Shooting from the a@#

Well, that's another loud-mouth Minister talking for you... Sometimes it is very irksome to see prominent figures to shoot off from their a@# of a mouth, such stupid remarks, in an area I am sure she is no expert in! Who does she think she is? A former women's world champion to make such comments? Sheesh...

Of course this was not reported in the mainstream English papers, so people would not give a hoot - after all readers of the Malay papers are mostly of the lemming mentality and follow these people off the cliff if they have to (obviously the leaders would get out of the way at the very last minute to save their skins!)

And this coming in the wake of another shoot-from-the-a@# politician: the wheelchair punishment from God and his humble apology (sic!)

Well I guess we are always entertained in this country...

What's In a Name? Here, nothing!

Aiyoh, who cares what it'll be named!! All we are asking as citizens and tax-payers is that no money be wasted in these mega-projects: IDR, NCER, ECER and the soon-to-be announced East Malaysia development plans... Maybe I would be better off asking for the NEP to be abolished...oh, who am I kidding?

The amount of money is just mind-boggling - how Malaysia is going to sustain itself is the million-ringgit question (or is that billion-ringgit?). We will either succeed or go down the drain.

Which way will we go? I think everyone knows the answer...

Picture Story: Sabah

So lucky that I found these pictures that I took of Sabah...thought I had lost them when my friend sold off my old laptop (he was supposed to cannibalise it for my combo drive, but I guess there was an opportunity to make some money). It's not much, but at least there was something to remind me of my six years is Sabah...

My apartment block, where I stayed for four years

The living room...

and the bedroom

Constant companions: Puff the dragon, and

this you know who-lah...

A view from the balcony, during the day...

and night

Whee...my faithful car!

A view of Queen Elizabeth Hospital, where I worked - this is the standard eight-storey government hospital of the time...

The Post-Graduate Medical Centre where we did a lot of teaching, seminars, courses etc.

This is a view from one of the interchanges in Kota Kinabalu; in the background is the KWSP building

The only cinema in Kota Kinabalu before 2004

A view of Ranau, at the foot of Mount Kinabalu where I worked from 2000 - 2001

A view of Mount Kinabalu, hidden by cloud cover

The new Ranau hospital after upgrades (OK, I just took the ED only); too bad I don't have pics of the old hospital for comparison

Nice and spacious

Taken from inside the car, on my way to...

Kudat is a small town at the northern tip of Sabah; well, the main attraction there is the chance to be standing at the tip of Borneo

Not a good try for a twilight shot...

The long path towards the tip of Borneo

A commemorative plaque of sorts

You really have to wake up early to get there to catch the sunrise

You have the rocky area down there...

and calmer waters elsewhere

Some of the local poultry...kampung chicken

She sells seashells by the seashore...

There's lots more pictures, but I've lost most of them. Anyway it's still good memories for me. And since I just went over to Sabah last week, there'll be new pics to be added on...

Malaysia Boleh! Again...

Looks like there's more money to be made in this country. First the Second Penang Bridge which costs would escalate by 33% (of course it will go higher!) due to higher costs of building materials; then of course the much touted East Coast Economic Corridor with a whopping RM 112 billion to be spent over 13 years, in addition to the many regions and corridors already announced.

Of course there are those who have done little work but still get paid: so-called 'crooked bridge' builders, and we are still awaiting the quantum of compensation for beneficiaries of the long-maligned Broga incinerator project.

I wonder whether any more of these mega-projects would be doomed to failure...failure in the eyes of the people, but success to those getting the windfall! Truly Malaysia Boleh!

November 10, 2007

Ooh, a threat: Police: Get permit first for Nov 10 march in KL. I think the Opposition likes threats like this. Just proves how desperate the government is to stifle any show of discontent among Malaysians. Well, I guess if the gathering goes ahead, they will carry out their threat and cart off the Opposition leaders to detention centres for a few more years - to ensure another overwhelming victory for BN in the upcoming General Elections.

But really what is the Police gonna do? Shoot first and ask questions later? Like the Batu Buruk incident, which origins till now remains a quiet mystery? And the Bar Council's Walk for Justice in Putrajaya - was there any police permit for that? OK, maybe 100,000 people could spell trouble - but I doubt the sane Malaysian would do anything to cause disorder (but obviously we would not know how many UMNO Mat Rempits would be in the crowd to stir things up, now would we?)

Unfortunately I will not be in town for the march - otherwise I would seriously consider joining the crowd. I wish them the best of luck!

Sex Sells!

Thought it was interesting that this story made the 'most viewed' column on The Star Online tonight...

Well I guess anything on sex sells these days...even stories like this. And there's another one here: where it is live and personal tutoring on love-making. Now that would be a business proposition, but I guess only in Singapore...

So Singaporeans may not be the high and mighty people they make themselves out to be. And in this respect of sex and making babies, I guess it is truly Malaysia Boleh!

Funnies...

Don't bother me...you've got your sleep, let me have mine!

That's our Mr Sleepy Head at a visit to the Kepala Batas Hospital, which is the pioneer Traditional and Complementary Medicine' government hospital, services of which would then be expanded to include other hospitals. I am still divided whether this is a positive development, or a step backwards...

And it's a new hospital too! Wonder when it would start leaking and its roof fall down....

Where to now?

OK: maybe the Merseyside derby victory didn't bring about the change in the team's fortunes. The Champions' League loss to Besiktas is shocking, leaving Liverpool rooted at the bottom of Group A. Nothing less than a clean sweep of victories in the three remaining matches would ensure qualification into the knockout stages. And tonight we face a rampant Arsenal team at Anfield; how would Rafa and his team respond?

Perhaps the roots of current troubles lie further back in time. When Rafa took over in 2005, the Liverpool team was fairly formidable: we had a tried and tested, solid defence; we had Gerrard in midfield pulling the strings; but it was the attacking aspect of the game that was lacking, from the forwards we had right down to the tactics employed. Ever wondered why Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal were successful where Liverpool failed miserably? It was the failure to use the pitch to the widest and create chances - by playing through the middle of the field, we make it easy for the opposition to stifle attacking opportunities. Of course we had Stevie G, but when he doesn't play well, there is no other player to take the lead. Well, we had high hopes for Rafa and he didn't disappoint us - taking us to the Champions' League success and then the FA Cup the next year. But the Holy Grail of English football still eluded Liverpool.

With the entrance of American sports magnates George Gillette and Tom Hicks, things were looking up for Liverpool. Maybe this year would be the year. Everyone waited with bated breath for Rafa to make his moves in the summer transfer market; and he really took a long time to do it. At one point, I was wondering whether there was anyone of interest left to snap up by the time he decided to make a move. I had really hoped that he would see the light in changing the way Liverpool move forwards and make a move for wingers and another playmaker. Well, he got Ryan Babel and Yossi Benayoun (neither enough to make you salivate) and of course, Fernando Torres. People were swooning over themselves at the purchases. I felt that we have a good enough strikeforce provided they were given enough ammunition - Crouch and Kuyt, notwithstanding Craig Bellamy, had proven themselves last season. It wasn't the players I had hoped for, and apart from Torres, I was not very optimistic of any Liverpool's title chances this season.

So I admit that the season started off positively - the mauling of Derby County was the highlight of the season. Unfortunately everything went downhill from there. Many blame it to the chopping and changing by Rafa; in a way that could have been a contributing factor. Rafa's reason for keeping the players fresh doesn't really hold water - why on earth would you want to disrupt a team who has started off well, scoring goals and playing brilliant football? You certainly don't see Wenger, Sir Alex, or Jose doing it - and their teams are winning games! Perhaps he has to relook the rotation policy. Top players need to play!

In his eagerness to strengthen the attacking aspect of the team, he has neglected the one area of the team that has served Liverpool so well over the last few seasons - the defence - and shockingly we do not have a defensive cover for either Agger or Carragher apart from Sami Hyppia. Poor Hyppia, having already scored two goals in his last two starts - at the wrong end of the pitch. And I really thought he would have gotten rid of Momo Sissoko at the end of last season - he looks really shaky. Babel, highly-touted as he was, hardly got any first starts. Bennayoun looks out of position as well at the left end of the field, and Gerrard must still be seething from his shock substitution last weekend. We have four strikers, but no combination has been wholly successful. It's about time to look at a Crouch-Torres combo. Perhaps the 4-4-2 formation is not the best for this current set of players; I feel that a 3-5-2 or 3-4-1-2 would be a more suitable alternative. As a whole the team has not been playing well - perhaps the rotation policy is causing more harm than good.

Or like some would like to believe, maybe Rafa hasn't found his best team yet. He is still looking for his best eleven. Hello, it's already ten games now, and I can tell you the team that should start! Reina, Finnan, Carragher, Agger, Arbeloa, Riise, Alonso, Gerrard, Babel, Torres and Crouch. He is under some pressure to perform - the departure of his long-time assistant could have been a contributing factor, or contributed to the team's decline. Whatever it is, he needs to pull the team together before all title hopes, be it domestic or in Europe, slip from his grasp even before the halfway mark.

Another first?!

Well, this is certainly one for the Malaysian Book of Records: the launch of the first of its two Scorpene submarines from France. But it's not sailing just yet. We only take delivery in January 2009 (??) and it'll take the sub six months to reach Malaysian waters - I hope nothing will happen to the sub on the way here (which of course, would also be another first of sorts!).

Of course the purchase of the submarines were notorious for two other facts: the Perimekar contract and Altantuya murder.

Say, has anyone been following the long-winded Altantuya trials? Urm, with the Judiciary turned topsy-turvy, I guess no one really bothers any more.

SANoT (Some Action, Not-only Talk)

Hmm, have I been proven wrong again? Or is this another General Election smokescreen gimmick? The Anti-Corruption Agency finally waking up? Or will it doze off again? It appears there has been strong enough calls from the public to stir this sloth from its slumber: here we have them making some arrests relating to the Auditor-General reports, some other unrelated arrests and a smattering of prosecution. Of course we have the now famous quote by the ACA Director-General:

“There is no such thing as going after only the small fish and letting off the big ones. We do not discriminate when it comes to such matters.”

Yeah, right...

Or is it just to show that the ACA is finally doing something? Well the mainstream media will use this to the fullest.

Please don't take us for fools. We await the arrests of several senior minsters, UMNO leaders, MCA ex-leaders, local councillors etc. to show your resolve. Until then, only the small fish suffer; the sharks still swim out there, waiting for their next bite!

A Great Loss

Truly, this is a sad time for Malaysians as we mourn the loss of a prominent figure of society. This is a true rags-to-riches story of a Chinese boy who worked his way to become one of the wealthiest men in the world. He had the vision to venture into an unheard of industry, and then to turn a hilltop jungle into one of the top tourist attractions in the world. And then to ensure that it not only stays strong, but to progress and expand. This is the story of Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong.

He should have been the inspiration to all Malaysians irrespective of age, gender and race - you can make something out of your lives if you work towards it hard enough.

Unfortunately that may not be the case today. The Government may deny it, but racial discrimination happens in all levels of society - discrimination against non-Malays. So, working hard may not actually be enough; it's how smart you work. Even then that may not be enough: it actually boils down to who you work with (or for, or whose boots you lick...depending on your language preference!).

It is a sad time, for more than one reason...

Home

Phew...what a tiring week. But I'm finally home. Home sweet home. Maybe not as dramatic as how Chris Daughtry puts it, but it's good to be back.

It's time for some rest and relaxation next week, and finally to blog about my recent trips.

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Now playing: Chris Daughtry - Home
via FoxyTunes

Brace Yourselves!

Price increases of essential items are on the way, as expected. Today it is bread; well who knows what is next. But with the increase in the price of wheat flour, one would expect increases across the board for all wheat-based products. This includes noodles and beehoon, so I expect hawkers to start increasing their prices or serving smaller portions.

Let us also not forget the skyrocketing oil prices, which surpassed USD 90 per barrel middle of this week before retreating slightly. Truly if this price is sustained, we would have to see another round of petrol price increases - and with it, everything else. Wait till Petronas removes its gas subsidies - we will then see electricity and gas price increases too.

With all this coming in the wake of the impending general election, speculation is rife that the election may be brought forward rather than later to ensure that the BN is spared the backlash of Malaysians when such increases are finally announced. Alternatively, the government can continue subsidies to the detriment of the economy to appease the masses, but for how long? The economy is not as rosy as they would paint it - just look around and you can feel the trepidation of ordinary Malaysians. Take-home pay is the same for most people, and coupled with increases in cost of living, mortagages, credit card debts etc., there is really little left for savings.

Whichever the final choice, we must brace ourselves for the inevitable: tighten our belts, save more and spend wisely in the future, because the good days are coming to an end.

Touchdown!

So the ten-day exploit for the first Malaysian in space has finally come to an end, with the return of the Soyuz spacecraft this evening. Well I caught the whole descent blow-by-blow on ASTRO; the descent was uneventful apart from an error in calculation of the descent trajectory which resulted in a steeper and faster descent that expected. The important thing was that the two cosmonauts and our spaceflight participant is safely back on Earth.

What did he actually do up there on the International Space Station? From what I can gather, just a few scientific experiments. Nothing certainly of extreme scientific importance. I guess this is more of a publicity ploy for BN and the country more than anything else. Well, I guess we have to be first at something...and definitely better than dropping a car over the Earth's poles! And of course to stroke the egos of the our leaders out there, we can boast that we are the first have sent a person into space from Southeast Asia at least (and more importantly earlier than Singapore!).

So where to now from here? Well, I certainly hope the whole trip was worth it - apart from its ego-boosting purpose - because a lot of tax-payers' money went into the programme. When will we hear about the scientific experiments conducted aboard the ISS? Never, probably...as we Malaysians have very short memories and would have moved on to more bread-and-butter issues back home.

And there certainly are more earthly issues to deal with here...

More Throttling

Well, well, torrenting speeds leave very much to be desired these days...it is likely that TMNet has resorted to more aggressive throttling of Bittorrent programs. Here's a snapshot of my download speed as opposed to download peers; these has been the kind of speed I am getting over the last one week:


Another thing too - lately I find that when I torrent, I have slower browsing speed elsewhere too, especially graphic-laden sites. I just wonder whether this is TMNet's methods of capping each Streamyx user's bandwidth... Everyone knows that since our total bandwidth is limited, and TMNet does not seem to have the desire to upgrade or increase the bandwidth (blaming it on poor copper wire quality and user-hogging!), I believe this traffic-shaping is being used to divert bandwidth to the 4Mbps users at our expense. Guess this is how broadband services will continue here in this country!

I just wish that they would just come out and say it straight to our faces, and then take the response like a responsible corporate citizen! I only wish there are other equivalent alternatives; but that is like wishing for the NEP to be abolished...

Merseyside Success!

Watching Liverpool play nowadays can give you a real heart attack! Firstly, you never know what team Rafa will start with; and even if you do, you never know how the team will play. Secondly you have players which are really worrying - Momo for one. And thirdly, since everybody knows how Liverpool tends to play, you will be left wondering how the goals would come. This evening's match against Everton is no different - a Merseyside derby with much pride at stake.

As usual, Rafa confounds everyone by choosing a peculiar player choice - Kuyt to partner Voronin, Momo and Mascherano with Gerrard over the right, Bennayoun on the left; what formation is it? No one knows. Apart from the first ten to fifteen minutes of the first half, Liverpool never really threatened. They didn't play too bad; it's just that things didn't work out in midfield. And the funny formation tried allowed Joleon Lescott acres of place to threaten the Liverpool right flank. Expectedly, they went behind at the break; unexpectedly it was a Hyppia own-goal, and one he would want to forget.

What did Rafa do at the break? Nothing that I could see. It was a show of faith in his players - and it paid off with Voronin clearing the lines and threading a pass to Gerrard to run into the Everton penalty box before Hibbert tugged him down. Well, it appeared that Gerrard's remonstrations convinced Mark Clattenburg to send Hibbert off for a professional foul. Anyway, Kuyt levelled the score, and it was Liverpool's game to lose.

And that they nearly did. Rafa again made the confounding choice of changes - first Bennayoun for Babel and then Gerrard for Lucas Leiva. Everyone could see the consternation and surprise on the skipper's face!! Also on the supporters' faces!! He actually took out the two playmakers of the team at a time when Liverpool was stuggling to breakdown the resolute Evertonian defence! Liverpool continued to miss a host of chances to win the game, while Everton looked they would score when they got forward; a single goal would evidently decide the match. Fortunately for Liverpool, it was Phil Neville who got the marching orders for a acrobatic save on the line (with his hands) to hand Kuyt his second goal from the penalty spot in added-on time. There was further drama at the death with Carragher appearing to pull Lescott down in the penalty box - well, it was worth a second look in my opinion, but the ref waved it away before blowing for the end.

It was a lucky win, but a win nonetheless. Coming on the back of some lacklustre performances and poor results, it would be morale-boosting. Praise to the team as a whole but Rafa is playing a dangerous game here with his rotation system, formation and choice of substitutions. On the bright side, let's hope that as Rafa puts it: a win here might change everything and give a major boost to the players' confidence. With Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United all coming up with results, we can't afford to drop points in the title race.

Watch out Besiktas and Arsenal!

NATO As Usual

Yeah right...it's all NATO until we see some real arrests and prosecution. The media can spin all the stories they want; we all know it's just staged. Going after the small fry when the real culprits are left unpunished, or worse, free to continue their looting ways. That is why such incidents happen again and again - so much for a efficient civil service.

Come on, even the village idiot will not purchase something for a price he could find cheaper elsewhere, unless there is some obvious benefit to him. If that is the way this country is run, then we are doomed...or are we already? The fact that it is so blatant makes this country the laughing stock of the world; no wonder we are surpassed in every degree by our neighbours.

Well, I would give them the benefit of the doubt, but there's none left. At least we get a cheap C-grade movie out of it. Again, another long sigh...

KL: 16-10-2007

OK, this has been a bit late in coming, cuz I was in Johor Baru for work over the last three days. Anyway on Tuesday, I had the sudden urge to go down to KL for a visit and some photo-taking with my old digital camera...turned out to be an eventful day! Some of the pics were taken with the camera and some with my camera phone - I trust you can tell the difference?

To go to KL I decided to park my car in 1Utama and take the U82 RapidKL bus down...this is a view of Ikano Power Centre across the road

This is a view of 1Utama from the bus stop

Through the looking glass?

The Pavilion KL - hottest new place in town...and I caught a bird in mid-flight too!

The main foyer, I think...


The view towards the main shopping attractions in Bukit Bintang


A view from the top


Some of the decorative fittings


Guess who this belongs to? Never mind about the expensive tastes inside...

The Pavilion is not what I expected. A bit of a disappointment really. And of course shopping there is for those with deep pockets. For us poor people it's mainly for window shopping and for a look-see.

Heavy weather ahead...

And then this happened...the end of my camera, I guess

Now that's better...

This looks really bad...

Listen to the rhythm of the pouring rain...

Well I stopped there because the pouring rain made it dangerous to operate any electrical equipment outdoors. Of course there was the big screwed up fact that there is no covered walkway between the Monorail station and KL Sentral - so a big crowd built up for the chance to cross in the rain. Well, one unfortunate guy fell face down in a big puddle of water (luckily for him) running across the road to KL Sentral. Sorry, no pics!

But the day ended with me buying a new camera...

Apologies for the blur image: it's a black Olympus FE-280 8.0MP camera

My previous camera was a Canon; so I thought I'd get a different brand, maybe Sony but this Olympus caught my eye. Too bad they didn't have the silver finish (it was finished!) Unfortunately the official testing of the camera would have to wait till I get to JB and back. Keeping my fingers crossed...

Tanks!

Hey, now Malaysia has got tanks too...real ones that is...well they have Scorpion light tanks, but nothing beats a real tank! Even if it's a Polish-made one ,which I'm sure was lifted off a Soviet design. The name PT-91 was a dead giveaway. Anyway it made it's debut in the Merdeka Parade celebration...I remember seeing them during the rehearsal for the parade rumbling along Jalan Duta!

Apparently we will be buying 48 of them for the nation's defence; just whose palms have been greased? You-know-who-lah...

Uurgh...gag...sick...again!

I really gagged when I saw this article this evening on The Edge Financial Daily! It amazes me that individuals that have been entrusted with projects worth billions of ringgit can escape the law - to such extent as declaring himself bankrupt to avoid paying back the very financial institutions that had given him his break.

And even after being declared a bankrupt, he can still afford to reside and run his businesses in Middle East. So much for being a bankrupt...


After all, being an UMNO crony has its advantages...at the expense of the rakyat of course...

And of note, more cronies would have made money out of the relisted BHIC (previously PSC Industries which had been classified as a PN17 company before being rescued by Boustead Holdings - I'm just wondering who's rescuing who...) which has rocketed from RM 2.00 to nearly RM 6.00 over a period of three months!

God save Malaysia...