koolmokcik

Jalan jalan

2012-01-29T03:00:00.000+08:00

Kali terakhir naik keretapi ialah pada hujung tahun 1996.

Sabtu lepas, ada undangan walimah di JB. Beli tiket Senandung Timuran online. Ayong pun ikut.

Dalam jadual, waktu bertolak ialah 3.18 pagi dan tiba di Kulai 9.10 pagi.

Sampai di stesen 2.30 pagi. Keretapi tiba 3.40 pagi. Berlepas 3.45 pagi.

Kabin 1. Habuk banyak. Bersin. Ada sinki.

Terus tidur. Sedar hampir sampai di Gemas. Subuh gajah. Melambung lambung menyusur koridor ke tandas. Keadaan tandas yang tak di urus dengan baik.

Sekejap saja shunting di Gemas.

Lajunya keretapi. Melambung lambung macam kena ayak.

Di Segamat, matahari baru nak mengintai

Tetiba keretapi berhenti. Kawasan ladang di Labis. Entah apa sebabnya.

Terlena dalam menunggu keretapi sambung perjalanan. Tersedar ada nyonya bising bising nak turun di Kluang. Tak de sivik langsung.

Ke tandas lagi. Ada tukang cuci tandas sedang 'mencuci' tandas. Tapi dok sibuk ber SMS.

Jam 11.00 pagi baru sampai di Kulai.

Epit terperangkap dalam jem. Kena tunggu sekejap di stesen Kulai.

Lepas kenduri pergi jamu mata pulak kat JPO. Tengok je!

Hehehehe!

One Day In Your Life

2012-01-17T22:39:00.000+08:00

One day in your life
You'll remember a place
Someone touching your face
You'll come back and you'll look around, you'll

One day in your life
You'll remember the love you found here
You'll remember me somehow
Though you don't need me now
I will stay in your heart
And when things fall apart
You'll remember one day

One day in your life
When you find that you're always waiting
For a love we used to share
Just call my name, and I'll be there
You'll remember me somehow
Though you don't need me now
I will stay in your heart
And when things fall apart
You'll remember one day

One day in your life
When you find that you're always lonely
For a love we used to share
Just call my name, and I'll be there.

flip flop lagi

2012-01-12T22:21:00.000+08:00

Ketua Setiausaha Negara Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan mengesahkan pelaksanaan sistem Saraan Baru Perkhidmatan Awam (SBPA), yang dikuatkuasakan sejak 1 Januari lalu, ditangguhkan bagi membolehkan kajian semula yang lebih mendalam dijalankan.
Bagaimanapun beliau enggan mengulas lanjut sambil berkata, maklumat lanjut akan diumumkan oleh Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak kelak.

Rasa kurang puas hati dengan SBPA sebab gaji junior yang tak lulus PTK naik ratusan ringgit dan berada sebaris dengan kita yang berhempas pulas dapatkan 4:4 di DUA tahap PTK sedangkan gaji kita naik tak sampai RM50.00.

Sebal je rasa.

Sakit je hati.

Tapi lagi sakit hati bila kerajaan ini flip flop lagi.

Agaknya diaorang ni memang sengaja nak sabotaj kot?

Supaya rakyat benci pemerintah. Benci Najib.

Diaorang ni dapat banyak duit dari 'luar' kot?

Macam bekas pensyarah tu?

Bukan dia sorang, pastinya. Ingat budak ingus yang kat universiti tu punya telur masak keras ke sampai berani menyalak kat pintu u, baring baring atas jalanraya kalu tidak ada yang mencucuk dan mengumpan.

Risau mengenangkan satu demi satu 'Harimau Asia' dicederakan sang Helang.

Sedih melihatkan satu demi satu negara Islam dijatuhkan melalui 'suara rakyat' kononnya.

*Dugaa weh*

Ode to the Dove

2012-01-12T21:10:00.000+08:00

looking outside my kitchen window

something moved in the shadow

as though taking a bow

in the afternoon glow

having only the phonecam

trying hard not to make any sound

adjusting to get into the frame

blooming orchids in the background

took just one small click of the camera

for half a dozen sensitive creatures

to take off and disappear

leaving me with only pictures

taken through the window glass

of Zebra doves feeding in the grass

old lady and the south china sea 2

2012-01-02T22:36:00.002+08:00

flashbacks

2012-01-02T21:24:00.000+08:00

my son said

he would stay home

and take care of me

when i am old

now he's married

to a girl he portrayed

doesn't mind

making home as said

then he got a job oversea

left his wife who is now preggy

i tot this would be a good opportunity

for bonding between her and me

guess what

when he got married

i thought

i would gain a daughter

looks more like

am losing a son

FAMILIAR???

After the first day of the new year

2012-01-01T22:15:00.000+08:00

Ya Allah

perbaikilah agamaku

yang menjadi sandaran urusanku

perbaikilah duniaku

yang menjadi tempat kehidupanku

perbaikilah akhiratku

tempat di mana aku dikembalikan

jadikanlah hidupku ini

tambahan setiap kebaikan untukku

dan jadikanlah kematian

sebagai ketenangan

daripada segala kejahatan untukku

Amin

Here we go again

2011-12-24T19:55:00.000+08:00

Article 153 Is ‘Bullying’, Says Christian Leader

SUBANG JAYA, Dec 24 – The Federal Constitution’s Article 153 is akin to “bullying” if it only protects the rights of one group, top church leader Reverend Dr Eu Hong Seng said today.

The National Evangelical Christian Fellowship (NECF) chairman said the rights in any nation cannot be scrutinised in a vacuum.

“I think we need to talk about the rights of others as well under article 153.

“When we talk of rights of only one group, if I may suggest, that is bullying,” he said at the Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) Christmas hi-tea here at the Full Gospel Tabernacle.

The annual event was attended by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon, MCA’s Loh Seng Kok, DAP’s Hannah Yeoh, PKR’s Chua Tian Chang, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Datuk Seri Wan Azizah Wan Ismail. Malaysian Insider

taken from here

Ngellik berbelit

2011-12-22T19:30:00.001+08:00

Pelik nya bila baca berita ni [dari sini].

Selama hari ni yang dok terpekik terlolong minta SPR guna dakwat kekal ni sapa ek?

Persatuan penternak kambing jamnapari kah?
d'oh !!! mokcik feninNNNNNN!
rasa nak termuntah lerrr !!!

PAS hari ini meminta Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya (SPR) memberi jaminan bahawa penggunaan dakwat kekal pada pilihan raya umum akan datang mampu mengelakkan pengundian berulang.

Ketua Penerangannya Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man berkata jaminan tersebut termasuklah memilih dakwat kekal yang bermutu tinggi bagi memastikan dakwat yang dicalit tidak mudah dipadamkan dengan apa-apa juga bahan kimia serta tahan lama.

"Kita sememangnya mengalu-alukan pengunaan dakwat kekal pada pilihan raya umum akan datang dan berharap ia tidak melanggar syarak.

"Jadi kita berharap penggunaan dakwat kekal ini mampu memulihkan keyakinan rakyat terhadap perjalanan pilihan raya di negara ini. SPR perlu yakinkan pengundi bahawa ia tidak melanggar syarak serta tidak boleh dimanipulasi dan tidak boleh dihapuskan dengan mudah menggunakan bahan kimia," katanya kepada Bernama di sini, hari ini.

HARMONY

2011-12-21T21:36:00.003+08:00

Malaysia is a good example for the world to see how a plural society could live in peace and harmony, said Foreign Ministry secretary-general Tan Sri Mohd Radzi Abdul Rahman.

He said Malaysia proved to the world that a multiracial society could practise tolerance and develop the country together.

"Foreign countries with a plural society can learn from Malaysia as we have succeeded in uniting the races by sharing power and living in peace."

Mohd Radzi said this to reporters after opening a youth seminar on Malaysia's foreign policy at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) yesterday.

source here

And then this

The Transport Ministry has advised the KL International Airport (KLIA) and the Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) to make announcements in Tamil beginning Jan 1 during the flights to and from Chennai, India.

Minister Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha said today the passenger volume on the KL-Chennai route was high and almost 90 per cent of the passengers better understood Tamil than English.

KLIA and LCCT handled a total of 434,050 passengers to and from Chennai this year, 207,697 outgoing and 226,353 incoming, he said in a statement, adding that they travelled in flights operated by Malaysia Airlines (MAS), AirAsia, Jet Airways and Air India Express.

"As such, the government has acceded to the request by several quarters for announcements in Tamil during the arrival and departure of flights on the KL-Chennai sector," he said.

WOW!

After this surely we must have announcement in African and Arabic and Korean.

From Malay Mail December 21, 2009

In 2001, 51,383 African entered Malaysia. In 2008, 111,805 African entered Malaysia both as tourist and students.

Deputy Home Minister also said a total of 101,644 Iranians were recorded to have entered the country in 2009 and the figure rosed to 2108,047 in 2010.

Last year, some 264,000 Koreans entered Malaysia as tourist. There are currently 35 weekly flights from Seoul unto Malaysia. How often or rather have you ever heard about Koreans overstayers in Malaysia ? Folks, did you know that there is a thriving Korean community in Malaysia, especially in Ampang where a Koreatown is slowly beginning to sprout. In 2009, there were 14,580 Koreans residing in Malaysia many of them students or retirees coming under the Malaysia My Second Home

[from OutSyed The Box]

How about that?

How about this?

The novel, "Konserto Terakhir" by national laureate Datuk Abdullah Hussain will replace "Interlok" as textbook for the Malay literature component for Form Five students from next year.

Education director-general Datuk Seri Abd Ghafar Mahmud in a statement today said the textbook replacement concerned students in Zone Two, covering Negeri Sembilan, the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya, and Selangor.

He said "Konserto Terakhir" had gone through the process of selection and screening set and was found to be suitable as a school literature textbook based on the values promoted and the quality of the work.

On Dec 14, the cabinet decided that the novel, "Interlok", also written by Abdullah, would cease to be used as a Form Five textbook from 2012.

The decision was made following arising feelings of uneasiness among some sections of society about the novel and to prevent certain quarters from continuing to make it polemic.

"Konserto Terakhir" had been used before as a Form Five textbook in Zone Two from year 2000 to 2010.

The novel revolves around the struggle and resilience of a village youth who migrated to the city to look for a job and in the end becomes a big star.

[from BERNAMA]

Crack HEADs

2011-12-18T10:25:00.000+08:00

The champion of 'ALLAH' for bible's god is rearing his head again.

He must have his cake and eat it!

From here

The Education Ministry should consult the school board of SMK Convent Bukit Nanas (CBN) to resolve an ongoing dispute regarding the appointment of a new Muslim principal, said Gerakan president Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon.

He added that the person would need to work together with the school board and community.

“The 1Malaysia concept is reflected in the country's education system, of which the various communities including Christian mission schools and other religious schools have roles to play.

“Their contribution and roles must be well-respected and appreciated,” he said at the Gerakan headquarters.

Stressing that the views of the school board must be taken into account, Dr Koh said the decision to appoint a Muslim principal would create a negative impression to those who have contributed to mission schools.

“At least, have a meeting with the school board. Maybe other names can be accepted,” he said, adding that he understood the school board's proposal of three candidates had been rejected.

Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur Tan Sri Murphy Pakiam was reported to have said the appointment of Datin Seri Zavirah Shaari as CBN principal was contrary to the Government's policy of consultation.

He said former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had affirmed the pledge to consult mission school authorities over the choice of school heads and teachers during a 1988 trip to Kota Kinabalu.

Pakiam appealed to the ministry's director-general Datuk Seri Abdul Ghafar Mahmud to reconsider the appointment and pick a candidate nominated by the school owners.

Pembaharuan Sistem Pendidikan Negara

2011-12-17T14:40:00.003+08:00

Satu kumpulan panel yang terdiri daripada tokoh-tokoh industri dan juga pendidikan telah dibentuk untuk menasihati kerajaan dalam pembaharuan sistem pendidikan negara.

Anggota-anggota panel itu antara ialahKetua Pegawai Eksekutif AirAsia, Tan Sri Tony Fernandes dan Pengarah Urusan Khazanah Bhd, Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar.

Mereka akan diketuai oleh Tan Sri Dzulkifli Abdul Razak.
Lain-lain anggota panel ialah Tan Sri Zarinah Anwar, Tan Sri Dr Jeffrey Cheah, Profesor Tan Sri Dr Sharifah Hapsah, Datuk Profesor Dr Ab Rahim Selamat.
Tujuh anggota panel penasihat itu akan membuat laporan serta cadangan hasil kajian dan pemerhatian mereka kepada Menteri Pelajaran yang juga Timbalan Perdana Menteri, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
Pelantikan mereka dibuat oleh Muhyiddin baru-baru ini.
Adalah difahamkan antara lain mandat penting panel ini adalah untuk menentukan sama ada persekitaran pembelajaran persekolahan kita menggalakkan kreativiti dan eksperimentasi menjadi keutamaan.
[SUMBER]

Was looking for another name in the panel. Maybe he can put the unused 'resource' waiting in the classrooms in his condo.

Another one from mStar Online today

Novel Interlok Akhirnya Digugurkan Sebagai Teks Sastera Tingkatan 5

MELAKA: Novel kontroversi 'Interlok' karya Sasterawan Negara, Datuk Abdullah Hussain akhirnya akan dikeluarkan sebagai teks wajib sastera tingkatan lima mulai tahun depan.
Perkara ini diumumkan oleh Timbalan Presiden MIC, Datuk S. Subramaniam di sini semalam.
Beliau yang juga menteri sumber manusia menjelaskan, keputusan tersebut dibuat oleh Jemaah Menteri dalam mesyuarat mingguannya baru-baru ini.
Menurut beliau lagi, keputusan penuh mengenai perkara itu akan diumumkan oleh Menteri Pelajaran, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

Novel tersebut yang mencetuskan kontroversi kerana mengandungi beberapa perkataan yang tidak disenangi oleh kaum India telah melalui proses pengeditan semula dan naskhah baru telah pun diterbitkan untuk kegunaan sekolah.

Adehh! Flip flop flip flop flip flop

Wondering now who is going to get ALL those naskah baru yang telah pun diterbitkan.

SURAT KHABAR LAMA! SURAT KHABAR LAMA!

Hmm ..wondering too if the author gets anything apart from heart attack out of this.

Malaysians and cars

2011-12-17T08:24:00.001+08:00

Malaysians paid through their noses for cars. Read here.

And then

Malaysians spend millions to repair defective vehicles

Read this

MALAYSIANS have been forking out an average of RM76 million over the past three years to tend to defective vehicles, the National Consumer Complaints Centre (NCCC) revealed.

What's worse is that the amount -- spent to repair defects, pay service charges and purchase spare parts -- keeps rising every year, based on the centre's statistics.

This year is no different, with an estimated RM80 million spent between January and July alone.

NCCC senior manager M. Matheevani said yesterday the centre had not ruled out the possibility of it going above RM100 million for the entire year.

The figure, like the potential losses recorded since 2009, is derived from the number of complaints the centre handles.

For the first half of this year, the centre received 2,023 complaints.

Last year, NCCC recorded 2,244 complaints and potential losses of up to RM90 million, while in 2009, the centre received 1,314 complaints which saw estimated losses of RM52 million.

Manufacturing defects are a major complaint, one which also topped the list last year.

Overheating engines, breakdowns and substandard accessories and spare parts in new cars fall under this category.

Consumers also bemoan the supply of faulty spare parts, the use of cloned ones, the unavailability of such parts and their exorbitant prices.

Matheevani said the increase in complaints against the automobile industry was due to an increase in the number of Malaysians owning vehicles.

This, she said, could be attributed to the poor public transport service, which had contributed to more people purchasing cars for convenience.

"The rise in complaints is also due to the fact that the country does not have a redress, or recall mechanism. Right now, only the automobile industry has the decision-making powers in handling disputes.

"The outcomes will tend to favour the industry.

"Most people don't know their rights, nor are they technically competent."

She said because of this, the centre was pushing for an independent body, made up of industry experts, regulators and consumer bodies, to hear cases so that consumers would be treated fairly.

Matheevani said this would also reduce the backlog of automobile complaints.

She added that more than 90 per cent of consumers could not afford to take legal action against the automobile industry as the process was costly.

"The consumer will have to live with the defects or sell his vehicle at a lower price to a used car dealer."

The automobile industry, said Matheevani, should not be worried about admitting defects. In the long run, it would strengthen trust between consumers and the brand name as the former would feel that the company was being responsible, she added.

HIJRAH

2011-12-12T14:44:00.000+08:00

Dalam kelam kabut menyiapkan kerja pening kepala cari sendiri, terpaksa berkejar ke pejabat pos pulak.

Balik dari pejabat pos, singgah di gerai adik untuk bersarapan. Beberapa orang tukang karut tempatan juga sedang menikmati nasi berlauk mereka. Galak mereka buat lawak pasal Bantuan Rakyat 1 Malaysia. Paling bergegar gelak mereka bila ada yang berjenaka kerajaan beri bantuan itu supaya rakyat terus mengundi PAS. Entah apa muslihat disebalik kata kata begitu yang terpacul dari mulut mereka yang bila nak ke jamban pun berkopiah [sunat ya menutup kepala bila di jamban]. Namun bagi seorang yang tidak warak macam den nih, terasa sengal jugak lah telinga bila mendengar jenaka yang begitu dari orang dewasa. Di mana letaknya keluhuran budi pekerti?

Den hanya mampu tersonyum sahaja sambil mengunyah ulam timun nasi lemak kukus telur mata kucing. Dalam hati berdetik juga ...

Tahun baru Hijrah 1433 dah hampir sebulan berlalu. Sedang makan nasi lemak tadi, adik ipar den hulurkan kiriman omak den ... 'asyura. Masa kanak kanak den cukup gemar makan 'asyura, terutamanya yang ada daging. Sodappp.

Menjelang tahun baru Hijrah 1433, akhirnya den berjaya mengambil satu langkah ke hadapan setelah hampir sedekad berusaha.

50 pokok anak sawit tiba pada 21 Zulhijjah


selesai ditanam pada jam 7.00 mlm 22 Zulhijjah

Syukur Alhamdulillah

Ya Rabb!

ampuni daku dengan kemurahanMu

semoga Engkau tidak memutuskan harapanku

kepadaMu

wahai Dzat yang Maha Pemurah

Elevation

2011-11-29T20:51:00.000+08:00

Notice how something/someone being 'elevated' for purposes known only to the perpetrators? In recent times, some foods have been elevated to super status by marketers who termed them "super foods".

Some people in some parts of the world eat worms and bugs out of necessity - to appease hunger. But now scientists advocate bugs as a green superfood, arguing that insect dishes, boasting a lower carbon footprint in addition to being very nutritious, could be the answer to the global food crisis.

Every now and again, new items are given this super treatment. Most of them are grown abroad, thus are often less available and more costly locally. The hype surrounding superfoods has become so hot that companies are now selling superfood pills, extracts and elixirs, claiming to offer various health benefits such as anti-ageing, cancer fighting and detoxification, so much so that it gives the impression that once you have eaten such food; you don’t have to worry about other areas of your diet.

Technically, there is no such thing as 'superfoods'.

Blueberries are a top choice of those promoting superfoods, and there is no doubt that they are high in potassium and vitamin C. A 100g serving packs 77mg of potassium, 9.7mg of vitamin C and 6mg of calcium, among others. But at RM16 for a 125g punnet, they are beyond the budget of many.

However, the humble pineapple, which is widely available at supermarkets and local wet markets, is only RM2.50 [nenas madu lagi], and it packs a punch nutrition-wise. A 100g serving offers 97mg of potassium, 15.2mg of vitamin C and 24mg of calcium.

Kiwi fruit, touted as a nutrient-rich food, the New Zealand export has more potassium than bananas or citrus fruits and is an excellent source of vitamin C. A 100g serving boasts 180mg of potassium and 86.7mg of vitamin C, but it also packs a wallop on the wallet at RM7.90 for a packet of four (weighing about 600g).

While the guava at RM4.90 a kg [prices vary] may not boast a high concentration of potassium (29mg per 100g), it is still packed with nutrients. A 100g serving boasts 152mg of vitamin C, 10mg of vitamin A and 33mg of calcium. To my kampong tongue, it tastes a lot better than kiwi too.

Pomegranates are being hailed as a superfood that can protect the heart. A 2004 BBC report states that scientists in Israel have shown that drinking a glass of pomegranate juice daily could reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. A 100g serving of the fruit has 236mg of potassium, 10.2mg of vitamin C, 10mg of calcium and 4g of fibre [if you ingest the seeds]. At around RM3.30 a fruit [it takes a lot of fruits to yield a glass of juice], it may put a large dent in one’s wallet.

The dragon fruit (RM2.50 each - price vary) may lose out to the pomegranate in terms of calcium (8.8mg) and fibre content (0.9g of fibre and the seeds are a lot easier to ingest) but it is way ahead where potassium (436mg) and vitamin C (14.5mg) are concerned.

Like blueberries, salmon is a favourite superfood, thanks to its rich bounty of omega-3 essential fatty acids. A 100g serving contains 2,950mg of omega-3 and 490mg of potassium. We’re told to eat salmon two to three times a week to lower our heart disease risk and help prevent arthritis and memory loss. We’re also told to eat wild-caught salmon rather than farm-raised ones because of the chemicals that have been found in the latter. However, at RM99 per kg, the fish is beyond the budget of many households.

Ikan kembung (Indian mackerel) is a great source of omega-3, with a 100g serving boasting of 1,450mg of omega-3 and 370mg of potassium. Sure, it’s not as chockfull of omega-3 as salmon but at RM10.90 per kg, it’s more affordable. In addition, the humble ikan kembung also offers more calcium (48mg compared to 12mg in salmon, per 100g serving) and iron (1.8mg vs 0.8mg) and has less fat (3.9g vs 6.34g).

One of the more trendy nutritional wonders, wheatgrass (taken as a juice) is said to have beneficial effects on one’s cholesterol level, blood pressure and immune response, as well as prevent cancer, thanks to its high concentration of chlorophyll. But at RM3.99 for a small cup, it’s pricey.

To enjoy the benefits of chlorophyll, look for green vegetables such as kale or spinach. The latter is a great (and more palatable) substitute for wheatgrass and costs only RM1.20 per 100g. A 30g serving of spinach offers 128 mg of potassium (compared with 42 mg per 30ml of wheatgrass juice), 26 mg vitamin C (10mg) and 30mg calcium (7.2mg).

Source here

Oleh itu makan lah makanan tempatan.

Allergy

2011-11-28T22:43:00.000+08:00

Some people are allergic to certain food. In the UK, 90% of all food allergies are due to 8 foods, the so called 'big eight'. They are milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts [ie hazelnuts, walnuts and almonds], fish, shellfish, soy and wheat.

Children often outgrow allergies to milk, eggs and soya. Although 2% to 7% of babies under the age of one are allergic to cow milk, 75% will be free of it by the age of three.
Allergies to peanuts, shellfish and fish usually last throughout life.

In adults, the most common food allergies are to nuts, peanuts, fish, shellfish, citrus fruit and wheat.

Both cooked and uncooked forms of the culprit foods are able to cause an allergic reaction.

People can be allergic to more than one unrelated food allergen e.g. nuts and fish.
Sometimes an allergy to a single food allergen causes you to be allergic to foods in the same food group.

This is known as cross reactivity. For example, people with a peanut allergy may find out they are also allergic to other legumes such as beans and lentils.

This is also why it is important to know as much as possible about the food allergen which causes your allergy, to develop an awareness of foods which could potentially cause an allergic reaction [taken from here]

A 26-year-old Vietnamese woman has left doctors baffled as she lost her once youthful appearance.

Nguyen Thi Phuong believes that an allergic reaction to seafood she ate in 2008, caused the skin over her face and body to sag and wrinkle. It has come to light now, as she has shown her face in public for the first time since it happened.

Her story has led health experts to question what could have triggered her rapid aging as pictures show Phuong looking like two different people.

Mrs Nguyen had been treating herself with various types of medication, from a local pharmacy as she and her husband could not afford to have her examined at a hospital.

She said: “I was really itchy all over my body. I had to scratch even while sleeping. After one month of taking the drugs, I became less itchy but hives remained on my skin.

“Then I switched to traditional medicine and all the hives disappeared, together with my itching. However, my skin began to sag and fold.”

The couple does not remember what the traditional medication was called, or which pharmacy they had bought it from.
In 2009 they decided to stop using the remedy; from then on Phuong wore a face mask whenever she was in public.

She said: “The skin on my face, chest and belly has folds like an old woman who has given birth several times although I have never had a child.

“But the rapid-aging syndrome hasn't affected my menstrual cycle, hair, teeth, eyes and mind.”

Phuong’s husband, Thanh Tuyen, insists her story is true and continues to stand by his wife despite the loss of her youthful appearance.
Tuyen said: “I married Phuong when she was a beautiful woman. I have followed her through her disease and have never been shocked at all.

“It's not easy to talk about one's own marital affairs. Just simply understand that I still love her very much.”

Mrs Nguyen has not had much luck treating her condition but there still may be a happy ending.

Phuong was able to have a free consultation at the Ho Chi Minh City Medicine and Pharmacy University Hospital, in Vietnam, with doctors who believed she may have been badly affected with the skin disease, mastocytosis.

From this diagnosis, doctors hope that with medical treatment they will be able to restore between 50 and 70% of her skin [source here]

TELUR

2011-11-24T23:42:00.000+08:00

Multiculturalism

2011-11-19T20:04:00.087+08:00

Update - Here is another article in response to the issue of multiculturalism.

It is interesting to note that the writer of the article acknowledged the fact that in multicultural Singapore, the Malays have become a minority in their own motherland and the government of the day distrust them.

Doesn't this smell of 'apartheid' when the native of the land becomes a minority and the non-native becomes the majority who forms a government that practices policies which discriminate against the minority?

In 1987, the Second Minister for Defense explained the absence of Malays in the higher echelons and combat unit of Singapore armed forces:-

"If there is a conflict, if the SAF is called to defend the homeland, we do not want to put any of our soldiers in a difficult position where his emotions for the nation may be in conflict with his religion".

In 1999, in referring to the Malays in Singapore Armed Forces, former MM LKY said:-

"If, for instance, you put in a Malay officer who's very religious and who has family ties in Malaysia in charge of a machine gun unit, that's a very tricky business. We've got to know his background ... I and my family could have a tragedy."

In January this year, in his book "Hard Truths to Keep Singapore Going", LKY caused an uproar when he said,

"I would say today, we could integrate all religions and races except Islam."

He added, "we were progressing nicely until the surge of Islam came" and he called on the community to "be less strict on Islam observances".

With such public statements by their senior leader is it really of any surprise then, to have among the majority race a mindset that is so full of suspicion towards the minority race?

pic from here

This photo put up on one young PAP member's fb wall caused an uproar that the Singaporean was reported to have quit the party [read here]

Someone wrote on Yahoo News [here] wondering just how multicultural Singaporeans really are.

He argued that Singaporeans need to move beyond tolerance, the first attribute which their former MM LKY said is a must have for them to be a SUCCESSFUL multicultural cosmopolitan society.

A National University of Singapore professor Syed Farid Alatas opined that beneath the word tolerance is "irritation, lack of interest, certainly not admiration".

There are fears of the increasing xenophobic and racist stuffs heard about mainland Chinese or Indian who were recruited as foreign talents and given citizenship or PR status in Singapore.

Consequently, there seems to be a great need to take a bold step of facing up to the differences and not be apprehensive to debate about it. After all, that's what being a modern, intellectual state is all about, said the writer

Hmm ... the phrase sounds familiar over this side of the tambak ... circa Pak Lah and the 4th floor boys' era. You know them young Oxford educated guns!

Read the comments to the article copied here.

One issue I noticed that's eating up the Singaporeans is their foreign talents who are mainly from mainland China and India having different values and attitudes and not having a care about the country.

When WE feel the same ... Malaysian Indian and Malaysian Chinese screamed racist at us.

When we want to foster integration through ONE school, they screamed racist at us and yet they keep their vernacular schools.

HINDRAF even went as far as accusing the government of genocide.

They dangle their votes, blackmailing the lutut hogeh telur kecut hantu loncat hancing to give in to their every demands.

Multiculturalism is DEAD in German [read here].

Multiculturalism is dying in Malaysia. Instead we have 1Malaysia.

Will multiculturalism live a healthy life in Singapore?

Alex 13 hours ago

I do not think Singaporeans are racist. I actually always felt people are Singaporean 1st irrespective of whether they are Chinese, Malays or Indians. They all think like Singaporeans, they all have the same accents and the same values.

On the other hand when you see a wave of "Not-so-FTs" come in because the hiring manager is their same nationality... and these people honestly do not give a crap about Singapore, they are just here to take and act like in their own countries.... how do you expect local Singaporeans to show interest/sympathy in them.

These people are simply breaking the rules and the local values.

As a FT I can tell you Singapore is a much better place than what everyone thinks....

6 Replies

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Nimal 10 hours ago
Sadly no Alex.... I'm singaporean... travelled much.... Singapore is Racist.... most chinese people obviously don't realize it.... but if you're not chinese you will see it blatantly in your face. Its harder to secure jobs if you're not fair skined or chinese here... Thats one very blatant sign of racism.

I've even heard of it practiced in saf when mindef in gombak needed clerks, they actually told the admin in my unit "I don't want indian black black". I'm sure there are chinese people now itself that might find this funny.... and that is why we are racist.
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Biplob 9 hours ago
I agree with Nimal,
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Zorro007 8 hours ago
If it's in the army, navy or air force the reason is simple, internal security. We have to accept this.
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Roger 8 hours ago
Yeah sadly its true Nimal.
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Holy Roller 8 hours ago
"when you see a wave of "Not-so-FTs" come in because the hiring manager is their same nationality...." from where these Fake Talents come from, they're a dime-a-dozen and mediocre in their own country of origin.
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Alex 4 hours ago
@Holy Roller - We all know where they come from :)
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VantagePoint 10 minutes ago
So even when they are so mediocre and so blatantly in-capable,, why do they still get the likes? You have to agree that SGporeans lack unity...this is sth we as nation needs to work on...local managers should try to hire locals as much as possible...it has to start from there.. even for MNC where the big bosses are Foreigners .. they need the support of local managers and staff .. make them understand that.

Sourgrapes

2011-11-17T20:10:00.002+08:00

Found this bunch here.

Aren't they cute?

sour grapes

We know it takes more

to scrunch up the facial muscles

and it can be painful after a while.

Better to smile!

See these brave golden girls

still smiling strong

smiling from our hearts

2011 is closing in

gosh!

time does fly

especially when you are having

a great time

To all my friends

old and new

far and near

real and cyber

especially

all my family members

From the bottom of my heart

THANK YOU

GIGO

2011-10-25T00:10:00.005+08:00

Had a great weekend.

Saturday attended a wedding in Maran. A classmate found her prince charming in the golden years. Never too late. Tim's happiness radiated.

tahniah Tim. semoga bahagia kekal abadi

Wakil tok ngulu Maran took us to Maran Golf Resort for coffee. Nice place. Kena pergi lagi nih.

Next - AKSHAH at Zenith Kuantan. Last minute confirmation. Couldn't be bothered to join at first but Sher managed to drag me.

great food!

and KDYMM Sultan SANG for us. He was still going strong after song number 10.

food was marvelous, company was superb

the next day, Idzah and her hubby treated us to nasi lemak kerang at undertree restaurant at Teluk Chempedak.

love the camaraderie. thanks idzah and azman. i had a great time banging head with azman about education in general. azman being an ex lecturer and now a consultant was highly eloquent with his opinions regarding the subject.

spent today finishing the translation job while doing the usual blog hopping.

found this posted here

“If I ran my business the way you people operate your schools, I wouldn’t be in business very long!”

I stood before an auditorium filled with outraged teachers who were becoming angrier by the minute. My speech had entirely consumed their precious 90 minutes of inservice. Their initial icy glares had turned to restless agitation. You could cut the hostility with a knife.

I represented a group of business people dedicated to improving public schools. I was an executive at an ice cream company that had become famous in the middle1980s when People magazine chose our blueberry as the “Best Ice Cream in America.”

I was convinced of two things. First, public schools needed to change; they were archaic selecting and sorting mechanisms designed for the industrial age and out of step with the needs of our emerging “knowledge society.” Second, educators were a major part of the problem: they resisted change, hunkered down in their feathered nests, protected by tenure, and shielded by a bureaucratic monopoly. They needed to look to business. We knew how to produce quality. Zero defects! TQM! Continuous improvement!

In retrospect, the speech was perfectly balanced — equal parts ignorance and arrogance.

As soon as I finished, a woman’s hand shot up. She appeared polite, pleasant. She was, in fact, a razor-edged, veteran, high school English teacher who had been waiting to unload.

She began quietly, “We are told, sir, that you manage a company that makes good ice cream.”

I smugly replied, “Best ice cream in America, Ma’am.”

“How nice,” she said. “Is it rich and smooth?”

“Sixteen percent butterfat,” I crowed.

“Premium ingredients?” she inquired.

“Super-premium! Nothing but triple A.” I was on a roll. I never saw the next line coming.

“Mr. Vollmer,” she said, leaning forward with a wicked eyebrow raised to the sky, “when you are standing on your receiving dock and you see an inferior shipment of blueberries arrive, what do you do?”

In the silence of that room, I could hear the trap snap…. I was dead meat, but I wasn’t going to lie.

“I send them back.”

She jumped to her feet. “That’s right!” she barked, “and we can never send back our blueberries. We take them big, small, rich, poor, gifted, exceptional, abused, frightened, confident, homeless, rude, and brilliant. We take them with ADHD, junior rheumatoid arthritis, and English as their second language. We take them all! Every one! And that, Mr. Vollmer, is why it’s not a business. It’s school!”

In an explosion, all 290 teachers, principals, bus drivers, aides, custodians, and secretaries jumped to their feet and yelled, “Yeah! Blueberries! Blueberries!”

And so began my long transformation.

Since then, I have visited hundreds of schools. I have learned that a school is not a business. Schools are unable to control the quality of their raw material, they are dependent upon the vagaries of politics for a reliable revenue stream, and they are constantly mauled by a howling horde of disparate, competing customer groups that would send the best CEO screaming into the night.

None of this negates the need for change. We must change what, when, and how we teach to give all children maximum opportunity to thrive in a post-industrial society. But educators cannot do this alone; these changes can occur only with the understanding, trust, permission, and active support of the surrounding community. For the most important thing I have learned is that schools reflect the attitudes, beliefs and health of the communities they serve, and therefore, to improve public education means more than changing our schools, it means changing America.

Copyright 2011 Jamie Robert Vollmer

remember an old posting here

What Do Teachers Make?

The dinner guests were sitting around the table discussing life. One man, a CEO, decided to explain the problem with education. He argued, "What's a kid going to learn from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?"

He reminded the other dinner guests what they say about teachers: "Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach.

To stress his point he said to another guest; "You're a teacher, Bonnie. Be honest. What do you make?"

Bonnie, who had a reputation for honesty and frankness replied, "You want to know what I make? (She paused for a second, and then began...)

"Well, I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could

I make a C+ feel like the Congressional Medal of Honor.

I make kids sit through 40 minutes of class time when their parents can't make them sit for 5 without an I Pod, Game Cube or movie rental.

You want to know what I make?" (She paused again and looked at each and every person at the table.)

''I make kids wonder.

I make them question.

I make them apologize and mean it.

I make them have respect and take responsibility for their actions.

I teach them to write and then I make them write. Keyboarding isn't everything.

I make them read, read, read.

I make them show all their work in math. They use their God given brain, not the man-made calculator.

I make my students from other countries learn everything they need to know about English while preserving their unique cultural identity.

I make my classroom a place where all my students feel safe.

Finally, I make them understand that if they use the gifts they were given, work hard, and follow their hearts, they can succeed in life."

(Bonnie paused one last time and then continued.)

"Then, when people try to judge me by what I make, with me knowing money isn't everything, I can hold my head up high and pay no attention because they are ignorant...

You want to know what I make?

I MAKE A DIFFERENCE

"What do you make Mr. CEO?"

His jaw dropped, he went silent.

I would like to just post Jamie Robert Vollmer's conclusion

The second group argues that the comparison of children to blueberries is specious. Most of these people contend that the children are “the customers,” not the raw material. The truth is that no one can agree on who the “customers” are. Candidates include students, parents, grandparents, business owners, corporate executives, human resource directors, and college deans of admission. (I tend to designate the entire taxpaying public as the rightful customers. They are the ones who are paying.) This problem is further complicated by the fact that few of these “customers” can agree on what they want as a finished product, except in the broadest terms. Everyone has an opinion. Politicians and bureaucrats are left to define what children should know and when they should know it. And they are constantly manipulated by dozens of organized, aggressive, well funded special interest groups. Many of these groups have conflicting agendas that are directly at odds with the best interest of kids.

If the final product of the PreK-12 enterprise is a young adult prepared with the knowledge, skills, habits, and values needed to succeed in a fast-paced, global, knowledge society, then the quality of the “raw material”—the student’s talent, intelligence, physical and mental health, attention, and motivation—is a huge variable in the education process over which public schools have little control. Parents, teachers, administrators, board members, civic and business leaders must work together with the students to develop their potential and help them reach the goal. Whether they are called customers or workers is next to irrelevant.

Kiamat Semakin Hampir

2011-10-19T11:27:00.002+08:00

22 tanda kiamat semakin hampir

[pic and writing from fb wall posting here]

1.Sembahyang diabaikan (diringan-ringankan).
2.Keinginan nafsu syahwat digalakkan dan berleluasa disebarkan melalui iklan, buku, gambar, risalah,atau filem.
3.Penjenayah menjadi pemimpin dan kebanyakannya jahil mengenai agama dan banyak memberi fatwa yang menyesatkan pengikutnya.
4.Perkara benar menjadi salah dan salah menjadi benar. Sukar untuk membezakan perkara halal dan haram kerana yang haram dianggap halal serta sebaliknya.
5.Berbohong menjadi satu keperluan dalam hidup dan menganggap jika tidak berbohong sukar untuk hidup senang.
6.Membayar zakat (harta, perniagaan dan pendapatan) dianggap beban.
7.Orang yang hidup mengikut kehendak agama ditindas dan hati mereka sentiasa merintih kerana maksiat berleluasa tetapi mereka tidak mampu mencegahnya.
8.Turun hujan di luar musimnya dan hujan tidak memberi keuntungan kepada makhluk di muka bumi.
9.Fenomena lelaki berkahwin dengan lelaki (homoseksual) dan perempuan berkeinginan kepada perempuan (lesbian) semakin menjadi-jadi.
10. Perempuan menguasai lelaki dengan memakai ubat guna-guna, sihir dan amalan syaitan lain.
11. Anak-anak mengingkari dan menderhaka ibu bapa (ibu bapa menjadi kuli dan anak menjadi tuan).
12. Kawan baik dilayan dengan kasar, manakala musuh diberi layanan baik. Kawan disangka lawan dan musuh dianggap sahabat serta memusuhi orang yang mengajak berbuat kebaikan.
13. Dosa dipandang ringan malah bangga melakukannya seperti zina, minum arak, bergaul bebas antara lelaki dan perempuan, meninggalkan sembahyang, mendedahkan aurat dan berjudi.
14. Masjid dihias indah tetapi kosong, terpulau, berkunci dan banyak berlaku kecurian barang masjid yang berharga.
15. Ramai yang sembahyang tetapi munafik dan berpura-pura. Di dalam sembahyang berjanji akan mengikut suruhan Allah tetapi di luar sembahyang melanggar perintahNya,
16. Akan datang golongan manusia dari Barat menguasai mereka yang lemah (iman) dan ramai terpengaruh dengannya seperti mengikut cara mereka berpakaian, bergaul dan suka berpesta.
17. Al-Quran dicetak dengan indah tetapi hanya dijadikan perhiasan dan jarang dibaca serta diamalkan kehendaknya.
18. Amalan riba berleluasa hingga orang alim pun terjebak sama.
19. Darah manusia tidak berharga, sering berlaku pembunuhan, peperangan dan jenayah.
20. Penganut Islam tidak mahu mengamalkan suruhan agama dan tidak mahu membela serta menyebarkannya.
21. Akan bertambah banyak penyanyi wanita (wanita yang tidak beriman adalah senjata syaitan yang baik).
22. Ramai orang kaya pergi umrah dan haji dengan tujuan melancong, yang sederhana pergi untuk berniaga dan yang miskin bermaksud meminta sedekah.

Implication

2011-10-19T07:53:00.001+08:00

Yesterday, a girl came to see me to report her lost lesson folio. I asked the class if anyone had seen it. A boy said he saw it in another class. I asked why he didn't take it to the girl since he knew it was hers. After all, they are classmates. He said he was afraid he might be accused of taking it in the first place [cases of missing lesson folio are rampant].

I thought he got a point.

Read this from here.

Could the fear of being falsely accused or sued in court have resulted in people ignoring the bloodied body of a two-year-old girl who lay dying on a street in China?
In a strange twist to the tragic hit-and-run accident in the southern Chinese city of Foshan, online commentators in China are saying that these passers-by could possibly have refused to help precisely because they feared being accused of injuring the girl.

According to China Digital Times, netizens said there is a fear of extortion among the Chinese who witness public injury.
The video of the accident, which has since gone viral, shows two-year-old Wang Yue being ignored by nearly 20 passers-by even as she lay dying after being run over twice by vans. A trash collector eventually later notices her and alerts her mother, who rushes her to hospital.

The toddler is now in a coma and is likely to remain in a vegetative state if she survives, according to reports quoting the Guangzhou Military District General Hospital’s head of neurosurgery.

Online commentators pointed to a 2006 case wherein a resident of Nanjing, Peng Yu, helped an old woman who had fallen only to have her accuse him of causing the injury.

A judge subsequently ruled in favour of the plaintiff, saying that Peng would not have helped the woman if he did not cause the fall. The case was later settled in an agreement but Peng still paid 10 per cent of the costs.

This controversial ruling seems to have eroded the country’s ethics, netizens fear.

A recent online poll found that in China, 84 per cent of respondents would not offer assistance to an elderly person who falls on the street for fear of extortion, reported the site.

In August this year, a bus driver in east China’s Jiangsu province helped an 81-year-old woman lying on the ground by the side of her overturned bicycle.

She later told the police the bus driver had hit her but a video camera on the bus showed she was lying.

A month later, an 88-year-old man in Wuhan fell on the streets about 100 meters from his home and remained lying face down on the ground, until an ambulance arrived ninety minutes later, according to a China Daily report.

He died because his respiratory tract was clogged by a nosebleed, but might have survived if someone turned him over, the report noted. But none of the passes-by in the Wuhan, Hubei province offered a hand.

Ginger

2011-10-18T08:23:00.000+08:00

From here

New research finds that ginger's anti-inflammatory properties may play a role in reducing colon cancer risk.
The study, published Tuesday in Cancer Prevention Research, found a link between daily ginger supplements and a reduction of inflammation in the colon, which researchers suggest is one step toward better understanding the role ginger root might play in preventing colon cancer.

Prior studies in mice and rats have shown that ginger helped prevent the formation of tumors when the animals were exposed to a chemical that causes colon cancer.

For the new study, researchers from the University of Michigan Medical School in the US randomly assigned 30 healthy adults to take capsules containing either 2 grams of powered ginger root (about two tablespoons of ground-up ginger root, noted the researchers) or a placebo powder every day for four weeks.

Before and after the study, the researchers took tissue samples from the lining of the colon. They "tested these samples for chemicals called eicosanoids that increase inflammation in the gut," stated WebMD, noting that the ginger-eating subjects showed reduced inflammation.

Another recent study published in The Lancet found that low doses of aspirin, taken daily and over the long term, cut cases of colorectal cancer by a quarter and the death toll from this disease by a third.

How do you know

2011-10-16T02:52:00.001+08:00

A great advice [read here] about how to deal with well meaning friends or relatives who offer 'bits' of advice especially concerning health, is to ask "How do you know?"

"Whenever somebody with questionable intentions or knowledge is presented with this question, they will usually struggle to answer (watch them squirm, it is entertaining…). It is a lot easier to tell if they are trying to pull a quick on on you by listening to their answer to this question, than by listening to their (perhaps rehearsed) initial statement or opinion.

If you are not convinced, ask again "How do you know that?" until you get a satisfactory answer.

If all you get in reply is: "I read it in a magazine" or "I saw it on my friend's facebook status update"then continue checking and doing your own research

If you get "I'm a health professional. It was published in a non commercially sponsored, peer reviewed study, and it works for a large proportion of my large client base who's progress has been tracked for months" then its a lot more likely to be correct information and advice for you.

Try it on shady salespeople, Internet forum "gurus" who are just giving you their (usually uninformed) opinion or even a friend who may a great friend but may not be in the best position to help you get results.

Especially in the age of Internet where opinions abound but facts are hard to find, I like the point made by author Isaac Asimov. "Democracy means that my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge"."

Doomed

2011-10-11T18:24:00.001+08:00

Blogger Outsyed The Box's favourite line "Club of Doom" came to mind on reading this.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recently released a report on air quality in countries around the globe, on which we based a list of the ten most polluted countries. Almost all the worst offenders are either major oil and gas producers, or emerging economies that are growing rapidly.

...worst offenders are either oil and gas producers ....

Kuwait, Nigeria, Iran, and other 6 countries in the Continent of Africa.

Pakistan comes at #3

hmm ... that part about "emerging economies that are growing rapidly" left me kelip pop kelip pop like a lizard that had swallowed some chalk. Well ... Kuwait, Saudi lah kot.

What hit me hardest is 'the club of doom' [quoting Outside The Box]

Sad!

How do You Nip Evil In The Bud?

2011-10-09T15:48:00.001+08:00

Guess what this is. Certainly not a kambing gurun despite the horns and the goatie, neither a scorpion despite the hooked tail.

From Google

Satan is evil.

What about the man who sodomised his 23-day-old son after his wife, who is still in confinement, refused to have sex with him [from here]

or

the teenager who tossed her newborn girl out of a third-floor flat unit minutes after giving birth to the baby in a toilet? [from here]

I am pretty sure none spotted any horn nor poisonous hooked tail.

But then, looks can be deceiving, yes?

Perpetuation of betrayal

2011-09-20T23:14:00.002+08:00

Another betrayal [from here].

"UEC syllabus was DIFFERENT from the national syllabus"

and yet UEC students are allowed to take PTPTN loans, granted scholarship and those with 4 credits can apply for teacher training course

really reminds me of the blood sucking pacat [leech].

no.

'dedalu' is more apt. dedalu is a type of local parasitic plant.

pacats suck blood from the host until they are sated then fall off thus leaving the host to replenish the blood bank.

dedalu will suck the host tree dry and eventually kills off the host

KUALA LUMPUR: The Government has set up a technical committee to work on the feasibility of allowing Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) students to study in local public universities, said MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek.

Dr Chua said he, deputy party president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai and other MCA leaders had met Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who is also the Education Minister, and Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin to discuss the matter.

He said both Muhyiddin and Mohamed Khaled had agreed to form a technical committee to look into the matter and MCA was confident that the Government would approve its proposal.

Speaking at a dinner with 210 non-governmental organisations in Kepong last night, Dr Chua said that since the UEC syllabus was different from that of the national education, the Malaysian Qualifications Agency would need to spend more time assessing the independent school syllabus.

The UEC is equivalent to the national school's STPM. It is for students who have completed six years of education in Chinese independent high schools.

“The Government is aware that the UEC is a high standard certificate.

“Therefore, it now allows UEC students to take National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN) loans, grants scholarships to the top 50 UEC students annually and also allows those who scored four credits in the examination to apply for teacher training course,” Dr Chua said.

Fake - latest news

2011-09-20T14:23:00.001+08:00

Miss Universe 2011 is accused of using false documents.

Read it here

Washington, Sept 17 (ANI): Controversy hounds the 2011 Miss Universe pageant after new allegations that the winner, Miss Angola, used false documents to enter and win a qualifying contest in England.

The Argentinian newspaper Infobae published a report Thursday alleging that Lopes was unfairly allowed to participate in a Miss Angola competition for Angolan citizens living in the UK, even though she has never lived outside of Angola, reports ABC News.

The report claimed that a man named Charles Mukano helped falsify documents identifying Lopes as a student of business management at a British school, enabling her to enter and win the contest there.

Infobae cites reports in Angolan media that allege that Mukano may have even bribed judges in England to ensure Lopes' win.

Lopes was the first Miss Universe from her country, but came under attack in the following days by Miss France and fans of Miss Phillipines as undeserving of the crown. (ANI)

Freedom

2011-09-19T21:16:00.001+08:00

Some people love Coca-cola so much that they expect to get it anywhere anytime. I once saw a programme on TLC about families in United States of America going for a week of holidays in some remote parts of the world such as Africa, Mongolia, Sabah among others. In one of the series, there was this family sent into the remote Africa and endured all the challenges. However, the mother couldn't stand not having a drink of coke. There is an American living and staying in KL who complained incessantly about not getting pork and pancakes for breakfast the way he used to in USA [I read his blog]. He couldn't comprehend why there is restriction on serving pork in eating places in KL. These people believe that it is their right to want things their way because they have all the money to pay for it. I think that is arrogance.

This reminds me of such arrogance.

In some places the work is a little bit more controversial, and then in other places the works are accepted as a litmus test for how free a country is, or how open a country is, and how full of rights a country is," he told a pre-shoot press briefing.

Despite knowing that such act offends the locals, the organisers pursue it.

The head of the local council in whose area the early-morning photo session took place had threatened to call police to disperse the shoot, which he said was offensive to local residents.

But organisers kept the location secret until the last moment to secure it, and there were no hitches to the two-hour session at the Mineral Beach complex, not far from where tradition says the biblical cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, irreparably overrun by sin, were destroyed by God along with their inhabitants. Tunick, who grew up in the largely Hassidic community of South Fallsburg, NY, said in the briefing that he could understand how religious people could find his work offensive.

"That's why I've decided to do the work on Saturday (the Jewish Sabbath), so no-one would be walking by and see a naked person half a mile away and be offended," he said.

When one is only concerned about one's own wish, isn't it selfish?
When one is born in a country and stay in a house that has no window in order to preserve everything from where one's forefather hailed from but demands to be treated as the son of the soil, isn't that selfishness in the highest order?

Coffee break

2011-09-19T12:34:00.003+08:00

Pening kepala lah nengokkan keadaan lintang pukang juak juak UMNO berperang isu dengan juak juak PAS. Puak lain dalam BN sonyap yo. Samo gak ngan teman sebantal PR. Yang bising menyalak sana sini hanya orang UMNO dan PAS je. Teringat satu pepatah yang oamk den selalu sebut maso den kocik duduk kat Kelantan dulu - "ngaju nyio ko anyi" [merajuk lalu lempar kelapa kat anjing]. Makna nya satu keadaan di mana orang yang merajuk tu membuang kelapa kepada anjing. Maka yang kenyang tentulah anjing manakala orang yang merajuk kehilangan kelapa/makanan nya.

Kita berehat sekejap dan jom minum kopi sebab kopi ada super power boleh memulihkan, mencergaskan dan upgrade minda [dari sini]

Coffee is a life staple for most of the world. All too many people swear that they can't get up without their morning cuppa.

We all know that coffee perks you up and keeps you alert, but did you also know that it could make you stronger, faster and smarter?

Here are three ways that coffee can give your body a boost in more ways than one.

1. Regenerative Abilities

When scientists mixed coffee and cancer, they found some startling results. During experiments, coffee showed antiproliferative effects on cancer cells. That is, it stopped the cancer cells from multiplying. Some of the cancer cells even killed itself in the face of coffee.

Other studies showed that caffeine also increases the effectiveness of radiation therapy and tumoricidal drugs.

This is all very revolutionary because cancer destroys your body by mutating your normal body cells into cancer cells. If you can stop the cancer cells from spreading, you’ve got one step in the right door towards curing cancer.

2. Faster than before

Have you ever watched that episode of Big Bang Theory where Sheldon takes coffee for the first time and thinks he’s the Flash? Well, there’s some basis in that.

Caffeine is a turbocharging kit for your cardiovascular system. The liver breaks caffeine down into three demethylated chemicals – Paraxanthine, Theobromine and Theophylline.

Paraxanthine increases lipolysis, increasing the rate of conversion of fat into glycol fuel in the blood. Theobromine has the effect of dilating our body’s blood vessels. Theophylline relaxes smooth muscle tissues, allowing your heart to beat faster and more efficiently.

If you didn’t understand any of that scientific jargon, all it means is that caffeine helps your blood flow faster, at greater volumes, containing more muscle fuels. This all equals a faster runner.

In a 5-kilometer study, caffeine was attributed to a 1% improvement for both trained and amateur runners. So, coffee really does help!

3. Brain Upgrades

We all know that coffee is a way to fight off last night’s hangover. But it also does something extra: it improves the human brain.

In a study, scientists experimented on volunteers by dosing them with small amounts of coffee first thing in the morning. You might be thinking, ‘I do this everyday. No big deal’.

Well, they also found that this helps increase vigilance, vigor, energy, anger, efficiency and reaction time.

So the next time you’re mind blocked on an assignment or find it difficult to finish off a particularly tough task, take in some coffee and try again.

Jailed for Fake Degree

2011-09-15T17:41:00.002+08:00

wasn't surprised when i read this from here

..For their involvement in a fake degree scam, at least 18 foreign workers from China were sentenced earlier this week to jail in Singapore for four weeks each.
The workers had been found by a local court to have provided forged certificates to obtain work passes to work for T Y Enterprise and Sun Blues Cleaning Maintenance.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said that while another 10 workers from China will be charged with similar offences on Thursday, another nine are being repatriated after being served with warning letters “for providing false information to MOM’s employment inspectors”.

Arriving in Singapore early last year, the 37 Chinese nationals in all had applied for employment and S passes with “university degrees” in hotel management from Jiangsu, Shandong and Henan universities.

While the workers knew their degrees were fake and had lied in their applications for employment passes, they claimed they had little choice after having paid S$8,000 each to agents in China to land a job here.

However, the promise of a high-paying job was dashed after they found themselves scrubbing floors and clearing rubbish. It is understood that some of them were farmers back home and had landed jobs as cleaning supervisors.

The three universities mentioned do not offer a degree in hotel management and that the degrees were fake, The New Paper reported.

Meanwhile, the employers who were involved in hiring the workers, a total of 17 men and 1 woman, will be charged in court at a later date.

One of the workers, Liu Demin, 36, had pleaded to the court for leniency when his case was heard on Tuesday, saying that he had paid a substantial amount to the agent.

Speaking to the court interpreter in Mandarin, he said, “If I did not follow his instructions (about the forged degree certificate), I would not get the money back. I have to support sickly parents and two school-going children.”

In June this year, the same paper had reported that Liu and another worker, Wang Kangxun, 31, had complained about the unusual pay practice adopted by their company.

It was this issue which shed light to the fake degree scam.

The workers were each paid a monthly salary of S$2,650 which was transferred into their bank accounts, but after payday, they each had to return around S$1,600 to a man sent by their employer. They claimed not to have known why there were asked to do that.

For an S pass holder, the worker must have a fixed monthly salary of at least $2,000, and at least a degree or diploma while the minimum salary for Employment Pass holders is $2,800.

While such scams are not new, non-governmental group Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2) said this is the largest case of employers using workers with fake certificates. Its spokesman alleged that the employers use the scam to get around the dependency ceiling imposed by MOM.

For making false declaration in a work pass application, the Chinese nationals could have been fined up to $15,000 and/or sentenced up to 12 months’ jail.

One Man's Meat is Lady Gaga's Red Carpet Dress

2011-09-08T13:44:00.001+08:00

Lee Kuan Yew has issued his golden thought yet again. I read it yesterday on Yahoo News here.

He urges Singaporeans to do better in English because:-

"There is an intense worldwide competition for talent, especially for English-speaking skilled professionals, managers and executives. Our English-speaking environment is one reason why Singapore has managed to attract a number of these talented individuals to complement our own talent pool," said Lee.
"They find it easy to work and live in Singapore, and remain plugged into the global economy. Singapore is a popular educational choice for many young Asians who want to learn English, and they get a quality education. This has kept our city vibrant," he said.

He pointed out that Singapore is the only country in the region that uses English as the working language, the main medium of instruction in schools.

Mother tongues Chinese, Malay, Tamil and others are treated as second language.

I read somewhere some time ago that Mandarin is taking over the globe. Even people in America is choosing to send their children to learn Mandarin.

Well, looks like Malaysia is taking the lead. Teaching of Science and Mathematics in English (PPSMI) will be officially killed off come 2012. And look at how well SRJK (C) is doing. Berebut rebut ibu bapa ingin hantar anak anak belajar di sekolah cina sebab sekolah cina bagus.

Apa lah ini LKY. Tak up-to-date lah!

Kan?

Those were the days

2011-09-07T10:31:00.001+08:00

Reading this from here brought tears to my eyes.

... I am now the on looker, the outsider looking at the kampong dwellers from the eyes of a Singapore Malay urbanite, a far, far cry from the innocent child, who was clueless that one day his very own kampong life will eventually be taken away from him. So I too wonder how much longer can the kampong folks at Sungai Buloh withstand the pressure of city life that is fast knocking on their doors ...

I feel deeply the grief of the blog owner through her lament

...Chinatown is still standing and thriving. Serangoon Road or Little India survives to tell many a tale. Kampung Melayu and other Malay settlements on the East Coast and West Coast have been obliterated ( like Kampung Fatimah) or tarted into high-rise HDB flats and farcical 'theme parks'. Although there's nothing new in this 'cleansing' - the British in the 1820s shunted the Malay settlers along the Singapore River to Telok Blangah - the PAP more or less knocked the nails into the coffin.

I am seeing it happening up north
Also in Mat Sabu's latest claim
And there is this tugu peringatan [something connected to Mat Sabu's claim] erected specially in Nilai.

And I can only sigh!

Sharing Info - Contract Law in Malaysia

2011-09-05T11:28:00.000+08:00

Read about it here

Notice that most of the time, the receipt/invoice you received from the merchant carries this exclusion clause or similarly worded statement: 'Goods sold are not returnable' or 'No refund once sold'.

The thing that I have learnt from her is that : As long as your good is purchased for home use and not for business ( i.e. to be resold), the above exclusion clause is VOID.

That means, as long as the good is defective, regardless of what is worded, you CAN get back all your money spent. You do not have to accept a repair on the good or an exchange. You CAN ask for a refund. AND you are LEGALLY right and entitled to! What a relevation!!

And most of the time the merchant will refuse to return you your money.

Her advice?

From her own experience (and no less than 7 and all successful!), she will threaten the merchant with four words: 'SEE YOU IN COURT!'

The court here refers to the Small Claims Tribunal Court.

However, you don't have to tell them what court! All you have to pay is RM10 admin fee and the merchant will have to refund you the money PLUS the admin fee!

She shared this with us because she felt that even educated people are cowed by such unfair wordings (which includes her jaded friends who are not lawyers).

Please try not to let the merchant fleece you the next time you have a defective good.

I know where to file this. On the 16th floor of Putra Place (The Mall opposite Putra World Trade Centre). The form cost RM5.00. The Tribunal will settle within two months period.

Tribunal Tuntutan Pengguna Malaysia ,

Tingkat 16, Putra Place ,

100, Jalan Putra ,

50622 KUALA LUMPUR

Tel: 03 - 40492300 / 40424181 Fax: 03 - 40424259

Taste Of The Medicine

2011-08-16T00:15:00.002+08:00

Well well well! What do you know?

All the good things and still not enough.

From here

“I don’t think people feel very well off. We are still well provided for, but the Singaporean dream of owning a car, a house and maybe private property is kind of out of reach for most people in the middle class. Wages have not kept up with the rising cost of living,” the satirist lamented.

“As a nation, we are looking for something more than just that one person, that one party. We want to party more.”

What goes around comes around. .

“Ten years ago we did not have that many foreign workers here. And while most Singaporeans don’t have anything against foreigners, the rate at which they come in and their lack of integration are causing lots of friction in society.

“You walk into an MRT carriage and sometimes you are the only Singaporean surrounded by foreigners – you can tell by their accent.”

Foreigners, according to the blogger, need to change their behaviour and become more integrated into Singapore society.

For example, he said, workers from China must realise that the island republic is not “Little China”, and they should not assume the other races in multi-racial Singapore spoke Chinese.

Bayangkan perasaan rakyat bila sekolah haram diberi berjuta juta ringgit sedangkan mereka rasa tak senang dengan keadaan "Little China" di pulau yang mereka 'curi' dari penduduk asal yang kini akhirnya jadi minoriti di bumi sendiri.

It's bitter, ain't it?

Sour Grapes?

2011-08-15T12:01:00.000+08:00

Read this on Yahoo News

"Putrajaya has now ended its contract with British publicity firm FBC Media after an embarrassing exposé last week revealed Malaysian leaders routinely appeared in paid-for interviews on global television programmes"

Goes to show how BADDDD Malaysian leaders are [note! ONLY BN leaders lah. Specifically UMNO?].

Now I am wondering how much "OTHERS" were paid to appear on those global television programmes.

Beri betis hendak paha II

2011-08-10T07:49:00.001+08:00

Bahasa Kebangsaan Malaysia ialah Bahasa Melayu dan bahasa kedua ialah Bahasa Inggeris.

Nengokkan gambar kat atas [dari sini], nampak seperti Bahasa Inggeris ialah bahasa KETIGA.

Tak perasan pulak bila kalanya bangunan di Jalan Petaling jadi bangunan warisan.

Hmmm ... ada BAU la!

Kim Kardashian's butt x-ray

2011-07-26T23:50:00.000+08:00

Was watching The Kardashians. The Kardashian sisters, Kourtney, Kim and Khloe were concerned that some of their fans think Kim had butt implant.

What impressed me the most was the fact that it took just a little rationalisation among them and Kim agreed to do an x-ray of her butt. Just to prove to their fans that she didn't have a butt implant to look sexy.

The doctor they went to see first took an x-ray of Kourtney's breast implant in order to make comparison with Kim's butt.

Well, the x-ray confirmed that Kim's butt is 'original'. No implant.

Moral of the story is, when one has nothing to hide, there is no need for excuses.

Can't help but make comparison with the TUNDA TUNDA case.

One Man's Meat

2011-07-20T14:13:00.002+08:00

Read this on Yahoo News Malaysia today.

A group of 365 Malaysian Christians, including Catholics, have signed a letter addressed to Pope Benedict XVI, complaining about Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's crackdown on the July 9 peaceful protest for electoral reforms.

They also expressed concern over the timing of Najib's visit to the Vatican, and pointed out the lack of religious freedom in Malaysia, citing the Lina Joy court case and the seizure of books on Christianity as examples.

The 365 signatories also expressed concern that Najib's visit to the Vatican at this time could be seen as securing popular support for the coming 13 th general election, which must be held by mid-2013, and which could result in him clinging to power.

The letter, titled “Recent Political and Social Developments in Malaysia: Towards a more comprehensive understanding of realities in Malaysia”, and published in full by the NGO Aliran, is addressed to the Pontiff, with a copy also sent to Archbishop Leopoldo Girelli, who is based in Singapore.

And this:-

The article titled “Taken to the cleaners — an overzealous government response to an opposition rally” chronicles the chaos on July 9 when police fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse the tens of thousands who took to the city’s streets here to demand electoral reforms.

Although the full article is available online, the Home Ministry still inked out four lines in the article, one of which notably reported on the death of one man during the rally.

Baharuddin Ahmad, the husband of a PKR leader, collapsed while trying to escape the chaos on July 9 and has now been elevated to “hero” status by rally supporters bent on ensuring his death had not been in vain.

Of course the source is Malaysiakini.

Rais Yatim won a suit againt a blogger. [read here and here]

Isn't anyone interested to follow suit with the above postings?

Rocky Bru reported a rally in London last Friday [15 July?]. Based on the pictures, it was a BERSIH rally.

1. The police allowed the protesters to hold a demonstration

2. The protesters agreed to confine themselves to the road divider and only to the road divider (which is about 30 feet long, I guess)

3. No protester must cross the line (except when snapping pictures of themselves)

4. A couple of uniformed cops were present to ensure that the protesters did not cross the line

5. The protesters had to observe a time limit

Compared to the one held in KL on July 9th ... with over 100 000 protesters [the opposition would swear by this number], Outsyed The Box deduced the number to be 3000 at the most [read here] (my typing of the the zeroes is correct!): I wasn't there, so I wouldn't know how many people turned up.

I do not believe that the KL 'demonstration' would have been as peaceful as the one in London despite Mat Sabu's promise.

I don't understand why they insisted on marching on July 9th using the excuse that YDP Agong gave his blessing and DS Najib promised a stadium. DS Najib NEVER promised Stadium Merdeka and YDP Agong NEVER agreed for BERSIH 2.0 to march to Istana Negara on the 9th to hand in their memorandum.

I had expected when BERSIH 2.0 had audience with YDP Agong, they would have handed in their memorandum. And if they still wanted to have a peaceful protest, they could have applied for permit and hold it in a stadium.

I believe, had BERSIH 2.0 applied for permit to do it in a stadium, the police would have no excuse to deny them.

I also believe that if BERSIH 2.0 had no hidden agenda, they did not have to insist on Stadium Merdeka. Since they expected a huge crowd, why Stadium Merdeka which definitely could not hold 100 000 demonstrators.

If they were to have applied for permit AFTER they went to see YDP Agong, it wouldn't be issued for July 9th. Why can't they wait? Takut nanti orang antarabangsa kata penganjur tak de taring? Takut wartawan luar tak boleh tunggu?

Look at how Malaysiakini played up the death issue of one of the protesters despite proven that it was a lie. Here is a statement from the police [cilok nih dari blog mana ntah. Ampun neh, mokcik ralit blog hopping lupe jumpe nih kat blog sapa]

Yesterday I joined a few colleagues for breakfast. They were talking about that RM73m ring. Their issue was the impossibility for Rosmah to have saved that amount of money since she was small. Tak masuk di akal mereka. They have no problem at all with the ring being sent by a courier.

I don't understand how so many people can swallow all the lies.

Kokok Berderai Derai Ekor Bergelumang Tahi

2011-07-18T15:14:00.003+08:00

Dulu heboh sekejap pasal rumah pelacuran bersepah di ibu negeri serambi Mekah. Ada blog yang menyiarkan laporan hasil siasatan siap gambar gambar lagi. Tak berapa hari, isu tu senyap.

Kini wujud pulak polemik berkaitan penguatkuasaan Enakmen Hiburan dan Tempat tempat Hiburan 1997 yang dicetuskan MB Kedah.

Dapat link ni setelah baca posting terbaru satD

**... Sehubungan itu, Presiden PAS, Tuan Guru Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang berkata pusat hiburan di Kedah akan beroperasi seperti biasa pada bulan Ramadhan namun ia terhad kepada orang bukan Islam sahaja.

Perkara itu dijelaskan beliau pada sidang media selepas mesyuarat Jawatankuasa Kerja PAS Pusat di sebuah hotel di sini.

Turut serta pada sidang media itu, Naib Presiden PAS, Datuk Mahfuz Omar, Salahudin Ayub dan Setiausaha Agung PAS, Datuk Mustafa Ali.

"PAS ambil jalan terbaik yang tidak boleh diselesai oleh Umno iaitu tidak menghalang hak orang bukan Islam dalam masa yang sama orang Islam tidak boleh mengerjakan maksiat.

"Orang Umno buat peraturan orang Islam boleh masuk tempat maksiat, tempat judi. Kita buat pembetulan supaya pengendali pusat hiburan dikalangan orang bukan Islam buat peraturan agar orang Islam tidak boleh masuk," katanya yang juga ahli parlimen Marang.

Keputusan itu juga katanya telah dipersetujui oleh pengusaha pusat-pusat hiburan di negeri itu dan bersedia diambil tindakan termasuk menarik lesen perniagaan jika gagal berbuat demikian.

Penjelasan itu dibuat selepas mesyuarat tersebut mendengar penerangan dari wakil kerajaan negeri Kedah iaitu Setiausaha Politik kepada menteri besar, Mohd Sanusi Md Noor.

Hasrat sebenar perlaksanaan undang-undang itu kata Abdul Hadi, bertujuan mencegah orang bukan islam melakukan maksiat sepanjang bulan Ramadhan.

Bagaimanapun kekeliruan telah berlaku berhubung perkara itu ekoran media arus perdana yang tidak menyiarkan laporan tepat sehingga membangkitkan rasa kurang senang di kalangan orang bukan Islam.

"Di sana banyak perkara-perkara tidak tepat di lapor media yang sengaja dimainkan Umno Barisan Nasional.

"Kita membetulkan peraturan yang salah yang dibuat Umno. Umno membenar pusat hiburan kepada bukan Islam, dan tidak ada peraturan tegas bagi menghalang orang Islam" tambahnya.

Sementara itu, Mohd Sanusi yang ditemui selepas itu berkata, penguatkuasaan enakmen itu adalah tanggungjawab pihak polis. **

Banyak cantik!!!

Dalam isu Bersih 2.0 tak pulak nak dengar arahan polis.

Ini dia berkokok berdegar degar, siap kutuk "orang Umno buat peraturan" [entah-entahkan masa Enakmen tu digubal dan diluluskan Parlimen, PAS ada dalam Perikatan pun] alih alih dia duat disclaimer konon penguatkuasaan enakmen itu adalah tanggungjawab polis.

I was expecting The Monkey to hurl his bestest expletives towards this mamat SU MB tapi tak de pulak. Tu pasal hangin satu badan mokcik nih.

Here is a great posting by someone who know what he is talking about regarding this issue.

June July August

2011-07-01T14:11:00.001+08:00

19 June - was born wayyyyyy back in 1960. Now BOTH children are grown up. Married off the younger one. Have stepped on Haraam Soil and performed minor haj. Started blogging in 2006 and enjoying my moments on blogosphere. Never did I imagine to be sharing and exchanging views with great people in cyber space [must thank my blogging sifus; HMom and sher. My journey to this point in life would have been a tremendously boring, lonely and so much less meaningful one. Thank you girls for getting me started].

Today is 1st of July. The sun is bright and the sky is clear but there is a smell of something dark and sinister brewing. The writings on many walls in this corner of cyberspace are pregnant with malice. 9th July is looming.

As contemplated by Voices Around here I too have been wondering who would be going to the street. And for what purpose? To bring about a change because the present government is obscenely corrupted and oppresive and apertheid? Reading the responses to milosuam's posting here, gave me cause for despair. Reminds me so much of my students' responses when I asked them why are their capital letters the same size as small letters ... "saja suke! dah biase! cantek seme sama saiz! (just because! used to it! uniform size is nice!). All I see is plentiful of FOAMS.

I am against corruption and oppresion. All my life, I believe I have been a victim. I wanted change. But, NOT this way ...

"The Nons will laugh and clap their hands. They will cheer the "Malai Lembus" to keep on fighting, lying on the roadsides, or to become suicide bombers for an express entry to paradise" bambino on Demi Negara

Would like to share this from MI

MAY 19 — I am a Malay working overseas. I find working in Malaysia unattractive due to the following reasons. I don’t want to belabour the points, so I list them down in point form:

Chinese chauvinism/racism
• Most private organisations including TMI are dominated by the Chinese and/or their political agenda.
• Chinese people have a tendency to assign negative stereotypes on other races (especially the Bumiputera races).
• They exhibit cliquish, insular, secretive and calculating behaviour.
• Chinese people favour fair-skinned people even though fair skin is disadvantageous in Malaysia’s sunny climate.
• They admire China’s achievements, despite China’s oppressive regime.
• Malaysian Chinese use the Chinese languages (Mandarin, Cantonese, Hokkien etc.) to isolate their discussion from others while in their presence.
• The Chinese are not honest about failures of ethnic Chinese leaderships in Philippines and Thailand.
• Tokenism is rife in Chinese companies.
• Chinese will use changing criteria to judge people of other ethnicities; one day it is academic merit, another day it may be “character.”
• The Chinese favour their own kind over others, even when other kinds are of equal stature.
• Malays fear to voice out against Chinese for fear of repercussions especially with respect to their employment prospects in the private sector.
• The Chinese still hold strongly to their ethnic heritage.
• They diminish the achievement of other races, especially the Malays.
• Harp on Bumiputera affirmative action even though Chinese people still continue to succeed at all levels of Malaysian life (even government).
• Any Malay who has strong academic background is denounced as attaining it due to “Bumiputera privilege”, even though he graduated overseas with his own money.
• Use their overseas Chinese connection to gain unfair advantage, but pretend the advantage is minimal.
• The Chinese always make unfair comparisons of Malaysia with other non-Muslim, post-industrial countries.
• Chinese people don’t recognise the special position Islam has in Malaysia.
• Enjoy talking bad about Malaysia (even when working/living overseas) as if Malaysia is on the same level as Zimbabwe even though Malaysia is far from it.
• Highly critical of institutions that are Bumiputera-dominated (ie. government), but non-critical of institutions that are Chinese dominant (like gambling).
• Show no desire to partake in patriotic activities (e.g. serve in army), but cry foul when other people point out their lack of patriotism.
• Show lack of understanding about Islamic religion, but enjoy taking Quranic verses out of context to further their argument.
• If pushed to think “outside the box”, the Chinese would favour Western ideals above Islamic ideals.
• The Chinese show lack of respect toward Malay leaders, but accord unnecessary respect to their Chinese community leaders, even though they hold no significant position in government.
• Always speak about “brain drain” but still keep Malaysian passports.
• Willing to spread disingenuous claim that Bumis have already achieved economic parity with the Chinese.
• Use Indians who have achieved to further their claim that Indian community is ahead of the Malay community.
• Comments in support of Chinese chauvinistic agenda are allowed to be posted in TMI, while others are censored.
• I can go on and on with more example, but I grow tired and annoyed.

PAS religionism
• Holds only their interpretation of Islam to be the truth.
• Willing to associate themselves with and be used by non-Muslims while creating enmity toward other Muslims.
• Use religion as a political tool to win arguments and foment discord.
• Ritualistic mentality.
• Have a simplistic idea/concept of the world and its affairs.

Umno nationalism
• Partake in bully politics.
• Enjoy seeing minor issues such as sexual improprieties take over the national discourse.
• Willing to give in to fervent Malay nationalism.
• Must “ampu” within Umno hierarchical structure to get to higher positions.
• Anti-intellectualism.
• Unwillingness to adapt and change to satisfy changing political climate.

Indian shiftiness
• Willing to change their allegiance due to changing political tide.
• Belief that Indian subcontinent will help them, like mainland China helps Malaysian Chinese.
• Dishonest about their caste and other internal problems.

Malaysian culture as a whole
• No proper understanding of logic and reason.
• Has not understood to segregate religious thinking from secular reasoning.
• Lost sensitivities towards other religions/races.
• Still admire Western culture, without studying their obvious weaknesses.
• Always sidetracked by minor issues rather than seeing bigger picture.
• Media not mature to show all sides of the story, media is all very partisan.
• Partisanship is being promoted at all levels from the family microcosm to the national level.

Well, couldn't agree more!.

1st August is the start of fasting month. Yeayyyy! Raya will be at the end of the month. Double yeaayyy!!

Kenduri Sambut Menantu di Kool

2011-06-24T19:14:00.003+08:00

Kenduri di Seremban 4 Jun. Umi dan Ayong sempat bergaya sedondon dengan kain lace tajaan Cik Nor dan Cik Wok rakan sebilik waktu mengerjakan umrah Mac lepas.

Umi, Cik Nor dan Cik Wok di lapangan terbang Jeddah

Janjinya nak pakai masa kenduri sambut menantu, tapi tak sabO sebab kainnya lawo sesangat. Sorry ya Cik Nor dan Cik Wok. Kami melaram dulu.

Kenduri sambut menantu di Kg Kool pada 11 Jun. First time buat kenduri weh! Menggigil gak kepala lutut ... takut tak de kemah; takut lauk tak cukup; takut orang tak datang; takut hujan; takut tak sempat bersedia tamu tiba ... macam macam takut ada. Katering beres tapi kemah belum pasti sebab ramai orang buat kenduri musim cuti sekolah gini. Selagi kemah belum naik, selagi tu lah rasa stress sakan.

Pengantin tak balik ... Ayong pulak dapat cuti hari Jumaat sahaja.

I thought I was ALONE.

Alhamdulillah, my younger sis Ha managed to get a week off from work and her husband let her and her youngest girl Ika, came home with me right after kenduri di Seremban. Thank you very much sis. Hanya Tuhan yang dapat membalas.

Seminggu sebelum tu, rakan setugas, Kam dah datang ke rumah menolong siapkan langsir. Elok siap langsir yang dah tertangguh bertahun lamanya itu, my younger brother Man and his wife Arisah singgah menjenguk persiapan kenduri. Arisah offered to sponsor langsir bilik pengantin and helped me get new curtain for the house. Within a week, with Ha and Ika around, all the curtains were ready and hanged. YEAYYYY! Finally, the house got proper curtains.

With Ha around, I indulged in getting flowers [a great excuse for the kenduri, hehehe!] Tak de lah banyak mana pun but it felt great. The bright colours bursting from the pots cheered up the days. Re-potting and trimming the plants helped soothe the nerves.

On Wednesday, the new bride and groom arrived and went straight into getting the house ready. My newly acquired daughter-in-law, did the kitchen floor in her baju kelawar.Poor girl [woitttt! I never bully one!]. Thursday evening, Arisah arrived from Kajang and got the drains sparkling with her children's help. Friday, Ayong and my younger brother Aznor and his family came home. I had to go for physiotherapy in HSAS. My old buddies; Sher, Pae and Nare arrived to lend their hands [nasib baik depa datang tolong buat bunga manggar]. Late in the evening, Ayah Chik Ruslan [mum's younger brother from Kelantan] arrived with his family. Mak Chik was so ringan tulang membantu tanpa diminta siap tolong gubah bunga untuk meja pengantin. Terima kasih.

I realised I was NOT alone!

Friends and family came together giving me their hands. From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU!

Walaupun rasa penat separuh mati pada hari kenduri, lihatlah KoolmokcikZ senyum happy.

Koolmokcik smiling from ear to ear

Familiiii - Ayong N Arisah sibuk buat pulut tak sempat bergambar
Maksu, Saerah, MakLong pun tak de dalam gambar ni
Su terbungkang kat kedai dua hari tak leh bangun

Man, Arisah & children with Ayah Chik & family

Ayong with Ayah Chik & family

Maksu & Saerah, MakLong & anak cucu dengan Ayah Chik & famili

mokcikZ buddies having a great time. thank you girls and boys

Atuk n nenek temankan pengantin

Atuk gagahkan diri untuk bersama meraikan pengantin

Nenek terkilan tak dapat ikut masa ke Seremban

Su balik ke Perak hari Khamis sebab Maksu ada urusan keluarga. Tengahmalam Jumaat baru Su turun tolong pasang lelangit di tempat meja pengantin. Lepas tu Su out dua hari sampai miss kenduri dan tutup kedai hingga Isnin.

Su tengah pasang lelangit

Ayong buat kek keju dengan topping strawberi tapi tak sempat siapkan hiasan [sebab tak jumpa paip ising]. Lapipula, kena bergegas pergi ambil gulai patin. Walaupun tak siap tapi cantik jugak! [lepas ni Ayong boleh buka kedai kek lah!]

Kek Keju Ayong. Tu bunga yang Mak Chik tolong gubah

Tetamu ada yang datang sampai lepas Isyak. Memang dah pesan supaya datang juga sebab faham ada banyak kenduri pada hari yang sama.

Besoknya semua adik beradik ipar duai anak buah bantu mengemas. Terima kasih banyak banyak. Kalau mereka tak tolong, tak tahu lah macamana nak uruskan semua tu.

the day after kenduri. tq pada semua yang tolong mengemas
terutamanya PakLang, Mamat, Uda dan Adam

finally - hanya bunga manggar di bawah atap oked yang tinggal

Terima kasih kepada semua sahabat handai saudara mara adik beradik yang membantu menjayakan kenduri ini. Mohon maaf di atas segala kekurangan. Budi jasa kalian Allah jua yang membalas.

Pisang emas dibawa belayar

Masak sebiji di atas peti

Hutang emas boleh dibayar

Hutang budi di bawa mati

ANAK OMAK - Wedding

2011-06-07T00:13:00.000+08:00

A picture paints a thousand word. Here are a few pictures of Anak Omak's wedding in Seremban last Saturday 4th June.

Nam-nam

2011-05-31T19:28:00.000+08:00

After six years

through numerous obstacles

and struggles

Finally

first fruit

faces fate

Nam-nam

best eaten

with kicap, gula, lada

YUMMM!!!

HANTU

2011-05-25T11:00:00.005+08:00

Yahoo Malaysia banyak merujuk Malaysian Insider untuk siaran berita di portal News nya.

Kadang kadang terasa juga pelaporannya agak berat sebelah [atau mungkin saya sendiri yang senget].

Hari ini saya tertarik dengan dakwaan AP Tumpat mengenai MyDaftar yang disyaki beliau sebagai cubaan kerajaan BN untuk mendaftar rakyat Thailand sebagai pengundi [di sini]

Lebih menarik bila saya membaca 2 komen berikut:-

1. Nowaday in Malaysia tanah air ku , "Nothing Impossible,..but..every things Possible".

>bergrombolan2 rakyat asing kat malaysia,sgt ramai,tak tahu dr mana masuknya...bila operasi...kebanyakan "kosong"

>Rasuah dan "komisyen" pun ada ranking dlm dunia daa...

>kadar murtad ,berbakul-bakul daa failnya.

>alkohol top 10 in the world.

>...macam2 lagi daaa...

Oleh Kerana Itu....setakat nak guna jentera kerajaan untuk kepentingan pihak tertentu rasanya.....sendiri mau ingatlah....

Walaubagaimanapun, kita sgt2 berharap kakitangan kerajaan bersifat amanah dan bersih, ia tidak jadi seperti di atas.... kalau jadi juga , maka hancurlah demokrasi dan punah lah mandat rakyat terhadap kerajaan , sampai kiamat ....... Realbrain

Ini pula respon kepada komen di atas:-

Ingat senang ke nak buat mcm tu...ingat semua kakitangan kerajaan sokong BN ke...kalau betul terjadi memang rahsia tak boleh simpan punya...kakitangan kerajaan pun sayangkan negara ini...semua ini cerita nak tambah undi.... Guna Otak

2. Kamaruddin Jaafar tidak pernah kerja dengan jpn oleh itu dia tak tahu tugas2 jpn yang nak buat operasi my daftar ni. .My daftar tu nak menolong kalu ada orang orang yang lahir di msia dan juga yang layak mengikut syarat2 akta dan UU jpn bagi mereka2 yang belum memilikki kad pengenalan atau surat beranak.Kerana yang sebenar ada ramai lagi orang tercicir tak ada dokumen pengenalan diri di kelantan ni selama ini sebab sifat manusia. Bagi orang yang pernah bekerja dgn jpn hanya tahu perkara ini kalu tak pernah bekerja di jpn tak usah cakaplah,jauh dari kebenarannya,hanya prasangka buruk semata-mata .Adakak logik nak bagi kad pengenalan kepada orang asing secara terbuka melalui operasi begitu,cuba guna sikit jah otak tak payah fikir banyak2. Orang kalu nak buat operasi bagi kad pengenalan dibuat secara sulit tempat pun tidak diistiharkan tarikh pun tidak dinyatakan.Perkara sebegini tak pernah dibuat pun sebelum ini..Kerana taksub politik sempit semua perkara jadi tak baik..... Srosaladdin Halles

Dari pengalaman peribadi saya sendiri, di setiap institusi yang saya pernah berkhidmat, tak sampai 10% pegawai kerajaan yang 'kelihatan' menyokong BN. Undi mereka saya tak tahu lah tapi kalau mendengar cakap cakap mereka, mereka tidak menyokong BN.

Addiction

2011-05-18T10:37:00.000+08:00

This is among the things I would credit the opposition [here]

"The PR lawmakers suggested the Najib administration take a more holistic approach to cut its burgeoning subsidy bill through a total restructuring of the system by reducing subsidies to corporate giants instead of to the poor, implementing a minimum wage council to boost salaries, and providing better public transportation system to reduce dependency on vehicle ownership and fuel consumption.

He also complained that the administration was going about the removal of its subsidy plan in the wrong way by cutting from the poor man on the street and yet at the same time, still providing massive subsidies to big corporate giants"

“No one disputes that subsidies distort the economy but the issue is that in Malaysia, massive corporate giants like the IPPs, the toll concessionaires, continue to enjoy generous subsidies worth billions of ringgit more than the smaller things like sugar, flour and rice.

“The fact that we are facing a deficit budget now should not be blamed on the people, it is the fault of the government and its failure to implement strategies to encourage a dynamic growth in the economy.

“The people are suffering from high inflation, no minimum wage, the prices of properties ballooning... so why burden the public instead of the corporate sector,”

*to be continued ...

i-City

2011-05-03T15:51:00.002+08:00

Wow

It is snowing now in i-City [more here]

i-City is in Shah Alam.

The very first snowfall in Southeast Asia ... and the snow is safe enough to eat.

Congratulations Ng Yen Yen

For bringing snow to Shah Alam

Tourism Minister, Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen recently said that innovative and attractive tourism products, such as the Snowalk@i-City would help attract more visitors to Malaysia, besides spurring domestic tourism.
"In the past, I used to tell foreigners that we, in Malaysia, can offer them anything except snow. But with Snowalk, we can say that we also have snow in Malaysia," she said.

Mesti lepas ni berdoyon doyon pelancong dari 3 benua datang ke Shah Alam [masuk atas visa pelancong, pelajar kemudian melencong].

Al-maklum, tak de masalah langsung bila mereka melawat Malaysia ... papan tanda jalan, makanan, bahasa, budaya dan serba serbinya SERUPA dengan tempat asal mereka malah lebih baik lagi.

Well, would mats and minahs salleh visit Malaysia for SNOW?

Lagipun orang putih ni geli geleman ngan tandas kat Malaysia.

Tapi deme yang dari 3 benua ni ... alah bisa tegal biasa.

Masa Shah Alam mula dibangunkan dulu, ada dengar cerita SUltan Selangor tidak mahu Shah Alam jadi another KL.

Ni apa cerita lak ni?

i-City''s Chief Executive Officer, Datuk Eu Hong Chew, said the opening of Snowalk reinforced i-City''s position as an innovative company and knowledge hub.
"As a knowledge hub, our focus is on getting innovative companies to come to i-City. For this reason, when we wanted to develop tourist attractions, it was natural to focus on innovation to provide the competitive edge."
When i-City was launched about six years ago, it was planned as a digital city. It was an innovative idea at that juncture and even today, i-City is regarded by Multimedia Development Corporate (MDeC) as the benchmark for future cyber centres in the country.
Eu added that i-City continued innovating when it launched its first tourist attraction, The City of Digital Lights, in December 2009.

What's happening?

1Melayu 1Bumi apartheid???

2011-04-26T08:24:00.001+08:00

On Friday, MCA deputy publicity chief Loh Seng Kok warned that the “1 Melayu, 1 Bumi” movement mooted by the Malay-language daily would create an apartheid situation in Malay-majority Malaysia [from here]

Here we go. We are being accused as trying tp create an "apartheid situation" by this blardy Malaysian Chinese Association publicity chief [American means citizens of America, Chinese means citizens of China, NO? African American means America citizens of Africa descendants. Go figure WHO are Malaysian Chinese].

Despite my poor googling skill, I googled this definition of apartheid by Wikipedia "the rights of the majority 'non-white' inhabitants of South Africa were curtailed and minority rule by white people was maintained ... The government segregated ... and provided black people with services inferior to those of white people"

EXCUSE ME !!!
Who is BEING apartheid?

A Case of "Mengata Dulang Paku Serpih"

2011-04-21T21:16:00.002+08:00

I just have to put this piece from the Star on my record here because I am wondering beyond yonder if this blardy senator WON any seat. How very sombong bongkaknya this chauvinistic racist pig to advocate that despite a two-third majority, Taib Mahmud should step down because he no longer wields support from the chinese.

WHOAAAAA!!! So Taib Mahmud tak layak jadi Ketua Menteri sebab china china Sarawak tak sokong dia. Maknanya majoriti dua pertiga tu tak de harga sebab china tak undi Taib Mahmud.

Patut ler Najib sanggup jadi zombie hancing membiarkan dirinya dikencing berkali kali kali kali kali kali kali oleh rakyat cina yang lahir kat Malaysia sebab kalu dia gagal mendapatkan undi pepuak deme ni maka senator Gan Ping Sieu akan menyalak dan Chua Soi Lek akan menyemak semula kedudukan MCA dalam kerajaan negeri dan persekutuan. Diterjemahkan sebagai ugutan nak berpaling tadah la tu. Nak harapkan undi Melayu, sapa nak undi UMNO yang korup haprak. Baik kasi negara ni kat DAP yang GERENTI mampu memacu Malaysia ke arah kemajuan dan kesejahteraan. Lihat sahajalah P Pinang. Dalam 2 tahun sahaja sudah berjaya jadi begitu maju dan bagus. Kan?

MCA vice-president Senator Gan Ping Sieu has called on Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud to step down, saying he had lost the overall support of the various ethnic groups in the state.

“Leaders of Barisan Nasional must command the support of all communities irrespective of ethnicity.

“Although Sarawak Barisan Nasional emerged victorious at the recently-concluded state election on April 16 and retained its two-thirds majority to stay in power, it is obvious that Tan Sri Taib Mahmud no longer wields support from Chinese voters,” Gan said in a statement yesterday.

Gan, who is also Deputy Youth and Sports Minister, urged the Chief Minister to pass the baton to another Barisan leader as soon as possible as this was the first time in Sarawak's history that the Chinese comm- unity had rejected Taib's leader-ship.

Gan commended SUPP's decision to decline nominating Chinese assemblymen for a state cabinet position, saying it was a principled political stand and in line with public opinion.

He also blasted DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng for misleading the Chinese community and painting the SUPP as Taib's thugs during campaigning.

“The DAP deliberately created a fear of punishment and misled the Chinese community that MCA was intimidating voters,” said Gan.

Gan said MCA would consider its position in the line-up of federal and state governments if the party was rejected by the Chinese community in the coming general election.

His statements echoed party president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek's statement that MCA would relook its position in the federal and state governments if it fared as badly in the next general election as it did in the 2008 polls.

Berani dia provoke Taib Mahmud. How many seats did MCA won compared to their representation in parliament? Mengata dulang paku serpih!

Kempen "1000 Mothers Against Rare Earth @ Teluk Cempedak Beach"

2011-04-20T23:33:00.000+08:00

A lady blogger Ahan in the Afternoon has launched a campaign [read here]
"1000 Mothers Against Rare Earth @ Teluk Cempedak Beach"

I am reproducing her entry here [with permission]

This is an open invitation to all, but especially targeted to women who are mothers or who would be mothers.
This is the plight of the mothers in Kuantan, on Mother's Day this year, come join us on the beach of Teluk Chempedak, in the evening.
Bring a carnation along. Let us cherish the sunset. Let us protect the babies who are here and those who are coming into the world in the future.Lets sit on the beach and reflect on our actions....
We are meeting in peace. We are gathering in solidarity. We are all against the opening of Lynas Rare Earth Plant in Gebeng.
We are the mothers of the children living here in Pahang, we are saddened by the thought that our backyard will be a dumping ground for radioactive waste that will affect the health of our children in the long run. Its not just the children, but the mothers, fathers too.......
One of the worst nightmares of having a Rare Earth Plant in your neighbourhood is that mothers may give birth to deformed babies.
Can you imagine the pain and ache if the new life a couple and the family look forward to will be mentally retarded or physically deformed? Can you imagine the agony if a mother has to decide whether or not to terminate pregnancy?
Hence, we hope you will send this event invite to all our your friends or tell them about this event. In three weeks, we hope to get 1000 mothers with their families to be there.
Please support us......

Karachi transit

2011-04-17T23:20:00.000+08:00

Sewaktu bersetuju untuk mengerjakan umrah dengan Gemilang, pakej pilihan adalah pakej 11H9M bertolak 9 Mac dengan penerbangan Garuda transit 2 hari di Jakarta. Aku menyuarakan kepada ketua kumpulan kami tak ada can ke naik MAS terus ke Jeddah.

Beberapa minggu kemudian, aku diberitahu kumpulan kami akan bertolak pada 11 Mac dan kembali 21 Mac dengan penerbangan terus MAS. Tak terkira gembira hati ini. Permohonan cuti aku ada sedikit masalah. Kerana sebab tertentu, aku perlu ambil cuti tanpa gaji sehari. Tak kisahlah.

Seminggu sebelum tarikh berlepas, aku diberitahu, tarikh berlepas diawalkan sehari. Tambah cuti tanpa gaji lagi. Tak apa lah. Rela berkorban.

Maka pada 10 Mac, sebelum subuh aku dan Ayong dah tiba di tempat yang ditetapkan. Seronok bukan main nak gi umrah [dah cerita kat sini].

Tapi rupanya ada 'fine print' yang aku terlepas pandang.

Dalam brochure yang di beri, tak ada sebarang fine print. Tapi dalam iklan di akhbar [yang aku baca SELEPAS balik] rupanya ada 'fine print' - penerbangan dan tarikh tertakluk kepada perubahan.

Apa yang aku pelajari dari pengalaman mengerjakan umrah ini ialah ibadat adalah modal mendapatkan untung besar.

Gemilang Travel & Tours merupakan di antara beberapa syarikat yang diberi lesen mengendalikan umrah. Entah macamana operasi biznes ini tapi mereka tidak mendapatkan tiket penerbangan terus dari syarikat penerbangan yang ada tapi menerusi syarikat Muhammadiah.

Kisahnya, kumpulan kami dah dapat visa pada 9 Mac. Bila kami tiba di KLIA untuk menaiki penerbangan pada jam 1.00 tgh di KLIA pada 10 Mac, tiket kami telah 'diberikan' kepada kumpulan yang diuruskan oleh ejen lain.

Bila kami di bawa bermalam di Nilai malam tu, tokeh syarikat Gemilang memberi berbagai alasan dan dihujungnya beri kami pilihan menaiki penerbangan PIA dengan transit di Karachi dan bertolak balik dari Jeddah pada 25 Mac dengan transit 2 hari di Karachi. Kami hanya akan sampai di Kuala Lumpur pada petang 27 Mac. Itupun kumpulan kami terpaksa berpecah kerana tidak cukup tiket. Kalau tak nak, kami kena balik. Tidak pulak diberitahu samada duit yang dah dibayar akan dipulangkan atau tidak.

Aku dan Ayong nekad meneruskan perjalanan walaupun berdepan dengan masalah cuti. Jadi tak peduli lah pasal duit pulang balik atau tidak.

Kononya kami untung sebab dapat tinggal di Mekah 2 hari lebih lama, tapi aku 'stress' giler dengan keadaan yang memaksa aku bercuti tanpa gaji begitu. Dan aku kena bersyukur sebab dapat beribadat lebih dengan percuma! Sapa nak bagi? [Itulah kata kata yang ditaburkan oleh ketua kumpulan kami].

Aku tertanya tanya, bolehkah ejen umrah tu buat begitu sewenang wenangnya? Tidak adakah sebarang undang undang yang melindungi pengguna dalam kes begini? Memang aku tidak menandatangani sebarang kontrak tapi bukan kah 'itinerary' yang diberi pada kami merupakan 'janji' ejen.

Aku rasa jika aku nak cari pasal, aku ada kes. Namun, aku terlalu letih dan tak sihat sejak balik. Lagipula, dah tua tua begini aku tak larat dah nak menentang arus.

Jadi, aku sekadar dapat berkongsi pengalaman ini dengan sapa sapa yang menjengah ke sini.

Semasa di airport Jeddah, kami berjumpa satu kumpulan yang dah 3 hari menunggu penerbangan balik. Mereka tersadai di airport.

Pengalaman transit di Karachi amat tidak menyenangkan.

Pertama, paspot kami dipegang oleh pegawai imigresen di airport. Kami keluar dari airport dan menunggu coaster hotel untuk di bawa ke airport hotel tanpa paspot. Tak pernah aku alami keadaan ini sewaktu transit. Nak bising pun, SEMUA paspot jemaah umrah penerbangan yang aku naiki dari Jeddah ke Karachi itu di kumpulkan oleh pegawai imigresen Pakistan.

Kedua, pencuci tandas airport, pemandu coaster dan kelindannya, pekerja hotel semuanya menghulur tangan minta 'tips'. Aku rasa sangat tidak senang dengan keadaan begitu. Seolah 'dipaksa' untuk beri tip. Selagi tak beri mereka terus meminta minta dan tidak mahu berundur. Layanan dan sopan santun yang mereka tunjukkan perlu dibalas dengan tip. Tak ada keikhlasan langsung.

Ketiga, kemiskinan. Kami tiba di airport hotel waktu subuh habis. Tiba di bilik di tingkat 2, aku berkejar ke toilet. Dah siap buang air kecil, buka paip nak bersihkan diri, TAK DE AIR! Tak de tisu! Hampessssssssssss!

Bunyi bising di bilik sebelah. Masa masuk bilik tadi nampak young men in football jersey di koridor bilik tu. Risau pulak takut ada yang mabuk.

Ayong ke kaunter untuk minta tukar bilik. Tengah jalan jumpa supervisor bilik. Bila Ayong terangkan masalah, dia cadangkan kami tukar ke bilik bawah. Ayong naik ke bilik untuk bawak beg turun. Bertembung dengan seorang pekerja yang berebut nak bawakan hand luggage kami yang ringan. Terpaksa kami berkeras menolak kerana dah hampir sangat sampai ke bilik. Supervisor tu pegang pintu. Bila kami masuk, dia hulur tangan minta upah. Aduyai!

Ayong dan aku perlu makan ubat. Air yang kami bawa dari Mekah tinggah sedikit. Tengok ada flask air atas meja dan ada gelas. Bila nak tuang air dari flask, nampak keadaan flask yang berkarat. Tak lalu lah! Tak jadi tuang air.

Bilik berbau asap rokok dan rasa berlengas semacam. Lantai melekit.Penutup katil lembab semacam. Cuba lihat keadaan di bilik air.

toilet without seat cover - boleh terjulus weh!

rusting mirror

Cuba tidor tapi tak leh lelap. Pintu bilik punya kunci yang 'flimsy' sangat. Rasa tak selamat sangat.

Stress giler!

Jam 9.00 pagi ketua kumpulan bagitau ada rombongan melawat sekitar bandar Karachi. Dua puluh ringgit tambang campur lima ringgit tip seorang.

How many is many

2011-04-15T20:32:00.001+08:00

Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry chairman said public holidays in Malaysia should be reduced from 17 days. [From the last paragraph here]

I totally agree with him.

He also said government should consider CANCELLING the holidays for Wesak Day and Deepavali BECAUSE not many people celebrate these festivals.

I agree wholeheartedly.

Well, there is only 8% of MALAYSIAN INDIAN [funny isn't it? African-American refers to American citizens of African descent. So, Malaysian Indian would refers to citizens of India of Malaysians descent, wouldn't it? They didn't plan to stay here. They wanted to go back HOME hence the vernacular schools].

There is 27% of MALAYSIAN CHINESE. Going by the Sarawak election, my guess is a big number of them are CHRISTIANS. Therefore, I strongly suggest we make do WITHOUT Chinese New Year celebration too because the number of people celebrating Chinese New year is not that big. Christmas holiday should be abolished as well since the number must also be small.

Haih!!!

Now I am really really wondering how this small number of Malaysian Indians managed to get Interlok rewritten?

Where are the Melayu who rolled on the road to have ETeMS [English for teaching of Maths and Science] revoked?

Apartheid in Africa is supposed to be dead. I think it is well and alive here. The minorities are thriving and taking over this tanah air. They have their own schools, their own universities. In Sarawak, they don't even bother to speak the national language.

p/s

I stand corrected on the percentages above. My googling skill is NIL.

Attack of the Centipede [2]

2011-04-10T22:32:00.001+08:00

As I was finishing
my weekly washing

A centipede slowly creeping

looked like it was sniffing

being terrified
of the creepy crawly

for the Baygon can I jumped
automatically

and drowned the centipede

with the insecticide

forgive me

Attack of the Centipede [1]

Umrah 2011 - Part 4

2011-04-01T23:46:00.000+08:00

Mutawwif bawa kumpulan kami masuk Masjidil Haram melalui BabusSalam. Seksa sikit aku sebab ada sedikit turun naik tangga. Mereka yang dah pernah datang sebelum ini mengingatkan jangan bawak kamera atau telefon.

Orang dah ramai sedang tawaf. Mutawwif bawa kami sedekat mungkin Hajar Aswad untuk mula tawaf.

'Bissmillahi Allahu Akbar Walillahil hamd.' Lambai Hajar Aswad dan kucup tangan.

Mula melangkah. Aku pegang bahu Ayong kemas kemas. Orang Turki dan India agak kasar mencelah dan menolak.

Aku dan Ayong terpisah dari kumpulan. Kami sekadar berdaya mengikut arus pergerakan puluhan ribu jemaah yang sedang tawaf. Ada ketika kami hanyut hingga menyentuh dinding kaabah di antara Rukun Syami dan Rukun Yamani. Ramai orang India/Afghanistan/tak pasti bangsa apa tapi bukan orang Asia lah yang melekapkan diri mereka ke dinding Kaabah dan berdoa [?] dengan penuh emosi.

Alhamdulillah. Walaupun tidak berpeluang langsung mendekati Hajar Aswad tapi aku dan Ayong dapat menyelesaikan tujuh pusingan tawaf tanpa insiden. Oleh kerana terpisah terus dari kumpulan, kami menggunakan buku kecil yang dibekalkan GEMILANG untuk merujuk zikir tertentu bagi setiap pusingan. Oleh kerana zikirnya memang telah sedia kami ingat, itu memudahkan kami fokus semasa tawaf tanpa perlu risau lupa bilangan.

Semasa tawaf, ramai yang siap ambil self-video. Lampu flash camera tak berhenti dari segenap ceruk masjidilharam. Besoknya kami bawak kamera.

Sebaik lesai sembahyang sunat di Multazam, kami terus beredar untuk meneruskan Sai'e. Amat bersyukur kerana kami terus sahaja berada di pintu bukit Safa sebaik keluar dari kawasan tawaf. Kalau tidak pasti kelam kabut juga mencari di mana nak mula Sai'e. Dan sekali lagi kami amat bersyukur kerana dapat tumpang sekumpulan jemaah dari Malaysia untuk mulakan Sai'e.

Bagaimanapun aku dah terlalu letih. Terpaksa berjalan terlalu perlahan. Ayong pujuk guna kerusi roda. Aku menolak. Nak juga sempurnakan Sai'e dengan berjalan. Kedua tumit pecah teruk dan mula bengkak. Kaki juga bengkak teruk. Memang rasa tak larat dah nak berjalan. Rasa nak terkencing tapi tandas jauh sangat. Jadi walaupun rasa terlalu haus, terpaksa tahan kerana takut nak minum. Entah berapa kali berhenti, basuh muka dan basuh kaki dengan air zam zam yang amat dingin. Rasa segar sikit.

Berjaya menghabiskan Sai'e hampir jam 3.00 pagi. Tak larat nak balik hotel. Lagipun tak pasti arah mana. Ke tandas yang terlalu jauh di luar. Jam hampir 4.00 pagi baru cuba luruskan belakang di dalam masjid, azan suboh berkumandang. Berwudu' dengan air zam zam dan bersedia solat. Tunggu punya tunggu, jam 5.15 azan sekali lagi. Rupanya di Masjidil Haram azan suboh dua kali.

Lepas suboh nampak ahli kumpulan. Ikut mereka balik hotel. Sarapan nasi lemak sambal ikan bilis. Aduhai! Nikmat tak terhingga.

Naik ke bilik. Mandi dan tidor.

Cik Nor rakan sebilik bawa kan makan tengahari ke bilik. Jutaan terima kasih, Cik Nor. Allah saja dapat membalas budi baik puan.

MasyaAllah! Sepanjang aku tido tengahari tu, rupanya hujan lebat menyimbah Tanah Haram.

Asar, kami berempat rakan sebilik kongsi teksi ke masjid. 10 Riyal. Cik Nor ajak kami sembahyang di lapangan tawaf tempat paling hampir dengan Kaabah. MasyaAllah. Semakin hampir waktu solat, semakin padat tempat tu.. Orang orang Arab dan Turki yang bertubuh sasa mencelah dan menghimpit. Seorang Arab di atas kerusi roda elektrik, menjerit suruh semua orang ketepi bagi membolehkan dia lalu untuk ke depan. Sapa yang lambat menepi dilanggarnya macam kain buruk aje. Herannya kemana dia nak pergi sedangkan kawasan tu kiranya dah macam tin sadin. Punyalah luasnya kawasan Masjidil Haram bertingkat tingkat, kenapa perlu berebut begitu seolah mengetepikan usaha orang yang dari awal datang sanggup menunggu di bawah terik mentari untuk sujud hampir dengan Kaabah. Astaghfirullah. Berdosakah aku kerana punya fikiran begitu?

Walaupun mungkin imanku jadi kurang tebal, selepas kejadian itu aku lebih rela mencari tempat yang tidak menjadi rebutan jemaah di tingkat dua masjid menghadap pancur emas. Begitupun untuk sampai ke kawasan itu, kadangkala terpaksa juga melintas di depan jemaah yang sedang solat di tengah laluan. Heran sungguh kerana ramai yang berebut nak kan juga solat depan Multazam sedangkan ruang lain banyak yang kosong. Mungkin lepas ni kerajaan Saudi perlu bina lebih tingkat depan Multazam.

Well, I managed to develop a simple routine. Jam 4.00 pagi bangun dan bersiap ke masjid. Selesai solat, berjalan balik ke hotel untuk sarapan dan rehat. Lepas makan tengahari, aku dan Ayong terus ke masjid sehingga selesai Isyak. Balik ke hotel makan malam. Selang sehari keluar ke Tana'im untuk berihram dan terus kerjakan umrah lagi. Ada satu kepuasan walaupun berada dalam kesakitan sepanjang masa.

GEMILANG TRAVEL & TOURS - Umrah 2011 [Part 3]

2011-04-01T00:27:00.001+08:00

Sampai di Jinah International Airport Karachi dah masuk Maghrib. Asalnya transit 5 jam di Karachi tapi sebab delay berlepas tadi, dan mengambil masa yang agak lama untuk melepasi kastam Karachi, kami terpaksa bergegas ambil wudhu di tandas balai ketibaan. Ramai yang solat di luar tandas so Ayong and I just joined them. Tawakkal ajelah.

Tak sempat jumpa kerusi kosong, dah kena board connecting flight to Jeddah. Awal awal lagi I exchanged my ticket with a young man in my group so that I could sit with Ayong. Ingatkan seat kat ekor rupanya upper deck seats ... more leg room and no LEAKING! Alhamdulillah.

happy getting leg room

BUT! An old stewardess made a big fuss about the change. She insisted I bring the person and show her his ticket. Such arrogance when other passengers are sitting as they please. Ayong got up to find Izzad [the young man I exchanged my seat with], Apparently Izzad was also harassed and he came looking for me. He showed the old hag my ticket [I doubt if our names has any meaning to her].

Eventually dinner was served. Rice with chicken and eggplant. Yummy.

Fed and comfortable I drifted into sleep. Tahu tahu dah sampai Jeddah.

Jeddah from air

Lama berlegar di udara. Lepas tu lama pulak tunggu baggage. Langsung tak de tempat duduk. Risaukan kaki yang sakit berdiri lama gitu. Tumpang duduk kat tahapakenamadia.

lama sangat tunggu baggage

Pelik bila baggage turun belt, ada sekumpulan lelaki [ada yang pakai overall oren, ada yang pakai biasa je] bergegas mengambil baggage dari belt dan mencampak dengan kasar ke atas lantai. Ada beg yang patah tangkai.

Tiga beg ahli kumpulan kami HILANG.

Lama kami tunggu di tempat mengambil bagasi. Akhirnya kami keluar ke balai ketibaan. Dah hampir tengah malam. SEJUKKKKKKK

Wakil penganjur tiba dan bagitau bas syarikat tidak boleh masuk untuk ambil kami. Kena naik bas airport ke satu tempat di luar. [pandai pak arab cari duit]

Kesian pulak wakil Gemilang. Dua kali kena punggah beg.

Terus menuju Madinah. Dalam samar malam, terlihat seperti bukit bukau sepanjang perjalanan. Ingatkan dapat tengok unta. Tak de.

Bas berhenti di tengah padang pasir untuk solat Subuh. Masjid di tengah jalan tu lain beno dari masjid kat tempat kita. Bilik air sedia tempat ambil wudu' tapi tak de sapa yang larat nak guna jamban. Tertanya tanya jugak, ada air ke kat padang pasir ni? Rupanya mewah air paip wudu' dia.

Selesai solat suboh di masjid tengah padang pasir [hehehe] kami berposing. Tengah galak posing, ada sebuah hilux melintas membawa seekor UNTA. MasyaAllah. Dok nyebutkan unta tengah jalan tadi, now it is sent on a hilux! Sempat ambil gambar unta atas hilux walaupun tak berapa terang.

unta atas hilux

Sampai di kota Madinah dalam pukul 8.00 pagi. Sempat tengok payung Masjid Nabawi yang masih kuncup.

payung Masjid Nabawi masih kuncup

Check in hotel Mubarak AlMAdinah. Lebih kurang 100 m dari masjid. Syukur Alhamdulillah. Had our first breakfast in Madinah. Komen Ayong ... nasi goreng dia rasa cam nasi goreng nenek [nenek kalu goreng nasi mesti tumbuk bawang merah bawang putih dan bubuh sos tomato].

Tak leh bawa kamera atau telefon ke dalam Masjid Nabawi. Jadi kami posing posing kat luar bawah payung yang dah terbuka.

Kami tiba awal untuk Dzuhur tapi dah penuh sampai ke laluan. Berasak asak ke sebelah kanan ... alhamdulillah. Banyak lagi ruang kosong di sebelah kanan rupanya. Memang pesen sesetengah jemaah dari negara tertentu deme suka duduk tengah jalan sampai sesak tak leh lalu.

Ingin dicatatkan di sini Ayong and I rasa cam bergegar dan rasa pening pening sikit [ala ala masuk satah lain]. Wallahual'alam.

Keadaan yang sama setiap kali kami berdua ke masjid.

Rakan sebilik [yang dah pernah mengerjakan haji dan umrah beberapa kali] dah jenuh shopping. Kami juga di beritau harga barangan di Mekah jauh lebih mahal berbanding di Madinah.

Walaupun dah set strictly no shopping, tapi dalam hati terlalu ingin bawak buah tangan untuk adik beradik anak anak saudara. Lagi pula tengok deme beli jubah hitam lawa lawa dengan harga 30 Riyal. Akhirnya kami mencuri juga masa lepas asar untuk mengintai tasbih dan jubah. Tak sempat siap membeli azan Maghrib kedengaran dan pekedai bergegas menutup kedai.

Kami bergegas ke bilik untuk simpan belian dan berwudu'. Melangkah masuk saja ke pekarangan masjid, imam dah takbiratul ihram. Aying and I, we just bentang sejadah kat tengah jalan tu dan terus takbir. Selesai solat, ada solat jenazah tapi kami tak tunggu sebaliknya cuba bergerak ke dalam untuk menunggu waktu Isyak. Beberapa jam merayap shopping tadi, kaki aku cramp dan tak leh bangun. Puas Ayong cuba tarik. Ada sorang perempuan [tak pasti bangsa apa] cuba mengangkat, pun tak berjaya. Terkial kial aku cuba berdiri. Akhirnya berjaya. Terencut encut mencari jalan masuk ke masjid melalui ribuan jemaah yang mula bergerak. Dan seperti selalu, kami rasa bergegar sikit, pening pening dan akhirnya tiba di kawasan yang agak lapang tidak ramai jemaah. Boleh baring.

Jam 1.00 pagi kami di bawa pemandu khas ke Raudah. MasyaAllah! Bertolak tolakkan berebut tempat paling mustajab doa. Rezeki kami, selepas semua habis berebut, kami dapat tempat di karpet hijau tak ada orang lain dah. Syukur. Kami semua dapat berdoa dengan aman sepuasnya. Menurut rakan yang dah banyak kali datang, inilah pertama kali beliau dapat berdoa dengan puas di Raudah. Rezeki. Alhamdulillah.

The next day kami di bawa melawat beberapa kawasan berhampiran. Pertama ke Bukit Uhud di mana tentera Islam kalah perang kerana tamakkan rampasan perang.

Kami juga sempat melawat dan solat di Masjid Qiblatain, Masjid Quba dan Masjid Tujuh Nabi.

Kemudian kami di bawa ke LADANG Tamar. Tak banyak pilihan tamar yang ada dan semuanya kering keras. Kurma ajwa dan anbar [kurma nabi] harganya 75 Riyal sekilo. Mak aih! Nak tak beli, karang tak jumpa dah ...nyosal. Belilah sikit dengan harapan ada peluang lain.

Bertolak ke Mekah lepas asar. Berihram di Bir Ali. Sampai di tempat menginap di Mekah dalam jam 9.00 mlm. Makan malam yang lazat. Ada sambal belacan. Hahaha!

Kami berkumpul di lobi dan mutawif yang disediakan GEMILANG membawa kami ke rumah Allah untuk mengerjakan umrah wajib.

GEMILANG TRAVEL & TOURS -Umrah 2011 [Part 2]

2011-03-29T21:28:00.004+08:00

Dah siap hantar borang cuti tanpa gaji, tetiba diberitau penerbangan di awalkan sehari.

Tak kisahlah. Potong gaji pun potong lah. Ibadat punya pasal tak leh komplen.

Bertolak lepas subuh pada 10 Mac 2011.

Ramai ramai naik bas ke KLIA

Sampai di KLIA jam 11.00 pagi. Flight jam 1.00 tgh katanya.

Segar dan teruja nak bertamu ke Rumah Allah

Pukul 1.00 tgh diberitau flight delay. Jemaah kumpulan lain pun ramai di balai berlepas.

Jam 3.00 ptg diberitau besok baru terbang. Petugas GEMILANG membawa kami dan baggage naik bas ke Hotel Nilai. Bermalam di situ.

Keluar dinner ngan abah ayong. Dia belanja kami makan ikan yang dia pancing.

Balik hotel ada perjumpaan dengan bos GEMILANG.

Berita buruk.

TIADA TIKET penerbangan.

Kami ditawarkan penerbangan dengan PIA transit di Karachi. Pun ada tiket untuk 24 orang sahaja. Balik pun dengan PIA tapi pada 25 Mac transit 2 hari di Karachi. 6 orang lagi kena naik SIA direct flight ke Jeddah tapi kena board di Changi.

6 orang yang disenaraikan membantah. Penganjur minta volunteer.

I voluntereed but was turned down sebab masalah mahram. Orang lain voluntereed.

Pagi besok, jam 9.00 bertolak ke KLIA semula. Check in jam 11.00 pagi. Flight delay lagi.

Intai surau untuk solat. Orang beratur berderet deret.

Tetiba kena board around 3.00 pm.

Ramai yang merungut sebab tempat duduk terasing bagi yang berfamili.

I got a shock when I get to MY seat.

PIA BOCOR!

The plane was leaking. A blanket was put on my seat to catch the droplets. I told the stewardess [unfriendly one and appeared to be very crossed] I was not going to sit there.

She pointed to the front row. The cushions from 3 seats had been removed and blankets were piled to catch the leak. That left one aisle seat. I told her I would need an umbrella. She insisted I sat down as the plane was taking off.

A few rows of seat in front of me were occupied by men in uniform who were speaking loudly, oblivious of other passengers.

I asked the one in front of me if they were the crew. He said yes but they were off duty.

Putting on my most school-marmy tone I asked him if it was not a good courtesy to let a customer have a better seat.

He answered, "Most definitely."

Mamat tu ala ala Ajay Devgan dengan kulit cerah dan mata hijau - JAMBUU

Soon lunch was served. Nasi beriani kambing. Yummy! Tapi tengah makan salad the crew sitting next to me pulak kena pindah seat sebab ada orang mintak tukar. Susoh weh nak bergerak sebab tempat sempit ya amat! I dropped my lunch on the floor. Aisehh!!! Dia punya dessert nampak sedap tadi.

Mulanya ingatkan sempat ler buat jamak takhir bila tiba di Karachi. Tapi borak ngan crew masa lunch tadi dia kata anggaran masa tiba di Karachi ialah Maghrib.

Ke tandas untuk wudu'. Teruknya tandas!!! Tawakal je ler.

Rupanya ramai yang belum solat di KLIA tadi. Maka ramai ramai ler yang turut jamak qasar.

GEMILANG TRAVEL & TOURS - Umrah 2011 [Part 1]

2011-03-29T18:56:00.000+08:00

Awal 2010 berbisik kat Ayong, "Kita bawak atuk ngan nenek gi umrah?".

Ayong setuju.

"Tapi kalau saya sorang, tak larat. Kena lah bawak Epit sekali untuk bantu atuk."

"Bajet?"

"Bawah lima ribu ringgit. 5 orang = 25 ribu. Perlu kenalpasti apa lagi perbelanjaan lain yang terlibat. Strictly no shopping!"

"Bila?"

"Cuti sekolah bulan Jun."

Bagitau adik yang kerja di Dubai. Dia sanggup taja tambang nenek. Lega! Tapi adik ipar cakap tahun lepas, bulan Jun musim panas. Emak dia pergi umrah masa tu sampai kena basahkan tuala letak atas belakang.

Uishh! Susah gitu. Atuk mana tahan cam tu.

Cuti sekolah bulan September pulak musim raya. Tak de pakej bawah 5 ribu.

Tunda ke cuti sekolah bulan Mac 2011.

Hujung bulan Disember, bagitau atuk hasrat nak bawak dia dan nenek mengerjakan umrah.

Atuk menolak. Katanya dia tak larat.

Terkedu!

Tapi dia benarkan nenek pergi.

OK lah tu.

Ayong cari pakej umrah di Kuantan. Mintak tolong bapak kawan baik dia yang biasa bawak jemaah ke Mekah.

Dapat. Tapi bulan Jun.

Kansel rancangan nak umrah.

Tetiba, rakan sekerja ada yang berbincang nak buat umrah bulan Mac. Banyak lagi tempat kosong. Terus sign-up. Then baru call Ayong tanya kot dia nak ikut.

Nak.

Terus pergi baharui paspot di Kuantan. Sekejap je prosesnya. Siap dalam beberapa jam sahaja.

Memula penganjur kata bertolak 10 Mac dengan Garuda transit di Jakarta.

I was hoping we could go with MAS direct flight.

Few days later, organizer 'confirmed' we were going with MAS direct flight to Jeddah. I was elated. Still had to apply for no pay leave though because return flight would be on 21st Mac. Oh well!

Umat buih

2011-03-07T13:45:00.000+08:00

Ada duit dihabiskan begini

Tak de duit kutuk kerajaan

The Agent of the Seed

2011-03-05T01:15:00.001+08:00

Update: Oil shoots higher on Libya turmoil [read here]

First Mallott and now this

this is how it is done.

Planting the seed

Flaming the fire

Creating chaos

When

someone miscalculated and the ice did not melt

the flood stopped and Faiza Herba Ponni rice is back on supermarket racks

palm oil has higher burning point.

Seriously

I am beginning to believe

multiculturism can happen only in Shangri La

unity in diversity

is for the sole purpose of

'e[R]ection'

Before and After

2011-03-04T12:46:00.000+08:00

Before

After

Material = RM360.00

Labour = RM600

Duration = 8 days

D'UH !!! Been had!

The sun and the moon @ Kool

2011-02-19T22:40:00.000+08:00

my eastern sky at 7.30 am

This is the sky that greets me

as I reach the top of the hill

before turning left

to get to work in the morning

And this is the sky that greets me

as I turn right

and come down the hill

when I come back from work

I am clueless

as to what caused that thick line

in the middle of my purple sky

My western horizon at 7.30 pm

waxing gibbous 98% full

This is the waxing gibbous moon

at 98% full

seen on my eastern horizon

on 17 Feb at 7.41pm

This was taken in 2008, October 15

I posted this photo here in an earlier blog entry

along with few other favourites

which I snapped at almost midnight

full moon at midnight

Guess what this is

SHAMSUL AKMAR: Get Your Facts Right, Malott

2011-02-13T19:01:00.000+08:00

Another response to John Malott's Malaysia's Racism.

FORMER United States ambassador to Malaysia John R. Malott must be over himself with the attention given to his recent article in the Wall Street Journal titled the "The price of Malaysia's racism".
A shallow article from a less-than-average diplomat should not have made Malaysians excited but instead, make them realise that amid the powerful nation's diplomatic corps, mediocrity does exist.

At the same time, there are, of course, the "anglophile" Malaysians who will take the opinion of a racist white man as gospel. This is apart from those who have decided that Malaysia is a failed state, adding to the crowd of naysayers.

Since there are many "Uncle Toms" in the our midst, Malott's piece needs some scrutiny so as not to allow his brand of racism and propaganda to get away with impunity.
First, all the issues he raised had gone through the processes of political debates and the law and put to rest.

They were the "cow head" procession, removal of crosses and claims of unpatriotic non-Malays with regard to the armed forces. Those involved had either been punished or apologised.

The other issues are political posturing, perceptions and minority rights viz. affirmative action at the expense of the country's minorities.

Herein lies Malott's confusion and distorted logic.

Coming from a country claiming to be the purveyor of democracy, Malott forgets that he is dealing with a much younger nation, whose democratic practices may not be as "mature" as the Americans'.

Malott may not realise that all Malaysians, or then citizens of Tanah Melayu, had the right to vote from the day the country gained independence in 1957 unlike the US where African-Americans only enjoyed such rights after the 1965 Voting Rights Act was passed.

In the American context of discrimination against minorities, Malott would have to understand that such a thing does not exist in Malaysia.

The Jim Crow laws, which upheld the segregation between "whites and Negroes", were repealed only in the 1960s.

These laws barred African-Americans from mingling with the whites, be it in schools, universities, the military, buses, toilets and even drinking fountains.

Such segregation has never existed in Malaysia and is not about to start nor will it be allowed to take root.

In fact, it is the reverse, especially in the case of Malaysian schools where the minority chooses to remain in vernacular schools, spurning calls by the government to embrace national schools.

Of course, it can be argued that many feel vernacular schools offer a better education than national schools but the fact remains -- there is no segregation.

Not to be ignored is affirmative action, which Malott attempted to pin as the factor for the bad blood between the races.

Again, Malott exposes his lack of intellect or ignorance because the affirmative action here is a direct opposite to that of the US.

The affirmative action in Malaysia is targeted at the majority while in the US, it is for the minority.

In other words, it is accepted that the minority, as a collective entity, is economically superior to the majority. Even then, the affirmative action target is 30 per cent equity of national wealth for more than 60 per cent of the population.

Simply put, it is an attempt to allow more than 60 per cent of the population just about one-third of the nation's wealth. The target had not been achieved and the policy had been criticised, not for its objectives, but for its implementation.

Compare this with the American affirmative action, which is targeted at improving the less than 15 per cent African-American population. Despite the small target, the minority is still the most disadvantaged with an economic equity of about seven per cent.

In short, it is the majority in Malaysia which is economically displaced and the minorities hold an equity larger than their population (again this is stated within the context of a collective entity just in case some Malaysians who think like Malott start arguing the minority groups also have their share of the poor).

The best joke is Malott's attempt at discussing Malaysia's economic standing and claiming it was worse than the racial tensions of 1969.

He should then be more concerned with the state of affairs in America, where those living below the poverty line comprise more than 12 per cent (2004 estimates, long before the sub-prime crisis, junk bonds and collapse of its financial institutions) and almost double-digit unemployment rate with growth of less than three per cent.

By comparison, Malaysia's standing is healthy if the US is the yardstick, with about five per cent of the population living under the poverty line, unemployment at 3.5 per cent and growth steadily rising to above seven per cent.

In short, Malott should have urged Washington to use Malaysia as a case study.

That being the case, what was the rationale behind Malott's piece?

As pointed out earlier, it was an attempt to redeem himself for his shortcomings in 1995-1998 when he had wrongly advised Washington on the situation in Malaysia, apart from failing to ensure that his predictions came true.

He had then equated Malaysia to Indonesia, of turning to the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, the ascension of a leader of Washington's choice and the end of opposition to American hegemony.

But Malott is not about to give up.

The "Uncle Toms" here are ready to jump when he commands them

Read more: SHAMSUL AKMAR: Get your facts right, Malott http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/22lott/Article/#ixzz1DprRmM7M

Melting pot?

2011-02-12T17:16:00.003+08:00

Update.
Malaysian Insider ran a response by Umar Mukhtar to John Malott 's article. [read here] MI also ran a response by DPM but I will not bother to link it here for embarassment.

Well, what do you know ... thestar today run Ms Mote's counter arguments to John Malott's article. Azmi Anshar responded on nst online earlier. I commented about it here.

Yeah! Where else in this world that the ethnic celebrations are honoured as state holidays?

Where else in this world you will find the citizens who cannot speak the tongue of the soil and insist on keeping their vernacular schools ... not even in the PERFECT Singapore.

However, Ms Mote's observation is counter to the opinion of an American who resides in Kuala Lumpur and heads an international company. He opined that Mr Malott's piece is current and well aligned with reality. He observed that our economy is slipping against all of the regional competitors and that without a higher growth, there is risks of social pressures. He went on to note that the government is hinting the protest in Egypt is building up pressures here.

Hmmm ... by the look of things, perhaps one should consider stocking up on canned food and drinks. The way things are between two dinosaurs [LKY and TDM] maybe it is a good time to start piling up gold dinar too???

Embedded lies

2011-02-11T00:21:00.001+08:00

Rachel Mote wrote a response to Malott's criticism about Malaysia's racism. Ms Mote contended that Malaysia is a true melting pot in opposition to Malott's claim of a cracked salad bowl.

Look at the comparison of GDP growth.

"Counter to Malott’s claim, Malaysia’s economy has been a burgeoning one. Its GDP has had positive growth for each of the years between 2000 and 2008, only dipping into negative territory in 2009, a year that saw the entire world’s economy in decline. Malaysia enjoyed a GDP growth rate of 8.9% at one point in the last decade. That’s hardly “underperforming.” By comparison, the best year of GDP growth in the United States over that same period never exceeded 4.9%. By that measure, Malott’s assessment of Malaysia economy is entirely unfair and inaccurate."

Ms Mote than adressed the question that have been buggng me all day long.

Now the question must be asked, why Malott chose to advance a negative and inaccurate picture of the country where he once served as Ambassador. The answer is a simple one that can be seen in his own hand. John Malott is a pet of Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim. A long defender of Ibrahim, Malott has taken to the press before in defense of a man who has been charged twice with sodomy, a serious crime in Malaysia, and who was convicted of corruption.

To cap off the week, here's a link that I cannot not love ... hehehe

Superman lily

2011-02-10T01:15:00.005+08:00

One of my all time favourite movies is Superman starring the late Christopher Reeve. Of all the scenes, the one that struck me the most was when Superman flew across the globe to get Lois a flower for their date [or was it dinner?]. The flower was the peach lily. Ever since then, I became rather obsessed with lilies.

I have not been blessed with green fingers. The joke has always been that I could kill off plants simply by watering them. However, since moving into my own abode in 2003, I have been trying to 'cool' off my fiery fingers. I tried roses with some success until I left them without water for weeks when I had to go outstation. So were the orchids. Spent half k getting the 'orchid house' but I could hardly get them to bloom.

I first saw this pink lily at my brother's place in Klang. I asked for some of the bulbs to be planted at my house.

About five years ago, I planted some bulbs in two flower pots. The leaves sprouted and shriveled again and again over the years. I used special fertilizers in the hope of seeing the beautiful flowers under my purple sky but to no avail.

After tending them all these years, I was ready to give up. I left them alone. Not even bothered to water the pots. Mimosa began to take residence in the pots. With the end of year mad rush, they were totally totally abandoned. I gave them up for dead.

The rainy season past few months gave them some life but I ignored the sprouting leaves shrouded in the dark green mimosa foliage and its fragile pink round flowers. I just didn't have any hope to ever see the pink lily.

Last week I noticed the tip-of-the-flower-thingy but I was too occupied with Hikmah. Coming back from school on Monday in the evening, I was greeted by this three beautiful pink blooms on a single stalk. With the fourth still in bud.

Mesmerizing! Subhanallah! They are so beautiful.

So is this life giving rain I snapped using my phone cam. I love watching the rain drops like big shiny pearls dropping down from the sky. I could spend hours watching them.

Over the years I have had some blooms around the house at different times. I didn't get to take any photos of my lovely roses and orchids before they died out [of neglect and termites].

Superman Lilies in June

Heliconia with leaves

Heliconia in vase

bougainvilla

Periwinkles

I have no idea what this one is called

MarginS

2011-02-08T21:56:00.000+08:00

A former US Ambassador to Malaysia wrote an article on Wall Street Journal "The Price of Malaysia's Racism" .

Almost 500,000 Malaysians left the country between 2007 and 2009, more than doubling the number of Malaysian professionals who live overseas. It appears that most were skilled ethnic Chinese and Indian Malaysians, tired of being treated as second-class citizens in their own country and denied the opportunity to compete on a level playing field, whether in education, business, or government. Many of these emigrants, as well as the many Malaysian students who study overseas and never return (again, most of whom are ethnic Chinese and Indian), have the business, engineering, and scientific skills that Malaysia needs for its future. They also have the cultural and linguistic savvy to enhance Malaysia's economic ties with Asia's two biggest growing markets, China and India.

Of course, one could argue that discrimination isn't new for these Chinese and Indians. Malaysia's affirmative action policies for its Malay majority—which give them preference in everything from stock allocation to housing discounts—have been in place for decades. So what is driving the ethnic minorities away now?

I kept thinking of apartheid in South Africa.

I strongly believe that these world policemen are looking at us through apartheid lenses.

That the non-Malays are marginalised on this soil.

They swallowed the Ketuanan Melayu [Malay Supremacy] lies hook line and sinkers tossed by DAP and Hindraf.

"... right-wing militant Malay groups such as Perkasa ..."

"... Chinese and Indian political parties in the ruling coalition are supposed to protect the interests of their communities, but over the past few years, they have been neutered. They stand largely silent in the face of the growing racial insults hurled by their Malay political partners..."

"... Utusan, which is owned by Mr. Najib's political party, has claimed that the opposition would make Malaysia a colony of China and abolish the Malay monarchy. It regularly attacks Chinese Malaysian politicians, and even suggested that one of them, parliamentarian Teresa Kok, should be killed..."

Their opinions and arguments conveniently overlook the statistics.

And most of all, they conveniently forget that we are not U S of A.

That the Malays did not bring those non-Malays onto this soil.

That we honestly believe they wanted to go home because they insisted on keeping their vernacular schools. Otherwise why in the U S of A or anywhere else in the whole wide world do we NOT find a vernacular school? If one go to Nottingham, England, one will find Bank of India in Lenton Boulevard but no Primary/Junior/High School (India)?

That after 53 years, the non-Malays cannot speak the NATIONAL LANGUAGE of this soil.

I wonder if any of those in office read what this learned gentleman spewed.

Am I making a mountain out of a molehill?

In apartheid Africa, the white people became the master and the blacks became aliens in their own country.

Once, under TDM we were a nation well on the way of shedding our underdeveloped-country cloak.

TDM was branded as a dictator by the west.

LKY brandished his designer democracy and is applauded for his success.

And suddenly everything chinese is magically correct.

"... Chinese parents can get away with things that Western parents can't..."

No more French, many would choose Mandarin as a second language. That's the language of the biggest economic power now.

Exercise in older adults improves memory

2011-02-07T23:29:00.003+08:00

One year of moderate physical exercise can increase the size of the brain's hippocampus in adults aged 55 and more, leading to an improvement in spatial memory, a new study showed.

The hippocampus is a brain structure involved in all forms of memory formation.

The study -- conducted by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh, University of Illinois, Rice University, and Ohio State University -- appears in the January 31 issue of "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences."

"The results of our study are particularly interesting in that they suggest that even modest amounts of exercise by sedentary older adults can lead to substantial improvements in memory and brain health," said Art Kramer, director of the Beckman Institute at the University of Illinois and the senior author.

"Such improvements have important implications for the health of our citizens and the expanding population of older adults worldwide."

For their project, scientists recruited 120 sedentary older people without dementia and randomly placed them in one of two groups -- those who began an exercise regimen of walking around a track for 40 minutes a day, three days a week, or those limited to stretching and toning exercises.

The results showed that the aerobic exercise group demonstrated an increase in volume of the left and right hippocampus of 2.12 percent and 1.97 percent, respectively.

The same regions of the brain in those who did stretching exercises decreased in volume by 1.40 and 1.43 percent, respectively.

"We think of the atrophy of the hippocampus in later life as almost inevitable," said Kirk Erickson, professor of psychology at the University of Pittsburgh and the paper's lead author. "But we've shown that even moderate exercise for one year can increase the size of that structure. The brain at that stage remains modifiable."

[from here]

In the name of democracy - Public Farting

2011-02-06T00:49:00.001+08:00

When Malawi was under the rule of a dictator, people were afraid to fart in public. Since the last dictator was removed 16 years ago, the people thoroughly revel in their newfound freedom brought by democracy.

A Malawi cabinet minister said democracy in the country has encouraged PUBLIC FARTING. It is becoming such a nuisance that the lawmakers will next week debate a law to CRIMINALISE public farting.

In 1929, a law was introduced which states "Any person who voluntarily vitiates the atmosphere in any place so as to make it noxious to the health of persons in general dwelling or carrying on business in the neighbourhood or passing along a public way, shall be guilty of a misdemeanour"

Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister, George Chaponda said, "The government has a right to ensure public decency. We are entitled to introduce order in the country"

Hence the amendment to the existing law is proposed which will make farting in public an offence.

The democratic government also ban long hair for men and trouser wearing for women. [from here]

Singapore is a democratic country. It is so successful that the people only need one party. Opposition has no place there because the government is so very efficient and and its people are all so happy and contented.

We succumbed to pressure. We were TOLD we were not democratic enough. We marginalised the Chinese and the Indian.

Now, who said all that?

HIKMAH

2011-02-02T00:41:00.001+08:00

A long long time ago when I was 14 years old, a teacher put me in charge of the school magazine. Got myself a few friends to help me cut out prints using scissors (our own) and pasting each piece painstakingly to the 'typing' paper. The teacher gave me an old portable typewriter [can't remember the name -very popular brand then]. We had to buy our own glue. I didn't see the teacher until the day I hand in the final draft. It was left to me to get all materials including the foreword from the Principal and other education officers concerned.

Last year, I was made the secretary to the committee. I thought it would be a breeze because we have all the hardware and software needed to produce a school magazine.

I prepared a schedule and appointed students ... the way my teacher did.

Then I had that bout with shingles followed by the great sail. I was missing from school until May.

All the while I took it for granted that the 'work' for the mag was undergoing.

Turned out I was misinformed.

When the final meeting was called, the mag was far from ready. Even the design for the cover was not in sight.

Deadline came and went and no mag in sight.

School ended and began for the new year and still the mag was not making any appearance.

I have never worked with MS Publisher before but I needed to come out with a mag.

After three sleepless weeks, I came up with a whole mag.

Phewwww!

Finally.

After struggling for the whole month, today I managed to hand Hikmah to the publisher. Hopefully, it will be ready before SPM result is announced at the end of this month otherwise it will be another headache.

Moral of the story, it helps a lot to know how to use MS Publisher.