2008 going out with a whimper....

The year started with a great omph... there was so much anticipation especially in the political arena...and true to predictions...March 8 or if you like the chinese way of putting 083....the year the opposition roll back the tide ...the blue BN tide...kudos for Anwar Ibrahim's political savvy...getting PAS & DAP on side.......

The aftermath of the elections... the squatter issue, the wrongful use of the ISA on victims instead of on the pepetrators of sensitive issues....and now with the wisdom of hindsight, all masterminded by an unseen hand to undermine the credibility of the wounded Pak Lah and to force his hand to hand over the reigns to his deputy......

The Olympics in Beijing...serve out the coming of age of China...the sick man of Asia...its healing and restoration...and finally an Asian Giant.....after 200 years of abnormality China finally regains its rightful place.....

But the financial meltdown starting in the US when the Government refuse to bail out Lehman Brothers started the downward slide and the mighty crash of 2008...this crash like a big financial tsunami will soon engulf everyone and no one including Malaysia will be spared......

Maybe because of this, the unseen hand in Malaysia had been cautious in "sponsoring' more havoc.......fearing maybe this will send Malaysia into a steep decline, never to recover......when we will be comparing ourselves with Zimbabwe...the favourite African nation led by you know's friend, Mr. Mugabe.....

Mudflats of Bagan Jermal/Gurney Drive - 3

The benefits of having a fully restored Mangroves is the biodiversity that such a forest can attract. Mangroves are ideal places for all kinds of birds both local and migratory ones.....(the feathered types.....not the two legged ones that are attracted to the bright lights and where there's lots of money like casinos)

The forest is home to a rich micro-organic flora and fauna attracting fishes, mudskippers and birds....Even such a small patch around the Bagan Jermal area will bring much needed nature and add color to this urbanised landscape.....
Like the Kuala Gula Bird Sanctuary located about 50 miles down south of Penang Island, the bird life will be very rich.... a total of 165 different species from 42 different families are found there. Of these 165 species, 47 of them are migratory ones flying from the northern hemisphere as far away as Siberia to the Southern Hemisphere and stoppping-over in Malaysia.

See this link for the potential that can unfold for this Mud-flats

http://www.wildlife.gov.my/webpagev4_en/bhg_ekokgula.html

(All pictures are from the the above link)

.......and Penangites should defend this mud-flats and not lose them to developers like what happened to the Tanjong Tokong mangroves, turned now into a potential Tsunami disaster zone of the future... a time bomb waiting to happen....

Mudflats of Bagan Jermal/Gurney Drive - 2

Once the planting of Api-Api is completed at the mudflats, more soil and mud will slowly be deposited and more mud-flats will form. This process can be repeated and slowly move towards the accumulation of more land......in the end a sizeable Mangrove forest will be formed.

Once this happens, a platform walkway can be constructed for people to enter the forests and this will bring the forests to the people. An interpretation programme can be developed so that people will be made aware and learn more of this unique environment......

Just imagine a unique mangrove forest right in the middle of an urban setting.....

Mud Flats of Bagan Jermal/Gurney Drive

Man should help accelerate the natural process that will happen at mud flats of Bagan Jermal/Gurney Drive. If ecology is allowed to take its natural course, the mud-flats will be populated by a mangrove species called Api Api in Malay. This species aka Avicennia is a pioneer in the Mangrove forest......if the Mangrove forests are still around within the vicinty...the mud-flats would had been inhabitated by this particular species by now....

Api-api is a pioneer species and its' presence marks the start of a natural succession which ultimately ends up as a "climax" Mangrove forests. Although not as complex as Tropical Rainforests, it is still a very fascinating and unique ecosystem.......

Penang should help this natural succession by planting Api-api....let us help grow back our mangrove Forests in Bagan Jermal...and not reclaimation destroy our unique ecology.

Rapid Penang vs the Competition

Besides Rapid Penang, there are two other bus companies namely Milan and KGNS. They run the Yellow and Blue bus respectively......Frankly I wonder why they even bother to do so.....their busses are crappy...noisy, produce alot of black smoke (inefficient & dirty)...

While Rapid Pg buses are not the world's best but at least they are reasonably clean and the air-cond's pretty decent.....

The reason why I griping is the buses of these two companies are unroadworthy and they (their drivers which I suspect operate as sub-contractors who rents the vehicle) hog the bus lanes in Komtar...refuses to move(trying to pick up customers)....and pollutes the air for the people who are waiting for the other buses to come.....

Unfortunately the State Government which has no power because the licencing power lies in the hands of the Entrepreuner ministry & JPJ is under the Transport Ministry, can only look and see........but I saw something that gave me a little bit of hope....4 members of the police (2 man & 2 woman) were on hand to see the buses did not block the flow of the traffic....

Times Square Dato Kramat Road

At the site of the old Eastern Smelting Company, located in Dato' Kramat Road, there is a new building ...like a phoenix arising, this new landmark will definitely transform this part of the town.

I'm pretty impressed with the owners/developers...they had really done a great job....even in land scarce Georgetown, they had allowed for lots of open spaces, giving the whole complex an ambiance of grandeur....they have also preserve/conserve the old office building of the Eastern Smelting Company and planted nice bamboo around it giving an exotic Japanese feel to it...

The new building had also exposed the road just behind it...the Kampong Jawa Bahru...a very charming tree-lined road that had been forgotten by most Penangites because of its location...the road is rustic and not developed. It starts from Dato Kramat Road directly opposite Perlis Road and then turns sharply towards Brick Kiln Road or Gudawara Road where it ends. After the sharp turn it runs almost parallel to Dato Kramat road, just behind the site of the Eastern Smelting Company.

Rapid Penang

Of late I have been taking bus rides on Rapid Penang. My initial conclusion is that on the scale of 1 to 10, I would rate it a 5, and that's not bad. I rate the public transportation system in Melbourne a 8.....it wouuld gotten a 9 if not for the bad service during the weekends.

We in Pg, still got a long way to go...I hope we get there....

Penang's heritage....yes we are prepared to pay to keep them!

The REHDA Chairman of the Pg branch, said that Penangites do not know how much it will cost them to have the UNESCO heritage city status.......well I do not know how much it will cost...just as I don't know how much it will cost me to keep my "heart"....but without it I will surely die.....

So will Penang...it will lose its soul, spirit and its character, if we allow the "tear down" crowd have their way....what is heritage to them, a hindrance to them an obstacle to their desire to put in another souless building....what is the use of ole shop house except that they are sitting on a piece of land in which they want to build any high rise....flat and rectagular shapes buildings ...souless...without any spirit...blocks of concrete protruding thru the earth.... If these people have their way....Pg would not Pg anymore....it would just like any other city......just like Mcdonalds, everywhere it tastes the same.....

No Penang should be able to pay the price in keeping our place unique.....and full of its own peculiar vibrant personality.....our old buildings......our priceless possessions...they tell us where we come from who we are...it enriches us...make us who we are people of Penang....

Don't give us a souless city....like the dead PGCC......don't take the heart of Pg.....yes we are prepared to pay any price to keep our heart!!!!

Chulia Street ---Penang (1)

While the Heritage people are focussing more on the Pitt Street-Armeinan Street enclave...I think Chulia Street is more interesting...it is alive and not dead...and it is truly a living heritage....

Where else can you find Chinese and Muslim monuments & mosques string along this truly remarkable road in Penang. Formerly know as Malabar Street in honour of those Indian Muslims from the Malabar Coast in Kerala State.....the ancestral home of many UMNO politicians (not to mention our TDM)...

Starting from the Penang Road end, the road meanders its way to Weld Quay. At the start, very near Odeon, its a Madrasah...next to it a very cheap hotel......

Just walk alone the road you find many interesting shops....some old...some retrofitted....and those retrofitted shope cater for the budget backpacker tourists.....cafes......tour agents.....money changers.....

Penang -multilingual road signs.....

I was at Beach street yesterday...and just opposite the Police Station, there was this road sign that got a federal Minister issuing stern warnings about the Pg Govt diminishing the importance of Bahasa Melayu as the national language...

Looking at it, I do not know what was the big deal....first and foremost it did not replace existing road signs...the new ones were just a small plague measuring 18 inches by 10 inches the most...it is so inconspicuous...you can hardly say that it is replacing any signs...

The additional signs provide interesting information about how the various communities name the streets....and Beach Street got so many names....along the different sections...it is insteresting and part of Pg's heritage...

Surely UMNO politicians are so bankrupt of ideas.....that they took this as their rallying cry...seriously, compared to the multi-lingual roads signs in the BN run state of sarawak....the signs in Pg are nothing....even the tourism road signs in KL are much bigger & more dominating...and they are in various languages and not only in Bahasa Melayu...and nobody make a fuss...

All this and many more give rise to the perception that if it is done by UMNO members or supporters it is alright.....

How else can you explain the defeaning silence when Mahathir suddenly decide to change the medium of instruction for Science & Mathematics from Malay to English.....and not even a whimper from the so-called guardians of the language.....

Appointment of Low as Acting GM of PKNS

Shame on you, PAS......if there is only a Colin Powell equivalent in your party... you would even win more votes..... This is what Colin Powell, a Republican Party member & former Secretary of State has to say about the negative campaign against Sen Obama...suggesting that he is a Muslim (& therefore by implication an unfit person to be a President).....

“I’m also troubled by, not what Senator McCain says, but what members of the party say. And it is permitted to be said such things as, “Well, you know that Mr. Obama is a Muslim.” Well, the correct answer is, he is not a Muslim, he’s a Christian. He’s always been a Christian. But the really right answer is, what if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer’s no, that’s not America. Is there something wrong with some seven-year-old Muslim-American kid believing that he or she could be president? Yet, I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion, “He’s a Muslim and he might be associated terrorists.” This is not the way we should be doing it in America."

Prices of goods go up fast but inches its way downwards

Bought a MAS ticket to KL and found the prices still remained the same as before even though the price of oil had plummeted from USD 140 to below USD70 per barrel.....yet the surcharge has not gone down...

I suppose all's the same including yr roti chanai...exception is the Hokkien mee in Pulau Tikus (one of the best in Pg) still RM2.50 for a bowl of the best Hokkien Mee in Pg.

Yeah it's always the same....prices are slow to come down...still got old stock lah

Walking the streets of Ole Georgetown

What a delight to walk casually along the old part of Georgetown...in particular along the roads near the banks ...the beach street-church street bishop street area....

Along Church street...the newly spruced up and restored Perankan museum is a sight to behold...I think it looks better than the cheong Fatt Tze house....

Rain in Penang exposes our stupidity

They say too much of a good thing can ruin it.....well rain has always been good for Penang...it flushes away all the filth in the streets and the sudden gush of torrential rain de-clogs all the drains and pushes all the sampah to the sea....and the great sea absorbs all the dirt and neutralizes it.

Thats' the theory anyway...but with the increase in population and the increased use of hydrocarbon based non-degradable material.......they all just float in the seas or sink down but don't disintegrate for a zillion years....piling up the garbage bin of last resort...no wonder our oceans are dying....

It is sad, how our newly acquired habits will finally ruin us. We used to wrap our stuff with old newspaper or brown paper but now we do it in plastic...we used to carry rattan baskets to the market but now we go there empty handed but come back with at least half a dozen or so plastic bags....

Slowly but surely we are choking ourselves to death....with plastic and more plastics...

Financial Melt down ---& will Pg be affected ?

If u hear what our BN pollies have to say...u would be forgiven to think that we Malaysiana are martians and we live light years awya from this planet earth..."we won't be affected."

Come on....even if our banks do not have with sub-prime loans in their portfolio, their clients business will be affected...the American consumers are already curtailing their purchases...consumers' confidence through out the world is at an all-time low....and this will translate to lower demand...& less orders for the manufacturers.... already the Chinese factories are feeling the adverse impact with many factories closing down and workers thrown out of jobs....

We will be affected and for places like Pg...the impact will even be worse....

The birds had flown away.....

Growing up in Penang in the 60's & 70's, one can still savour the sights and sounds of birds in the leafy suburbs of Penang. I used to stay with a relative at the Government Quarters located at the end of Macalister Road...and as a 7 year old boy could remember the many different birds that visited the big compounds there....

Notable amongst them are the noisy murais, a bird with a black and white plummage, that would zip up and down trees busy making a marvellous call....

The many types of Kingfishers would also call at the garden. There are the distinctively yellow ones, and a multicoloured one with blue and red feathers...

Occasionally, a pair of eagles would appear...they sometimes make a distinct call.....and at night the owls would come out and scare the 'daylights' out of me...

One thing for sure, i could not remember any black crows...they were in Butterworth near the Mitchell Pier....

But where have all the birds gone....

Blessed Penang

Came back from Laos today after a gruelling one week trip that involved trains, planes and taxis and a four hour traffic jam in Bangkok horrendous traffic......

Firstly, Penang is blessed with so many doctors, clinics, and hospitals, where any sick person can easily accessed. It does not matter whether they are rich or poor. The rich can go to the private clinics and the poor can go to Government hospitals and clinics.....

The quality of the Government hospitals and clinics here are excellent.....

Compare to the people of Laos...in my three visits to Vienchang & Savannakhet...clinics and hospitals are a rare sight...

Yes in so many ways we are so blessed... and we hardly know it!

When our leaders fail us.....what can we do

Sadly and very sadly our leaders had failed us....their sandiwara had been exposed....they were not interested in Malaysia...they are traitors to this land...

But as individuals, we, who are of Chinese descent should more than ever show love and kindness to our fellow citizens who are Malays and Indians and others......in a way that demonstrates our goodwill and our shared history and more importantly our shared futures....

Let us rise above our leaders, let us ordinary folks show our leaders that we are united in common decency towards one and another....

Disappointed in our leaders

One of the most noble political statement I heard is from John Macain, the republican nominee.....he said "I rather lose an election then let America lose the war"...he said it sinceriely....when faced with a very popular choice of calling the troops back from Iraq and then win the support of millions...he did the opposite...he supported the surge...even though he knew it was very unpopular and would cause him votes and even the nomination, nevertheless he voted and supported what he believed was right even though it was hugely unpopular and proved to be a costly decision.....

He put his nation first and his own interests, second.

Compare him with our PM......our man is but a puny weak person...fiddling while the whole nation spins off the tangent...

Many times when facing with a choice of doing the right but unpopular thing or the wrong but popular thing...he chose the popular one.....leaving the country to suffer the consequences of the bad choices he made....

Always putting himself first and the country second....thats' the perception he gave us...

Rain --what a blessing

Although it has been raining and the sun had been covered with clouds the last five days, it has been good.....the cool weather for a change is refreshing not only to the body but to the soul....hope it will cool down the inflamed passions stirred up by silly comments made by equally silly people...

Sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never do...that's my policy. Move on we must be bigger than the person hurling insults at us.....we go out to the world and achieve great things in world....

Not bad for "penumpangs' of Pg.....there is "Jimmy Choo", Prof Quah of LSE, Prof Woo etc etc..... and let the Leaders of Malaysia salivate and think what might have been.....

Sum of all our fears...malaysian fears

For years ... politicians of all ilk had been playing the race and religion card.... can they restrain themselves now? ...before the country spins out of control into a downward spiral .... like lebanon or sri lanka....

Better to cool it now....MCA...you ought to do it long ago..but you did not...now you want "show" you can defend your 'race"... forget it...we know you are doing it with an eye to the coming party elections...

Malaysians are flocking to the PKR_PAS_DAP pakatan....PAS for all....It is time to give PAS a chance...

Heavy rains do have its benefits

Heavy rains in Penang is not always a bad thing. Of course in the low lying areas, it cause floods and disruption in people' s daily lives.....for that we must always have the rescue boats ready....we must also ensure that clogged drains and rivers be unclogged everytime.....

Yet a heavy downpour like what occured yesterday do bring benefits to this place....first it clears the smog and the haze that hangs in Penang like a bad smell...the heavy rain sure flushes this awya and in the morning the air is fresh and crisp.....

Second the filth gets cleared away, it is almost like getting a clean bath...washing all the dirt away from the city...it refreshes the city and brings a sense of sweeping the old rubbish and bringing forth new life...

Penang - and its flash floods

Five hours rain and the whole city drowns in the floods that ensued.....problems ...clogged drains....indiscriminate throwing of rubbish down......

The dirt and filth comes back to haunt you...

Saving Gurney Drive?

Read in the Star, that the pollies visited the mud flats that appear when the tide is low. Like politicians that they are (no matter what shape or size) there is a pathological need to open their mouths and make pronouncements of what they want to do...i.e. to solve the "problem"...

They pronounce that they want to save Gurney Drive...(may I ask save Gurney drive from what?) That's when I think...it becomes dangerous...good intentions and muddled thinking or no thinking at all...just knee jerk reactions...

First of all, mr. exco, find out what cause the building up of the mud-flats in the first place...is it (as most people suspect) due to the massive reclaimed land in Tanjung Tokong.....years ago when most the excos and the CM was still residents in other states....there was a Mangrove swamp in Tanjong Tokong....probably the water currents were bringing the mud all the way from parts of South Kedah and north Seberang Perai or even parts of the Batu Ferringgi shore and depositing it in Tanjong Tokong.....but now there is a huge abutment...maybe that may have upset the current flow...and caused all this new land to be created at the Bagan Jermal end of Gurney Drive... who knows...

So do not create another problem by your trying to save Gurney Drive....u may end up creating more problems...find out first ...and for heavens sake...don't start 'reclaiming it" because you may cause the problem to shift to the Northam road end of GDrive.

Please, in all things environment err on the side of caution......

Permatang Pauh, Revisited...

Anwar won ....so ? but did Malaysia win? Did the community come together as one or was the election campaign so divisive that the schism so great that it cannot mend? In the heat of the elections the Chinese community again became an easy target..."pendatang asing" ... "orang tumpangan" ...epithets so easily tossed at the Chinese and the gall of it to the Chinese of Penang.... where their houses are sometimes older than some of the sultanates.......

Well, AAB says that person who said it did not mean it...wow...he can even read the mind of people now....great...but let the person who said it speak for himself.....

Penang.....the home of reformasi....where we are all anak malaysia......

Penang and its durians

It seems that everywhere in Malaysia local people will claim that their place of state or district produces the best durians.....In Perak, you have many such claims and places where durians are supposed to be the best in Malaysia, these areas are Batu Kurau, Padang Rengas and Tapah....In Selangor, it is Semenyih or even Ulu Langat....In Negeri Sembilan...you have Bahau and in Johore, Muar, Batu Pahat and Segamat....

I have to admit that i had tried durians in these places and they are good....excellent and very good indeed......but being a Penangite (prejudiced) I still think nothing beats the durians in Penang...if not for anything for the sheer variety of the wierd names of the clones.....Red Prawn.....Ku Leng Hoo, Hor Lor.....etc....etc etc.

Penang and its durians

Permatang Pauh, Province Wellesly

I remember Permatang Pauh as a place of pontoon bridges....which you have to pass on your way to BM and Nibong Tebal in the late fifties and early sixties....As the bridges only allow a single file of traffic to cross it, most of the time you have to wait for your turn. During the peak season (Fridays or Saturdays & Public holidays), the queue can be quite long and the wait always take ages before you can cross the the river.

During those long waits, I remember looking around the surroundings along the river. The nipah palms and mangroves would often conjure up images of crocodiles half-submerged in the river ready to pounce on any straying mischevous boy like myself.

I would also fantasize going along the river like Tom Sawyer on a raft..what an adventure catching fish and looking for treasure...

But today, Permatang Pauh means something all together different...it is D PLACE.....the beginning of the END for BN, or any pause, a comma, and then a discreet turn for the nation...who knows?

Olympic Opening Ceremony & me

Indeed the opening ceremony of the Beijing is truly spectacular and amazing and awesome...it exceeds superlatives...

Amidst the story telling and enacting of China's 5,000 year old history...the story of Zheng He and the brave seamen of Fujian for me epitomises my history...my ancestors...opening the south seas and coming to south east china....to malaya...

Cycling in Penang

Kudos to the CAP for organising the bicycle day in Penang...we should be encouraging people in Malaysia to cycle instead of taking to the streets in their cars.....

But then, our politicians' ideas of progress is to see lots of cars on the roads......more cars more progress....

I wrote something to about the cars that ate up Paris......not only Paris but Beijing as well...it takes the Olympics to realize that there a smog free sky is priceless.....

Oh when can we realise this.....

Penang or Georgetown listed as UNESCO Heritage City

What does it mean- heritage city? What benefits does it bestow and the obligations that comes with it? Should we celebrate it or mourned the conferment on Georgetown ?

Because of the heritage status........we expected everything to be freezed in time, no more development....or development with plastic feel to it an almost Disney type feel, very artificial....

Nobody told me anything and my opinions was not sought...and i pay my yearly assessment to support the Majlis..ie. the City Council....

The waters around Penang Island

On a clear day when your plane aligns itself for the landing at the Bayan Lepas Airport, have a look at the sea below you....and you will be greeted with sudden changes in the colour of the water.

There seems to be a sudden change of the colour from dark grey to green. There is also a black strip like oil separating these two different coloured waters....

Don't know what it is...but definitely...it does not look healthy or clean.

No more PORR..so what's the fuss..I thot you were against it...

Politicians...ha, they are all the same. Lim Guan Eng & all DAPers should be rejoicing that PORR is scrapped....when they were in the opposition they were so dead against it. Now they are the Government, they are fuming because PORR had been scrapped.

Maybe, now they see that maybe without PORR and the Monorail, Penang's economy may be headed for a recession....it is a real possibility...with everybody expecting a global recession to hit us because of a perfect storm created by a confluence of events...the US sub-prime meltdown and the skyrocketing oil prices.....

Talking and screaming from the sidelines seems easy enough....now it is different when you have to perform...nice speeches don't bring home the bacon...

Good luck...

New thinking for Pg's age old problem - congested roads

Should we lament the loss of two projects in Pg........ from monorail to nomorerail & porr or porrah to most Penangites....

While abandoning PORR is most welcome.....giving us a nomorerail system in place of the monorail is a big disappointment..... A GOOD PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM IS WHAT PENANG DESPERATELY NEEDS.....

Penang does not have the capacity to contain more cars...(with limited land available and we treasure our green spaces and do no want to turn them into parking lots...where one day we might just have to look for trees in a tree museum....) Public transport is the most environmentally friendly solution to our woes.....

Can our new state Government come up with a Bold, New and Innovative Master Plan to overcome this setback dealt to them by the BN Fed Government?

Is our new PR Government up to it? ..... From what we can see in Tanjong Bungah Zoning issue.....probably not???

If they can, they will probably stay in Government for a long time....

New thinking..... from quotas for cars...peak hours...non-peak hours.... buses....cycle lanes.....water taxis...from batu kawan to bayan baru.....

Benefits of higher fuel prices

Obviously the main benefits of the higher fuel prices is "health". We all should be getting healthier... from the forced physical exertions we have to take...ie. we walk more because prices of fuel has make it more prudent for us to reduce the usage of cars especially for short distances....

More physical exertions means we get to exercise our hearts by walking more....Secondly the combined effects of the reduction in the usage of of our cars means less air pollution and smog...surely this could only bring better air, less asthmatic attacks, coughs and colds and sore throats...the reduction in the contaminants in the air...less cancer????

Besides better health....we would have less CO2...this translates to less global warming..every little bit helps...

Hooray for costlier fuels...

Penang - Walks

One of the joys of living in Penang is the numerous walking trails that we have here. We can walk to Penang Hill or rather hike there via the different trails available. One thing for sure, no matter what trails one takes one is sure to have pleasant views and most important of all, lots of work outs and buckets of sweat.

For the more adventurous the National Park that starts at Telok Bahang beckons. Here, one enters into a world, "millions" of years away from the hustle and bustle of the "normal" Penang we are so accustomed to. Situated at the North-western corner of the island, isolated from the rest of the island, this Park is a haven for those who seek the tranquility that emanates from Nature. Listening to rustle of leaves high up above the tree-tops and the bristling streams, where crystal clear water flows down and through stones...takes you to a zen like trance.....at peace with the world....

Yes, walks are not only good for your physical being but also nourishes the spirit...as you let nature, its sights and sounds lead you and take you to the essence of life, of being connected....as one with nature....

You get all that in your morning walks...

Laos - land of the gar fish

I met this fish in a floating restaurant in Laos. Just north of Vienchang, there are floating restaurants on one of the tributaries of the Mekong river.

The fish actually looks like a dwarf crocodile......with an extended mouth. it must be a very ancient fish that did not eveolved into a crocodile????? Does not make sense.....neither do evolution makes sense to me...

Laos......land of a thousand elephants

Sunset over the Mekong River. Picture taken in Vienchang or Vientianne the capital of Laos.

Relatively unspoilt, like Thailand in the fifties....people still cling on to their traditional customs....

People here have a polite and gentle culture.....greet you with "Sabai dee" instead of "Sawadee karp"....

Will be going to this land more often as we contemplate setting up a business there......

Lembu punya susu sapi punya nama.....

Its hilarious, reading about the spat between DAP & Gerakan over who is responsible in bringing the recent investments into Penang....

Of course, Lim Guan Eng tries to "hint" (to be fair he did not claimed he was solely responsible for bring those investments in but his underlings trying to claim all the credit) of the link between him & the investments......that got the Gerakan real upset....

But really the Pg DAP government got better things to do...anybody who knows how foreigners or for that matter even locals make investment decisions...know that it is usually a long drawn out affair...you do not make those decisions in month or two...it takes months and sometimes even years....

Hey, both of you DAP & Gerakan guys stop it. We Penangites are not stupid ok...we know how and who to give credit to.

Get on with the real work....the challenge for DAP is how to get Penang GDP growing in the midst of an impending slowdown in the world economy...how to attract FDI in at lest favourable climate...

It is easier criticize than to take action.....I wonder "how would Jeff Ooi advice the CM" on the Motorola investment that Jeff so savagely attacked Koh Tsu Koon....Would he still call it"bribery"...would he sacrificed the wellbeing of people in Penang so that he can be "politically correct"...

What would his advise be to Lim Guan Eng?

Penang - from the air

Thirty-five thousand feet from the air, one can see Georgetown or Tanjong and Butterworth or Bagan.

The inhabited places on the island is so "small" in size compared to the huge swathes of green behind it.

PKR-DAP Government in Penang

About 17 months ago, back in 30th & 31st January 2007, I was pondering about what the consequences would be if the Opposition was to take over Penang.....would the people in Penang suffer as a consequence.....Now that this has become a reality not only for Pg but Perak, S'gor, FT, Kedah & Kelantan.....collectively these states account for 57% of the country's GDP......

Will the federal BN government be the Government of all Malaysia, or just the government of the states where they are in control...thats the RM500 billion question?

How would the civil servants react? How are they are reacting now? Will they remain "the obedient servants or defiant servants"? Having serve just one party for almost 50 years (Pg during the short time when Gerakan was in the opposition)...can the civil servants learn to serve the new master?

Unlike, the former Unfederated Malay States, the former Straits Settlement and Federated Malay States do not have their own state civil service.....their civil servants come from a pool of governemnt officers who are dependent on the JPA & the KSN for the advancement in their careers.....and not on the respective MBs or CM.....how then, can the CM or MB "ensure" that these "civil servants" remain obedient and not defiant....

Not that easy....having serve as a Forest Officer i.e. a Federal Officer seconded to the state...I know what it is to serve two masters.....a matter which the Lord Jesus Christ had strongly advised his disciples from doing....as Jesus said..."no man can please two masters" ......
Interesting.....

It has been more than a year since my last entry

Yeah, it has been more than one year since i last blogged.....i sort of lost steam and interest....in between that time...lots of things had happened...the 8th March Political Tsunami had turned the politics of malaysia...more and more like the politics of thailand & philippines....

We seen how our TDM has morphed back into the DR. MAHATHIR...the Malay Ultra of the 1960's...it seems like he was retrofitted for action as the marginalised outsider he was in the 1960's.....

What a shame...instead of leaving behind a legacy albeit a tainted one, but a still a 'legacy' which the opposition MP for Jelutong admitted was 80% good...(don't know about that...but I'm willing to concede he did left more good than bad)....but with his "race baiting" .....had left him looking like kucing kurap politician that indulges in the politics of the gutter....

Instead of remembering him, as a PM who inspired Malaysians to be Malaysians, alas what we have fresh in our minds were his fear mongering.....

What a shame.....and how sad.....