereby PV panels could not 'collect' sufficient energy so meet night time energy requirement, the diesel power generator would kick in and take over the job.
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Pretty simple isn't it? The big question is determination. I did not put "cost" as the stumbling block as cost can be relative, depending on the focus and determination of the government to alleviate the situation of our rural folks.

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What is the cost then, you may ask. Okay, take a village of about 30 household which would require about 30kW (capped at 1kW/household) of total load. You are talking about RM700k to RM800k for a complete system. Take into consideration import taxes and other regulatory payments which can be discounted for government initiative, we may be looking at half of that cost??
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TO EVERYTHING THERE IS A SEASON

For everything there is a time under heaven. You may weep today but you will be full of joy tomorrow. You may endure difficulties today but you will rejoice tomorrow, for droughts are made to follow wet days.