If you ever watch the move "Sting" and you would be able to enjoy the thrill and excitement of how a plot was being set up and cheated someone big time! All these swindling acts need brain-work put together and make it look like the real thing and the victims just could not help but fell into the traps!
I had in real life witnessed 2 incidents of "Sting" that related to me directly and indirectly:
Back in year 1987-88, I wanted to sell off my Toyota LE to depart for Taiwan. Before my planned departure, I advertised for the sales of my vehicle with number plate WBA8945 and it attracted quite a few interested potential buyers. But the most efficient buyer at that time was someone who paid an immediate downpayment of RM200 without inspecting and asking much about the car. After paying the money, he disappeared for a week or two without any news and I was trying to locate him high and low. Had tried to call him on his house phone but no one picked up the call and was wondering why some guy paid generously RM200 and not even in a hurry to get the deal through. He finally appeared and told me to take the car to one of the finance company situated near to Brickfield and the entrance of University Malaya Kuala Lumpur. My wife and I drove the car all the way there and someone by the name of Mr. Billy Ong was introduced to us. He was a fair, good and honest looking young gentleman donned in smart long sleeve shirt presented himself to us as the Finance branch manager. He told us to open up the hood of the car and check on the engine and chassis numbers so that they matched with what they appeared in the car registration card. That was the usual procedure of a finance company to assess the value of the car before the hire purchase loan was approved for the potential buyer.
He then brought us back to his office and while entering the office, few office girls were sitting there with typewriters and they kept staring at us as we entered and we thought we were just too much of strangers to them. The mananger quickly locked up the doors and gates and told us that the area was not a safe place because of frequent thefts and criminal extortion. He sat in his office room and talked to us about the car now was approved for financing and then pointed on one Star newspaper cutting attached on the wall. The content of which denoted how unscrupulous car buyers cheated the owners and he advised us to be extra careful on conmen! How impressive!
Then we returned to our home and patiently waiting for the car to be sold. The buyer phoned up and came to our house, and he told us to give the car to him. I was suspicious and then decided to phone up my brother-in-law from Public bank about the procedure to surrender my car. I was advised not to let him have the car driven away unless the balance of payment had been made in full. He grudgingly complained that the finance company had agreed to pay and was not happy with my refusal to let him have the possession of the car and went off. After a week or so and we advertised again and sold the car to one Mr. Ong who returned from Brunei. And then we saw newspaper published on news about several occasions on this kind of car dealing cases where car owners lost their cars without payment and the culprit was finally caught by the police! This was a typical case of highly well organized crime that involved intellectuals and a group of swindlers, I was lucky that I did not fall into their trap!
Another case was in Taiwan, a group of people were playing cards on a make shift table for gambling in the market place. All the players on betting seemed to be having easy wins over the card shuffler guy. And while you were watching, some women came around and wanted to lend you money for the easy win that you observed. You were tempted and decided to join in for the easy win but instead lost hundreds or thousand of borrowed money. Then they asked you to return them the money in cash or kind! Human greed would blurr your vision and mind to fall into a simple trap and trick set up this way.
Just remember, there is no easy way out to get easy money, we all have to work hard to earn it. If there is something too good to be true, be careful, it must be the job of a conman with a catch. As long as you have a clear mind, not to be greedy, you could be 100% sure that you would not be conned into this!
May God bless all the honest people!
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Buang Negeri (Banishment from country, state or town)
The banishment Act in 1959 (Act 79) could banish a person from the state or expulse from the country. This law is only applicable to aliens or persons who had acquired citizenship by registration or by naturalization and not for Malaysians who are born here.
It was fairly common in earlier days of Malaya States that people got caught involving with communism or related activities were "Buang Negeri"! There were incidents where the early Chinese settlers were deported back to China once convicted of such illegal involvement.
Do you know that Malaysia also could banish a person from a town and then be sent into "exile" in another city or village? It was common then the Chinese would refer such punishment as " Uang Fou", because the local Chinese could not pronounce the word "Buang" well enough while "Fou" refers actually to town! People committed offences in gangsterism or illegal lottery jockeying when found guilty were banished from their residential township and transferred to another far away town or village as an act of punishment by the police. They have to report to the local police station at specific intervals of time to indicate their presence and physical confinement in that particular area as specified by the police or the Home Ministry!
I remember those days while my family was still staying in the house of my grandparents, a family of "Cheong Goh" or the "Taikoh Cheong" was banished from Ipoh for involving in gangsterism and rented a room in my grandparents' home. The renting was made possible because the wife "Wan Jie" of "Cheong Goh" was related to a neighbor of us next door otherwise nobody would want to rent a room to convict or gangster! But this person and his family were nice people and you would not be able to see a trace of gangsterism in them because they were soft spoken and behave well like any other normal people. Only those people knew the background would know he was actually the head of gangsters in Ipoh area. We befriended his children, one by the name of "Monkey Ying" while another younger sister of her, I could not remember her name, but she spoke in a stammering manner and could not pronounce her words clear enough as normal kid of her age, as though her tongue got sticky and stucked somewhere . The family ran a curry mee store selling in the market place to earn a living. Probably from earning big illegal money earlier and now downgraded to a mee hawker in the village.
They had been staying with us for a period of about 1-2 years when the banishment period expired and then they returned to their original residence in Ipoh. The last time my friend Seng Meng and a few others including I had visited them in Ipoh in a massage parlour operated by "Cheong Goh" somewhere in Pasir Putih. That was the last time in years 1977-78 that I visited them as friends.
I remember another person by the name of "Ah Gone" who involved in the illegal lottery was banished from the village to somewhere else, but I did not see him anymore after so many years. The irony is that the biggest tycoon in illegal lottery is still in town though everyone knows who he is. Somehow he is able to gather all his wealth, send his children to study overseas, buy a few houses and shops, own expensive cars, live happily but never get caught. This is the wonder of money that could do a lot of things and you know what I mean!
Illegal lottery is simply too lucrative a business and I would say it is rampant in many small places even far away from cities and towns. Most village folks wanted a windfall very much because of their meagre income earned the hard way, and this lottery scheme fits into their life style and is probably the only way out in a village setting for these poor folks to fulfill their dreams! This has now become an addiction for many villagers and even women, how sad is this!
It was fairly common in earlier days of Malaya States that people got caught involving with communism or related activities were "Buang Negeri"! There were incidents where the early Chinese settlers were deported back to China once convicted of such illegal involvement.
Do you know that Malaysia also could banish a person from a town and then be sent into "exile" in another city or village? It was common then the Chinese would refer such punishment as " Uang Fou", because the local Chinese could not pronounce the word "Buang" well enough while "Fou" refers actually to town! People committed offences in gangsterism or illegal lottery jockeying when found guilty were banished from their residential township and transferred to another far away town or village as an act of punishment by the police. They have to report to the local police station at specific intervals of time to indicate their presence and physical confinement in that particular area as specified by the police or the Home Ministry!
I remember those days while my family was still staying in the house of my grandparents, a family of "Cheong Goh" or the "Taikoh Cheong" was banished from Ipoh for involving in gangsterism and rented a room in my grandparents' home. The renting was made possible because the wife "Wan Jie" of "Cheong Goh" was related to a neighbor of us next door otherwise nobody would want to rent a room to convict or gangster! But this person and his family were nice people and you would not be able to see a trace of gangsterism in them because they were soft spoken and behave well like any other normal people. Only those people knew the background would know he was actually the head of gangsters in Ipoh area. We befriended his children, one by the name of "Monkey Ying" while another younger sister of her, I could not remember her name, but she spoke in a stammering manner and could not pronounce her words clear enough as normal kid of her age, as though her tongue got sticky and stucked somewhere . The family ran a curry mee store selling in the market place to earn a living. Probably from earning big illegal money earlier and now downgraded to a mee hawker in the village.
They had been staying with us for a period of about 1-2 years when the banishment period expired and then they returned to their original residence in Ipoh. The last time my friend Seng Meng and a few others including I had visited them in Ipoh in a massage parlour operated by "Cheong Goh" somewhere in Pasir Putih. That was the last time in years 1977-78 that I visited them as friends.
I remember another person by the name of "Ah Gone" who involved in the illegal lottery was banished from the village to somewhere else, but I did not see him anymore after so many years. The irony is that the biggest tycoon in illegal lottery is still in town though everyone knows who he is. Somehow he is able to gather all his wealth, send his children to study overseas, buy a few houses and shops, own expensive cars, live happily but never get caught. This is the wonder of money that could do a lot of things and you know what I mean!
Illegal lottery is simply too lucrative a business and I would say it is rampant in many small places even far away from cities and towns. Most village folks wanted a windfall very much because of their meagre income earned the hard way, and this lottery scheme fits into their life style and is probably the only way out in a village setting for these poor folks to fulfill their dreams! This has now become an addiction for many villagers and even women, how sad is this!
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Brothers getting together
It was prior to the period of Chinese New Year that my brother came to stay with me for about a month in Geliga Kemaman home. He had a project in Gebeng Kuantan area and decided to travel further north to stay in my house. It was a very rare occasion for us to stay together for such a period of time after we had got married, built our individual families, stayed at different cities, assigned to different job locations, our own destinations and timing just could not make such getting together possible if it is not for God's arrangment. All in all, it was a precious period after almost 35 years since the days we were both in secondary school staying with our parents. Our normal get-together time limits mainly to an annual affair when all our siblings go home during the Chinese New Year period.
I had come home to Malaysia from overseas, the first time when I returned from Suzhou China in the year 1997, he had a serious case with the government and we and the other siblings were there together to face the problem. Thank God the issue was finally settled amicably!
This time around when I returned from Qingdao China about 8 months ago, it was a coincidence that because of his Oil and Gas nature of his job that he traveled to this part of the country for the work. We talked about the good old days and started to recall some names of old friends and also tasted some of the good food in Cukai. We went to Air Putih to look at the bridge built by my uncle and it was fun when we found time in life that we could get together in this manner.
I had written on how somebody we met for a brief moment in our life and then never have a chance to see them again. Thinking about this, even with our own brothers and sisters, we have the same problem to schedule ourselves to meet, it would be relatively more difficult to meet old friends or classmates if we do not make an effort to do so.
At this moment, I think of my son and daughter, this is the time they should enjoy the company and good time together while they are still staying under the same roof under the good care of my wife. The time will come when they eventually would have to go their separate ways once they start to work and have their own families. In my case, we have total of 6 siblings and we hardly have chance to really gather together because of our own individual commitment to our families, so just having 2 children would render the chance even rarer.
Life is so short, time is so good and while we can let us appreciate and enjoy the good time together!
I had come home to Malaysia from overseas, the first time when I returned from Suzhou China in the year 1997, he had a serious case with the government and we and the other siblings were there together to face the problem. Thank God the issue was finally settled amicably!
This time around when I returned from Qingdao China about 8 months ago, it was a coincidence that because of his Oil and Gas nature of his job that he traveled to this part of the country for the work. We talked about the good old days and started to recall some names of old friends and also tasted some of the good food in Cukai. We went to Air Putih to look at the bridge built by my uncle and it was fun when we found time in life that we could get together in this manner.
I had written on how somebody we met for a brief moment in our life and then never have a chance to see them again. Thinking about this, even with our own brothers and sisters, we have the same problem to schedule ourselves to meet, it would be relatively more difficult to meet old friends or classmates if we do not make an effort to do so.
At this moment, I think of my son and daughter, this is the time they should enjoy the company and good time together while they are still staying under the same roof under the good care of my wife. The time will come when they eventually would have to go their separate ways once they start to work and have their own families. In my case, we have total of 6 siblings and we hardly have chance to really gather together because of our own individual commitment to our families, so just having 2 children would render the chance even rarer.
Life is so short, time is so good and while we can let us appreciate and enjoy the good time together!
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Somebody you met
Some of the people we met in our life that you only shared a brief moment with them and then they were gone as though disappeared in the thin air, nowhere to be found but you know they are still somewhere out there. They might still remember you if they ever dig deep in the far recess of their memories or they had totally forgotton who you are and did not even ring a bell such acquaintances ever actually took place.
As far as I could remember a few of my friends that went missing are:
1. There was a very young girl who used to visit our neighbor behind the house of my grandpa. She was related to this neighbor by the name of Soul Jie (passed away the same few days as my grandpa) but stayed somewhere at a different part of the village. I remember very well that whenever general election was around the corner, the village would be filled with heaps of stones brought in by the JKR (Public Work Department) trucks for making the foundation before paving on the bitumen to form the tarmac roads. Those stones were actually blasted out from some mountains or caves using dynamite in quarry operation. There were a lot of shiny, orange, purple and red crytals that mixed with those normal stones. Nowadays one could probably see all those complete crystals which are being sold at decorative stores for very high prices. As kids, we always gathered these colorful crystal as precious stones and gems for our keeping. I presented some of those beautiful stones to this cute little girl whenever he visited us at the right time when these crystals were abundant and readily available. I do not remember her name and had lost the impression of how she looked like and we never met again though we are from the same village!
2. There was a primary school classmates by the name of Yap Wai Keong, he was probably the 2nd best student in class and he left for Johore in primary 2 and never returned to the village anymore. I used to receive news about him from one of his relatives living in the same village. Now we had totally lost contact.
3. There were 2 brothers by the name of Ah Sang and Ah Choong that lived across the road. Choong was one year my senior and he had one of his forefinger chopped off, perhaps caused by an accident. We used to play and jump around the drain that was full of white mud but running with crystal clear water. I used to visit their house that smelled heavily of stinging milk that might have spilled on the floor but not cleaned properly during baby feeding. They had a sister by the name of Ah Lan and her mother name is Nyet Por, the family shifted to KL and they had left the village forever for good!
4. A secondary school classmate of mine by the name of Lam Hong Chee from Pei Yuan Chinese school. We were transferred to ACS to study science stream in form 4. We applied together for the technical college in KL based on the recommendation of one of our seniors Leong Chee Meng. My LCE results should be better but he got the offer instead and he left ACS for this Technical Institute to futher his study. Heard that he is working in a senior position in TNB (National Electric Board)but I have never met him. He used to stay in Temoh and I visited him once in his house. His nickname was "Temoh Railway Station" because he used to tell his classmates that was the place near where his home was!
5. I used to befriend a guy by the name of Michael in St Michael Instituion Ipoh, he was my junior. Somehow we kept in contact and subsequently his family shifted to KL to run a canteen operation. My classmate Chan Sek Tai and I visited him once in the canteen when I contacted him in Kuala Lumpur. After that we have our own life and we totally forget about the existence of each other!
6. My brother and I used to visit my cousins in Bidor. During one of the trips, I met one of the guys who was originally from the same village but shifted to stay in Bidor. We were going to the main road stores in Bidor town and passing by a field while this guy was flying a kite. We called out each other by names, what a surprise to meet a fellow villager at a different town! That was the last time I met him!
7. There was a Sarawakian friend from civil engineering by the name of Law Kah Heng if I still remember it correctly. I was looking for a place to stay in the University Malaya days, and he was my senior and introduced me to this rented house of Leong Khoon Wah in PJ SS2 area. The neighbor staying next door was UEM General Manager Chan Long Kong from Rantau, whom at later part I introduced Yow Han Meng to work for him. A few houses away was the MAS administration manager Mr. Yong who was staying with his mum. I stayed in the same house for many years even after graduation and left the place only after knowing my wife. Even CC Choi, the cousin brother of my wife and my brother had stayed a while in the same house before. My housemates then also included the national novice squash champion Michael Loo, who used to play with Ong Beng Hock's father in Subang. Law is a good Christian and he used his motorbike to fetch me all the way to locate the house. What a good friend indeed but I lost touch with him when he went back to Sarawak.
8. While I always spent my school holidays to stay with my grandma in tin mines where she worked as a cook, I happened to make friends with one of the guys in the mine whose home town is from Tronoh. After my grandma broke her pelvic bone and returned home to stay with us, I had never met him anymore. Could not remember his name but he was a friendly guy even though I was just a primary school kid and he was already a working adult, we got along pretty well despite the age gap!
I am listing some of these friends that I could remember at this moment. Somehow these people had left a memory or mark in my life, for this I want to pay tribute to them. Wherever they are, I want to pray that God bless them with health and happiness! God willing, we will meet again!
As far as I could remember a few of my friends that went missing are:
1. There was a very young girl who used to visit our neighbor behind the house of my grandpa. She was related to this neighbor by the name of Soul Jie (passed away the same few days as my grandpa) but stayed somewhere at a different part of the village. I remember very well that whenever general election was around the corner, the village would be filled with heaps of stones brought in by the JKR (Public Work Department) trucks for making the foundation before paving on the bitumen to form the tarmac roads. Those stones were actually blasted out from some mountains or caves using dynamite in quarry operation. There were a lot of shiny, orange, purple and red crytals that mixed with those normal stones. Nowadays one could probably see all those complete crystals which are being sold at decorative stores for very high prices. As kids, we always gathered these colorful crystal as precious stones and gems for our keeping. I presented some of those beautiful stones to this cute little girl whenever he visited us at the right time when these crystals were abundant and readily available. I do not remember her name and had lost the impression of how she looked like and we never met again though we are from the same village!
2. There was a primary school classmates by the name of Yap Wai Keong, he was probably the 2nd best student in class and he left for Johore in primary 2 and never returned to the village anymore. I used to receive news about him from one of his relatives living in the same village. Now we had totally lost contact.
3. There were 2 brothers by the name of Ah Sang and Ah Choong that lived across the road. Choong was one year my senior and he had one of his forefinger chopped off, perhaps caused by an accident. We used to play and jump around the drain that was full of white mud but running with crystal clear water. I used to visit their house that smelled heavily of stinging milk that might have spilled on the floor but not cleaned properly during baby feeding. They had a sister by the name of Ah Lan and her mother name is Nyet Por, the family shifted to KL and they had left the village forever for good!
4. A secondary school classmate of mine by the name of Lam Hong Chee from Pei Yuan Chinese school. We were transferred to ACS to study science stream in form 4. We applied together for the technical college in KL based on the recommendation of one of our seniors Leong Chee Meng. My LCE results should be better but he got the offer instead and he left ACS for this Technical Institute to futher his study. Heard that he is working in a senior position in TNB (National Electric Board)but I have never met him. He used to stay in Temoh and I visited him once in his house. His nickname was "Temoh Railway Station" because he used to tell his classmates that was the place near where his home was!
5. I used to befriend a guy by the name of Michael in St Michael Instituion Ipoh, he was my junior. Somehow we kept in contact and subsequently his family shifted to KL to run a canteen operation. My classmate Chan Sek Tai and I visited him once in the canteen when I contacted him in Kuala Lumpur. After that we have our own life and we totally forget about the existence of each other!
6. My brother and I used to visit my cousins in Bidor. During one of the trips, I met one of the guys who was originally from the same village but shifted to stay in Bidor. We were going to the main road stores in Bidor town and passing by a field while this guy was flying a kite. We called out each other by names, what a surprise to meet a fellow villager at a different town! That was the last time I met him!
7. There was a Sarawakian friend from civil engineering by the name of Law Kah Heng if I still remember it correctly. I was looking for a place to stay in the University Malaya days, and he was my senior and introduced me to this rented house of Leong Khoon Wah in PJ SS2 area. The neighbor staying next door was UEM General Manager Chan Long Kong from Rantau, whom at later part I introduced Yow Han Meng to work for him. A few houses away was the MAS administration manager Mr. Yong who was staying with his mum. I stayed in the same house for many years even after graduation and left the place only after knowing my wife. Even CC Choi, the cousin brother of my wife and my brother had stayed a while in the same house before. My housemates then also included the national novice squash champion Michael Loo, who used to play with Ong Beng Hock's father in Subang. Law is a good Christian and he used his motorbike to fetch me all the way to locate the house. What a good friend indeed but I lost touch with him when he went back to Sarawak.
8. While I always spent my school holidays to stay with my grandma in tin mines where she worked as a cook, I happened to make friends with one of the guys in the mine whose home town is from Tronoh. After my grandma broke her pelvic bone and returned home to stay with us, I had never met him anymore. Could not remember his name but he was a friendly guy even though I was just a primary school kid and he was already a working adult, we got along pretty well despite the age gap!
I am listing some of these friends that I could remember at this moment. Somehow these people had left a memory or mark in my life, for this I want to pay tribute to them. Wherever they are, I want to pray that God bless them with health and happiness! God willing, we will meet again!
Saving a Musang
As usual I woke up today in the morning about 6 am and took a ride with my MTB mountain bike near the beach. Upon riding the 2nd round along the tarmac road, I heard the calls from the nearby houses and saw 2 pairs of shining eyes! I thought it was these 2 cat-like "Musang" with long tails that were harassing some birds early in the morning and caused all the noise. I rode another round with my bicycle and the noise persisted and I decided to check on what was going on, thinking that perhaps the "Musang" might have grabbed hold of one of the young bird and the adults birds were giving all the desperate warning calls. On shining my headlamp on the fence of the house, I saw one of the young "Musang" crouching on the lower portion of the concrete wall, it was probably stunned by the light and stayed motionless while the mother Musang had fled the scene. I further probed the source of the noise where it came from, I found down under a deep drain of about 4-5 feet, there was another young "Musang" trying desperately to climb up. I suppose this particular kid "Musang" might have slipped itself into the drain and could not follow the team home!
I went back home and took my fishing net with a long handle and scooped that poor animal up the drain with some effort. When I scooped it half way through, the animal climbed up the handle and eventually set foot on the road. There it went and still frantically searching and calling for the mother Musang and its other sibling! Eventually the animal was set free and re-united with its family to roam freely in the wild again. I felt relieved to see them gone before humans might catch and keep them in captivity. I took the opportunity to take photos in the dark of the animal while it climbed up to the fence.
There are different types of Musang in Malaysia, they probably belong to the civet cat or fox families. They usually eat fruits or insects in the forest and make nearby secondary jungles of housing estates as their habitat. But some bigger size Musang are carnivorous and they eat even house chickens. I remember our village at one time, there was loss of chickens and we blamed that to the drug addicts who stole them for their drug money. But the most recent loss were some of my dwarf or Serama chickens went missing, and someone eventually set up a trap and caught the culprit, it was a big fierce Musang, double the size of a house cat!
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Birds
Birds flying in the sky are always fascinating and young boys like me then was always attracted to birds. We always imagine ourselves to be eagles that could fly high up freely above the sky and see the whole world!
If you are staying not in big cities, birds become part of our life especially morning and in the afternoon. They perched on trees, electric power cable and telephone lines, fences, bushes etc. and sometimes even venture into the pens of chicken and ducks for a free feeding. The calls of these birds amongst the roosting of the cockerels made a typical day in a village life!
Breaking the dawn in the village would always be the noisy yellow vented Bulbur and the loud call of the Oriole, noon time would be the Tailer birds making the "Beep Beep" sound in the bushes and jumping on the branches and fence. Afternoon and evening time would be the occasional distant calls from the doves! Sometimes it was a mingle of all the callings of these birds together at no specific time of the day!
Villages are normally planted with a good variety of fruit trees and these vegetations are the favorite feeding venues and natural habitat for them. They also pick on the more bushy trees near houses to build their nests and raise their youngs. We called these birds by special names which are nomenclatures specific to the village community there. Yellow vented Bulbur (White headed grandma), Oriole (Yellow bird), Tailor bird (Small Doubit), Mynah (Ngat Cheng Cheng or Cow Dung bird), house sparrows (Mahjong bird), Spotted dove (Boku) and Zebra dove (Fire bird) can be sighted commonly in the village.
My grandma who worked as a cook in mining company used to keep spotted dove in cages and I started to learn from her the way to keep these spotted birds in captivity and feed them. Spotted birds used to build nests on the Rambutan trees that surrounded our house. As young boys, we heard the sounds or noise of the young birds, climbed up the trees, caught them and brought them home and then fed them using a piece of cloth wrapped up a kind of seeds that could be bought from Indian sundry shop on the other side of the village, just behind the police station! Spotted doves are very good birds for keeping, and when they grow, they shed their feathers and put on a new coat of shiny, smooth and attractive bright colored feathers. And the male bird would recognize and greet me whenever I returned home from school by raising its head up and down and making the "Ku Ku" sound and thus the name " Boku" I believe!
When I grew a little bit older at secondary school age, my brother KM Lee and I were more aware of the cruelty of keeping birds in captivity and we had stopped all activities of keeping birds in cages of any form. We even put on barbed wires on tree trunks to prevent our neighbors from climbing and catching young birds on the trees near our house!
Birds are creatures of God for our pleasure to listen to their calls and enjoy watching them. Going through life all these years imparted us a special feeling towards these birds that had accompanied us a good portion of our childhood days in our life. Thinking of how we humans treasure our own freedom and that in return giving us even a stronger desire to see these birds flying freely in the sky without worry being hunted down or kept in captivity. How we wish we could be like them, flying freely and happily, finding their food, raising their youngs, growing old together and be part of God's wonderful creation plan!
If you are staying not in big cities, birds become part of our life especially morning and in the afternoon. They perched on trees, electric power cable and telephone lines, fences, bushes etc. and sometimes even venture into the pens of chicken and ducks for a free feeding. The calls of these birds amongst the roosting of the cockerels made a typical day in a village life!
Breaking the dawn in the village would always be the noisy yellow vented Bulbur and the loud call of the Oriole, noon time would be the Tailer birds making the "Beep Beep" sound in the bushes and jumping on the branches and fence. Afternoon and evening time would be the occasional distant calls from the doves! Sometimes it was a mingle of all the callings of these birds together at no specific time of the day!
Villages are normally planted with a good variety of fruit trees and these vegetations are the favorite feeding venues and natural habitat for them. They also pick on the more bushy trees near houses to build their nests and raise their youngs. We called these birds by special names which are nomenclatures specific to the village community there. Yellow vented Bulbur (White headed grandma), Oriole (Yellow bird), Tailor bird (Small Doubit), Mynah (Ngat Cheng Cheng or Cow Dung bird), house sparrows (Mahjong bird), Spotted dove (Boku) and Zebra dove (Fire bird) can be sighted commonly in the village.
My grandma who worked as a cook in mining company used to keep spotted dove in cages and I started to learn from her the way to keep these spotted birds in captivity and feed them. Spotted birds used to build nests on the Rambutan trees that surrounded our house. As young boys, we heard the sounds or noise of the young birds, climbed up the trees, caught them and brought them home and then fed them using a piece of cloth wrapped up a kind of seeds that could be bought from Indian sundry shop on the other side of the village, just behind the police station! Spotted doves are very good birds for keeping, and when they grow, they shed their feathers and put on a new coat of shiny, smooth and attractive bright colored feathers. And the male bird would recognize and greet me whenever I returned home from school by raising its head up and down and making the "Ku Ku" sound and thus the name " Boku" I believe!
When I grew a little bit older at secondary school age, my brother KM Lee and I were more aware of the cruelty of keeping birds in captivity and we had stopped all activities of keeping birds in cages of any form. We even put on barbed wires on tree trunks to prevent our neighbors from climbing and catching young birds on the trees near our house!
Birds are creatures of God for our pleasure to listen to their calls and enjoy watching them. Going through life all these years imparted us a special feeling towards these birds that had accompanied us a good portion of our childhood days in our life. Thinking of how we humans treasure our own freedom and that in return giving us even a stronger desire to see these birds flying freely in the sky without worry being hunted down or kept in captivity. How we wish we could be like them, flying freely and happily, finding their food, raising their youngs, growing old together and be part of God's wonderful creation plan!
Branded Shoes
I was not a very brand conscious person, perhaps at that time I could not earn enough to afford branded products! As our income increases, brand awareness was somehow created, I said created! Remember before going to Mexico and US, Levi's Jean and Reebok shoes were selling fairly expensive in Malaysia and I did not bother even to enter into such shops because such products were priced far above my perceivable market value. In the US, Levi's Jean is selling at USD30 while Reebok is about in the same range of price! Because of this price gap compared to Malaysia, I thought it was a good deal to buy them and bring back to Malaysia. Eventually more than enough of such branded products were brought home, my son and myself might have owned more than 10 pairs of Levi'sJeans, Reebok or even Nike shoes. Whenever you thought you are having a good deal, we started buying more than what is necessary! If a branded product is expensive, you probably purchase just one, but when it is 20% cheaper somewhere else, you ended up buying 5 to 10 pairs!
In China, most of these "made in China" branded products such as Nike, Levi's etc are sold almost double the price in US. What is the logic behind this? Well, in China those shops only aim for the 0.001% of the 1.3 billion population, and those products are not meant to be for the price conscious normal people. But the brand awareness created in China also drives many of the lower income group to purchase these branded high end products! The power of branding and advertisement has brain washed them, branded products become symbols of status! The quality is probably just 10% better than the normal brand, but you pay the extra 100-500% more for these companies to do the brand marketing, advertisement and also the celebrities to be the spoke persons of the brands!
During my school days time, a pair of Bata "Badminton Master" priced at RM3.90 was considered a premium for school going children both in primary or lower secondary schools! Nowadays, our income might have double or even triple, but the price of a pair of Bata shoes had gone up more than 10-20 folds, yet they are much more cheaper than a pair of New Balance, Nike, Adidas and Reebok!
I went jogging in Bukit Jalil in Kuala Lumpur during the weekends, and I observed and noticed that 70% of the people there were wearing brands like Nike, NB or Adidas shoes! It occurs to me now that wearing such branded shoes will not make you stand out of the crowd as before!
Recently I had decided to purchase 1 pair each of Bata Weinbrenner and Power shoes at a discount sales for a total price of RM85! I think it was a good deal!
In China, most of these "made in China" branded products such as Nike, Levi's etc are sold almost double the price in US. What is the logic behind this? Well, in China those shops only aim for the 0.001% of the 1.3 billion population, and those products are not meant to be for the price conscious normal people. But the brand awareness created in China also drives many of the lower income group to purchase these branded high end products! The power of branding and advertisement has brain washed them, branded products become symbols of status! The quality is probably just 10% better than the normal brand, but you pay the extra 100-500% more for these companies to do the brand marketing, advertisement and also the celebrities to be the spoke persons of the brands!
During my school days time, a pair of Bata "Badminton Master" priced at RM3.90 was considered a premium for school going children both in primary or lower secondary schools! Nowadays, our income might have double or even triple, but the price of a pair of Bata shoes had gone up more than 10-20 folds, yet they are much more cheaper than a pair of New Balance, Nike, Adidas and Reebok!
I went jogging in Bukit Jalil in Kuala Lumpur during the weekends, and I observed and noticed that 70% of the people there were wearing brands like Nike, NB or Adidas shoes! It occurs to me now that wearing such branded shoes will not make you stand out of the crowd as before!
Recently I had decided to purchase 1 pair each of Bata Weinbrenner and Power shoes at a discount sales for a total price of RM85! I think it was a good deal!
Friday, March 5, 2010
Flashing and floaters in the eye!
Recently I experienced a mild flashing or photopsia in my left eye whenever I turn my eyeball to view on the left side, there is a slight flashing or flicker of light at the corner of the eye. Against bright light, I see a few floaters or small bubbles but this condition existed before and should cause no alarm at all. I searched through the internet and was told that this could be a result of posterior vitreous detachment or PVD whereby because of aging the vitreous gel becomes more watery in the center of the eye ball; while the heavier or denser peripheral more gel like vitreous detaches and moves towards the softer center of the eye ball. However the occasional flashes might be a symptom of a torn, tugged or detach of the retina from the back of the eye ball as a further result from PVD. This is a more serious problem that could cause the loss of eyesight and might need to see a eye surgeon to check on it. At this point of time, this slight flashing does not really bother me at all because I always focus my eyes right in front most of the time rather than side way!
Well, when we start to age, we do not know all these kinds of funny and teething problems could come to affect us. We practically never heard of, knew and thought about this PVD or retina detachment, if not because of the convenience of the internet. All the time people just talk about diabetes, high blood pressure, gouts, high cholestrol and uric acid etc. which are more common amongst the middle-age group people.
Now I have put a lot more emphasis on exercise, reducing weight and eating less. No one could defy aging but through exercise, we hope to delay the process. Other than this, I am actually having a bigger plan or dream for myself, as written earlier I hope to be physically fit enough to join a marathon run of 42 km!
Well, when we start to age, we do not know all these kinds of funny and teething problems could come to affect us. We practically never heard of, knew and thought about this PVD or retina detachment, if not because of the convenience of the internet. All the time people just talk about diabetes, high blood pressure, gouts, high cholestrol and uric acid etc. which are more common amongst the middle-age group people.
Now I have put a lot more emphasis on exercise, reducing weight and eating less. No one could defy aging but through exercise, we hope to delay the process. Other than this, I am actually having a bigger plan or dream for myself, as written earlier I hope to be physically fit enough to join a marathon run of 42 km!
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Singapore
I visited Singapore basically because my neighbors two brothers Wong Kam and Wong Peng went to work and study there. We were buddies because we did not have much of an age difference and there was no generation gap. There were also attractions in Singapore then, for example the ease of job opportunities and also the night life where transvestities were first in public display in the back lanes of Singapore etc. Malaysia was still relatively a more conservative society then.
I happened to bump into one of my very distant cousin from KL Salak South garden many years ago in the busy China town street of Singapore after that I never meet him again when he married and has his own family. Just imagine how popular a destination Singapore was for the Malaysians, every body was going to Singapore, be it for a short visit,shopping or looking for a job. At that time, the imported fruits such as oranges, apples, pears etc were very cheap in Singapore and most Malaysians brought back big bundles across the causeway to Malaysia. As students we used to go to Peninsula Plaza to buy our scientific calculators which were also very cheap there. Customs were very strict then and they checked every single bag of the visitors coming back from Singapore. A lot of the things were cheaper in Singapore than Malaysia. At that time, Penang island was probably the only free port in Malaysia. Only at later part, the free port status of Penang was abolished and then Langkawi was announced as the new duty free port by Dr. Mahatir.
After my HSC A level examination, I went to Singapore and started to give tuition classes. I was earning a fair living without asking money from my parents for my own expenses. Subsequently after about half a year I left Singapore for further study back in Malaysia and passed on the students to my buddy Yau Peng Long. I still could remember a few of my favorite students include the related cousin brothers of Ah Tiong from Indonesia and also Singaporean Chay Yong. I had never seen them again after that and probably even I see them now I would not be able to recognize them at all. At that time a lot of the rich Indonesian Chinese bought bungalows with swimming pools in Singapore and they also sent their children to study in Singaporean schools. And I believe they had also moved and deposited a lot of their money into the Singaporean banks. At that time Indonesia was not that stable politically. Singapore was a finance center, shelter and a refuge haven for these rich Indonesians, a very near contingency destination in case anything happened in Indonesia.
Singapore is a very clean city and everything is well arranged, people are well disciplined and even the trees are very straight! The straight trees were something I really dislike the most of Singapore because it did not give me that feeling of being natural, it seemed to me everything was so artificially arranged and even the trees were not spared. The roads were ever ready to be turned into a runway for fighter planes. That was the impression I had for a very efficient Singapore.
I left Singapore with a heavy heart and I did not know that thereafter I would never have a chance to go back to work or stay in Singapore. Only once when I met someone from a reputable computer company ALR , and on my way back from Taiwan I went to Singpoare for an interview but the deal did not cone through. I only passed by Singapore Changi airport for transit once a while and visited Wong Peng one or twice and that was it!
For many years in my very personal opinion, cars and apartments in Singapore are far too exorbitant in prices compared to Malaysia, even I could earn double the amount in Singapore than in Malaysia, I would not be in my right mind to work and live there. What I did not realise and expect were that, Singapore CPF contribution is 20% from employers and also the currency appreciated more than double over a short period of time! That was the time period where Singapore economy grew by leaps and bounds and I missed that boat! All my friends and classmates went to Singapore at that time now become rich!
That was only an incident of my life that I think back after so many years. Even I did not go to Singapore for good but I went overseas and stayed and worked in a few countries for many years. Sometimes life is not our own arrangement, it is God that is behind everything. And I believe God puts us in a place for a reason, one fine day we would be able to find out the reason why!
I happened to bump into one of my very distant cousin from KL Salak South garden many years ago in the busy China town street of Singapore after that I never meet him again when he married and has his own family. Just imagine how popular a destination Singapore was for the Malaysians, every body was going to Singapore, be it for a short visit,shopping or looking for a job. At that time, the imported fruits such as oranges, apples, pears etc were very cheap in Singapore and most Malaysians brought back big bundles across the causeway to Malaysia. As students we used to go to Peninsula Plaza to buy our scientific calculators which were also very cheap there. Customs were very strict then and they checked every single bag of the visitors coming back from Singapore. A lot of the things were cheaper in Singapore than Malaysia. At that time, Penang island was probably the only free port in Malaysia. Only at later part, the free port status of Penang was abolished and then Langkawi was announced as the new duty free port by Dr. Mahatir.
After my HSC A level examination, I went to Singapore and started to give tuition classes. I was earning a fair living without asking money from my parents for my own expenses. Subsequently after about half a year I left Singapore for further study back in Malaysia and passed on the students to my buddy Yau Peng Long. I still could remember a few of my favorite students include the related cousin brothers of Ah Tiong from Indonesia and also Singaporean Chay Yong. I had never seen them again after that and probably even I see them now I would not be able to recognize them at all. At that time a lot of the rich Indonesian Chinese bought bungalows with swimming pools in Singapore and they also sent their children to study in Singaporean schools. And I believe they had also moved and deposited a lot of their money into the Singaporean banks. At that time Indonesia was not that stable politically. Singapore was a finance center, shelter and a refuge haven for these rich Indonesians, a very near contingency destination in case anything happened in Indonesia.
Singapore is a very clean city and everything is well arranged, people are well disciplined and even the trees are very straight! The straight trees were something I really dislike the most of Singapore because it did not give me that feeling of being natural, it seemed to me everything was so artificially arranged and even the trees were not spared. The roads were ever ready to be turned into a runway for fighter planes. That was the impression I had for a very efficient Singapore.
I left Singapore with a heavy heart and I did not know that thereafter I would never have a chance to go back to work or stay in Singapore. Only once when I met someone from a reputable computer company ALR , and on my way back from Taiwan I went to Singpoare for an interview but the deal did not cone through. I only passed by Singapore Changi airport for transit once a while and visited Wong Peng one or twice and that was it!
For many years in my very personal opinion, cars and apartments in Singapore are far too exorbitant in prices compared to Malaysia, even I could earn double the amount in Singapore than in Malaysia, I would not be in my right mind to work and live there. What I did not realise and expect were that, Singapore CPF contribution is 20% from employers and also the currency appreciated more than double over a short period of time! That was the time period where Singapore economy grew by leaps and bounds and I missed that boat! All my friends and classmates went to Singapore at that time now become rich!
That was only an incident of my life that I think back after so many years. Even I did not go to Singapore for good but I went overseas and stayed and worked in a few countries for many years. Sometimes life is not our own arrangement, it is God that is behind everything. And I believe God puts us in a place for a reason, one fine day we would be able to find out the reason why!
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Riding a Motorbike
Bicycle was the main mode of transport in those days for the village folks. From single gear bicycle to multiple switchable gears type was a breakthrough, only well-paid workers could ever afford one. How cool it was, just with the clicking of the handle switches to drop or raise a gear ratio! The possession of one of this type of higher end bicycle also symbolized the social status standing of the owner in those days.
When motorbike was first introduced into the village, that was really a conveniece and it also signified the standard of living of Malaysians was generally improved one notch above and its dominance over the conventional usage of bicycle as a means of transport was inevitable. At that time vehicles on the road were few and accidents were less common!
As years went by, the rate of accidents increased tremendously because many people started to own vehicles. Many villagers died a gruesome death because of accidents involving motorbikes. That was common and even until today, a few cases involved the death of our workers in the plant that traveled to work using their motorbikes. Within a short period of 8 months, it had occurred at least 3 cases!
My parents would never agree to allow me to own any motorbike because of safety concern. I had owned one of my Suzuki scrambler in varsity days and I only told my mum upon paying and bringing it home. She was not really happy over it however I did observe the unwritten rule of not riding the bike all the way home from KL to Kampar during holidays or semester breaks. I normally arranged to send it home by using a transport company for a small fees. It was safer to make arrangement this way in order to pacify or relieve the concerns of my parents!
From Honda C70 or popularly known as Honda Cub to Vespa, scrambler or motor-cross bikes, and subsequent more trendy bikes continue to flood the Malaysian market over the years. And now with Yamaha Virago, Kawasaki Vulcan, Honda Shadown and the luxurious Harley Davidson etc. on the Malaysian roads, only the rich could afford! Malaysian government had levied a very high import duty on big bikes. But I think big bikes are safer and more noticeable by other road users, and the use of it should be encouraged!
I would like very much to own one Vulcan 500 or a Honda Shadow 600, though my driving licence is only valid for riding a motorbike till the limit of 250 CC. I know it is really dangerous to ride a motorbike after having driven cars through my many years of experience. On the other hand, I think it is really fun to ride such big bikes for fun especially for leisure trips organized in a group when proper safety precaution is taken.
If I have more money, I will own a Harley!
When motorbike was first introduced into the village, that was really a conveniece and it also signified the standard of living of Malaysians was generally improved one notch above and its dominance over the conventional usage of bicycle as a means of transport was inevitable. At that time vehicles on the road were few and accidents were less common!
As years went by, the rate of accidents increased tremendously because many people started to own vehicles. Many villagers died a gruesome death because of accidents involving motorbikes. That was common and even until today, a few cases involved the death of our workers in the plant that traveled to work using their motorbikes. Within a short period of 8 months, it had occurred at least 3 cases!
My parents would never agree to allow me to own any motorbike because of safety concern. I had owned one of my Suzuki scrambler in varsity days and I only told my mum upon paying and bringing it home. She was not really happy over it however I did observe the unwritten rule of not riding the bike all the way home from KL to Kampar during holidays or semester breaks. I normally arranged to send it home by using a transport company for a small fees. It was safer to make arrangement this way in order to pacify or relieve the concerns of my parents!
From Honda C70 or popularly known as Honda Cub to Vespa, scrambler or motor-cross bikes, and subsequent more trendy bikes continue to flood the Malaysian market over the years. And now with Yamaha Virago, Kawasaki Vulcan, Honda Shadown and the luxurious Harley Davidson etc. on the Malaysian roads, only the rich could afford! Malaysian government had levied a very high import duty on big bikes. But I think big bikes are safer and more noticeable by other road users, and the use of it should be encouraged!
I would like very much to own one Vulcan 500 or a Honda Shadow 600, though my driving licence is only valid for riding a motorbike till the limit of 250 CC. I know it is really dangerous to ride a motorbike after having driven cars through my many years of experience. On the other hand, I think it is really fun to ride such big bikes for fun especially for leisure trips organized in a group when proper safety precaution is taken.
If I have more money, I will own a Harley!
Natural Disaster
We are all blessed to live in a nation called Malaysia because we had never experienced any major calamity compared to many other countries. Hurricanes, typhoon, tornado, earthquake, volcanic eruption or even tsunami were something which I only heard of, read in newspaper, or as themes of entertainment from the TV, movies and magazines etc. The global warming, climate changes and ecological impact on earth might have caused the recent tsunami and the feel of seismic tremor from neigbouring countries.
I asked my mum once why Japan had to conquer and attack other nations during the second world war. My mum told me that it was because Japan was a land full of volcanoes and therefore they had to expand their territory in order to look for a better place to stay. It might not be the entire truth from the explanation of my mum but it did give the implication that, a land without natural disaster, indeed is a blessed place to stay!
I only experienced the first earthquake in Taiwan in late 80s while I was renting a place from a friend Cephas Lee, near to Min Sheng East road, right at the middle of Taipei City. The tremor and vibration had caused the rattling of the items stored on shelves and inside the kitchen, also I could feel a slight swaying of the bed or apartment. It was not that scary as it was just a mild quake. At the same Taipei city, on a particular night when we attended a Malaysian colleague wedding dinner, the city issued the first warning of the coming typhoon. Other than the heavy rain and the occasional falling down of sign boards onto the streets, I did not feel the full impact of a real typhoon. However the Mc Donald store was flooded and also there were deaths near the river bank as reported in the next day news. That was my first experience of a typhoon too! Subsequent typhoons were more of a fun to me, mainly because the office would close and you would still get paid for a day off at home!
Malaysia never had haze before and only in year 1996-97 that haze started to come into picture as a result of forest fire in Indonesia. And tsunami was just a one off incident for Malaysia and this happened while I was in Mexico and US. I remember how the US immigration officer saw my Malaysian passport and asked me "Are you glad to be in the US while the tsunami occurred in your country?" I only replied the extent of damage was minimal in Malaysia as the glaze of the Indonesian tsunami just swept past some remote corners of some Malaysian islands, the full impact was blocked off by Sumatra of Indonesia.
A few scary incidents which could be categorized under natural disaster that occurred in Malaysia include the caving in of a house in my village while I was still studying in Universtiy Malaya, and also the death of many persons because of the Nipah virus. Other than that, Malaysia is simply a country too good to be true to live in! There were plenty of jobs and we could easily find jobs, even going to work in Singapore across the causeway and getting a PR is a breeze! Malaysians also could work in Hongkong, China and Taiwan without any problem because of their good command of languages.
Where on earth one could find a place like Malaysia to live in? I love Malaysia despite some uncalled for issues stirred up by some unscrupulous politicians just for their own selfish gain!
God bless Malaysia!
I asked my mum once why Japan had to conquer and attack other nations during the second world war. My mum told me that it was because Japan was a land full of volcanoes and therefore they had to expand their territory in order to look for a better place to stay. It might not be the entire truth from the explanation of my mum but it did give the implication that, a land without natural disaster, indeed is a blessed place to stay!
I only experienced the first earthquake in Taiwan in late 80s while I was renting a place from a friend Cephas Lee, near to Min Sheng East road, right at the middle of Taipei City. The tremor and vibration had caused the rattling of the items stored on shelves and inside the kitchen, also I could feel a slight swaying of the bed or apartment. It was not that scary as it was just a mild quake. At the same Taipei city, on a particular night when we attended a Malaysian colleague wedding dinner, the city issued the first warning of the coming typhoon. Other than the heavy rain and the occasional falling down of sign boards onto the streets, I did not feel the full impact of a real typhoon. However the Mc Donald store was flooded and also there were deaths near the river bank as reported in the next day news. That was my first experience of a typhoon too! Subsequent typhoons were more of a fun to me, mainly because the office would close and you would still get paid for a day off at home!
Malaysia never had haze before and only in year 1996-97 that haze started to come into picture as a result of forest fire in Indonesia. And tsunami was just a one off incident for Malaysia and this happened while I was in Mexico and US. I remember how the US immigration officer saw my Malaysian passport and asked me "Are you glad to be in the US while the tsunami occurred in your country?" I only replied the extent of damage was minimal in Malaysia as the glaze of the Indonesian tsunami just swept past some remote corners of some Malaysian islands, the full impact was blocked off by Sumatra of Indonesia.
A few scary incidents which could be categorized under natural disaster that occurred in Malaysia include the caving in of a house in my village while I was still studying in Universtiy Malaya, and also the death of many persons because of the Nipah virus. Other than that, Malaysia is simply a country too good to be true to live in! There were plenty of jobs and we could easily find jobs, even going to work in Singapore across the causeway and getting a PR is a breeze! Malaysians also could work in Hongkong, China and Taiwan without any problem because of their good command of languages.
Where on earth one could find a place like Malaysia to live in? I love Malaysia despite some uncalled for issues stirred up by some unscrupulous politicians just for their own selfish gain!
God bless Malaysia!
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Always forgetful
When I was still working with Acer Inc Taiwan, I had a superb memory. Whenever I had a meeting with a client, I did not need to take along any pen or papers to record the details. Upon finishing the meeting, the meeting minutes or the report findings would be out within a short period of time, without leaving any important details. My boss Eugene Cheng always marveled at the way I could memorize and remember all the details to such extent.
I really had a good memory! Remember during the higher secondary school days when I first switched to 100% English medium of instruction from a Pei Yuan Chinese school to a pure ACS English school. I was able to re-generate my answers in examination papers strictly according to the same format as the teacher's notes, even to the extent of maintaining its active or passive voices. Was this not something incredible? This was because I did not have a good enough command of English then, I had no choice but to memorize them sentence by sentence in order not to make any mistake with the language.
Nowadays and I could not really understand the reason why I always become so forgetful. Sometimes I think of a subject to write on the blog, and I had told myself repeatedly that this is going to be the topic for the day! But when I finally sat down and thought about what to write in front of the computer, no matter how hard I tried to recall, and I had no inkling as to which topic I supposed to write! This had happened too many times!
I have the habit of washing my face and to leave my spectacles on a place which I could remember. Most of the time I ended up in searching for it all over the house! I took out my mountain bike ready for a ride, and then I forget my helmet! I warmed up the car in the morning ready to go to work, after putting on my socks and wearing my shoes, I forgot to bring along my bag and computer.
I used to remember the names and faces very well of old friends and acquaintances even after getting to know them for a brief period of time. I could call out the names of all my coursemates in Engineering faculty in Universtiy Malaya just after meeting them for about a week or so, but nowadays I could hardly recognize or remember any person just after one week of meeting them. After my transfer back from China operation to Malaysia just about 8 months, I always have to try very hard to refresh the names of some of my Chinese colleagues!
It is clearly a sign of getting old and I think I have to carry a note book around anywhere I go and immediately jot down everything before I forget. Look like this is the only way for me to overcome this problem!
You could exercise or even to dress up yourself to appear younger but the effect of aging takes a toll on the other aspects of your life, memory is just one of them. Sigh!
I really had a good memory! Remember during the higher secondary school days when I first switched to 100% English medium of instruction from a Pei Yuan Chinese school to a pure ACS English school. I was able to re-generate my answers in examination papers strictly according to the same format as the teacher's notes, even to the extent of maintaining its active or passive voices. Was this not something incredible? This was because I did not have a good enough command of English then, I had no choice but to memorize them sentence by sentence in order not to make any mistake with the language.
Nowadays and I could not really understand the reason why I always become so forgetful. Sometimes I think of a subject to write on the blog, and I had told myself repeatedly that this is going to be the topic for the day! But when I finally sat down and thought about what to write in front of the computer, no matter how hard I tried to recall, and I had no inkling as to which topic I supposed to write! This had happened too many times!
I have the habit of washing my face and to leave my spectacles on a place which I could remember. Most of the time I ended up in searching for it all over the house! I took out my mountain bike ready for a ride, and then I forget my helmet! I warmed up the car in the morning ready to go to work, after putting on my socks and wearing my shoes, I forgot to bring along my bag and computer.
I used to remember the names and faces very well of old friends and acquaintances even after getting to know them for a brief period of time. I could call out the names of all my coursemates in Engineering faculty in Universtiy Malaya just after meeting them for about a week or so, but nowadays I could hardly recognize or remember any person just after one week of meeting them. After my transfer back from China operation to Malaysia just about 8 months, I always have to try very hard to refresh the names of some of my Chinese colleagues!
It is clearly a sign of getting old and I think I have to carry a note book around anywhere I go and immediately jot down everything before I forget. Look like this is the only way for me to overcome this problem!
You could exercise or even to dress up yourself to appear younger but the effect of aging takes a toll on the other aspects of your life, memory is just one of them. Sigh!
End of the CNY
Today is the 15th of 1st month of the Chinese lunar calender and that marks the finishing of this much elaborated celebration of Chinese New Year or Spring Festival. Celebrating over a period of 15 days was common in older days and a lot of projects or business activities would only start moving again after this 15 days period. As the country progresses and economic activities dominate the scene, life becomes competitive and tougher, most people now celebrates only until the 3rd day and the 4th day onwards will be work and business as usual!
The Chinese New Year has a great significance for all the Chinese worldwide because it is the beginning of a brand new year, signifying the wiping out all old records and misfortunes, and everything is reset and to start fresh all over again. It always gives the anticipation of hope and better prospect ahead. For that reason, they paint and decorate the house new to usher in the new year, wear new clothings, new shoes or even spot a new hair style to kick-start the coming of a brand new year! Spring is a much anticipated and looking forward season where in China the snow starts to thaw and all flowers will go into full blossom! How splendid and magnificient it is as the earth is going through a period of bustling activities; plants sprouting out new leaves, new shoots, all kinds of flowers with bright colors brightening up the gardens, birds and bees, animals are running around, spring is in the air and the joy is apparent. Life again becomes active after going through a long cold winter which is like an incubation period where life has become dormant, boring and gloomy. All pent up and anxiously waiting Spring to come and suddenly everything breaks loose and bursts into life!
When comes the time of the spring rain, it is also the right time to sow seeds with a new hope of abundant harvest. There is a popular saying by the Chinese - " The happenings of the entire year start with the planning in the spring" . Indeed it is very true!
The 15th night of the Chinese New Year or "Chap Goh Meh" is celebrated in a grand way by the Hokkien, the migrants or descendants from the Fujian province. In northern China, lanterns are in display in a big way for the day and events are organized to solve the puzzles written on the lanterns and prizes are given away for that. But for us with our ancestry that came from the other southern provinces, we only carry the lanterns around during the mid-autumn festival and we do not know why there is such a odd difference.
The first full moon on the 15th night marks the end of the CNY celebration somehow gives me more of a melancholy instead of a celebration mood!
The Chinese New Year has a great significance for all the Chinese worldwide because it is the beginning of a brand new year, signifying the wiping out all old records and misfortunes, and everything is reset and to start fresh all over again. It always gives the anticipation of hope and better prospect ahead. For that reason, they paint and decorate the house new to usher in the new year, wear new clothings, new shoes or even spot a new hair style to kick-start the coming of a brand new year! Spring is a much anticipated and looking forward season where in China the snow starts to thaw and all flowers will go into full blossom! How splendid and magnificient it is as the earth is going through a period of bustling activities; plants sprouting out new leaves, new shoots, all kinds of flowers with bright colors brightening up the gardens, birds and bees, animals are running around, spring is in the air and the joy is apparent. Life again becomes active after going through a long cold winter which is like an incubation period where life has become dormant, boring and gloomy. All pent up and anxiously waiting Spring to come and suddenly everything breaks loose and bursts into life!
When comes the time of the spring rain, it is also the right time to sow seeds with a new hope of abundant harvest. There is a popular saying by the Chinese - " The happenings of the entire year start with the planning in the spring" . Indeed it is very true!
The 15th night of the Chinese New Year or "Chap Goh Meh" is celebrated in a grand way by the Hokkien, the migrants or descendants from the Fujian province. In northern China, lanterns are in display in a big way for the day and events are organized to solve the puzzles written on the lanterns and prizes are given away for that. But for us with our ancestry that came from the other southern provinces, we only carry the lanterns around during the mid-autumn festival and we do not know why there is such a odd difference.
The first full moon on the 15th night marks the end of the CNY celebration somehow gives me more of a melancholy instead of a celebration mood!
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Church going on New Year days
Family photo taken in Methodist Church Kampar, Perak
during CNY 2010It is hard to imagine to change an age-old habit. Our age-old practice of ancestor worshipping was based partly on Taoism and partly on Buddhism. Such practice was passed down from generations, while some rituals are just seeing and learning what your fellow folks are doing and following suit. Sometimes it is hard to draw a demarcation as to what is regarded as religious or just cultural. To me if a practice is based on the teachings of a particular specific religion then I would term that religious, all other copy cat practices without knowing the background or the actual implication of it I would term it as more towards cultural, something being passed down for generations from a particular ethnic group. For many, such practices are being carried out for ages without obvious reasons, and we never question why we have to do it and also why not to discontinue doing it. Eventually it has become a habit and routine for all of us in our daily life!
If you are the descendant of a particular ethnic group and attend a certain school, the language that you used as a medium of instruction tends to exert certain influence on the kind of religion that you become more familiar with. For example if you are from the Chinese school, many a time Buddhism becomes an element that is embedded in some of the literatures and readings. The Chinese literature is very much associated with Buddhism since the days of the Tang dynasty.
For a traditional Chinese family to become Christian, Muslim or convert to any other religions, it is not an easy task and it needs a spiritual breakthrough! With the blessings from God, my family is almost 100% conversion to Christianity except one of my sister. Even my father who was once a hard core Taoist priest for funeral ceremony was baptized about 2-3 years back, what a miracle to our family if it is not the direct interference from God!
Could one ever imagine a family celebrate and go to the church during the 1st day of Chinese New Year? It was something beyond my imagination years ago but this happened to my family now. It has become a top priority to remember God for all the goodness received through the year and get the continuous blessings from Him for such a special day and occasion. Before that, going to church on Chinese New Year days was deemed something boring and had no better things to do!
No one from one particular religion has gone to heaven and come back to earth to tell us what is the true story. Believing based on faith and also looking at the good examples of some of the believers tend to reveal some characteristics of the God that they are worshipping, though we humans are not perfect and tend to err. Fearing God is the beginning of wisdom, this is true. Every effort in life is vain and empty without God! Having a deep spiritual contact or encounter with God is another experience which words could not describe!
Go and search God, believe in God, what have you got to lose if it is not true? If it is a true God that promised peace and eternal life, how much we would have lost for not believing in Him.
My wife
My wife married me when I was still a poor young engineer. Though I was a graduate with a steady income but did not have a lot of money to afford things. We used to envy other families who could drive bigger cars and stay in better houses. We had gone through the thick and thin of life, hardship, making ends meet and tough time without a job etc. We built a family based on trust, staying together in whatever circumstances, going to church and pray for our children and family members etc. That was how we have gone through life together for so many years.
My wife and I are of totally different characters and even have different sleeping times. She sleeps very few hours but can be very active the next day without any problem; I for one need to sleep 8 full hours in order to energize myself to take on the activities of the day. When our young children were sick, my wife was always half asleep or stayed awake most of the time and took good care of them, monitored their body temperatures, administered to them cooling gel and medicine at the right intervals. I would always try to sleep a bit early so as to take on my turn of vigilance on the children at the later part of the night so that she could catch some sleep. It was such a wonderful combination despite our differences!
She is well versed in Malay language because she was from Sri Kampar Kebangsaan school after her primary English education in ACS. We were from different school background and have totally different hobbies and likings. Sometimes we wonder how we could ever get married in this way! Sometimes it is God's will that we become husband and wife, she tutored my children most of the Malay language lessons while I tackled mainly their Chinese or mathematical unresolved questions in the school. Again it is such a good combination!
My wife is very good in his handwork and hand made crafts such as flowers crochet etc, and she did such crafts so well that I believe she could even open a shop to sell them. Only thing is if she does too much of those handwork, her eyes would be too strained that she could fall sick or even have vertigo. Even better is her cooking and she is always willing to learn from TV programs or even from my mum on all the skill of cooking. She inherited most of the secret recipes of my favorite dishes from my mum. She used to cook every meal for us in earlier days, but later part I found that it is too strenuous for her and we decided to eat out most of the time when I am home. Nowadays it is even more economical to eat outside than to cook on your own although sometimes outside food with excessive Ajinomoto is our main concern. She washes our clothings shoes and cleans the sofas, and the whole house spotless so that we could have a very comfortable environment to live in. I am very much influenced by her near to fanatic cleanliness, and because of that now I become very sensitive to cleanliness and tidiness compared to before when I was still a bachelor.
Because of my job nature and I have to be always away from home especially at the later part of my career, if not for her constant presence and help in the house, I would not be able even to earn a living. She stopped work and stays a full time house wife while our first son was born. She likes to nag a lot especially to the children, and most of the time is out of concern for them. Sometimes it is understandable of her nagging behaviour because she is confined within this narrow circle of life with the children and the husband as her only friends. And of course sometimes our behavior is also too unbearable for her and she needs to vent out her anger. Children and we adults are not perfect beings and this has become part and parcel of life.
In my heart, I appreciate all the hard work, love and care she renders for the family and also the sacrifice that she made for being a wife and mother 24 hours a day staying at home taking care of all of us. I have unspoken words, love and appreciation for her though I do not always express that to her. Through this blog, I want to say love and a big thank you to her!
My wife and I are of totally different characters and even have different sleeping times. She sleeps very few hours but can be very active the next day without any problem; I for one need to sleep 8 full hours in order to energize myself to take on the activities of the day. When our young children were sick, my wife was always half asleep or stayed awake most of the time and took good care of them, monitored their body temperatures, administered to them cooling gel and medicine at the right intervals. I would always try to sleep a bit early so as to take on my turn of vigilance on the children at the later part of the night so that she could catch some sleep. It was such a wonderful combination despite our differences!
She is well versed in Malay language because she was from Sri Kampar Kebangsaan school after her primary English education in ACS. We were from different school background and have totally different hobbies and likings. Sometimes we wonder how we could ever get married in this way! Sometimes it is God's will that we become husband and wife, she tutored my children most of the Malay language lessons while I tackled mainly their Chinese or mathematical unresolved questions in the school. Again it is such a good combination!
My wife is very good in his handwork and hand made crafts such as flowers crochet etc, and she did such crafts so well that I believe she could even open a shop to sell them. Only thing is if she does too much of those handwork, her eyes would be too strained that she could fall sick or even have vertigo. Even better is her cooking and she is always willing to learn from TV programs or even from my mum on all the skill of cooking. She inherited most of the secret recipes of my favorite dishes from my mum. She used to cook every meal for us in earlier days, but later part I found that it is too strenuous for her and we decided to eat out most of the time when I am home. Nowadays it is even more economical to eat outside than to cook on your own although sometimes outside food with excessive Ajinomoto is our main concern. She washes our clothings shoes and cleans the sofas, and the whole house spotless so that we could have a very comfortable environment to live in. I am very much influenced by her near to fanatic cleanliness, and because of that now I become very sensitive to cleanliness and tidiness compared to before when I was still a bachelor.
Because of my job nature and I have to be always away from home especially at the later part of my career, if not for her constant presence and help in the house, I would not be able even to earn a living. She stopped work and stays a full time house wife while our first son was born. She likes to nag a lot especially to the children, and most of the time is out of concern for them. Sometimes it is understandable of her nagging behaviour because she is confined within this narrow circle of life with the children and the husband as her only friends. And of course sometimes our behavior is also too unbearable for her and she needs to vent out her anger. Children and we adults are not perfect beings and this has become part and parcel of life.
In my heart, I appreciate all the hard work, love and care she renders for the family and also the sacrifice that she made for being a wife and mother 24 hours a day staying at home taking care of all of us. I have unspoken words, love and appreciation for her though I do not always express that to her. Through this blog, I want to say love and a big thank you to her!
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Marathon Runner
I was not born a sport man because of my skinny and smaller frame stature while I was in primary and secondary schools. I always sat the second row in the class otherwise some of my taller classmates would have blocked my view of the blackboard. The only sport that I had taken part in while we were having sport day in the primary school was tying one of my legs with the other of my classmates using a handkefchief, doing something similar to the telematch kind of running! What a shame!
I did not realize my sport potential only until when I was in higher secondary school that I could run cross country well. Subsequently I had developed a liking for sport, though I had played basket ball for many years since primary school days. I went into squash and occasional running or jogging to keep fit! Sometimes sport is a question of practice, perserverance and self confidence. I was very much inspired by my brother-in-law at the age of about 58, yet he could be a good marathon runner. Another younger relative, my wife's cousin Choi CC, probably 48 is another good runner. Imagine the gruesome journey of 42KM, is something to me insurmountable! I take my hat off for these 2 guys!
I have not given up on running long distance. Therefore now I am training hard to increase my laps of running. Every morning I woke up early and try to train my stamina by jogging along the path leading to the sea side. The air in the morning is fresh and the vehicles are few. It is an ideal place to train and exercise and I had chosen this place precisely for this reason.
My aim is hopefully one day I could be fit enough to participate in the marathon run!
I did not realize my sport potential only until when I was in higher secondary school that I could run cross country well. Subsequently I had developed a liking for sport, though I had played basket ball for many years since primary school days. I went into squash and occasional running or jogging to keep fit! Sometimes sport is a question of practice, perserverance and self confidence. I was very much inspired by my brother-in-law at the age of about 58, yet he could be a good marathon runner. Another younger relative, my wife's cousin Choi CC, probably 48 is another good runner. Imagine the gruesome journey of 42KM, is something to me insurmountable! I take my hat off for these 2 guys!
I have not given up on running long distance. Therefore now I am training hard to increase my laps of running. Every morning I woke up early and try to train my stamina by jogging along the path leading to the sea side. The air in the morning is fresh and the vehicles are few. It is an ideal place to train and exercise and I had chosen this place precisely for this reason.
My aim is hopefully one day I could be fit enough to participate in the marathon run!
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Catching fighting fish
My brothers and I were trying to catch some of those fighting fishes. We went to search around the spots where we used to catch them. Around the village, those areas had been developed into housing projects and their habitat is gone forever. We drove to SMTD near to Air Kuning, and we went into the pond we used to catch quite a few before many years ago but there was no more fighting fish. Suddently I remember some of my childhood friends of Kampar, they are children of a far relative living near the railway track in Wah Loong area. They caught fighting fishes in the puddles of water near the railway track. We drove through the old railway flyover, the new sport complex and Kampong Batu Putih to reach our destination. Again we tried in vain with no fighting fish. While passing by and on the road side near a stream, we found some water plants and I brought them back all the way to Terengganu, but they all rotted upon arrival here after keeping them 2 days in the house in a container, perhaps the plants could not withstand the long journey
The family members suddenly proposed to drive all the way to Tualang to eat "Ice Kacang" and jelly drinks. And I took the opportunity to contact Arshad of Kampong Gajah since the place is on the way to Tualang as we took the road passing through Tronoh Mines and Kampong Timah. He advertised in internet on wild fighting fish for sale. We met him near the Agro bank and then he led us to his home just across the Perak river after a bridge. He kept quite a quantity of wild fighting fishes. We bought Rm100 for 4 pairs, my brother and I shared each 2 pairs (male and female), though it is a bit expensive. Anyway, it is Chinese New Year fun, Arshad and us are happy over this because we got what we wanted eventually!
On my way of transporting those fishes to my Cukai home, one of the male fishes jumped out of the container and died, what a pity!
The family members suddenly proposed to drive all the way to Tualang to eat "Ice Kacang" and jelly drinks. And I took the opportunity to contact Arshad of Kampong Gajah since the place is on the way to Tualang as we took the road passing through Tronoh Mines and Kampong Timah. He advertised in internet on wild fighting fish for sale. We met him near the Agro bank and then he led us to his home just across the Perak river after a bridge. He kept quite a quantity of wild fighting fishes. We bought Rm100 for 4 pairs, my brother and I shared each 2 pairs (male and female), though it is a bit expensive. Anyway, it is Chinese New Year fun, Arshad and us are happy over this because we got what we wanted eventually!
On my way of transporting those fishes to my Cukai home, one of the male fishes jumped out of the container and died, what a pity!
Monday, February 22, 2010
Obsolescence
A friend of mine whose father ran a photo studio in the 70s. It was thriving business for his shop then and they lived in big bungalow house in high class residential area, bought new car compared to his contemporaries who could barely afford owning only second hand used vehicles. With the advent of digitial cameras, the business of his photo shop dropped drastically and nowadays consumers simply do not buy films, develop photos in the shops anymore. They just point and shoot, store them in memory cards, upload the photos in digital frames or web albums etc. So this traditional photo shop of my friend's father became the thing of the past!
I remember those days in the village, where there were only a handful of legally licensed taxis; they belonged to the richer and more well-to-do villagers. It was expensive because one has to own a vehicle, usually a Mercedes Benz 190D and also the licence from the government was expensive, limited and controlled. Buses were commuting only once every hour to and fro Kampar town. At that time, there were needs for more transportation, therefore illegal taxis or what we called "Kereta Sapu" came into existence and they were doing a thriving business. My dad was amongst one of those earliest folks to start this "Kereta Sapu" after he quitted from his fish monger job near Tapah Road and Langkap areas. Before this, he was cycling and later part bought a BSA motorbike to sell fishes to those Malay kampung folks with credit given to them. It was common then for debts to be recorded in a small booklet with brand 555 or more popularly known as the triple 5 booklet. Debts were settled at the end of the month based on the accounts in these booklets, even sundry shops did the same with the village folks. I suppose it was not an easy task to collect back those debts, therefore later part my grandmother from my mum side bought a Vauxhall vehicle bearing the number plate AB 3122 for my dad. The income from this taxi business then was lucrative despite sometimes the Department of Transport or JPJ came into action, drivers had to stop driving for weeks or risked paying hefty fine for operating taxis illegally. This infamous "Kerata sapu" vehicle also served as a means of transport for the entire family, it was really something extraordinary for a village home in the early 60s to own a car. These "Kereta Sapu" vehicles were used to fetch children to schools to Kampar and also "Dulang" washers to the tin mines. With some special arrangement of the seating and the addition of stools, 8-10 adults were packed inside the vehicle. Back then, vehicles were not many on the roads, and therefore vehicles packed with passengers were common, less dangerous and accidents were practically unheard of!
Whenever a good business became obvious, all the others jumped into the bandwagon. Naturally the village after sometime was saturated with such illegal taxis, plying the roads, side lanes and all over the place. Now they were no more such "Kereta Sapu" because every family in the village owns at least one car!
Time, government policies and world economy changed the landscape of life-styles and habits. We must always take this into consideration whenver we venture into something old or new. No good things last forever. Remember how our tin-mining, rubber tapping, timber logging etc became a thing of the past for the country? They were once our pillars of economy that built the nation and propelled the country to what it is today. Very soon, our oil and gas would be the things of the past for Malaysia too. Our leaders have to lead us and move forward with new things and new ideas to generate new revenue for our country in order to achieve our vision 2020.
I remember those days in the village, where there were only a handful of legally licensed taxis; they belonged to the richer and more well-to-do villagers. It was expensive because one has to own a vehicle, usually a Mercedes Benz 190D and also the licence from the government was expensive, limited and controlled. Buses were commuting only once every hour to and fro Kampar town. At that time, there were needs for more transportation, therefore illegal taxis or what we called "Kereta Sapu" came into existence and they were doing a thriving business. My dad was amongst one of those earliest folks to start this "Kereta Sapu" after he quitted from his fish monger job near Tapah Road and Langkap areas. Before this, he was cycling and later part bought a BSA motorbike to sell fishes to those Malay kampung folks with credit given to them. It was common then for debts to be recorded in a small booklet with brand 555 or more popularly known as the triple 5 booklet. Debts were settled at the end of the month based on the accounts in these booklets, even sundry shops did the same with the village folks. I suppose it was not an easy task to collect back those debts, therefore later part my grandmother from my mum side bought a Vauxhall vehicle bearing the number plate AB 3122 for my dad. The income from this taxi business then was lucrative despite sometimes the Department of Transport or JPJ came into action, drivers had to stop driving for weeks or risked paying hefty fine for operating taxis illegally. This infamous "Kerata sapu" vehicle also served as a means of transport for the entire family, it was really something extraordinary for a village home in the early 60s to own a car. These "Kereta Sapu" vehicles were used to fetch children to schools to Kampar and also "Dulang" washers to the tin mines. With some special arrangement of the seating and the addition of stools, 8-10 adults were packed inside the vehicle. Back then, vehicles were not many on the roads, and therefore vehicles packed with passengers were common, less dangerous and accidents were practically unheard of!
Whenever a good business became obvious, all the others jumped into the bandwagon. Naturally the village after sometime was saturated with such illegal taxis, plying the roads, side lanes and all over the place. Now they were no more such "Kereta Sapu" because every family in the village owns at least one car!
Time, government policies and world economy changed the landscape of life-styles and habits. We must always take this into consideration whenver we venture into something old or new. No good things last forever. Remember how our tin-mining, rubber tapping, timber logging etc became a thing of the past for the country? They were once our pillars of economy that built the nation and propelled the country to what it is today. Very soon, our oil and gas would be the things of the past for Malaysia too. Our leaders have to lead us and move forward with new things and new ideas to generate new revenue for our country in order to achieve our vision 2020.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Cricket catching and photos
As written in my earlier article on my favorite insect, this time back home I chanced upon this old friend of mine who used to be the best cricket digger or catcher in the village because he caught the most crickets during my time. He was catching crickets to feed his Magpie Robin birds, and I took the opportunity to take these precious photos.
He told me that the habitat of those crickets was destroyed and fenced off by owners of palm oil trees planted in self-owned illegal plots in the ex-mining land. He resorted to dig and catch those crickets around the housing area. I told him to spare those young crickets otherwise the insect one day will become extinct in the village, and I worry that I will miss their callings at nights!
Deserted Mining Land
During the Chinese New year period, my uncle and I explored the portion of the deserted mining land by riding on a 70cc Honda Cub motorbike. Went through the winding paths surrounding the outskirt of the western side of the village and passed through many duck rearing ponds and also palm oil trees planted on this wasteland. We lamented at how the tin mines had benefited many of the villagers by helping them to raise up children and families, but now the land is left there with the most fertile top layer soil been washed away and left with sand dunes as white as snow. What a wasteful effect and ecological impact on the land, I would consider this a wasteland if it does not generate any revenue for the country and left idling undeveloped. Many years ago, this place was dotted with Palongs! (This word of "Palong" might be lost forever without any sign of tin mining activity for the past 2 decades or so and we learned this word from our geography lessons in secondary school days on tin mining in Kinta valley and now this Palong is no where to be seen) If not because of some vegetation, and peat swamps around, the landscape is simply too plain and ugly. We did pay a price for the wealth that we gained through those early mining years. The landscape was changed every time a new mine was in operation or a dredge passed through that area. So much so that we all could not paint an original image as to how the original landscape looked like, only bits and pieces from the very far recess of our memories reminded us of a very faint picture!
Now this place which is adjacent to Tronoh mines, Kampong Timah, Tualang and Kampong Gajah areas are thriving with water birds, ponds and palm trees illegally planted all over. Perhaps now the more sophiscated villagers are hoping the opposition party will eventually win and rule the Perak state in the next general election, and hopefully land titles or who knows even compensation could be granted if the new government wants to utilize the land again and at the same time to win the hearts of the voters to stay in power!
Now this place which is adjacent to Tronoh mines, Kampong Timah, Tualang and Kampong Gajah areas are thriving with water birds, ponds and palm trees illegally planted all over. Perhaps now the more sophiscated villagers are hoping the opposition party will eventually win and rule the Perak state in the next general election, and hopefully land titles or who knows even compensation could be granted if the new government wants to utilize the land again and at the same time to win the hearts of the voters to stay in power!
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Chinese New Year traffic Jam
Every year during the Chinese New Year period, all roads and highways will be jammed up. It is an exodus of big crowd that destines themselves to go home before the grand day. The most important for all the haste and urgency is to attend the reunion dinner on the new year eve with the presence of everyone in the family. Because of this, everyone is rushing home at almost the same time after work or after the last school session of their children. A country like Malaysia, with only 26 millions population and about 5 millions Chinese, the jam is so bad, so one could imagine how bad it could be in China with 1.3 billion people.
Before the North South highway was ready, traffic was equally bad and I used to cut across the opposite side of the road, drove on the road shoulder on the other side, just to beat the jam! I remember very well my triple S, twin caburettors Datsun 160J, it was simply a fantastic sport vehicle for me. During one annual dinner company trip to Penang, I overtook all the cars on the way from KL to Penang, of course I lost to one BMW and we stopped to look at each other only at the Penang ferry terminal! When I get older, I drive more slowly and gently because I am aware of the dangerous consequences of driving fast on roads!
We tried all means to avoid traffic jams during the festive season, woke up and drove early to beat the crowd and even tried to use the old trunk road via Kuala Selangor and Teluk Anson etc. Somehow the jam was inevitable! Nowadays with the highways, things are better but when 3 lanes merge into 2 lanes, that is where the jam starts again!
For many years I had been traveling against the traffic jams because I was working in Penang and also overseas. This year I am against the flow of the traffic from east coast to KL. But from KL onwards then I will join the crowd this Friday. I hope the traffic congestion is mild so that we could have a slow and steady drive home after fetching my daughter from school.
God bless everyone and have a safe journey home and a wonderful Chinese New Year of the tiger!
Before the North South highway was ready, traffic was equally bad and I used to cut across the opposite side of the road, drove on the road shoulder on the other side, just to beat the jam! I remember very well my triple S, twin caburettors Datsun 160J, it was simply a fantastic sport vehicle for me. During one annual dinner company trip to Penang, I overtook all the cars on the way from KL to Penang, of course I lost to one BMW and we stopped to look at each other only at the Penang ferry terminal! When I get older, I drive more slowly and gently because I am aware of the dangerous consequences of driving fast on roads!
We tried all means to avoid traffic jams during the festive season, woke up and drove early to beat the crowd and even tried to use the old trunk road via Kuala Selangor and Teluk Anson etc. Somehow the jam was inevitable! Nowadays with the highways, things are better but when 3 lanes merge into 2 lanes, that is where the jam starts again!
For many years I had been traveling against the traffic jams because I was working in Penang and also overseas. This year I am against the flow of the traffic from east coast to KL. But from KL onwards then I will join the crowd this Friday. I hope the traffic congestion is mild so that we could have a slow and steady drive home after fetching my daughter from school.
God bless everyone and have a safe journey home and a wonderful Chinese New Year of the tiger!
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Malaysia Inc needs to be overhauled and revamped!
Many years ago when I was a kid, I always heard about someone else sons studied in Taiwan and their parents sent a monthly allowance of RM300 and they lived there comfortably like kings. Very often they would marry and bring back Taiwanese wives. Malaysia was a place where many people aspires to "migrate" or find a reason to come here to stay. It is never easy to migrate to Malaysia because of our government policy; I would say it is easier to get a green card in USA then to get a staying visa for foreign spouse to live and work in Malaysia. Nowadays we rarely hear about Taiwanese women willing to marry Malaysian men! Partly because Taiwan has emerged as a more affluent nation than us!
Not so many years ago, Malaysians felt extremely proud of being Malaysians during the time when we had an economic boom in late 80's and early 90's. I still remember the glorious day where a lot of Malaysians displayed our "Jalur Gemilang", our national flag on their vehicles on parade during our national day celebration. Those were the days where we attracted a lot of FDI and economy was simply vibrant, with progress and GDP growth well above other developing nations!
We did not progress thereafter and a lot of issues cropped up especially on our economic policies. Policy and decision making were such that, as though Malaysians of different ethnic origins are competing amongst each other for their own rice bowls, that was the biggest misconception and mistake we ever made! In actual fact we all Malaysians regardless of races, are in the same boat, supposedly to unite together and compete with other countries in Asean, India, and China etc to become a better nation! Our policy makers never realized this, politicians dragged their feet just to stay popular to be in power, all at the expense of our progress and welfare of the country and 'Rakyat" as a whole. Brain drain and migration of Malaysians are never taken seriously until it is just too late to reverse the trend!
We are now very much lag behind other countries in the same region in terms of economy and development. It was a trend then that Malaysian males were going abroad especially to neighboring countries to have fun. It would come a time when this land will run out of oil, and it would not be a surprise to us that foreigners from neighboring countries will start swarming here as a popular destination in the region for "recreation".
Malaysians please wake up to reality and if we are not determined to restructure and revamp ourselves for a radical change in all our economic policies to face the future challenge, we could end up to become a country without jobs but thriving with flesh trade of our own women as an attraction to foreign tourists, let alone to achieve our vision 2020. What a mockery, butt of the joke for other nations to look at who we Malaysians are!
Not so many years ago, Malaysians felt extremely proud of being Malaysians during the time when we had an economic boom in late 80's and early 90's. I still remember the glorious day where a lot of Malaysians displayed our "Jalur Gemilang", our national flag on their vehicles on parade during our national day celebration. Those were the days where we attracted a lot of FDI and economy was simply vibrant, with progress and GDP growth well above other developing nations!
We did not progress thereafter and a lot of issues cropped up especially on our economic policies. Policy and decision making were such that, as though Malaysians of different ethnic origins are competing amongst each other for their own rice bowls, that was the biggest misconception and mistake we ever made! In actual fact we all Malaysians regardless of races, are in the same boat, supposedly to unite together and compete with other countries in Asean, India, and China etc to become a better nation! Our policy makers never realized this, politicians dragged their feet just to stay popular to be in power, all at the expense of our progress and welfare of the country and 'Rakyat" as a whole. Brain drain and migration of Malaysians are never taken seriously until it is just too late to reverse the trend!
We are now very much lag behind other countries in the same region in terms of economy and development. It was a trend then that Malaysian males were going abroad especially to neighboring countries to have fun. It would come a time when this land will run out of oil, and it would not be a surprise to us that foreigners from neighboring countries will start swarming here as a popular destination in the region for "recreation".
Malaysians please wake up to reality and if we are not determined to restructure and revamp ourselves for a radical change in all our economic policies to face the future challenge, we could end up to become a country without jobs but thriving with flesh trade of our own women as an attraction to foreign tourists, let alone to achieve our vision 2020. What a mockery, butt of the joke for other nations to look at who we Malaysians are!
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Killing of tigers - A despiscable act!
I detest anyone who killed such beast for whatever good reasons they gave. Tiger population is already less than 500 in the entire peninsular Malaysia; and we want to preserve these otherwise extinct animals for our future generations, at least they would be able to know how a tiger looks like. Tigers rarely attack human beings unless they are confronted or hunted, snared or injured! We humans had encroached their territories, destroyed their habitat through development and broken their food chains. They are driven away and marginalized to live only in limited forest reserves land in the country.
I enjoy reading news that tigers could still be found in the Perak state in areas around Chenderiang, Bukit Tapah Sungkai, Botak Kiri or even near the forest of Kuala Dipang etc. Occasional sighting of such animals are not common; it might be easier to strike a lottery than to see a tiger nowadays. It always makes me feel very sad when tigers were normally killed whenever the sighting incident of such rare and precious animals was reported in the local newspapers.
The price of a dead tiger could fetch a price of USD20,000 and that is something too attractive for some to resist. Even the aborigines are hunting the tigers for money sake on the pretext of collecting "Petai" in the forest reserves and I am totally disgusted with such greedy act. Malaysia is a country that could earn a living easily and our aborigines should not be in that dire strait or poverty level , to the extent of depending on killing such precious wild beasts for a living.
We must protect our Malaysian tigers by whatever means and they are our pride!
I enjoy reading news that tigers could still be found in the Perak state in areas around Chenderiang, Bukit Tapah Sungkai, Botak Kiri or even near the forest of Kuala Dipang etc. Occasional sighting of such animals are not common; it might be easier to strike a lottery than to see a tiger nowadays. It always makes me feel very sad when tigers were normally killed whenever the sighting incident of such rare and precious animals was reported in the local newspapers.
The price of a dead tiger could fetch a price of USD20,000 and that is something too attractive for some to resist. Even the aborigines are hunting the tigers for money sake on the pretext of collecting "Petai" in the forest reserves and I am totally disgusted with such greedy act. Malaysia is a country that could earn a living easily and our aborigines should not be in that dire strait or poverty level , to the extent of depending on killing such precious wild beasts for a living.
We must protect our Malaysian tigers by whatever means and they are our pride!
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Anticipating the coming of Chinese New Year
When was the last time we had the big cleaning up of the house? It used to be always the main activity of the family when the Chinese New Year was approaching. It would be normally 1 to 2 weeks before the actual new year days that every home in the village would gather all their family members to clean up or even paint the house new to get ready for the big days. Now this good culture is rarely practised anymore!
During the period of big cleaning, bamboo tree became a convenient and useful tool for the villagers. They would cut down the stem and tie the leaves as the broom or brush. Using that, far and hard to reach spots and corners of the house, and all the spider webs were swept clean.
Chinese are particular about the dates which such cleaning activity is being carried out. Only on certain dates are to be seen as viable and good based on the ancient guidance of a book, which is published and printed in Hongkong annually. This book is commonly known as "Tong Seng" the content of which notifies and indicates the date, time period and direction for certain rituals to be performed so as to avoid bad omen but invite blessings or good luck.
As a small boy, I was particulary interested in participating in this house cleaning up job with my mum. The changing and pasting of new year bright red posters and decoration were my favorites. Amidst the popular Chinese New Year songs by the various radio stations, the excitement could be felt in the air when the new year mood was slowly built up in this manner. We even as kids knew very well that the actual new year day would be at its peak of celebration and very soon this once a year event would be considered as over. For that reason, I specially enjoyed the waiting and the anticipating moment for the coming of the new year.
Those were the bygone days in my memory. But with every approach of the Chinese New Year, my heart could not stop anticipate its coming and thrilled with excitement. Though the new year will never mean the same to me now as an adult compared to the time when I was a kid, but the whole episode of events always links me back to the past and reminisces the good old days that I once enjoyed very much.
May God bless us always young at hearts to enjoy every day and moment of the coming new year.
During the period of big cleaning, bamboo tree became a convenient and useful tool for the villagers. They would cut down the stem and tie the leaves as the broom or brush. Using that, far and hard to reach spots and corners of the house, and all the spider webs were swept clean.
Chinese are particular about the dates which such cleaning activity is being carried out. Only on certain dates are to be seen as viable and good based on the ancient guidance of a book, which is published and printed in Hongkong annually. This book is commonly known as "Tong Seng" the content of which notifies and indicates the date, time period and direction for certain rituals to be performed so as to avoid bad omen but invite blessings or good luck.
As a small boy, I was particulary interested in participating in this house cleaning up job with my mum. The changing and pasting of new year bright red posters and decoration were my favorites. Amidst the popular Chinese New Year songs by the various radio stations, the excitement could be felt in the air when the new year mood was slowly built up in this manner. We even as kids knew very well that the actual new year day would be at its peak of celebration and very soon this once a year event would be considered as over. For that reason, I specially enjoyed the waiting and the anticipating moment for the coming of the new year.
Those were the bygone days in my memory. But with every approach of the Chinese New Year, my heart could not stop anticipate its coming and thrilled with excitement. Though the new year will never mean the same to me now as an adult compared to the time when I was a kid, but the whole episode of events always links me back to the past and reminisces the good old days that I once enjoyed very much.
May God bless us always young at hearts to enjoy every day and moment of the coming new year.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Air Putih Kemaman
My brother came to stay with me for the month as he has an instrumentation project in Gebeng Kuantan area. He mentioned to me about our uncle who came to build a bridge at the entrance of the Kampung Air Putih in the late 70's. He was then the sub-contractor working under a French company for the bridge projects that lasted for almost a year. That bridge spanned over a river and linked towards the Cheneh direction. The source of the river water comes from a distant mountainous region further to the West and I was told the river used to have green Arowana or Kelisa fish.
Air Putih is about 28 km from Cukai and driven by curiosity on seeing how does the bridge look like, my brother and I took a slow drive and finally reached there before the sunset and took some photos as posted above. We would like to show our uncle these photos during the Chinese New Year home trip to remind him of his work done almost 30 years ago.
During those earlier years, there were only narrow jungle roads or paths that could lead to the bridge building site before the current tarmac roads were built many years later. Basically it was an area used to be covered with thick primary jungles filled with vibrant wild lives. And now because of housing development projects and land clearing for palm oil estates, the landscape was changed entirely and their natural habitat had been destroyed by the encroachment of humans and the boundary was shifted further in towards Taman Negara direction. My brother related to me a story about a group of wild boars was chased all the way by a tiger and found their refuge in the company warehouse despite the presence of humans. They were trembling inside the warehouse but managed to keep the fiery beast at bay, perhaps because it was a place dwelled by the humans. And its natural instinct might have forbidded the beast to trespass that boundary despite hunger and reluctance; it had to give up the chase, and thus forego its meal for the day. The big footprints of a tiger probably in the region of 200Kg were found near the warehouse the next morning.
We took a look at the surrounding area by driving through the Kampung Air Putih, it was a nice and quiet place with good scenery and river. Some of the old shop lots, wooden houses and one particular Chinese shop along the main road reminded my brother of the good old early years of this village.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
My favorite insect - Cricket
Cricket is a fascinating insect. The chirping sound in a serene night was something that had accompanied me for years before I moved to the big cities. Strange enough, I remember certain period of time that I really missed the sound so much that a night without hearing this soothing noise from this creature is never a night for me. Whenever a night was filled with such chirping sound that originates from far and near colonies, coupled with the distant calls from the night jar bird, I would always have a very deep and sound sleep. It functioned like a time machine and my sub-conscious mind then brought me back to my childhood good old days, peaceful and without worries! Perhaps because of this, my entire being was totally relaxed by this background sound effect, I was able to sleep very well for the night!
One of those moon lit nights, my father had brought my younger brother and I to the sweet potatoes field right in front of my grandpa's house. He used a torch to shine on one of the chirping male cricket. All I could remember was seeing a big cricket for the very first time, undeterred by the torch light, crouching at the entrance of a small hole in a little pit, with its wings flared up and flipped in high speed motion, where one of the wings rubbed against the teeth like structure of another wing that created the loud and jarring sound. I had the earlier misconception that the sound was created by the rubbing of its hind legs.
My village is within the Kinta valley where it owes its existence to tin ore mining. Kinta valley was once the biggest and richest tin ore producing region in the world. The ex-mining land with its fine white sand and desert like vegetation formed a good habitat for such crickets. This big brown cricket is a different species compared to the black type, which makes a more gentle chirping sound and used to be the favorite fighting species in ancient China. If you watch the movie on the "Last Emperor of China", you would be able to remember how the last emperor had placed that black cricket under his throne seat. And after many years when he suddenly remembered it and then retrieved the container again, the cricket inside it was amazingly still alive but the color had turned grey!
I used to gather all my brothers and friends from the village and went for cricket digging in the ex-mining land. We brought along a little short handle "changkul" digging tool and a wooden container with wire mesh that allowed ventilation for the caught insects to be kept inside, started out early in the morning and came back just shortly before lunch time. Catching the insect needs some skillful digging; just before reaching the end of its nest, one has to dig more carefully so as not to snap the insect into half. One has to use finger to dig the last portion of the nest, and you could even feel the kicking of its hind legs upon reaching the furthest end of the hole and that was the greatest excitement and joy of cricket catching! Sometimes centipede was inside the hole because it had eaten the cricket, therefore extra care has to be exercised. It was really enjoyable and also money earning pass time for the kids.
This big brown cricket fetched a high price of roughly 5 cents each many years ago. This is because raising Magpie Robin was a trend and this insect is the favorite and most nutritious food for these birds. The cricket collector would come to the village around 11pm under a big tree and we sold him our crickets. We could easily earn 3-5 dollars per digging trip.
Cricket is still my favorite insect and if ever I have a chance again, I would want to go for such cricket digging trip just for the fun of it!
One of those moon lit nights, my father had brought my younger brother and I to the sweet potatoes field right in front of my grandpa's house. He used a torch to shine on one of the chirping male cricket. All I could remember was seeing a big cricket for the very first time, undeterred by the torch light, crouching at the entrance of a small hole in a little pit, with its wings flared up and flipped in high speed motion, where one of the wings rubbed against the teeth like structure of another wing that created the loud and jarring sound. I had the earlier misconception that the sound was created by the rubbing of its hind legs.
My village is within the Kinta valley where it owes its existence to tin ore mining. Kinta valley was once the biggest and richest tin ore producing region in the world. The ex-mining land with its fine white sand and desert like vegetation formed a good habitat for such crickets. This big brown cricket is a different species compared to the black type, which makes a more gentle chirping sound and used to be the favorite fighting species in ancient China. If you watch the movie on the "Last Emperor of China", you would be able to remember how the last emperor had placed that black cricket under his throne seat. And after many years when he suddenly remembered it and then retrieved the container again, the cricket inside it was amazingly still alive but the color had turned grey!
I used to gather all my brothers and friends from the village and went for cricket digging in the ex-mining land. We brought along a little short handle "changkul" digging tool and a wooden container with wire mesh that allowed ventilation for the caught insects to be kept inside, started out early in the morning and came back just shortly before lunch time. Catching the insect needs some skillful digging; just before reaching the end of its nest, one has to dig more carefully so as not to snap the insect into half. One has to use finger to dig the last portion of the nest, and you could even feel the kicking of its hind legs upon reaching the furthest end of the hole and that was the greatest excitement and joy of cricket catching! Sometimes centipede was inside the hole because it had eaten the cricket, therefore extra care has to be exercised. It was really enjoyable and also money earning pass time for the kids.
This big brown cricket fetched a high price of roughly 5 cents each many years ago. This is because raising Magpie Robin was a trend and this insect is the favorite and most nutritious food for these birds. The cricket collector would come to the village around 11pm under a big tree and we sold him our crickets. We could easily earn 3-5 dollars per digging trip.
Cricket is still my favorite insect and if ever I have a chance again, I would want to go for such cricket digging trip just for the fun of it!
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
My father's traditional medicine
My father is a person of all trades. When he was younger, he learned the trick of Chinese Sinseh of curing sprains or dislocation of joints, application of herbal medicine with the formula of which passed down from his distant uncle. The herbal medicine was a combination of the Chinese traditional medical herbs plus one kind of leaves from the tropical forest. We went to the forest once to locate some of those leaves from a creeper plant and he taught us to tear apart those leaves and learn to distingush by the tissue structure of the specie.
Many village folks came to our home for that magical cure and my father is well known in the village then. To me the herbal medicine was a very good formulation that relieved pain of most of the patients. So much so that one of my father's buddies had learned that formula and built a name of his own as sinseh of bones and marketed the medication under his own brand. The news about him was that his house in Kampar was burnt down by a fire and subsequently he and his family moved to Kuala Lumpur. Other than some occasional visits to my fathers in those earlier years, heard that he passed away and never to be seen anymore. That brand of medication is forever lost!
My father's interest in medicine had driven him to learn from some qualified Chinese medical hall practitioner on traditional medicine. One of the guys he always liked to talk to was from this so-called "Dongfong or Oriental" medical hall in the village. This guy had a lot of medical books written both for traditional Chinese and western medicine related to topics such as vitamins etc. This person subsequently migrated to USA and I have also never seen him anymore.
That time there was no photocopy machines and my father diligently hand copied many of those manuels for his studying. Later part he was so particular and fussy about the handwriting that he paid someone living on the western side of the village by the name of Wong Ngen to copy on his behalf. I still remember the look of that man, he wore a square dark spectacle, riding on a big ancient bicycle, passing many of the handcopied medical notes to my father. His handwriting was good and it also happened that his son of my age was from the same primary school.
Time flies and that herbal medicine was never used anymore and at one time I asked my father for the formula and he said it is no more useful with the advances of modern day western medicine. Anyway I am still curious on the formula of this good old traditional medicine, it is very effective and useful. I personally feel that this medicine did a lot of goods for the patients compared to the actual skill of my father in twisting and making good of those dislocated joints!
Many village folks came to our home for that magical cure and my father is well known in the village then. To me the herbal medicine was a very good formulation that relieved pain of most of the patients. So much so that one of my father's buddies had learned that formula and built a name of his own as sinseh of bones and marketed the medication under his own brand. The news about him was that his house in Kampar was burnt down by a fire and subsequently he and his family moved to Kuala Lumpur. Other than some occasional visits to my fathers in those earlier years, heard that he passed away and never to be seen anymore. That brand of medication is forever lost!
My father's interest in medicine had driven him to learn from some qualified Chinese medical hall practitioner on traditional medicine. One of the guys he always liked to talk to was from this so-called "Dongfong or Oriental" medical hall in the village. This guy had a lot of medical books written both for traditional Chinese and western medicine related to topics such as vitamins etc. This person subsequently migrated to USA and I have also never seen him anymore.
That time there was no photocopy machines and my father diligently hand copied many of those manuels for his studying. Later part he was so particular and fussy about the handwriting that he paid someone living on the western side of the village by the name of Wong Ngen to copy on his behalf. I still remember the look of that man, he wore a square dark spectacle, riding on a big ancient bicycle, passing many of the handcopied medical notes to my father. His handwriting was good and it also happened that his son of my age was from the same primary school.
Time flies and that herbal medicine was never used anymore and at one time I asked my father for the formula and he said it is no more useful with the advances of modern day western medicine. Anyway I am still curious on the formula of this good old traditional medicine, it is very effective and useful. I personally feel that this medicine did a lot of goods for the patients compared to the actual skill of my father in twisting and making good of those dislocated joints!
Dragon Boat Tragedy
After the Kampar waterfall incident, now I read about the news on the dragon boat strategy in George town Penang, and I really feel very sad because of the loss of young lives and also my empathy on their grieving parents. Just imagine the pain of losing a child after all the time, effort and love of raising from toddler to become a teenager. How much hope, joy and future days we want to anticipate from them as we see them grow, and this is all suddenly dashed by the mishap. As parents, we wanted our sons and daughters to be healthy, safe and happy, all the rest is simply immaterial! May God's consoling spirit move over these grieving parents, only God one day will be able to tell them the answer why this should ever happen to their beloved children!
There is always a Chinese saying which could be translated as: "You many want to adventure freely in the mountains, but never and never underestimate the danger of the water". Indeed this is very true! I had heard many stories and incidents in my village that ex-mining ponds had drown and taken away lives of many young kids when their parents were busy engaging themselves to earn a living outside and are not around at home to keep a watchful eye over them. I myself had, in numerous occasions, sneaked out of the house for such swimming trips without the knowledge of my parents. Come to think of it, it is simply too dangerous, and I am really glad that I am still alive till this day!
Water is a place, even if you are a good swimmer and equipped with proper life jacket, the undercurrent could be so strong that one could easily be sucked and drawn in, carried by the current, splashed and in the process knock against some rocks underneath the water that you could be injured and lose your consciousness. This is how life is lost even in a seemingly calm sea around Penang island in this dragon boat tragedy! And I always caution people who wanted to swim or fish in the East coast of Peninsula Malaysia especially near Cherating and Terengganu beaches. Those beaches are facing the open and much rougher South China sea compared to the strait of Malacca, where somehow Indonesia has cushioned off the strong waves from the Indian ocean.
Therefore all water sport events must be well planned and thoughtfully anticipate all these possible consequences. If possible, have all your swimming and water sport of young children done in artificial pools or water theme parks!
Sea is always dangerous whether for young and old! Just be very careful when you opt to plan your recreation there!
There is always a Chinese saying which could be translated as: "You many want to adventure freely in the mountains, but never and never underestimate the danger of the water". Indeed this is very true! I had heard many stories and incidents in my village that ex-mining ponds had drown and taken away lives of many young kids when their parents were busy engaging themselves to earn a living outside and are not around at home to keep a watchful eye over them. I myself had, in numerous occasions, sneaked out of the house for such swimming trips without the knowledge of my parents. Come to think of it, it is simply too dangerous, and I am really glad that I am still alive till this day!
Water is a place, even if you are a good swimmer and equipped with proper life jacket, the undercurrent could be so strong that one could easily be sucked and drawn in, carried by the current, splashed and in the process knock against some rocks underneath the water that you could be injured and lose your consciousness. This is how life is lost even in a seemingly calm sea around Penang island in this dragon boat tragedy! And I always caution people who wanted to swim or fish in the East coast of Peninsula Malaysia especially near Cherating and Terengganu beaches. Those beaches are facing the open and much rougher South China sea compared to the strait of Malacca, where somehow Indonesia has cushioned off the strong waves from the Indian ocean.
Therefore all water sport events must be well planned and thoughtfully anticipate all these possible consequences. If possible, have all your swimming and water sport of young children done in artificial pools or water theme parks!
Sea is always dangerous whether for young and old! Just be very careful when you opt to plan your recreation there!
Saturday, January 9, 2010
My Mountain Bike - Scott Aspen
This is the mountain bike that I use it to cycle every morning and evening near the beach. It is a good form of exercise and I need that to improve my overall health condition.
Hope to do more with the machine after more training is done. The road condition along the beach line is asphalt paved and is simply too good for a mountain bike. The tire thread pattern is some sort of hybrid type, with the central portion of fine pattern while the edge is more knobby.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Life in Terengganu
After moving into my Geliga house, I started real living in Terengganu. I feel like I am just one of the Terengganu folks and even bought some small stickers with the sea turtle logo of the state to stick on my vehicles; this indeed made me feel very Terengganu!
The bungalow house rented by the company is simply good; what I mean is location wise, convenience and is also walking distance away from the Monica Bay beach. During this monsoon season, sea is rough and the wind is strong, but it is airy and fresh to live in this area. The Samajaya mini-market is nearby and I could just take a stroll to buy my groceries there without having to drive all the way to town. My family and my brother visited me in this new home, and I just told them to watch out for the very 1st traffic after they entered the Terengganu state, turned on the left and waited for me at the Esso gas station. It is so easy to locate. The only complaint about this place is the black striped mosquitos, likely to be Aedes and they are simply abundant and hungry. When you walk out to lock the gate, you would be bitten at least once or twice! I burn some mosquito coils outside the house, just to deter these creatures from getting near to the entrance of the house.
After settling in for about 2 weeks, I had brought in my Scott Aspen mountain bike, wiped and greased it clean with WD40 and some bicycle lubricant, put the rear wheel on a RM30 stand as it does not have a kickstand. Every evening and morning, I take the bike for a ride as a form of exercise along the seaside beach area. I fixed up some of the lights, reflectors and blinkers, lubricated the key components etc. And it is fun to put up some of the accessories onto the bike. In the process of biking, it also taught me the different kinds of Schrader and Presta valves for the tires, and also the nomenclature of those bicycle components.
I put up two aquarium tanks, one medium and one small size tanks in the hall. Tried on the old pump brought from my KL home, tested and it is still working fine. Cleaning up the tanks and setting up the stand for the the tanks in place kept me busy a few evenings. Now the tanks are well aerated, perhaps after installing the filters bought from aquarium shops, then it is ready for me to start the new phase of my aquarium fish rearing hobby!
Looking forward to do more in this Geliga home!
The bungalow house rented by the company is simply good; what I mean is location wise, convenience and is also walking distance away from the Monica Bay beach. During this monsoon season, sea is rough and the wind is strong, but it is airy and fresh to live in this area. The Samajaya mini-market is nearby and I could just take a stroll to buy my groceries there without having to drive all the way to town. My family and my brother visited me in this new home, and I just told them to watch out for the very 1st traffic after they entered the Terengganu state, turned on the left and waited for me at the Esso gas station. It is so easy to locate. The only complaint about this place is the black striped mosquitos, likely to be Aedes and they are simply abundant and hungry. When you walk out to lock the gate, you would be bitten at least once or twice! I burn some mosquito coils outside the house, just to deter these creatures from getting near to the entrance of the house.
After settling in for about 2 weeks, I had brought in my Scott Aspen mountain bike, wiped and greased it clean with WD40 and some bicycle lubricant, put the rear wheel on a RM30 stand as it does not have a kickstand. Every evening and morning, I take the bike for a ride as a form of exercise along the seaside beach area. I fixed up some of the lights, reflectors and blinkers, lubricated the key components etc. And it is fun to put up some of the accessories onto the bike. In the process of biking, it also taught me the different kinds of Schrader and Presta valves for the tires, and also the nomenclature of those bicycle components.
I put up two aquarium tanks, one medium and one small size tanks in the hall. Tried on the old pump brought from my KL home, tested and it is still working fine. Cleaning up the tanks and setting up the stand for the the tanks in place kept me busy a few evenings. Now the tanks are well aerated, perhaps after installing the filters bought from aquarium shops, then it is ready for me to start the new phase of my aquarium fish rearing hobby!
Looking forward to do more in this Geliga home!
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