boon's log 1128.04: Warzone!

The move by the Government to clamp activities organized by BERSIH 2.0 has really reached a new level. Just a few nights ago, we heard sounds of helicopter rotor blades hovering around the Sungai Dua / Gelugor area. Ab, eV and I dashed out to the balcony to see what was happening. eV is especially ecstatic when seeing flying objects - birds, planes... and helicopters.

Anyway, much to my surprise and disappointment, it what I believed to be a PRDM (Polis Raja di Malaysia) helicopter with a huge search light - no doubt searching for individuals wearing yellow T-Shirts, gathering together. I believe there was a PG Government Ceramah (not a BERSIH 2.0 Ceramah) that was supposed to happen at the Tapak Pesta - which was later pushed out, in accordance to the order from the Court. As they say, the PRDM believed to be ordered by their bosses down in Bukit Aman / PutraJaya, was shining their searchlights all over the place making it look like a warzone - it really looked like a scene from the movie Fugitive. They even shined into the balcony which were in and we were waving at them. Ab quipped, "Dad, luckily I am not wearing yellow, huh?"


Looking for the yellow Digi-man

I really do not know any more good things to say about the current Federal Government. Wait a minute... there was nothing good to mention about them to begin with...

boon out...

boon's log 0510.06: We still don't get it...

Saw this in today's Star paper. And you know what they say about "a picture speaks a thousand words"? Well... I guess it really does.


To Mr. 1Malaysia: We still don't get it...

boon out...

boon's log 5109.07: What on earth is "Meat Bone Tea"?

I saw this full-page advertisement by the Ministry of Tourism Malaysia (http://www.motour.gov.my/), in the Star paper today and, honestly, was quite ticked off by it.


"Meat Bone Tea?!"

On one hand those "1Malaysia-guys" are preaching about new plans on Government Transformation and plans on improving unity and all that... stuffs. But on the other hand, they come up with some screwed-up advertisement such as this?! How can they expect us to fully trust this "1Malaysia" plan to fly or even mean anything other than just another empty promise, when they can't even convince the people that they really mean business?!

"If you appreciate your
Nasi Lemak, Laksa and
Meat Bone Tea, share it us."

Am I the only one noticing this? Why can't they just call it Bak Kut Teh - just like how they call Nasi Lemak, Nasi Lemak?! Is it because the Hokkien term "Bak Kut" closely relates to PORK? Well, Mr 1Malaysia, here's some news for you, in case you might have missed out - majority of the Malaysian Chinese eat pork.

I mean, let's be fair. If you want to call Bak Kut Teh, Meat Bone Tea, then you should call Nasi Lemak, Fat Rice or Fatty Rice; and Laksa should be called Spicy Vermicelli Soup, or Spicy Sand according to some theory. But calling Bak Kut Teh as Meat Bone Tea really degrades the dish itself. And it really shows us how much the "1Malaysia-guys" really mean business.

We may have Bak Kut Teh variants such as Chick Kut Teh so that our non-Pork-eating friends can also taste the great food creation. But the fact of it is that Bak Kut Teh is Bak Kut Teh... so don't kill it, guys.

C'mon show us you mean business. Call it as it is. As you mention in the advertisement's final words,

"...Be proud of our food heritage and share with others the joy of eating delicious food."

boon out...

boon's log 5109.06: Randoms...

Brush with celebrity...
We had the honor to attend one of the ceramahs by the Menteri Besar of Perak, YB Dato' Nizar Jamaluddin at the Penang Kompleks Penyayang recently. He really has a gift of the gap - he was able to capture our attention through his ~2hr ceramah. YB Sim was the facilitator and I believe this must have been one of the first (of many more) ceramahs he's conducted since the Perak fiasco started. He touched on behind the scenes of the entire Perak saga - most of which were not covered or revealed by the media. He also touched on how Mr 1Malaysia and his deputy (Deputy Mr 1Malaysia) had a hand in the conspiracies. It was a truly informative evening and it rejuvenated most (if not all) of all who attended.


Fullhouse


YB Dato' Nizar Jamaluddin


Press Conference

Ab's Birthday bash(es)...
We decided to go ahead with Ab's birthday plans despite our recent loss. We thought that it would be a good idea to lighten up the mood a little and lighten up, it deed. The birthday bash started with started the 1st in Penang, followed by Part II in Ipoh and then we wrapped it up at the Hard Rock... Ab totally enjoyed herself, with presents and birthday cakes... Thanks to all who made it possible.


Bash #1 in Penang


Bash #2 in Ipoh


Bash #3 at the Hard Rock, Penang... Snake Charmer.

Learning her ABC's...
We started Ab on some more serious writing skills, and started with Annie Apple. Previously, we did get her to recognize and write some alphabets here and there, but never really got down to more serious business. We are glad that she enjoys it and it's a great encouragement to see her liking it. Time really flies - it feels like almost yesterday when IL and I were in the delivery room and now she's learning to write her ABC's...


Ab learning to write...


boon out...

boon's log 3609.01: Independence Day

Malaysian's 52nd Independence

Well, it's our 52nd year of Independence.

Independence... do we really understand or have really tasted the true meaning of it? A lot of the talk about democracy and racial harmony seemed to be just surface level chit-chat. But the true meaning of Independence has been diluted and muddled out through the years. No matter what, in all sincerity, putting aside out differences and our political affiliations, I hope that we can find within ourselves the true meaning of Independence and celebrate it with our heads held high, with the words of our "fore-fathers", "Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka!"


Our future generation...


Our small little celebration with Ab at Queensbay Mall...

boon out...

boon's log 3409.06: Where do the cows go now?

I have to admit that I am one of those who have never come across the "heritage site/village" called Kampung Buah Pala. At least, not until the recent events that boost the once unknown small village of 24-over houses/families into front-page stardom. I've asked around, among my local Penang friends - some told me that it is probably in the mainland, but most of them told me they do not know where's Kg Buah Pala. I would not blame them, really.

Let me try to help. If you live in Penang and frequently drive along Jalan Yeap Chor Ee, you are bound to bump into some animal-crossing at the other side of the hills, when heading northbound - well, those cows, I believe are from Kg Buah Pala.

No, I did not follow the cows home to see where Kg Buah Pala is. I finally got an answer from IL's uncle and with a little help from Google Earth, I found Kg Buah Pala.

As you head towards Greenlane along Yeap Chor Ee, you will see a school on your right, after which there is a small road on your right called Jalan Kaki Bukit. Take that right turn and drive slowly. If you hit the T junction, you've already past Kg Buah Pala. With all the "publicity", it is hard to miss it, now.

While I was there, I guess I can understand the feeling of the dwellers of Kg Buah Pala. I am sure they do not know how or what happened that has caused them their houses and village, the place that they called home and have happily dwelled for so many years. I guess it is a case of poor judgement and communication of how the land was sold off to make way for new development (by the previous administration) without the consent or knowledge of the people dwelling there and also perhaps bad passdown between the old and the new government during the change of state powers, more than a year ago. I mean I sincerely believe that the dwellers are innocent mangsa kejadian. And, as always, with a little help from some instigators (whom I am not totally surprised to be politically linked with the opposition party of the Penang government), they have blown the entire situation totally out of proportion. I truly believe the Lim administration is trying their very best to help with the negotiations. And that the villagers should approach the discussions with an opened mind and come up with a win-win situation.

After being there, I understand that it is not just a simple case of moving your home with a few suitcases and a few truck-load of belongings - it is more than that, e.g. 20-over to 30 cows, bullock carts, the kandang lembu (cow-pen) etc. They will need to figure out where to keep them and start a new - which definitely cannot fit into the new double-storey houses offered to them. The Kg Buah Pala-ians can move into the new houses, but the cows ...?

Well, one thing's for sure - I am going to miss the National Park-like feeling when driving along Yeap Chor Ee with all the cows crossing. It kinda reminds me of the time when we were just driving alongside a herd of bisons at YellowStone NP.

8 more days and counting. It is definitely going to be another heated showdown at Kampung Buah Pala on the 1st of September when the cows will come home for one last time...

here are some pictures


The bullock cart that was used during one of the street protests a few week back


Cow-pen, Kg Buah Pala.


Similar banners displaying the villager's feelings with the current state government. It is interesting, though, how the "race" card was thrown on to the table based on the few people (in this case, Indians) that is actually impacted by this...


An overnight bamboo monument - reminds me of my scout days. Wonder if this monument was set up by a group of scouts from the nearby school...


Lorong Buah Pala.


Cows Crossing


"You looking at moo-a?"


Time to head off for some grass grazing...

boon out...

boon's log 3009.07: 40 years after the 1st moonwalk, Condolences, Repairs, SSDD

40 years ago, this week, man first walked on the moon. That kinda sparked some interest to dig up some old space-themed movies, so we ended up finishing Apollo13 and Armageddon. It is really amazing that, at a time when "fitting a computer into a room" proved to be a impossible task - we successfully sent 2 men to the face of the Moon. Although there are many controversial comments as to whether Neil and Buzz REALLY were on the face of the Moon - I, personally, am a believer and believe that they really did land and bounced on the Moon. To be able to transport a human from one planet to another is really amazing - I'm still awed by it till today.

"... things like a computer that can fit into a single room, and hold millions of pieces of information." James Levell (Tom Hanks), Apollo13.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Anyways, it's been a while since i blogged and so much has happened.

1. Michael Jackson passed away [1958 - 2009] - the story that shook the world. My deepest sympathies to the Jackson family and as a Michael Jackson fan myself, I will miss him greatly. Rest well and in peace, O' Talented, Gloved and Crotch-Grabbing One. There were tonnes of speculations and stories on how Michael accepted the Lord during the last few hours or days of his life, but the truth remains between him and the Lord. And we will soon find out whether he did indeed say and agreed to the sinner's prayer.

2. Teoh Beng Hock was murdered [1979 - 2009] - the story that shook the Malaysian Politcal Scene. I personally deemed it as a murder case because I cannot find any sense for him to kill himself at the eve of the day that he was supposed to get married (register). As what people are saying - let's just pray that his death will not be in vain and that perhaps this is the true turning point of Malaysian Politics.

3. Yasmin Ahmad passed away [1958 - 2009] - I recently blogged about her latest product for the Singapore Family Campaign - Beautiful Imperfections. What an irony - the story was about the husband "departing" earlier than his partner. This story really shook the local media world and those fans of Yasmin. Malaysian festivities will never be the same again without those Petronas Ads that we so look forward to. We will miss her greatly.

4. Walter Cronkite passed away [1916 - 2009] - there are only 2 instances that I remember him by - one from Jim Carrey's Bruce Almighty when he tried to immitate Walter with the hair brush; the other when I was watching Apollo13 where they showed Walter reporting about the Apollo13 mission failure (to land on the moon).

my deepest deepest condolence to the families and close friends...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
It was also a season for repair works... As in Ecclesiastes 3:1, the bible says, "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven."

And so it is.

These past few weeks - it's truly been a season of Repairs...

First was our wash area piping system - our neighbor below us has been complaining about leaking that may be related to our piping that was not properly waterproof'd. And so it was. We were pretty disappointed with that piece of news since it was out Church friend / contractor who did the renovation for us. And it seems like he may not have done a thorough enough job in making sure that everything was in order. Anyways, we had to fork out another few hundred bucks to hack/wateproof/seal/re-tile that part of the wash area... messy. As with all Malaysian (cheap) tiles, it is almost impossible to locate the same design tiles after >5 years. So we had to settle with something very similar to the original. Sigh.

Second repair has to do with my 10 year old Nissan. Yup, the good old car is turning 10 years this coming August 31st. To date, I think we've dumped close to 3k ringgits into reparing and overhauling the car. She is at her final leg of repair and should be done tomorrow (finally!). EY was suggesting that sell her away since it is costing so much to get it reparied and in good working condition. Well, I think I'd rather spend the additional 3k+ repairing it than to trade it in for another car. Since it is not really in THAT bad shape, we thought we'll keep the car for a couple or more years before we write it off. I've already been approached by a couple of my friends and strangers on whether I want to sell the car - one was at a petrol station at Juru - interesting.

Third was my company notebook - it needed to be rebuilt - died on me 3 weeks ago and I had to had the IT guys replace the hard drive and rebuild the whole system. Now, it's been given a new lease of life. Feels so much better working with it now.

Fourth - a close relative was also given a new lease of life when a cancerous kidney was removed from his body with no signs of spreading. The operation was successful and he is now resting back at home. His comments, "Old engine is like that - needs repair here and there." He's also been through a bypass a few years ago... May God continue to keep him safe and healthy.


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Apart from all that work has been rather crazy these few weeks and the latest issue we're facing is still in the dark - with no signs of the light at the end of this tunnel... Man, I really hope we'll see it soon. Else, we'll just be aiming and shooting in the dark.

Well, okay... this entry was actually a combination of a few posts that I combined into one did not manage to publish the last few ones, so i've decided to combine them all into one.

No new pictures so far (I think). Let me dig, there may be something to share...

Will be heading down to Kay El this weekend - bring the ladies down for the Superband Concert at the Bukit Jalil Indoor Stadium.

Till later, back to work...

boon out...

boon's log 2409.04: Wear black, drink black, have fun

***Live report from Bayan Baru Old Town White Coffee***


IL and I decided give the "1Black afterwork Coffee" event at Bayan Baru Old Town White Coffee a try. The tag line for the night is "Wear Black, Drink Black, have fun." We (IL and I) had a lot of questions before going for the event - will there be barricades? will there be riot police? will we get caught like what happened in Ipoh - for wearing black and drinking kopi-o? Will the shop owner decide to close the shop or deny us entry into the shop? I even went to the extent of asking IL to wear grey so that she will be able to bail me out in case I get caught! Haha!

Anyway, it turned out to be a rather peaceful night. About 15 or so of us turned up. The "unmentioned intention" of the gathering is basically a "silent protest" against the way that things have turned out in Perak recently - the so-called death of democracy. Besides that we all made new friends and vouched to meet up again.

One funny thing we noticed was the shop manager - he was pretty nervous the entire night - he kept taking photos of our table with his mobile phone and kept a watchful eye at us in case anything happens. I guess we kinda stressed him out a little bit tonight. Hopefully he will come to accept that we are just gathering like any other group of people - just that we are wearing black and drinking black.


Notice anyone in black t-shirts?


It's all about the coffee...

Well, it's time to go home.

boon out...

boon's log 2009.04: Perak Poli(tic)wood

That's what I think the state of politics in Perak is in. It is so Hollywood, in this case Perak Poli(tic)wood. How absurd can things get, such that a Chief Minister goes back to his own office for 7 hours and then re-escorted back out of the office? There is also no doubt about how visible "double standards" are being practiced. And no doubt, the respective authorities will come out and justify their "double standards" practices. To me, it does not matter. no need to waste time explaining!

The Rakyat knows.

No matter how much they justify or explain their actions, how much stories (or lies) they try to tell us and jam it down our throats, no matter how much media control and banning of the ugly truth (though the PM declares media freedom)- it does not matter anymore. I am confident that the Rakyat today is wise enough and is capable to discern the truth from all the lies, hypocrisy, falsity, deception, dishonesty and deceit. We are no longer the gullible bunch we were 50-over years ago, who will just take whatever the authorities drops on us. And it is really sad that the authorities still act and think that we are (a gullible bunch)!

It is so evident from the recent Perak Embarassment and the May 7th incident - the ugly side of things, and how visible-to-the-public that the authorities is trying to cover up and sweeping things under the carpet.

I mean, C'mon! Don't take us as fools. At least give us some credit. In this time and age, what kind of lousy (if not, stupid) tactic is "banning the airing and publishing of the truth"? Ever heard of the Internet? Ever heard of Cellphones with Cameras? Ever heard of Email? The method of banning the media from displaying the truth is so stoneage!

Fed-up... really fed-up.

Having said all that, bottomline is - enough is enough. Does not matter which party they are in - just STOP wasting time and money and arresting innocent uncles and aunties who just wanted to have a cup of coffee at their local coffee shop and act like mature and responsible people's representatives. Every minute spent/wasted in this nonsensical dogfight, is actually wasting the rakyat's tax money. We did not pay them to do all these hollywood-stuffs in front of us.

by the way, here is the image that everyone should have seen it at least once. this is the same image that the authorities tried to cover up and prevent from further distribution. Oops...




boon out...

boon's log 2009.01: Randoms - Free Gas, Ab's dim sum again, and "amazing" Perak

IL and I were out lunching with our colleagues last week (think it was Tuesday), but the moment we climbed into the car, the "gas indicator light" toggled indicating that we needed gas. But EY suggested that we gas up after we makan. So we met up with the rest of the folks at McD SunShine Square for their lunch promotion.

So, after filing up our stomachs, it was time to fill up the car's "tummy". The nearest option was the Shell down the road. Abandoning the remaining 5 in the car, I went over to the pump. I was about to stick the Bonuslink card into pump register, when I noticed, to my surprise, the LCD screen showing "Lift nozzle and start filling" - I was expecting something like "Insert Bonuslink card or Credit Card". Stunned me for a little bit as I looked around for Candid Camera or You've been Punk'd crews around! I turned to EY who was also shocked. I lifted the pump and shoved it in and started filling (as indicated by the LCD screen). And it was working! At that point of time, being the Asian as I am, I scolded myself for not lifting the V-Power but the normal unleaded instead. But just before that thought left my head, the pump stopped and the digital screen showed 30.00 - it was then I was thankful that I did not lifted that V-Power pump in the first place - ;).

Went back into the car and EY went, "Act normal and let's get out of here!" Haha! The person at the register must have mistakenly keyed in RM30 to that pump and forgotten cancel the transaction. Well, it is not everyday that you can get free gas, right?

So, look at the LCD screen FIRST, the next time you are at the gas station before you stick in your credit card.

Oh, and we (kinda) bumped into Mithz while driving back to work - he was enjoying his sweet juicy papaya at fruit stall by the FTZ guard post.

***

My parents returned from their S. Africa trip on Thursday and were staying over the weekend in Penang. And as usual, it's dim sum for breakie when the grandparents meet grandchild. So, it's Northam Suites for dimsum last weekend. They serve up a pretty nice spread and delicious dim sum. Plus, with a Citibank (or HSBC) credit card, you get a 50% discount off. It was a nice time catching up with my parents on the happenings in Ipoh and also about their trip. Sounded like they really had a good time.


Dim Sum at Northam Suites, Penang


Ab enjoying her egg tart at Northam Suites, Penang

***

By now most of you must have heard about the High Court's ruling that Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin is the legitimate chief minister (menteri besar) or Perak. It is truly refreshing news indeed, especially after what happened in the State Assembly last Thursday - an incident that was reported in many international media/press - imagine, a Malaysian state's assembly making its way into the international media. It is truly "amazing" and somewhat embarassing at the same time.

But the question that still rings in my mind is that we needed to go all the way to the High Court to fully comprehend the Monarch's powers? We need to have a high court judge to clarify what the ruler's real powers are? Did someone also mention that he was Lord President before (1982-1984, according to Wikipedia)? Well, we may never get the answers to these questions, if you know what i mean.

Well, an interesting turn of events indeed. Oh, and SO coincidentally, the Ruler is not in the country, and Mr Nizar will only meet up with the Prince tomorrow. So, looks like there ARE still some signs of democracy in this country and that the judiciary can still be depended on. Let's hope that what happened in the last 3 months will be learnings for our leaders and not to be soon repeated (if not at all). I guess the policital saga in Perak is far from over, but with this ruling, it truly does turn the tables for the National Front.

boon out...

boon's log 1709.01: Insecurities

So many examples of insecurities that are plaguing our society (actually, our leaders) these days. Here are a few analogy that I managed to dig out (well, it does not take much effort, really. Just read the papers...)

1. You host a special function, but you only invite certain friends who only always talk GOOD about you (though they may very well be lying). You do not invite your honest friends who tell the TRUTH about you and your character (it may be not-so-good comments about you or your function, but it is the truth). It's possible because you cannot handle the truth, you fear that others may know about the truth...

2. If you are my friend and you want to say anything about me, there are only certain number of words that you can use - there are certain "BANned" words that you are not allowed to use. If you do, I will hunt you down. You also cannot link my name with certain people's names - especially people that I said that I do not know them (though I may have known them before, but I now, no longer know them). So stop putting my name and their names in the same sentence. If you do, I will again hunt you down. You are afraid that the more people know, the more they will find out about your secrets and the skeletons that are in your closet.

3. Imagine back in high school, if your Class friends are poorly represented in a competition (Let's say, "A Spelling Bee contest"), you dare not help your friend out by representing them because you are not confident at all in winning the contest, you decided not representing them at all - to save you from embarassment.

4. Imagine you are playing marbles with your brothers. And suddenly, your brother seemed to be having the upper hand of winning the game. But you are scared of losing and you quickly went to your Daddy and tried to use unpopular tactics to get your Daddy-o to announce that you won the game, don't have to play anymore and just declare you as the Winner, by order of the King of the House, the Daddy.

If you exhibit any of the above characteristics, then you may be suffering from SIN (Severe INsecurity) Syndrom and may need professional help. You should also abstain from leading any particular group or political party. We cannot run into the risk of having self-centered and insecure politicians leading a country.

boon out...

boon's log 0909.01: Oh Pening! What's happening?

From the last time I blogged, it seems like the Malaysian political scene is deteriorating - just like what the global economy - falling deeper and deeper into the abyss. When will we recover from this pointless political dispute and focus our energy and resources on how best to weather through this global "storm"?

As the rest of the world talks about economic recovery plans, it seems like our leaders are more interested about what (luxury) cars are the big guns driving (and how they plan to finance the maintenance of the car) or how many cows are being changed hands or how to spend money (unnecessarily) in sending lawyers and reprentatives on a free trip half way around the world to London in trying to get a second opinion from the Queen's Council or setting up an Anti Corruption body that now seemed to be taking sides when passing un-confirmed and pre-mature judgements on individuals.

Gosh, the list goes on and on.... and on. What is happening to Malaysia? It is indeed sad to see the state that we are in now - especially when we've just celebrated our 50 years of independance - an event we so proudly and gallantly declare to the world!

But seriously how far have we progressed from 1957?

Well, 50 years and 5 Prime Ministers later, we are still debating about cars and cows (and eggs).

50 years of independance from the British and 5 Prime Ministers later, we still run back to Big Momma's House, seeking the Queen's Council for their opinion. What a total embarassment?

"Mommy, Mommy, the other party bullied me!"

50 years of independance and 5 Prime Ministers later, the national anthem was changed twice - once in 1992 to a much faster marching beat (where some related it to a circus song), and another time, sometime in 2003 where the beat was reverted back to the original tempo - after much objections from Malaysians. It was during the second change also, when there was a proposal to change the Title of the national anthem from Negaraku, to Malaysiaku - which was later reportedly dropped.

We were asked (or told) to respect the monarchy, but does the monarchy respect the wishes of people whom He so openly declare that He cares so much about? That certainly remains questionable and many thinks that He's just doing a Milli Vanilli...

Well, in the same breath as we sing those powerful words of the National Anthem, in asking God for bessings of happiness and for our Kings (and rulers) to rule in peace, I'd like to add that we also pray that God will grant Them (our Rulers and Kings) wisdom and knowledge to rule the land in fairness and in truth, impartial to any individual or political party, knowing well that though all things may be permissible, but not all things are benefitial to the state, to the country and to the people living in it. They should work together with the government, i.e. the government elected by the people, for the betterment of the country and the people.

Oh, and for goodnes sake, please leave the personal lives of single female politicians alone. What else are they going to come up with next? Naked baby photos of them when they were 1 or 2 years old? It's not like she committed any crime or broken any law. It's not like she was married with 3 children and THEN stared in a scandalous DVD - well, even THEN you can still make a come back into the political scene - a magical feat that some folks have sucessfully proven to be working.

if you have the time, take a look at the people at the newspaper stands - how many of them, when picking up their usual dailies, shakes their heads upon reading the headlines these days? I, am one of them.

boon out...

boon's log 0709.02: Happy Chinese New Year?

Happy Chinese New Year to all. Quite a delayed post due to the unfortunate sequence of events. First Ab fell sick 11 days before CNY, and was later admitted into hospital for high fever. She was only discharged on the day before CNY. Our CNY plans had to be re-scrubbed in order to work around that. Then, not long after that, Ab handed the baton over to IL and she fell sick with a throat infection. I guess it's the weather and also the fact that both of them have not been drinking enough water... Anyways, thanks to all who've been praying for both my ladies. They are very much better now.

Being back in Malaysia, I guess it is very hard to not to know or hear or feel or talk about the policical tension/scene that is so real and so heated - not to mention so silly and embarassing. For some reasons, I cannot imagine the same exact political scene, that has been created by our so-called "leaders", happenning in any other country - I just cannot. It is like a kids playing with toy trucks in a sand box. It's like playing Hide-and-seek. It's like playing a game of tag or monopoly. Watching the Malaysian Political Scene unfold is like watching WWE on the telly - it's like there is no rules and no laws at all.

The recent events have really opened barrels and barrels of worms and maggots that reside in Malaysia Politics - something that I guess it is a known fact but not until recently, it has been so openly exhibited. And imagine, these are the people that we have leading our country; these are the people that we are supposed to trust; supposed to look up to and respect; these are people who are supposed to be role models for the community. Honestly, how?

I was at my local barber shop recently and hearing people laughing at our DPM for denying the fact that Malaysia is affected by the global economic situation that the world is in. What a joke! Politicians turning up at police stations lodging police reports against other politicians over a statement about an Egg.

An Egg?!

Imagine Senator McCain going to his local police station lodging a report against Obama about a statement that Obama may have made about a sausage that he ate while dining at a local Denny's?! What crap?!

Embarassing, utterly shameful. 50 years of democracy and we have not progressed from when we started. Perhaps instead of sending our "leaders" to Taiwan on a much "controversial" agricultural rearch study trip, we should have sent them to developed, first-world countries to learn about how to excel in running a political party and a country; to learn how to "see past the egg".

Trust me (written with hint of sarcasm), don't trust anyone who tells you that Malaysia is not affected by the current economic crisis. And as the world economy takes a deep dive (ours not excluded) I seriously think that they (our "dear respected leaders") should start to put more time and burn more calories in figuring out ways on how to weather through this storm and stop playing political games; start to think and work for the benefit of the people who voted for them and stop thinking only about themselves; start living up to your people's expectations and stop letting us down time and time again; ...

stop rallying for people to boycott the big brothers (i.e. US) - imagine what would happen to Malaysia if they (The US) backfired and remove all investments in Malaysia and ask all US companies to boycott Malaysia - who will be at the losing end then? Start strategizing on how to make the best out of the existing situation with all the friends and allies and networks that we still have. Will the US ever FEEL it if we boycott buying their products? Will they (The US) feel it if we boycott a US singer from holding her concert in Malaysia? - perhaps her fans will just travel to the next nearest concert venue - there goes a few duffle bags of ringgits flowing out of Malaysia. Really, we depend on them more than they do on us.

These are simple facts and figures and it is not rocket science. Irregardless of which party you stand by/support, i believe we cannot pin-point at one single party or coalition for the recent political embarassment. Everyone has their part to play. The elected should get their acts together and get them together quick!

Having said all that, I hope that 2009 will not be as bad as many of us feared and I sincerely hope, our "leaders" can get their act together and start acting like real leaders and make the right and mindful decisions and we brave through the storm together. Blessed New Year to all...


Lou Sang


Ninth-Day


This is like a scene from some HK ganster movie...


fireworks near our place during the CNY ninth day celebration


boon out...