31st December 2006 --what a year it has been

What a year 2006 had been for Malaysia.....first we have the crooked bridge saga and then no bridge...then it all came out in the open...the former PM attacking the current PM....then we have we keris bearing melodrama at the UMNO GA with some delegates threatening to run amok and let the keris be bathe with blood (whose blood...I wonder), the we officers belonging to the Elite Police force arrested for blowing to bits and pieces a Mongolian model said to have an affair with a political analyst ...... and last but not least we have the Mufti of Perak (you should know what he has done.....no need to say more)..... SURELY WE LIVE IN INTERESTING TIMES

Can Malaysia survive this???? A Case of fiddling while Rome burns......our FDI is on a downward spiral...and 2007 seems to be a more difficult year economically than 2006.... our brain drain seems to have gained strength recently.....probably our National Average IQ had probably gone down a few notches.....

INTERESTING.....INTERESTING....

PBA --No room for racist appointment

Congratulations to Jaseni, the newly appointed CEO of PBA......It is a pity that his appointment should be marred in such controversy. He probably is the best candidate for the job, even though he is promoted above his seniors....but that should not be a problem because they are all nearing retirement age....

UMNO in Penang should take the blame...for playing the racial card....instead of highlighting the need for better and more effective management, they choose to play the race card....

Nevertheless, I believed Jaseni is a suitable candidate for the job, not because of his race but based on his services and performance at the PBA...He should be assess not by the "colour of his skin or his beliefs" but by the his charcter and quality of service he delivers....and so it should be....

It does not matter whether a cat is black or white...all cats should be judge by their ability to catch mices....

Penang -Urban Revival or renewal possible??

After the repeal of the Rent Control Act...Penang or rather the city of Georgetown, the heart of Penang suffered a hole in it......many unable to pay the sudden increased in rent left for the outer suburbs...Bayan Bahru, Sungai Ara, Farlim...and even across the channel to Butterworth, Kulim, BM, SP.....

At night, many parts of Georgetown is like a ghost town, devoid of inhabitants....and there are attempts to revive parts of it...like Nagore Road....next to it will be the Swatow Lane Development......

Although places like Beach Street are still home for the Banks...but some Banks have relocated to Northam Road...like Citi Bank, Ban Hin Lee....

We are Malaysians....can we all sing this song???

Heard an Australian patriotic song……and wondered whether Malaysians can write such songs acceptable to all Malaysians and sing it …..descendants of settlers and indigenous people…..

We are one, but we are many
And from all the lands on earth we come
We share a dream and sing with one voice:
I am, you are, we are Australian

Can we say we are Malaysians? We are one but we are many?....Survey shows that we identify ourselves not as Malaysians but as Muslims, Chinese, Indians….although our passports say we are Malaysians when we go overseas but when we returned we are treated as the different races…..

Maybe we are not Malaysians……we are only Malaysian passport holders… a place to work and pay our taxes….thats all its so sad isn’t it……

And the Australian song goes…..

I came from the dream-time, from the dusty red soil plains
I am the ancient heart, the keeper of the flame.
I stood upon the rocky shore, I watched the tall ships come.
For forty thousand years I've been the first Australian.

I came upon the prison ship, bowed down by iron chains.
I cleared the land, endured the lash and waited for the rains.
I'm a settler, I'm a farmer's wife on a dry and barren run
A convict then a free man, I became Australian.

What a shame…..can most Malaysians sing an analogous version of this song…????

Back to Penang....reality the tearing down of Rifle Range Low Cost Houses

These low cost houses was built in the late 1950's and started to be occupied in 1959. I remembered because I used to live in the third house from the corner for two years 1959 & 1960. I remembered the time just before I went to kindergarten to just before I started primary school, we lived there i.e. before we moved down to jockey Road.....

The house have only two bedrooms....but one kitchen cum dinning room & a sitting room....nothing to shout at....

But look how well made it was...despite it being a low cost house built by the Municiple or City Council at that time....its remarkable...the structure, how sturdy they are...compared to the very highly priced houses we have today...built by peasants from indonesia, bangladesh & burma....

These houses were built to last...and by skilled tradesman....probably not much under counter money...contractors can really deliver good quality houses....throughout the entire 57 years of its existence...there were no complaints of shoddy workmanship...."cheating on building material" and the shennegians associated with government projects nowadays.... Bravo

We mourned the passing of an era....where good quality, integrity come from malaysia ...even in a low cost housing project....

12 Apostles --worth a revisit

Inlet - result of sea eroding the sandstone and dramatic collapse of the cliffs

Fantastic shoreline......water colour artists delight and paradise....

12 Apostles board.....

definitely worth another visit....

12 Apostles --Port Campbell NP

Fantastic coastline along the Great Ocean Road after Laver's Hill to Port Campbell.... The views with spectacular cliffs, foaming waves as its breaks... not to be missed......

Great Otway National Park....Trees & Canopy walkways

The forests at the Great Otway is known as the Beech forests comprising trees of thre main species, the giant (world tallest trees) Mountain Ash or Eucalyptus regnans, Blackwood or black butt (Acacia melanxylon) and Beech or Nothafagus…..

Spectacular forests, very mystical….if you were living here a few centuries ago…you too will be drawn to worship the “spirits” or sipirituality that in this place…gives you a very pantheistic feel to it….

The walkway affords you the opportunity to rise to the canopy to the tree tops of the forest and enjoy breathtaking views...and sense the majesty of the forest at tree-top heights......

then, there is a tower that rise to 47 m and you look down to the forest floor below....

Building confidence

Our neighbour, Thailand bungled big-time....they changed their forex rules without any warning or hints and then flip flop within 24 hours when foreigners exited their stock market, wiping out Baht 700 billion of value (or RM70 billion)...

Great way to build confidence.....I do not know how they can recover from the mess they had dugged for themselves....

In almost an analagous way, Malaysian politician did it to Malaysia...but the damage are probably less damaging in the short term...but in the long term ..who is to know? But because it may long term effects...the politicians...particularly the leaders can ameliorate its deleterious effects.....

But they must start to act like Malaysian leaders....not leaders and champions of sectional interests.....no community will gain if Malaysia fails....

it is too early to tell....after 1969...many of our non-Malay brains left......at the time the Malaysian economy was at par or above that of Taiwan and South Korea.... but today they are twice or even three times the size of our economy...many attribute this to the loss of brains from the country.....i do not know...what the latest brain drain will pull the country even further back...

Sunshine coast--beaches

Rich suburbs at Maroochydore

Maroochydore beach....with photo taken from Loo with a View.

Sunshine Coast ---the forest parks & green reserve

In adry and thirsty land, they appreciate green covers....that cools the day and gives shelter from the mid-day sun.....it refreshes the soul and body...a sanctuary for wildlife....corridors for them to cross over dangerous highways.....wildlife corridors allow animal to move along safely from fragmented reserves ....ensuring that animals do not get isolated and die without mating...mitigates against in-breeding when isolated animals are isolated....


Besides they enhances the environment...make suburbs look grand and property values appreciate...

Sunshine Coast---the forests

This the backyard forests of my sister's house located in the hills behind the beaches in the Sunshine coast. What is remarkable is that the people had not all bulldozed the forests to make way for more developments.

Despite the pressure there are still much of the original forests left.....although the pressure keeps on mounting everyday... as property prices soar..who can resists...there are 13 acres in the backyard..all of which are forested...

Sunshine Coast...the hinterland

Queensland's coast may be one of the most spectacular coastlines in the world. Fringing the pacific Coast, it becomes the playground to many who vist its shores.

But further inland, fenced in by hills the coastal hinterlands lies hidden communities that once thrived in these parts. They provide the economic backdrop to the coastlands....here farmers grow their crops, raise cattle and sheep,; little lumber towns such as Eudlo and Ilkley placed five miles apart...the distanc for which the bullocks can pulled...sawmills processing wood bound for the towns in Queensland and New south Wales....

These towns and communities dot the hinterland of the Sunshine Coast waiting to be discovered...

Sunshine Coast...a picture is worth a thousand words

Photos taken 2,000 ft above sea-level towards the west of Sunshine coast

Picture of Colum & Noosa taken from 25 km inland from a ridge about 2,000 feet high. Crystal clear view of the Pacific Ocean and the Sunshine Coast.

Malaysians losing faith in Malaysia

The Star on 16th December reported that the MCA President, his Deputy and most of the vice presidents of the MCA visited and paid respects to its founder Tun Sir Tan Cheng Lock. During the visit, he urged Chinese Malaysians to continue to believe in Malaysia and not lose faith. I wonder what prompted that……are Malaysians losing faith in their country???

The next day (17th December) New Straits Times reported that Migration agents are experiencing a sudden surge in enquiries to migrate. One agent reported that before 14th November (read before the UMNO General Assembly), he only received around 20 calls a day..but since then, prospective migrants are ringing non-stop. From the 14th to 19th November (read after the UMNO Assembly), they received a staggering 6,500 calls for Australia alone!!!!!...5,500 for NZ….4,000 for other countries….and 3,500 for other countries…. People are rushing to get out in droves!!!!!

WHY? WHY? WHY?
People are voting with their feet….many believed that there is no future for them in this country….Generally Chinese Malaysians love Malaysia, although their love is expressed in a different way….they are proud of its achievement….that is why only less than 50% of them renounced their citizenship even after decades overseas….Its a love that defies understanding. Maybe, many still believed in the promises of our founding fathers like Tungku Abdul Rahman and Tun Abdul Razak……promises made to secure the acceptance of non-Malays to a new independent Malaya/Malaysia….otherwise the British would have a good excuse to continue to rule a profitable colony for a longer period…maybe up to the 1970’s if they can…like Hong Kong which they retained and tried to keep beyond 1997.

But alas, maybe the Malay proverb rings true “Saperti kacang melupakan kulit”. Proverbs reflects the dominant traits of the culture from which it emerges…. So true that Tun Dr. Mahathir lamented to the Malays assembled at the UMNO General Assembly in 2002 (circa) through a “pantun” (poem), entitled “Melayu mudah lupa.”…..or Malays forgets easily….


How true and tragic for all and MALAYSIA!!!!!
Most non-malay Malaysians have a great sense of being rejected by Malaysia, their own country…..…despite their many and considerable contributions to the country…like Tun Dr. Mahatir once said, take away the non-malay contribution and Malaysia’s GDP would be like that of an African nation…..

Many feel that inspite of their contributions…they had been treated with contempt…most feel that the children of new arrivals from Indonesia are better treated than many of the children of non-malay Malaysians of many generations……


Good Riddance????
Those who migrate are not the young unlike the 1970’s and 80’s….these are most likely the middle aged….people from 35 onwards…people who owned houses…..

Good riddance??? We say??? Or should we reflect and think….or is it an indication of what is to come….Indians leaving Uganda during Idi Amin’s rule…..White South Africans leaving RSA…..Cubans, leaving Cuba after Castro took over…..No loss to the country….more homogeneity in Malaysia???

Can we afford an exodus of experienced and well-trained Malaysians? Australia, NZ or Canada just do not admit any Ah Chong or Samy….these ah Chongs or Samys are professionals or skilled tradesman….the kinds that a country need to leap-frog its GDP and economy to the next level….and these are lost to the country….they are not the ones which Malaysia admits by the hundreds of thousands through its back-door in Sabah…the unskilled labour from Indonesia and Sulu islands….

The sad thing is that many of the Ah Chongs and Samys will not be gainfully employed in their fields of expertise unless of course they are of world renowned….instead they will be in small businesses…maybe selling roti canai..or chow mien..or running post-offices…milk bars ..driving taxis…after the age of 40, it will be very difficult for anybody (migrant or native) to land a job………

New generation…new technologies…making your competitors obsolete
Most ah Chongs or Samys know the fate that awaits them, when they go…yet they do it..because they believe in the new country their children will stand a better chance…be on a level playing field… And their children are the ones that topped the VCE’s the HSC and SAMs in their respective states…going to choiced faculties to do courses they can never expect to get in their home countries….here they have a fighting chance…if they get their grades right.

Their host countries know this, they harvest the best brains, the relatively superior genotypes for their countries….within a generation the standards have gone up…. …”knowledge” economy…..blue ocean strategy….new products ….new technology.

Can Malaysia afford to lose talents and brains ?
Is not as if Malaysia has an abundance of talented and diligent people to spare. These people whether intelligent or not had demonstrated that they were relatively successful…ie. able to rise above despite handicaps….these are the ones that a country or an economy needs to face off the competition from a globalised world…those that have demonstrated their mettle….these are now lost to the country….like negative selection…the good ones or those above average ones leave and the country is left with more and more (in proportion) of the no-so good ones…while our poorer neighbours export their lesser talent, we export our better talents…

Malaysia burns its candles at both ends… and in the minds of many, unspoken thoughts is the question “Is there a future for Malaysia?” Quo vadis, Malaysia?

Sunshine Coast - Queensland, Australia

Down under, australia.....beautiful and dry.... nothing like drinking beer to quench your thirst in a super cold bar on a hot summer's day of 40 degrees heat....

Gosh.....its mid-morning, Tuesday and the pub's half full already.....somebody has to work, mate....

Going to Australia for hols....

Tonite we are going to Australia....

it has been more than 10 years since we returned from Melbourne to Malaysia after 6 years as a migrant there, starting from december 1989....till middle 1995....

how time flies....i don't know how much have changed since we left australia.....their economy had been flying since the mid 1990's and had not halted yet....where as ours stumbled in the 1997 financial crisis and never fully recovered since then.

and now instead of focussing on how to expand the cake in an increasing flattening earth/market...we are wasting our time arguing on how to cut up the cake...as lim keng yaik so rightly commented in his inimitable ways....if we go on like this ...soon...we have only crumbles to cut....

When the rooster comes home...

There is a law of sowing and reaping, which I believe in.....It is a natural law that no one is exempted....the law of cause and effect....it does not matter whether you believe it or not.....its the law of physics...just like the law of gravity.....It APPLIES TO YOU...Believer or non-Believer....

There is a cause and effect.....the effects can be seen....mat rempits, incest, "money for nothing and chicks for free" mentality so pervasive in Malaysia.....it is a disease infecting the majority of the majority's youths in this country....the free-rider mentality..rides like the Mat Rempits of this country....oblivious of the triple s bends just right infront.....when cranium hits the cold apshalt....and motion comes to a screeching halt, shattering brains.....

Young people seeing what their adults do or their leaders do...getting something for nothing.....they do emulate...thinking they too can get away with it...soon like the sting at the end of the scorpion's tail...they get bitten and drop dead....so did the Mat Rempit in Melaka

MALACCA: A Mat Rempit died when he fell from his motorcycle after grazing a car he and his group had pursued for several kilometres around midnight yesterday.The group was incensed by the driver of the car who had sounded the horn at them for riding recklessly and performing dangerous stunts along Jalan Pengkalan Rama. When they finally forced the car to a stop near the Century Mahkota Hotel in Bandar Hilir, they roughed up the driver and his passenger.They stole their handphones and damaged the car’s windscreen. The driver, known as Tan, 20, and his passenger suffered bruises on the face and body.

State police chief Datuk Ayub Yaakop said the dead motorcyclist had been identified as Mohd Syukri Minhat, 18, from Simpang Semabok. His pillion rider, Mohd Welldone Johari, 17, from Taman Bukit Katil, broke his left thumb. In a follow-up, police detained eight motorcyclists, including two students currently sitting for their Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia examination. The students have been released on police bail to enable them to sit for their papers tomorrow. Ayub said the incident started in Jalan Pengkalan Rama when the car driver honked at the motorcyclists.He said the group hurled stones at the car which proceeded towards Taman Melaka Raya. "The motorcyclists pursued the car and at the Jalan Bunga Raya junction, Syukri tried to force it to a stop but fell."

Ayub said while some of the motorcyclists sent Syukri and his pillion rider to hospital, the others continued to chase the car. The injured driver and passenger received outpatient treatment at the Mahkota Medical Centre.

NST 2nd Dec 2006

Lazy sunday penang afternoons...

Lazy sunday afternoons in penang are best spent underneath the shady casuarina trees along the quiet end of gurney drive near the northam road junction ......for those who do not know where northam road is...it is presently called jln Sultan Ahmad Shah...after the present Sultan of Pahang.....I often wonder why do they change names of roads and places.....to commemorate or to erase memories or to reconstruct history.....

after a sumptous lunch of rice and penang assam fish curry....you need the cooling sea breezes to help you digest away the food...why you snooze zzzzzzz on the public bench without a care in the world....watching ocean liners come in and out of Penang harbour.....

Hidden realities II

Like the rain that washes away the haze, which then exposes the badly scarred hills of Penang.....so does the recently concluded assembly of the UMNO. The fiery speeches, the unsheathed keris, the underlying hatred and anger that spews out so easily for whole Malaysia and indeed the world to see. This is Malaysia, the country that is so proud of its moderation....

I often wonder, if it is the non-Malay politicians that spew out such racist and intolerant venom...where would they be or if instead of 500 Muslims surrounding the Silibin church, there were 500 non-Muslims surrounding a mosque in which formerly non-Muslims were being converted to Islam...what would happen that day?

These are hidden realities...Malaysia is at peace....because the majority of the minority in its wisdom decides that empty rhetoric and rash actions does not advance its cause....instead diligence, creativity, pursuit of knowledge, pursuit of wealth and business in Malaysia and in the whole world is the path to true victory.....

Why fight irrational people....and start wars that does not achieve anything but hinder and obstruct success.....Malaysia is such a small place...and the world is my playground, my oyster, my market.....

Venture out to the world....be prepared and be equipped....and be ever ready to learn...be bold and take on the world and leave this swamp for the low life, while we pursue international success....

The hidden realities exposed....you have never been regarded as true citizens of Malaysia...just usurpers.....1st generation Indonesians or even from far ways places are regarded more Malaysian than you.....sad but true....accept this and moved on ....so don't delude yourself or believe the propaganda dished out to you by your so-called leaders....

They only say so....because they need you...like the sweet nothings and declarations of love and fidelity spoken in bed at the heat of night...soon to be forgotten when the urgings gone....whne the nightingale retreats and the morning sum breaks....

Hidden realities exposed.....

Malaysia ----in the club of doom....

Fear of the future.....the club of doom....& Malaysia.....can Malaysia spiralled downwards to become a failed state.....this a book I had just started to read by a Malaysian named Syed Ali....

His thesis is that unless Malaysian leaders start addressing these issues...we are slowly but surely ushered in to this "club of doom"....

Wow...very pessismistic and depressing....no escape???

Expanding the cake before there can be bigger slices of it to share...

Listening to the debates at recently concluded UMNO general assembly, really makes one sad..... are the malays so weak that despite being in control for so many years that they cannot make any headway economically.....or are they so dull that they no matter how much assistance they are given they cannot pull themselves out of the hole they had been confined in since their colonisation by the british....

I don't think this reality portrayed by UMNO is true....the Malays I know, the culture and arts they produced cannot be but be products of a people of sophistication and high intellect....

Its sad day, to see leaders emphasing the negative and pertuating a negative stereotype of their own people so that they can "milk" the system of more priveleges for themselves, family and friends....at the expense of their own community.....reminds me of the "do-gooders" parasites championing the "rights & privileges" of the aborigines in australia and the "harijans" of India.....
Using their own community as an excuse, the leaders begin to milk the priveleges for themselves....

Can the biggets party in Malaysia wean themselves of this milk...or will they suck it till the country grows weak.....and can no longer produce good quality milk in sufficient quantities....

Remember, how can you have bigger slices...if the cake is not growing any bigger or worse...it reverses itself and starts shrinking.....

Remember, Vietnam and the rest of the world are bitting at our heels....

As a Malaysian Chinese, I desperately want my Malay brothers to succeed!!!!. If my Malay brothers fail...then Malaysia cannot succeed!!! And if Malaysia fails.....then there is no way for the Malaysian Chinese to succeed....

My ability to succeed is tied to theirs...we are inticately interwoven.....we for better or worse...ar conjugal twins...tied together....with a shared destiny...like it or not....

Living in a make believe world.....Malaysia?

Are we blinded by the little success we had......depending on how we measure ourselves...we can be succeeful or failures.......

Measured by the standards of Bangladesh, Indonesia and Philippines...Malaysia would seemed to be successful...but measure ourselves by Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea...we far behind....Some even say Thailand has overtaken us....and last year Indonesia have more FDI than we did...for the first time in more than 3 decades.....are our leaders sleeping ???? .......soon may be Vietnam.....but then maybe Malaysia can be champions in the minor league with the likes of Bangladesh, Philippines and Nepal.... while those who were behind us before had leapfrogged over us into the Major or even the Champions League..while our leaders are like Nero fiddling around while Rome was burning......

Learning from China, where with tenacity and focus they managed to overcome great odds to build a nation for themselves..proud and strong..pragmatic and dilligent...no rent seeking......

China awakens, flattens the earth......lessons for us in Penang & Malaysia

To see China now and China three decades ago as it emerges from years of self-imposed isolation and the madness of trying to apply Mao's theories to the real world...is to see the unleashing of China's greatest assets....the great genius of its people, their diligence, their ability to toil under tremendous difficulties and its culture that withstood centuries of onslaught from all quarters including Western viruses of both capitalism and socialism.

This one man willing to resist Mao and the prevailing popular cause and got into trouble, not once but twice. He was dealt harsly and landed himself in labour camps, saw his children brutalised.......

Yet today, because of his belief that pragmatism and empiricism should prevailed, China is able to pull herself out of the deep ideological grave that she has dugged herself into after the 1949 revolution....SEEKING TRUTH FROM FACTS ....He urge his nation to abandon ideological positions and preconceptions, but rather to seek to use what works.....to see the world as it is rather than what it ought to be......By just doing that China was set free to develop to be what it is today.....

Can Malaysia and Penang, do that. Are we still trying to see the world as it ought rather what it is? Are we trying to mould the world to our ideological framework or whether we are willing to take the worl as it is and work out the best solution one step at a time....as our Chinese friends up north like to say......yi pu..yi pu ...lai ... one step at a time.....

Lessons we ignore to our peril........and slowly our rankings slip......further and further down...the world is flat and it gets flatter everyday.......only the quick and nimble survive.....We in Malaysia will learn soon enough that the world does not owe us a living.....

Stunned by China.......

Went to China the later part of September this year. Visited Quilin, Heipu (near Beihai) Kwangsi Province. This Province is borders Vietnam. Guilin, Heipu and Beihai are located in this province.

While Guilin is almost 600 km further inland, Heipu and Beihai (Heipu is only 28 km from Beihai and connected by a four lane expressway) is along the coast. Both these towns are located along the Gulf of Tonkin. During the Vietnam War, much of Vietnam's supplies pass through these little port, along the coasts into the fishing ports in Vietnam. Moving undetected thes fishing boats brought much needed supplies for the war effort.

Today peace reigns......like the times of the Han Dynasty, the Beihai Port was one of the silk road ports...much like Quanzhou in Fujien Province......And there are plans to build a USD80 billion petrochemical port and industrial estate here....

What is quite astounding is the growth of China.....Yes, you must have heard of it until you are probablu sick of hearing it again....China, the sleeping dragon has woken up....and the world trembles in trepediation or in anticpation.....

Within less than 3 decades......they had developed so much......it can only be described as stupendous....four lanes and sometimes 8-lane expressway criss-crosses the whole country......more & more later...BUT SEEING IS BELIEVING>>>>

In Penang and suffering from food poisoning.....

We need iron stomachs to live in Asia and devour our street food.....The food is definitely good but the hygiene part of it is questionable.....Must be the pasembour that I had taken.....12 hours later I started to purge.....

its about the longest duration from Saturday until today....although it has been much better yesterday....still I have been gentle on my alimenatry system...lest it rebels and sends me back to the toilets again.....

why is it we can't have cleaner food preparations, running water....proper toilets...education, awarness, training and constant reminders.....again and again....

Penang...what good can come out of it

This is taken from what Nathanael said about Nazareth when someone invited him to meet up with Jesus who is from Nazareth.....yes God mandated that Jesus should grow up in Nazareth.......so that scripture be fulfilled....so it was....Nazareth may be a border town with a Roman garrison located near it....thus acquiring for itself a rather unsavoury reputation.....

So Penang...what good can come out of it.....

Penang -Bogor, Indonesia.....compare & contrast

One thing that hit you when you are in Jakarta-Bogor, Java....is the mass of humanity and congestion. Yet despite such hellish conditions, the Javanese i met are a cheerful lot....maybe it is something in their water.....Well one thing for sure, there are not affected by haze.......the winds blow them from Sumatra and Kalimantan to us neighbours...Malaysia and Singapore....

I went to a place about 30 km from Bogor, called Suka Bumi...or literally Happy Earth. The photo is a floating restaurant near Happy Earth....the rafts are made of bamboo...like the rakits we find in Sungai Kelantan, Jelai and Pahang.....You order your food and when it arrives....the waiter will then paddle you away in the rakit...while you enjoy your lunch and scenery....No life jackets here....I wonder if there are any mishaps before....

Yes, Happy Earth......Suka Bumi...relax.....

Rains and the hidden realities

The rains in Penang, they are refreshing. Like a gigantic car wash, they give the atmosphere over Penang a big spring cleaning........washing away all the small particulates in the air that make up the haze...that hovers over the island and much of the country.

Clean air and not the smell of smoke, of something burning in the air. Gone are the irritation to the nostrils and the eyes. Yes I can see clearly now, and depending on where I gaze, I can see natural landscapes pockmarked by unnatural scars made by men to fatten their pockets.

I don't know which is worse, to see the hills of Penang marred unnaturally by men in their homage to mammon; or to have it hidden by the haze caused by people across the straits in their worship to the same god....

Maybe clear blue skies not filtered by smoke, where the verdant hills gleam, interupted by the red lateritic earth exposed by builders, is the better alternative. Seeing realities as it is.....not hidden but well exposed......a window to our souls and our hearts....

Trees, plants and flowers of Penang

Trees, plants and flowers soften up the urban landscapes......like balm to my soul and salve to my eyes....they ease away the toils and smoothen the rough edges of a crowded urban city.....

Their shapes and colours...unplanned yet created with natural symmetry...beguiling...subdueing the angry spirits arising from bruises suffered when people and thoughts collide

The peace they evoke....feelings that lay buried...crushed by the onslaught of daily living...foraging for crumbs that the system throw out to feed the hungry masses.....forgotten for awhile, but awaken.....as I sit and feed my eyes on God's creation.....

Reminded of His grace and tender mercies....I rest,.....assured of His love I find strength to move on and live for another day.......

Looking for a CEO/General/Dictator to run Penang's Public Transport System...

The Penang State Government is looking for a CEO to run the state's public transport system....or someone to spend the RM50 million loan they got from the Feds.....Who will they get??? ...that's the RM50 million question????

Someone with the experience and record to run a successful public transport system? To begin with...there's not much of a system in Penang.....as I said we had a system for much of the fifties and even up to the mid 80's...then wiser folks killed it....all in the name of ??????

We designed our cities for cars....& then kill the public transport by refusing to allow the operators to increase their fares when fuel costs, spare parts and cost of labour skyrocketed...all in the name of protecting joe public....we begin to "educate" joe public to expect pay peanuts for good services, we all love free rides....yet as Milton Friedman says "there's no such thing as free lunch".......in end, joe public have to end up paying more for transport because he has to buy a car that he only uses for about less than 10% of its life span...spending most of its time in car parks either at home or at the office or factory.....unless of course he moonlights as a taxi sapu.....that is the price we pay because the public transport system had broken down....

Why control fares?.....why control taxi licences....let there be no barriers to entry...& let the market dictate the fares people pay... free market...except to control ciminals or pyschopaths or peadophiles from becoming taxi drivers...anyone who wants to get a tax licence gets one...no renting...no special permits for special people.....no rent seeking opportunities....c whether we can get a good service... free market always....gives better services....its only when politicians come in and temper them all in the name of protecting joe public...that we get clobbered....remember wise man of old have this to say about governments..."a good government governs least..."

Well good luck to whoever the state appoints as a CEO....tough assignment ....thankless task...hopes the pay is good.

The haze.....but for the miraculous rain....

Yesterday the haze was pretty bad.....the visibilty was probably less than 50 m......the sky was already quite dark by 5.00 pm yesterday...and you literally smelled smoke or something burning....that's how bad it was.....pity the asthma sufferers and ppl with chronic respiratory problems....

i prayed for God to send the rain....and it came this morning....around 7.00 am...lasted till 10.00 am.....the rain send the haze away and clean up the mess that our greed created...burning the jungle to make way for oil palm....sustainable oil palm.....what a misnomer....

Homeless in Georgetown

The Komtar in Georgetown is a home for the homeless in Pg. Every morning along Pg road just opposite the Ong Kongsi, you will see a group (maybe 7 or 8) elderly Chinese man and woman sitting around. They have not come to shop because the shops are still closed nor come to have their breakfast in the coffee shops....bec they have just open and are getting ready for the office crowds.....

They are the homeless residents of komtar.....pg's tallest building.....at night they would sleep along komtar's corridors along prangin road..where the ground floor of the Departmental Store Super Komtar used to be....

I wonder whether any of our wakil rakyat ....people's represantative knows....it reminds me of many songs....the streets of london....an old lady carrying her whole world in two carrier bags or the song another day in paradise

We can do anything.... feed them.....find them a place to sleep.....its a good thing we don't have winters....or they will be frozen to death...as winter takes its toil....

Dough-nut effect - the hollowing out of Georgetown

The city of Georgetown is hollowing out.....as more of its residents moved out of its center.....it will become like a dough-nut....with nothing in its center....

Every nite just after 9.00 pm....the city is a ghost town except for some sections such as the UPR (Upper Penang Road for the uninitiated)...the city is dead as a dodo.....as most of the happenings are located on the fringes of the city in places like the gurney and pulau tikus and bayan bahru....

One of the consequence of this dough-nut effect can be felt in the morning. The formerly busy markets of penang, like chowraster, campbell street, kuantan road markets are dying a slow death.....it is so "uncrowded" compared to their hey days in the 60's and 70's.....some of the best and cheapest hawker foods are found there....

I am lamenting the closing of my favourite malaysian pan cake store at Anson road market....the store owner can make enough to make it worth his while to continue his business....so is my favourite curry mai fun man.....his curry laksa is one of the best...very subdued and yet aromatic and delicious and yummy....he complains that he can even sell more than 5 katis about 3 kgs of mee per day...he too will be looking for another place to ply his trade.....how sad.....that's progress

Yup, i am fed up, with progress....

The very rude drivers of penang

There is a sub-species of drivers in Penang that are impatient and and will do anything to beat the queue at road junctions and traffic lights.

They just want to go first, and to wait for the lights to turn green or for other drivers to turn is just too much for them.....they behave as if they are holding on to their urine or shit and have to rush to the nearest toilet or all hell will break loose and they will literally burst.....

These drivers break all traffic rules and norms of courtesy.....it shows their character...who they are .... is displayed for all to see....badly brought up and disrespectful, selfish and destined for destruction.....

Rain rain go away

The rains never seems to stop.......as i can recall the rain in Pg usually starts around March-April during the inter-monsoon months. Then it eases off by the beginning of June, until after August, it starts again, unleashing its fullest onslaught around mid-September and then easing off again towards the end of October. By the mid-December, the dry season starts and ends with the onset of early april showers, the next year.....

2006 seems to be an exceptional year....the drought was not as pronounced nor was it as prolonged.....april showers actually came in early March, then it left us for a short while...but it never seems to go away....it continues....on and off....weird....

Somethings going awry....the rain pattern may be out kilter......global warming perhaps.....

Penang - Public Transport a major flop

Knew all along that the revamped transport system would failed miserably. They changed nothing......as the saying goes....our system is perfectly designed to produce the results we are getting.....if the State governement or rather the Federal Government run CLVB did not changed anything.....how can the system produce different results.....

Madness or insanity is defined as doing the same thing and expecting different results.....

Sigh.....gets more depressing with each passing day......thats why i stopped blogging about penang......there is not much positive things to write....phew....

Is the second bridge really neccessary?

It was reported that the ADUN for Sg. Dua raised the issue of the second bridge, saying that it should not be build as it would lead to more congestion in Penang. Instead the ADUN for Sg. Dua suggested that the Pg bridge be expanded and that the proposed monorail system be expanded to include Seberang Perai and that both the monorails systems in the mainland and the island should be linked. In this way congestion be reduced and public transport be given a boost. Syabas....its been a long time since an ADUN has suggested something against conventional thinking but a great and good idea nevertheless.

However, I am truly disappointed with the knee jerk response of of ADUN for Batu Uban, saying not building the second bridge will not solve the congestion problem on the island.....of course it will not solve the problem.....BUT IT WILL DISCOURAGE VEHICLES FROM THE MAINLAND TO COME TO THE ISLAND & THEREFORE KEEP THE CONGESTION PROBLEM FROM BECOMING A EVEN BIGGER PROBLEM. It just like saying that if you don't add inflammable liquid or fuel into fire will not put out the fire but it will stop the fire from getting even worse.....CAN'T THEY THINK OUT OF THE BOX.....PUBLIC TRANSPORT NOT ANOTHER BRIDGE TO ALLOW MORE CARS TO CLOG UP THE ROADS IN THE ISLAND...SOON WE BE BREATHING IN FUMES FROM MOTOR EXHAUST THAT'S ALL....

Urban renewal or development.....Jelutong west

The area lying between Perak Road and Jelutong Road is slowly turning from a squatter zone into a new urban area. In the recent past this place was so notorious for its gangsters and communists.

In the fifties and sixties, it was the stronghold of the Labour Party.....the party was so infiltrated by the communists and chinese chauvinists that riots would should just explode from this place.....

This place is also the happening place for illegal gambling and drugs. In 1970s, when the communists were eventually hounded out of this place....the gangsters took over the turf.



This was also the stronghold of DAP stalwart, Mr. Karpal Singh until 1999 election when DAP stupidly joined PAS in a pact to unseat BN.....all their Chinese deserted them......Chinese just don't trust the Islamists, no matter what they proclaim during the elections.......

Police would tread warily here.....almost like the walled city of kowloon in Hong Kong.....a no man's land....

But development and urban renewal has finally arrived, nice shops with trees planted along its thoroughfares..... I hope the City Council will keep it safe and clean and not let it turn into a slum.....

Food Hawkers in Penang - a catalyst for urban renewal??

The area around Swatow lane and Nagore road is experiencing a renaissance of sorts. The old houses along nagore road had been recetly renovated and turned into rows of offices, retail and food outlets.

After the New World Park closed down in the 1970's, the place around these roads slowly went downhill except for the ice kacang stall, that was there. Even though New World Park had closed, customers continued to stream in bcause of the ice kacang........later on that attracted other food vendors who set up their stores to take advantage of the 'anchor' hawker store...the Swatow lane ice kacang man.....

For over 30 years, the ice kacang man thrived.....but for reasons best known to himself, he never took advantage of his position to buy or lease the property/house outside which his hawker store stood....in fact the owner of the property opened up a coffee shop in the 1980's and they probabaly quarreled and the ice kacang was banned from "entering" the coffee shop although it remained outside the shop...

But about a few years back, someone else took over the coffee shop and got it renovated and brought in a new set of stores to sell food in the shop including a store that sells ice kacang (to 'fool' outstation people who heard of the ice kacang but don't know where the store is)....the original Swatow lane ice kacang man had to move across the road......

But the human traffic it attracts everyday from 11.00 am to 5.00 pm is quite substantial.....this lead to property owners taking advantage and renovating those rent control houses and putting them up for lease as restaurants and offices....

Other examples of hawkers being catalysts of urban renewal is along Cintra Street (lesser extent) and New Lane......

Casino ship leaving from Swettenham Pier

Every morning around 11.00 am the casino ship leaves Swettenham Pier. Middle-age man and woman can be seen barding the ship. The spruikers with their red packets of special gifts wait at the entrance of the Pier to usher in potential clients to the boat.

Apparently, the boat will sail out to the international waters (12 miles) from shore and then the casino opens......and it sails back to Penang in the evening.....

Genting on "wheels"......to the detriment of the citizenry of Penang....

Penang Lor bah, tau yew bak & kiam chai boey for lunch

We had lor bah, tau yew bak & kiam chai boey for lunch in Church for mother's day....

Great stuff......enjoyed the food thoroughly.....Cheng See orgainsed for our cell group and invited the homeless to join us so that we can share God's love with them.

Delicious, yet simple traditional hokkien fare.....

Bridge mystic at daybreak

The bridge at daybreak....so mysterious with the backdrop of hills and the mountain ranges behind.

Still sleeping penang island...before the rising of the sun; before the dawn of a new day.....

What will the day bring.... a new day of happenings.....

Monuments & Memorials 3 - Sun Yat Sen

Penang changed the course of history in China. Without the Penang Conference in 1910, where Dr. Sun Yat Sen, the founder of modern China, pleaded with his overseas Chinese supporters to support him financially for the last fight against the Manchu rule in China, the course of chinese history may be different.

Read it in : http://www.sysmuseum-pg.com/selection.html

Many old-timers remember the time when the founding president of the Republic of China came and lived in Penang. He came to Pg as a political refugee on the run from the Ching (Manchu) Government of China. He had failed to rally the people of China to his cause i.e. to overthrow the Manchu government and set up a republic; his planned revolt failed and had to flee for his life.

He was dispirited and discouraged. In Penang as well as elsewhere, where there is a huge overseas chinese population, he successfully rallied the overseas chinese to his cause.....it is a measure of truth to say that he was not only financed mainly through his overseas chinese connections but also received much support and encouragement from the overseas chinese communities throughout the world (Dr. Sun Yat Sen was overseas chinese himself, having been raised in Hawaii)



Many chinese in Penang supported Dr. Sun, none more than the two millionaires in this sculpture together with him. They supported Dr. Sun and his cause till they bankrupted themselves...... Modern China owes these two people and overseas chinese all over the world a debt....if not for their support...who knows china may still be under imperial rule....and history would had turn up differently...

from wikipeadia

Sun and the overseas Chinese
Sun's notability and popularity extends beyond the Greater China region, particularly to Nanyang where a large concentration of overseas Chinese reside in Singapore. Sun recognised the contributions which the large number of overseas Chinese can make beyond the sending of remittances to their ancestral homeland, and therefore made multiple visits to spread his revolutionary message to these communities around the world.

Sun made a total of eight visits to Singapore between 1900 and 1911. His first visit made on 7 September 1900 was to rescue Miyazaki Toten, who was arrested there, an act which also resulted in his own arrest and a ban from visiting the island for five years. Upon his next visit in June 1905, he met local Chinese merchants Teo Eng Hock, Tan Chor Nam and Lim Nee Soon in a meeting which was to mark the commencement of direct support from the Nanyang Chinese. Upon hearing their reports on overseas Chinese revolutionists organising themselves in Europe and Japan, he urged them to establish the Singapore chapter of the Tongmenghui, which came officially into being on 6 April the following year upon his next visit.

The chapter was housed in a villa known as Wan Qing Yuan (晚晴園) and donated for the use of revolutionalists by Teo. In 1906, the chapter grew in membership to 400, and in 1908, when Sun was in Singapore to escape the Qing government in the wake of the failed Zhennanguan Uprising, the chapter had become the regional headquarters for Tongmenghui branches in Southeast Asia. Sun and his followers travelled from Singapore to Malaya and Indonesia to spread their revolutionary message, by which time the alliance already had over twenty branches with over 3,000 members around the world.

Sun's foresight in tapping on the help and resources of the overseas Chinese population was to bear fruit on his subsequent revolutionary efforts. In one particular instance, his personal plea for financial aid at the Penang Conference held on 13 November 1910 in Malaya, helped launch a major drive for donations across the Malay Peninsula, an effort which helped finance the Second Guangzhou Uprising (also commonly known as the Yellow Flower Mound revolt) in 1911.

From http://www.geocities.com/armenian_pg/sunbase.htm

This late 19th century shophouses at 120 Armenian Street was the base of the South-east Asia Tung Meng Hooi when it was headquartered in Penang from 1909 to 1911.

The Tung Meng Hooi was the party of Dr. Sun Yat Sen alias Sun Chong San, leader of the Chinese nationalist revolution. From Penang Dr. Sun and his friends planned the Canton Uprising of Spring 1911. The historic "Penang Conference" took place in November 1910 at the Tung Meng Hooi headquarters.

Although the Canton Uprising was defeated, it was considered the turning point of the Double Tenth Revolution, the establishment of the first Republic in Asia.

A grand memorial was built at Hwang Hwa kang to 72 fallen heroes of the Canton Uprising. Of the known martyrs, 24 were Nanyang Chinese, of whomthe most posthumously famous was Malaya's Luo Ching Huo.

Dr. Sun Yat Sen, the first provisional President of the Republic, is generally considered the father of modern China.

Dr. Sun Yat Sen's Penang Base was the focal point of the progressive Chinese of that period. In their effort to promote a greater social awareness among the Nanyang Chinese, Dr. Sun and his Penang friends and supporters made lasting contribution to the local society.

The Kwong Wah Jit Poh was also founded in this house in 1910.
The Malay community in the Acheen Street area was also aware of the anti-Manchu revolutionaries who were operating in the neighbourhood around the same time. The group was referred to as orang Sun Yat Sen yang potong thauchang, that is, the followersof Dr. Sun Yat Sens who cut off their pigtails in protest againts Manchu rule in China.

The "dwelling house or messuage" was already extant in 1875. At the time, the owner was Cheah Joo Seang, a trustee of the Cheah Kongsi from 1879 to 1895.

From: http://203.208.135.220/english/onceupon/mysupp.html#penconf
(Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall Singapore)

Penang (Pulau Pinang)
The Penang Conference
Goh Say Eng (1875 - 1944)
A second generation Penang-born Chinese, Goh was a rich man's son. Of the Hokkien (Haideng) dialect, his family was in the flour business. Goh Say Eng was one of Dr Sun's most faithful supporters. Together with Chen Xinzheng and Huang Jinqing, the three of them almost expended their entire fortunes to back the revolution. Goh became paralysed in later years and died a pauper just before the end of the Second World War.Other supporters from Penang: Chen Xinzheng, Huang Jinqing, Qiu Minghe, Gu Liting, Li Zisheng, Xu Zonghan, Xiong Yushan, and Lin Shian

Penang Cooking School----Why not?

Someone had suggested that a school be set up to teach penang style cooking to promote tourism. Yes do it, but not just for tourism but part of Penang's contribution to the world of culinary arts.

Two or three decades ago, there a famous cook and pioneer in the art of flower arrangement by the name of Mr. Lim Beng Yeam (may have got his name wrong) that taught people how to cook...many of his students were rich housewives or mistresses who used these skills for their homemaking....some may have open restaurants....

Yes, a school specializing in Penang Nyonya kuehs, Nyonya & hokkien dishes such as Inche Kabin, Cheuw hoo Char, Perut Ikan, Gulai tumis, etc etc..., Penang desserts ...., Penang Hawker fare.... The school would also teach the art of selecting the fresh ingredients, preparation, menu planning, and management.

The school can graduate students at certificate, advance certificate level and diploma level.....

Not just tourism....but professional vocational courses.....anyone game to try.....

What is Penang if not for its nyonya kueh

The thing about living in penang is the chance to savour its nyonya kueh. Yes u have these kueh in kl and many parts of peninsular malaysia and even in s'pore....but nothing beats the nyonya kuehs made in pg for the discerning taste and cost consciousness penangite......

The variety and the competitively priced kuehs in pg is just unbeatable....we have

• kueh tai tai (the blue pulut kueh with kaya on top) is my all-time favourite;
• next is the ondeh ondeh with its melt in your mouth gula melaka embeded inside light green ball that is sprinkled with coconut shavings;
• then u have the rempah udang; the huat kueh;
• kueh kochi;
• kueh kochi santan;
• bankah (ubi kayu ...best in the world);
• kueh lapis;
• kueh talam;......

The list goes on and on and on.... the variety cannot be beaten.....and the availability....practically every market in morning...costs between 40 to 60 cents per pc......

What more to ask for .....Rm1.20 buys u the best breakfast in malaysia...plus another rm1.00 for cup of nescafe.....mmmm



Source : http://www.makansingapore.com/arch/0506-people.php

The above photo is taken from the ones sold at Copthorne Hotel Singapore. These kueh are made by its penang chef, Mr. Danny Ooi from Pulau Tikus. a pciesce of these kueh would cost you S$0.70 or S$20 for 30 pcs.....

See what i mean.....

Penang island ----residential suburbs of Butterworth

Butterworth, the twin city of Georgetown....just like the twin cities of Minneapolis & St Paul in the US, B'worth & G'town are linked by their close proximity and economy. There has always been an air of superiority of G'town residents over residents of B'worth which is totally unjustified.....in fact in many ways B'worth are now the engine of Pg's growth.....There are no more ports on the island except the ferry terminal & the passenger terminal at Swettenham pier......all the ports are in the b'worth. More importantly over the mainland, there are more room to grow......no more industrial land in pg island......besides, there are more land waiting in the industrial parks located in Kedah, and Perak. Kedah with its industrial estates in Sg Petani, Bakar Arang and Gurun and hi-tech park in Kulim are poised to grow even more vigourously.

The new stadium is at batu kawan, and soon the race course. With the second link, b'worth and its surrounding hinterland will boom.....b'worth serves not only pg but the whole northen region of peninsular Malaysia, including much of kelantan and even south thailand....Penang island will and must remain an residential suburbs of the mainland Butterworth and southern kedah, the more dynamic and industrial part of the mainland and so it should be......

Penang's taxi -the king of the road

Pg's taxis are the only ones in the country that can thump thier noses at the law and get away with it. Despite getting the highest rates (payment) in the country, they can still refuse to use the meters. They are given the license to fleece the public or as the taxis see it "charge what the market can bear"....like all true and pure capitalists......(they can, provided they pay for their diesel or petrol at market can bear prices without any subsidies.......)

They are supposed to abide by the meter rule by the 1st of may.....now this deadline has been shifted to accomodate them...ostensibly so that they can get their meters calibrated and approved by Puspakom.....as Dr. Choong rightly said....why fixed a date when you do not planned ahead to get things ready for compliance......then again only in Malaysia.....

Penang-the State with the most hospitals

Some visitor to penang mentioned in a blog that pg has the most private hospitals in Malaysia.......and commented cheekily that pg people must be the sickest in the country.....

Well, that maybe true, i mean the most number of private hospitals, not people in pg being the sickest in the country.....

Besides the general hospitals in georgetown, butterworth and bm, we have pg adventist, gleneagles, island, loh guan lye, lam wah ee, mutiara (bayan bahru) and one in butterworth and another in bm. besides these we have the smaller ones like mt miriam (cancer hospital)...tanjung.....

Yes, these hospitals cater for not only people from pg, but also from other places such as kedah, north perak, and indonesia.....

but having 10 private hospitals in pg......is a bit of a record just like having 1.2 million registered vehicles......

mind boggling.....

Penang -Leaving home for good

Why do people leave their homes?.....Many reasons..... economic, cultural, political, religous, love.......They say there are both push and pull factors.......

Most my friends that left penang and malaysia to settle down overseas. Most of them left when they were just 20 or below 20 years old.....after school to pursue higher education, or for some less fortunate, to work in places like singapore and germany.....while others to work and study in the UK to become nurses, both males and females.

After four or five years overseas, they get used to the place, and for some maybe, finding love.... will find it difficult to come back home to readjust to the work environment (which they never had any experience at all) and to the place.

After awhile the foreign place becames familiar....comfortable.....and ....then it feels like home....and it becomes home....particularly if you have friends.....Governments in NZ, UK, Australia.....treat people better & they do provide good services to their residents......and so this is the pull factor

The push factors are....u have become a stranger in yr own home.....u have a better model to compare yr own home with & u begin to notice and find so many things that are wrong.........yr home had become less comfortable ......& so u pack yr bags and go, only to return occassionally to visit yr parents ...and when they die.....no more reasons to come back....

Penang - the mastery of English, pre-requisite of Pg's success in the 1970s & 80s

One of the reason why Penangites are able to succeed in other English speaking societies is their command of the english language. Blessed with the first english school in 1816, we were taught English which like the keys to knowledge open up the modern world to us. We are able to absorb and take on what the world has to offer.....we could read books, attend universities and schools and compete with the best in the english world.....some of us did do very well and excel....

But today, the general command of the English had deteriorated to the extent it is no longer the lingua franca of the educated.....even among university students and graduates today. The majority cannot properly communicate in the language.......somebody told me that his american boss in one of the MNCs in Pg commented that in the 1970s when they first started their operations in Pg, they were pleasantly surprised that most of their workers could speak and write good english....and these were school leavers with form 5 or 6 qualifications.....but by the 1990's not even their graduate engineers could speak and write good english........what happened??? he asked.....

Penang - skilled people our greatest export

Penang, because of the size of its economy and its simple make-up, will never be "big or diverse" enough for it to absorb all of its talents....many of its citizens will have to go abroad to find careers that are fulfilling and that caters to its talents. Thus you find penang exporting its fairest and brightest overseas.....since time immemorial penang has been doing that...first to singapore, then the klang valley.....later all over the world...particularly the english speaking ones like uk, canada, australia and the us.......


i think not less than a quarter of my classmates are working overseas.....and its typical......the question is can a small country like malaysia afford to export its best talents overseas.....

Vanishing trades ----the Indian Kueh Seller

Growing up in Penang in the late 50's and 60's, we have our mobile barbers in his bicycle carrying his little bag; our "bottle man" buying old bottles, junk & old newspaper; then of course we have our kueh seller.

today I met the same old kueh seller...still selling kueh.....but instead of carrying them in basket with a kandar stick...he pushes a cart...he must be at least 70 years or more....

when i first met him, buying his kueh in around the area in lumba kuda...i was only 6 or 7 years old.....today i'm 52......

seeing him bring back many memories.....friends and playmates....we have all gone our separate ways...my mom and dad...who always spoil us with purchases of kueh...& also laksa

somehow i also feel for him, so old yet still peddling kueh....does he need do it to survive...does he have any children to support him......yet i admire him....his desire to be independent and earn his own keep...syabas my indian kueh seller, i salute you for your tenacity & strength...

The wonders of a neem tree

Dried leaves of the neem tree can be used as a natural insect repellent. Put some in your rice pot and stop weevils from invading.......

As a bookmark, and silverfish will give it a miss.......i haven't squeeze the leaves and apply the juice on my legs and arms to see whether they can ward off the horrid mossies......

Penang water - stress, new (higher) tariffs, cleaner water???

The Penang Government is pretty ambitious with regard to water.....it wants to install a new membrane filter system that can filter out almost 99% of all disease causing pathogens.......then it want to raise the water tariffs because Pg is a water stressed state...whatever that means.......and of course reduce the non-revenue water from 20% to 15%......

If we can get clean water without the need again to filter it at home......we don't mind paying a higher tariff....but installing new filters are just not enough.....the pipes carrying the water needs to be changed......the water leaving the filration and treatment plants is probably very clean...yeah even up to WHO standards but by the time it reaches our home......the water had picked up so much muck along the way...that it arrives at our home in a dirty state....such is our water....we need to change the pipes....and in Pg.....that's a monumental task......most of our pipes are ancient......

Few buses on the road today than it was a decade ago

Strangely but i started to notice that there are much fewer buses on the road now than it was decade ago. I thot we're supposed to have a new bus system.....maybe it so bashed up and butchered that the general public had already given up on the system and had been hitting the road with their own vehicles or are using taxi 'sapu'......

Fast track for Naza's plant at Bertam

The naza's plant at bertam, kepala batas.....was given a fast track approval (instant?) because it has a good track record of abiding by all the government's regulations. Such privelege according to Tan Sri Koh, Pg's CM is only accorded to state owned companies or companies owned by PDC.......

I hope this fast tracked plant will not come back to haunt the state and the people especially those living around Bertam.....i just hope.....

Lunch at Seri Bahari Road

Seri Bahari Road is a road of eats.....for a very short road...it has many good restaurants. Start off with the Ship for steak and western grill, then u have a thai restaurant....two good chinese restaurants....goh swee kee and feng wei..... then at the junction with penang road...u have to two coffee shops selling typical penang.

Feng Wei, i'm told, is run of chinese chefs from the former mandarin hotel (now agora hotel). they are the 40 year veterns in the chinese food cuisine business ...even the waitress are from the old restaurant.....the food is fabulous and for penangites...value for money......the choon peah is great.... it is always crowded....goh swee kee is good but slightly below one notch from feng wei.....

The coffee shop (at the right hand side as u r entering into pg rd from seri bahari rd) have a stall selling very good lor bah & 'hey chee' & tau kua.....great stuff....

so if u r in pg....why don't try some of the food at seri bahari road....

Georgetown & its suburbs: Trees 7 - Our neems, the medicinal tree

Many in penang do not know that we have rows and rows of pharmacies in our city, lining up our roads in the form of our Neem trees. The leaves, bark, fruits and roots of these trees also known as Margosa trees, have been used in India as medicine for more than 2,000 years.



Known as the village phramacy, the tree had been the mainstay of indian ayurvedic medicine. Recently the European and US companies tried to patent on it. however, the Indian government sued and won, resulting in the patents being withdrawn. Thank God.....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neem

"Our water catchments are safe" says Penang CM

Its heartening to know that our landfill is located far way from our main water sources so that we be spared the fate of our fellow citizens in the Klang Valley.

Yet, for the life of me, I can never understand how the authorities could approved landfills so close to their water sources......in the case of Semenyih.....about 100 meters.......again i suspect the right hand of the local governments do not really bother about the other brnaches of the government i.e. the state government who is responsible for the water supply in the state and more so since the water supply had been privatised.......

We are always shooting ourselves in the foot.....& our governments seemed to be runned by the 3 stooges......well i hope in pg....we can do better.......PBA, the Penang Water Authority, seems to perform well thus far.......

Metallic Pinang

"Sebagai Pinang belah dua" the malay saying we learned in school means "like peas in a pod"...... similar in character, inseparable..... well I don't know what we want to say in this sculpture.....


.....maybe just pinang.........planting pinang trees around the roundabout would had been cheaper........but then again the I appreciate the metallic pinang....shows more class and sophistication

Ha....but at what cost my cynic self tells me.....but then again, nobody argues about the cost of the Lourve' Mueseum......yes Oscar Wilde says that of all cynics who know "the cost of everything but the value of nothing".......in malaysia we have all become cynics unfortunately........it is a survival mechanism........

Penang Second Link

Well the saga of what happened to the "scenic" or "crooked" __________(or filled in the blanks) bridge in Johor Bahru......one must wondering whether we can believed what our politicians openly say or declare.

What the heck, if some cronies don't get what they want from the second link......will they then postpone, truncate....or called off the bridge.......

No surpise that Malaysians rank politicians, government ministers and businessman at the bottom of the list of people they can trust....of course politicians rule the roost from the bottoms up....

Seeing how these groups are often one and the same person playing these three roles........it does not surprise anyone to see these three amigos at the bottom....

Penang Lawyer - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle & Sherlock Holmes

Penang lawyers were mentioned in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's novels and short stories involving his alter ego, Sherlock Holmes. Penang lawyers, yes, but not those who dress up in fancy gowns, have funny hair-dos and appear in the courts.

Instead the Penang lawyer mentioned in the third sentence of the opening chapter of "The Hound of the Baskerville" referred to a ' a fine, thick piece of wood, bulbous headed, of the sort which is known as a Penang lawyer.' In the short story "Silver Blazes" the Penang lawyer is described as a "clublike walking stick".


Apparently Penang lawyer as a "walking stick" is a quite well-known product from this part of the world in 19th century Great Britain....as described by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, a gentleman's walking stick. He would most likely had one too, I supposed.

The Penang lawyer is made from the stem of a small (it cannot grow any bigger) palm known as Licuala acutifida, Griffith. The walking sticks are prepared by scrapping the skin of the stem by glass, they are then straightened by fire and given a polishing. It is also called Licuala spinosa (according to Kew Garden website on Licuala palms).

Source: Photo courtesy University of Florida-IFAS (found in http://www.plantapalm.com/vpe/photos/Species/licuala_spinosa.htm)

The term Penang lawyer came about most likely because of the way the English pronunced Malay words......Penang lawyer is "Pinang liar" in Malay or wild pinang as opposed to the cultivated ones......

There is another story why this clublike walking stick is called Penang lawyer....."a heavy walking stick, supposed to be so called from its usefulness in settling disputes in Penang"........probably during the early days of the settlement....when everything had to be referred to the office of the Indian East Company in Madras, India......a long way off by sail boat......

The third story of how the name came about is because these stick were originally made by convicts exiled to Penang from India....and these convicts were nicknamed "lawyers"....so the named stucked...

Trivia....trivia and more trivia

Penang - passover .....jewish cemetry......

Tonight, jews celebrate the passover and christians remember good friday....the death of jesus at twelve noon.

In Penang, we have the only jewish cemetry in South East Asia (correct me if I'm wrong....do singapore have one?). Sadly, we do not have any jewish community in Penang or in Malaysia anymore. The last recognised jew living in penang died or emigrated in the early 1980's. There maybe jews here, but i doubt whether they would openly acknowledge it......the current climate certainly is not conducive

Who are they? What were they doing? Except for the cemetry...they did not leave much behind....I'm told that the bungalow owned by Boon Siew in Tanjong Bungah , at the start of Sham Rock beach was formerly owned by a Jew......who was involved in the "Robinson's" of Penang known as "Whiteaways". I am not able to confirmed this.....

Penang - Minden, USM - Battle of Minden 1759

I was at USM Minden Campus this morning. As I was walking along its pleasant tree lined roads, I wondered how many of its students know the origin of the name of its campus, "Minden". I did a quick survey and asked the students I met. Sadly yet predictably, like most people in malaysia, none of the students was able tell me. They know almost nothing about local history, nor the significance of names and name places in Malaysia.

In its previous "incarnation", many many years before USM (or Penang University as it was first called) established, the campus was a British military base, called Minden Barracks. It was home to a group of British Sodiers known by King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry (KOYLI).

25th Light Infantry in the Battle of Minden 1759

Their base in Penang was named "Minden" in honour of the regiment's heroic role they played with other light infantry in defeating the French in the Battle of Minden in 1759 (Minden is a town near Hanover, Germany).

The foot soldiers marched and fought against the French Calvary, based on a misinterpretation of its orders. There now occurred one of the incidents beloved of British military history. It is said that an order was sent that the infantry were to “advance on the beat of drum” and that this was misinterpreted as an order to “advance to the beat of drum”.

51st Infantry (KOYLI) attacking the French Calvary at the Battle of Minden

The French Commander, Marshal Contades is reputed to have said bitterly after the battle: “I never thought to see a single line of infantry break through three lines of cavalry ranked in order of battle and tumble them to ruin.”

Source:http://www.britishbattles.com/seven-years/minden.htm

Georgetown & its suburbs: Trees 6 - Angsanas flowering & u know its Cheng Beng in Penang

Come to Penang in early April and you will be greeted with garlands of delightful yellow flowers. These flowers of the Angsana bloom after each drought, welcoming the early rains.

Penang is a garden filled with angsanas, more so two or three decades ago than now....but still the giant angsanas of Mcalister, Perak, Western and Scotland roads never ceased to amaze me....planted more than 70 years ago, they are a sight to behold.....not the puny, wimpy ones you see in KL or Orchard Road (Singapore)...but giants that were allowed to grow unhindered many many years ago before "cars ate up penang" and whatever we have in terms of space between the front of the house and the side of a road.....

Giants or relics.....sometimes 'butchered' by the Tenaga and City Council staff....with their tops lopped off.....yet remarkably the giants still survived the butchery....

The angsana also known as "narra" in the Philippines produced a very beautiful cabinet wood....cabinets, tables, table tops, chairs and carvings made from the wood are exquisite. Belonging to the same genus Pterocarpus, as rosewood.....you see why the wood is so fine....

"Springtime of sorts" in Penang

Angsana in bloom

Bungor (purple flowers) and Flame of the Forest (red flowers)

April showers in Penang comes after a period of drought of 3 months. The cloudless skies during the drought means more sunshine and daylight hours and together with the coming rains in april trigger off the flowering of trees and plants.......the longer the drought the more dramatic the flowers. A synchronous mass flowering of trees particularly in the northern states of the Peninsula (Perlis, Kedah, Penang & Kelantan) occurs once in three or four years......they are a sight to behold.....(yet many in penang are oblivious.....)

The most showy ones are the Angsana and the Flame of Forest (Semerak api) and in Penang, the Bungor (purple) and Jacaranda......the roads in Penang are sometimes littered with yellow confetti made up of fallen petals of the Angsana flowers........ a dangerous hazard to motocyclists as the wet petals after rain makes the roads slippery.....

Under a pokok tanjung, a vagrant did lay.....

Maybe it is the slightly intoxicating fragance the flowers exude.......& coupled with hot sun under cool shade...a person is soon tempted to snooze.....zzzzzzzzz

Penang Public Transport - start a watch group

It is exactly 10 days after new public transport system is in place.......the suffering public is crying out.....the authorities says "give them time"........the CM says "the state government is not responsible, its the federal Minister in charge of the Commercial Vehicle Licencing Board (CVLB)".......the public in Penang is caught between a rock and a hard place......lets keep our rage aflame, and remember our politicians when the elections come around in 2008.....Ask this Question "HOM MANY OF OUR MPS, BN OR OPPOSITION HAD HIGHLIGHTED OUR PUBLIC TRANSPORT WOES?"

Lets start our Public Transport watch group at the grassroots level. Lets monitor the performance of our stage and mini buses along our routes.....LETS BOMBARD THE FEDERAL MINISTER WITH OUR FINDINGS.....BOUQUETS WHEN IT IS GOOD AND BRICKBATS WHEN IT IS HORRID....

Get a group of local users, device a simple form and start monitoring....peak hours and off-peak hours....c how the buses perform.....u be surprised!!!!

Last week on Wednesday, I was shocked to see two minibuses going SIDE BY SIDE, along residency road at around 8.00am EMPTY......

OR on FRIDAY, two stage buses, one filled with people and the one directly behind him empty......i don't know whats happening.....aren't they suppose to be 20 minutes behind each other

Be seduced by the charms of Ole Penang

Main street in Georgetown (early 1900?)

Weld Quay (early 1900?)

(Source of photos:http://skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=143215---Old Photos of Malaysia)

There is something evocative about old photographs of the familiar places you passed by everyday. There is a certain charm that is seductive and enticing. It enticises you to reminince.

Nostalgic.....and with a dream-like quality, these old photos transfer you to another world......a world of quieter days, more placid......calmer and tranquil.....

Yet, these feelings are false. People who lived during those days have their share of problems and heartaches.....these are not captured in these idyllic scences.....the bad memories and pains are etched out....leaving behind only good ones that evoke nice feelings and good thots.....

Such are the joys of looking at old photographs.......