Awakening: The Abdullah Badawi Years in Malaysia

Pak Lah... one of my "acceptable" leaders behind Tunku Abdul Rahman. In fact, they are the only two leaders who I think are good enough to lead Malaysia. Put aside the weak implementation, Pak Lah is as visionary as Tunku Abdul Rahman. If he was given enough time with better implementer, I believe Pak Lah will ends up as one of the most successful leader in Malaysia. However, there is no "if" in history. Hence, there is no point to discuss further on this.

On this book... interesting... Ok, I admit that I bought this book only when there was a half price offer in local Popular, LOL. Well, it does not mean that I do not like this book. I love it as I love any biography. But... I made a mistake here. I never know that this is actually not a pure biography. It is actually a collection of articles, edited by the author. I did not flip it in the first place. So, my mistake... LOL.

Ended up... I think I love this mistake. This book is actually a nice book. I love the editing way from the author. I think he focus on the "awakening" side with very good view and personal opinion given throughout the book. I may not agree with all their opinions. But, this book made me think and it refreshed tons of memories that happened throughout whole Malaysia during that period.

However... due to its thickness, readers may find boring. There are repetitions in some articles. Same story had been brought up by different writers throughout the book. Hence, I thought the editor can do more by filtering out some of the repeated articles regardless of the significant role played by the writer. I have a feeling that the chosen articles are based on the popularity and status of the writer. I may be wrong. But, I really think some articles are simply not needed.

Overall, I rate this book at 6/10. To me, this is more like a history book. It makes sense to read this book with current political mess in Malaysia right now. At least, we can do a comparison and we finally realized that whatever things that failed Pak Lah in the past may not be the worst... God bless Malaysia... 

The Psychology of Trading: Tools and Techniques for Minding the Markets

I am a big fan of Brett N. Steenbarger. In fact, I collected series of articles written by Brett N. Steenbarger via "Stock, Futures, Options (SFO)" magazine since year 2003. Those articles are like bible to me even until today. However, I actually never read a book by the said author. So, here I am with my first book from my idol.

Ended up... Wow, amazing!!! As much as I love the author's articles, I love this book too. This is a top written book, which includes trading skills as well as psychology and therapy methods to enhance existing trading skills. The author is qualified to do so with his tremendous background as counsellor and active trader.

Furthermore, I thought the author did so well in this book as most ideas are on the proactive side. One good example is the author does not reject emotional issues. Instead, he view it as something norms and there are tons of proactive methods to overcome it. In another words, the author made use of all so called "bad" stuff and overturn it into something useful. That is the amazing part of this book.

On the flaws, I thought this book may not suit every reader. First of all, readers of this book must equip themselves with certain knowledge in psychology and trading skills. Without this, readers may feel lost throughout the book. As for old and bold trader like me, this book is my best book in year 2015!

Initially, I prepared to list down series of good quotes as usual. However, it is a big headache when there are so many quotes qualified as excellent quotes. As such, I found it hard to do just a summary for this book. The only solution is to reread this book annually. (No wonder I found myself still rereading all the author's articles since year 2003) Having said that... I have no hesitation to rate this book at 10/10. This is a must read book for all traders. 

易中天中华史：南朝，北朝

这是易中天中华史的最后一卷。。。也是，我最期待的一卷！！！南朝北朝胡人汉化以及汉人接受胡人，再到最后的隋唐一统确实是中国历史上一段可歌可泣的事迹。读了【狼图腾】过后，这一卷更加吸引我。以前忽略了胡人和西方胡人（阿提拉同胞甚至是后来的日耳曼人）对于中国和西方文化的贡献。这一卷恰恰解答了我所有的疑问！

南朝，北朝或许是许多历史读者忽略的一部分。诚如易老师所说，读者更加欣赏民间历史典故如三国。但是，真正刻画我们现在的文化却是前人南朝北朝的一段奋斗史。这一段奋斗史充满了实验。每个实验者都是沿着前人的成功与失败不断的在摸索更好的出路。最后，中华史之所以能迈向更长久的未来，西晋末年，八王乱起，江山板荡，五胡乱华的确起到了它的作用。有一点还真的让我影响很深刻的：“五胡是被消融而非消灭的。不过，这种变化是双向的，汉化的同时也在胡化。比如双脚着地坐在椅子上，就是胡人的坐法。汉人的坐法是双縢前跪，席地而坐。” 易老师就是有这样的神笔。一个有逻辑性的道理，再配上你我都很熟悉的例子。试问，这样的历史书籍，怎能不吸引读者呢？

易老师的这最后一卷确实是这一套中华史的精髓。这个完结篇不只把整个中华史给画上了句号。它也是后续，甚至是当今中华文化的一部分。易老师这一套中华史写的真精彩。10分满分，没办法不给满分。这本书再次开拓了我许多视野。易老师的书籍很容易把读者看待事物的角度变得更多元化。本人很期待他接下来的作品。毕竟，阅读历史书能够读到那么过瘾，除了易老师，顶多也只是袁腾飞能办到罢了。谢谢易老师这一套呕心沥血的创作。赞，赞，赞，实在是太赞了！！！

以下是一惯的经典语录：

阿提拉不在乎罗马帝国。中国匈奴人却对汉文化充满了敬意和向往。

事实上刘渊的理想是匈奴人做天子。国号叫汉，只不过是因为汉有号召力。他这是借壳上市。

人马合一的骑兵所向无敌。正是靠这种极具杀伤力的快速部队，唐王朝创作了农业帝国大规模战胜游牧民族的奇迹。也正是马镫，促使欧洲产生了骑士阶层和封建制度。难怪有人会这样认为：历史是由科学技术的进步造就的。

实际上，一向被许多人忽略的南北朝恰恰是中华历史上的一个转折点。北方和南方都在进行各种探索和实验，只不过北方更多地提供了成功经验，南方却在试错。然而，试错同样是有意义的。事实上，正是由于有北方的经验和南方的教训，后来的隋唐才能实现大变革。

正是宗教，最鲜明的体现出第一帝国（秦汉）与第二帝国（隋唐）文明的分野。

东晋以后，偏安江左的士族心已不再是国家兴亡和民族盛衰，而是既得利益和个人安危。他们并不想普度众生，只希望健康长寿。因此，道家杨朱主张的及时行乐，庄子主张的逍遥自在，与道教宣扬的服食行气养生成仙，便一并成为士大夫的首选和最爱。

儒学不是宗教，也只适合治世，不适合乱世。乱世无次序，无权威，无希望，靠得住的只有神。统治者要靠鬼神之威，造反派要借灵异之力，草民们期盼着救世主，于是佛法大行，道教大兴。

四百年的历史可以这样来概括：统一的大帝国一分为三，这就是三国。短暂统一之有再次大分裂，这就是魏晋十六国。然后是四分五裂变成南北对峙，这就是南北朝。最后是西方战胜东方，北方统一南方，诞生新的中华大帝国，其路线跟当年的秦并天下几乎一样。

罗马没有长城，只有大道。条条大路通罗马与长城内外分夷夏，是两种不同的模式个取向。前者意味着文明可以是多元的，也可以新建，哪怕付出代价。后者却认为世界只有一个中心，文明只有一种形态，我们也只有一种选择，那就是守住自己的根基，哪怕重新整合。否则，就只有毁灭。

后来的历史则证明，民族融合要以汉为主，汉胡互化；意识形态要以儒为主，并容佛道。这是最适合当时国情的选择。

南方与北方，俨然两个世界。此后，关于南北差异的说法越来越多，比如，南腔北调和南拳北腿。就连男女关系暧昧，南北说法都有不同：南方叫“有一手”，北方叫“有一腿”。顾炎武说，北方学者的问题，是饱食终日，无所用心；南方学者的毛病，是群居终日，言不及义。鲁迅先生则说，北人的优点是厚重，缺点是愚钝；南人的优点是机灵，缺点是狡猾。