Nathaniel Tan

Too good a story to not to make a 🧵 :) via @staronline The true #BangsaMalaysia spirit! #cxrecs_s" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">thestar.com.my/news/nation/20…

err... why this pic + this headline ah? lol! ><

In 1979, Madison; Wisconsin, a woman sits in a basement office, writing code line by line on a computer most hospitals don't even know they need yet. Her name is Judy Faulkner. She's started with $6,000 to $7,000 of her own money, plus contributions from friends and family totaling around $70,000. No venture capital. No Silicon Valley connections. Just a conviction that the American healthcare system is killing people because doctors can't access the information they desperately need. She had watched it happen. Medical records stayed trapped in filing cabinets and incompatible systems when patients moved between cities and providers. Doctors made critical decisions in the dark, lacking the patient histories they needed. People died from preventable mistakes. That systemic failure became her mission. Faulkner began building software that would let patient information follow the patient, no matter where they went. It was a radical idea in an era when most hospitals still relied on paper charts and metal drawers. Decades later, she controls Epic Systems, the most powerful health technology company in America. Her software manages medical records for over 300 million patients worldwide. Roughly half of all U.S. hospital beds run on systems she created. Her wealth sits between $7 and $8 billion. And almost no one knows her name. She never took Epic public. Never accepted venture capital. Never sold out. She believed Wall Street would force her to chase quarterly profits instead of patient outcomes. So she kept control, kept her wealth locked in private shares, and kept building. Now in her eighties, she's methodically dismantling that fortune. In 2015, she signed the Giving Pledge. Then went further, committing to give away 99 percent of her wealth. She and her husband created the Roots & Wings Foundation, named after advice she once gave her children when they asked what they needed most from her. "You need roots and wings," she told them. Values to anchor you. Freedom to grow. Everything else is noise. Today, that foundation distributes tens of millions annually, aiming for $100 million a year. Food security. Healthcare access. Education. Housing. She's not waiting until she's gone to make an impact. She's converting ownership into action right now, while she's still here to see it work. In an age of billionaire spectacle, Judy Faulkner built an empire in silence, accumulated unimaginable wealth without chasing it, and is now giving it all away with the same quiet determination she used to write that first line of code in a Wisconsin basement. Faulkner still runs Epic Systems from its headquarters in Verona, Wisconsin, where the campus has become legendary for its design. Buildings are themed after famous works of literature and fantasy, with conference rooms modeled after Hogwarts, Alice in Wonderland, and Star Trek. Employees traverse tunnels decorated like subway stations and walk through spaces that feel more like theme parks than corporate offices. It's Faulkner's way of making grueling work feel a little more human. Unlike most tech billionaires, she lives modestly and avoids the spotlight. She doesn't own yachts, doesn't collect estates, and rarely seeks media attention. Her focus remains on Epic's mission: building software that saves lives by making sure critical information is always available when it matters most. Faulkner majored in mathematics and computer science at a time when women made up less than 10 percent of the field. Before founding Epic, she taught herself programming languages and worked on developing systems for hospitals while teaching at the University of Wisconsin. Another fascinating detail: Epic remains one of the largest privately held software companies in the world, with thousands of employees and zero outside investors. Faulkner retains control by design, ensuring the company answers to patients, not shareholders. #archaeohistories

I’ve been banned from entering Singapore & was just deported to Malaysia. I asked immigration to provide the grounds for the ban/deportation, but they said they could not disclose them. It’s stunning bcs I stayed there for 5 years & was conferred a doctoral degree on 31 January.

⚡️🚨BREAKING NEWS: A new international group called "Earthquake Faction" burns an Israeli weapons factory in the Czech Republic : The Earthquake Faction is launched. On 20th March 2026, the Earthquake Faction struck the epicenter of the Israeli weapons industry in Europe. In Pardubice, Czech Republic, Elbit Systems' "Centre of Excellence" was newly built in collaboration with LPP, to service the global expansion of Israel's biggest weapons producer. Whilst the development, production and training center was empty, The Earthquake Faction intervened to destroy its equipment and set the factory ablaze. No one was harmed. The site is used to develop weaponry used by the Zionist entity to massacre people daily in Palestine, Lebanon, Iran, and across West Asia. The Earthquake Faction is an internationalist underground network that targets key sites critical to the Zionist entity. We aim to destroy all limbs of empire from within, by any means effective.

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri!! Maaf zahir dan batin.

A pod of dolphins was spotted off Port Klang, and one of them stole the show, a rare pink dolphin! 🐬 Pink dolphins, also called Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins, usually stick to quieter coastal waters, so seeing one this close to a busy port is a rare treat.

She heard her own love story on the radio while driving to work — and never told a soul until the man who wrote it was gone. Every December, a song plays on radio stations across America that most people assume is fiction. It tells the story of two former lovers who run into each other at a grocery store on Christmas Eve. They can't find a bar open, so they buy a six-pack, sit in a car, and talk about the lives they've lived since they last saw each other. When it's over, she drives away, and the snow turns to rain. It sounds like a perfect piece of songwriting — too bittersweet, too precise to be real. But it was real. Almost every word of it. On Christmas Eve, 1975, Dan Fogelberg was home in Peoria, Illinois, visiting his family. His parents wanted to make Irish coffees, so he went out to buy whipping cream. A few blocks away, Jill Anderson — his high school sweetheart from Woodruff High, class of 1969 — was sent out by her mother to pick up eggnog. The only store open that late on Christmas Eve was a small convenience store at the top of Abington Hill. They hadn't seen each other in years. Fogelberg had moved to Colorado to chase a music career. Jill had married, moved to Chicago, and was working as a flight attendant. Their lives had gone in completely different directions. And then, on the coldest night of the year, they ended up in the same store. She didn't recognize him at first. When she did, they hugged — and she spilled her purse. They laughed until they cried. Then they tried to find a bar, but nothing was open. So they bought a six-pack of beer and sat in her car for two hours, parked in the cold, talking about everything and nothing. They talked about their lives. Her marriage. His music. The distance between who they used to be and who they had become. And when the beer was gone and the words ran out, she gave him a kiss as he got out of the car, and he watched her drive away into the snow. Five years later, Fogelberg sat down and wrote it all into a song called "Same Old Lang Syne." He changed two details — he made her eyes blue instead of green because it rhymed better, and he made her husband an architect instead of what he actually was. Everything else was the truth. The song was released in 1980 and peaked at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100. It became a holiday staple almost immediately, played every December alongside the traditional Christmas songs — not because it was about Christmas, really, but because it was about the feeling of going home and discovering that home has changed, and so have you. The first time Jill heard the song, she was driving to her job at TWA before dawn. The radio was on, and a familiar voice came through the speakers. She listened to the words and something clicked. She later recalled the moment clearly — the realization washing over her that Dan had turned their two hours in a parking lot into something the whole world would hear. She never told anyone. For years, Jill kept quiet. Fogelberg never publicly named her either. She later said her silence was partly out of respect for his marriage — she didn't want to cause trouble. They did reconnect eventually, backstage after one of his concerts. He apologized for changing her eye color. They laughed about it. They stayed friends. Dan Fogelberg died of prostate cancer on December 16, 2007. He was 56 years old. Six days later — just before Christmas — Jill finally told her story to the Peoria Journal Star. She confirmed what fans had long suspected: it was all true. The convenience store was real. The six-pack was real. The snow was real. The ache of it was real. "Same Old Lang Syne" was not Fogelberg's only gift to the world. "Leader of the Band" was a tribute to his father, Lawrence, a musician and bandleader whose life poured directly into the lyrics. "Longer" became a wedding standard. His albums became the soundtrack of long drives and quiet winter nights.

Teoh Beng Hock’s sister urged the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to press Malaysia for an independent probe into the ex-political aide’s death, underscoring persistent concerns over custodial deaths in the country. Speaking in Geneva, Switzerland, Lee Lan said: “I have travelled thousands of miles to bring this demand for justice before you. I ask you to press for accountability.” She told delegates that 17 years after Beng Hock died in MACC custody, no one has been held accountable despite the Court of Appeal ruling in 2014 that his death was caused by “unlawful acts by unknown persons”. Full story: malaysiakini.com/news/770506

Emotional suppression costs you about 30% of your working memory. Measured on fMRI. The anterior cingulate cortex processes emotional pain and cognitive control through overlapping circuits. When you shove emotions down instead of processing them, your prefrontal cortex burns glucose on inhibition. That’s glucose not available for decision-making, planning, or execution. The brain doesn’t have separate budgets for “feelings” and “performance.” It’s one pool. The military figured this out the hard way. After decades of “push through it” culture, SOCOM funded research into emotional regulation for tier-one operators. The finding: operators who named and processed emotions before missions had faster reaction times and better decision-making under fire than operators who suppressed. The Special Forces pipeline now includes psychological flexibility training. The historical record confirms it. Stoicism, the philosophy most often cited to justify “stop talking about feelings,” literally requires examining your emotions in writing every single day. Marcus Aurelius wrote the Meditations as a private journal. Epictetus taught students to dissect their emotional responses in granular detail. The entire Stoic method is structured emotional processing, not emotional avoidance. What actually kills performance is rumination, looping on the same thought without resolution. The fix for rumination is more processing, not less. Cognitive behavioral therapy, the most evidence-backed intervention, works by teaching people to articulate and examine feelings with precision. The highest performers process fast and move. They don’t skip the processing step.

During the difficult days of my detention… one sudden day, the soldiers ordered us to lie face down with our hands tied above our heads. Within seconds, they stormed the prison, which resembled a poultry barn, with loud noises and barking dogs. When a dog stepped on my back, I screamed from the shock, and in response, a flashbang exploded next to my ear. I heard a sharp ringing, lost my hearing for several minutes, and was off balance for days. Since that day, I have suffered from extreme sensitivity to loud sounds. Please… speak about the prisoners. Every minute they endure is real suffering that no one sees.

I lived and traveled in Iran for months. In Tehran I lived with the family of a retired bank worker who saw me looking for housing. I roomed with his son for months, ate all my meals with them, and they never accepted any money. Once I was sick and throwing up and they all came into the bathroom and the dad stroked my head while I barfed and told me “Aybi nadare” (no shame, it’s ok). I traveled around most of the country by plane, train, bus, shared taxi, etc. Eventually I stopped booking hotels because I’d always meet people on the train, bus etc who’d insist I stay with them. The family of Iran/Iraq war vets from Yazd who took me to Taft for bbq in the mountains. The taxi driver from Rasht who made a bed for me on the floor of his tiny apartment because all the hotels were full. The only time a police officer talked to me was once to make sure I was ok. I never felt in any danger day or night. The land of Iran is as incredibly diverse as its people. There are mountainous rain forests and desert salt flats. I met among the most liberal and most conservative people there, and everything in between. Everyone was so kind it makes me cry with shame.

Persatuan OA Perhatian Johor mohon bantuan utk bg Rumah Kotai bagi Mangsa Kebakaran KOA Teluk Jawa. Dana diperlukan untuk 41 keluarga Orang Asli Seletar di Penempatan sementara KOA Kuala Masai. Sumbangan boleh disalurkan ke akaun Bank berikut:

I knew James Chai personally. Bright young technocrat passionate about serving Malaysia Let’s be real, with a law degree from Oxford he could have printed money anywhere, but chose public service With this, what message are we sending to young talents wanting to come back?

I have known James Chai for at least a decade; he doesn't own a Ferrari, nor a private jet, nor a big bungalow. He doesn't party with the rich and famous in KL or Hollywood.

This is exactly how you keep young talents out of national service. Smart. Honest. Serving the country. (An Oxford grad who took a huge pay cut to serve Malaysia.) Instead of support, James Chai gets humiliated and dragged through the mud because of politics. If it can happen to him, it can happen to anyone. And then we ask why Malaysia keeps bleeding young talent overseas.

It has been exactly a year since the death of Lim Ju Vynn. His body was found inside his office at Ministry of Finance with his neck and feet bound by cable ties. Still no proper closure. Deafening silence by all parties.

selamat solat maghrib, dan selamat berbuka puasa...

selamat berbuka puasa